1. In both Numbers 13:29 and Joshua 5:1 the Canaanites
were described as dwelling "by the sea" on the coast of the
Mediterranean. In Isaiah 23:11, the term is applied to Phoenicia.
The Septuagint translates "Canaanites" by "Phoenicians,"
and "Canaan" by the "land of the Phoenicians" (Ex. 16:35;
Josh. 5:12). Tyre and Sidon were their famous cities. Sidon is
called the "firstborn" of Canaan (Gen. 10:15 cf. 10:19).
Although Numbers 21:3 indicates that many of the Canaanites were
utterly destroyed by Israel, some Canaanite cities were preserved
(Judges 1: 33). Zarephath was midway between Tyre and Sidon, and
may have had some population of mixed Jewish ancestry
(I Kings 7:13-14). Solomon bought cedar from Hiram king of Tyre
and hired Canaanites to craft the temple's brass works. He
gave Hiram twenty cities in Galilee as payment. Hiram seems to
be overjoyed to help build the Lord's temple and blesses the
name of YHWH (I Kings 5:6-7). The widow of Zarephath replied
to Elijah in such a way as to show a strong awareness and
very possibly even faith in the God of Israel. Her reply to him is
"As YHWH thy God liveth . . ." Centuries later, another
Syro-Phoenician woman from the very same area would call Christ
by his messianic title, `O Lord, thou Son of David' (Matt. 15:22).
2. Orr, James, M.A., D.D. General Editor. "Entry
for `ZAREPHATH.'" "International Standard Bible
3. Mark 10:47_49. By His delay in answering, Jesus often
tested others' response before He Himself addressed the
petitioner directly; cf. Luke 7:36-48.
4. Kunarion (Strong's 2952) was the Semitic term for
small dogs, house dogs, or family pets. These could expect to
receive their master's benevolence, although obviously subordinate
to the children. Care must always be observed with
animal metaphors. Christ is called the lion of Judah, but Satan is
also compared to a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
Satan is elsewhere called the great serpent, but Christ
compares himself to the serpent that was lifted up by Moses in
the wilderness. Jesus elsewhere charged His disciples to be wise
as serpents. When one finds a hammer, everything starts to
look like a nail. Although Scripture at times decidedly calls for
cutting and pugnacious words (e.g., Ezekiel 16:25,28 cf. 23:20), I think
a case could be made that this was not one of those
examples. Besides choosing what seems to be an affectionate term for
the task, it could arguably be the only instance where Christ
ever greeted true Spirit-given faith with a supposed insult (Matt
12:20 cf. Rom. 10:14).
5. C. H. Spurgeon. The Perseverance of
Faith. Sermon No. 2253, October 30, 1890.
6. I Kings 17:18-24. To this day, the traditional site of
Elijah's apartment in the widow's house is marked by a small chapel
in the village known now as As Sarafand. See also footnote
#1, and discussion elsewhere on Luke 4:16-30.
1. If you are a member of Moscow's liberal elite reading
this article on the web, please note that I am telling you now
that this scenario is purely fictional. As in I'm making these facts up.
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