3. See Keener, C.S., The Gospel of Matthew: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2009), p. 414.Google Scholar

4. F.T. France is unusual in interpreting the episodes following the Canaanite story as centred on Gentiles and Gentile territory, including the second Feeding miracle (The Gospel of Matthew [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2007], pp. 591-92); he tries to argue that those who, after their healing, praise ‘the God of Israel’ are more likely Gentiles than Jews (15.31). This seems more of a Markan insight than a Matthean one (cf. Mk 7.37–8.10).Google Scholar

5. For further on Matthew's redaction of the miracles, see Held, H.J., ‘Matthew as Interpreter of the Miracle Stories’, in G. Bornkamm, G. Barth and H.J. Held, Tradition and Interpretation in Matthew (et; London: SCM Press, 2nd edn, 1982), pp. 165–299. Three characteristic features of Matthew's redaction are condensation, christological focus and restructure (W.D. Davies and D.C. Allison, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Gospel According to Saint Matthew [Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1991], II, p. 32). On the narrative aspects of the miracles, see U. Luz, Studies in Matthew (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2005), pp. 221–40.Google Scholar

6. See Davies and Allison, Saint Matthew, II, p. 541; also E.M. Wainwright, Towards a Feminist Critical Reading of the Gospel according to Matthew (Berlin: de Gruyter, 1991), pp. 217–22, and Jackson, G.S., ‘Have Mercy on Me’: The Story of the Canaanite Woman in Matthew 15.21–28 (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 2002), pp. 101–102.Google Scholar

7. According to Davies and Allison, it is not entirely clear whether Jesus journeys towards the Gentile territory of Tyre and Sidon or into it (Saint Matthew, II, p. 548); for the contrary view, which follows the more usual meaning of the Greek preposition eis (‘into’), see, e.g., Luz, U., Matthew 8–20: A Commentary (et; Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2001), pp. 338–339.Google Scholar

8. France notes that Jesus is withdrawing until he begins the real confrontation, with the journey to Jerusalem (Matthew, pp. 591, 596–603).Google Scholar

9. See Jubilees 20.22–24; Josephus describes the Tyrians as ‘notoriously our bitterest enemies’ (Contra Apion, I.70 [LCL; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1976]). On Canaanites in the Old Testament as ‘villains’, see Jackson, ‘Have Mercy on Me’, pp. 70–82.Google Scholar

10. Davies and Allison, Saint Matthew,II, p. 547.Google Scholar

11. Arguing from a social-scientific perspective, S.L. Love thinks that, lacking male protection or escort and probably means of subsistence, the woman was likely to have survived by prostitution (Jesus and Marginal Women: The Gospel of Matthew in Social-Scientific Perspective [Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2009], pp. 152–55). This assumption goes well beyond the Matthean text.Google Scholar

12. With the suggestion of a continuous plea (note the imperfect tense of the verb, krazô).Google Scholar

13. Boring, M.E., ‘The Gospel of Matthew: Introduction, Commentary, and Reflections’. in L.E. Keck et al. (eds), The New Interpreter's Bible (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1994), p. 336.Google Scholar

14. Luz, Matthew 8–20, p. 339. Jackson singles out a number of psalms that have influenced Matthew here, particularly those of lament (‘Have Mercy on Me’,pp. 111–26).Google Scholar

15. For Matthew, it is unlikely that Jesus’ silence is the expression of his annoyance at being discovered (though it is a possibility in Mark's version).Google Scholar

16. So France, Matthew, p. 593; as against D. Senior, Matthew (Nashville, TN: Abingdon, 1998, p. 181), who thinks the disciples show no interest in the woman's daughter being healed. The NJB is unusual in translating it: ‘Give her what she wants, because she keeps shouting after us.’ The verb apoluô (‘dismiss/send away’) is used in the Feeding stories of Jesus sending the crowds home after the miracle (14.15, 22; 15.32, 39; cf. 18.27), suggesting the disciples do want the woman's plea granted – though their motives are far from pure.Google Scholar

17. Davies and Allison, Saint Matthew, II, p. 550.Google Scholar

18. Hagner, D., Matthew 14–28 (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson), 1995 p. 442, translates the verb here as ‘worship’. See also Boring, ‘Matthew’, p. 336 who speaks of the woman using ‘the kneeling posture of Christian worship’.Google Scholar

