
Originally Posted by
randyk
Matt 15.21 Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. 22 A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.”
23 Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.”
24 He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”
25 The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said.
26 He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”
27 “Yes it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.”
28 Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment.
Mark 7.24 Jesus left that place and went to the vicinity of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it; yet he could not keep his presence secret. 25 In fact, as soon as she heard about him, a woman whose little daughter was possessed by an impure spirit came and fell at his feet. 26 The woman was a Greek, born in Syrian Phoenicia. She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter.
27 “First let the children eat all they want,” he told her, “for it is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”
28 “Lord,” she replied, “even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”
29 Then he told her, “For such a reply, you may go; the demon has left your daughter.”
30 She went home and found her child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.
Let's compare the stories of the Caananite/Syrophoenecian Woman in Matthew and Mark. This will show that the stories consistently agree with each other without having to give an exact duplicate of one another, telling the same story using different words without having to actually make a "transcript" of the account. Paraphrasing is allowed, with respect to quotations, because we can see that not just in the quotations themselves, but also in the flexibility shown in how each author chose to describe what was important to him.
We know it is the same story because in both versions Jesus left one place to go to the region of Tyre. Matthew says it is the "region of Tyre and Sidon. And Mark says "the vicinity of Tyre." "Region" and "vicinity" are two different words, but relay the same general understanding in each author.
At the end of the story Matthew writes, "28 Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment." And Mark writes, "29 Then he told her, “For such a reply, you may go; the demon has left your daughter.”
30 She went home and found her child lying on the bed, and the demon gone."
Though Matthew and Mark use different words, they express the same things in the form of a paraphrase. Either Jesus said, "for such a reply, you may go," or he said, "you have great faith." One version may be a paraphrase of the other, indicating what Jesus meant as much as what he said.
So we know it is the same place and the same story. The subject is a woman who in Matthew is called a "Canaanite woman," and in Luke is described as a woman who "was a Greek, born in Syrian Phoenicia." They are relating different words about the same woman, because the descriptions are not incompatible with one another.
The woman, according to Matthew, "came" to Jesus on behalf of her daughter, who was "demon-possessed, and suffering terribly." By contrast, the woman, according to Luke, "fell at [Jesus'] feet" on behalf of her daughter, who was "possessed by an impure spirit." In this case, Matthew provides more detail than Luke, indicating how much the demon-possessed daughter was suffering. Again, additional material provided by Matthew is not incompatible with Mark, and still expresses the same account.
So, now let's look at the actual quotations, of all concerned. 1st, here is Matthew's version.
23 Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.”
24 He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”
25 The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said.
26 He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”
27 “Yes it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.”
28 Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment.
And here is Mark's version.
24 He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it; yet he could not keep his presence secret. 25 In fact, as soon as she heard about him, a woman whose little daughter was possessed by an impure spirit came and fell at his feet. 26 The woman was a Greek, born in Syrian Phoenicia. She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter.
27 “First let the children eat all they want,” he told her, “for it is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”
28 “Lord,” she replied, “even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”
29 Then he told her, “For such a reply, you may go; the demon has left your daughter.”
30 She went home and found her child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.
In Matthew's version, we read, "Jesus did not answer a word." In Mark's version, we read, "He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it." Matthew and Mark together convey the idea of Jesus' resistance to helping the Canaanite woman. He may have been trying to show that the Israelites were supposed to keep themselves from polluting themselves with Canaanite ways. Clearly, the different accounts are trying to explain these things in the author's own way. Matthew's version even indicates additional information, the Disciples urging Jesus to send them away. Mark omits this.
Both Matthew and Mark's version have Jesus saying. "It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.” Matthew has the woman replying, "Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.” Mark has the woman replying, "even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” Dogs under the table" is a little different from dogs that eat crumbs that fall from the table. Again, it is a paraphrase, or a personal version giving the basic idea of what Jesus said, and not an exact quotation. Otherwise, either Matthew or Mark would've been deficient in giving a perfect transcript of the account.
I hope this shows you how flexibly God allowed the gospel authors to relate the events and quotations during Jesus' ministry? Some have questioned my claims that paraphrases are allowed, and perhaps there is confusion about how paraphrases are to be interpreted as such in this manner. And since I've been asked to provided examples, here is another example of this. If it is of interest to you, please give it some thought.
Bookmarks