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25 Instead, a woman whose young daughter had an unclean spirit[a] immediately heard about him and came and fell at his feet. 26 The woman was a Greek, of Syrophoenician origin. She[b] asked him to cast the demon out of her daughter. 27 He said to her, “Let the children be satisfied first, for it is not right to take the children’s bread and to throw it to the dogs.”[c] 28 She answered, “Yes, Lord, but even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” 29 Then[d] he said to her, “Because you said this, you may go. The demon has left your daughter.” 30 She went home and found the child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.

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Footnotes

  1. Mark 7:25 sn Unclean spirit refers to an evil spirit.
  2. Mark 7:26 tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.
  3. Mark 7:27 tn Or “lap dogs, house dogs,” as opposed to dogs on the street. The diminutive form originally referred to puppies or little dogs, then to house pets. In some Hellenistic uses κυνάριον (kunarion) simply means “dog.”sn The term dogs does not refer to wild dogs (scavenging animals roaming around the countryside) in this context, but to small dogs taken in as house pets. It is thus not a derogatory term per se, but is instead intended by Jesus to indicate the privileged position of the Jews (especially his disciples) as the initial recipients of Jesus’ ministry. The woman’s response of faith and her willingness to accept whatever Jesus would offer pleased him to such an extent that he granted her request. This is the only miracle mentioned in Mark that Jesus performed at a distance without ever having seen the afflicted person, or issuing some sort of audible command.
  4. Mark 7:29 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

25 A woman heard that he was there. Her little daughter had an evil spirit in her. So the woman quickly came to Jesus and fell at his feet. 26 She was not Jewish. She was Greek, born in Phoenicia, in Syria. She begged Jesus to force the demon out of her daughter.

27 Jesus told the woman: “It is not right to take the children’s bread and give it to the dogs. First let the children eat all they want.”

28 She answered, “That is true, Lord. But the dogs under the table can eat the pieces of food that the children don’t eat.”

29 Then Jesus said, “That is a very good answer. You may go. The demon has left your daughter.”

30 The woman went home and found her daughter lying in bed. The demon was gone.

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