But he answered, “I wasn’t sent to anyone but the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
Parallel Translations
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But he answered, “I wasn’t sent to anyone but the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
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He answered and sayde: I am not sent but vnto the loost shepe of the housse of Israel.
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But he answered, and said, I am not sent, but vnto the lost sheepe of the house of Israel.
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Contradictions (1)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (11)
Passages linked to Matthew 15:24 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Matthew 10:5-6 Jesus sent these twelve out, and commanded them, saying, “Don’t go among the Gentiles, and don’t enter into any city of the Samaritans. Rather, go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
- Romans 15:8 Now I say that Christ has been made a servant of the circumcision for the truth of God, that he might confirm the promises given to the fathers,
- Jeremiah 50:6-7 My people have been lost sheep. Their shepherds have caused them to go astray. They have turned them away on the mountains. They have gone from mountain to hill. They have forgotten their resting place. All who found them have devoured them. Their adversaries said, ‘We are not guilty, because they have sinned against Yahweh, the habitation of righteousness, even Yahweh, the hope of their fathers.’
- Acts 13:46 Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, and said, “It was necessary that God’s word should be spoken to you first. Since indeed you thrust it from yourselves, and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles.
- Ezekiel 34:5-6 They were scattered, because there was no shepherd. They became food to all the animals of the field, and were scattered. My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and on every high hill. Yes, my sheep were scattered on all the surface of the earth. There was no one who searched or sought.”
- Acts 3:25-26 You are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘All the families of the earth will be blessed through your offspring.’ God, having raised up his servant Jesus, sent him to you first to bless you, in turning away every one of you from your wickedness.”
- Ezekiel 34:16 “I will seek that which was lost, and will bring back that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick; but I will destroy the fat and the strong. I will feed them in justice.” ’
- Isaiah 53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray. Everyone has turned to his own way; and Yahweh has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
- Ezekiel 34:23 I will set up one shepherd over them, and he will feed them, even my servant David. He will feed them, and he will be their shepherd.
- Luke 15:4-6 “Which of you men, if you had one hundred sheep, and lost one of them, wouldn’t leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one that was lost, until he found it? When he has found it, he carries it on his shoulders, rejoicing. When he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’
- Matthew 9:36 But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion for them, because they were harassed and scattered, like sheep without a shepherd.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (15 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Of the people of Israel, which people was divided…
Of the people of Israel, which people was divided into tribes, but all those tribes came of one house.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 24 But he answered and said, I am not…
24 But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
Ver. 24. But unto the lost sheep, &c.] He was properly the apostle of the circumcision, Rom 15:8; Heb 3:1, till the wall of partition was broken down by his resurrection. Then the veil rent, and it was open tide. Then he became a light to lighten the Gentiles, as well as he was the glory of his people Israel.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Our Lord by these words doth not deny but…
Our Lord by these words doth not deny but that he was sent as a Redeemer to more, but not as a minister, or as an apostle, as he is called, Heb 3:1. The apostle, Rom 15:8, saith, that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God to confirm the promises made unto the fathers. Our Lord’s ministry was confined to the Jews; so was the apostles’, Mat 10:5. Till some time after our Saviour’s ascension the gospel was not preached generally to the Gentiles, though some particular persons might and did, both in Christ’s time and in the time of the apostles, before they did go to the Gentiles, hear, receive and embrace the gospel, as we shall hear this woman did.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain Observe, when our Saviour doth answer, he gives not…
Observe, when our Saviour doth answer, he gives not one word of comfort, but rather a repulse. Christ has often-times love in his heart to his people, when they can read none in his countenance, nor gather it from his discourse.
Observe, the answer itself, Christ says not, I am to sent unto the lost sheep of the house of Adam, but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. The Jews are compared unto sheep, the Gentiles unto dogs. Christ insinuates, that though they were a lost sheep of Adam, yet not being one of the lost sheep of Israel, he could do nothing for her. It was a common saying among the Jews, "That the nations of the world were likened to dogs, whereas they were God’s sons and daughters."
