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InterlinearVerse GEN EXO LEV NUM DEU JOB JOS JDG RUTH 1 SAM 2 SAM PSA AMOS HOS 1 KI 2 KI 1 CHR 2 CHR PROV ECC SNG JOEL MIC ISA ZEP HAB JER LAM YNA (JNA) NAH OBA DAN EZE EZRA EST NEH HAG ZEC MAL LAO GES LES ESG DNG 2 PS TOB JDT WIS SIR BAR LJE PAZ SUS BEL MAN 1 MAC 2 MAC 3 MAC 4 MAC YHN (JHN) MARK MAT LUKE ACTs YAC (JAM) GAL 1 TH 2 TH 1 COR 2 COR ROM COL PHM EPH PHP 1 TIM TIT 1 PET 2 PET 2 TIM HEB YUD (JUD) 1 YHN (1 JHN) 2 YHN (2 JHN) 3 YHN (3 JHN) REV
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OET (OET-LV) And he answering said:
It_is not good to_take the bread of_the children and to_throw it to_the little_dogs.
OET (OET-RV) “It’s not good,”, Yeshua responded, “to take the children’s food off them and throw it out to the puppies.”
In this section, Jesus left his own country and met a Gentile woman. This woman had a daughter who was possessed by a demon. At first, Jesus refused to help the woman. He told her that his ministry was to the Jews. But the woman showed persistence and great faith. Jesus rewarded her faith by healing her daughter. He did the healing from a distance by only speaking some words.
This story follows the story about the spiritually “blind” Pharisees. It shows that Gentiles can also have true faith. While Jesus was on the earth, his ministry was primarily to the Jews. But he also ministered to Gentiles.
Here are some other possible headings for this section:
The Faith of a Gentile Woman (NLT)
Jesus Helps a Non-Jewish Woman (NCV)
There is a parallel passage for this section in Mark 7:24–30.
But Jesus replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”: Jesus responded to the women’s request by telling a parable. In this parable the “children” represent the Jews. The dogs represent the non-Jewish peoples of the world. The term bread refers to things that will benefit people. (In this context it refers specifically to the help that Jesus gave to people by healing them.) Jesus told the woman that he was in the world to give help to the Jews first. It was not proper for him to give these things to non-Jews before he gave them to Jews.
The meaning is clearer in the book of Mark. Mark includes the clause “First let the children have their fill” (Mark 7:27a). The dogs were fed later.
In some languages, it will be good to include a footnote to explain the meaning of the parable.
But Jesus replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread
He replied, “It is not good/proper to take the children’s bread/food
Jesus answered with a parable, “It is bad to give/feed the food for children
But Jesus replied: Jesus responded to the woman’s request by telling a parable. In some languages, it may be necessary to make this explicit. For example:
He answered with a parable
It is not right: The Greek word that the BSB translates as right also means “good.” For example:
It is not good (NASB)
It is not proper/fit
It is bad
to take the children’s bread: This phrase refers to “taking” or “picking up” bread that is set aside for children. Jesus says it is bad to not give the bread to children to eat, and give it to dogs instead. This phrase does not refer to “grabbing bread away from” children after it has already been given to them.
Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:
to take the bread for children
to pick up the food of children
See the General Comment after 15:26b for another way to translate the verb take.
bread: Bread was the main food of the people who lived in that area at the time of Jesus. Here the word bread is used in a figurative sense to refer to all food. If the people in your area do not commonly eat bread, it may be more natural to translate the word bread as “food.” For example:
food (GW)
and toss it to the dogs.”
and throw/toss it to dogs.”
to house dogs.”
and toss it to the dogs: The Greek word that the BSB translates as toss refers to the way that people gave food to dogs. In some languages, it is more natural to use another verb. For example:
and give it to the dogs (NCV)
and feed it to dogs (CEV)
Some languages have one word for “wild dogs” and another word for “house dogs.” If your language is like that, you should use the word that means “house dogs.”
The Greek uses two verbs to describe what happens to the bread. It uses “take” in 15:26a and “toss” in 15:26b. In some languages, it may be more natural to translate the two verbs as one verb. For example:
to give children’s bread to dogs
to throw/toss children’s food to dogs
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / parables
οὐκ ἔστιν καλὸν λαβεῖν τὸν ἄρτον τῶν τέκνων καὶ βαλεῖν τοῖς κυναρίοις
not (Some words not found in SR-GNT: ὁ Δέ ἀποκριθείς εἶπεν οὐκ Ἐστίν καλόν λαβεῖν τόν ἄρτον τῶν τέκνων καί βαλεῖν τοῖς κυναρίοις)
To explain to the woman why he has not helped her, Jesus offers a story or illustration. In the story, the children represent the Jewish people, the little dogs represent non-Jewish people, and the bread represents the help that Jesus gives to people. If it would be helpful in your language, you could indicate that this is a story with a specific message, or you could explain what the parable means. Alternate translation: [Listen to this story: It is not good to take the bread of the children and to throw it to the little dogs] or [It is not good to take the bread of the children and to throw it to the little dogs. That is what helping you instead of my fellow Jews would be like]
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / possession
τὸν ἄρτον τῶν τέκνων
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: ὁ Δέ ἀποκριθείς εἶπεν οὐκ Ἐστίν καλόν λαβεῖν τόν ἄρτον τῶν τέκνων καί βαλεῖν τοῖς κυναρίοις)
Here, Jesus is using the possessive form to describe bread that was prepared for the children to eat. If this is not clear in your language, you could express the idea in another way. Alternate translation: [the food prepared for the children] or [the food that the children were going to eat]
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / synecdoche
τὸν ἄρτον
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: ὁ Δέ ἀποκριθείς εἶπεν οὐκ Ἐστίν καλόν λαβεῖν τόν ἄρτον τῶν τέκνων καί βαλεῖν τοῖς κυναρίοις)
Jesus is using bread to represent food. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use an equivalent expression from your culture or state the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: [the meals]
Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
βαλεῖν τοῖς κυναρίοις
˓to˒_cast_‹it› ˱to˲_the little_dogs
Here Jesus implies that the bread is thrown to the little dogs so that they can eat it. You could include this information if that would be helpful to your readers. Alternate translation: [to throw it to the little dogs for them to eat]
Note 5 topic: translate-unknown
τοῖς κυναρίοις
˱to˲_the little_dogs
Here, the phrase little dogs could describe: (1) domesticated animals that eat pests and can protect houses and families. You could use the name of a similar animal in your area, or you could use a more general term. Alternate translation: [to the domesticated animals] or [to the guard animals] (2) scavenging animals that were generally considered unclean and dirty. You could use the name of a similar animal in your area or you could use a more general term. Alternate translation: [to the scavenging animals] or [to the dirty animals]
15:26 Jews often referred to pagans as dogs, which are ceremonially unclean (Lev 11:27). Jesus was speaking to the woman of her spiritual condition as a Gentile—as unclean and separated from God (cp. Matt 7:6).
OET (OET-LV) And he answering said:
It_is not good to_take the bread of_the children and to_throw it to_the little_dogs.
OET (OET-RV) “It’s not good,”, Yeshua responded, “to take the children’s food off them and throw it out to the puppies.”
Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.
Acknowledgements: The SR Greek text, lemmas, morphology, and VLT gloss are all thanks to the CNTR.