SYROPHOENICIAN sī rō fĭ nĭsh’ ən or sī rŏfĭ nēsh’ ən (Συροφοινίκισσα, G5355). This proper adjective describes a woman encountered by Christ when He journeyed to the region of Tyre and Sidon (Mark 7:24-26). By means of this word her racial extraction is traced to that of the Phoen. stock which resided in Syria. Another group of Phoenicians, known as the Carthaginians or Libyphoenicians, belonged to N Africa. The broader category of which she was a part is also given by Mark: she was a Greek or Gentile, i.e. a non-Jew. A further detail is added by Matthew; writing for Jewish readers, he refers to her as a Canaanite, the earlier name of the tribe occupying the lowlands which later became Phoenicia (Matt 15:22). Her difficulty in obtaining her request from Christ illustrates quite well the prior claim of the Jews on the ministry of Christ at His first advent.