dogs

In the Gospel According to Matthew 15:26 (NABRE), Jesus responds to a Canaanite woman’s request for assistance by saying: “It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs.” Jesus’ response initially seems rather harsh.

The Greek word translated here as dogs, κυνάριον (kunarion), is a diminutive form that means either small or young dogs. Both cases indicate the idea of youth not able to fend fully for themselves. In this passage, the intention appears to be to contrast human children and dog children in order to create an analogy describing Jewish young and Gentile young.

What does Jesus end up doing? What does this suggest about his attitude? Do you think Jesus is advocating not feeding puppies? How might we view Jesus’ statement as inclusive of Gentiles rather than exclusive of them? How do you think that the people who witnessed this event responded?

related topic: humility

you also may like our study of the Gospel According to John
The Gospel According to John: An Encounter with Grace & Truth, a 25-lesson Catholic Bible study with an imprimatur, examines the Fourth Gospel’s view of Jesus Christ as the Son of God, with special emphasis on the institution of the sacraments of the Church as the means by which Christians are purified and made holy. This recently revised study includes maps and additional commentary, and takes a closer look at the way in which Jesus relates to individual men and women. Click here to view a sample of the first lesson.

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