Mark 5:21-43, King James Version
Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.
Mark 5:21-43
A Woman and a Girl Receive Restored Life
Jairus asks for his dying daughter; on the way an excluded, impoverished woman touches Jesus and is publicly restored as daughter; Jesus then raises the twelve-year-old girl and orders care and food.
Why this sits here
Returning across the sea brings two female restoration stories together; Mark's interruption pattern and repeated twelve-year detail make the woman and Jairus's daughter interpret one another.
Mark 5:21-43 opens with “And when Jesus was passed over again by ship unto the other side, much people gathered unto him…” and closes with “And he charged them straitly that no man should know it; and commanded that something should be given….”
How the passage moves
A woman suffering for twelve years interrupts the journey and is publicly restored as daughter.
News of the girl's death tests trust before Jesus raises her and orders practical care.
Why this reading fits
Interpretive limit or uncertainty
Mark intercalates two female stories linked by twelve years, fear, touch, and restoration. The woman's bleeding has ritual and social effects but should not be described as moral impurity; both healings remain narrated miracles, not universal guarantees.
A phrase that matters
trust / faith
πίστις · pistis
Jesus names the woman's trust within a story of embodied suffering and public restoration, not as a formula guaranteeing every cure.
A needed correction
Reading Mark 5:21-43 in its complete Markan, Jewish, first-century, and Passion-shaped setting rules out these uses:
The woman's condition does not make menstruation or women's bodies sinful.
Her touch does not justify violating consent or medical boundaries.
The healings do not promise that every child or chronically ill person will recover.
What remains true
Jesus gives sustained attention to two females whose suffering and social position could have made them invisible.
How this should shape us
What faithful practice follows?
Center the voice, dignity, and practical needs of women, children, and chronically ill people without promising outcomes the passage does not guarantee.
Go deeper
The explanation above is meant to stand on its own. Open these notes only if you want language, history, disagreements, or source locations.
Read it sentence by sentenceEach line inside the larger movement
Narrative and structural evidence
Mark 5:21-43 opens with “And when Jesus was passed over again by ship unto the other side, much people gathered unto him…” and closes with “And he charged them straitly that no man should know it; and commanded that something should be given….” The internal movement runs from “Jairus asks Jesus to save his dying daughter” to “News of the girl's death tests trust before Jesus raises her and orders practical care.”
Interpretive limit or uncertainty
Mark intercalates two female stories linked by twelve years, fear, touch, and restoration. The woman's bleeding has ritual and social effects but should not be described as moral impurity; both healings remain narrated miracles, not universal guarantees.
Original-language wording and grammarTechnical detail appears only where it helps
trust / faith
Jesus names the woman's trust within a story of embodied suffering and public restoration, not as a formula guaranteeing every cure.
How certain? probableWhat the first readers would have understoodRelevant history and culture
Galilee, Judea, Jerusalem, and Roman rule
Mark narrates Jesus and Jewish contemporaries within first-century Galilean, Judean, temple, village, household, synagogue, and Roman-imperial settings. For Mark 5:21-43, the needed reconstruction is bounded by: Mark intercalates two female stories linked by twelve years, fear, touch, and restoration. The woman's bleeding has ritual and social effects but should not be described as moral impurity; both healings remain narrated miracles, not universal guarantees.
How certain? probableWhy translations sometimes differMaterial translation choices
KJV wording in 5:21-43
The pinned KJV remains displayed. SBLGNT, STEP, and NET comparison clarify older English, syntax, and material alternatives where this unit requires them: Mark intercalates two female stories linked by twelve years, fear, touch, and restoration. The woman's bleeding has ritual and social effects but should not be described as moral impurity; both healings remain narrated miracles, not universal guarantees.
How certain? probableEarlier Scripture and inherited backgroundSupported quotations, allusions, and inherited ideas
Israel's Scriptures and Jewish life
Mark 5:21-43 belongs inside Jewish Scripture, worship, purity, Sabbath, kingdom, temple, Passover, prophetic hope, and debate as locally relevant. Christian interpretation must preserve that first horizon and reject antisemitic or supersessionist caricature.
