Nehemiah 9:26-38

26 "Nevertheless they were disobedient and rebelled against you and cast your law behind their backs and killed your prophets, who had warned them in order to turn them back to you, and they committed great blasphemies. 27 Therefore you gave them into the hands of their enemies, who made them suffer. Then in the time of their suffering they cried out to you and you heard them from heaven, and according to your great mercies you gave them saviors who saved them from the hands of their enemies. 28 But after they had rest, they again did evil before you, and you abandoned them to the hands of their enemies, so that they had dominion over them; yet when they turned and cried to you, you heard from heaven, and many times you rescued them according to your mercies. 29 And you warned them in order to turn them back to your law. Yet they acted presumptuously and did not obey your commandments, but sinned against your ordinances, by the observance of which a person shall live. They turned a stubborn shoulder and stiffened their neck and would not obey. 30 Many years you were patient with them, and warned them by your spirit through your prophets; yet they would not listen. Therefore you handed them over to the peoples of the lands. 31 Nevertheless, in your great mercies you did not make an end of them or forsake them, for you are a gracious and merciful God.

32 "Now therefore, our God--the great and mighty and awesome God, keeping covenant and steadfast love--do not treat lightly all the hardship that has come upon us, upon our kings, our officials, our priests, our prophets, our ancestors, and all your people, since the time of the kings of Assyria until today. 33 You have been just in all that has come upon us, for you have dealt faithfully and we have acted wickedly; 34 our kings, our officials, our priests, and our ancestors have not kept your law or heeded the commandments and the warnings that you gave them. 35 Even in their own kingdom, and in the great goodness you bestowed on them, and in the large and rich land that you set before them, they did not serve you and did not turn from their wicked works. 36 Here we are, slaves to this day-slaves in the land that you gave to our ancestors to enjoy its fruit and its good gifts. 37 Its rich yield goes to the kings whom you have set over us because of our sins; they have power also over our bodies and over our livestock at their pleasure, and we are in great distress."

38 Because of all this we make a firm agreement in writing, and on that sealed document are inscribed the names of our officials, our Levites, and our priests. (Nehemiah 9:26-38, NRSV)

On November 13, 2007 (Tuesday in the week of the Twenty-fourth Sunday after Pentecost, references for the week of the Sunday closest to November 9, Year One), comments were repeated from November 8, 2005 (Tuesday in the week of the Sunday closest to November 9, Year One); they are repeated again here with editing and supplement:

The historical prayer of confession continues. There seems to be some difference of opinion as to it’s extent and/or the connection between Nehemiah chapters 9 and 10. In the NRSV quotation marks define the prayer of the people [or Ezra] as Neh. 9:6 to 37, though first-person narrative continues in 9:38 (= Heb. 10:1) through chapter 10. The Today’s NIV (TNIV 2001, 2005) recognizes the first-person narrative of chapter 10, but excludes the list of “those who sealed,” what is called “a binding agreement” (10:38 TNIV), “firm agreement (10:38 NRSV), or “pledge” (NJPS) in 10:1-27 (TNIV = NRSV = Heb. 10:2-28 = NJPS). The Hebrew word so translated is hn!m!x3 (’ ^amānāh), which occurs twice in the Hebrew Bible (Gerhard Lizowsky, Konkordanz zum Hebräischen alten Testament, 2^nd ed., 1966, repr., 1981, p. 108; cf. William L. Holladay, A concise Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, 1971, 4^th impression, 1978, s.v. hn!m!x3, ’ ^amānāh). In the NJPS 1985, 1999, translation, the quotation marks begin with 9:5b and continue without interruption, apparently, through chapter 10. The words, “We will not neglect the House of our God” (at the end of 10:40 NJPS = Heb. = NRSV 10:39) apparently should be a quotation within a quotation (e.g., with single quotation marks, ‘. . .’), followed by a double quotation mark (”) to close the long quotation that begins with 9:5b. In her comments Hindy Najman, though she calls Nehemiah 9:6-37 a “communal confession” (The Jewish Study Bible, 2004, on Neh. 9:6-37), she refers to it as “Nehemiah’s prayer” (ibid., cf. on vv. 11, 13a,, 26-31, 32), though of vv. 32-37 she says, “the returnees confess their sins” (ibid.). She calls the next chapter (10:1-40 NJPS = Heb. = NRSV 9:38-10:39) “the covenant of Nehemiah and the returnees” (ibid., on 10:1-40 NJPS). She apparently assumes that the narrative (lacking the LXX ref. to Ezra in 9:6) presents a communal prayer and historical review led by Nehemiah and the Levites of 9:4-5.

