Why Does Jesus Call the Canaanite Woman a Dog?
Have you ever been a bit unsettled by Jesus’ reference to the Canaanite woman as a “dog.” To understand why Jesus called the Canaanite woman a dog, you need to know a little about Tyre and Messianic expectations. There was an expectation of the Messiah . When he comes he is going to go into places like Tyre—the very embodiment of paganism—and destroy them. You expect a Messiah to go to such a wicked place, call them all dogs, and leave—maybe lighting a match on his way out. But the Gospel of Mark is painting a different picture of the Messiah . He’s just spoken to the Pharisees about what defiles a person. It’s not what is on the outside but it’s the stuff of the inside. That kind of talk would lead a Messiah into Tyre to provide redemption instead of wrathful rebuke. But then when Jesus gets into Tyre he sounds more like a soldier Messiah than the type of Messiah of the Gospel of Mark. Now some will say that Jesus is testing this woman’s faith. Others will p...