Markus 5:22-30

5:22 Then ¹  one of the synagogue rulers, ²  named Jairus, ³  came up, and when he saw Jesus, ⁴  he fell at his feet. 5:23 He asked him urgently, “My little daughter is near death. Come and lay your hands on her so that she may be healed and live.” 5:24 Jesus ⁵  went with him, and a large crowd followed and pressed around him.

5:25 Now ⁶  a woman was there who had been suffering from a hemorrhage ⁷  for twelve years. ⁸  5:26 She had endured a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all that she had. Yet instead of getting better, she grew worse. 5:27 When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, ⁹  5:28 for she kept saying, ¹⁰  “If only I touch his clothes, I will be healed.” ¹¹  5:29 At once the bleeding stopped, ¹²  and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. 5:30 Jesus knew at once that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and said, “Who touched my clothes?”

[5:22]  ¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[5:22]  ² tn That is, “an official in charge of the synagogue”; ἀρχισυνάγωγος (arcisunagwgo") refers to the “president of a synagogue” (so BDAG 139 s.v. and L&N 53.93; cf. Luke 8:41).

[5:22]  sn The synagogue was a place for Jewish prayer and worship, with recognized leadership. See also the note on synagogue in 1:21.

[5:22]  ³ tc Codex Bezae (D) and some Itala mss omit the words “named Jairus.” The evidence for the inclusion of the phrase is extremely strong, however. The witnesses in behalf of ὀνόματι ᾿Ιάϊρος (onomati Iairos) include {Ì⁴⁵ א A B C L Ï lat sy co}. The best explanation is that the phrase was accidentally dropped during the transmission of one strand of the Western text.

[5:22]  ⁴ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:24]  ⁵ tn Grk “He”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:25]  ⁶ tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.

[5:25]  ⁷ tn Grk “a flow of blood.”

[5:25]  ⁸ sn This story of the woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years is recounted in the middle of the story about Jairus’ daughter. Mark’s account (as is often the case) is longer and more detailed than the parallel accounts in Matt 9:18-26 and Luke 8:40-56. Mark’s fuller account may be intended to show that the healing of the woman was an anticipation of the healing of the little girl.

[5:27]  ⁹ tn Grk “garment,” but here ἱμάτιον (Jimation) denotes the outer garment in particular.

[5:28]  ¹⁰ tn The imperfect verb is here taken iteratively, for the context suggests that the woman was trying to muster up the courage to touch Jesus’ cloak.

[5:28]  ¹¹ tn Grk “saved.”

[5:28]  sn In this pericope the author uses a term for being healed (Grk “saved”) that would have spiritual significance to his readers. It may be a double entendre (cf. parallel in Matt 9:21 which uses the same term), since elsewhere he uses verbs that simply mean “heal”: If only the reader would “touch” Jesus, he too would be “saved.”

[5:29]  ¹² tn Grk “the flow of her blood dried up.”

[5:29]  sn The woman was most likely suffering from a vaginal hemorrhage, in which case her bleeding would make her ritually unclean.