Command 16: Do Not Cast Pearls
Study Question
Q: Jesus praised the Good Samaritan for helping a wounded stranger. Why did He then tell a Syrophenician woman He could not help her suffering daughter because He could not give what He had to the dogs?
A: In our day, a dog is regarded as “man’s best friend.” In Biblical times, however, dogs were often wild, hungry, and looked down upon. In the Bible, three words are translated “dog.”
The Greek word Jesus used in this command is kuon. It is the same word Paul used in a figurative sense when he wrote, “Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers” (Philippians 3:2).
The Hebrew word for dog is keleb, meaning “dog” or, figuratively, “a male prostitute.” This Hebrew word was referred to in the Law. “There shall be no whore of the daughters of Israel, nor a sodomite of the sons of Israel. Thou shalt not bring the hire of a whore, or the price of a dog, into the house of the LORD thy God for any vow …” (Deuteronomy 23:17–18).
In the account of the Syrophenician woman, Jesus used a different Greek word for dog. He used the term kunarion, which means “a puppy.”
“Then she came and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. But he answered and said, “It is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it to dogs. And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table. Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt.” (See Matthew 15:25–28.)
It was not a lack of compassion that motivated Jesus to deny the initial requests of this woman. Instead, His final answer to her would indicate that He was carefully discerning her motives and testing her faith.
When she first began calling after Jesus to help her daughter, He ignored her. The disciples urged Him to send her away, because she kept shouting at them. Instead, He responded: “I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matthew 15:24). Then, she began to worship Him and pleaded for help. This is when He told her it was not good to give the children’s bread to the dogs.
Her recognition of the fact that Jesus was the only One Who could help her daughter and her persistence in pleading for His mercy and assistance revealed her great faith, which pleased God and stirred His heart of compassion towards her, resulting in a miracle.
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This study question and answer is adapted from the Commands of Christ, Series 3, book. For further study, this book may be purchased from our Online Store.