Why did Jesus first turn away the woman whose daughter was posessed by unclean spirits?

Question

And why did he call her a dog and tell her to go home until she implored him to cure her daughter?

Reply to sunestauromai:
This reminds me of a line from a Billie Holiday song...
Rich relations give crust of bread and such,
you can help yourself but don't take too much.

Answer 1

The woman was a Samaritan, who were very much looked down on by Jewish society back then.

Jesus was pretending to snub her -- but when she showed her faith in Him, He praised her and granted her wish.

Don't focus on just one part of the story -- look at the whole story, and then you can see that Jesus was actually debunking society's attitude toward Samaritans.

He was showing how wrong this attitude was -- He was using the woman to teach a lesson about how we should treat each other equally, regardless of their color or ethnicity or whatever.

Answer 2

First, remember that the Bible was written by man NOT God.
Second, the Hebrews wanted to gain power over the Dominent Pagan religion which was led by women as Preistesses. The Hebrews saw that the Preistesses were very loved leaders of their faith. So they decided that they needed to make women appear evil to shake the faith of the followers of the Old Religion. If you look into several places in the bible where satan or pure evil is given a name you will see that the names are commonly Ashera and Astarte. These are some names of the most ancient of concepts of the Mother Goddess. Also, often seen is the name Baal - the name of the Father God. The Old Religion revered the duality of Mother and Father.
The Hebrews couldn't allow this to go on (sarcasm).

You, no, Everyone needs to remember that there was a world before the Hebrews took over. Also, we must remember that there are Many ancient manuscripts, not just the ones agreed upon by the Hebrew (and subsequently Christian), Preists, to be put into their holy books.

Another thing to keep in mind, and many people forget this, At This Time, There Was No Such Thing as Christianity. Christianity didn't come about for nearly 300 years after Jeshua (Jesus) died.

Answer 3

Mk 7:24 Jesus went from there to a place near Tyre. He entered a house. He did not want anyone to know where he was. But he could not keep it a secret.
Mk 7:25 Soon a woman heard about him. An evil spirit controlled her little daughter. The woman came to Jesus and fell at his feet.
Mk 7:26 She was a Greek, born in Syrian Phoenicia. She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter.
Mk 7:27 “First let the children eat all they want,” he told her. “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to their dogs.”
Mk 7:28 “Yes, Lord,” she replied. “But even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”
Mk 7:29 Then he told her, “That was a good reply. You may go. The demon has left your daughter.”
Mk 7:30 So she went home and found her child lying on the bed. And the demon was gone.

Julia E: Here are the Greek dictionary entries for Samaritan and SyroPhoenician... I can't understand how you confused them. Clearly she was a Greek from Syrian Phoenicia.

Samari/thv Samaritan
Surofoini/kissa woman of Syrian Phoenicia

Dog... "Kunarion" as used here means a "(little or domesticated) dog" The reference is to a small dog, probably a pet.

Kuon is the common term for dog, as used in Matt 7:6 “Do not give holy things to dogs. Do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they might walk all over them. Then they might turn around and tear you to pieces... The term one might expect to be used referring to a Greek/gentile.

Answer 4

First we need to understand why God had an issue with the canaanite people and many others in the region back then. The one thing I would suggest to you is to look up the religion of these people and you'll see they worshiped The Devil. They did child sacrifices to Molech, and worship Baal and many other gods. Jesus and the heavenly father was strongly opposed to this behavior and Jesus said woe to anyone who harms one hair on a child's head. You see we don't know what this woman did but Jesus knew and we see the kinds of practices these people engaged in just by doing a simple internet search.

Answer 5

Jesus walked into the temple where people were having a great time selling doves etc. and started flipping tables over and kicking people out, pretty radical huh? Jesus was not a suck or a wimp like many believe, Jesus had guts galore, He got angry but did not sin in anger, everything he did was appropriate and even His biggest adversaries, the Pharisees could find no fault in Him and had to twist words to get a conviction. Jesus knew that woman and the reasons behind her story, like he knew the woman at the well who had seven husbands, I would bet the story behind that woman and her daughters condition was an ugly one, but noetheless Jesus did heal her.

Answer 6

Jesus had to deal with the issue that the woman was taking her daughter's food. She would feed herself before your children. He called her a dog letting her know that she was the reason why her daughter was the way she was.

She asked for forgiveness and said help me with my unbelief and that is why she was cured

Answer 7

because she was a sryro-phonician woman, as such a non-jew. Jesus himself told her, "I was only sent to the lost sheep of israel." Then she said,"Yes, Lord, but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master's table." Because she persisted with Him, Jesus gave her a miracle even though she was not a Jew. His Ministry was only to Jews until he died on the cross. Then he told the apostles, and St Paul, to take his message to gentiles, Non-Jews.

You see Jews regard any non jew as a dog not worth their time Outside of God's blessings. Jesus Ministry was radical because It opened a path god to all people. He gave her a miracle before his time with non-jews.

Answer 8

You have a good answer from Julia, I would like to add that he said, why would i feed the bread to the dogs,

the bread is for his children, the Christians.
the rain falls on the just and the unjust. The crumbs he gave her because of her faith. If a sinner has faith in Jesus, they can have the healing of salvation.

Just like she stood in for her daughter, Jesus stood in for us, when we didn't deserve it.

Answer 9

Because Jesus only came for the Jews. He told his disciples not to go into the way of the Gentiles, but rather to the lost sheep of the House of Israel (to the Jews only). The woman was a Canaanite (some say a Greek) and, being a non-Jew, was referred to as a "dog". But she pleaded her case and showed her faith by saying even dogs eat crumbs. Anyway, he was pretty impressed by her pleading and healed her daughter.

"But he (Jesus) answered and said, I am NOT SENT but unto the lost sheep of the HOUSE OF ISRAEL (the Jews only). "Then came she (the Canaanite woman) and worshipped him, saying Lord, help me (to cure my daughter). "But he answered and said, it is not meet to take the children's bread and CAST IT TO DOGS (the non-Jews). " MATTHEW 15:24-26

Answer 10

you couldnt be more wrong

He didnt refuse to do it, as the story ends Jesus heals her daughter and compliments her on being a woman of great faith

he made her work for it saying the children eat first then the puppies... it was a lesson to the gentile woman ,... and to the disciples abot how perseverant she was...

notice in the chapter after he heals crowds of gentiles... and then after he feeds the 4000 gentiles as he fed the 5000 Jeish chapters b4.... he merely established his first priority was teh Jews... but salvation owuld ocme to the gentiles as well and he took care of them as well

see Matthew 15, the Syropoanician woman
but you knew that form yesterday