Matthew and Mark have the woman saying to herself,
“If I just touch His garments, I will get well [lit. I will be saved, Hagner, WBC]."
Luke however does not mention this, instead it is stated that she had a twelve year issue of blood and
“came up behind Him and touched the fringe of His cloak, and immediately her hemorrhage stopped.”
In Luke, the reader is not given the woman’s thoughts as to why she took such action,
“she
devises a plan of secretly touching his garment. Her reasoning and simple faith
find articulation in v 21. It will suffice to touch the garment of this very
special person. This strategy may well have been dictated by her ritual
uncleanness and her sense of the holiness of Jesus as a divinely empowered
healer. τοῦ κρασπέδου τοῦ ἱματίου
αὐτοῦ, ‘the fringe of
his garment,’ probably refers not simply to the edge of Jesus’ garment but to
the tassels (Hebrew צִיצִת, ṣîṣit’)
required by Num 15:38–41 and Deut 22:12 for the four corners of one’s outer
garment (cf.
23:5). Jesus is thus faithful to the Torah in his dress. The idea of being
healed through even the garments worn by a holy person was not so unusual in
that culture (cf. 14:36; Mark 6:56; Acts 19:12)."1
This is a tough situation for the woman, more than the text lets on for most of the readers in our culture. This woman was perpetually unclean, meaning she was an outcast, completely cut-off from everyone; no human contact. It is obvious that she approaches Jesus in this stealthy manner because she believes that he would not come close due to her impurity, she would be rendering him unclean. Keener remarks,
This is a tough situation for the woman, more than the text lets on for most of the readers in our culture. This woman was perpetually unclean, meaning she was an outcast, completely cut-off from everyone; no human contact. It is obvious that she approaches Jesus in this stealthy manner because she believes that he would not come close due to her impurity, she would be rendering him unclean. Keener remarks,
“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 and religious problem
in addition to the physical one. 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, [m. Ṭoharot 5:8]). Because she rendered
unclean anyone she touched, she should not have even been in this heavy crowd.
Many teachers avoided touching women altogether, lest they become accidentally
contaminated. Thus she could not touch or be touched, she had probably never
married or was now divorced, and she was marginal to Jewish society.”2
Matthew and Luke have a word Mark does not in the telling of this particular story; fringe (kraspedon). In a recent blog post, Gerald McDermott explores this briefly, but in my opinion leaves the best part out.
The word kraspedon is used few times in the NT, but there is a lesser mentioned portion of text in Matthew 14 and Mark 6, when Jesus was in Gennesaret, and the same word is employed:
Matthew and Luke have a word Mark does not in the telling of this particular story; fringe (kraspedon). In a recent blog post, Gerald McDermott explores this briefly, but in my opinion leaves the best part out.
The word kraspedon is used few times in the NT, but there is a lesser mentioned portion of text in Matthew 14 and Mark 6, when Jesus was in Gennesaret, and the same word is employed:
“when the men of that
place recognized Him, they sent word into all that surrounding district and brought
to Him all who were sick; and they implored Him that they might just touch the
fringe of His cloak; and as many as touched it were cured” Mat 14:35-36.
Why were people drawn to Jesus’ fringe or hem?
Why were people drawn to Jesus’ fringe or hem?
“The LORD
also spoke to Moses, saying, ’Speak to the sons of Israel, and tell them that
they shall make for themselves tassels on the corners of their garments
throughout their generations, and that they shall put on the tassel of each
corner a cord of blue. It shall be a tassel for you to look at and remember all
the commandments of the LORD, so as to do them and not follow after your own
heart and your own eyes…” Num 15:37-38.
The covenant people of God were commanded to sew tassels (tsitsith) on the “corners” of their garments. The word corner in Hebrew is kanaph and can also be translated as wing or extremity as in the passage where Yahweh - extending protection and covering over Israel - says,
The covenant people of God were commanded to sew tassels (tsitsith) on the “corners” of their garments. The word corner in Hebrew is kanaph and can also be translated as wing or extremity as in the passage where Yahweh - extending protection and covering over Israel - says,
“I spread the corner of
my garment over you and covered your nakedness” Eze 16:8 ESV.
It is used of wing in the sense of protection, as a mother bird spreads her wings over her chicks and the wings of the Seraphim which covered the Ark, their face, “feet” (euphemism for something else) and were used for flying.
In the Septuagint, the word corner (kanaph) is translated kraspedon; the same word Matthew and Luke use in these narratives (cf. Mat 23:5). Why then does Jesus credit the woman with an exercise of faith for touching his tassel?
Possibly because of a messianic prophecy in Malachi that stated,
It is used of wing in the sense of protection, as a mother bird spreads her wings over her chicks and the wings of the Seraphim which covered the Ark, their face, “feet” (euphemism for something else) and were used for flying.
In the Septuagint, the word corner (kanaph) is translated kraspedon; the same word Matthew and Luke use in these narratives (cf. Mat 23:5). Why then does Jesus credit the woman with an exercise of faith for touching his tassel?
Possibly because of a messianic prophecy in Malachi that stated,
“But to you that fear
my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise, and healing shall be in his wings
“every
piece of art we have shows Jesus breaking God’s law, and we want Jews to take
seriously that he is the messiah.”
“Have
we forgotten that our Savior was a Jew?” Jesus Was Not a Trinitarian, 9.
McDermott, as well as Keil and Delitzsch mention the Pharisaic superfluous attitude in commands such as Nu. 15:38,
“The size of these tassels is not prescribed. The Pharisees liked to make them large, to exhibit openly their punctilious fulfillment of the law.” Kiel and Delitzsch, 1:721.
McDermott, as well as Keil and Delitzsch mention the Pharisaic superfluous attitude in commands such as Nu. 15:38,
“The size of these tassels is not prescribed. The Pharisees liked to make them large, to exhibit openly their punctilious fulfillment of the law.” Kiel and Delitzsch, 1:721.
Mark describes the woman as having
“endured much at the hands of many physicians, and had
spent all that she had and was not helped at all, but rather had grown worse.”
“Do not be afraid any longer; only believe, and she
will be made well [lit. saved]" (v. 50).
This theme of Jesus as the truest Jew bringing salvation is the larger picture Luke wants to give his audience.
This theme of Jesus as the truest Jew bringing salvation is the larger picture Luke wants to give his audience.
1.
2. Craig S. Keener and InterVarsity Press, The IVP Bible Background Commentary : New Testament, Mt 9:20 (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1993).
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