Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Mark 7:27
But Jesus said unto her, Let the children first be filled: for it is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast [it] unto the dogs.
27. But Jesus said unto her ] St Mark passes more briefly over the interview than St Matthew. The latter Evangelist points out three stages of this woman’s trial; (i) Silence; “ He answered her not a word ” (Mat 15:23); (ii) Refusal; “ I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel ” (Mat 15:24); (iii) Reproach; “ It is not meet to take the children’s bread and cast it to the dogs ” (Mat 15:26). But in spite of all she persevered and finally conquered.
the dogs ] In the original the diminutive is used = “ little dogs.” “Little whelps” Wyclif; “the whelps” Tyndale, Cranmer. The Jews, “ the children of the kingdom ” (Mat 8:12), were wont to designate the heathen as “ dogs,” the noble characteristics of which animal are seldom brought out in Scripture (comp. Deu 23:18; Job 30:1 ; 2Ki 8:13; Php 3:2; Rev 22:15). Here however the term is somewhat softened. The heathen are compared not to the great wild dogs infesting Eastern towns (1Ki 14:11; 1Ki 16:4; 2Ki 9:10), but to the small dogs attached to households. In the East now the Mahometans apply this name to the Christians.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
27. But Jesus said unto her, Let thechildren first be filled“Is there hope for me here?””Filled FIRST?””Then my turn, it seems, is coming!but then, ‘TheCHILDREN first?’ Ah! when,on that rule, shall my turn ever come!” But ere she has time forthese ponderings of His word, another word comes to supplement it.
for it is not meet to takethe children’s bread, and to cast it unto the dogsIs this thedeath of her hopes? Nay, rather it is life from the dead. Out of theeater shall come forth meat (Jud14:14). “At evening-time, it shall be light” (Zec14:7). “Ah! I have it now. Had He kept silence, what could Ihave done but go unblest? but He hath spoken, and the victory ismine.”
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
But Jesus said unto her,…. Not directly and immediately, upon her first request; for he answered not a word to that; but after his, disciples had desired she might be sent away, her cries being so troublesome to them; and after she had renewed her request to him; see Mt 15:23.
Let the children first be filled: according to this method, our Lord directed his apostles, and they proceeded: as he himself was sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, he ordered his disciples to go to them, and preach the Gospel to them, and work miracles among them; and not go in the way of the Gentiles, nor into any of the cities of the Samaritans; but when they had gone through the cities of Judea, he ordered them, after his resurrection, to go into all the world, and preach the Gospel to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem: and this order they observed in other places, where there were Jews; they first preached to them, and then to the Gentiles; knowing that it was necessary, that the word of God should be first spoken to them; and it was the power of God to the Jew first, and then to the Gentile: and the expression here used, though it gives the preference to the Jew, does not exclude the Gentile; nay, it supposes, that after the Jews had had the doctrines of Christ, confirmed by his miracles, sufficiently ministered unto them, for the gathering in the chosen ones among them, and to leave the rest inexcusable; and so long as until they should despise it, and put it away from them, judging themselves unworthy of it; that then the Gentiles should have plenty of Gospel provisions set before them, and should eat of them, and be filled; and should have a large number of miracles wrought among them, and a fulness of the blessings of grace bestowed on them. The Jews are meant, who were the children of God by national adoption; who were first to be filled with the doctrines and miracles of Christ, before the Gentiles were to have them among them; as they were, even to a loathing and contempt of them:
for it is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it unto the dogs: as by “the children” are meant the Israelites, who were not only the children of Abraham by natural descent, but the children of God, to whom pertained the adoption, by virtue of the national covenant made with them; so by “the dogs”, are meant the Gentiles, who were reckoned as such by the Jews; and by the “bread”, which it was not fit and proper should be taken from the one for the present, and cast to the other, is designed the ministry of the Gospel; which is as bread, solid, substantial, wholesome, and nourishing; and the miraculous cures wrought on the bodies of men, which accompanied it: now it was not meet and convenient as yet, that these things should be taken away from the Jewish nation, until they had answered the ends for which they were designed, and the Jews should express their loathing and abhorrence of them: which when they did, they were taken away from them, and were ministered to the nations of the world, they contemptuously called dogs;
[See comments on Mt 15:26].
