Mar 7:24 | TNotes | STEP | Summary for Mark 7:24-30: 7:24-30 The discussion of clean and unclean and of undefiled and defiled in 7:1-23 has prepared readers for the story of the Gentile woman’s faith. For Jews, Gentiles were defiled by definition, because they did not keep the regulations of the Torah (see Acts 10:1–11:18 , especially 10:14-15 ; 11:2-3 , 8-9 ). 7:24 The city of Tyre and its surrounding regions lie on the Mediterranean coast in modern-day Lebanon. Originally an island, Tyre became a peninsula when Alexander the Great constructed a half-mile ramp from the mainland in 332 BC . Tyre had one of the most important harbors on the eastern side of the Mediterranean Sea. People earlier had come from Tyre to hear Jesus and see him work miracles (3:7-8 ), which explains how the Tyrian woman knew of him. • There is much discussion about why Jesus left Galilee to visit this Gentile region . Mark provides no explanation, so any suggestion is pure speculation. Mark’s Gentile readers, however, would have understood this journey by Jesus as foreshadowing the church’s mission to the Gentile world that led to their own conversion (for more about the genesis of the church in Rome, see Romans Book Introduction).

a7:24-30►

b7:1-23►

cActs 10:1–11:18►

d10:14-15►

e11:2-3►

f8-9►

g7:24►

h3:7-8►

‏ Mark 7:24

Summary for Mark 7:24-30: 7:24-30 ^a The discussion of clean and unclean and of undefiled and defiled in 7:1-23 ^b has prepared readers for the story of the Gentile woman’s faith. For Jews, Gentiles were defiled by definition, because they did not keep the regulations of the Torah (see Acts 10:1–11:18 ^c, especially 10:14-15 ^d; 11:2-3 ^e, 8-9 ^f). 7:24 ^g The city of Tyre and its surrounding regions lie on the Mediterranean coast in modern-day Lebanon. Originally an island, Tyre became a peninsula when Alexander the Great constructed a half-mile ramp from the mainland in 332 BC. Tyre had one of the most important harbors on the eastern side of the Mediterranean Sea. People earlier had come from Tyre to hear Jesus and see him work miracles (3:7-8 ^h), which explains how the Tyrian woman knew of him.

• There is much discussion about why Jesus left Galilee to visit this Gentile region. Mark provides no explanation, so any suggestion is pure speculation. Mark’s Gentile readers, however, would have understood this journey by Jesus as foreshadowing the church’s mission to the Gentile world that led to their own conversion (for more about the genesis of the church in Rome, see Romans Book Introduction).