The thesis developed in the article is that Mark 7,24-8,10 cannot be interpreted without the previous dispute about clean and unclean in 7,1- 23 that gives meaning to it and prepares Jesus’ journey to the nearby pagan land. For the same reason, it seemed impossible to interpret Mark 7,24-30 as a radical change in Jesus’ missionary project. In this episode, the Syrophoenician does not extort a miracle from Jesus. It is rather he who puts her to the test, expecting from her a response that may give him the opportunity to manifest God’s power in favor of the Gentiles and be proclaimed as the one through whom God’s salvation comes.
In Psalm 99,4 the first stich is a circumstantial clause expressing causality relative to the clause following it. Verse 4 means to say that YHWH's royal power is exercised in establishing justice, as is shown by his acts in Israel. A syntax identical with that of the first line in Ps 99,4 can be found in Gen 50,20; Ezek 2,4a; Hab 1,10; Ps 40,18a.