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The Canaanite Woman - Coggle Diagram

- - - - a refusal
        
        some argue this is disrespectful
        
        F. W. Beare states that Jesus' response is an "atrocious saying" which demonstrates both "incredible insolence" and "the worst kind of chauvinism." (France 247)
        
        though he withheld at that time the words of his mouth, yet he spoke within to the mind of the woman, and so this secret inspiration was a substitute for the outward preaching.
        John Calvin and William Pringle, Commentary on a Harmony of the Evangelists Matthew, Mark, and Luke, vol. 2 (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2010), 264.
        
        Relying on the testimonies of Scripture, where they hear him speaking, they firmly believe that he will be gracious to them; and yet he does not immediately reply to their wishes and prayers, but, on the contrary, seems as if he did not hear.
        John Calvin and William Pringle, Commentary on a Harmony of the Evangelists Matthew, Mark, and Luke, vol. 2 (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2010), 264.
        
        Relying on the testimonies of Scripture, where they hear him speaking, they firmly believe that he will be gracious to them; and yet he does not immediately reply to their wishes and prayers, but, on the contrary, seems as if he did not hear. We see then that the design of Christ’s silence was not to extinguish the woman’s faith, but rather to whet her zeal and inflame her ardour.
        John Calvin and William Pringle, Commentary on a Harmony of the Evangelists Matthew, Mark, and Luke, vol. 2 (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2010), 264.
        
        Christ is aware of the grace and faith that has been given to this woman, and he responds in such a way as to strengthen her and to use her as a teaching tool for those present for the conversation, to Christians reading the account today.
        
        "He heard her, and was pleased with her, and strengthened her with strength in her soul to prosecute her request, though he did not immediately give her the answer she expected." (Henry 218)
        
        1 more item...
      - unorthodox
        
        Jesus’s first response to the Canaanite woman is silence, as befits cultural norms: she is a gentile woman and he a Jewish man. It is improper for them to speak to each other. (Ellsworth-Moran 314)
        
        even rude (Baffes 250)
  - - - Informing the disciples and woman of his purpose
        
        The term sheep is not a flattering term either. (Consider looking up this term in another resource). Not only are the Israelites called sheep, but LOST sheep.
        
        He has a three year-window of time, and he could have spent all three years teaching and healing the Greek's, but that was not the will of God. The Jews were first given the opportunity to accept or decline the rule of the Son of David.
        
        The fullness of time had not yet come.
        
        "My own interpretation of this salvation-history reading of Matthew’s declaration and commissioning in relation to the Canaanite woman is that it reduces her pleas for Jesus’s aid to a sort of “theological bad timing.” (Gullotta 333)
  - - - More cultural research on dogs
        
        John Calvin's thoughts
        
        implying that she is unworthy of being a partaker of his grace.
        John Calvin and William Pringle, Commentary on a Harmony of the Evangelists Matthew, Mark, and Luke, vol. 2 (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2010), 266.
        
        But the treachery and revolt of Adam made it proper that the Lord should send to the stable, along with dogs, those who through the guilt of our first parent became bastards;
        John Calvin and William Pringle, Commentary on a Harmony of the Evangelists Matthew, Mark, and Luke, vol. 2 (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2010), 267.
        
        the children’s bread is a name given to everything that relates peculiarly to the adoption by which the Jews alone were elected to be children
        John Calvin and William Pringle, Commentary on a Harmony of the Evangelists Matthew, Mark, and Luke, vol. 2 (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2010), 267.
        
        To lay open without distinction that which God had conferred as a peculiar privilege on a single nation, was nothing short of setting aside the covenant of God;
        John Calvin and William Pringle, Commentary on a Harmony of the Evangelists Matthew, Mark, and Luke, vol. 2 (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2010), 267.
        
