The passage
      v21. Following the feeding of the 5,000, Jesus withdraws from the crowds and increasingly ministers to his disciples. The crowds are obviously stirred-up by his miracles. Some of the people had even tried to make him their king. This news, no doubt, got Herod going, as well as further enraging the religious establishment. So, Jesus moves North into pagan territory, out of harm's way.
      v22. Matthew sets the direction of the episode by giving this Syrophoenician woman her ancient ancestry. She comes from a nation set for destruction by God under the hand of Israel, a nation bitterly opposed to the people of Israel and their God. She knowingly comes to Israel's messiah for blessing, very aware of Jesus' messianic credentials. For her, Jesus is the "Son of David." She also recognizes Jesus' capacity to heal, for demon possession is the most difficult of healings since it requires one greater than Satan to break his hold.
      v23-24. Jesus doesn't respond to the woman and so the disciples, obviously aggravated by her persistence, ask Jesus to deal with her request so that they can be on their way. Jesus then explains that his mission (under the authority of God) is to call out the faithful remnant of Israel. This doesn't deny a future mission to the Gentiles, only that for the present, "salvation is from the Jews", Jn.4:23-26.
      v25. The woman cries to Jesus for her child as only a mother can.
      v26. Although Jesus' reply seems terribly harsh, it is not as strong as it is usually translated. What he is saying is that "the children get fed first". For the present, the blessings of the dawning kingdom are for Israel.
      v27. The woman's reply demonstrates that she understands that the children must be fed first, but in the meantime, she can eat of the crumbs that fall from their table. Indeed she can! She doesn't claim that justice demands that she has as much right as Israel to God's covenant mercies. She doesn't argue that God's sovereign will, his divine election of Israel, is unfair. She simply asks for divine help, for grace. "She is confident that even if she is not entitled to sit down as a guest at Messiah's table, ..... yet at least she may be allowed to receive a crumb of the uncovenanted mercies of God", R. Tasker.
      v28. The actual words of Jesus in the original Greek demonstrate emotional force, "O woman". The point is simple enough, "the faith that simply seeks mercy is honoured", D. Carson.

Asking for grace
      Our passage for study has held an important place in the life of the Christian church. The Clementine homilies (late 2nd century) even went so far as to name the woman Justa and her daughter as Berenice. The names were obviously invented. The story was used to authenticate the Gentile nature of the early church. The Jews reject God's blessings in Christ and so the Gentiles get to eat the crumbs.
      Modern Redaction Criticism tends to run the line that this story emerged out of Matthew's Jewish Christian circles and so served to encourage Gentile evangelism, while affirming the priority of Jewish Christianity over Gentile Christianity. This is probably a bit wide of the mark.
      The story certainly does show where the future lies. As Israel continues to reject God's mercy in Christ, that mercy will inevitably move toward the Gentile faithful. It also shows that God's kindness, his mercy, is freely given for the asking. Grace is not given because of status, either family association (children of Abraham), or goodness (obedience to the Law). Grace is given through the instrument of faith. The woman believed that Jesus was God's messiah and that he could and would dispense God's mercy for the asking.
      This story serves to further establish the notion of God's gracious gift of salvation (eternal right-standing in the sight of God) freely offered and appropriated through faith in Christ (by asking Christ). The healing of the Canaanite women's daughter fixes the substance of the gospel, reminding us that salvation is by grace through faith.

