Mark 7:24 - 30

Abstract

The story of the Syro-Phoenician woman is often considered a disconcerting or even inflammatory passage. That Jesus seems to call a gentile woman and her people dogs has been controversial to say the least. Yet the obsession with solving this riddle has often distracted from the main points of the passage itself. Some see Jesus as a patriarchal, xenophobic Jew of his time who must be educated or resisted by a foreign woman. Some seek to soften the passage by offering dubious translations. Ultimately, what all these approaches do is impose modern perspectives and sensibilities onto the text and neglect to understand it within its own context and time. When the pericope’s context is taken into consideration, the story evolves into a much more profound narrative dealing with issues of ethnic identity and the kingdom of God. The pericope in its context functions as a fulcrum between Jesus’s mission to Jews and then gentiles. It explains how the mission of Jesus proceeds from the Jews to the gentiles via the faith and passion of a single woman. Thus, the pericope in Mark 7:24–30 is a hinge story in which the faith and λογος of a Syro-Phoenician woman are used to redefine the dimensions of the people of God by expanding its scope to include gentiles as well as Jews.

Written: April 13, 2023

Word Count: 10,068

Origin: Submitted to Dr. Mateus de Campos in Partial Fulfillment of NT613: Exegesis of Mark

Link: Access Paper Here