Matthew 15: 21-28
The Canaanite woman’s daughter is healed
15:21 Jesus left that place and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon.
15:22 Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.”
15:23 But he did not answer her at all. And his disciples came and urged him, saying, “Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us.”
15:24 He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
15:25 But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.”
15:26 He answered, “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.”
15:27 She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”
15:28 Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed from that moment.
[21] Καὶ ἐξελθὼν ἐκεῖθεν ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς ἀνεχώρησεν εἰς τὰ μέρη Τύρου καὶ Σιδῶνος.
[22] καὶ ἰδοὺ γυνὴ Χαναναία ἀπὸ τῶν ὁρίων ἐκείνων ἐξελθοῦσα ἐκραύγαζεν αὐτῷ λέγουσα· ἐλέησόν με, Κύριε, υἱὲ Δαυΐδ· ἡ θυγάτηρ μου κακῶς δαιμονίζεται.
[23] ὁ δὲ οὐκ ἀπεκρίθη αὐτῇ λόγον. καὶ προσελθόντες οἱ μαθηταὶ αὐτοῦ ἠρώτων αὐτὸν λέγοντες· ἀπόλυσον αὐτήν, ὅτι κράζει ὄπισθεν ἡμῶν.
[24] ὁ δὲ ἀποκριθεὶς εἶπεν· οὐκ ἀπεστάλην εἰ μὴ εἰς τὰ πρόβατα τὰ ἀπολωλότα οἴκου ᾿Ισραήλ.
[25] ἡ δὲ ἐλθοῦσα προσεκύνησεν αὐτῷ λέγουσα· Κύριε, βοήθει μοι.
[26] ὁ δὲ ἀποκριθεὶς εἶπεν· οὐκ ἔστι καλὸν λαβεῖν τὸν ἄρτον τῶν τέκνων καὶ βαλεῖν τοῖς κυναρίοις.
[27] ἡ δὲ εἶπε· ναί, Κύριε· καὶ γὰρ τὰ κυνάρια ἐσθίει ἀπὸ τῶν ψυχίων τῶν πιπτόντων ἀπὸ τῆς τραπέζης τῶν κυρίων αὐτῶν.
[28] τότε ἀποκριθεὶς ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς εἶπεν αὐτῇ· ὦ γύναι, μεγάλη σου ἡ πίστις! γενηθήτω σοι ὡς θέλεις. καὶ ἰάθη ἡ θυγάτηρ αὐτῆς ἀπὸ τῆς ὥρας ἐκείνης.
Comments
Matthew’s choice of vbs for ‘to shout, cry’ suggests that the anonymous woman’s cries grow louder and louder. The Engl. tr. renders ‘puppies’ (κυνάρια) as ‘dogs’. A teacher wishing to give a good example of a middle-passive vb might cite δαιμονίζομαι, denoting a passive state as well as participation in this harmful condition!
[22] ἐκραύγαζεν: impf., 3rd pers. sg., κραυγάζω, ‘cry aloud, shout’ (cl. Gk & LXX); also, of a non-human cry, e.g. ‘howl’, ‘bark’ (of a dog), ‘croak’ (of a raven) (in cl. Gk & LXX: see LSJ & Muraoka s.v.). The unnamed Canaanite woman utters distracting cries. Cf. κράζει, v. 23.
ἐλέησόν με: imperat., 2nd pers. sg. ἐλεῶ (έω), ‘have pity on, show mercy to’ + acc. pers. (already in Homer, cl. Gk, & LXX).
ἡ θυγάτηρ μου κακῶς δαιμονίζεται: this sentence follows the appeal to ‘Jesus, son of David’, without a syntactical connector; this is an example of an asyndeton that has a causal force. Thus: ‘Have mercy on me, for my daughter is severely (κακῶς) possessed by a demon’. Δαιμονίζομαι, mid.-pass., ‘I am possessed by a demon’, not found in cl. Gk or LXX. A New Testament vb, it shows the semantic shift from the Homeric and cl. Gk δαίμων, ‘god’, ‘divinity’ to the sinister ‘demon’.
[23] κράζει: according to EDNT s.v., 2, κράζω can introduce discourse. In cl. Gk the present tense (which is used here) is rare, and can mean ‘scream, shriek, cry’ (even ‘croak’, of a raven); see LSJ s.v.; also LXX (see Muraoka). A demon-possessed man κράζει (Μk 5: 5, 9: 26, etc.).
Whilst the woman was crying/ shouting in v. 22, now she is shrieking— in a crescendo that annoys the disciples.
[25] βοήθει μοι: βοηθῶ (έω) c. dat., ‘help’ (cl. Gk & LXX). The word is related to βοή, ‘loud shout, cry’ (already in Homer where it is usually a ‘battle-cry’). ‘Help me’ (in Gk) is esp. fitting here as the vb enfolds the shouts and shrieks of the woman.
[26] τοῖς κυναρίοις: dimin. of κύων, ‘dog’, hence ‘puppy’ (so used by Plato). Cf. τὰ κυνάρια, v. 27. It is perhaps coincidence that Jesus cites puppies to a woman who has been making animal-like cries and shrieks.
