Charles Spurgeon Commentary Matthew 15:26

"And he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children`s bread and cast it to the dogs." — Matthew 15:26 (ASV)

To take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs.

The original means the little dogs that play with the children; they lie under the table and pick up the crumbs that their masters (the children) let fall. The woman seized upon that expression at once—

But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs.

Or, "to little dogs," for the word is in that form in the Greek.

Finally, He turns and replies to her plea, but it is not an encouraging one. How hard its language! How unlike our Lord’s usual self! And yet how true! How unanswerable! Truly, it is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it to dogs.

Of course, privileges must not be given to those who have no right to them, nor must reserved blessings be wasted on the unworthy. The blessing sought is like bread for children, and the Canaanites were no more members of the chosen family than dogs. Their heathen character made them like dogs regarding uncleanness. For generations, they had known no more about the true God than the dogs that roam the streets. Often, they and other Philistine tribes had snapped like dogs at the heels of the Lord’s people. The woman had probably heard phrases like this from proud Jewish bigots, but she had not expected it from the Lord.