The Syrophoenician Analogy “Shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect?” – Romans 3:3 Geneva Bible

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The Syrophoenician Analogy:

“Shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect?”

Romans 3:3 Geneva Bible

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“. . . great is thy faithfulness.” -Lamentations 3:23b KJV 

“O woman, great is thy faith. . .” – Matthew 15:28 KJV

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A Startling Discovery

Jesus’ extravagant tribute to the faith of the Syrophoenician woman: “O woman, great is thy faith!” [1] raises a startling question. Was Jesus applying to this Canaanite what Jeremiah had ascribed to the God of Israel in Lamentations 3:23b?  Most significantly, Jesus’ use of the Greek pistis [faith] reflected the Hebrew emunah of Lamentations 3:23b rendered “faithfulness” in English.  Similarly, Paul’s use of the Greek pistis in Galations 3:11 and Romans 1:17 represented the Hebrew emunah of Habakkuk 2:4: “. . . the just shall live by faith.”

Addressing Jesus as “Lord,” the woman of Canaan petitioned the “son of David” on behalf of her demon-oppressed daughter. She did not sidestep, nor was she deterred by, Jesus’ assaying statements: (1) “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel,” and (2) “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” [2]

Graciously, and adroitly, she countered:

“Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.” [3]

The parallel passage in Mark 7:24-30, particularly verse 29, makes it clear that it was the above response which prompted Jesus’ exclamation, “O woman, great is thy faith!”  Spoken according to the analogy of the faith, the woman’s words bore a prophetic ring [4] serving notice that the Syrophoenician had gotten it!

And, like Simon Peter’s confession, it originated in God Himself [5] –prompting Jesus’ exclamatory praise in the language of Lamentations 3:23b!  The faith [Greek pistis] that so characterized the God of Israel [6] had become her very own. “Deep” was calling to “deep.” [7]  Prompting, testing, and finally affirming in this Canaanite woman a greatness of faith which echoed the great faith[fulness] of the heavenly Father, Jesus startled the ancient world in a way that reverberates into our own. Then in response to her faith Jesus announced, “Be it done for you as you desire!” And the woman’s daughter was healed instantly. [8]

The Hebrew and the Septuagint: emunah and pistis

Emunah occurs forty-nine times in the Hebrew Bible. [9] It is one of several nouns meaning “faith” or “faithfulness” which are derived from the Hebrew verb aman [to be steady, firm, trustworthy; to believe]. The universal “Amen” expressed in the prayers of Christian believers throughout the world comes from aman. Another nounal counterpart of the Hebrew aman was the Hebrew emeth found in Genesis 24:27 and Psalm 85:12 [verse 11 in English versions].  Emeth appears somewhere between 100 and 199 times in the Hebrew Bible. [10]  The King James Version and 1901 American Standard Version rendering of the Hebrew emeth in Psalm 85:11 as “truth” is not necessarily at odds with either the New International Version or the English Standard Version both of which render it “faithfulness” as follows:

Faithfulness springs up from the ground, and righteousness looks down from heaven.

Since “truth” is derived from the old English “troth,” it is replete with the sense of covenant faithfulness, good faith, or fidelity. To affirm that “faith” (based on the Greek pistis, and understood in the sense of the old English “troth”) “springs up from the ground, and righteousness looks down from heaven” harmonizes quite well with the major theme of Paul’s Galatian and Roman epistles.

The Case Simply Stated

The case for the connection between Lamentations 23b and Jesus’ commendation of the Syrophoenician’s faith may be stated as follows:

1. To designate the “faith” of the Syrophoenician woman in Matthew 15:28, Jesus deployed the same Greek pistis which the Septuagint translators consistently used to represent the Hebrew emunah (which appears in Lamentations 3:23b);

2. In Lamentations 3:23b the Hebrew rab [variously rendered as “much,” “many,” “plenteous,” “abundant,” or “great”] has the universally attested meaning of “great”;

3. Since Jesus deployed the Greek megas [great] in Matthew 15:28 to describe the faith of the Syrophoenician, it is quite significant that he also used megas in Matthew 5:35 to represent the Hebrew rab [great] of Psalm 48:3 [48:2 in the English Bibles]. Transliterated, the pertinent passage in Matthew 5:35 appears as: “polis esti tou megalou basileos.” [“. . . it is the city of the great King”]. [11]  The Greek megalou is the genitive, masculine, singular of megas –an adjective describing tou basileos [the King].  While the Septuagint writers usually matched the Greek megas with the Hebrew gadol [great], [12]  here is an example of the Lord’s own infallible representation of the Hebrew rab by the Greek megas –also rendered “great.”

4. Using the Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, this writer counted at least 113 instances of the Hebrew rab being rendered “great” in the King James Version of the Old Testament;

5. The fact that Lamentations 3:22-24 is missing from the extant Septuagint manuscripts [13] is irrelevant. Even if the Septuagint omission of Lamentations 3:22-24 were discovered and found to contain the Greek polle [from polus] in verse 23b, the meaning in this instance would remain unchanged. For the Greek polus has the identical range of meaning as the Hebrew rab.

6. Conclusion: It is well substantiated that Jesus’ words spoken to the Syrophoenician in Matthew 15:28, if not an exact replication of the original Septuagintal translation, constituted a verbatim Greek rendering of the Hebrew affirmation in Lamentations 3:23b.