Tuesday, September 07, 2010
Jesus left the area, and traveled to the land of Tyre and Sidon. A Canaanite woman came out from the land and cried, "Have mercy on me, O Lord, son of David. My daughter is grievously vexed with a demon." But he answered her not a word.
Then his disciples came and urged him, saying, "Help her, so that she will go away; she is making a fuss."
But he answered, "I was sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."
She came and worshipped him anyway, saying, "Lord, help me." And he told her, "It is not fitting to take the children's bread and give it to the dogs."
But she answered, "Lord, even dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table."
Then Jesus answered, "Woman, your faith is great. Let it be done for you, just as you want." And her daughter was healed from that hour.
Canaan was the name Jews gave to what was called Phoenicia by the Greeks and Romans, and is called Lebanon today. The Phoenicians were an odd, unique race of people in the ancient world, known for their unparalleled mastery of the sea and exploration of the Mediterranean. The important city-states of Tyre and Sidon were founded as early as 2000 BC.
They were racially almost identical to the and spoke a similar language. The Phoenicians were merchants, more interested in trade than in war and religion. (As late as the 1960's, Lebanon largely managed to avoid the constant armed conflict in the region, and was called "the Switzerland of the Middle East".) Their wide travel gave birth to a cosmopolitan culture. The Hebrews, at the other extreme, were warlike farmers and shepherds whose main interests involved politics, literature, and, of course, religion. Both had important, strong, early cultures, but they could hardly have been more different.
Christ traveled to Canaan/Phoenicia, although it is unclear how deeply he penetrated those lands. Today's passage indicates that he was in the border area and that the woman traveled to him from deeper inside Canaan. Despite their common ancestry, the Hebrews, who at times conquered and occupied lands as distant as Iraq, tended to leave little Phoenicia alone (as did other empires), as armed conflict badly impacted its great value as a trading center.
Canaan was, however, an utterly heathen land. Many "Jews" -- likely a majority -- were the descendants of forced converts, driven to worship Yahweh at the point of a sword, or of voluntary converts in occupied lands.Thus, a Canaanite woman was, to a Jew with a deeply religious character, hideously barbaric, despite her similarity of ancestry and language. This may explain the surprising statement, when Christ compares healing her daughter to giving a child's food to a dog. The point of the story thus becomes clearer. Even the most unholy heathen could be saved by faith in God, through Christ.
(An interesting note: The word "Bible" comes from Byblos, the sister city-state of Tyre and Sidon, where the first linear alphabet was developed. It was founded circa 5000 BC and is often called the oldest port in the world.)
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