Matthew 15:22

ἔκραζεν rightly replaces the rarer form ἐκραύγασεν.

22. γυνὴ Χαναναία. In Mark ἡ δὲ γυνὴ ἦν Ἑλληνίς, Συροφοινίκισσα (Matthew 7:26). The two expressions are in Hellenistic Greek identical. In Joshua 5:12, ‘The land of Canaan’ (Hebr.) appears in the LXX. version as τὴν χώραν τῶν Φοινίκων. Hecatæus (Tr. 254) states: Χνᾶ. [Canaan] οὕτω πρότερον ἡ Φοινίκη ἐκαλεῖτο. The term land of Canaan, literally the low lands or netherlands, at first applied to the whole of Palestine, was confined in later times to the maritime plain of Phœnicia. Still, according to Prof. Rawlinson, the Canaanites and Phœnicians were distinct races, possessing marked peculiarities. The former were the original occupants of the country, the latter ‘immigrants at a comparatively recent date.’ (Herod. Vol. IV. p. 199.) The relations between Phœnicia and Palestine had been with scarcely an exception peaceful and friendly. The importance of the narrative lies in the fact that this woman was a foreigner and a heathen—a descendant of the worshippers of Baal. She may have heard and seen Jesus in earlier days. Cp. Mark 3:8, ‘they about Tyre and Sidon … came unto him.’ This instance of mercy extended to a Gentile points to the future diffusion of the Gospel beyond the Jewish race.

ἐλέησόν με. Identifying herself with her daughter. Cp. the prayer of the father of the lunatic child: ‘Have compassion on us and help us,’ Mark 9:22.

υἱὸς Δαυείδ. A title that proves the expectation that the Messiah should spring from the house of David. It is the particular Messianic prophecy which would be most likely to reach foreign countries. The Tyrian woman’s appeal to the descendant of Hiram’s friend and ally has a special significance.