        Gladd
        
        This statement is highlighting the general order of salvation, which the Old Testament makes clear is first for the Jews, and then the nations (Isaiah 2:2-4, 60:1-14). (Gladd 154)
        
        Yet, at the same time, the woman's response shows that she is understands that despite the priority of the Jews, it is not at the exclusion of the Gentiles (Isaiah 56:6-7, 66:18-21). (Gladd 154)
        
        There are two words used for dogs that connote two distinct meanings. There were the wild scavenger dogs of the country, and then there were smaller domesticated dogs that resided in homes. Campbell Morgan says the word used describes the former, and that it is associated with tenderness. (Morgan 201)
        
        R. T. France disagrees with this response, and thinks it is an appeal to western sentiment. Instead, he says that the term "dog" as an abusive term by Jews to Gentiles. (France 247)
        
        That being said, France does not believe that Jesus was being rude to the woman, and perhaps other indicators such as facial features clued her in that he was not hostile towards her. (France 247)
        
        "The Greek word kynarion means “dog” or “cur.” The harsh image “dogs” is no euphemism for cuddly pet puppies that will receive something good if they will only wait their turn. Here, Jesus says—and means—“dogs.” (Ellsworth-Moran 314)
        
        This conclusion is generally drawn from ...a..... being translated to “little dogs” as opposed to “wild and savage dog or beast [e.g., ......],” (Gullotta 333)
        
        dogs were unclean animals and in palestine were scavengers and homeless mongrels.
        Grant R. Osborne, Matthew, vol. 1, Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2010), 599.
        
        The major debate centers on “dog” (κυνάριον), specifically whether the force of the ι—diminutive renders this a “little dog,” perhaps even a household pet. The problem is that diminutives had lost their force by the first century, so this is difficult to prove; but the diminutive in the “small fish” of 15:34b does retain its force, so it is at the least possible here. It is likely that Jesus is using the term in the Jewish sense, for this fits his refusal to include the Gentiles in his mission, while the Canaanite woman changes the metaphor in the next verse.
        Grant R. Osborne, Matthew, vol. 1, Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2010), 599.
        
        Morgan
        
        Jesus is not known to speak harshly to those outside of the religious elites who were opposing God (Morgan 203)
        
        Jesus could have said "great is your faith" to the woman when she first approached him. Instead it was his desire to increase her faith and bring it out in full strength through their exchange. Jesus' development of her faith through this dialogue is the special value of the story. (Morgan 203)
        
        we must remember that Christ did nothing that violated the will of the God-head. One can look at how Jesus spoke to the woman, and be tempted to think he is lacking graciousness towards her. However, that would be to forget the very fact that he came to her. It is very unlikely that she would have ever ventured to Jerusalem to see Jesus. He demonstrates his care for her in his willingness to make himself available, draw out her faith, and heal her child.
        
        Henry
        
        We must all be humbled by God and see ourselves as dogs before we can come to him, and it is not unusual to see one of great faith exercise that faith in the midst of a great trial. (Henry 219)
        
        Today we fence the Lord's Supper from those outside of the covenant community. We would say that it is improper to give what belongs to God's people to those outside of the family.
        
        To be called a dog and yet not be offended requires humility, and humility is the only path to Jesus. The prideful cannot come to Jesus, nor could they accept being called a dog.
        
        the humble do not argue with Jesus' Word, but rather trust his assertions and tries to put the best construction on them. (Henry 220)
        
        unorthodox
        
        Jesus is insulting the woman.
        
        "At the beginning of the exchange, Jesus’ behavior typifies an attitude of exclusion: making the woman invisible, ignoring her request for help, treating her as inferior (even inhuman), and denying her the respect and consideration every individual deserves. Even the disciples encourage him to send her away because they see her as a nuisance. The dehumanizing behavior of Jesus and the disciples indicates their own loss of humanity; they have lost touch with their own selfhood and cannot see the woman as a human person. Jesus is acting from his False Self, a man shaped entirely by the societal norms o f his context." (Baffes 257)
        
        "she calls on the humanity of Jesus, and he is humanized by her presence (Guardiola-Sáenz 1989). As Jesus begins to hear the woman, his openness allows a reversal of the disciple-teacher paradigm. He interacts with her as a learner rather than a teacher and demonstrates first-hand the transformation possible when one engages in mutuality, reciprocity, and relatedness. From this perspective, Jesus does not have to be the only agent of revelation and new learning but can allow himself to be taught by others." (Baffes 257)
        
        "free Jesus to see his ministry from a new perspective, so he can again be a mediator of God’s presence in the world. Jesus leams from the woman what type of Christ he is and is going to be." (Baffes 257)
        
        1 more item...
  - - - The greatness of her faith appeared chiefly in this respect, that by the aid of nothing more than a feeble spark of doctrine, she not only recognized the actual office of Christ,
        John Calvin and William Pringle, Commentary on a Harmony of the Evangelists Matthew, Mark, and Luke, vol. 2 (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2010), 268.
        
