Section 7:24–30

A Gentile woman begged Jesus to heal her daughter

In the previous section, Jesus explained what made people unclean. In this section, he expelled an evil spirit from the daughter of a Gentile woman. Jews thought that they became ritually unclean if they associated with a Gentile. So Jesus showed by his actions that this Jewish tradition about Gentiles was no longer valid.

Mark did not mention the disciples in this story or the following story. But we know from the parallel passage in Matthew that the disciples went with Jesus to Tyre.

It is good to translate this section before you decide on a heading for it. Here are some other possible headings for this section:

A Gentile woman had humble faith in Jesus
-or-
Jesus helped a woman who was not a Jew
-or-
A woman’s faith

There is a parallel passage for this section in Matthew 15:21–28.

Paragraph 7:24–30

7:24a

The story in 7:24–30 began sometime after the story in 7:14–23 ended. The Greek text does not indicate how much time passed between these two stories. In some languages, it is natural to begin a story with a time word or phrase. If your language is like that, use an expression here that is not too specific. For example:

Then (Good News Bible)
-or-
After that

In other languages, a time word or phrase is not necessary. Introduce this story in a natural way in your language.

Jesus left: The disciples were with Jesus in 7:23. Mark’s next mention of the disciples is in 8:1. Mark does not say that the disciples accompanied Jesus on the trip to Tyre, but Matthew makes this information explicit. If it is confusing in your language to not mention the disciples here, you can say:

Jesus and his disciples left

that place: The words that place refer to the area near Lake Galilee where Jesus had been speaking to the crowds in 7:14–23.

went to: In many languages, a general phrase such as went to will be clear. If you need to make more information explicit in your language, you can say that Jesus walked northwest to go to the vicinity of Tyre.

region of Tyre: The region of Tyre means the area near the city called Tyre. The city called Tyre was on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, northwest of Lake Galilee.

Tyre: There is a textual issue here. Some Greek manuscripts have “Tyre.” Others have “Tyre and Sidon.”

(1) Some Greek manuscripts have Tyre. They do not have “and Sidon.” For example, the New Revised Standard Version says:

went away to the region of Tyre

(Berean Standard Bible, New International Version, Good News Bible, Contemporary English Version, New Century Version, New Living Translation, NET Bible, Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English, God’s Word, New American Standard Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, New Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible)

(2) Other Greek manuscripts have Tyre and Sidon. For example, the Revised Standard Version says:

went away to the region of Tyre and Sidon

(Revised Standard Version, King James Version, English Standard Version)

It is recommended that you follow option (1) as most English versions do. (UBS4 (page 147) omits the words “and Sidon” and gives Tyre an A rating. See also Swanson (page 112).)

7:24b

Not wanting anyone to know He was there: The word there refers to the specific house that Jesus entered. He did not want anyone to know that he was staying there.

He entered a house: The phrase He entered a house contains implied information. It implies that Jesus arrived in the area, located a house belonging to someone there, and arranged for himself and his disciples to stay there. In some languages it may be necessary to make some of this information explicit. For example:

where he stayed in someone’s house (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
He found a house to stay in (Revised English Bible)

General Comment on 7:24b

In some languages it may be more natural to change the order of the information in this part of the verse. For example, the New International Version says:

He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it

7:24c

but: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as but indicates that there is a contrast between 7:24b and 7:24c. Some other versions use the word “yet.” For example, the New International Version says:

yet

You should show this contrast in a way that is natural in your language.

was unable to escape their notice: The Greek clause that the Berean Standard Bible translates as was unable to escape their notice indicates that people outside of Israel also recognized Jesus, and he was not able to stay privately in a home.

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

he could not pass unrecognized (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
he could not stay hidden (New Century Version)
-or-
they found out anyway (Contemporary English Version)

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All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
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