And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same regions, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, you son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a demon.
Read Chapter 15
George Leo Haydock
AD 1849
It is probable that woman first cried out before the door, and assembled a crowd, and then went into the house. Have mercy on me. The great faith of the Chanaanæan woman is justly extolled. She believed him to be God, whom she calls her Lord, and him a man, whom she styles the Son of David. She lays no stress upon her own merits, but supplicates for the mercy of God; neither does she say, have mercy on my daughter, but have mercy on me. To move him to compassion, she lays all her grief and sorrow before him in these afflicting words: my daughter is grievously afflicted by a devil. (Glossa.)
To grasp the inner motive of the Canaanite woman for obtaining what came to pass, we must reflect on the impact of her words. There is a firm belief that there was and still is in Israel a community of proselytes who passed over from the Gentiles into the works of the law. They had left behind their previous life and were bonded by the religion of a foreign and dominating law as though from home. The Canaanites were inhabiting the lands of presentday Judea. Whether absorbed by war or dispersed to neighboring places or brought into servitude as a vanquished people, they carried about their name but lacked a native land. Intermingled with the Jews, therefore, these people came from the Gentiles. And since a portion of those among the crowds who believed were proselytes, this Canaanite woman most likely had left her territory, preferring the status of a proselyte—that is, coming out from the Gentiles to the community of a neighboring people. She was appealing on behalf of her daughter, wh...
Mark says that Jesus was not able to escape notice after he had come into the house. But why did he go away to these parts of the region at all? When he released them from the observance of food laws, then he finally also opened a door to the Gentiles as he proceeded on the road. This anticipates the similar act of Peter, who first received a command to put an end to this law and then was sent to Cornelius. But if anyone should say, “Why then does he allow this woman to approach him when he says to the disciples, ‘Do not go in the way of the Gentiles’?” We first note that he himself, being who he is, was not, strictly speaking, required to obey the command that he gave to the disciples. We observe, second, that Jesus was not going there to preach. This is the very point that Mark implies when he says both that Jesus hid himself and that he could not escape notice. The fact that he did not run to them first was consistent with the order of the tasks set before him. In exactly the same w...
See at any rate how worthy this woman is of every benefit. For she dared not even come to Jerusalem, fearing, and accounting herself unworthy. For were it not for this, she would have come there, as is evident both from her present earnestness, and from her coming out of her own coasts.
And some also taking it as an allegory say, that when Christ came out of Judea, then the church ventured to approach Him, coming out herself also from her own coasts. For it is said, Forget your own people and your father's house. For both Christ went out of His borders, and the woman out of her borders, and so it became possible for them to fall in with each other: thus He says, Behold a woman of Canaan coming out of her own coasts.
The evangelist speaks against the woman, that he may show forth her marvellous act, and celebrate her praise the more. For when you hear of a Canaanitish woman, you should call to mind those wicked nations, who overset from their foundations the very laws of nature. A...
So then, let everyone who wants approach Him, and let the one say: “Son of David, have mercy on me“; and, if he hears, “What do you want Me to do for you?” let him say quickly, “Lord, let me receive my sight,” and right away he will hear, “So I desire. Receive your sight” [Luke 18:38-42]. Let another say, “Lord, my daughter“–i.e. my soul–“is severely possessed by a demon” (Matthew 15:22), and he will hear: “I will come to heal her” [Matthew 8:7]. If someone is hesitant and does not wish to approach the Master, even if He comes to him and says, “Follow Me” [Matthew 9:9], then let him follow Him as the publican once did, abandoning his counting tables and his avarice, and, I am sure, He shall make of him, too, an evangelist rather than a tax collector. If someone else is a paralytic, lying for years in sloth, carelessness, and love of pleasure, and if he should see another, be it the Master Himself or one of His disciples, come to him and ask, “Do you want to be healed?” [John 5:2-7], le...
