Bible Dictionary
Syrophenician
A Syrophoenician was a Gentile from the Phoenician region of Syria. A Syrophoenician woman demonstrated great faith when she appealed to Jesus to deliver her daughter from a demon.
Definition
A Syrophoenician was a Gentile from the Phoenician part of Syria. The term describes the woman who came to Jesus on behalf of her demon-afflicted daughter.
Biblical Usage
The Syrophoenician woman earnestly appealed to Jesus for her daughter. Though her faith was tested by his silence, refusal, and apparent reproach, her request was granted because of the greatness of her faith.
Historical Background
The designation identifies a person born in the Phoenician region belonging to Syria. The woman was a Gentile rather than a member of Israel.
Scripture References
Related Figures
Historical Bible Dictionaries
Easton's Bible Dictionary
“a Greek, a Syrophenician by nation” (Mark 7:26), i.e., a Gentile born in the Phoenician part of Syria. (See PHENICIA.) When our Lord retired into the borderland of Tyre and Sidon (Matt. 15:21), a Syro-phoenician woman came to him, and earnestly besought him, in behalf of her daughter, who was grievously afflicted with a demon. Her faith in him was severely tested by his silence (Matt. 15:23), refusal (24), and seeming reproach that it was not meet to cast the children’s bread to dogs (26). But it stood the test, and her petition was graciously granted, because of the greatness of her faith (28).