Jesus and the Syrophoenician woman

And from there he arose and went away to the region of Tyre

and Sidon.

Mark 7: 24

And from there he arose and went away to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And he entered a house and did not want anyone to know, yet he could

not be hidden.

Mark 7: 24

Tyre

• Hometown of Jezebel

• Sided with Israel’s enemies in Maccabean rebellion (167-160 BCE)

• Josephus:

The inhabitants of Tyre are… “notoriously our bitterest enemies”.

But immediately a woman whose little daughter had an unclean

spirit heard of him and came and fell down at his feet. Now the

woman was a Gentile, a Syrophoenician by birth. And she

begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter.

Mark 7: 25-26

And he said to her, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not

right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs.”

Mark 7: 27

But she answered him, “Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table

eat the children's crumbs.”

Mark 7: 28

And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a

blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonours you I will curse, and in you all the families of the

earth shall be blessed.

Genesis 12: 2-3

And now the LORD says“It is too small a thing for you to be my

servant    to restore the tribes of Jacob

   and bring back those of Israel I have kept.

Isaiah 49: 6

I will also make you a light for the Gentiles,

   that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and

make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of

the Son and of the Holy Spirit

Matthew 28: 18-19

But she answered him, “Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table

eat the children's crumbs.”

Mark 7: 28

And he said to her, “For this statement you may go your way;

the demon has left your daughter.” And she went home and found the child lying in bed

and the demon gone.

Mark 7: 29-30

Some anthropology…

Bounded Set Centered Set