Came causes certain complications in analyzing the precise sequence of events, as do the other verbs of motion in the narrative (“went away” in verse 21; “came out” in verse 22; “came” in verse 23). For example, by itself verse 22 does not clearly show whether Jesus and his disciples were walking along or were stationary, whether sitting or standing, at the time the woman initially approached them. But the introduction of “after us” in verse 23 definitely pictures the group in movement, with the woman trailing along behind them. Then in verse 24 it seems that Jesus addresses the woman directly (While they are still walking along? Or has the group now stopped?), and verse 25 now states that the woman came to Jesus and knelt before him, begging him to help her.
Most translations represent a rather formal rendering of the Greek, without seriously dealing with these difficulties. However, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch apparently takes came as the equivalent of a helping verb for knelt (similar to the Hebrew use of “rise,” as in “rise and go,” Luke 15.18) and so translates without this verb: “Then the woman threw herself down before Jesus and said….” Another common rendering of came is “approached” or “went up to,” assuming that her kneeling involved her approaching him more closely than she had before. Translators are free to represent these actions and motions in ways that are normal in their own languages.
Knelt (similarly Jerusalem Bible, Moffatt, Barclay) is translated “fell at his feet” by New English Bible and Good News Translation; An American Translation and Luther 1984 “fell down before him”; Zürcher Bibel “threw herself down in front of him”; New American Bible “did him homage.” This is the verb most frequently used in the New Testament of worship in general, and it is found first in this Gospel in 2.2. The root meaning is “approach in dog-like fashion,” and it describes the manner in which a subject might approach a king or some other holy person or object. Consequently the meaning may be either “fall down and worship” or “worship.” The present context suggests that the woman is either kneeling or, more likely, prostrating herself on the ground, pleading with Jesus to heal her child. Barclay conveys the idea of knelt with “knelt in front of him in entreaty.” A similar translation would be “knelt in front of him to beg him.” It is better to use this example than something else that means “worship.”
Lord, help me: here again one is compelled to decide between the meaning “sir” (an honorific) and “Lord.” In the original setting the meaning was most probably “sir,” but when Matthew uses it in his Gospel, he is doubtless conscious of the meaning that it has for the Christian community at the time he writes.
Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on the Gospel of Matthew. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1988. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .