Faith of a Canaanite Woman

The Woman of Canaan by Michael Angelo Immenraet, 17th century

Matthew 15:21-28 King James Version (KJV)

21 Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon.

22 And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil.

23 But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us.

24 But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

25 Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me.

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

27 And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table.

28 Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.

King James Version (KJV)

Matthew 15:21-28 New International Version (NIV)

The Faith of a Canaanite Woman

21 Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. 22 A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.”

23 Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.”

24 He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”

25 The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said.

26 He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”

27 “Yes it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.”

28 Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment.

New International Version (NIV)
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The Exorcism of the Syrophoenician woman's daughter is one of the miracles of Jesus in the Gospels and is recounted in the Gospel of Mark in Chapter 7 (Mark 7:24-30) and in the Gospel of Matthew in Chapter 15 (Matthew 15:21-28). In Matthew, the story is recounted as the healing of a Canaanite woman's daughter.^[1] According to both accounts, Jesus exorcised the woman's daughter whilst travelling in the region of Tyre {Tyre, is one of the oldest continually inhabited cities in the world, though in medieval times for some centuries by just a tiny population. It was one of the earliest Phoenician metropolises and the legendary birthplace of Europa, her brothers Cadmus and Phoenix, as well as Carthage's founder Dido (Elissa). The city has a number of ancient sites, including the Tyre Hippodrome, which was added to UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites in 1979.} and Sidon{Sidon, known locally as Sayda or Saida, is the third-largest city in Lebanon. It is located in the South Governorate, of which it is the capital, on the Mediterranean coast. Tyre to the south and Lebanese capital Beirut to the north are both about 40 kilometres away. Sidon has a population of about 80,000 within city limits, while its metropolitan area has more than a quarter-million inhabitants.}, on account of the faith shown by the woman.

The woman described in the miracle, the Syrophoenician woman (Mark 7:26) is also called a "Canaanite" (Matthew 15:22) and is an unidentified New Testament woman from the region of Tyre and Sidon. "The woman is ... described as Syrophoenician by race. It is unclear whether Mark seeks to distinguish between a Phoenician from Syria and one from northern Africa or between someone living in the coastal area of Syria and someone living in the central part."^[4] Her other notable characteristic is her non-Jewish status: the Gospel of Mark adds that she is a Greek (Greek: Ελληνις).

The third century pseudo-Clementine homily refers to her name as Justa and her daughter's name as Berenice.

Definition of Syrophoenician (Entry 2 of 2) : a native or inhabitant of Phoenicia when it was part of the Roman province of Syria.