        Her commendation is above what others in the book of Matthew received. Why? Perhaps it's because she had the faith to see Jesus' mission as reaching outside of the boundary of Israel. (France 247)
        
        She receives mercy from Jesus.
        
        Her faith allowed her to see Jesus as a friend, even when, he could have appeared as an enemy apart from faith. (Henry 221)
    - - surprising to see a woman “best” him in a debate. (Baffes 250)
        
        "What about all of those outside of Israel who come to Jesus, call him “Lord,” who are glad to accept even the “crumbs” of God’s reign? That’s the question for everyone to wrestle with, including Jesus." (Ellsworth-Moran 314)
        
        "An individual has stepped forth from the anonymous and easy-to-ignore masses to change Jesus’s mind and heart. The Jesus we meet at the beginning of v. 21 is not of the same mind as the Jesus we see at the end of v. 28. Jesus and his community have encountered a witness to the wideness of God’s mercy, made manifest in the Canaanite “dog” who came in faith to him." (Ellsworth-Moran 314)
        
        "Neither of them exhibits faultlessness" (Baffes 260)
        
        "Jesus’ behavior in this story offers a model for oppressors being open to transformation and reconciliation: “it is Jesus’ openness and willingness to act differently, as a result o f the dialogue, that leads to the implementation of justice and fairness” (Nelavala 2008). Liberation requires an approach in which both the privileged oppressors and the marginalized oppressed see the humanity in each other and work together to bring about a transformed society." (Baffes 261)
- - - - Matthew regularly employs the use of "Lord" and "Son of David" together in his Gospel. (Gladd 71)
        
        He is both master and the messiah.
        
        she confesses her need for mercy, likely in part for her identity outside of Israel.
        
        It is striking and surprising to hear a Gentile reference Jesus as the Son of David. (France 246)
        
        clearly she had been exposed to some source of information that clued her into Jesus' identity as the Jewish messiah, but the extent of the information she was privy to is unknonwn.
        
        She may have been a God-fearer or proselyte to use such language; at the very least she is well acquainted with Jewish beliefs.
        Grant R. Osborne, Matthew, vol. 1, Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2010), 597.
        
        J.C. Ryle points out that this statement would have demonstrated great faith in Bethany or Jerusalem. (Ryle 179)
    - - "She begins by calling Jesus “Lord,” deferring to his ascribed authority and honor, and she uses the language of the newly emerging Christian community: “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David” (15:22b). With these words, she appears to be mimicking behaviors she assumes will prompt Jesus to help her." (Baffes 255)
        
        "Her proclamation of Jesus as “Lord [....e]” and “son of David” (Matt 15:22) is comparable to Rahab’s acknowledgment of the traditions of Israel and confession of faith to the god of Israel (Josh 2:9- 11). Other parallels include that both women take the initiative and ask for mercy on behalf of their families (Josh 2:12-13; cf. Matt 15:22) and that both receive what they ask for (Josh 6:22-25; cf. Matt 15:28). As Bauckham (2002, 44) rightly stresses, “like Rahab, because of her faith she is a first exception to a rule about Canaanites.”" (Gullotta 331)
        
        Matthew’s genealogical account of Jesus’s ancestry of Rahab can be no mistake, Likewise, his account of the Canaanite woman must be intentional, and thus both model for Gentile conversion." (Gullotta 332)
  - - - Cried is in the imperfect tense, implying that she was repeatedly making her plea (France 246)
      - Matthew Henry believes this phrase describing her as crying out points to the fact that she was calling after him at a distance, and then in verse 25 she approaches him. (Henry 218)
  - - - Calvin
        
        She is worshipping Jesus, just as we see throughout Matthew's Gospel. The whole Gospel is bookended with the worship of Jesus (Matthew 2:2, 8, 11 and 28:9, 17). This woman is one of many examples throughout the Gospel where Jesus is worshipped (Matthew 8:2, 9:18, 14:33, 20:20). (Gladd 95)
        
