Luke 8:40-56
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Luke 8:40–56 (ESV)
40 Now when Jesus returned, the crowd welcomed him, for they were all waiting for him. 41 And there came a man named Jairus, who was a ruler of the synagogue. And falling at Jesus’ feet, he implored him to come to his house, 42 for he had an only daughter, about twelve years of age, and she was dying. As Jesus went, the people pressed around him. 43 And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, and though she had spent all her living on physicians, she could not be healed by anyone. 44 She came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment, and immediately her discharge of blood ceased. 45 And Jesus said, “Who was it that touched me?” When all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the crowds surround you and are pressing in on you!” 46 But Jesus said, “Someone touched me, for I perceive that power has gone out from me.” 47 And when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling, and falling down before him declared in the presence of all the people why she had touched him, and how she had been immediately healed. 48 And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace.” 49 While he was still speaking, someone from the ruler’s house came and said, “Your daughter is dead; do not trouble the Teacher any more.” 50 But Jesus on hearing this answered him, “Do not fear; only believe, and she will be well.” 51 And when he came to the house, he allowed no one to enter with him, except Peter and John and James, and the father and mother of the child. 52 And all were weeping and mourning for her, but he said, “Do not weep, for she is not dead but sleeping.” 53 And they laughed at him, knowing that she was dead. 54 But taking her by the hand he called, saying, “Child, arise.” 55 And her spirit returned, and she got up at once. And he directed that something should be given her to eat. 56 And her parents were amazed, but he charged them to tell no one what had happened.
Luke 8:40–56 (ESV)
Jesus interacts in this section with two areas of uncleaness: a woman who has an issue of blood and a dead body.
40 Now when Jesus returned, the crowd welcomed him, for they were all waiting for him.
The crowd: welcomed Jesus and were expecting Jesus.
41 And there came a man named Jairus, who was a ruler of the synagogue. And falling at Jesus’ feet, he implored him to come to his house,
8:40–41. “Rulers of the synagogue” were the chief officials in synagogues and were prominent members of their communities.
New Testament (5:21–43—Healing a Girl and an Outcast Woman)
One would fall at the feet of someone of much greater status (like a king) or prostrate oneself before God; for this prominent man to humble himself in this way before Jesus was thus to recognize Jesus’ power in a serious way.
A Handbook on the Gospel of Luke Luke 8:41–42a
In both phrases it is implied that the face touches the ground before the feet of the other person involved.
42 for he had an only daughter, about twelve years of age, and she was dying. As Jesus went, the people pressed around him.
New Testament (8:40–56—Death and the Flow of Blood)
8:42. The official’s daughter had been a minor until that year and on account of both her age and her gender had virtually no social status, quite in contrast to her prominent father (vv. 40–41).
Pressed: squeezed by the crowd.
43 And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, and though she had spent all her living on physicians, she could not be healed by anyone.
New Testament (5:21–43—Healing a Girl and an Outcast Woman)
The ailment probably started after puberty; given an average ancient life expectancy of about forty years and the “twelve years” that she had been ill, she may have spent half or all her adult life with this trouble.
Having this bleeding for 12 years (sick) AND she has spent all her money (broke) AND that no one could heal her (trapped): she was in a hopeless position.
New Testament (8:40–56—Death and the Flow of Blood)
8:43. This woman’s sickness was reckoned as if she had a menstrual period all month long; it made her continually unclean under the law (Lev 15:19–33)—a social problem on top of the physical one. Just as Jewish interpreters linked texts by a common word, Luke’s source may use “twelve years” to emphasize the relatedness of these stories (vv. 42–43).
44 She came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment, and immediately her discharge of blood ceased.
The fringe of his garment. The loose end of the rather short square uppergarment was usually thrown over the left shoulder, so that it came to hang on the upper part of the back; it will have been the ‘fringe’ or ‘tassel’ attached to this end, that the woman touched, since it was only this part of Jesus’ dress that could be reached in the situation described. A term suggesting a place low down (such as ‘foot of his robe’, found in one version), should not be used. If fringe, or, ‘tassel’, has to be described, one may say, ‘the loose threads at (or, that adorned) the hem, or, the end of his uppergarment’. For garment cp. on “cloak” in 6:29.
Reiling, J., and J. L. Swellengrebel. A Handbook on the Gospel of Luke. United Bible Societies, 1993, p. 356.
45 And Jesus said, “Who was it that touched me?” When all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the crowds surround you and are pressing in on you!”
New Testament (8:40–56—Death and the Flow of Blood)
8:44–45. If she touched anyone or anyone’s clothes, she rendered that person ceremonially unclean for the rest of the day (cf. Lev 15:26–27). She therefore should not have even been in this heavy crowd. Many teachers avoided touching women altogether, lest they become accidentally contaminated. Thus this woman could not touch or be touched, was probably now divorced or had never married, and was marginal to the rest of Jewish society.
Lev15.26-27 “26 Every bed on which she lies, all the days of her discharge, shall be to her as the bed of her impurity. And everything on which she sits shall be unclean, as in the uncleanness of her menstrual impurity. 27 And whoever touches these things shall be unclean, and shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening.”
46 But Jesus said, “Someone touched me, for I perceive that power has gone out from me.”
47 And when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling, and falling down before him declared in the presence of all the people why she had touched him, and how she had been immediately healed.
She wanted to do this in secret. Go in touch Jesus' garment get healed and get out.
prospesousa autō ‘after falling down before him’, or using a finite verbal form ‘she fell down before him’. For the idiom cp. on 5:8 and 8:41.
48 And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace.”
New Testament 8:40–56—Death and the Flow of Blood
8:46–48. Jewish people generally believed that only teachers closest to God had supernatural knowledge. Jesus uses his supernatural knowledge to identify with the woman who had touched him—even though in the eyes of the public this would mean that he had contracted ritual uncleanness. Lest anyone be permitted to think that the healing had been accomplished by typical pagan magic, operating without Jesus’ knowledge, he declares that it happened in response to “faith” (v. 48).
49 While he was still speaking, someone from the ruler’s house came and said, “Your daughter is dead; do not trouble the Teacher any more.”
New Testament 8:40–56—Death and the Flow of Blood
8:49. Once an event had occurred, it was too late to pray for its reversal. For example, the rabbis claimed that it was too late for one hearing a funeral procession to pray that it was not for a relative.
50 But Jesus on hearing this answered him, “Do not fear; only believe, and she will be well.”
51 And when he came to the house, he allowed no one to enter with him, except Peter and John and James, and the father and mother of the child.
52 And all were weeping and mourning for her, but he said, “Do not weep, for she is not dead but sleeping.”
New Testament 8:40–56—Death and the Flow of Blood
8:50–56. Several professional mourners were required at the funeral of even the poorest person; the funeral for a member of a prominent family like this one would have many mourners. Because bodies decomposed rapidly in Palestine, mourners had to be assembled as quickly as possible, and they had gathered before word even reached Jairus that his daughter had died.
53 And they laughed at him, knowing that she was dead.
A Handbook on the Gospel of Luke Luke 8:53
Knowing. They knew it to be an undeniable fact
54 But taking her by the hand he called, saying, “Child, arise.”
55 And her spirit returned, and she got up at once. And he directed that something should be given her to eat.
56 And her parents were amazed, but he charged them to tell no one what had happened.