v22
      apo twn oJriwn ekeinwn "from that vicinity" - from the parts there. The boarder region.
      exelqousa (exercomai) aor. part. "came [to him]" - having come out, gone out. Attendant circumstance participle identifying action accompanying the verb "was crying out." Possibly she lived in the boarder region and came out of her home to meet Jesus, or just "a woman of Canaan came out of those parts", Moffatt.
      ekrazen (krazw) imperf. "crying out" - was crying. The imperfect expressing durative (ongoing) action. "Wailing", Moffatt; "shouting", CEV; "crying at the top of her voice", Phillips.
      uiJoV Dauid "son of David" - This is a messianic title and is surely used by the woman to convey this sense, rather than just as an offhand complement, or even just meaning "Jew".
      legousa (legw) part. "-" - [was crying] saying. Pleonastic participle, redundant and so not translated.
      elehson (eleew) aor. imp. "have mercy" - have mercy, take pity, show mercy. "Please be kind and help me", "take pity on me", Morris.
      kakwV adv. "suffering terribly" - badly, severely. "Cruelly demon-possessed", NASB; "tormented by a demon", NAB. Morris suggests that the word conveys the evil of her situation, "wickedly demon-possessed." No indication is given as to what sort of possession it is, psychological, physical, .... "Very ill", Barclay.

v23
      hrwtoun (erwtaw) imperf. "urged him" - were asking. The imperfect expresses continuation, so "kept asking", NASB; "pleaded with", NJB.
      apoluson (apoluw) aor. imp. "send (her) away" - release. It is possible the disciples are asking Jesus to send her away with her request granted, although this is a generous assumption. So, "give her what she wants", NJB, but more likely "get rid of her", NAB.

v24
      ei mh "only" - except, save. Of putting aside or reserving.
      ta apolwlota (apollumi) perf. part. "the lost [sheep]" - The participle functioning as a substantive. The base meaning "destroy" takes the sense "lost", "perishing", when used in a religious/spiritual context.
      oikou Israhl "of Israel" - of house of Israel. The genitive "house" (the people of Israel) may serve to qualify "the lost sheep", meaning that Jesus was sent only to that particular group of Jews who had gone astray like lost sheep, so NIV etc. On the other hand, the genitive may be descriptive, ie. the lost sheep is the house of Israel; "I was sent only to the people of Israel! They are like a flock of lost sheep", CEV. The second option is to be preferred.

v25
      prosekunei (proskunew) imperf. "knelt before" - was worshiping, doing obeisance, adoring. The word carries the sense of "adoration", therefore possibly "knelt", although no particular bodily movement is mentioned other than the Gk. "having come" indicating a movement toward Jesus; "the woman came closer", CEV. "Did him homage", NAB, but note Turner, MHT III, who suggests that the imperfect takes the sense "asked", "requested."
      bohqei (bohqew) imp. "help" - come to the aid of, come to the rescue of, come to the help of. Here an excited request for help

v26
      kalon adj "right" - good. Here in the sense of ethically good, therefore "fair", "proper", Barclay.
      labein (lambanw) inf. "to take" - The infinitive is epexegetic, explaining what is not right. Here in the sense of "deprive".
      balein (ballw) inf. "toss" - to throw. The infinitive is epexegetic, explaining what is not right. "Fling", Barclay.
      kunarioiV (on) "dogs" - Possibly a house dog in contrast to a street dog, "house-dog", JB, "pet dogs." There is a strong possibility that the imagery here is of "children" = Jews, and "dogs" = Gentiles. Certainly the Jews often viewed Gentiles as "dogs". One wonders if Jesus would adopt such imagery, although he is not adverse to testing the strength of a person's faith with a harsh hurdle. If this is the case here, then maybe Beare in his commentary is right to suggest the reply is "brutal"; "scavenging dogs", Klotz.

v27
      de "-" - but [she replied, `yes Lord, for even the dogs ...]. Adversative. The NIV "but" translates the Gk. "for" which serves to cloud the woman's true response. She does not disagree with what Jesus has said, rather, she draws an inference from it. "But she said, 'O yes, sir! For even the dogs eat the scraps ...'", Goodspeed.
      twn yiciwn (on) "the crumbs" - the smallest of pieces. The woman is making a good point. She is not asking that any of the messianic blessings be taken away from the people of Israel and given to her, rather that her daughter's healing be one the overflowing blessings that inevitably go with the dawning of the kingdom; "even the dogs eat the leftovers ...", TEV.