Leviticus 15:25-33

15:25 “‘When a woman’s discharge of blood flows ¹  many days not at the time of her menstruation, or if it flows beyond the time of her menstruation, ²  all the days of her discharge of impurity will be like the days of her menstruation – she is unclean. 15:26 Any bed she lies on all the days of her discharge will be to her like the bed of her menstruation, any furniture she sits on will be unclean like the impurity of her menstruation, 15:27 and anyone who touches them will be unclean, and he must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. ³ 

Purity Regulations from Female Bodily Discharges

15:28 “‘If ⁴  she becomes clean from her discharge, then she is to count off for herself seven days, and afterward she will be clean. 15:29 Then on the eighth day she must take for herself two turtledoves or two young pigeons ⁵  and she must bring them to the priest at the entrance of the Meeting Tent, 15:30 and the priest is to make one a sin offering and the other a burnt offering. ⁶  So the priest ⁷  is to make atonement for her before the Lord from her discharge of impurity.

Summary of Purification Regulations for Bodily Discharges

15:31 “‘Thus you ⁸  are to set the Israelites apart from their impurity so that they ⁹  do not die in their impurity by defiling my tabernacle which is in their midst. 15:32 This is the law of the one with a discharge: the one who has a seminal emission ¹⁰  and becomes unclean by it, ¹¹  15:33 the one who is sick in her menstruation, the one with a discharge, whether male or female, ¹²  and a man ¹³  who has sexual intercourse with an unclean woman.’”

Matthew 9:20-22

9:20 But ¹⁴  a woman who had been suffering from a hemorrhage ¹⁵  for twelve years came up behind him and touched the edge ¹⁶  of his cloak. ¹⁷  9:21 For she kept saying to herself, ¹⁸  “If only I touch his cloak, I will be healed.” ¹⁹  9:22 But when Jesus turned and saw her he said, “Have courage, daughter! Your faith has made you well.” ²⁰  And the woman was healed ²¹  from that hour.

Mark 5:25

5:25 Now ²²  a woman was there who had been suffering from a hemorrhage ²³  for twelve years. ²⁴ 

[15:25]  ¹ tn Heb “And a woman when the flow of her blood flows.”

[15:25]  ² tn Heb “in not the time of her menstruation or when it flows on her menstruation.”

[15:27]  ³ tn See the note on v. 5 above.

[15:28]  ⁴ tn Heb “And if…” Although this clause is parallel to v. 13 above, it begins with וְאִם (vÿ’im, “and if”) here rather than וְכִי (vÿkhi, “and when/if”) there.

[15:29]  ⁵ tn Heb “from the sons of the pigeon,” referring either to “young pigeons” or “various species of pigeon” (contrast J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:168 with J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 14; cf. Lev 1:14 and esp. 5:7-10).

[15:30]  ⁶ tn Heb “And the priest shall make the one a sin offering and the one a burnt offering.”

[15:30]  ⁷ tn Heb “And the priest.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) can be considered to have resultative force here.

[15:31]  ⁸ tn Heb “And you shall.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) can be considered to have resultative force here (cf. KJV, ASV, NASB, NCV, NRSV).

[15:31]  ⁹ tn Heb “and they.” Here the Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) indicates a negative purpose (“lest,” so NAB, NASB).

[15:32]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and who a lying of seed goes out from him.”

[15:32]  ¹¹ tn Heb “to become unclean in it.”

[15:33]  ¹² tn Heb “and the one with a discharge, his discharge to the male and the female.”

[15:33]  ¹³ tn Heb “and for a man.”

[9:20]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “And behold a woman.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou) has not been translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1).

[9:20]  ¹⁵ sn Suffering from a hemorrhage. The woman was most likely suffering from a vaginal hemorrhage which would make her ritually unclean.

[9:20]  ¹⁶ sn The edge of his cloak refers to the kraspedon, the blue tassel on the garment that symbolized a Jewish man’s obedience to the law (cf. Num 15:37-41). The woman thus touched the very part of Jesus’ clothing that indicated his ritual purity.

[9:20]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “garment,” but here ἱμάτιον (Jimation) denotes the outer garment in particular.

[9:21]  ¹⁸ tn The imperfect verb is here taken iteratively, for the context suggests that the woman was trying to find the courage to touch Jesus’ cloak.

[9:21]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “saved.”

[9:22]  ²⁰ tn Or “has delivered you”; Grk “has saved you.” This should not be understood as an expression for full salvation in the immediate context; it refers only to the woman’s healing.

[9:22]  ²¹ tn Grk “saved.”

[5:25]  ²² tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.

[5:25]  ²³ tn Grk “a flow of blood.”

[5:25]  ²⁴ 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.