Genesis 44:18-34

Judah Pleads for Benjamin's Release

18 Then Judah stepped up to him and said, "O my lord, let your servant please speak a word in my lord's ears, and do not be angry with your servant; for you are like Pharaoh himself. 19 My lord asked his servants, saying, 'Have you a father or a brother?' 20 And we said to my lord, 'We have a father, an old man, and a young brother, the child of his old age. His brother is dead; he alone is left of his mother's children, and his father loves him.' 21 Then you said to your servants, 'Bring him down to me, so that I may set my eyes on him.' 22 We said to my lord, 'The boy cannot leave his father, for if he should leave his father, his father would die.' 23 Then you said to your servants, 'Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you shall see my face no more.' 24 When we went back to your servant my father we told him the words of my lord. 25 And when our father said, 'Go again, buy us a little food,' 26 we said, 'We cannot go down. Only if our youngest brother goes with us, will we go down; for we cannot see the man's face unless our youngest brother is with us.' 27 Then your servant my father said to us, 'You know that my wife bore me two sons; 28 one left me, and I said, Surely he has been torn to pieces; and I have never seen him since. 29 If you take this one also from me, and harm comes to him, you will bring down my gray hairs in sorrow to Sheol.' 30 Now therefore, when I come to your servant my father and the boy is not with us, then, as his life is bound up in the boy's life, 31 when he sees that the boy is not with us, he will die; and your servants will bring down the gray hairs of your servant our father with sorrow to Sheol. 32 For your servant became surety for the boy to my father, saying, 'If I do not bring him back to you, then I will bear the blame in the sight of my father all my life.' 33 Now therefore, please let your servant remain as a slave to my lord in place of the boy; and let the boy go back with his brothers. 34 For how can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? I fear to see the suffering that would come upon my father. (Genesis 44:18-34, NRSV)

The following comments are based on those of February 25, 2008 (Monday in the week of the Third Sunday of Lent, Year Two), when comments were repeated with editing and supplement from March 20, 2006 (Monday in the week of the Third Sunday of Lent, Year Two).

The Book of Genesis is divided into twelve sections (“sedrahs”) for reading in the Synagogue. Today’s Old Testament reading comes from the beginning of the eleventh sedrah, Vayyiggash, Genesis 44:18-47:27 (cf. J. H. Hertz, Pentateuch & Haftorahs, 2^nd ed., 24^th printing, 1981, p. 169). See the comment on the term, below.

Judah continues to take the lead in responding to Joseph’s demands. Jon D. Levenson says, “With all apparently lost and Benjamin about to enter into slavery (and Jacob about to die as a result), Judah again assumes the lead role, with results that amaze all concerned” (The Jewish Study Bible, 2004, on Gen. 44:18-45:28). As noted yesterday, when the silver cup was found in Benjamin’s sack (Gen. 44:12), it appeared that he would die as they had proposed (v. 9). Instead the brothers have offered to all become Joseph’s slaves (v. 16). But Joseph insists, “Only the one in whose possession the cup was found [i.e., Benjamin] shall be my slave; but as for you, go up in peace to your father” (v. 17).

But Judah objects. “Then Judah stepped up (wGay09va, wayyiggaš) to him and said, ‘O my lord, let your servant please speak a word in my lord's ears, and do not be angry with your servant; for you are like Pharaoh himself’ ” (v. 18). Rabbi Hertz comments on “came near” (JPS 1917, for “stepped up” NRSV), “Not in fear, but conscious of the vital issues at stake. Benjamin’s servitude would involve the death of Jacob and the shame of Judah” (op. cit.., on v. 18). Levenson says,

‘Va-Yiggash’ [wGay09va, wayyiggaš)] translated here as went up [NJPS, ‘stepped up’ NRSV], appears also in the introduction to Abraham’s bold intercession for Sodom in 18:23 (where it is rendered ‘came forward’ [NJPS, ‘came near’ NRSV]). Both Judah’s speech and Abraham’s exhibit a delicate balance of deference and assertion, and both succeed in moving the addressee from judgment to mercy. Abraham’s argument, however, rests on the possibility that there is an innocent minority in the evil city (18:23-32), whereas Judah makes no argument for Benjamin’s innocence (even if he believed in it, he could hardly make the case without incriminating Joseph or his staff). Instead he appeals to the vizier’s compassion for the foreigners’ father and courageously offers himself in Benjamin’s stead. (op. cit., on Gen. 44:18).