Today’s reading continues from yesterday’s, continuing the communal prayer. Najman describes the first paragraph as referring to “repeated transgression of Israel in the land, following a pattern already established in the desert. Nehemiah,” she adds, “recounts the period of the judges and the kings. The main theme is God’s continued forgiveness and forbearance, which Nehemiah is invoking as paradigmatic for his own situation” (ibid., on vv. 26-31). “Nevertheless,” says the prayer, “they were disobedient and rebelled against you and cast your law behind their backs and killed your prophets, who had warned them in order to turn them back to you, and they committed great blasphemies” (Neh. 9:26). Tamara Cohn Eskenazi calls this the beginning of “a summary interpretation of the period from Joshua to the destruction of Jerusalem (see Judges-2 Kings)” (NOAB, 3^rd ed., augmented, 2007, on Neh. 9:26-31). This summary is comparable to the introductory summary of the book of Judges (Judg. 2:6-3:6). The summary here continues with reference to the cycle of forsaking God, suffering, crying to God for help, and being rescued by a succession of judges. “Therefore you gave them into the hands of their enemies, who made them suffer. Then in the time of their suffering they cried out to you and you heard them from heaven, and according to your great mercies you gave them saviors (Myf9yw9Om, môšî‘îm) who saved (MUfyw09Oyv4, w ^eyôšî‘ûm) them from the hands of their enemies” (v. 27; cf. Judges 2:16 and 2:11-23). Note the relation between the words “saviors” and “saved” (in Hebrew as in English). Eskenazi says of “Saviors” that “the same Heb. word is translated ‘deliverer’ in Judg. 3:9, 15)” (ibid., on v. 27).

This pattern became a repeating cycle. “But after they had rest, they again did evil before you, and you abandoned them to the hands of their enemies, so that they had dominion over them; yet when they turned and cried to you, you heard from heaven, and many times you rescued them according to your mercies” (v. 28). This cycle repeated itself over and over, and God warned them again and again. “And you warned them in order to turn them back to your law. Yet they acted presumptuously and did not obey your commandments, but sinned against your ordinances, by the observance of which a person shall live. They turned a stubborn shoulder and stiffened their neck and would not obey” (v. 29). “Many years,” they pray, “you [God] were patient with them, and warned them by your spirit through your prophets; yet they would not listen” (v. 30a). And this repeated cycle of rebellion, punishment, repentance or crying to God, and deliverance includes the Babylonian captivity. “Therefore you handed them over to the peoples of the lands” (v. 30b). Even so, God’s judgment was tempered by grace and mercy. “Nevertheless, in your great mercies you did not make an end of them or forsake them, for you are a gracious and merciful God” (v. 31).

The next paragraph appeals to God. “Now (hT!8fav4, w ^e‘attāh, lit. ‘And now,’ cf. NJPS = Heb.) therefore, our God–the great and mighty and awesome God, keeping covenant (tyr96B4ha, habb ^erîth) and steadfast love (ds,H,hav4, hachesed)–do not treat lightly all the hardship that has come upon us, upon our kings, our officials, our priests, our prophets, our ancestors, , and all your people since the time of the kings of Assyria until today” (v. 32). “The time of the kings of Assyria,” says Eskenazi, is “the mid-eighth to the late seventh centuries BCE” (ibid., on v. 32). According to Najman, “The words and now [NJPS] mark a transition. Nehemiah turns his attention from the past to the present. This is common in many other biblical prayers, e.g., Num. 14:17; Dan. 9:15; Ezra 9:10)” (op. cit., on v. 32). In verses 32-37, she says, the “returnees confess their sins” (ibid., on vv. 32-37). “You have been just in all that has come upon us,” confesses the prayer, “for you have dealt faithfully and we have acted wickedly; our kings, our officials, our priests, and our ancestors have not kept your law or heeded the commandments and the warnings that you gave them” (vv. 33-34). This, says Najman, is “a list of people who are guilty and responsible for the exile. Cf. Jer. 24:1-10; 44:17; Dan. 9:6, 8; 2 Chron. 36:14-16; Zech. 1:5-6; 7:8-14” (ibid., on vv. 34-35). This disobedience, they admit was in spite of God’s manifest blessings. “ Even in their own kingdom, and in the great goodness you bestowed on them, and in the large and rich land that you set before them, they did not serve you and did not turn from their wicked works” (v. 35). They decry their present position as subjects of the Persian empire, as “slaves in the land that you gave to our ancestors to enjoy its fruit and its good gifts” (v. 36). The bulk of the products of the land, which should be a benefit for the Judeans, goes instead to their Persian overlords. “Its rich yield goes to the kings whom you have set over us because of our sins; they have power also over our bodies and over our livestock at their pleasure, and we are in great distress” (v. 37).

