But immediately a woman, whose little daughter had an unclean spirit, having heard of him, came and fell at his feet
The Lord had gone to the region of Tyre and Sidon, hoping for quiet. The first person to find Him there is a foreign mother with no claim on Him, whose little daughter is held by an unclean spirit.
He wanted to be left alone. Two things made that impossible.
The Lord goes into the borders of Tyre and Sidon. He wishes to be quiet, but goodness joined with power is too rare in the world to go unnoticed. And need, when it is felt, wakes the soul up and makes it clear-sighted. A poor woman had a daughter under the power of an unclean spirit. Feeling her own wretchedness and believing in Jesus' power, she goes to seek Him. The weight of misery that pressed on her made her hope in His goodness.
Those with every outward right to the promises missed Him.
God had shown His goodness and His power too plainly for Him to stay hidden whenever there was need. The report of what He was had gone out, and the quick eye of faith found the one thing that could meet its need. This is what finds Jesus, while all who outwardly had a right to the promises are deceived by that very claim and by their privileges. It is faith that knows its need, knows only that, and knows that Jesus alone can meet it.
Mark does not use the ordinary word for "daughter" here. He uses a smaller, warmer form of it.
Mark tells us that her 'thugatrion' — a small, affectionate form of the word 'daughter' — had an unclean spirit. Jairus had come to the Lord not so long before, using the same form for his daughter (Mark 5:23). These are the only places in the New Testament where we find this word, and both are in Mark; it was Mark, more than any other, who tells us the small detail of some special word or look. In English we have no such form of 'daughter'. The translators have done their very best: 'little daughter', or 'young daughter', or 'dear daughter,' but I am sure it does not tell half the story.
The story uses two names for the same trouble.
In the Gospel accounts the terms "unclean spirits" and "demons" are in many places used of the same case. So we read that the daughter of the Syrophenician woman "had an unclean spirit," and that she begged the Lord that He would "cast forth the demon out of her daughter" (Mark 7:23-30).
What gave her the right to ask?
"But immediately a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit heard of Him and came and fell down at His feet." What claim had she? Not the smallest. "The woman was a Greek [or Gentile], a Syrophoenician by race." She came from the fertile stock of Israel's enemies, the corrupt and idolatrous despisers of the true God. But suppose Jesus wanted an opportunity to show the grace of God, apart from every question of right or deserving, with no plea at all except utter misery thrown on Divine mercy in Him. Then there was never a more needy person asking.
One writer sets her beside another foreign visitor who came to a king of Israel loaded with gifts.
A wealthy queen among the Gentiles heard of the wisdom of Solomon. She came to him from the ends of the earth with her choice gifts, so that she might see and hear for herself. A greater than Solomon was now staying in an out-of-the-way corner of Galilee. But the one who came to do homage at His feet and present her request was only a descendant of Canaan, weighed down from the days of Noah with a curse (Gen. 9:25)... This poor woman had nothing to bring to Jesus except her own child, held, sadly, by an evil demon.
One writer draws a lesson for anyone responsible for a household.
In the home the terrible effects of sin, and of the way it works, are perhaps more visible than anywhere else. There, too often, example and advice fail to deliver anyone from corrupting and destroying evil. But the cases given in the Gospels encourage mothers, fathers and masters — the responsible ones of the household — to make believing appeals to Jesus for those in their care. He is able to control and heal the evils of the soul, just as He did the diseases of the body.
- Need hears. She had no privileges to rely on, but her misery made her attentive to the report of a Man who was both good and powerful.
- Need finds. He wanted to stay unknown. Faith's quick eye found Him where the privileged missed Him.
- Need falls. Coming with no claim and nothing to offer, she went straight to His feet and asked.
- Need named. Mark's small word for her "little daughter" — used elsewhere only of Jairus's child — carries a parent's ache into the record.
- Need answered. Her case encourages every parent to bring the child they cannot heal to the One who can.
