What Does Matthew 15:22 Mean?
And behold, a woman of Canaan came out from the same borders and cried out to him, saying, Show me faithful love, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is badly held by a demon.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil.THE KEY
Her daughter’s torment becomes the mother’s own plea, revealing compassion as another’s anguish carried into one’s own voice.
THE MEANING
A mother brings her daughter’s torment into the open as a direct plea to Jesus. She asks mercy for herself while carrying her daughter’s pain in her cry, and addresses him as Lord and Son of David.
THE ROOT
ἐλέησον
eleēson
GROWS FROM
ἐλεέω
eleeō
To show mercy or take pity; to respond with compassion.
“Show me faithful love” in this verse is eleēson. She asks for mercy on herself while naming her daughter’s anguish, so compassion here reaches across another’s suffering. The related word ἐλεημοσύνη (eleēmosynē, “almsgiving”) connects this word family with mercy expressed through concrete care.
ALSO GROWS
eleos: Mercy, compassion.
ἔλεος
The related noun makes clear that her request is for compassion, not merely relief from a difficult circumstance.
eleēmosynē: Almsgiving; an act of mercy.
ἐλεημοσύνη
This branch shows the word family can extend from felt compassion to care expressed in action.
דָּוִד
David
GROWS FROM
דוד
dod
Beloved.
The title “Son of David” carries royal lineage and the resonance of David’s name, rooted in דוד (dod, “beloved”). Her plea joins an appeal to authority with an address shaped by belovedness.
ALSO GROWS
dod: Beloved; also a loved one or kinsman.
דּוֹד
This root carries the beloved resonance within David’s name.
dodi: My beloved.
דּוֹדִי
The possessive form makes the root’s language of belovedness explicit.
THE PATTERN
A cry names need directly and reaches toward mercy as a response.
Favor me, O Lord, for to you I call out all the day.And as Jesus passed on from there, two blind men followed him, crying out and saying, Show us faithful love, Son of David.Let us therefore draw near, with open speech, to the throne of favor, that we may receive compassion, and find favor to help in the right moment.THE THREAD
When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, Jesus, Son of David, have compassion on me.Both voices use the same Greek plea, ἐλέησον (eleēson, “show mercy”), and address Jesus as “Son of David.” The repeated words join a request for compassion to David’s name, rooted in דוד (dod, “beloved”).
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