“It’s not right . . . to give perfectly good white folk food to niggers”

Jesus was not above using ethnic humor to make His point either. . . . My understanding of this encounter is that Jesus was pulling his disciples’ chain. This woman was not a Jew, and the Jews had problems dealing with such people, considering them beneath contempt — in a word, dogs. Put in terms that we might be more familiar with, Jesus was white, and the disciples were white, and this black woman comes up seeking healing, for her daughter. She gets ignored. The disciples ask Jesus to send her off. She comes up and beseeches Christ for healing. It’s not right, He says, to give perfectly good white folk food to “niggers.” Disciples mentally cheer. But she sees the look in His eye, and the inverted commas around the epithet, and answers in kind. He relents, which was His intent all along, and heals the woman’s daughter. If this understanding is right, then Jesus was using a racial insult to make a point. If it is not correct, then He was simply using a racial insult. In either case, His language is more than a little rough.
Douglas Wilson

7 Comments

  1. Because that’s exactly how Jesus would talk and think. I’m glad we have people like DW to make the hidden things a little clearer.

  2. It’s my understanding that the Greek term rendered “dog” in English could be better rendered “little dogs” (and in fact is in some translations) and is a reference to pet canines rather than the mangy, unclean mongrel sort of dog. And really, doesn’t it make more sense for pets rather than strays to get the leftovers from the table? If that’s the case, then Wilson’s reading of the passage is entirely wrong, and his justification for using offensive language to make a point just doesn’t work.

    1. If that’s the case, then Wilson’s reading of the passage is entirely wrong, and his justification for using offensive language to make a point just doesn’t work.

      Emily, you are correct. It is DW’s opportunity to attribute his own hatred to Jesus, and thereby justify his own puny, racist heart.

      Also, it allows him the chance to use a words that, in my opinion, he would love to employ regularly. I bet it comes out under his breath almost every time he sees an African American.

    2. @Emily — Going back probably 15 years or more, I remember reading that John Wycliffe (first man to translate Scripture into English) translated it “whelps” — tender newborn puppies — helpless & harmless. Wycliffe correctly understood the point. I do not remember my source and I have too many commentaries and language aids to know where to begin. It was one of those words that just stuck in my head — “whelps.”

      @Burwell — Exactly. He transferred his racism to the Son of God. Wilson doesn’t use racist slurs. Jesus does.

    3. Yes, the passage stresses the persistence of a mother for her child, it illustrates the compassion we should show all mankind. The woman loved her demon possessed daughter wanted to see her healed, Jesus recognized this woman’s passion for her child as a just judge completely holy towards his people he again proves to us though the bible that the purpose of the Tri-une God is to redeem us to him. I am thankful for the persistence of people who prayed for me….May his name be praised

  3. Knowing DW for the incredibly pompous, bigoted twit that he is, and the utter disdain he holds for so many of the people of Moscow who don’t buy into his worldview (that would be most of us), when I see him walking, I see a constant cloud of dirt surrounding him, like “Pigpen” in the Peanuts comic strip.

    1. A fatter Pigpen, with none of the redeeming qualities. What an image. I’ve never been to Moscow or met Doig Wilson, but that image is so vivid!

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