        It is possible that when she heard Jesus say that he came for the lost sheep, it was her hope that he would leave the one fold and show her mercy as a lost sheep (John 10:16). (Morgan 202)
        
        there is no reason to doubt that she was animated by the conviction which she entertained as to the kindness of the Messiah.
        John Calvin and William Pringle, Commentary on a Harmony of the Evangelists Matthew, Mark, and Luke, vol. 2 (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2010), 266.
      - She appears to humble herself in by coming to him and worshipping him. (Henry 220)
        
        He makes a comparison to Jacob when he wrestled with God and would not let him go until he was blessed. So she would not stop persisting until he answered her. (Henry 220)
  - - - she does not dispute with them the honour of adoption, and declares, that she has no objection whatever that Christ should satisfy them according to the order which God had prescribed. She only asks that some crumbs—falling, as it were, accidentally—should come within the reach of the dogs.
        John Calvin and William Pringle, Commentary on a Harmony of the Evangelists Matthew, Mark, and Luke, vol. 2 (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2010), 268.
        
        Her plea is not a rejection of the purpose of Jesus' mission, but an acknowledgement of it, and a recognition that his mission is so great that it can allow others to share in Israel's blessing as a secondary effect. (France 247)
        
        This woman is certain that Jesus has more than enough authority and power to care for her daughter with what is left over.
        Grant R. Osborne, Matthew, vol. 1, Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2010), 600.
    - - "When she said 'Son of David,' it was the hope of faith. When she said, 'Lord, help me,' it was the appeal of faith. When she said, 'True, Lord, yet the little dogs eat of the crumbs,' it was what an old Puritan call 'the writ of faith." (Morgan 202)
        
        This amazing story is the only time anyone “beats” Jesus in a debate.
        Grant R. Osborne, Matthew, vol. 1, Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2010), 599–600.
    - - Those who believe they deserve nothing, will be thankful for anything. (Herny 221)
        
        "The least of Christ is precious to a believer, and the very crumbs of the bread of life." (Henry 221)
        
        She identifies Christ as her master. "If she were a dog, she was his dog." (Henry 221)
    - - questioning not only his
        comments, but also, implicitly, his social space and even his authority. (Baffes 250)
        
        "Jesus has spoken of the way things are. She speaks of the way things can be. God’s feast offers enough for the children at the table and the strays (currently) beneath it." (Ellsworth-Moran 314)
        
        "the woman acknowledges both perspectives, incorporating her own desire for her daughter’s healing and Jesus’ concern for justice. She is able to hold both together in tension;" (Baffes 259)
        
        "nor does she agree to accept Jesus’ authority or
        proclamations without challenging them." (Baffes 261)
      - "Whether she calls him Lord now or later does not truly matter to Matthew: what matters is her self- acknowledgment that she is a dog, that her place is under the master’s table, and from there, and only there, can she receive the crumbs that fall from the master’s table." (Gullotta 335)
        
        "To the mind of Matthew, the centurion at Capernaum and the Canaanite woman are exceptions to the normative rule of Jesus limiting his ministry solely to the “lost sheep of Israel” (Matt 15:24). They are not normative encounters, but exceptional ones." (Gullotta 335)
        
        "Throughout the entire story, Jesus remains in the position of power and grants the healing only after she has accepted and used the insult to reinforce the power Jesus has over her. The shift in the narrative comes from the woman’s ability not to acknowledge Jesus as the master, but herself as the dog, and admit that both humans (Jews) and dogs (Gentiles) require bread." (Gullotta 335)
        
        "Matthew uses the Markan material before him to his advantage, pointing out just how rare and exceptional Gentile demonstrations of faith are. In both cases, the Gentiles receive the healing they request, and afterwards, they exit from the story. They do not accompany Jesus on his travels, nor does Jesus rest and stay with them on his own: there is a divine exchange and nothing else." (Gullotta 336)
        
        "The
        Matthean Christian Jews are not to actively seek out non-Jewish converts." (Gullotta 336)
        