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Let the children first be filled ( ). The Jews had the first claim. See the command of Jesus in the third tour of Galilee to avoid the Gentiles and the Samaritans (Mt 10:5). Paul was the Apostle to the Gentiles, but he gave the Jew the first opportunity (Ro 2:9f.). See on Mt 15:24f.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Let the children first be filled. Peculiar to Mark.
The dogs. Diminutive. See on Mt 14:26.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “But Jesus said unto her,” (kai elegen aute) “And (Jesus) replied to her appeal;” He always hears the prayers of the earnest, the sincere of all races, to help and to save, Psa 145:18-19; Joh 6:37.
2) “Let the children first be filled (ephes proton chortasthenai ta tekna) “Permit the children to be filled or satisfied first,” first in priority, referring to “the Jew first,” Rom 1:16; Rom 10:10-13. The phrase seems to indicate, your time as a Gentile, will come later, to hear the Word without restraint, Joh 1:11-12.
3) “For it is not meet to take the children’s bread,” (ou gar etin kalon labein ton arton ton teknon) “Because it is not proper to take the children’s bread,” referring to the gospel first sent to the children of Israel, though many will be lost, cast out at the hour of judgment, Mat 8:11-12; Mat 10:5-6; Joh 4:22.
4) “And to cast it unto the dogs.” (kai tois kunariois balein) “And to throw in to the dogs,” the canines, referring to the Gentiles who were considered unclean, as dogs, outside the covenant race of holy people, Act 13:46-49; Col 1:27. Jesus was a Jew, this woman was a Gentile, referred to as a dog, an unclean person or thing.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(27) Let the children first be filled.The precise form of the answer thus given is peculiar to St. Mark.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
‘And he said to her, “Let the children first be filled, for it is not the right thing to do to take the children’s bread and toss it to the little dogs.” ’
Jesus used a well known picture. The family meal, the children round the table and pet dogs waiting for scraps of food to be tossed to them. In order to clean the hands (there were no forks) they would often be wiped on a piece of bread and this would then be tossed to any pet dogs. But for someone to take the children’s bread so as to give it to the dogs would not be right. ‘The children’ represented the people of Israel, the Jews, the bread His message and ministry, and the little dogs the Gentiles.
‘The children first.’ His point was that His first ministry was to the Jews and that He represented the God of the Jews. It was they who were primarily chosen by God even though they had turned aside from Him (Exo 4:22; Deu 14:1; Deu 32:6; Isa 1:2). His first aim was to restore those of them who would come. It was only once this was fulfilled that the Gentiles could benefit as well if they responded to the true God. Thus He confirmed that His first ministry was to the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Mat 10:6; Mat 15:24).
Here then it was stressed that Jesus had come first of all to win Israel to God. All His preaching up to this point had been to Israelites (including, rarely, Samaritans, who also worshipped the God of Moses) and He saw that as His basic mission. As the Servant of the Lord He must raise up the tribes of Jacob preparatory to being a light to the Gentiles (Isa 49:6). But it also stressed to her that it was only in this God that what she wanted could be found.
‘The children’s bread.’ Bread had early been closely connected with the children of Israel. The ‘bread of the presence’, the twelve loaves of showbread in the Tabernacle, which was placed on a table in the Holy Place, clearly represented the people of Israel in their twelve tribes. And it was eaten by the priests in order to demonstrate that they all belonged to God. But it ever continued before Him. To take of that bread and give it to the Gentiles would have been seen as an act of the grossest sacrilege.
But bread was the very staff of life, and when the thought came for His people to be fed (Psa 28:9), and no picture of the shepherd was in mind, the thought would be of bread. See Isa 55:2; Jer 3:15; Mic 5:4 (in Hebrew). Thus did bread represent the word of truth. And when Jesus taught His disciples to pray, ‘give us today the bread of tomorrow’ His meaning may well have been the bread of the coming Tomorrow, the Messianic banquet. This is why Jesus could reveal Himself as the bread of life (Joh 6:35) and finally symbolise the fact at the Passover meal in the Upper Room. That Jesus even hinted at giving this bread to Gentiles would have come as a huge shock to His Apostles, but it did demonstrate that He was ready to do so once the woman acknowledged its source.
