Translation commentary on Matthew 15:27

Yes (so also Phillips; An American Translation “O yes”; New Jerusalem Bible “Ah yes”) translates a Greek particle which indicates affirmation or emphasis. Both Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch and Zürcher Bibel have “Certainly”; Good News Translation “That’s true”; New English Bible and Barclay “True.” “Please” (New American Bible) is also a possible meaning, as TOB ‘s footnote indicates with reference to Philippians 4.3 and Philemon 20. This would mean a slight modification of the woman’s reply.

This verse makes it clear that the dogs in this passage are indeed pets.

Crumbs are often translated as “scraps that are left over” or “pieces of food that are left.” This is especially true when “bread” in verse 26 is expressed as “food.”

Crumbs that fall is translated “leftovers that fall” by Good News Translation, but an alternative translation of the verb fall is possible, as one authority on the parables notes. Both here and in Luke 16.21 the verb may be given the meaning “to be thrown,” thus resulting in an entirely different scene: Jesus would not be speaking of the crumbs that fall from the table during the course of the meal, but rather of table scraps that are taken after the meal and thrown to the dogs. If this interpretation is accepted, then the present passage may be translated “the leftovers (that are thrown) from their master’s table” or “… that their master gives them.”

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 .

SIL Translator’s Notes on Matthew 15:27



15:27a

Yes, Lord: The woman used the word Yes to show that she agreed with Jesus. In some languages, it will be more natural to make this explicit. For example:

Lord, that’s true (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
Yes, Lord, I know (Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English)
-or-
Sir, I agree

15:27b

even the dogs: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as even is used for emphasis. It emphasizes that those who were not children (that is, the dogs), were allowed to eat some of the children’s food.

Here is another way to translate this phrase is to begin it with “but.” For example:

but even dogs (Contemporary English Version)

eat the crumbs: There are two ways to interpret the Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as crumbs:

(1) It means crumbs. It refers to the small pieces of food that accidentally fall to the floor while eating. For example:

crumbs (New Living Translation (1996))

(Berean Standard Bible, Revised Standard Version, New International Version, English Standard Version, NET Bible, New Living Translation (1996), New American Standard Bible, Contemporary English Version, King James Version, New Century Version)

(2) It means leftovers or scraps of food. It refers to the pieces of food that are not eaten. For example:

the scraps (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
the leftovers (Good News Translation)

(Good News Translation, New Jerusalem Bible, Revised English Bible, God’s Word, Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English, New Living Translation (2004))

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1). This interpretation makes the most sense in this context.

that fall from their master’s table: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as master’s is the same word that is usually translated “Lord.” Here it refers to the owners of the dogs. Use whichever term that is natural in this context.

In Greek, the word master’s is plural. In some languages, it may be more natural to use a singular word here, as the Berean Standard Bible does. In other languages, it may be natural to follow the Greek and use a plural word here. For example:

their masters’ table (English Standard Version)

In some cultures where food is not placed on a table to be eaten, it will be more natural to say:

that fall on the ground/floor when their owners are eating

© 2023 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.