Matthew 15:26

15:26 Jews often referred to pagans as dogs, which are ceremonially unclean (Lev 11:27). Jesus was speaking to the woman of her spiritual condition as a Gentile—as unclean and separated from God (cp. Matt 7:6).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Mat 15:26. Τῶν τέκνων, the children’s) Our Lord spoke severely to the Jews themselves, but honourably of them [to those without]; see Joh 4:22. Thus we, concerning the Evangelic Church. κυναρίοις, to little dogs[697]) who are not worthy to receive it. But yet ΚΥΝΆΡΙΟΝ, the word employed by our Lord, is a diminutive, and Jesus thereby gives a handle to the woman to take hold of Him. Midrasch Tillim.[698] says, “The nations of the world are like dogs.”

[697] Diminutives are used as terms of endearment. Therefore κυναρίοις probably here means the household dogs—pet dogs.—ED.

[698] i.e. “Allegorical Commentary on the Psalms,” a Rabbinical work of high repute among the Jews.—(I. B.)

Even the third effort was seeming likely to be abortive. Yet she did not give over.—V. g.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mat_15:26. It is not allowable (see critical notes) to take (sumere, circumstantial way of putting it, not: to take away) the bread belonging to the children and cast it to the dogs,a general proposition for the purpose of expressing the thought: I must not allow the Gentiles to participate in my blessings, belonging as they do only to the people of Israel (the children of God, Rom_9:4). Jesus speaks ex communi gentis loquela potius quam ex sensu suo (Lightfoot); for it was the practice among the Jews to designate heathens (and subsequently, Christians also) as dogs; see Lightfoot and Wetstein, likewise Eisenmenger, entdeckt. Judenth. I. p. 713 ff. For the diminutive, see note on Mat_15:27. In this passage it is intended to mitigate the harshness of the expression.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mat 15:26 . οὐκ ἔστιν καλὸν , etc.: seemingly a hard word, but not so hard as it seems. First, it is not a simple monosyllabic negative, leaving no room for parley, but an argument inviting further discussion. Next, it is playful, humorous, bantering in tone, a parable to be taken cum grano . Third, its harshest word, κυναρίοις , contains a loophole. κυνάρια does not compare Gentiles to the dogs without, in the street, but to the household dogs belonging to the family, which got their portion though not the children’s.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Verse 26. The children's bread] The salvation provided for the Jews, who were termed the children of the kingdom. And cast it to the κυναριοις, little dogs - to the curs; such the Gentiles were reputed by the Jewish people, and our Lord uses that form of speech which was common among his countrymen. What terrible repulses! and yet she still perseveres!

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(26) To cast it to dogs.—The word used was diminutive in its form, and as such pointed not to the wild, unclean beasts that haunt the streets of an Eastern city (Psa_59:6), but to the tamer animals that were bred in the house, and kept as pets. The history of Tobias and his dog, in the Apocrypha, furnishes the one example in Biblical literature of this friendly relation between the dog and his master (Tob_5:16).

The answer has, even taking this into account, a somewhat harsh sound, but it did not go beyond the language with which the woman must have been familiar, and it was probably but a common proverb, like our “Charity begins at home,” indicating the line of demarcation which gave a priority to the claims of the family of Israel to those of strangers. We may well believe that there was no intentional scorn in it, though it emphasized an actual distinction.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

26. to take the children’s bread, and to cast it to dogs] The “children” are the Jews; the “dogs” are the Gentiles. This was the name applied by the Jews to all outside the chosen race, the dog being in the East a symbol of impurity. St Paul, regarding the Christian Church as the true Israel, terms the Judaizing teachers “dogs,” Php_3:2. Christ’s words, as reported by St Mark (ch. Mar_7:27), contain a gleam of hope, “Let the children first be filled.”

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

But he answered, and said,.... To the woman, as the Persic version reads it, and the sense requires:

it is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs; which he said, to try her faith the more, and make it the more illustrious; and that not so much from his own sense of things, as in the language of the Jewish people, and which she might not be a stranger to. By "the children", are meant the Jews, to whom the adoption belonged; who, as a nation and people, were the children of God in a large sense; being distinguished by many blessings and favours, which others had not, and being under the more peculiar care and notice of God; not that all of them were the children of God by special grace: by "the bread"; which belonged to them, is meant the external ministry of the word, and the miracles of Christ wrought among them: and particularly such outward favours which related to the good of the bodies of men, by healing their diseases, and dispossessing them of devils: and by "the dogs" are designed the Gentiles, so called by the Jews in a way of contempt, because of their ignorance, idolatry, and impurity. Christ here speaks not his own mind, as if he reproached the Gentiles, and held them in scorn and contempt, but uses the common dialect of the people; and which, this woman, living upon the borders of the Israelitish nation, was acquainted with; so that it was not so shocking and surprising, or quite so discouraging, as it would otherwise have been. The Jewish doctors say (k), that the idolatrous Gentiles are not called men, that they are comparable to the beasts or the field (l), to oxen, rams, goats (m), and asses (n): the foetus in the bowels of a Canaanitish servant, they say (o),

"ymd hmhb yemb dlwk, "is like the foetus in the bowels of a beast".''

Take the following passage, as an illustration of this, and as a further proof of the Jews calling the Gentiles dogs (p).

"A king provides a dinner for the children of his house; whilst they do his will they eat their meat with the king, and he gives to the dogs the part of bones to gnaw; but when the children of the house do not do the king's pleasure, he gives the dogs the dinner, and the bones to them: even so: while the Israelites do the will of their Lord, they eat at the king's table, and the feast is provided for them, and they of their own will give the bones to the Gentiles; but when they do not do the will of their Lord, lo! the feast is "for the dogs", and the bones are their's.''

And a little after,

""thou preparest a table before me"; this is the feast of the king; "in the presence of mine enemies"; , "these are the dogs" that sit before the table, looking for their part of the bones.''

In which may be clearly discerned the distinction between children and dogs, and the application of the one to the Jews, and the other to the Gentiles, and the different food that belongs to each: and hence it is easy to see from whom Christ borrowed this expression, and with what view he made use of it.

(k) T. Bab. Bava Metzia, fol. 114. 2. Zohar in Exod. fol. 35. 4. Tzeror Hammor, fol. 1. 4. (l) Zohar in Gen. fol. 31. 1. & 34. 1. 2. (m) Jarchi in Gen. 15. 10. (n) T. Bab. Kiddushin, fol. 68. 1. (o) lb. fol. 69. 1. (p) Zohar in Exod. fol. 63. 1, 2. Vid. Tzeror Hammor, fol. 147. 4.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

26 But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it to dogs.

Ver. 26. And to cast it to dogs] To whelps, saith St Mark. {a} So he calls her bitch, her daughter whelp. This might have easily damped and discouraged her. But she was that well-resolved Christian, whose part Luther saith it is to believe things invisible, {b} to hope for things deferred, and to love God when he shows himself most angry with him, and most opposite to him. Our Saviour was no sooner gone from this Canaanitess, but he heals the deaf and dumb man (though far weaker in faith than her) at first word, Mar 7:33; Mat 15:30, the Galileans no sooner laid their sick and lame friends at his feet, but he cured them without any more ado. He is "a God of judgment," Isa 30:18, and knows how and when to deal forth his favours. He lays heaviest burdens on the strongest backs and proportions our afflictions to our abilities, holding us off for deliverance till he finds us fit for it, and giving us hearts to wait and want it till his time is come.

{a} κυναριοις, catellis, ut maiore contemptu loqui videretur. Beza.

{b} Credere invisibilia, sperare dilata, et amare Deum se ostendentem contrarium. Luth.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And to cast it to the dogs; i.e. to Gentiles, sometimes so called by the Jews. (Witham) --- The diminutive word Greek: Kunarios, or whelp, is used in both these verses in the Septuagint. Our Lord crosses the wishes of the Chanaanæan, not that he intended to reject her, but that he might bring to light the hidden and secret treasure of her virtue. Let us admire not only the greatness of her faith, but likewise the profoundness of her humility; for when our Saviour called the Jews children, so far from being envious or another’s praise, she readily answers, and gives them the title of lords; and when Christ likened her to a dog, she presently acknowledges the meanness of her condition. (St. John Chrysostom, hom. liii.) He refused at first to listen to her petition, says the same saint, to instruct us with what faith, humility, and perseverance we ought to pray. To make his servants more sensible of his mercy, and more eager to obtain it, he often appears to pay no attention to their prayers, till he had exercised them in the virtues of humility and patience. Ask, and you shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened to you. (Haydock)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Mark saith, Mar 7:27, Jesus said unto her, Let the children first be filled; for it is not meet, &c. By the children here he means the Jews, by the dogs he means the heathen. The Jews are called the children of the kingdom. Israel is called God’s son, his firstborn, Exo 4:22. The apostle, Rom 9:4, saith, to them belonged the the adoption. By bread here our Saviour means the publication of the gospel, and the miracles by which the truth of the doctrine of it was confirmed; by dogs he means the heathen, whom the Jews did count as dogs, no members of the household of God: it was a term of contempt, 2Sa 3:8; 2Sa 16:9; 2Ki 8:13. When our Saviour saith,

It is not meet he means it is not just, nor equal.

Objection: How came it then that the gospel was ever carried to the Gentiles?