How certain? strongHow this connects with the rest of ScriptureThe passage's own meaning remains primary
Synoptic and canonical relationships
Mark's own wording and sequence control Mark 5:21-43. Matthew and Luke often reuse or reshape Mark under the widely supported Markan-priority model, while Matthean-priority and other models remain alternatives; parallels may clarify reception but cannot overwrite Mark.
How certain? probableTextual variantsManuscript differences only when they affect meaning
Text and transmission
Mark's textual history is checked against the SBLGNT and NET notes. The material local control is: Mark intercalates two female stories linked by twelve years, fear, touch, and restoration. The woman's bleeding has ritual and social effects but should not be described as moral impurity; both healings remain narrated miracles, not universal guarantees.
How certain? probableWhere careful interpreters disagreeThe strongest options and their difficulties
Where do careful interpreters differ?
Best judgment: Mark intercalates two female stories linked by twelve years, fear, touch, and restoration. The woman's bleeding has ritual and social effects but should not be described as moral impurity; both healings remain narrated miracles, not universal guarantees.
How certain? probableTheology that emerges from this passageConclusions drawn after reading the complete section
Theological contribution
God's kingdom, Jesus' identity and authority, Passion-shaped service, faithful following, accountable power, mercy, resurrection hope, and care for vulnerable people control the theological use of Mark 5:21-43.
How certain? strongTheological contribution
Jairus asks for his dying daughter; on the way an excluded, impoverished woman touches Jesus and is publicly restored as daughter; Jesus then raises the twelve-year-old girl and orders care and food.
How certain? strongCommon ways this passage gets misusedFair explanation, context check, and stronger reading
The woman's condition does not make menstruation or women's bodies sinful.
A memorable line or action in movement 23 can be detached from its actors, first-century setting, and Mark's Passion-shaped plot.
Jairus asks for his dying daughter; on the way an excluded, impoverished woman touches Jesus and is publicly restored as daughter; Jesus then raises the twelve-year-old girl and orders care and food.
Read Mark 5:21-43 as the complete unit, preserve Mark intercalates two female stories linked by twelve years, fear, touch, and restoration. The woman's bleeding has ritual and social effects but should not be described as moral impurity; both healings remain narrated miracles, not universal guarantees.
The woman's condition does not make menstruation or women's bodies sinful.
Her touch does not justify violating consent or medical boundaries.
A memorable line or action in movement 23 can be detached from its actors, first-century setting, and Mark's Passion-shaped plot.
Jairus asks for his dying daughter; on the way an excluded, impoverished woman touches Jesus and is publicly restored as daughter; Jesus then raises the twelve-year-old girl and orders care and food.
Read Mark 5:21-43 as the complete unit, preserve Mark intercalates two female stories linked by twelve years, fear, touch, and restoration. The woman's bleeding has ritual and social effects but should not be described as moral impurity; both healings remain narrated miracles, not universal guarantees.
Her touch does not justify violating consent or medical boundaries.
The healings do not promise that every child or chronically ill person will recover.
A memorable line or action in movement 23 can be detached from its actors, first-century setting, and Mark's Passion-shaped plot.
Jairus asks for his dying daughter; on the way an excluded, impoverished woman touches Jesus and is publicly restored as daughter; Jesus then raises the twelve-year-old girl and orders care and food.
Read Mark 5:21-43 as the complete unit, preserve Mark intercalates two female stories linked by twelve years, fear, touch, and restoration. The woman's bleeding has ritual and social effects but should not be described as moral impurity; both healings remain narrated miracles, not universal guarantees.
The healings do not promise that every child or chronically ill person will recover.
Research trail and exact locationsThe source record behind this section
Supports: Exact KJV wording, paragraph flags, supplied-word markup, and coverage.
