Matthew 15:24

“But he answered and said, “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.””

Matthew 15:24 · direct translation from the Greek
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A Canaanite mother will not give up when Jesus is silentFaith

With the Greek beneath

24

Matthew 15:24, word by word

answeredἀποκριθεὶςapokritheis

answer

To say something back to the one who spoke or asked.

Where else “apokritheis” appears
and saidεἶπενeipen

say

To express something in words to others.

Where else “eipen” appears
sentἀπεστάληνapestalēn

send

To send someone somewhere on an errand, on behalf of the sender.

Where else “apestalēn” appears
the lostἀπολωλόταapolōlota

be lost

Gone astray, like the sheep that wandered off.

Where else “apolōlota” appears
sheepπρόβαταprobata

flock

The people a shepherd cares for, God's people.

Where else “probata” appears
of the houseοἴκουoikou

house

The place where one lives; also the temple, God's dwelling.

Where else “oikou” appears
of IsraelἸσραήλIsraēl

Israel

Israel: the name God gave to Jacob, and the people descended from him.

Where else “Israēl” appears

Parallel passages

Other books that tell the same thing or quote these words.

The Syrophoenician woman

Mark 7:24-30

See them side by side

Matthew 15:21-28

21And going out from there, Jesus withdrew into the region of Tyre and Sidon. 22And look, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and was crying out, saying, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is badly demon-possessed.” 23But he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came and were urging him, saying, “Send her away, for she is crying out after us.” 24But he answered and said, “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” 25But she came and was bowing down before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” 26But he answered and said, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs.” 27But she said, “Yes, Lord; for even the little dogs eat from the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” 28Then Jesus answered and said to her, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed from that hour.

Mark 7:24-30

24And getting up from there, he went away into the region of Tyre. And he entered into a house and wanted no one to know it, and he could not escape notice. 25But at once a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit, having heard about him, came and fell at his feet. 26Now the woman was a Greek, a Syrophoenician by birth; and she was asking him to drive the demon out of her daughter. 27And he was saying to her, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs.” 28But she answered and says to him, “Lord, even the little dogs under the table eat from the children’s crumbs.” 29And he said to her, “Because of this word, go; the demon has gone out of your daughter.” 30And going away to her home, she found the child lying on the bed and the demon gone out.

The context

23But he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came and were urging him, saying, “Send her away, for she is crying out after us.”

24 · This verse (above)

25But she came and was bowing down before him, saying, “Lord, help me.”

Read all of Matthew 15

To study Matthew 15 in a group

  1. 1. What it says

    What did the Canaanite woman say to Jesus, and how did the encounter end (vv. 22–28)?

  2. 2. What it means

    Why does Jesus say that what defiles a person comes out of the heart and not in through the mouth (vv. 10–20)?

  3. 3. How I live it

    The woman kept asking humbly (v. 25). When is it worth persisting in asking for help, even when it is hard?

How to use it