In this impassioned plea for Benjamin’s release, Judah reviews the conversations of the brothers with this “Egyptian lord”–Joseph, though they still do not recognize him–about their family, especially the father and Benjamin. “My lord asked his servants,” says Judah, “saying ‘Have you a father or a brother?’ And we said to my lord,’We have a father, an old man, and a young brother, the child of his old age. His brother is dead; he alone is left of his mother’s children, and his father loves him’ ” (vv. 19-20). Rabbi Hertz comments on “my lord asked”: “See XLIII, 7. Judah wishes to divert the sympathy of Joseph towards the unhappy position of the old father bereft of his youngest son, whom Judah refers to as ‘a child of his old age, a little one’ [JPS for ‘a young brother, the child of his old age’ NRSV] ” (op. cit., on v. 19). “Judah’s description of Benjamin,” says Ronald Hendel, “evokes the earlier situation of Joseph (37:3), but now there is no jealousy or sibling rivalry, only compassion” (HarperCollins Study Bible, rev. ed., 2006, on Gen. 44:20). “Joseph,” says the Rabbi, “is now spoken of before his eleven brethren as dead. Dead, but still remembered by father and brothers” (op. cit., on v. 20).

Judah’s review of the conversations continues, with Joseph’s insistence that Benjamin be brought to Egypt. “Then you said to your servants, ‘Bring him down to me, so that I may set my eyes on him.’ We said to my lord, ‘The boy cannot leave his father, for if he should leave his father, his father would die.’ Then you said to your servants, ‘Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you shall see my face no more’ ” (44:21-23; cf. 42:15-16). “When we went back to your servant my father,” continues Judah, “we told him the words of my lord. And when our father said, ‘Go again, buy us a little food,’ we said, ‘We cannot go down. Only if our youngest brother goes with us, will we go down; for we cannot see the man’s face unless our youngest brother is with us’ ” (44:24-26; cf. 43:3-5). And Judah continues, quoting from Jacob a graphic description of Joseph’s fate, as they understood at the time. “Then your servant my father said to us, ‘You know that my wife bore me two sons; one left me, and I said, Surely he has been torn to pieces; and I have never seen him since’ ” (44:27-28; cf. 37:33; 43:14). Commenting on “torn in pieces; and I have not seen him since” (JPS, for “torn to pieces; and I have never seen him since” NRSV), the Rabbi says, “Joseph now learns the manner of his supposed death. Do these last words imply a lurking disbelief in Jacob’s mind as to the story of Joseph’s death? Perhaps they give expression to Jacob’s unquenchable longing for his beloved Joseph. The words must have touched the very core of Joseph’s heart” (ibid., on v. 28). Judah continues to quote his father. “If you take this one [i.e., Benjamin] also from me, and harm comes to him, you will bring down my gray hairs in sorrow to Sheol (hlAxo&w4, š ^eōlāh, ‘to Sheol’; the suffix is locative he [h-, -h], directional ‘to’)” (v. 29). William L. Holladay defines the word Sheol (lOxw4, š ^e’ôl) as “Sheol, underworld, abode of the dead” (A Concise Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, 1971, 10^th corrected impression 1988, s.v. lOxw4, š ^e’ôl). “Now therefore,” explains Judah,“when I come to your servant my father and the boy is not with us, then, as his life is bound up in the boy's life, when he sees that the boy is not with us, he will die; and your servants will bring down the gray hairs of your servant our father with sorrow to Sheol (hlAxo&w4, š ^eōlāh)”(vv. 30-31). Commenting on “with sorrow to the grave (JPS, for “with sorrow to Sheol” NRSV), Rabbi Hertz says, “The skilful repetition of the phrase [cf. v. 29] by Judah is poignantly pathetic” (op. cit., on v. 31). According to Levenson, “Judah is unwittingly accusing Pharaoh’s vizier of killing his own father, catching Joseph in his own stratagem” (op. cit., on vv. 30-31).

