Sign in
MARK 7:27 — KING JAMES VERSION 0
Mark 7:26Mark 7:28
“But Jesus said unto her, Let the children first be filled: for it is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it unto the dogs.”
First let the children eat all they want, he told her. For it is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to the dogs — Jesus' response is the hardest saying in Mark. The children are Israel; the dogs are Gentiles (a standard Jewish term of contempt for non-Jews, though Jesus may use the diminutive — puppies — which softens it somewhat). First communicates that the Gentile mission is not yet time — the priority of Jewish mission must be honored. The saying is not a final refusal but a test of the woman's faith and an implicit challenge to be met.

Church Fathers on Mark 7:27

After that the Lord had finished His teaching concerning food, seeing that the Jews were incredulous, He enters into the country of the Gentiles, for the Jews being unfaithful, salvation turns itself to the Gentiles.

Theophylact · 11th century

But if He wished to do so and could not, it appears as if His will was impotent; it is not possible however that our Saviour’s will should not be fulfilled, nor can He will a thing, which He knows ought not be.

Pseudo-Augustine · 5th century · Quaest e Vet. et N. Test. 77

Having entered also into the house, He commanded His disciples not to betray who He was to anyone in this unknown region, that they, on whom He had bestowed the grace of healing, might learn by His example, as far as they could, to shrink from the glory of human praise in the shewing forth of their miracles; yet they were not to cease from the pious work of virtue, when either the faith of the good justly deserved that miracles should be done, or the unfaithfulness of the…

Bede · 8th century · in Marc., 2, 30
Read all 12 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain
COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS
Publish a reflection on this verse
No reflections on this verse yet. Be the first to write one!
Mark 7:27 — Community Reflections | HolyStudy