‘The little dogs.’ The Jews described the Gentiles as ‘dogs’, and those dogs were not the little pets in some households but the scavenger dogs who roamed the streets and gathered outside towns in order to find scraps. Nothing ‘holy’ must be given to them (Mat 7:6). They were dirty, disease-ridden and semi-wild. But in His illustration Jesus softened the description, speaking of little pet dogs, while knowing that she would be aware that He had the Gentiles in mind. The illustration left the door open for the woman to come back with a response. All knew that pet dogs would sometimes receive food from the table.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The victory of faith:
v. 27. But Jesus said unto her, Let the children first be filled; for it is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it unto the dogs.
v. 28. And she answered and said unto Him, Yes, Lord; yet the dogs under the table eat of the children’s crumbs.
v. 29. And He said unto her, For this saying go thy way; the devil is gone out of thy daughter.
v. 30. And when she was come to her house, she found the devil gone out, and her daughter laid upon the bed. Mark gives the story in a very brief form, merely indicating the battle which the woman fought in proving herself equal to the test of faith which Jesus laid upon her. Christ was not sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, Mat 15:24; His personal ministry extended no farther, and He frankly told the woman so. Neither could the impatient interference of the disciples induce Him to change His mind, Mat 15:21-28. But the woman’s method of attacking Christ and taking hold of His own words in her interest won the day for her. When He told her: Let the children have their food first; it isn’t a nice thing to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs, she acknowledged and admitted the truth of that saying without reservation. She stood the blow in a splendid manner, as Luther says. She was ready to concede to the Jews the right of being children of God, His chosen nation. But she marked well that Jesus used the word that was usually applied to the privileged house-dogs, that had the right to gather up the crumbs under the table. Upon this word she pounces, to that she clings: Yes, Lord. In spite of the fact that He had apparently rejected her and her petition, though there seemed no ray of hope in His manner nor in His words, she found the one place where He had left an opening: And yet the little house-dogs under the table eat of the crumbs of the children; if Thou thinkest the comparison fits, Lord, I do not question it; rather do I count myself lucky that this word includes a promise for me, the promise to receive the crumbs which the Jews, in the richness of the ministry being done among them, will never miss. Thus did this heathen woman give evidence of a conquering faith, in overcoming Christ with His own arguments. And Jesus, ever delighted over any show of true trust and faith in Him, gladly yields to her request, for the sake of that word of humble trust, of sublime assurance which she hath spoken. Let her therefore go home happy, for the demon had already gone forth out of her daughter. And so she found the situation when she came to her house: the daughter, whom the evil spirit had formerly tormented and torn in the most excruciating manner, now lying quietly on the couch, with no more indication of her former suffering. Her faith had won the victory. We, who have much more definite promises of the Lord regarding our earthly and spiritual welfare, usually do not show even a fraction of the faith exhibited by the Syrophoenician woman. It behooves us to be much more instant in prayer and, above all, much more persevering in our appeals to the grace and mercy of God, no matter what gifts we have in mind. We must learn to conquer the Lord with His own words and promises, then true happiness will be ours both here and hereafter.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Mar 7:27. But Jesus said unto her, &c. But Jesus, for the trial of her faith, seemed to reject and disdainher, saying, Pray stay, let the children of God’s family (his visible church,) be first satisfied with the blessings that I am come to bestow: for as it would be thought very improper and unnatural, that a parent should take away his children’s food before they have had enough, and give it to the dogs: so it is not fit that I should deal out these mercies to you, till the Jews, who are the visible household of God, are first served: especially since, for yourGentile abominations, you deserve to be treated as a dog.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
27 But Jesus said unto her, Let the children first be filled: for it is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it unto the dogs.
