And the sons of the new arrival, who adhere to the Lord so as to worship Him and to love His Name, shall be His servants: all who keep the Sabbath without profaning it, and who hold to my covenant. (Isa 56:6)
וּבְנֵ֣י הַנֵּכָ֗ר הַנִּלְוִ֤ים עַל־יְהוָה֙ לְשָׁ֣רְתֹ֔ו וּֽלְאַהֲבָה֙ אֶת־שֵׁ֣ם יְהוָ֔ה לִהְיֹ֥ות לֹ֖ו לַעֲבָדִ֑ים כָּל־שֹׁמֵ֤ר שַׁבָּת֙ מֵֽחַלְּלֹ֔ו וּמַחֲזִיקִ֖ים בִּבְרִיתִֽי׃
Et filios advenae, qui adhaerent Domino, ut colant eum, ut diligant nomen Domini, ut sint ei in servos, omnes custodientes sabbatum, ne polluant illud, et tenentes foedus meum.
Son (בֵּן ḇēn), this noun in a broader sense also means “descendant”, “disciple”. בֵּן (ḇēn) has many uses, for example, it expresses a relation of belonging: בְנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֛ל (benê Yiśrā’ēl) is Israelites, or the expression “son of the eighth day” means an eight-day-old child. Similarly, the word “son” is used to describe the characteristics of a person, for example, “son of power” is a brave man, etc.
In today’s first reading (Isa 56:1,6-7), the prophet Isaiah says about foreigners: “And the sons of the new arrival, who adhere to the Lord so as to worship Him and to love His name, shall be His servants … I will lead them to my holy mountain, and I will gladden them in my house of prayer.” . In our translations, it is difficult to render the literal meaning of “foreigners”, which is בְנֵ֣י הַנֵּכָ֗ר (benê hanēkar), meaning “son of a stranger”. The word “son” thus denotes belonging to something foreign. The prophet says that also the “sons of strangers”, or “foreigners”, will experience joy in the house of God.
In today’s Gospel (Mt 15:21-28) the Lord Jesus is called “Son of David”. This title not only indicates His belonging to Israel, but also His origin from the royal family from which the Messiah was to come. A Canaanite woman, a foreigner, pleads with Jesus, “the Son of David,” to heal her daughter: “Take pity on me, Lord, Son of David!” Her plea remains unanswered because, as the evangelist says, Jesus was convinced that His mission concerns only Israel, and Jesus replies to the importunate woman that “It is not good to take the bread of the children and cast it to the dogs.” The foreign woman’s wisdom surprised Jesus: “Yes, Lord, but the young dogs also eat from the crumbs that fall from the table of their masters.” Jesus’ reaction was immediate, and the one who needed only a crumb was fully satisfied in her desire: “And her daughter was healed from that very hour.”
