Conclusion (additional layers of the onion are addressed in the expanded version that follows):
Looking at the exterior of the onion (so to speak), it appears to be true; in the Matthew 15 dialog between Jesus and the Gentile woman, concerning a request to cast out a demon from her daughter, Jesus states, “It is not appropriate to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” Also, in Mark 7 (same story) Jesus is quoted as saying “Let the children be filled first, for it is not appropriate to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”
This event follows directly after Jesus’ expounding on “what makes one unclean”, and just before the feeding of the 4000 Gentiles, a parallel of the feeding of the 5000 Jews (more details in the expanded version). Jesus is “schooling” his disciples on the fact that Gentiles are also part of God’s Kingdom and Promises.
Let us examine the Greek used here for “dog” in that culture == The common Greek for “dog” is “kyon”, in the NT story, the Greek “kunarion” is used, meaning “little dog”, it can mean puppy, house dog, pet dog, or lap dog. It appears that Jews of the time were less inclined to keep dogs as pets, maybe because of aspects of uncleanliness in keeping a dog in the home. In any case, Jews of the time did use the Greek word “kuon” (wild cur dog) as an insulting term for Gentiles and the ritual uncleanliness resulting from associating with them. In Matthew 15:23, the disciples ask Jesus to send this woman away. Why? Consider their Jewish view– Interaction with this “wild cur dog” can make one “unclean”, she needs to leave, now! Jesus, fully man and fully God, knows what his disciples are thinking, and an effective way to turn their minds around is make this point apparent, followed by an example of “what Godly thinking looks like”.
So, Jesus responds with what his disciples are thinking, and believe to be absolute fact, “I wasn’t sent to anyone but the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” This likely inflated the egos of the disciples, thinking maybe ‘Yeah put that cur dog in her place’. She again asks for help and his reply, “It is not appropriate to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” Some of the disciples start having a revelation at this point, for Jesus, speaking to this Gentile in the common language of Greek does not say “kuon” or even “kyon”, but rather the word “kunarion” for dog. Wow, not cur dog, but a beloved lap dog or puppy that is allowed in the home, under the love and protection of the master of the house.
The woman, wisely (with the influence of the Spirit) picks up on the lifeline Jesus is tossing to her; “Yes, Lord, but even the dogs (kunarion) eat the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.” Thus, giving Jesus the opportunity to affirm that, while they may be viewed as dogs, they are beloved members of the household allowed to roam free in the eating area, not some wild unclean cur Jesus endorses this in His reply, “Woman, great is your faith! Be it done to you even as you desire.” …AND, her daughter was healed from that hour.
Put yourself in the mind of one of the disciples present, pondering this for minutes, hours, days, and years later. This experience would strike home: “not cur dogs, but beloved and protected members of the household of the master!”
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Did Jesus Imply the Canaanite woman was a dog – Peeling back the onion of scripture (expanded version):
Looking at the exterior of the onion (so to speak), it appears to be true, for in Matthew 15 Jesus dialog with the Canaanite woman about a request to cast out a demon from her daughter, Jesus states, “It is not appropriate to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” Also, in Mark 7 (same story) the woman is referred to as “ Syrophoenician”, and quoted as saying “Let the children be filled first, for it is not appropriate to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”
First, let us dispense with the foolish objections about “scriptures conflicting” ← This is a useless distraction: Two eye-witness, who finally, independently, write down what they recall, after many years of telling their stories of Jesus to others – Well, if the stories were absolutely identical, then that would be something to be skeptical about. Oh, and Canaanite is the historical Hebrew name for those known in Roman times as Phoenicians and the Syro prefix supplies more information about where the person originated. It is the equivalent of you saying someone is Asian, and me being more descriptive by saying Taiwanese. The point here is this lady was someone that a “good” Jew would consider, not just unclean, but a particularly despicable gentile, because of her heritage. Jews passionate for their beliefs in that time were known to use a term in Greek for Gentiles they considered particularly unclean, despicable, and not worthy of living: In English we would pronounce that Greek word “kuon”, and it means “a wild cur dog”. It probably fits in the category of what we would consider a racial slur.
