MAT 15:26 Parallel Verse View

Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible—click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed as a tool for doing comparisons of different translations—the older translations are further down the page (so you can read up from the bottom to trace the English translation history). The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible—please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.

Text critical issues=small word differences Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)

Key: khaki:verbs, light-green:nominative/subject, orange:accusative/object, pink:genitive/possessor, cyan:dative/indirect object, red:negative.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

ULT Now he, answering, said, “It is not good to take the bread of the children and to throw it to the little dogs.”

UST Jesus replied, “Suppose that someone takes food for children and gives it to dogs instead. That is not appropriate! That is why I am not helping you.”

BSB But [Jesus] replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss [it] to the dogs.”

BLB And answering He said, "It is not right to take the children's bread and to cast it to the dogs."

AICNT And he answered and said, “It is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs.”

OEB ‘It is not fair,’ replied Jesus, ‘to take the children’s food and throw it to dogs.’

WEBBE But he answered, “It is not appropriate to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”

WMBB (Same as above)

NET “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs,” he said.

LSV and He answering said, “It is not good to take the children’s bread, and to cast to the little dogs.”

FBV “It's not right to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs,[fn]” Jesus told her.

15:26 The word used for dogs indicates pet dogs, or puppies.

TCNT He replied, “It is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs.”

T4T Then, to suggest to her that he needed to help the Jews first and not the non-Jews, whom the Jews called dogs, he told her, “It is not good for someone to take food that has been prepared for the children and throw it to the little dogs.”

LEB And he answered and[fn] said, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it[fn] to the dogs!”

15:26 *Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“answered”) has been translated as a finite verb

15:26 *Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation

BBE And he made answer and said, It is not right to take the children's bread and give it to the dogs.

Moff He replied, "It is not fair to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs."

Wymth "It is not right," He said, "to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs."

ASV And he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children’s bread and cast it to the dogs.

DRA Who answering, said: It is not good to take the bread of the children, and to cast it to the dogs.

YLT and he answering said, 'It is not good to take the children's bread, and to cast to the little dogs.'

Drby But he answering said, It is not well to take the bread of the children and cast it to the dogs.

RV And he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children’s bread and cast it to the dogs.

SLT And he, having answered, said, It is not good to take the children’s bread, and cast it to the little dogs.

Wbstr But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs.

KJB-1769 But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it to dogs.

KJB-1611 But he answered, and said, It is not meete to take the childrens bread, and to cast it to dogs.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from punctuation)

Bshps He aunswered, and sayde: it is not meete to take the chyldrens bread, and to cast it to litle dogges.
(He answered, and said: it is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it to little dogs.)

Gnva And he answered, and said, It is not good to take the childrens bread, and to cast it to whelps.
(And he answered, and said, It is not good to take the children’s bread, and to cast it to whelps/pups_or_cubs. )

Cvdl He answered & sayde: It is not good, to take the childrens bred, & to cast it vnto dogges.
(He answered and said: It is not good, to take the children’s bred, and to cast it unto dogs.)

TNT He answered and sayde: it is not good to take the chyldrens breed and to cast it to whelpes.
(He answered and said: it is not good to take the children’s bread and to cast it to whelps/pups_or_cubs. )

Wycl Which answeride, and seide, It is not good to take the breed of children, and caste to houndis.
(Which answered, and said, It is not good to take the bread of children, and cast/threw to houndis.)

Luth Aber er antwortete und sprach: Es ist nicht fein, daß man den Kindern ihr Brot nehme und werfe es vor die Hunde.
(But he replied and spoke: It is not fine, that man the children you(pl)/their/her bread take and throw it before/in_front_of the dogs.)

ClVg Qui respondens ait: Non est bonum sumere panem filiorum, et mittere canibus.[fn]
(Who responding he_said: Not/No it_is good to_take bread/food of_children, and to_send dogs. )

15.26 Panem filiorum. Verbum salutis, quod prius debetur Judæis, non est bonum dare canibus vel gentibus, canina rabie latrantibus semper.

15.26 Panem of_children. The_word/saying health, that first/before mustur To_the_Jews, not/no it_is good dare dogs or nations, canina rabie latrantibus always.

UGNT ὁ δὲ ἀποκριθεὶς εἶπεν, οὐκ ἔστιν καλὸν λαβεῖν τὸν ἄρτον τῶν τέκνων καὶ βαλεῖν τοῖς κυναρίοις.
(ho de apokritheis eipen, ouk estin kalon labein ton arton tōn teknōn kai balein tois kunariois.)

SBL-GNT ὁ δὲ ἀποκριθεὶς εἶπεν· Οὐκ ἔστιν καλὸν λαβεῖν τὸν ἄρτον τῶν τέκνων καὶ βαλεῖν τοῖς κυναρίοις.
(ho de apokritheis eipen; Ouk estin kalon labein ton arton tōn teknōn kai balein tois kunariois.)

RP-GNT Ὁ δὲ ἀποκριθεὶς εἶπεν, Οὐκ ἔστιν καλὸν λαβεῖν τὸν ἄρτον τῶν τέκνων καὶ βαλεῖν τοῖς κυναρίοις.
(Ho de apokritheis eipen, Ouk estin kalon labein ton arton tōn teknōn kai balein tois kunariois.)

TC-GNT Ὁ δὲ ἀποκριθεὶς εἶπεν, Οὐκ ἔστι καλὸν λαβεῖν τὸν ἄρτον τῶν τέκνων καὶ βαλεῖν τοῖς κυναρίοις.
(Ho de apokritheis eipen, Ouk esti kalon labein ton arton tōn teknōn kai balein tois kunariois. )

Key for above GNTs: yellow:punctuation differs, red:words differ (from our SR-GNT base).

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 15:21–28: A Gentile woman strongly believed in Jesus

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.

15:26a–b

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.

15:26a

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)

15:26b

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.”

General Comment on 15:26a–b.

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

UTN uW Translation Notes:

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

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]

Parallel MAT 15:26

Section 15:21–28: A Gentile woman strongly believed in Jesus

15:26a–b

15:26a

15:26b

General Comment on 15:26a–b.