26
Butδὲheὁansweredἀποκριθεὶςand said,εἶπεν“It is notΟὐκ ἔστινgoodκαλὸνto takeλαβεῖνthe children’sτῶν τέκνωνbreadτὸν ἄρτονandκαὶthrow itβαλεῖνto the little dogs.”τοῖς κυναρίοις
Matthew 15:26
Study it in the app“But he answered and said, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs.””
A Canaanite mother will not give up when Jesus is silentFaith
With the Greek beneath
Matthew 15:26, 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- “It is notἔστινestin
be
To be: says who or what something is.
Where else “estin” appears- goodκαλὸνkalon
beautiful
Lovely to look at.
Where else “kalon” appears- to takeλαβεῖνlabein
take
To grasp something in the hand, or take it from someone.
Where else “labein” appears- the children’sτέκνωνteknōn
child
Someone born of parents, or of a family or people.
Where else “teknōn” appears- breadἄρτονarton
bread
A piece of baked bread made from flour: the basic food.
Where else “arton” appears- throw itβαλεῖνbalein
throw
To hurl something or someone away from oneself.
Where else “balein” appears- to the little dogsκυναρίοιςkynariois
little dog
Little dog, house dog.
Where else “kynariois” appears
Translation note
“Little dogs” (kynaria): diminutive of “dog”; it can be understood as the dogs of the house, as distinct from those of the street (compare 7:6).
Parallel passages
Other books that tell the same thing or quote these words.
The Syrophoenician woman
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.
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
25But she came and was bowing down before him, saying, “Lord, help me.”
26 · This verse (above)
27But she said, “Yes, Lord; for even the little dogs eat from the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”
To study Matthew 15 in a group
1. What it says
What did the Canaanite woman say to Jesus, and how did the encounter end (vv. 22–28)?
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. 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?