And Judah openly reveals what is at stake for himself. “For your servant became surety (brafA, ‘ārav) for the boy to my father, saying, ‘If I do not bring him back to you, then I will bear the blame in the sight of my father all my life’ ” (44:32; cf. 43:9). Levenson says, “See 43:9 n., where the same verb (‘ ‘arav,’ pledged himself’) appears” (ibid., on 44:32). His earlier note says, “Surety (Heb. ‘ ‘arav’) recalls the ‘pledge’ (‘ ‘eravon’) that Judah offered Tamar in 38:17” (ibid., on 43:9). Judah offers to take the place of Benjamin as a slave. “Now therefore, please let your servant remain as a slave to my lord in place of the boy; and let the boy go back with his brothers” (v. 33). “Judah became surety (v. 32),” says Rabbi Hertz, “and now offers himself as a substitute. He prefers bondage to freedom, so as to save his brother. He once saw the anguish of his old father when Joseph was gone; he cannot endure to see a repetition” (op. cit., on v. 33). Levenson says, “The brother responsible for selling Joseph into slavery (37:26-27) now freely offers himself as a slave to Joseph in order to save Jacob’s life. Things have come full circle, and the longstanding and nearly fatal rift in the family is about to be healed” (op. cit., on v. 33). As he closes his plea, Judah emphasizes the potential emotional suffering that would come upon his father (and himself as well). “For how can I go back to my father,” he asks, “if the boy is not with me? I fear to see the suffering that would come upon my father” (v.34). Rabbi Hertz waxes eloquent, one might say, on Judah’s eloquence here:

The pathos and beauty of Judah’s plea on behalf of Benjamin have retained their appeal to man’s heart throughout the ages. Sir ‘Walter Scott called it ‘the most complete pattern of genuine natural eloquence extant in any language. When we read this generous speech, we forgive Judah all the past, and cannot refuse to say ‘Thou are he whom thy brethren shall praise.’ The spirit of self-sacrifice which Judah’s speech reveals, offering to remain as a slave in Benjamin’s place, has its parallel in the life-story of Moses, who besought God to blot out his name from the Book of Life, unless his people, Israel, is saved with him (Exod. xxxii, 12). (op. cit., on Gen. 44:18-34).

1 Corinthians 7:25-31

The Unmarried and the Widows

25 Now concerning virgins, I have no command of the Lord, but I give my opinion as one who by the Lord's mercy is trustworthy. 26 I think that, in view of the impending crisis, it is well for you to remain as you are. 27 Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be free. Are you free from a wife? Do not seek a wife. 28 But if you marry, you do not sin, and if a virgin marries, she does not sin. Yet those who marry will experience distress in this life, and I would spare you that. 29 I mean, brothers and sisters, the appointed time has grown short; from now on, let even those who have wives be as though they had none, 30 and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no possessions, 31 and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the present form of this world is passing away. (1 Corinthians 7:25-31, NRSV)

The following comments are based on those of September 28, 2009 (Monday in the week of the Sunday closest to September 28, Year Two), when comments were repeated with editing from February 25, 2008 (Monday in the week of the Third Sunday of Lent, Year Two), when comments were repeated from October 1, 2007 (Monday in the week of the Sunday closest to September 28, Year One), when comments that were included on March 20, 2006 (Monday in the week of the Third Sunday of Lent, Year Two), from the Monday portion of an email sent March 13, 2004 for the week of March 14, 2004, were repeated.

Paul’s instructions about matters related to marriage continue. “Now concerning (Peri; dev, Peri de) virgins,” he says, “I have no command ( ejpitaghv, epitagē ) of the Lord, but I give my opinion (gnwvmh, gnōmē ) as one who by the Lord’s mercy is trustworthy” (1 Cor. 7:25; compare v. 12, but contrast v. 10). This treats an issue that many consider a question raised by the Corinthians in their letter to Paul, one of the issues introduced by the phrase “now concerning” (peri; dev, peri de), as in “Now concerning the matters about which you wrote” (1 Cor. 7:1; cf. 8:1; 12:1 and perhaps 16:1, 12). In this way he introduces his advice about “virgins” (parqevnoi, parthenoi, usually fem., but masc. in Rev. 14:4). Paul’s denial here of having a “command of the Lord, contrasts with his earlier statement, “To the married I give this command (paraggevllw, parangellō )–not I but the Lord–that the wife should not separate from her husband (but if she does separate, let her remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband), and that the husband should not divorce his wife” (1 Cor. 7:10-11; cf. Mt. 5:32; 19:9; Mk. 10:11-12; Lk. 16:18). A similar point is made on Paul’s own authority rather than the Lord’s earlier. “To the rest I say–I and not the Lord–that if any believer has a wife who is an unbeliever, and she consents to live with him, he should not divorce her” (1 Cor. 7:12).

