Matthew 15:24
New International Version
He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”

New Living Translation
Then Jesus said to the woman, “I was sent only to help God’s lost sheep—the people of Israel.”

English Standard Version
He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

Berean Standard Bible
He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

Berean Literal Bible
And answering He said, "I was sent only to those being lost sheep of the house of Israel."

King James Bible
But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

New King James Version
But He answered and said, “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

New American Standard Bible
But He answered and said, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

NASB 1995
But He answered and said, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

NASB 1977
But He answered and said, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

Legacy Standard Bible
But He answered and said, “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

Amplified Bible
He answered, “I was commissioned by God and sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

Christian Standard Bible
He replied, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

Holman Christian Standard Bible
He replied, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

American Standard Version
But he answered and said, I was not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
But he answered and said to them, “I am not sent except to the sheep that have strayed from the house of Israel.”

Contemporary English Version
Jesus said, "I was sent only to the people of Israel! They are like a flock of lost sheep."

Douay-Rheims Bible
And he answering, said: I was not sent but to the sheep that are lost of the house of Israel.

English Revised Version
But he answered and said, I was not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Jesus responded, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the nation of Israel."

Good News Translation
Then Jesus replied, "I have been sent only to the lost sheep of the people of Israel."

International Standard Version
But he replied, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the nation of Israel."

Literal Standard Version
and He answering said, “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

Majority Standard Bible
He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

New American Bible
He said in reply, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

NET Bible
So he answered, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."

New Revised Standard Version
He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

New Heart English Bible
But he answered, "I was not sent to anyone but the lost sheep of the house of Israel."

Webster's Bible Translation
But he answered and said, I am not sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

Weymouth New Testament
"I have only been sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel," He replied.

World English Bible
But he answered, “I wasn’t sent to anyone but the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

Young's Literal Translation
and he answering said, 'I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.'

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Faith of the Canaanite Woman
23But Jesus did not answer a word. So His disciples came and urged Him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.” 24 He answered, I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” 25The woman came and knelt before Him. “Lord, help me!” she said.…

Cross References
Matthew 10:6
Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel.

Matthew 15:23
But Jesus did not answer a word. So His disciples came and urged Him, "Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us."

Acts 3:26
When God raised up His Servant, He sent Him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways."

Romans 15:8
For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the circumcised on behalf of God's truth, to confirm the promises made to the patriarchs,


Treasury of Scripture

But he answered and said, I am not sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

I am not.

Matthew 9:36
But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.

Matthew 10:5,6
These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: …

Isaiah 53:6
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

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Matthew 15
1. Jesus reproves the Scribes and Pharisees
7. for transgressing God's commandments through their own traditions;
10. teaches how that which goes into the mouth does not defile a man.
21. He heals the daughter of the woman of Canaan,
29. and other great multitudes;
32. and with seven loaves and a few small fish feeds four thousand men














(24) I am not sent (better, I was not sent) but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.--This, then, was what had restrained Him. Those wandering sheep, without a shepherd, were the appointed objects of His care. Were He to go beyond that limit in a single case, it might be followed by a thousand, and then, becoming, as it were, before the time, the Apostle of the Gentiles, He would cease to draw to Himself the hearts of Israel as their Redeemer. We call to mind the case of the centurion's servant (Matthew 8:10), and wonder that that was not decisive as a precedent in the supplicant's favour. The two cases stood, however, on a very different footing. The centurion who had built a synagogue was practically, if not formally, a proselyte of the gate. As the elders of the synagogue pleaded for him as worthy, the work of healing wrought for him would not alienate them or their followers. The woman belonged, on the contrary, to the most scorned and hated of all heathen races, to the Canaan on which the primeval curse was held to rest (Genesis 9:25), and had as yet done nothing to show that she was in any sense a convert to the faith of Israel.

Verse 24. - I am (was) not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Doubtless the woman had listened to the apostles' intercession, and thought her cause won; but the repulse is only repeated; this Gentile is beyond the sphere of his mission; he cannot help her without departing from the rule which he had set himself. Jesus says nothing here about the rejection of the Jews and the future ingathering of the Gentiles; he states merely that his personal mission while he was on earth was confined to the Hebrew nation. He was, as St. Paul calls him (Romans 15:8), "a Minister of the circumcision." Later, he would send others to evangelize those who were now aliens from the chosen commonwealth; at present he has come unto his own possessions. Lost sheep. There is a tenderness in this expression natural from the mouth of the good Shepherd. He had used it when he sent forth the twelve on their apostolical journey (Matthew 10:6); the metaphor is found in the Old Testament (see Jeremiah 50:6, etc.) It is appropriate here, where he is emphasizing his attitude towards the chosen people, and teaching the Canaanitish woman the relative position of Jew and Gentile.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Greek
He answered,
ἀποκριθεὶς (apokritheis)
Verb - Aorist Participle Passive - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 611: From apo and krino; to conclude for oneself, i.e. to respond; by Hebraism to begin to speak.

“I was sent
ἀπεστάλην (apestalēn)
Verb - Aorist Indicative Passive - 1st Person Singular
Strong's 649: From apo and stello; set apart, i.e. to send out literally or figuratively.

only
εἰ (ei)
Conjunction
Strong's 1487: If. A primary particle of conditionality; if, whether, that, etc.

to
εἰς (eis)
Preposition
Strong's 1519: A primary preposition; to or into, of place, time, or purpose; also in adverbial phrases.

the
τὰ (ta)
Article - Accusative Neuter Plural
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

lost
ἀπολωλότα (apolōlota)
Verb - Perfect Participle Active - Accusative Neuter Plural
Strong's 622: From apo and the base of olethros; to destroy fully, literally or figuratively.

sheep
πρόβατα (probata)
Noun - Accusative Neuter Plural
Strong's 4263: A sheep. Probably neuter of a presumed derivative of probaino; something that walks forward, i.e., a sheep.

of [the] house
οἴκου (oikou)
Noun - Genitive Masculine Singular
Strong's 3624: A dwelling; by implication, a family.

of Israel.”
Ἰσραήλ (Israēl)
Noun - Genitive Masculine Singular
Strong's 2474: Of Hebrew origin; Israel, the adopted name of Jacob, including his descendants.


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NT Gospels: Matthew 15:24 But he answered I wasn't sent (Matt. Mat Mt)
Matthew 15:23
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