Freethought & Rationalism Archive

mrsonic · 04-09-2011, 07:47 AM

Quote:

[A] woman whose daughter had an unclean spirit heard about [Jesus], and came and fell down at his feet. The woman was a Greek, by race a Phoenician from Syria. And she started asking him to drive the demon out of her daughter. He responded to her like this: "Let the children first be fed, since it isn't good to take bread out of children's mouths and throw it to the dogs! [kynaria]" But as a rejoinder she says to him: "Sir, even the dogs under the table get to eat scraps dropped by children!" Then he said to her: "For that retort, be on your way, the demon has come out of your daughter." (Mk. 7:25).

Quote:

21 And Jesus having come forth thence, withdrew to the parts of Tyre and Sidon, 22 and lo, a woman, a Canaanitess, from those borders having come forth, did call to him, saying, `Deal kindly with me, Sir -- Son of David; my daughter is miserably demonized.' 23 And he did not answer her a word; and his disciples having come to him, were asking him, saying -- `Let her away, because she crieth after us;' 24 and he answering said, `I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.' 25 And having come, she was bowing to him, saying, `Sir, help me;' 26 and he answering said, `It is not good to take the children's bread, and to cast to the little dogs.' 27 And she said, `Yes, sir, for even the little dogs do eat of the crumbs that are falling from their lords' table;'

greetings IbcAh readers

can someone help explain some of the verses in these passages.

my interpretation

Quote:

Insult-
to say or do something rude or insensitive that offends somebody

In the story, the woman does not throw jesus’ verbal insult back at him.

The woman uses the insult, applies it to her and her people to help make case for her daughter.

What does “Let the children first be fed” mean?

The children/jews have priority over the dogs/gentiles? Apolgists say jesus believed in equal rights . why does he put the Jews first? Is it because jesus like other contemporary jews in his time believed that the gentiles were dirty lawless idolaterors and the good jews the opposite of gentiles?
i know Jews who refer to the christians as herem and want israel to be free from them.

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“since it isn't good to take bread out of children's mouths and throw it to the dogs”

So it is not good to take bread which has children’s saliva on it and throw it to the dogs?

Feeding the dogs with used bread isn’t a good thing?

Quote:

"Sir, even the dogs under the table get to eat scraps dropped by children!"

So dogs who have no status eat bits dropped on the floor.
what does her reply mean? she says that a low level gentile like her mops the floor with her mouth? like a voulcher cleans the leftovers?

She said “Deal kindly with me…”

Does this mean that her experience with jews was not a good one because she was not dealt with in a kind way before?

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