Ponder a moment the Story of Babel (read it in Genesis 11): God caused the division of languages. I am no language expert. However, I believe it is no accident that the New Testament original language is Greek. There are nuances to that language that are useful when trying to convey a meaning when translating the original, while still allowing an expert look behind the scenes to, well, “peel back that onion”. Example, in English we have the word “love” – In Greek there are multiple words we translate as “love”, with very different meanings. So, look at John 15:15-17, many English translations use the word “love” for all three times Jesus asks if Peter loves him, and for all of Peter’s responses. In the Greek, the first two times Jesus asks if Peter has “agape” (other centered self-giving love) for Him, Peter each time says he has “phileo” (brotherly love) for Jesus. The third time Jesus changes to “phileo”, and Peter responds with “phileo” yet a final time. This helps us peel back the onion and see the humanity of Peter, and Jesus – Recently Peter denied Jesus 3 times, now 3 times Jesus extends love and forgiveness, but Peter is struggling to forgive himself. In any case, in Jesus’ trip into the gentile territory around Tyre and Sidon, the common language of commerce (at the time Greek) is probably what was used in these encounters with Gentiles. Meaning, the precision of the Greek terms is a part of the layers of the onion.
So, let us set the cultural stage, and try to align our minds with some of those present in this story. Examining the story line, we see that Jesus has intentionally entered gentile territory, after bringing the Good News to the Jews. In the big picture there are two apparent reasons: Jesus leaving Jewish territory prevents the Scribes and Pharisees from taking action that would bring about Jesus’ arrest at an inopportune time. Jesus is here to educate his disciples, who have Jewish cultural perspectives that must be purged to make them effective for their missions in the future. The disciples desperately need to comprehend that Gentiles are a part of God’s plan, and Jesus is going to use first hand experience as the teacher.
Consider that, in Jewish storytelling, when specific numbers are used, they are a part of the meaning of the story. In this journey to the North, Jesus will feed 4,000 Gentiles, similar in manner to how had fed 5,000 Jews ← This parallel tells us there is a purpose here, for there are aspects we will only summarize here: Two fish, five loaves feed 5,000 Jews, with 12 baskets left over (significance= The 5 and 2 tell us we are dealing with a double portion of divine power and grace, the 2 also hints at the division of Gentiles and Jews, and the l2 tells us that this double portion of divine grace overflows to all 12 tribes of Israel). Seven loaves and a few fish feed 4,000 Gentiles, with 7 baskets left over (significance = 7 indicates the theme is spiritual perfection and completeness, using a “few” fish may indicate the dissolution of the division (2 in the other story) between gentile and jew, and the 7 baskets left over (because there were 7 named gentile nations when the Jews arrived in the promised land) indicates this spiritual perfection and completeness overflowed to all Gentiles.
This event follows directly after Jesus expounding on “what makes one unclean”, and just before the feeding of the 4000 Gentiles, a parallel of the feeding of the 5000 Jews. Throughout the events near Tyre and Sidon, Jesus is “schooling” his disciples: “Gentiles are also part of God’s Kingdom and Promises.”
Let us examine the Greek used here for “dog” with respect to the culture == The common Greek for “dog” is “kyon”, in the NT story, the Greek “kunarion” is used, meaning “little dog”, it can mean puppy, house dog, pet dog, or lap dog. It appears that Jews of the time were less inclined to keep dogs as pets, maybe because of aspects of uncleanliness in keeping a dog in the home. In any case, Jews of the time did use “kuon” (wild cur dog) as an insulting term for Gentiles and the ritual uncleanliness resulting from associating with them. In Matthew 15:23, the disciples ask Jesus to send this woman away. Why? Consider their Jewish view, interaction with this “wild cur dog” can make one “unclean”, she needs to leave, now! Jesus, fully man and fully God, knows what his disciples are thinking, and an effective way to turn their minds around is make this point apparent, followed by an example of “what Godly thinking looks like”. —
So, Jesus responds with what his disciples are thinking, and believe to be absolute fact, “I wasn’t sent to anyone but the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” This likely inflated the egos of the disciples, thinking maybe ‘Yeah put that cur dog in her place’. She again asks for help and his reply, “It is not appropriate to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” Some of the disciples start having a revelation at this point, for Jesus, speaking to this Gentile in the common language of Greek does not say “kuon” or even “kyon”, but rather the word “kunarion” for dog. Wow, not cur dog, but a beloved lap dog or puppy that is allowed in the home, under the love and protection of the master of the house.
The woman, wisely (with the influence of the Spirit) picks up on the lifeline Jesus is tossing to her; “Yes, Lord, but even the dogs (kunarion) eat the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.” Thus, giving Jesus the opportunity to affirm that, while they may be viewed as dogs, they are beloved members of the household allowed to roam free in the eating area, not some wild unclean cur Jesus endorses this in His reply, “Woman, great is your faith! Be it done to you even as you desire.” …AND, her daughter was healed from that hour.
Put yourself in the mind of one of the disciples present, pondering this for minutes, hours, days, and years later. This experience would strike home: “not cur dogs, but loved and protected members of the household of the master!”