Their proposed remedy for the present situation, against the background of such disobedience, rebellion and suffering of punishment, is to “make a firm commitment (hn!m!x3, ’ ^amānāh) in writing, and on that sealed document are inscribed the names of our officials, our Levites, and our priests” (9:38 NRSV = Heb. 10:1). This document is discussed above with reference to the context of today’s reading. As we look ahead, the next chapter begins with a list of the names of those who signed the document (Neh. 10:1-27 NRSV = Heb. 10:2-28). According to Eskenazi, “These signatories include persons and clan names from several previous lists (Ezra 2//Neh. 7; Ezra 8), but also reflects a broader religious; and social participation” (op. cit., on 10:1-27; cf. Najman on 10:1-28 NJPS = Heb. = NRSV 9:38-10:27). A commitment is also recorded from “the rest of the people” (10:28 NRSV = Heb. 10:29) who “join with their kin, their nobles, and enter into a curse and an oath to walk in God’s law, which was given by Moses the servant of God, and to observe and do all the commandments of the LORD our Lord and his ordinances and his statutes” (10:29 NRSV = Heb. 10:30).

or Nehemiah 4:1-23 (alternative reading, Presbyterian and Lutheran traditions)

For the text and comments of this reading see the text and comments of Saturday, October 31, 2009, ten days ago.

Revelation 18:9-20

9 And the kings of the earth, who committed fornication and lived in luxury with her, will weep and wail over her when they see the smoke of her burning; 10 they will stand far off, in fear of her torment, and say,

"Alas, alas, the great city,

Babylon, the mighty city!

For in one hour your judgment has come."

11 And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn for her, since no one buys their cargo anymore, 12 cargo of gold, silver, jewels and pearls, fine linen, purple, silk and scarlet, all kinds of scented wood, all articles of ivory, all articles of costly wood, bronze, iron, and marble, 13 cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, frankincense, wine, olive oil, choice flour and wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, slaves-and human lives.

14 "The fruit for which your soul longed

has gone from you,

and all your dainties and your splendor

are lost to you,

never to be found again!"

15 The merchants of these wares, who gained wealth from her, will stand far off, in fear of her torment, weeping and mourning aloud,

16 "Alas, alas, the great city,

clothed in fine linen,

in purple and scarlet,

adorned with gold,

with jewels, and with pearls!

17 For in one hour all this wealth has been laid waste!"

And all shipmasters and seafarers, sailors and all whose trade is on the sea, stood far off 18 and cried out as they saw the smoke of her burning,

"What city was like the great city?"

19 And they threw dust on their heads, as they wept and mourned, crying out,

"Alas, alas, the great city,

where all who had ships at sea

grew rich by her wealth!

For in one hour she has been laid waste.

20 Rejoice over her, O heaven, you saints and apostles and prophets! For God has given judgment for you against her." (Revelation 18:9-20, NRSV)

On November 8 and 10, 2008 (Saturday in the week of the Sunday closest to November 2, and Monday in the week of the Sunday closest to November 9, Year Two), the Epistle readings were Revelation 18:1-14 and vv. 15-24. Comments were based on those of November 11, 2006 (Saturday in the week of the Sunday closest to November 2, Year Two), that were repeated from earlier, as noted there, and from comments on Revelation 18:1-8 from September 14, 2008 (the Sunday closest to September 14, Year Two), and earlier comments as noted there. Some of these comments were used yesterday; relevant comments are used here:

In Saturday’s reading (Nov. 10, 2007), one of the angels shows John “the judgment of the great whore who is seated on many waters” (Rev. 17:1), that is, “Babylon the great, mother of whores and of earth’s abominations” (v. 5). “As we noted, “Babylon” is a kind of code for Rome. In yesterday’s reading (Nov. 12, 2007), another angel announces the fall of “Babylon”: “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great” (18:2b), and the reading (Rev. 18:1-8) continued as a “dirge over the fallen city” (Bruce M. Metzger, NOAB, 2^nd ed., on Rev. 18:1-24).

