Mark 5 - In Depth Bible Commentaries

708 709daughter of mine is at the point of death-- so that, having come, you might lay the hands710 711 712on her, so that she may be made well, and may live." 5.24 And he departed with him.706(...continued)These variants do not change the meaning of Mark, but only change the tense of theverb–from present, to imperfect, to a present participle--demonstrating the freedom felt bycopyists and translators to make such minor changes to the text being copied / translated.707The nominative singular masculine adjective polu,j, polus, “much,” “many,” is used hereas an adverb in the accusative plural, ðïëë, polla–literally “many things,” which we havetranslated by "over and over." It is used as an adverb to mean "greatly," "earnestly," "strictly,""loudly," or "often." Compare Mark 5:10 with its footnote 660.708The feminine singular noun ÈõãÜôçñ, thugater means "daughter"; the neuter singularnoun used here, èõãÜôñéüí, thugatrion, means "little daughter," and probably is meant as aterm of endearment, rather than as an indication of size or age. (The little girl is 12 yearsold–see verse 42.)709The phrase ó÷Üôùò ÷åé, eschatos echei, literally, "(My little daughter) finally has," anidiom in Greek that means "My little daughter is terminally ill (or, ‘is dying’)." The deep anxietythat lies behind these troubled words is obvious. The wealthy, prominent citizen hasoftentimes been able to provide for his own needs, and those of his family and community.But now he is confronted with a desperate need which he is powerless to meet, regardless ofhis fame or financial standing. In desperation he falls before Jesus for help. As France notes,“he is asking for miraculous healing before she dies, that she may be cured (swqh|/, sothe) andthus may continue to live (zh,s|h, zese),” both of which are subjunctive verbs.Are we today so different from this prominent citizen? Are we able to provide for ourbeloved children when terminal cancer, or automobile accident, or drug overdose, or thedesire to commit suicide threatens to bring their lives to an end?710The phrase íá ëèí ðéèò ôò ÷åñáò áô, hina elthon epithes tas cheiras aute,“so that having come, you might lay the hands on her,” is changed to read evlqe. a-yaiauvth/j evk tw/n ceir/wn sou, elthe hapsai autes ek ton cheiron sou, literally, “come, totouch her out of the hands of yours,” by Bezae, a majority of the Old Latin witnesses, theSinaitic Syriac (see) and the Peshitta Syriac (see).The variant reading does not change the meaning of Mark, but is only another wayof saying the same thing. We are reminded in this variant of many of the variants in Actsthat are given by these same witnesses.France notes that “For the laying on of hands as a natural gesture of healingcompare 6:5; 7:32; 8:23, 25; and compare the mention of touch already in 1:31, 41.” (P.(continued...)438