Ver. 27. To cast it unto dogs ] , unto whelps, for more contempt’ sake, as Beza noteth. The pope made Dandalus, the Venetian ambassador, to come before him, tied in iron chains, and to wallow under his table with dogs, while his Holiness sat at supper. Unde ei canis cognomentum apud suos, saith Revius. He was ever after called the dog ambassador.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
27. ] . ] This important addition in Mark sets forth the whole ground on which the present refusal rested. The Jews were first to have the Gospel offered to them, for their acceptance or rejection; it was not yet time for the Gentiles.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Mar 7:27 . , etc.: a milder word than that in Mt. (Mat 7:26 ); it is here a mere question of order: first Jews, then Gentiles, St. Paul’s programme, Rom 1:16 . In Mt. we read, , it is not right, seemly, to take the children’s bread and to throw it to the dogs. Mk. also has this word, but in a subordinate place, and simply as a reason for the prior claim of the children. We note also that Mk., usually so full in his narratives compared with Mt., omits the intercession of the Twelve with Christ’s reply. Yet Mk.’s, “first the children,” is really equivalent to “I am not sent,” etc. The former implies: “your turn will come”; the latter: “to minister to you is not my vocation”. This word, preserved in Mt., becomes less harsh when looked at in the light of Christ’s desire for quiet, not mentioned in Mt. Jesus made the most of the fact that His commission was to Jews. It has been thought that, in comparison with Mt., Mk.’s report of Christ’s words is secondary, adapted purposely to Gentile readers. Probably that is the case, but, on the other hand, he gives us a far clearer view of the extent and aim of the excursion to the North, concerning which Mt. has, and gives, no adequate conception.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Jesus. App-98.
Let the children first be filled. This is a summary of Mat 15:23, Mat 15:24, and a Divine supplement, here.
children. Greek. Plural of teknon. See App-108. Not the same word as in Mar 7:28.
meet = good,
dogs = little or domestic dogs. Greek. kunarion. Dim. of kuon. Occ, only here and Mat 15:26, Mat 15:27. These were not the pariah dogs of the street, but domestic pets.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
27.] .] This important addition in Mark sets forth the whole ground on which the present refusal rested. The Jews were first to have the Gospel offered to them, for their acceptance or rejection; it was not yet time for the Gentiles.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Mar 7:27. , let first) He does not give her a decided denial; He seems to mark to her the fact, that she is unseasonably importunate.-, be filled) It would have been to derogate from the rights [privileges] of the Jews, had Jesus bestowed more time on the Gentiles.-[ , for it is not becoming) That which is not in itself becoming, is altogether so in the case of those who duly pray.-V. g.]
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Let: Mat 7:6, Mat 10:5, Mat 15:23-28, Act 22:21, Rom 15:8, Eph 2:12
Reciprocal: Mat 15:26 – It is not Luk 15:31 – General Joh 4:43 – two
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
7
The Greek word for dog is not the one ordinarily used for that animal, but one that Thayer defines as “a little dog.” It refers to a creature that would be like a child’s pet and allowed to play about the table while its master was eating. The crumbs that fell would not be denied the dog and the circumstance was used for an illustration. Jesus purposely used that story to suggest the humble speech the woman made.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Mar 7:27. Let the children first be filled. This important addition in Mark sets forth the whole ground on which the present refusal rested. The Jews were first to have the gospel offered to them for their acceptance or rejection; it was not yet time for the Gentiles (Alford).
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Verse 27
The Savior did not use the word dogs as an epithet to be applied to this woman, but only as a part of the metaphor, or figure, by which he illustrated his position in respect to her and her nation. He says that, as it would not be proper to give the food intended for the children of a family to the dogs, so it is doubtful whether he ought to bestow upon the Gentile nations those miraculous benefits which he was sent to communicate to God’s own chosen people. This was very different from applying the term to her as an opprobrious epithet. Hence the point and beauty of her reply,–that the dogs were not to be entirely neglected, but might at least receive some small share.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
7:27 But Jesus said unto her, Let the children first be filled: for it is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast [it] unto the {o} dogs.
(o) “Dog” here signifies a little dog, and he uses this term that he may seem to speak more reproachfully.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Jesus probably conversed with the woman in the Greek language, which was common in that area. The woman conceded that the Jews had a prior claim on Jesus’ ministry. Nonetheless if the little pet dogs (Gr. kynarion) get the table scraps, then she felt she had a right to a crumb from Jesus’ table. She implied that the Gentiles need not wait to receive Jesus’ blessings until a later time. They could feed when the children did, namely, during Jesus’ ministry. A little Gentile blessing would not deprive the Jews of what God wanted them to have.
"The Gentiles are not called ’dogs’ but ’doggies,’ not outside scavengers, but household companions." [Note: Plummer, p. 189.]
"This ’title’ of ’Lord’ that consistently comes on the lips of ’believers’ in Matthew occurs only this one time with confession overtones in Mark and sets the stage for Jesus’ concluding remark and his offer of help to the woman." [Note: Guelich, p. 588.]