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Matthew

About this book
Chapter 15

1 Then Pharisees and experts in the law came from Jerusalem to Jesus and said, 2 “Why do your disciples disobey the tradition of the elders? For they don’t wash their hands when they eat.” 3 He answered them, “And why do you disobey the commandment of God because of your tradition? 4 For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’ and ‘Whoever insults his father or mother must be put to death.’ 5 But you say, ‘If someone tells his father or mother, “Whatever help you would have received from me is given to God,” 6 he does not need to honor his father.’ You have nullified the word of God on account of your tradition. 7 Hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied correctly about you when he said,⁠ 8 “‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me, 9 and they worship me in vain, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’” 10 Then he called the crowd to him and said, “Listen and understand. 11 What defiles a person is not what goes into the mouth; it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles a person.”⁠ 12 Then the disciples came to him and said, “Do you know that when the Pharisees heard this saying they were offended?” 13 And he replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father did not plant will be uprooted.⁠ 14 Leave them! They are blind guides. If someone who is blind leads another who is blind, both will fall into a pit.”⁠ 15 But Peter said to him, “Explain this parable to us.” 16 Jesus said, “Even after all this, are you still so foolish? 17 Don’t you understand that whatever goes into the mouth enters the stomach and then passes out into the sewer? 18 But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these things defile a person. 19 For out of the heart come evil ideas, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. 20 These are the things that defile a person; it is not eating with unwashed hands that defiles a person.” 21 After going out from there, Jesus went to the region of Tyre and Sidon. 22 A Canaanite woman from that area came and cried out, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is horribly demon-possessed!” 23 But he did not answer her a word. Then his disciples came and begged him, “Send her away because she keeps on crying out after us.” 24 So he answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”⁠ 25 But she came and bowed down before him and said, “Lord, help me!” 26 “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs,” he said.⁠ 27 “Yes, Lord,” she replied, “but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”⁠ 28 Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, your faith is great! Let what you want be done for you.” And her daughter was healed from that hour. 29 When he left there, Jesus went along the Sea of Galilee. Then he went up a mountain, where he sat down. 30 Then large crowds came to him bringing with them the lame, blind, crippled, mute, and many others. They laid them at his feet, and he healed them. 31 As a result, the crowd was amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled healthy, the lame walking, and the blind seeing, and they praised the God of Israel.⁠ 32 Then Jesus called his disciples and said, “I have compassion on the crowd because they have already been here with me three days and they have nothing to eat. I don’t want to send them away hungry since they may faint on the way.” 33 The disciples said to him, “Where can we get enough bread in this desolate place to satisfy so great a crowd?” 34 Jesus said to them, “How many loaves do you have?” They replied, “Seven—and a few small fish.” 35 After instructing the crowd to sit down on the ground, 36 he took the seven loaves and the fish, and after giving thanks, he broke them and began giving them to the disciples, who then gave them to the crowds. 37 They all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full. 38 Not counting children and women, there were 4,000 men who ate. 39 After sending away the crowd, he got into the boat and went to the region of Magadan.

Texts in conversation

Compare Deuteronomy 23:18 and Matthew 15:26

Hebrew Bible · New Testament

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Summary

Jesus' conversation in Matthew 15 may echo Deuteronomy 23, where “dog” refers to Canaanites and their practices. Matthew frames the exchange as an honor and shame challenge, and the woman’s reply answers it skillfully, turning the moment in her favor.

Passages

Deuteronomy 23:18

Hebrew Bible
17 There must never be a sacred prostitute among the young women of Israel nor a sacred male prostitute among the young men of Israel. 18 You must never bring the pay of a female prostitute or the wage of a dog30, a male prostitute, into the temple of the Lord your God in fulfillment of any vow, for both of these are abhorrent to the Lord your God. 19 You must not charge interest on a loan to your fellow Israelite, whether on money, food, or anything else that has been loaned with interest.
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Deuteronomy

Matthew 15:26

New Testament
24 So he answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” 25 But she came and bowed down before him and said, “Lord, help me!” 26 “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs,” he said. 27 “Yes, Lord,” she replied, “but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” 28 Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, your faith is great! Let what you want be done for you.” And her daughter was healed from that hour.
70–90 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Matthew

References

"... That Jesus is insulting the woman in his use of the word “dog” seems clear, even if not to those who want to protect Jesus from that problematic speech. But in calling the woman a dog, Jesus may be disparaging her not only as a Gentile, but also as a loose woman, perhaps even as a prostitute. Matthew alone of the evangelists identifies the woman as a Canaanite. As noted above, Canaanites were hated in part because of their practices, including the practices of their קדשׁות (female prostitutes) and קדשׁים (male prostitutes). By having Jesus call the Canaanite woman a dog, the evangelist may be bringing to mind Deuteronomy 23:18-19 which disparages Canaanite קדשׁות (female prostitute, in Deuteronomy 23:18), זנות (prostitution, in Deuteronomy 23:19), and dogs (there a reference to male prostitutes). Given Deuteronomy 23:18-19 as background, Jesus does not intend “to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” However, the Canaanite woman, in reference to the same passage from Deuteronomy, can hear in it not only the word “dog,” but also the words קדשׁה (male prostitute) and זונה (prostitution). That is, she hears both of the words applied to Tamar in Genesis 38. When the woman counters, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table,” (Matthew 15:27), she may be recalling Tamar, who despite being identified as the female equivalent to the male prostitute (a “dog” in Deuteronomy 23:18), is vindicated and called “righteous” (Genesis 38:26) ..."
Amy Elizabeth Richter, “The Enochic Watchers’ Template and the Gospel of Matthew” (diss., Marquette University, 2010), 80–81.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Deuteronomy 23:18 and Matthew 15:26

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