19. The diminutive does not mean ‘little dogs’ but household dogs as opposed to stray dogs (of which there were many in the ancient world). See Cadwallader, A.H., Beyond the Word of a Woman: Recovering the Bodies of the Syrophoenician Women (Adelaide: ATF Press, 2008), pp. 87–139, on the use of the diminutive (which he sees as far more demeaning) and the Greek origins of the proverb.Google Scholar

20. G.D. Miller goes against the trend that assumes dogs in the Israelite world were regarded as contemptible, without value or usefulness; he argues instead that some were used as working animals (e.g. sheepdogs) and some even kept as pets within Israel (e.g. Tob. 6.2; 11.4); in general, however, dogs were more highly valued in the surrounding nations than in Israel (‘Attitudes towards Dogs in Ancient Israel: A Reassessment’, JSNT 32 [2008], pp. 487–500).Google Scholar

21. Senior, Matthew, p. 182.Google Scholar

22. See Senior, Matthew, p. 183 and Hagner, Matthew 14–28, p. 442.Google Scholar

23. Held, ‘Matthew as Interpreter’, pp. 178–81, and Boring, ‘Matthew’, pp. 241–51.Google Scholar

24. Jesus’ initial response to the centurion, if a question (as is likely), may also be something of a rebuff: ‘Do you expect me to come to your house?’ (8.7); so Davies and Allison, Saint Matthew, II, pp. 21–22, and France, Matthew, pp. 312–14.Google Scholar

25. This point (along with the woman's humility) is a key emphasis of the early Fathers; see M. Simonetti (ed.), Matthew 14–28 (ACCS; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2002), pp. 30–31.Google Scholar

26. Boring, ‘Matthew’, p. 336.Google Scholar

27. So O'Day, G.R., ‘Surprised by Faith: Jesus and the Canaanite Woman’, in A.-J. Levine (ed.), A Feminist Companion to Matthew (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 2001), pp. 114–125, and D. Senior, ‘Listening to the Voices’, Bible Today 28 (1990), pp. 361–63.Google Scholar

28. France sees this as a testing narrative (Matthew, pp. 590–91), with Jesus challenging not just the depth but also the authenticity of the woman's faith.Google Scholar

29. D. Patte sees both Jesus and the woman, read from within different contexts, as models for disciples to emulate (‘The Canaanite Woman and Jesus: Surprising Models of Discipleship [Matt. 15:21-28]’, in I.R. Kitzberger [ed.], Transformative Encounters: Jesus and Women Re-viewed [Leiden: Brill, 2000], pp. 33–53).Google Scholar

30. Beare, F.W., The Gospel According to Matthew (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1981), p. 242, sees Jesus’ attitude to the woman as brutal, representing ‘the worse kind of chauvinism’. In a similar vein, e.g., see J.M.C. Scott, ‘Matthew 15.21–28: A Test-Case for Jesus’ Manners’, JSNT 63 (1996), pp. 21–44, and A. Monro, ‘Alterity and the Canaanite Woman: A Postmodern Feminist Theological Reflection on Political Action’, Colloquium 26 (1994]) pp. 32–43, who both argue that the woman plays the role that should be taken by Jesus; also L.A. Guardiola-Saénz who sees the woman as victimized and oppressed even by Matthew (‘Borderless Women and Borderless Texts: A Cultural Reading of Matthew 15:21–28’, Semeia 78 [1997], pp. 69–81).Google Scholar

31. Boring, ‘Matthew’, p. 337. L.D. Hart sees Jesus operating here as the Sage, awaiting the right moment to lead the woman into a new spirituality, a new way of being (‘The Canaanite Woman: Meeting Jesus as Sage and Lord’, ExpT 122 [2010], pp. 20–25).Google Scholar

32. Triads are a characteristic feature of Matthew's rhetorical style. In the Sermon on the Mount, however, the three classic observances of righteousness (almsgiving, prayer and fasting) have a fourth added to them (treasure in heaven) that sums up the rest (6.1-34). The same pattern of three-plus-one can also be found in Old Testament rhetoric: cf. the opening series of prophecies in Amos 1.3–2.8.Google Scholar

33. In its present form, the story is also loaded with the subsequent history of the Matthean community and the early Church in relation to the place of Gentiles and also the ministry of women.Google Scholar

34. So L. Nortjé-Meyer, ‘Gentile Female Characters in Matthew's Story: An Illustration of Righteousness’, in Kitzberger, Transformative Encounters, pp. 67–71.Google Scholar