John Knox and John Reumann comment on the “virgins” (parqevnoi, parthenoi): “This group, about which the Corinthians had asked . . . may refer to unmarried but engaged couples or possibly to a couple married but ascetically committed not to have sexual relations; see vv. 28, 34, 36-38” (NOAB, 2^nd ed., 1994, on 1 Cor. 7:25). “I think,” says Paul, “that, in view of the impending crisis, it is well for you to remain as you are” (v. 26). He explains, “Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be free. Are you free from a wife? Do not seek a wife” (v. 27), but he adds that to marry is not sin: “But if you marry, you do not sin, and if a virgin marries, she does not sin. Yet those who marry will experience distress in this life, and I would spare you that” (v. 28). Victor Paul Furnish sees these instructions as directed only to the unmarried, but perhaps engaged. He says the “virgins” are “women who have never been married, but whether Paul is thinking of them as engaged to be married is unclear (see vv. 36-38)” (HarperCollins Study Bible, rev. ed., 2006, on 1 Cor. 7:25).

Paul continues in verses 29-35 with what Richard A. Horsley calls “a lengthy explanation of the advice in vv. 26-28” (NOAB, 3^rd ed., augmented, 2007, on 1 Cor. 7:29-35). As such it continues in part in tomorrow’s reading (i.e., vv. 32-35), but it begins as follows:

I mean, brothers and sisters, the appointed time has grown short; from now on, let even those who have wives be as though they had none, and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no possessions, and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the present form of this world is passing away. (1 Cor. 7:29-31, NRSV)

The approaching “appointed time” puts all of these temporal relationships within a certain perspective. Ben Witherington III sees much of Paul’s teaching in 1 Corinthians, chapter 7, as influenced by his eschatology.

The past eschatological events are the dominant force creating the relativizing ‘as if not’ advice. The nearness of the end is only a possibility in Paul’s mind, and it is not the sole driving force behind his counsel. The tandem of the certainty of the already of ‘Christ’s death and resurrection and the possibility of the nearness of the not yet is the reason for this advice. (Conflict & Community in Corinth, 1994, p. 179, on 1 Cor. 7:1-40).

The advice is given “in view of the impending crisis” (v. 26), but Witherington notes that “what is crucial is whether or not one is a Christian. Everything else is of relative worth in a world that is winding down” (ibid., p. 180). And so Witherington sums it up:

Thus, finally, the relativization Paul speaks about is not a matter of a degree of interaction with the world as if Paul were counseling a bit less interaction or a gradual tapering off. It is rather a matter of the quality of that interaction–one interacts knowing what is of lasting importance in the eternal scheme of things. This is not a model of asceticism but of putting all earthly goods into a heavenly perspective so as to understand their real and lasting significance or lack thereof. (ibid.)

Mark 5:21-43

A Girl Restored to Life and a Woman Healed (Mt 9.18-26; Lk 8.40-56)

21 When Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered around him; and he was by the sea. 22 Then one of the leaders of the synagogue named Jairus came and, when he saw him, fell at his feet 23 and begged him repeatedly, "My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well, and live." 24 So he went with him.

And a large crowd followed him and pressed in on him. 25 Now there was a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years. 26 She had endured much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had; and she was no better, but rather grew worse. 27 She had heard about Jesus, and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, 28 for she said, "If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well." 29 Immediately her hemorrhage stopped; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. 30 Immediately aware that power had gone forth from him, Jesus turned about in the crowd and said, "Who touched my clothes?" 31 And his disciples said to him, "You see the crowd pressing in on you; how can you say, 'Who touched me?' " 32 He looked all around to see who had done it. 33 But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling, fell down before him, and told him the whole truth. 34 He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease."

35 While he was still speaking, some people came from the leader's house to say, "Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the teacher any further?" 36 But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the leader of the synagogue, "Do not fear, only believe." 37 He allowed no one to follow him except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James. 38 When they came to the house of the leader of the synagogue, he saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. 39 When he had entered, he said to them, "Why do you make a commotion and weep? The child is not dead but sleeping." 40 And they laughed at him. Then he put them all outside, and took the child's father and mother and those who were with him, and went in where the child was. 41 He took her by the hand and said to her, "Talitha cum," which means, "Little girl, get up!" 42 And immediately the girl got up and began to walk about (she was twelve years of age). At this they were overcome with amazement. 43 He strictly ordered them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat. (Mark 5:21-43, NRSV)

The following comments are based on those of July 24, 2009 (Friday in the week of the Sunday closest to July 20, Year One), when comments were repeated from January 26, 2009 (Monday in the week of the Third Sunday after the Epiphany, Year One), when comments were based on, and mainly repeated from, August 17, 2008 (the Sunday closest to August 17, Year Two), when comments were repeated from February 25, 2008 (Monday in the week of the Third Sunday of Lent, Year Two), and from earlier dates as indicated there.

