Syrophoenician

Syrophoenician (or Syro-Phoenician) is the ethnic descriptor used in Mark 7:26 for the Gentile woman who came to Jesus near Tyre and begged him to cast a demon out of her daughter. Matthew's parallel (Matt. 15:22) calls her a "Canaanite woman" — the OT designation for the indigenous inhabitants of the same coastal region. The Syrophoenician label distinguishes Phoenicians living under Syrian Roman administration from the Libyan-Phoenicians (Carthaginians) of North Africa.

The encounter is one of the most theologically significant Gentile interactions in the Gospels. Jesus initially seems to refuse, saying his mission is to "the lost sheep of Israel," then responds to the woman's persistent wit ("even the dogs eat the crumbs") with commendation for her faith and healing of her daughter. The episode foreshadows the full inclusion of the Gentiles in the people of God that Pentecost inaugurates.