Mark expounds our Saviour’s meaning, or rather gives us an account of our Saviour’s words, more perfectly: Let the children first be filled; for it is not meet, &c. The Jews are God’s children, a people whom he chose out of all the nations of the earth, to whom he gave many privileges; it is his will the gospel should be first preached to them, and then to the Gentiles. Gentiles are as dogs, of whom God hath not taken such a care; but they shall have their time. Only it is not consonant to my Father’s will that the gospel, and the miracles by which it is confirmed, should be exhibited unto you Gentiles, till it hath been fully preached to the Jews, and they be first filled with the sound, and with the confirmations of it.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

26. It is not meet — Not fitting. It is not in the order which God has established. Children’s bread… dogs — The original is little dogs; so that with the contempt, there is a tenderness in the epithet. Yet our Lord begins to recognize in her a Gentile that may prove an Israelite indeed if fully tested. He therefore puts her in a most humble place, to see if she has an humble, though a Gentile heart.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

But he answered and said. At length Jesus spoke directly to her; but his words were rough in sound, still enforcing the previous repulse. It is not meet; ouk esti kalon : non est bonum (Vulgate). Another reading of less authority is oboe exestin , "it is not lawful." The question is rather of fairness and expediency than of lawfulness. To take the children"s bread. "The children" are the chosen people, "the children of the kingdom", (Mat_8:12) who held this high position by election, however individuals might forfeit it by an unworthy use of privileges. "Bread" is meant to signify the graces and favours bestowed by God in Christ. To cast it. A humiliating term; not to give it, as you would to your children, but to throw it away as valueless, fit only for animals. Dogs (kunarioiv). A contemptuous diminutive, rendered by Wickliffe, "whelpies," or, as we might say, "curs." This was the term applied by the Jews to the Gentiles, even as Turks nowadays talk of "dogs of Christians," and as in later times, by a curious inversion, the Jews themselves were generally saluted with the opprobrious name of "dogs." Some have seen a term of endearment in the diminutive "little dogs," as though Christ desired to soften the harshness of the expression by referring, not to the prowling, unowned animals that act as scavengers in Oriental towns, but to the petted inmates of the master"s house. But Scripture gives no warrant for thinking that the Hebrews ever kept dogs as friends and companions, in our modern fashion; and our Lord adopts the language of his countrymen, to put the woman in her right position, as one with whom Jews could have no fellowship. To take the blessings from the Church of Israel in order to give them to aliens was to throw them away on unworthy recipients.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Observe here, the seeming severity of Christ to this poor woman; he calls her not a woman but a dog: and as it were spurns her from his feet with an harsh repulse. Did ever so severe a word drop from those mild lips? What shall we say? Is the lamb of God turned a lion? That a woman in distress, imploring pity, yea, a good woman, and an humble supplicant, should be thus rated out of Christ’s presence for a dog!

Learn hence, that Christ puts the strongest faith of his own children upon the severest trials; the trial had never been so sharp, if her faith had not been so strong. Usually, where God gives much grace, he tries grace much.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

26. It is not meet to take the children's bread. She knew that, in comparing the Jews to the children of God's family, and the heathen to the dogs without, he simply used the customary language of a Jew. He would bring out fully the greatness of her faith. The gospel was offered first to the Jews and then to all.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

26. τὸν ἄρτον τῶν τέκνων κ.τ.λ. The τέκνα are the Jews; the κυνάρια are the Gentiles. This was the name applied by the Jews to all outside the chosen race, the dog being in the East a symbol of impurity. St Paul, regarding the Christian Church as the true Israel, terms the Judaizing teachers τοὺς κύνας, Php 3:2. The same religious hostility, and the same names of scorn, still exist in the East between Mussulman and Christian populations. Christ’s words, as reported by St Mark (Mar 7:27), contain a gleam of hope, ἄφες πρῶτον χορτασθῆναι τὰ τέκνα.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

26. κυναρίοις] No further contempt is indicated by the diminutive, still less any allusion to the daughter of the woman: the word is commonly used of tame dogs, as diminutives frequently express familiarity. So in Xen. Cyr. viii. 4. 20, εἰ δὲ μεγάλην γαμεῖς, ἤν ποτε βούλῃ αὐτὴν ὀρθὴν φιλῆσαι, προσάλλεσθαί σε δεήσει ὡς τὰ κυνάρια.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

26. And He answered and said, It is not good to take the children’s bread, and to cast it to the dogs.] Mk. has: “And He was saying to her, Let first the children be fed: for,” etc.—κυνάρια] house-dogs. Mk. is fond of diminutives, which Mt. sometimes retains; but cf. v. 25 θυγάτριον, for which Mt. θυγάτηρ.

(M)

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Children 's [των τεκνων] . Bengel observes that while Christ spoke severely to the Jews, he spoke honorably of them to those without. Compare Joh 4:22.

Dogs [κυναριοις] . Diminutive : little dogs. In ver. 27, Wyc. renders the little whelps, and Tynd., in both verses, whelps. The picture is of a family meal, with the pet house - dogs running round the table.

Their masters. The children are the masters of the little dogs. Compare Mr 7:28, "the children 's crumbs."

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.