He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
Parallel translations
- WEB But he answered, “I wasn’t sent to anyone but the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
- KJV But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
- NKJV But He answered and said, “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
- NASB But He answered and said, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
- NLT Then Jesus said to the woman, “I was sent only to help God’s lost sheep—the people of Israel.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Jesus says he was sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. It matters because it shows the God-ordained priority of his earthly mission to Israel first.
Overview
Jesus states the focus of his earthly ministry: he came first to Israel, in fulfillment of God's covenant promises. This was not a denial of mercy to Gentiles but a statement of redemptive order—to the Jew first (cf. Romans 1:16). The statement also tests the woman's resolve. Her response will show that faith can lay hold of Christ even before the full opening of the gospel to the nations.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Matt 10:5–6These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Do not go onto the road of the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans.
- Rom 15:8For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the circumcised on behalf of God’s truth, to confirm the promises made to the patriarchs,
- Jer 50:6–7My people are lost sheep; their shepherds have led them astray, causing them to roam the mountains. They have wandered from mountain to hill; they have forgotten their resting place.
- Acts 13:46Then Paul and Barnabas answered them boldly: “It was necessary to speak the word of God to you first. But since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles.
- Ezek 34:5–6They were scattered for lack of a shepherd, and when they were scattered they became food for all the wild beasts.
- Acts 3:25–26And you are sons of the prophets and of the covenant God made with your fathers when He said to Abraham, ‘Through your offspring all the families of the earth will be blessed.’
- Ezek 34:16I will seek the lost, bring back the strays, bind up the broken, and strengthen the weak; but the sleek and strong I will destroy. I will shepherd them with justice.’
- Ezek 34:23I will appoint over them one shepherd, My servant David, and he will feed them. He will feed them and be their shepherd.
- Isa 53:6We all like sheep have gone astray, each one has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid upon Him the iniquity of us all.
- Luke 15:4–6“What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the pasture and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it?
- Matt 9:36When He saw the crowds, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Matthew presents Jesus as the promised King — son of David, son of Abraham — the new Moses and true Israel in whom every prophecy reaches 'that it might be fulfilled.'
How Matthew 15:24 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.