35. Luz sees two basic dimensions to the story in the history of interpretation: salvation-history (the relationship of Jew and Gentile) and the parenetic-existential (faith) (Matthew 8–20, pp. 337–38). For a rather different history of reception, cf. Lawrence, L.J., “Crumb Tails and Puppy-Dog Tales”: Reading Afterlives of a Canaanite Woman’, in C.E. Joynes and C.C. Rowland (eds.), From the Margins 2: Women of the New Testament and their Afterlives (Sheffield: Phoenix Press, 2009), pp. 262–278.Google Scholar

36. The Temptation story makes the point in its primary, christological meaning: Jesus replays the story of Israel and makes possible the ‘new covenant’, restoring what was lost, and remaking human history (Mt. 4.1-11); see Luz, U, Matthew 1–7: A Commentary (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2007), pp. 153–155. Irenaeus develops this notion in his understanding of the incarnation as ‘recapitulation’ (Against Heresies V.21, in The Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1 [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1967]).Google Scholar

37. Jackson concludes that Gentiles are already included among the people of God in the Old Testament, so that Matthew is drawing on an authentic biblical tradition by welcoming them (‘Have Mercy on Me’, pp. 142–44).Google Scholar

38. As B. Byrne points out, many Christians today have less trouble with an inclusive attitude to outsiders than with the theological priority of Israel in God's election (Lifting the Burden: Reading Matthew's Gospel in the Church Today [Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2004], p. 124).Google Scholar

39. It is, says Luz, ‘an exception’ that nonetheless has ‘a future’ (Luz, Matthew 8–20, p. 339). See also Hagner, Matthew 14–28, p. 443, who speaks of the story as being both exception and anticipation. Cf. D.B. Mel, who sees this narrative as an exception in Jesus’ ministry rather than a turning-point (‘Jesus and the Canaanite Woman: An Exception for an Exceptional Faith’, Priscilla Papers 23 [2009], pp. 8–12).Google Scholar

40. France, Matthew, p. 590.Google Scholar

41. Cuvillier, É., ‘Particularisme et universalisme chez Matthieu’, Biblica 78 (1997), pp. 497–499.Google Scholar

42. France, Matthew, p. 590.Google Scholar

43. There is a significant parallel with the story of the haemorrhaging woman, another unclean female in Matthew's Gospel (9.20-22). Though Jewish, the woman feels compelled to ‘steal’ her healing rather than asking outright, as the Gentile woman does; yet both experience healing and the faith of both is commended.Google Scholar

44. See Wainwright, Matthew, pp. 225–26, and Keener, Matthew, p. 415.Google Scholar

45. Carter, W., Matthew: Storyteller, Interpreter, Evangelist (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2nd edn, 2004), pp. 196–197.Google Scholar

46. Boring, ‘Matthew’, p. 337.Google Scholar

47. ‘The Five Marks of Mission’, Anglican Communion, available at: http://www.anglicancommunion.org/ministry/mission/fivemarks.cfm (accessed 1 September 2014).Google Scholar

48. E.M. Wainwright uses the name ‘Justa’ for the Canaanite woman, a name given to her in the Pseudo-Clementine Epistles (‘Not Without my Daughter: Gender and Demon Possession in Matthew 15.21-28’, in Levine, Matthew, pp. 126–29).Google Scholar

49. For further on the fragmentation of contemporary Anglicanism, see Reid, D., ‘Anglican Diversity and Conflict: A Study on God, Gender and Authority’, in B. Kaye (ed.), ‘Wonderful and Confessedly Strange’: Australian Essays in Anglican Ecclesiology (Adelaide: ATF Press, 2006), pp. 245–265.Google Scholar

50. Kaye, B., Reinventing Anglicanism. A Vision of Confidence, Community and Engagement in Anglican Christianity (Adelaide: OpenBook, 2003), pp. 175–190.Google Scholar

51. Avis, P., The Anglican Understanding of the Church: An Introduction (London: SPCK, 2nd edn, 2013), pp. 95–96.Google Scholar

52. Wainwright argues that this story functioned in the Matthean community to highlight the legitimacy of ‘women's active role in liturgy’ (Matthew, p. 245).Google Scholar

53. The Chicago Lambeth Quadrilateral of 1866 is a helpful way of defining the centre (the Scriptures, the Nicene Creed, the dominical sacraments, and the episcopate) but is limited if it is not set within the context of mutual exchange and dialogue. Available at: http://www.anglicancommunion.org/resources/acis/docs/chicago_lambeth_quadrilateral.cfm (accessed 3 September 2014).Google Scholar

54. Hauerwas, Matthew, p. 144.Google Scholar