Matthew 15:26: 'He replied, "It is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to the dogs."' (NIV)
Matthew 15:26: 'He replied, "It's not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the puppies."' (ISV)
Wouldn't "puppies" be less offensive to those who hear it, and is also more child friendly?
dogs.”
κυναρίοις (kynariois)
Noun - Dative Neuter Plural
Strong's Greek 2952: A little dog, a house dog. Neuter of a presumed derivative of kuon; a puppy.
Thayer's Greek Lexicon
STRONGS NT 2952: κυνάριον
κυνάριον, κυναριου, τό (diminutive of κύων, equivalent to κυνίδιον, which Phryn. prefers; see Lob. ad Phryn., p. 180; cf. γυναικάριον),a little dog: Matthew 15:26; Mark 7:27f (Xenophon, Plato, Theophrastus, Plutarch, others.)
In https://biblehub.com/matthew/15-26.htm, only 1 version translates it as "puppies" and 2 versions use "little dogs”. The overwhelming majority, 26 versions just say "dogs".
I would go with New King James Version and Young's Literal Translation and use "little dogs" because it sounds nicer and warmer. "Puppies" may be too much because of its pet connotation. You are suppose to feed your pets.
The operative word κυνάριον (kunarion) occurs just four times in the NT - Matt 15:26, 27, Mark 7:27, 28 and all associated with the story of Jesus and the Canaanite woman.
Thayer suggests: diminutive of κύων, equivalent to κυνίδιον
BDAG is more helpful here and offers the following meaning:
diminutive of κύων, a house dog or lap-dog in contrast to a street or farm dog ... but also used with no diminutive force at all ... little dog, dog, Matt 15:26f; Mark 7:27f;
Therefore, if anything, I would prefer "house dog". "Puppies" as per ISV is going too far.
Marcus' commentary to Mark 7:27, the parallel passage, is helpful. (Vol. 1, page 469 in the Anchor Bible Commentary to Mark)
For a Jew to equate someone with dogs was an insult. He refers to The Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible, under "Dog": "The biblical writers ... seem unfamiliar with any kind of warm personal relationship between a dog and its master"
Dogs ate corpses. They were unclean. Dogs in Jewish literature are associated with Gentiles.
We can see that the attitude to dogs was negative in Matthew 7:6, where they are as bad as pigs. (Do not give dogs what is holy; and do not throw your pearls before swine, ...)
Marcus points to literature demonstrating that the normal diminutive for "dog" was κυνἰδιον not κυνἀριον and that in Koine, the diminutive is often used without distinction from the regular form. (my own feeling is: why learn a more unusual inflection of a noun or verb if there is a regular inflectional pattern available?)
It was, no doubt, an insult which only accentuates his appreciation of her faith.
