The Syrophoenician Woman (Mk 7:24-31) E-Book

Markus Schäfler

• Herausgeber: GRIN Verlag
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2007

Beschreibung

Exegesis from the year 1996 in the subject Theology - Biblical Theology, grade: A, University of Dayton, Ohio, language: English, abstract: The pericope of the Syrophoenician woman (Mk 7:24-31) marks the breakthrough point of the Gentile mission in Mark’s Gospel. Whenever I read or heard this story, I was struck by the harshness of Jesus' reaction towards this woman. I could not understand how he who had said: "Give to him who begs from you, and do not refuse him who would borrow from you" could so harshly reject the woman's re-quest. This is the reason why I wanted to write my research paper about this pericope. I wanted to find out more about it than I had heard so far, for what I had heard had never fully satisfied me. In this paper, I will show that with the story of the Syrophoenician woman, Mark actually built a trap for the hearers of his Gospel, because Jesus' reaction reflects their attitude towards Gentiles. They did not want to share the eucharistic table with Gentiles. As the hearers sympathize with the protagonist Je-sus, they get trapped, because the woman's humility disarms their prejudices against Gentiles, and they have to change their attitude in the same way Jesus does. After textual, form, and redaction criticism I will focus on Jesus' and the woman's behavior from different perspectives. In discussing the issues raised by the text, I will concentrate on the striking part of Jesus' harsh reaction to the woman's request and how the woman responds to it. Many scholars have dealt with this issue, and so I will include aspects of feminist, socio-political, and narrative criticism.

Leseprobe

Table of Content

1 THE SYROPHOENICIAN WOMAN (MK 7:24-31)

2 INTRODUCTION

3 TEXTUAL PROBLEMS

4 FORM CRITICISM.

5 REDACTION CRITICISM

6 ISSUES RAISED BY THE TEXT

6.1 THE HARSHNESS OF JESUS' REACTION.

6.1.1 The woman's disadvantage as a Gentile

6.1.2 Her Disadvantage as a Woman.

6.1.3 The Place in the Gospel: Initiation of the Gentile Mission.

6.2 THE WOMAN'S BEHAVIOR

6.2.1 She overcomes Barriers

6.2.2 "Little People" with Faith

6.2.3 Her Attitude of Being Servant

6.2.4 The Woman’s Ministry

7 NARRATIVE CRITICISM.

7.1 TYPE-SCENE OF HEALING: "SUPPLIANTS WITH FAITH"

7.2 THE RHETORICAL DEVICE OF SUSPENSE

8 CONCLUSION.

9 BIBLIOGRAPHY

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1 THE SYROPHOENICIAN WOMAN (MK 7:24-31)1

24And from there he arose and went away to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And he entered a house, and would not have any one know it; yet he could not be hid.25But

immediately a woman, whose little daughter was possessed by an unclean spirit, heard of him, and came and fell down at his feet.26Now the woman was a Greek, a

Syrophoenician by birth. And she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter.27And he said to her, "Let the children first be fed, for it is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs."28But she answered him, "Yes, Lord; yet

even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs."

29And he said to her, "For this saying you may go your way; the demon has left your daughter."30And she went home, and found the child lying in bed, and the demon

gone.