Mark 5:21-43, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Supports: Greek wording, sentence relations, and material variants checked independently of the KJV.
Faithlife SBLGNT official repository, data/sblgnt/text/Mark.txt, 5:21-43
Supports: Greek forms, morphology, and lexical ranges; context controls sense.
STEP Bible Data official repository, TAGNT Matthew–Acts data, rows for 5:21-43
Supports: Verse-level translation, syntax, older-English clarification, variants, background, and alternatives.
NET Bible Mark PDF, printed pp. 1868–1901, 5:21-43 and attached translator/textual notes
Supports: Narrative boundaries, plot, characterization, kingdom, Christology, discipleship, conflict, Passion, and ending.
Broadhead, Mark, printed pp. 31–54, Mark 3.7–6.6a; subsection covering 5:21-43
Supports: Authorship/date limits, whole-book movement, secrecy, disciple failure, Passion, Sonship, and reader-first context.
Enter the Bible Mark course, Summary, Outline, Background, Introductory Issues, Theological Themes, and related passage index; applied to 5:21-43
Supports: A complete confessional evangelical interpretation used as one traditioned voice, not consensus.
McKinley, “Mark,” Introduction and commentary heading covering Mark 5:21-43
Sources for This Section
These records identify the source, the claim it supports, and the exact location used. A source remains evidence to evaluate; it does not replace the biblical text.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact KJV wording, paragraph flags, supplied-word markup, and coverage.
Exact location: Mark 5:21-43, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗Greek textual evidence
The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition
Michael W. Holmes, editor; Society of Biblical Literature and Logos
Society of Biblical Literature and Logos Bible Software, 2010
Supports: Greek wording, sentence relations, and material variants checked independently of the KJV.
Exact location: Faithlife SBLGNT official repository, data/sblgnt/text/Mark.txt, 5:21-43
Open the Mark Greek text file ↗Lexical and grammatical evidence
STEP Bible Data
Tyndale House Cambridge
Tyndale House Cambridge, repository snapshot verified 2026
Supports: Greek forms, morphology, and lexical ranges; context controls sense.
Exact location: STEP Bible Data official repository, TAGNT Matthew–Acts data, rows for 5:21-43
Open source ↗Translation and textual notes
NET Bible — Mark with translators' and textual notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2005–2026 online edition
Supports: Verse-level translation, syntax, older-English clarification, variants, background, and alternatives.
Exact location: NET Bible Mark PDF, printed pp. 1868–1901, 5:21-43 and attached translator/textual notes
Open the official NET Mark PDF ↗modern scholarly narrative commentary
Mark, Second Edition
Edwin K. Broadhead
Sheffield Phoenix Press; distributed online by the Society of Biblical Literature, 2009
Supports: Narrative boundaries, plot, characterization, kingdom, Christology, discipleship, conflict, Passion, and ending.
Exact location: Broadhead, Mark, printed pp. 31–54, Mark 3.7–6.6a; subsection covering 5:21-43
Open Broadhead's complete Mark commentary ↗modern scholarly book introduction
Mark course: summary, outline, background, introductory issues, theological themes, and Bible in the world
Paul S. Berge; revised by Kristofer Phan Coffman
Enter the Bible, Luther Seminary, 2023 revision; current online course inspected 2026
Supports: Authorship/date limits, whole-book movement, secrecy, disciple failure, Passion, Sonship, and reader-first context.
Exact location: Enter the Bible Mark course, Summary, Outline, Background, Introductory Issues, Theological Themes, and related passage index; applied to 5:21-43
Open the Enter the Bible Mark course ↗modern open confessional commentary
Mark
Mike McKinley
The Gospel Coalition Bible Commentary, 2023 online edition
Supports: A complete confessional evangelical interpretation used as one traditioned voice, not consensus.
Exact location: McKinley, “Mark,” Introduction and commentary heading covering Mark 5:21-43
Open McKinley's Mark commentary ↗