This reading from Mark presents the third and forth in a series of four miracles: the storm on the lake (Mk. 4:35-41), the Gerasene demoniac (5:1-30), and, in one of Mark’s characteristic “sandwich pattern” arrangements, the raising of Jairus’ daughter ( 5:21-43), which includes the interspersed account of the healing of the woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years (5:24b-34). For parallel accounts in Matthew and Luke, both retaining the “sandwich pattern,” see the separate file, Jairus’ Daughter.

In Mark and Luke this account follows the healing of the Gerasene demoniac (yesterday’s reading), and Mark puts the setting of today’s healing miracles at Jesus’ return. “When Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered around him; and he was by the sea” (Mk. 5:21; Luke’s brief setting statement agrees: “Now when Jesus returned, the crowd welcomed him, for they were all waiting for him” (Lk. 8:40). Matthew has noted this return earlier (Mt. 9:1) and includes the present account among what J. Andrew Overman calls other “acts of power and growing tension” (NOAB, 3^rd ed., augmented, 2007, on Mt. 9:1-38). The three accounts refer to the man as “a leader of the synagogue” (Mt. 9:18a; Lk. 8:41a) or “one of the leaders of the synagogue” (Mk. 5:22a). Jairus, his name according to Mark and Luke, falls to Jesus feet (v. 22b) and begs, “My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well, and live” (v. 23). Luke uses indirect quotation, but gives the daughter’s age. “He [Jairus] fell at Jesus’ feet and begged him to come to his house, for he had an only daughter, about twelve years old, who was dying” (Lk. 8:41b, 42). In Matthew’s report, according to the father the girl has already died, but he says, “My daughter has just died; but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live” (Mt. 9:18b).

At this point the account of the healing of Jairus’ daughter is interrupted by the report of another request for healing. “Now there was a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years” (Mk. 5:25; cf. Mt. 9:20a; Lk. 8:43a). Although “she had endured much under many physicians, and had spent all she had,” says Mark, “she was no better, but rather grew worse” (Mk. 5:26; cf. Lk. 8:43b). The woman decides to touch Jesus’ clothes in order to be made well (Mk. 5:28; cf. Mt. 9:21), so “she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak” (Mk. 5:27; cf. Lk. 8:44a; Mt. 9:20b). Matthew and Luke each add a Jewish touch here. Where Mark says the woman “touched his cloak” (h{yato tou: iJmativou aujtou:, hēpsato tou himatiou autou), the others add “the fringe”: she “touched the fringe (tou: kraspevdou, tou kraspedou) of his cloak (Mt.) [or] clothes (Lk.).” Matthew’s “cloak” (NRSV) and Luke’s “clothes” (NRSV) apparently both translate the singular form iJmativou (himatiou, genitive of iJmavtion, himation). The word kravspedon (kraspedon) has the more general meaning, “edge, border, hem of a garment,” but here, “depending on how strictly Jesus followed the Mosaic law, and also upon the way in which [the word] was understood by the authors and first readers of the gospels,” it probably refers to the “tassel (tc9yc9 [tsîtsit]), which an Israelite was obligated to wear on the four corners of his outer garment, acc. to Num. 15:38f; Dt. 22:12” (A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and other Early Christian Literature, Bauer-Danker-Arndt-Gingrich [BDAG], 3^rd ed., 2000, s.v. kravspedon, kraspedon). Mark, who doesn’t use this term in the present context, uses the phrase later. People “begged him [Jesus] that they might touch even the fringe of his cloak (tou: kraspevdou tou: iJmativou aujtou, tou kraspedou tou himatiou autou); and all who touched it were healed” (Mk. 6:56; Mt. 14:36).

