Unexpected Encounters: Jesus and the Canaanite Woman

Of the many difficult sayings of Jesus, his surprising conversation with the Gentile woman in Matthew 15:21-28 and Mark 7:24-30 is among the most jarring. He openly refers to her as a "dog", which seems uncalled for when one considers her plight.

To overcome the dissonance of what appears to be name-calling, many have simply avoided addressing these passages in depth. A wide range of explanations has emerged for those who seek understanding, though often the goal is to soften the impact of a puzzling exchange.

An unfortunate and common explanation I have heard is that Jews commonly called Gentiles "dogs" in those times. There does not seem to be a lot of evidence that this was the case, not in the way it is demonstrated in these passages.

Remember, this is one of only two recorded incidents of Jesus interacting with Gentiles directly. This is a topic for another time, yet, this is strategic and helps to explain his primary mission to Israel. Nevertheless, we can shed some light on this incident with a few helpful metaphors from the Rabbinic writings.

The Setup

Jesus is surrounded by his students while teaching when a woman suddenly interrupts, asking him to heal her daughter. We naturally expect him to heal a child with care and compassion immediately. However, his response is an unexpected curveball.

At first, he seems to ignore her. Then, he dismisses her, remarking that it is only for Israel that he has come¹. His students plead to "send her away" to make matters worse. Even after he hears her out, he again remains somewhat dismissive. What is going on here?

The Canaanite (Syro-Phoenecian) Woman

In Matthew's Gospel, she is called a Canaanite, the notoriously idolatrous group from whom we derive the word "cannibal". If you recall, the Canaanites were pagans par excellence, the antithesis of G_D's plan for the land, which resulted in their eventual expulsion.

By the time of Jesus, while it is possible that their descendants may have been scattered throughout the land - formally, they were long gone as a people group.

It was not unusual in Rabbinic vernacular to refer to a current people group by the name of an ancient civilization that shared similar values. There are some spiritual reasons, but it also helped keep one out of trouble with their oppressors.

For instance, Rome was often known as "Edom", as they shared a similar oppositional stance to Israel and engaged in idolatry at scale. This may be partly why in Mark's Gospel, she is referred to as a Greek, or of Syrophoenician origin, as they all shared similar tendencies.

I think the variance of ethnicity can be viewed as a veiled way of connecting her with paganism. Regardless, she was a "Gentile from birth"².