        "it does appear that the Matthean community proactively attempted to prevent and repel any Gentiles that did seek entrance into their community." (Gullotta 337)
- - - - Jesus mentioned Tyre and Sidon as places that would have repented if they had the light of these other three cities.
    - - vv. 21-39 covers a section where Jesus withdraws from the covenant community, many of which have turned their backs on him, and he begins to minister to those outside of the covenant community. First, he ministers to the Canaanite woman, then the large gathering of people at Decapolis, and the multitude that he fed outside of the border of Israel. (Morgan 199)
        
        This section represents the blossoming of the promise God made to Abraham that in him all of the nations would be blessed. (Morgan 202)
        
        The full blossom of this promise will take part upon his ascension and his disciples going out into the world to declare the good news.
- - - - "for, without some knowledge of the promises, she would not have called Christ the Son of David."
        John Calvin and William Pringle, Commentary on a Harmony of the Evangelists Matthew, Mark, and Luke, vol. 2 (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2010), 263.
  - - - "But psychological/psychoanalytic biblical criticism that
        focuses on the reader explores how our minds are influenced by the text;" (Baffes 252)
        
        "Psychoanalytic/psychological biblical criticism, then, can be a rich resource for deepening our understanding of the biblical text because the Bible’s very “intention is to address, shape, and enhance the inner world o f the human spirit”" (Baffes 252)
        
        "a reading that does not privilege Jesus at the expense of the woman, but instead sees them both as empowered, learning and being transformed by their interaction with one another?" (Baffes 251)
        
        "She goes beyond the limitations placed on her, demonstrates an authority different from the domination and subjugation paradigm prevalent in her culture, and, most importantly, experiences the presence of herself, an authentic, empowered selfhood." (Baffes 256)
    - - Matthew uses deragortory language concerning the Gentiles
        
        "In Matt 5:46-47, when teaching about the act of love amongst brothers and sister in comparison to the love of enemies, Jesus critically asks, “Do not even the Gentiles [01 .......] do the same?"” (Gullotta 327)
        
        "This same reasoning can also be applied to Matt 6:31-32, where Jesus compares the disciples’ worrying about food, drink, and clothing to the worrying of the Gentiles, whereas Luke again softens the language to a more general “the nations [.....]” (Luke 12:29-30). Yet unique to Matthew is Jesus’s introductory teaching before the Lord’s Prayer that warns the disciples not to pray like the Gentiles as they “heap up empty phrases ... for they think that they will be heard because of their many words” (Matt 6:7). Jesus directly instructs the disciples, “Do not be like them” (Matt 6:8). Clearly, Matthew is encouraging his audience not to model themselves on Gentile behaviour and openly criticises Gentile practices (Sim 1998, 227-228). As Graham Stanton has demonstrated, the Matthean evangelist was clearly not a slave to his sources but rather edited n and redacted as he saw fit. o Q, thus adding evidence to Matthew’s intentional anti-Gentile writing.6 7" (Gullotta 328)
        
        "Overman understands the Matthean community as a minority sectarian group competing with their parent body, formative Judaism, and finds extremely little evidence for the presence of Gentiles within the community (Overman 1990, 156-158). Fundamental to Overman’s thesis is the belief that Matthew’s community fundamentally understands itself as Jewish not Christian; therefore, Matthew should be examined primarily as a Jewish text, not a Christian one." (Gullotta 328)
      - "Sim argues that Matthew’s community must have viewed the Gentile world as a foreign and threatening place with which one should not be engaged" (Gullotta 329)
      - "Matthew’s source of this story is the Gospel of Mark, and while they present roughly the same narrative, much of the finer details are dramatically different and the overall impression it generates is distinctive as well." (Gullotta 329)
        
        Syrophoenician [S...f......ssa] (Mark 7:26)8 to a Canaanite [Xavavaia] (Gullotta 329)
        
        "Marla J. Selvidge (1987, 79) concurs with this observation and adds, “By using the word ‘Canaan’ Matthew stirs up . . . ancient fear and perhaps hatred of the foreigner, the unknown one—the one that became the enemy of Abraham.” (Gullotta 329)
- - - - "Both the Canaanite woman and Jesus are changed in their interaction with one another and
        ultimately reveal a new way of being fully human." (Baffes 262)
- - - - Sons of thunder calling down fire from heaven on the Samaritans
        
        J.C. Ryle sees the disciples as not wanting to grant her request but simply have her banished. (181 Ryle)
    - - This would explain his following response as to why he has not acted.