Christ did not immediately reply to the woman's request. He received this representative of a despised race as the Jews would have done. In this He designed that His disciples should be impressed with the cold and heartless manner in which the Jews would treat such a case, as evinced by His reception of the woman, and the compassionate manner in which He would have them deal with such distress, as manifested by His subsequent granting of her petition.

Kristus svarede ikke straks på kvindens bøn. Han modtog denne repræsentant for et foragtet folk, som jøderne ville have gjort det. Ved at modtage kvinden på denne måde tilsigtede han, at hans disciple skulle få et indtryk af den kolde og hjerteløse måde, på hvilken jøderne ville behandle en sådan sag; og ved bagefter at opfylde hendes bøn skulle de se den medlidenhed, hvormed han ville have dem til at tage sig af en sådan nød.