St Matthew Chapter XV : Verses 21-28
Contents
- Matt. xv. 21-28. Douay-Rheims text & Latin text (Vulgate).
- Notes on the text.
Matt. xv. 21-28
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| Healing the Canaanite's daughter. |
Et egressus inde Jesus secessit in partes Tyri et Sidonis.
22 And behold a woman of Canaan who came out of those coasts, crying out, said to him: Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David: my daughter is grieviously troubled by the devil.
Et ecce mulier chananæa a finibus illis egressa clamavit, dicens ei : Miserere mei, Domine fili David : filia mea male a dæmonio vexatur.
23 Who answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying: Send her away, for she crieth after us:
Qui non respondit ei verbum. Et accedentes discipuli ejus rogabant eum dicentes : Dimitte eam : quia clamat post nos.
24 And he answering, said: I was not sent but to the sheep that are lost of the house of Israel.
Ipse autem respondens ait : Non sum missus nisi ad oves, quæ perierunt domus Israel.
25 But she came and adored him, saying: Lord, help me.
At illa venit, et adoravit eum, dicens : Domine, adjuva me.
26 Who answering, said: It is not good to take the bread of the children, and to cast it to the dogs.
Qui respondens ait : Non est bonum sumere panem filiorum, et mittere canibus.
27 But she said: Yea, Lord; for the whelps also eat of the crumbs that fall from the table of their masters.
At illa dixit : Etiam Domine : nam et catelli edunt de micis quæ cadunt de mensa dominorum suorum.
28 Then Jesus answering, said to her: O woman, great is thy faith: be it done to thee as thou wilt: and her daughter was cured from that hour.
Tunc respondens Jesus, ait illi : O mulier, magna est fides tua : fiat tibi sicut vis. Et sanata est filia ejus ex illa hora.
Notes
21. Jesus went from thence. From the house, in which His disciples had questioned Him, and also from the city of Capharnaum.
retired. St Mark adds : Entering into a house, he would that no man should know it, and he could not he hid. Three reasons may be assigned for this desire : —
(1) Jesus desired to rest awhile.
(2) He did not wish to excite the Pharisees by preaching to the Gentiles.
(3) His mission was only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. The work of the conversion of the Gentiles was to be confided to His apostles.
the coasts. Border-land or frontier.
Tyre. A noted ancient city on the coast of Phoenicia.
Sidon. Also a wealthy populous Phœnician city. It was about a day’s journey north of Tyre.
22. a woman of Canaan. St Mark describes her as a Gentile, a Syro-phoenician born. Some MSS. have “a Greek.” In any case “Greek” was a generic term including all who were not Jews, just as in the East, all Europeans are “ Franks.” She was probably a heathen, or she might have been a “ proselyte” to the Jewish faith. The words “ a Syro-phoenician born ” give her nationality.
She was a descendant of the ancient people of Canaan, who had been driven northwards when the Israelites conquered Canaan. The Phœnicians being in Syria were called Syro-phœnicians, those inhabiting Libya in Africa were styled Liby-phœnicians, i.e. Carthaginians.
A tradition gives her name as Zulusta or Justa, and at the present day a mosque (formerly a Christian chapel) opposite the eastern gate of Sidon stands in commemoration of the miracles worked in her favour.
Have mercy on me, etc. St Matthew alone gives the words of the woman’s petition. The woman at first followed them along the road.
grievously troubled. Lit. “ grievously possessed ” (κακῶς δαιμονίζεται). Possessions of the devil were common among idolatrous nations, who frequently worshipped the devil.
23. Who answered her not, etc. Verses 23 and 24 are peculiar to St Matthew. Jesus tried this woman's faith —
(a) by His silence : “ Who answered her not a word."
(b) by His apparent refusal : I was not sent but to the sheep that are lost of the house of Israel.
(c) by a reproach : It is not good to take the bread of the children and to cast it to the dogs.
his disciples came. They were unaccustomed to our Lord delaying His favours, and evidently thought that as she was a Canaanite, He would not heal her daughter.
after us. Better, “ behind us ” (ὄπισθεν ἡμῶν).
25. she came. She now came into the house, and prostrating herself at His feet, adored Him.
Lord, help me. Peculiar to St Matthew.
26. It is not good, etc. In the parallel passage our Lord gives the poor woman a gleam of hope : — Suffer first the children to he filled, for it is not good, etc., — first the children, then the dogs.
the children. The Jews, the chosen people of God.
dogs. The diminutive is used in the original (κυναρίοις), which was a term of even greater contempt than the simple word “ dog.’’ Our Lord assumes this tone of severity to bring into relief the woman’s faith, for He foresaw the result of this trial. Dogs were considered as unclean animals ; useful, however, for keeping the streets free from offal.
The Jews were accustomed to call the Gentiles “ dogs,” and the term “ dog,” or worse still, “ dead dog,” was an expression conveying extreme contempt and abhorrence. And Abisai, the son of Sarvia, said to the king : Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king ? (2 Kings xvi. 9). Without are dogs, and sorcerers, and unchaste, and murderers, and servers of idols, and every one that loveth and maketh a lie (Apoc. xxii, 15). Mahometans still call Christians “ dogs.”
27. Yea, Lord. The poor woman assents. Notice the virtues she practises, — humility, perseverance, confidence.
whelps. The little dogs.
crumbs. This may mean the fragments that remained after the meal, or the bread on which the guests had wiped their fingers, and which was the dogs’ portion.
28. Jesus answering said, etc. Our Lord’s words to her were ; O woman, great is thy faith, be it done to thee as thou wilt (St Matt.). For this saying, go thy way, the devil is gone out of thy daughter (St Mark vii. 29).
As Jesus had praised the faith of the Capharnaum nobleman, so here He praises another Gentile. Never do we find Him praising the faith of an Israelite. Notice also that the faith of the mother saved the child.
her daughter was cured. When the mother was come into her house, she found the girl lying upon the bed, and that the devil was gone out (St Mark). The girl was resting peacefully after the devil had ceased to torment her.
Lessons taught by this Miracle.
(1) If our Lord does not immediately answer our prayer, it is that He wishes to try our faith, and to make us pray more earnestly.
(2) Humility and confidence always finally prevail.
(3) Some graces need more earnest supplications in order to obtain them.
(4) The lively faith of one Christian can obtain graces for another.
Totus tuus ego sum
Et omnia mea tua sunt;
Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam.
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