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain But he answered, and said,.... To his disciples, who…
But he answered, and said,.... To his disciples, who knew how limited their commission was, that they were not to go into the way of the Gentiles, not to preach to them, nor perform miracles among them; and therefore could not reasonably expect that either the woman, or they, on her behalf, should succeed in this matter.
I am not sent, but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel; as a priest, or as a Saviour and Redeemer, he was sent to make satisfaction and atonement for the sins of all God's elect, and to obtain eternal redemption and salvation for all of them, whether Jews or Gentiles; but as a prophet, in the discharge of his own personal ministry, he was sent by his Father only to the Jews; he was the "minister of the circumcision", Rom 15:8 that is, a minister to the circumcised Jews; he was sent only to preach the Gospel to them, and work miracles among them, in proof of his Messiahship; and upon their rejection of him, then his apostles were to be sent among the Gentiles; but he himself was sent only to the Jews, here styled "the lost sheep of the house of Israel": by "the house of Israel", is meant the whole body of the Jewish nation, so called from Israel, the name of Jacob their father, from whom they sprung; and by the "lost sheep" of that house, are more especially designed the elect of God among them: for though all the individuals of that house were "lost" persons, considered in Adam, and in themselves, as the rest of mankind, and Christ, in the external ministry of the word, was sent to preach to them all; yet the elect of God are only "sheep": they are the sheep of Christ, of his pasture, and of his hand, whom he has the particular care and charge of; and who, in their natural state, are lost and straying, and could never find their way, or recover themselves from their lost state in Adam, and by their own transgressions; but he came to seek, and to save them, and to these his ministry was powerful and efficacious.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain I am not sent - Not primarily; not yet.
I am not sent - Not primarily; not yet.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 24. I am not sent but unto the…
Verse 24. I am not sent but unto the lost sheep] By the Divine appointment, I am come to preach the Gospel to the Jews only. There are certain preachers who should learn a lesson of important instruction from this part of our Lord's conduct. As soon as they hear of a lost sheep being found by other ministers, they give all diligence to get that one into their fold: but display little earnestness in seeking in the wilderness for those that are lost. This conduct, perhaps, proceeds from a consciousness of their inability to perform the work of an evangelist; and leads them to sit down in the labours of others, rather than submit to the reproach of presiding over empty chapels. Such persons should either dig or beg immediately, as they are a reproach to the pastoral office; for, not being sent of God, they cannot profit the people.
The wilderness of this world is sufficiently wide and uncultivated. Sinners abound every where; and there is ample room for all truly religious people, who have zeal for God, and love for their perishing follow creatures, to put forth all their strength, employ all their time, and exercise all their talents, in proclaiming the Gospel of God; not only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, but to a lost WORLD. Nor can such exertions be unsuccessful. There the pure truth of God is preached, many will be converted. Where that truth is preached, though with a mixture of error, some will be converted, for God will bless his own truth. But where nothing but false doctrine is preached, no soul is converted: for God will never sanction error by a miracle of his mercy.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain But he answered and said, I am not sent…
But he answered and said, I am not sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel--(Also see on Mar 7:26.)
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 24. He answered — To the disciples. The fact…
24. He answered — To the disciples. The fact that our Lord gives this reason to the disciples shows that he is assigning the true cause of his actions. It is not, as some think, to draw out the woman’s faith, that he declines to hear her prayer; but because his immediate mission is not to Gentile, but to Jew. Sent — All his actions are under the control of Him from whom he has received his commission; and the tenor of that commission limits him to Israel. Lost sheep — Such is the character of which the whole house of Israel consists. They are all lost sheep, and to them is he sent.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 24. I am not sent but unto the lost…
24. I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel] Jesus came to save all, but His personal ministry was confined, with few exceptions, to the Jews.
