What Does Matthew 15:27 Mean?
And she said, Yes, Lord, yet the little dogs eat from the crumbs that fall from the table of their masters.
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 she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.THE KEY
The Greek gives both “Lord” and “masters” the same word, so her answer turns the household image back toward the one she addresses.
THE MEANING
You hear a boundary named, and her answer works within its own image: the dogs remain beneath the table, yet they eat what falls from it. The same household table that marks rank also carries food past that rank. Her reply makes room at the edge without erasing the edge.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that being placed outside the favored circle means nothing can reach you. In her image, what falls from the table still becomes food below it.
THE ROOT
κύριε
kyrie
GROWS FROM
κυρι- (kyri-; κύριος, kyrios)
Master, lord; one who holds authority.
“Lord / masters” in this verse is kyrie. The KJV uses “Lord” for the singular address and “masters” for the plural possessive, while Greek uses forms of κύριος (kyrios) for both. Her reasoning holds together the one she addresses and the household authority whose table feeds even those beneath it.
ALSO GROWS
kyrie: Lord; vocative singular, used in direct address.
κύριε
This is how she addresses Jesus before making her argument.
kyriōn: Of the masters; genitive plural.
κυρίων
This names the owners of the table in the image she uses to explain her claim.
κυνάρια
kynaria
GROWS FROM
κυν- (kyn-; κύων, kyōn)
Dog.
“little dogs” in this verse is kynaria. The Greek uses κυνάρια (kynaria), a diminutive form, while the KJV simply says “dogs.” The small-dog wording places them within the household image, but does not make them children: her reply keeps their lower place and argues that crumbs reach them there.
ALSO GROWS
kyōn: Dog.
κύων
This is the base noun behind the diminutive used in the verse.
kynarion: Little dog.
κυνάριον
This is the singular diminutive whose plural form describes the dogs beneath the table.
ψιχίων
psichiōn
GROWS FROM
ψιχ- (psich-; ψίξ, psix)
Crumb, small morsel.
“crumbs” in this verse is psichiōn. These are pieces falling from the meal already on the masters’ table. The word keeps their size small, while her argument rests on the food continuing beyond those seated above.
ALSO GROWS
psix: Crumb, morsel.
ψίξ
This is the base noun for the small piece of food named in her image.
psichion: Little crumb, small piece.
ψιχίον
This diminutive is the form from which the verse’s word for “crumbs” comes.
THE PATTERN
Provision reaches across the boundaries of rank, threat, and belonging.
And Boaz said to her, At mealtime draw near here, and eat of the bread, and immerse your morsel in the vinegar. And she sat facing the reapers, and he held out to her parched grain, and she ate and was full, and left some over.You lay out a table before my face, in full view of those who press me. You make my head rich with oil; my cup is soaked full.But in every nation the one who lives in awe of him and works alignment is received by him.THE THREAD
And she answered and said to him, Yes, Lord. Yet the little dogs beneath the table eat from the children's crumbs.Mark gives the same reply with the same Greek word for “crumbs,” ψιχίων (psichiōn), and makes the dogs’ position explicit: they are under the table. The distinction between children and dogs remains, while the food still reaches those below.
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