Today, the “dirge” over the fall of Babylon continues. We hear again about “the kings of the earth, who committed fornication and lived in luxury with her” (v. 9a, cf. v. 3). They “will weep and wail over her [‘Babylon,’ i.e. Rome] when they see the smoke of her burning” (v. 9b). According to Jean-Pierre Ruiz, this verse begins a “lamentation of those who have been enriched through their dealings with the corrupt city: kings (vv. 9-10), merchants (vv. 11-16, and mariners (vv. 17-20; cf. Ezek. 27:29-36)” (NOAB, 3^rd ed., augmented, 2007, on vv. 9-20; cf. Metzger, op. cit., on vv. 9-20). The kings say, “Alas, alas, the great city, / Babylon, the mighty city! / For in one hour your judgment has come” (v. 10). John says, “And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn for her, since no one buys their cargo anymore, cargo of gold, silver, jewels and pearls, fine linen, purple, silk and scarlet, all kinds of scented wood, all articles of ivory, all articles of costly wood, bronze, iron, and marble, cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, frankincense, wine, olive oil, choice flour and wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, slaves–and human lives” (vv. 11-13). David E. Aune says, “The merchants . . . weep . . . for her, ostensibly for her, but actually for themselves; Rome was the hub of a complex economic system that imported products from China, India, Africa, and northern Europe” (HarperCollins Study Bible, rev. ed., 2006, on Rev. 18:11). “The list of twenty-nine trade goods,” he adds, “alludes to Ezek. 16:9-13; 27:5-24” (ibid., on vv. 12, 13). The merchants lament saying, “The fruit for which your soul longed / has gone from you, / and all your dainties and your splendor / are lost to you, never to be found again!” (v. 14).

As the lamenting continues, we are told, “The merchants of these wares, who gained wealth from her, will stand far off, in fear of her torment, weeping and mourning aloud” (v. 15). This lament comes in poetic lines:

“Alas, alas, the great city,

clothed in fine linen,

in purple and scarlet,

adorned with gold,

with jewels, and with pearls!

For in one hour all this wealth has been laid waste!” (Rev. 18:16-17a, NRSV)

“Purple and scarlet,” says Aune, are “colors symbolic of royalty and evil” (ibid., on v. 16). He refers to an earlier note, “Clothed in . . . pearls, i.e., dressed like a wealthy courtesan (see 18:16)” (ibid. on 17:4). Next we hear from the mariners: “And all shipmasters and seafarers, sailors and all whose trade is on the sea, stood far off and cried out as they saw the smoke of her burning,

What city was like the great city?” (Rev. 18:17b, 18)

“The question,” says Aune, “is based on Ezek. 27:32” (ibid., on v. 18). With typical signs of mourning, the mariners “threw dust on their heads, as they wept and mourned, crying out,

‘Alas, alas, the great city,

where all who had ships at sea

grew rich by her wealth!

For in one hour she has been laid waste’ ” (Rev. 18:19).

“Threw dust on their heads,” says Aune, is “an act of mourning or sorrow (see Josh. 7:6; Job 2:12; Lam. 2:10)” (ibid., on v. 19). In the Roman empire, the city of Rome was fed by the grain of Egypt and the produce of other provinces. But the city that has enriched the kings, merchants and mariners, has been the enemy of the followers of Christ, and so a voice from heaven says, “Rejoice over her, O heaven, you saints and apostles and prophets! For God has given judgment for you against her” (v. 20). In tomorrow’s reading we see “Babylon” thrown down.

Matthew 15:21-28

This reading is presented in the following table for comparison with the parallel passage in Mark:

On October 12, 2008 (the Sunday closest to October 12, Year Two), comments were repeated from June 9, 2008 (Monday in the week of the Sunday closest to June 9, Year Two), when comments were repeated from November 13, 2007 (Tuesday in the week of the Sunday closest to November 9, 2007), when comments were repeated from October 15, 2006 (the Sunday closest to October 12, Year Two), from June 12, 2006 (Monday of the week of Trinity Sunday, Year Two) and earlier. The combined and revised comments are repeated again here with editing and supplement. For recent comments from the perspective of Mark’s version, see the Archive for July 31, 2009 (Friday in the week of the Sunday closest to July 27, Year One):