(and the woman was a Greek, Syrophenician by race), and asked him that he would cast the demon out of her daughter.
A mother from outside Israel falls at the feet of Jesus near Tyre and Sidon, where He had gone into a house to stay hidden. Mark stops the story to tell us who she was, because that detail decides whether she has any right to ask.
Mark gives her two labels, and both mark her out as a foreigner. One commentator explains them and adds the name Matthew uses for the same woman:
The description of the woman whose daughter was possessed by a demon. She belonged to Phoenicia in Syria, and the name "Syrophoenician" holds both of these names together. By birth she was a Greek, which here probably means simply "Gentile." Mark 7:26. In Matthew 15:22 she is called "a woman of Canaan."
Earlier in the chapter Jesus exposed what comes out of the human heart. Now the picture turns around.
The evil of the human heart has been exposed. Now, in the story of the Syrophenician woman, we have a wonderful unfolding of the heart of God. His heart is full of love. It holds to the truth while giving grace to needy sinners. The Lord, as He passed through this world that had rejected Him, would gladly have stayed hidden... But His perfection was so great, and the contrast with everything around Him so sharp, that He could not stay hidden. As one writer said, "Goodness joined with power is too rare in the world to go unnoticed."
Her request was simple and enormous: cast the demon out. What she could not produce was any reason why He should.
What claim had she? Not the smallest. "The woman was a Greek [or Gentile], a Syrophoenician by race." She came from the fertile stock of Israel's enemies — corrupt, idolatrous people who despised the true God. But suppose Jesus wanted a chance to show the grace of God, apart from any question of right or deserving, and apart from any plea we can imagine except sheer misery thrown on divine mercy in Him. Then there was never a more needy applicant.
The gap between her and Israel was a real order that the Lord upheld — and then overflowed.
He fully and clearly upheld the claims of the Jews as the covenant people. He said to the Gentile woman, "It is not right to take the children's bread and give it to dogs" (Matthew 15)... But suppose the condition of those people was such that they could not take in the goodness of God that had come to them in their own Messiah. Then that same goodness would overflow every barrier of God's arrangements. It would meet the need of those who had no claim on Him.
Mark does not simply call the child a daughter. He uses the diminutive form of the word, and one writer traces where else it appears:
Mark tells us that her "thugatrion" (diminutive of "daughter") had an unclean spirit. Matthew tells us she was "miserably possessed" by a demon. Jairus had come to the Lord not long before, using the same diminutive for his daughter (Mark 5:23). These are the only places in the New Testament where we find this word. Notice that both are in Mark. It was Mark, more than any other writer, who tells us the small detail of some special word or look. How can we translate it? I do not know, for English has no diminutive of "daughter".
Cases like hers are meant to move other parents to do the same:
But the cases given in the Gospels encourage mothers, fathers, masters — the responsible ones of the household. They can make believing appeals to Jesus for those in their care. He is able to control and heal the evils of the soul, just as He did the diseases of the body.
Her plea did not get an instant yes. That is deliberate.
Yet if the woman's faith was to triumph, it was no less tested. And I find it instructive to notice one thing. The richest grace on Christ's part does not make the trial of faith less, but more. The soul that is little exercised never eats the kernel of the blessing. It never proves the depths that are in God and in His grace.
- Named — Mark calls her a Greek, meaning a Gentile, and a Syrophoenician; Matthew calls her a Canaanite. Every label says the same thing: outsider.
- Empty-handed — She had not the smallest claim. That made her the ideal applicant for grace, which answers misery alone.
- Honoured — Christ upheld Israel's place as the covenant people. Then God's goodness overflowed the barrier to reach someone with no claim.
- Tender — Her plea is for a "little daughter." Mark uses that word only here and of Jairus's girl. Parents are meant to copy her and bring their households to Jesus.
- Tested — The richest grace does not shorten the trial of faith. It lengthens it. The soul that is little exercised never tastes the kernel of the blessing.