In Matthew 15:22, the writer simply describes her as “a Canaanite woman” but in Mark 7:26, the evangelist describes her as “a Greek, born in Syrian Phoenicia.” Is this a contradiction or are there some more subtleties to this lineage designation? We would not disagree that in both the Gospels, the story speaks of the same woman but a seemingly different whereabouts. Now generally speaking, all Bible teachers would agree that Matthew was written to Jews and Mark to the Gentiles/Greek. Robert Drews writes,"The name 'Canaan' did not entirely drop out of usage in the Iron Age. Throughout the area that we—with the Greek speakers—prefer to call 'Phoenicia', the inhabitants in the first millennium BC called themselves 'Canaanites” (Canaanite and Philistines,’ JSOT 81: p 48-49).
Therefore, the improvisation of using these particular terms “Canaanite” and “Syrophoenicia,” by both the evangelists speaks clearer to their audience. The Canaanite was an exonym used by the Jews for the Phoenician people settled in Syria while the designation “Syrian Phoenicia” is an autonym used within the boundaries of the Greek people settled in Syria. So, when Matthew applied the term Canaanite, he is addressing how the Jews would do so and the same goes with Mark’s usage of the terminology “Syrophoenicia.”
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