The Syro Phoenician woman in Mark 7
Ian Paul
31.10
2 September 2024
12 November 2025
The gospel lectionary reading for Trinity 15 in this Year B is Mark 7.24-37, which includes the episode of Jesus’ encounter with the Syrophoenician woman that often brings readers up short, containing as it does what appears to be a rather shocking insult.
It has become very popular to read this as a story about a woman who teaches Jesus not to be a bigoted Jew, so that he is the problem and she is the hero in the story. But this way of reading raises a huge number of problems—and fails to attend to what the text actually says, or the context in which it is told.
In this conversation, we explore the issues this raise, what the text actually says, and what we learn from this about Jesus and his teaching.
Come and join Ian and James as they explore these questions! Revd James Blandford-Baker is vicar of Histon and Impington, two villages just north of Cambridge. Revd Dr Ian Paul is Associate Minister of St Nic's, Nottingham, and writes the widely-read blog www.psephizo.com. We hope you enjoy the new video format.
Full written commentary behind the discussion can be found on the blog each week.