Exegesis:

aphes (cf. 2.5) ‘allow,’ ‘permit,’ ‘let.’

chortasthēnai (cf. 6.42) ‘be fed,’ ‘be satisfied,’ ‘be filled.’

ta tekna (cf. 2.5) ‘the children’: here figuratively for the Jews (in contrast with the Gentiles, ‘the dogs’).

kalon (cf. 4.8) ‘right,’ ‘fitting.’

tois kunariois (7.28) ‘to the (little) dogs’: the word is a diminutive and indicates a house dog, or lap dog, in contrast with the fierce dogs that roamed the streets.

It is, of course, possible that the final clause should be interpreted as a question, perhaps rhetorical, e.g. ‘It is not right, is it, to…?’

Translation:

Let the children first be fed may, in a literal translation, give rise to a wrong interpretation, i.e. ‘permit the children to eat first and then the dogs.’ The meaning is more accurately conveyed in some languages by ‘first of all, the children should eat’ or ‘first, the children should be given food.’

Though the word dogs, in its regular form would be the common term used by Jews in speaking disrespectfully of the Gentiles, Jesus may have softened the term – or perhaps, even here with an understanding smile, have taken all the harshness out of the term, by using the diminutive ending, which may have carried associations of endearment, e.g. ‘the puppies.’ In some languages there are certain parallel distinctions, e.g. in Spanish (in contrast with the regular perros ‘dogs’), there are two diminutive forms perrillos and perritos, the latter of which implies endearment.

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on the Gospel of Mark. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1961. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .