Jesus, Foreign Women, and the Expanding Mission in the Synoptics and John

All four canonical Gospels address the theme of transcending social barriers in the mission and among believers themselves. Three of the four do so by narrating an encounter between Jesus and an anonymous woman from another people: a Syrophoenician in Mark 7:24-30, a Canaanite in Matt 15:21-28, and a Samaritan in John 4:1-42. The parallel Synoptic texts recount a miracle story, while the Johannine pericope narrates a meeting at a well. Nevertheless, these episodes employ parallel narrative and lexical elements as they offer similar responses to similar missionary concerns.