Lukas 8:43-44

8:43 Now ¹  a woman was there who had been suffering from a hemorrhage ²  for twelve years ³  but could not be healed by anyone. 8:44 She ⁴  came up behind Jesus ⁵  and touched the edge ⁶  of his cloak, ⁷  and at once the bleeding ⁸  stopped.

[8:43]  ¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.

[8:43]  ² tn Grk “a flow of blood.”

[8:43]  ³ tc ‡ Most mss, including the majority of later mss (א[* C] A L W Θ Ξ [Ψ] Ë^1,13 33 [1424] Ï [lat sy^c,p,h]) read here, “having spent all her money on doctors.” Uncertainty over its authenticity is due primarily to the fact that certain important witnesses do not have the phrase (e.g., Ì⁷⁵ B [D] 0279 sy^s sa Or). This evidence alone renders its authenticity unlikely. It may have been intentionally added by later scribes in order to harmonize Luke’s account with similar material in Mark 5:26 (see TCGNT 121). NA²⁷ includes the words in brackets, indicating doubt as to their authenticity.

[8:44]  ⁴ tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[8:44]  ⁵ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:44]  ⁶ 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.

[8:44]  ⁷ tn Grk “garment,” but here ἱμάτιον (Jimation) denotes the outer garment in particular.

[8:44]  ⁸ tn Grk “the flow of her blood.”

[8:44]  sn The woman was most likely suffering from a vaginal hemorrhage, in which case her bleeding would make her ritually unclean.