In the Gentile region of Tyre and Sidon, a Greek woman of Syro-Phoenician origin came to Christ and threw herself at His feet, begging Him to cast a demon out of her daughter. Christ replied: 'Let the children first be fed; for it is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs.'
The woman's reply has resounded through Christian preaching for two millennia: 'Yes, Lord — but even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs.' Christ marvelled: 'For this saying, you may go your way. The demon has left your daughter.' She returned home to find her daughter lying on the bed, the demon gone. The episode is one of two cases in the Gospels where Christ allows His mission to be argued and expanded by the faith of a Gentile woman.