The thought of Israel as a flock of sheep lost on the mountains is beautifully drawn out, Ezekiel 34; “My flock was scattered upon all the face of the earth, and none did search or seek after them,” (Mat_15:6.) Read the whole chapter.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (24) I am not sent (better, I was not…
(24) I am not sent (better, I was not sent) but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.—This, then, was what had restrained Him. Those wandering sheep, without a shepherd, were the appointed objects of His care. Were He to go beyond that limit in a single case, it might be followed by a thousand, and then, becoming, as it were, before the time, the Apostle of the Gentiles, He would cease to draw to Himself the hearts of Israel as their Redeemer. We call to mind the case of the centurion’s servant (Mat_8:10), and wonder that that was not decisive as a precedent in the supplicant’s favour. The two cases stood, however, on a very different footing. The centurion who had built a synagogue was practically, if not formally, a proselyte of the gate. As the elders of the synagogue pleaded for him as worthy, the work of healing wrought for him would not alienate them or their followers. The woman belonged, on the contrary, to the most scorned and hated of all heathen races, to the Canaan on which the primeval curse was held to rest (Gen_9:25), and had as yet done nothing to show that she was in any sense a convert to the faith of Israel.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain I am (was) not sent but unto the lost…
I am (was) not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Doubtless the woman had listened to the apostles" intercession, and thought her cause won; but the repulse is only repeated; this Gentile is beyond the sphere of his mission; he cannot help her without departing from the rule which he had set himself. Jesus says nothing here about the rejection of the Jews and the future ingathering of the Gentiles; he states merely that his personal mission while he was on earth was confined to the Hebrew nation. He was, as St. Paul calls him, (Rom_15:8) "a Minister of the circumcision." Later, he would send others to evangelize those who were now aliens from the chosen commonwealth; at present he has come unto his own possessions. Lost sheep. There is a tenderness in this expression natural from the mouth of the good Shepherd. He had used it when he sent forth the twelve on their apostolical journey; (Mat_10:6) the metaphor is found in the Old Testament (see Jer_50:6, etc.) It is appropriate here, where he is emphasizing his attitude towards the chosen people, and teaching the Canaanitish woman the relative position of Jew and Gentile.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain 24. I am not sent but to the lost…
24. I am not sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. The Lord's personal mission was to the Jews. Under the first commission his apostles were directed to go only to the Jews (Matt. 10:6). It would be impossible to evangelize the Gentiles without setting aside the Jewish customs, the law of Moses, and arousing the bitterest prejudice of the Jews. Hence it was the divine plan that the Son should “keep the law blameless” during his ministry. It was only when the Jews crucified him “that the handwriting of ordinances was nailed to the cross,” the “wall of partition” between Jews and Gentiles broken down, and all prepared for the Great Commission which bade his disciples “go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.”
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain lost sheep For Another Point of View: See Topic…
lost sheep For Another Point of View: See Topic 301191 (Greek - ἀπόλλυμι). (See Scofield "Joh 3:16")
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 I was not sent to anyone
I was not sent to anyone
This can be stated in active form. AT: "God did not send me to anyone" (See: Active or Passive)
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to the lost sheep of the house of Israel
This is a metaphor comparing the entire nation of Israel to sheep who have gone away from their shepherd. See how you translated this in Matthew 10:6. (See: Metaphor)
she came
"the Canaanite woman came"
bowed down before him
This shows that the woman humbled herself before Jesus. (See: Symbolic Action)
It is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs
Jesus responds to the woman with a proverb. The basic meaning is that it is not right to take what is supposed to belong to Jews and give it to non-Jews. (See: Proverbs)
the children's bread
Here "bread" refers to food in general. AT: "the children's food" (See: Synecdoche)
the little dogs
The Jews considered dogs to be unclean animals. Here they are used as an image for non-Jews.
translationWords
Jesus
send
ewe
house
Israel
bow
bread
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.