The story of the Gentile woman’s faith is one from that part of Mark which Luke lacks (his so-called “gap” in the use of Mark’s sequence of events), Mark 6:45-8:26. Matthew and Mark have accounts that are close parallels, but with significant differences as well. “Jesus left that place,” says Matthew, “and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon” (Mt. 15:21). Similarly, Mark says, “From there he set out and went away to the region of Tyre” (Mk. 7:24a). In both Gospels the last previous arrival was at Gennesaret (Mt. 14:34; Mk. 6:53). As noted last Saturday (Nov. 7, 2009), Gennesaret was about two or three miles southwest of Capernaum along the shore of the Sea of Galilee (cf. the scale of Map 13, NOAB, 3^rd ed., augmented, 2007), and thus close to Jesus’ home and headquarters, so to speak (cf. Mt. 4:13). After the public discussion of the tradition of the elders and of defilement (Mt. 15:1-11; Mk. 7:1-16), Mark says Jesus “entered the house” (Mk. 7:17) for the conclusion of the discussion with his disciples (Mk. 7:17-23; cf. Mt. 15:12-20). “The house” would apparently be Jesus’ home in nearby Capernaum (cf. C. Clifton Black, revised by Adela Yarbro Collins, HarperCollins Study Bible, rev. ed., 2006, on Mk. 7:17 and on 3:19b, “then he went home”).

Tyre and Sidon, were both ancient Phoenician cities. According to Thomas L. McClellan “Sidon is located twenty-two miles north of Tyre on the Mediterranean coast of modern Lebanon” (Harper’s Bible Dictionary, rev. ed., 1996, s.v. Sidon). For Mark’s “region of Tyre (Mk. 7:24), Matthew has “the district of Tyre and Sidon” (Mt. 15:21). Both are imprecise, suggesting somewhat large areas, so the designations are not really in conflict. But for Matthew Dennis C. Duling emphasizes the symbolic sense. “District of Tyre and Sidon,” he says, means “gentile territory (see 11:21)” (HarperCollins Study Bible, rev. ed., 2006, on Mt. 15:21). Mark reports Jesus’ purpose in this northern trip as something of a “retreat.” “He entered a house and did not want anyone to know he was there. Yet he could not escape notice” (Mk. 7:24b). Black and Collins say, “On the recurring tension between Jesus’ seclusion and disclosure, see also 1:44-45; 2:1-2; 3:19b-20; 6:31-33; 7:36” (op. cit., on Mk. 7:24). Upon Jesus’ arrival in this region, Matthew says, “Just then a Canaanite woman (Cananaiva, Chananaia) from that region came out and started shouting” (Mt. 15:22a). Mark identifies the woman as “a Gentile ( +EllhnivV, Hellēnis), of Syrophoenician (Surofoinivkissa, Syrophoinikissa) origin (Mk. 7:26a). Again, the differing designations can be essentially synonymous, while Matthew’s term has symbolic connotations. According to Philip L. Shuler,

The term ‘Syrophoenician’ indicates that this woman was from Phoenicia, located in the Roman province of Syria, or, more specifically, from the area of the old cities of Tyre and Sidon. In the parallel passage (Matt. 15:22), the woman is called a ‘Canaanite,’ an ancient geographical designation that would have included this area. (Harper’s Bible Dictionary, rev. ed., 1996, s.v. Syrophoenician)

Dennis C. Duling says that “Canaanite [is] a scriptural term for ancient Israel’s pagan enemies (see, e.g., Deut 7:1; cf. Mk. 7:26) here used to designate a Gentile” (HarperCollins Study Bible, rev. ed., 2006, on Mt. 15:22). The term translated “Gentile” in Mark 7:26 is literally “a Greek woman” (  JEllhnivV, Hellēnis, fem.), but the point, of course, is that she is not a Jew. “The issue about clean and unclean is closely related to the attitude towards the Gentiles,” notes Krister Stendahl (Peake’s Commentary on the Bible, 1962, reprint 1972, sec. 686 j, p. 787 on Mt. 15:21-31). According to Stendahl, Matthew “has either rewritten what he found in Mk at this point (7:24-30) or had a source with quite distinctive features. His use of ‘Tyre and Sidon’, ‘Canaanite’, ‘Son of David’ (cf. 9:27; and ‘the God of Israel’) gives an archaic tone to the pericope, compared with Mk’s more geographical and ‘contemporary’ terminology” (ibid.).

