DIE KANAÄNITIESE VROU VAN MATTEUS 15: HERVORMER IN EIE REG

This worship service was broadcast by Radiosondergrense on the evening ofReformation Sunday, 27 October 2002. I gladly dedicate my interpretation of theCanaanite woman’s story as a humble tribute to Professor HJ Bernard Combrink,respected predecessor in the Faculty of Theology at the University of Stellenboschwhere he taught New Testament Studies for 26 years. His own academic journeyoften dwelled on the gospels of Mark and Matthew – the only gospels to narrate thestory of the Syro-Phoenician (Caananite) woman. The “retelling” of her story fromwithin the genre of a worship service, with particular reference to the structure andsocio-rhetorical dynamics of Matthew 15:21-28, is presented as a celebration ofReformation Day. Simultaneously it wishes to honour Combrink’s profound respectfor both the detail and broad literary and socio-rhetorical contexts of the biblicaldocuments, as well as his concern for their relevance for the liturgy of social life in(South) Africa.