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Feminist Interpretation Of Mark 5: 21-43

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A Feminist Interpretation of Mark 5:21-43
Mark 5:21-43 is a story within a story, which begins and ends with a man named Jairus and his dying daughter while the middle illustrates a story of a hemorrhaging woman. Jesus entered a town and was approached by Jairus, a leader of the synagogue who begged Jesus to heal his dying daughter to which Jesus agreed and followed. The passage is then interrupted by the story of the hemorrhaging woman. Jesus was pursued by a large crowd including a woman who suffered from hemorrhages for twelve years. The woman said, “If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well.” (Mark 5:28 NRSV) After this statement and her contact with Jesus’ clothes, she was healed. Jesus noticed the power leave his body and asked …show more content…

The passage itself is uniquely structured, with the beginning and ending as one story and the middle a different story. This feature is distinctive to the Gospel of Mark and is used to connect these two stories for better interpretation. Mark 5:21-43 begins with the story of a synagogue leader named Jairus, who begged Jesus to lay his hands on Jairus’s dying daughter, “so that she may be made well, and live.” (Mark 5:23b) Jairus shows great distress at the thought of his daughter’s death, and trusts that Jesus will be able to heal her with the touch of his hands, a feature that will be mentioned later. Something interesting is that the daughter is unnamed in this passage, which I will touch on …show more content…

Pheme Perkins states, “By interrupting the journey to Jairus’s house with the story of the hemorrhaging woman, Mark is able to show that Jesus can heal a chronic condition without even touching the person directly. Her story also highlights the importance of faith to the healing.” This story begins with Jesus entering the scene with a large crowd pursuing him. (Mark 5:24) The passage introduces an unnamed woman in verse 25 and identifies her as someone who has experienced hemorrhages for twelve years. Many women in the Bible are referred to in relation with a husband, but this woman is referenced in relation to her disease. The woman’s reference to her disease, which has casted her out from the community, is only changed when Jesus comes into the scene. Also, while this woman’s hemorrhaging is often interpreted as vaginal bleeding, twelve years of continual hemorrhaging would actually have caused death for the woman. Regardless, because vaginal bleeding is seen as impure according to Leviticus 12:1-8 and 15:19-30, it gives the woman more reason to be socially outcast from the community. What is highly significant about the healing of the woman is the faith that she portrayed in Jesus’ healing power and believed that by touching his clothes, healing would ensue (Mark 5:27-28). “She does not ask Jesus for healing but acts on her own initiative in a way that prompts it.” The hemorrhaging woman shows

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