Where Mark says, “a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him, and she came and bowed down at his feet. . . . She begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter” (Mk. 7:25, 26b), Matthew quotes her directly, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon’ ” (Mt. 15:22b). Matthew adds, “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’ ” (Mt. 15:23). This is, perhaps, as close as Matthew comes to indicating Mark’s reference to a desire for seclusion (Mk. 7:24b). According to Matthew, Jesus answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Mt. 15:24). This emphasizes what is implicit in Jesus’ contrast between children and dogs, according to Mark, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs” (Mk. 7:27). In Matthew, after the woman repeats her request, kneeling before him, saying “Lord, help me” (Mt. 15:25), Jesus also contrasts the children and the dogs, “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs” (Mt. 15:26). I believe–one would certainly hope–that Jesus using humor, perhaps to test her faith and determination. One would like to think that Jesus speaks of throwing the children’s food to the dogs (Gentiles) with a twinkle in his eye. His last words in Matthew’s Gospel call for the disciples to “make disciples of all nations” (pavnta ta; e[qnh, panta ta ethnē, a term often translated “Gentiles”), and in Matthew’s Gospel the first persons to recognize the newborn Jesus and “pay him homage” (Mt. 2:11) are “wise men (mavgoi, magoi) from the East” (2:1), that is, Gentiles. The Gentiles are clearly not forgotten in this most Jewish of Gospels. By children, of course, Jesus means the Jewish people, as reflected in Matthew’s pointed statement, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Mt. 15:24; cf. 10:5-6, in the instructions for the mission of the Twelve).

As I remember, Tom Mullen’s book on The Humor of Jesus included this remark about the dogs along with the saying about the camel and the eye of the needle (Mt. 19:24//Mk. 10:25//Lk. 18:26) and others. (Tom Mullen is a former Dean of Earlham School of Religion.) Jesus certainly “makes it up to her” in the end. “Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish” (Mt. 15:28). The word “dogs” is an insult, of course, But “to Jesus’ insistence that the manifestation of the kingdom (food) is primarily for Israelites (children), she gives a reply that wins the debate” (Richard A. Horsley, NOAB, 3^rd ed., 2001, on Mk. 7:27-28 cf. Mt. 15:26-27). I believe that since Jesus commended her faith, “great is your faith!” (Mt. 15:28, cf. “For saying that . . .” Mk. 7:29), and healed the daughter, that must have been his intention all along, and the “debate” was intended to bring out the woman’s expression of faith. William Barclay points to her love for her child, and her faith, a “faith which worshipped,” for “she began with a request; she ended in prayer” (The Gospel of Matthew, Daily Study Bible, 2^nd ed., 1975, vol. 2, pp. 122-123). She also had “indomitable persistence” (p. 123) and “the gift of cheerfulness” (p. 124):

This woman brought to Christ a gallant and an audacious love, a faith which grew until it worshipped at the feet of the divine, an indomitable persistence springing from an unconquerable hope, a cheerfulness which would not be dismayed. That is the approach which cannot help finding an answer to its prayers. (ibid.)

There is further irony in the saying of Jesus, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (v. 24, noted above; lacking in Mark), after which he proceeds to heal the daughter of a Gentile woman. But joking aside, there are serious issues here, the place of Gentiles in Jesus’ kingdom and the mission of the church. In both Gospels this account follows the speech about the “tradition of the elders,” which criticizes Pharisees for focusing on external piety and neglecting defilements that proceed from the heart. Jesus has moved into Gentile territory, “the district of Tyre and Sidon (v. 21, cf. Mk. 7:24). Stendahl says,

The interplay between Jesus and his disciples gives the impression that the text was used as a guide to the proper handling of similar matters in the church. In keeping with 10:5, Jesus insists on his call to the children of Israel, but the point of the story is apparently the significance of the exception or the extension granted on the basis of the woman’s strong and humble faith. The healing is quite incidental; what counts is the attitude to the Canaanites, the chief enemies in the time of the Judges, as the epitome of the heathen. There was nothing offensive to Mt., who lived and worked in a church which happily accepted Gentile Christians, in the harsh words to the woman. On the contrary, hereby the faith of the Gentiles was glorified and Jesus’ words just witnessed to the great fact that Gentiles could now share in the riches at the table of God’s children, cf. 8:5-13. (op. cit., secs. 686 j, k)

Ronald D. Worden, Ph.D.

rdworden@hgst.edu

deanworden@comcast.net