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(1) Mark 7:24-30 = Matt 15:21-23,25-28
(1) Mark 7:24-30 = Matt 15:21-23,25-28
/7:24/ From there he set out and went away to the region of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know he was there. Yet he could not escape notice, /7:25/ but a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him, and she came and bowed down at his feet. /7:26/ Now the woman was a Gentile, of Syrophoenician origin. She begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. /7:27/ He said to her, "Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs." /7:28/ But she answered him, "Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs." /7:29/ Then he said to her, "For saying that, you may go--the demon has left your daughter." /7:30/ So she went home, found the child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.= Matt 15:21-23,25-28
/15:21/ Jesus left that place and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon. /15:22/ Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting, "Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon." /15:23/ But he did not answer her at all. And his disciples came and urged him, saying, "Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us." /15:25/ But she came and knelt before him, saying, "Lord, help me." /15:26/ He answered, "It is not fair to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs." /15:27/ She said, "Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table." /15:28/ Then Jesus answered her, "Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish." And her daughter was healed instantly.
Lectionary
RCL: Proper 18, Year B
ECUSA & RC: Year B, 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time
John Dominic Crossan
Item: 237
Stratum: II (60-80 CE)
Attestation: Single
Historicity: ±
Common Sayings Tradition: No
The Parallel Versions
When the stories are placed side by side it is possible to see how Matthew's version represents a development of the simpler story found in Mark. Underlined text indicates points of significant difference between the two versions.
Mark 7:24-30
/7:24/ From there he set out and went away to the region of Tyre.
He entered a house and did not want anyone to know he was there.
Yet he could not escape notice,/7:25/ but a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him, and she came and bowed down at his feet.
/7:26/ Now the woman was a Gentile, of Syrophoenician origin.
She begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter.
/7:27/ He said to her, "Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs."
/7:28/ But she answered him, "Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs."
/7:29/ Then he said to her, "For saying that, you may go--the demon has left your daughter."
/7:30/ So she went home, found the child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.
Matt 15:21-23,25-28
/15:21/ Jesus left that place and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon.
/15:22/ Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting, "Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon."
/15:23/ But he did not answer her at all.
And his disciples came and urged him, saying, "Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us."
/15:25/ But she came and knelt before him, saying, "Lord, help me."
/15:26/ He answered, "It is not fair to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs."
/15:27/ She said, "Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table."
/15:28/ Then Jesus answered her, "Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish."
And her daughter was healed instantly.
Element of the Story
Color There probably was a historical core to Mark's story. (57% of fellows voted Red or Pink) A Greek woman regarded Jesus as an exorcist. Jesus had a conversation with that woman . Their conversation involved an exchange of witticisms in which the woman got the better of Jesus. Jesus visited the region of Tyre in southern Lebanon. Jesus viewed foreigners as "dogs." Jesus said: "It isn't good to take bread out of children's mouths and throw it to the dogs." Jesus said: "Let the children be fed first." A demon left the girl because of her mother's wit. A demon left the girl because her mother trusted Jesus. For a brief commentary on the Seminar's voting, see The Acts of Jesus, pp. 96-98.
Meier deals with this miracle in Marginal Jew II,659-61. On this particular story he concludes:
Weighing all the pros and cons, it seems to me that the story of the Syrophoenician woman is so shot through with Christian missionary theology and concerns that creation by first-generation Christians is the more likely conclusion. (p. 660f)
After this negative conclusion (the equivalent of a Black vote in Jesus Seminar terms), Meier outlines his considered judgment on the seven exorcisms attributed to Jesus in the NT tradition:
If, however, one is pressed to judge whether some historical core lies behind the stories of exorcism in the the narrative sections of the Gospel, the following positions, are, in my view, the most likely: (1) The story of the possessed boy and the brief reference to Mary Magdalene's exorcism probably go back to historical events in Jesus' ministry. I tend to think the same is true of the story of the Gerasene demoniac, though in this case the arguments are less probative. (2) In its present form, the exorcism of the demoniac in the Capernaum synagogue may be a Christian creation, but it probably represents "the sort of thing" Jesus did during his ministry in Capernaum. (3) The brief story of the exorcism of a mute (and blind?) demoniac in the Q tradition (Matt 12:24 || Luke 11:14-15) is difficult to judge. It could go back to some historical incident, or it could be a literary creation used to introduce the Beelzebul controversy. (4) In contrast, it seems very likely that the story of the mute demoniac in Matt 9:32-33 is a redactional creation of Matthew to fill out his schema of three groups of three miracle stories in chaps. 8-9 of his Gospel. (5) The story of the Syrophoenician woman is probably a Christian creation to exemplify the missionary theology of the early church. (p. 661)
E.P. Sanders
Sanders [The Historical Figure of Jesus, 159, 191] deals with this tradition in a way that suggest he sees it as a historical report.
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