When the woman touched Jesus’ garment, says Mark, “immediately her hemorrhage stopped; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease” (Mk. 5:29, cf. Luke’s brief comment, “and immediately her hemorrhage stopped,” Lk. 8:44b). In Matthew’s version, which omits the question, “Who touched my clothes?” (Mk. 5:30b; cf. Lk. 8:45a), and the response from the disciples (Mk.) or from Peter (Lk.) about the crowds surrounding Jesus (Mk. 6:31; Lk. 8:45b), the healing comes when Jesus speaks to her: “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well (sevswkevn se, sesōken se),” and we are told “And instantly the woman was made well (ejswvqh, esōthē)” (Mt. 9:22). This is one of several instances where the verb “save, rescue” (swv/zw, sōzō) is used in healing miracle stories to report the cure as to “free from disease or from demonic possession” (e.g. Mk. 5:23, 28, 34; 10:52; Lk. 8:48, 50; 17:19; 18:42; Acts 4:9; 14:9; Jas. 5:15; Gingrich and Danker, Shorter Lexicon of the Greek New Testament, 2^nd ed., 1983, s.v. swv/zw, sōzō). The woman apparently wanted to be healed, but otherwise to go unnoticed. According to Luke, Jesus responded to Peter’s comment, “Master the crowds surround you and press in on you” (Lk. 8:45b), by saying, “Someone touched me; for I noticed that power had gone out from me” (v. 46). And where Mark says the woman came forward “knowing what had happened to her” (Mk. 5:33a), Luke says that she “saw that she could not remain hidden” (Lk. 8:47a). Both then report her falling down before Jesus and telling “the whole truth” (Mk.) or “why she had touched him, and how she had been immediately healed ( ijavqh, iathē) (Lk.)” (Mk. 5:33b; Lk. 8:47b). Jesus dismisses her with the words, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace” (Mk. 5:34; Lk. 8:48), to which, according to Mark, Jesus adds, “and be healed of your disease.”

As Mark returns to the story of Jairus’ daughter, people come “from the leader’s house to say, ‘Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the teacher any further?” (Mk. 5:35; cf. Lk. 8:49). Jesus, overhearing, says, “Do not fear, only believe” (Mk. 5:36), to which Luke adds “and she will be saved (swqhvsetai, sōthēsetai)” (Lk. 8:50). In Matthew’s version, the girl’s apparent death is indicated by the presence of the “flute players,” who, according to Overman, “accompanied the dirge sung by mourners” (op. cit., on Mt. 9:23). But Jesus dismisses the report of her death. To the weeping and wailing crowds, he says, “Why do you make a commotion and weep? The child is not dead but sleeping” (Mk. 5:39; cf. Lk. 8:52; Mt. 9:24). Jesus sends the crowds out, and with the parents and his immediate followers, he goes in to the child (Mk. 5:40; cf. Mt. 9:25; Lk. 8:51). Mark quotes Jesus’ Aramaic phrase, “Talitha cum,” and translates it, “Little girl, get up!” (Mk. 5:41). Luke interprets just a little, “Child, get up!” (Lk. 8:54). At this, or when Jesus “took her by the hand” (Mt. 9:25), she got up healed. Mark describes her as walking about (Mk. 5:42) and both Mark and Luke refer to Jesus’ direction to give her something to eat (Mk. 5:43; Lk. 8:55). Matthew says “the report of this spread throughout that district” (Mt. 9:26), and Mark and Luke report the people’s “amazement” (Mk. 5:42), or the parents’ being “astounded” (Lk. 8:56), and also Jesus’ direction not to talk about the healing (Mk. 5:43; Lk. 8:56).

According to H. G. Wood, referring to the series of four miracles mentioned above, “The memorable acts and utterances of Jesus which make these stories unique are all concerned with the maintenance of simple trust in God–a trust that triumphs over natural dangers, demonic powers, disease, and even death” (cited by R. McL. Wilson, Peake’s Commentary on the Bible, 1962, reprinted 1972, sec. 701e, p. 805, on Mk. 4:35-5:43). Bonnie Bowman Thurston also notes the grouping of four miracles, which is “characteristic of Mark’s compositional technique.” She notes that “these miracle stories are richer in detail than the typical Greco-Roman miracle stories” (The IVP Women’s Bible Commentary, 2002, p. 553, on Mk. 4:35-5:43). She notes that for the woman with the flow of blood

Jesus interrupts one act of mercy to accomplish another. This woman is without a male relative to be her advocate, without financial resources and subject to blood taboo. . . . She has effectively been excluded from society for twelve years.

Unique in the healings in Mark, this woman takes the initiative to go to Jesus, ignoring the social custom that would have prevented her from speaking to a male in public and the cultic blood taboos that would prevent physical contact. Jesus responds verbally to her, acknowledging her existence. He calls her “daughter” (Mk. 5:34), establishing kinship within the family (cf. Mk. 3:31-35), and acknowledges that her complete healing is because of her faith. The hemorrhaging woman depicts the faith that Jairus must have for his daughter’s healing, and Jesus breaks social and religious custom to liberate a bound woman by restoring the wholeness of her body and consequently her social functioning. . . . Jesus is depicted as Lord of every situation, even apparently hopeless ones. (ibid., pp. 554-555).

Ronald D. Worden, Ph.D.

rdworden@hgst.edu

deanworden@comcast.net