Mark 5 - In Depth Bible Commentaries

739 740having done this. 5.33 So then the woman, being fearful and trembling, having known741 742what had happened to her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth.737(...continued)Luccock comments that "It might be said with some show of truth that if you wish to findthe particular glories of the Christian gospel, you must look at the things for which the disciplesrebuked Jesus. Such passages are of high historical value, as being least likely to have beenreported by compilers or revised by 'editors.' Here Jesus is impatiently reproached because ofhis concern for a single individual in the mass...Jesus responded to the shy approach ofindividual need as surely and deftly as a magnetic needle responds to the North Star..." (P.722)France comments that “Jesus’ sudden challenge takes everyone by surprise. Thecommonsense response of the disciples (to which Jesus does not even deign to reply) servesto heighten the peculiarity of his question; how can one ‘touch’ be singled out among a jostlingcrowd? The effect is again to set Jesus apart as one with supernatural insight, who canperceive the special situation of the one among the many.” (P. 238)738Literally, "the (one)." But in Greek, both "the" and the phrase "who had done" arefeminine.739France continues (see footnote 737), “That supernatural insight [of Jesus] does not,however, apparently extend to an instant recognition of the culprit...” (P. 238)740 Following the aorist participle ôñÝìïõóá, tremousa, “trembling,” the phrase dio.pepoi,ekei la,qra, dio pepoiekei lathra, “because she had acted secretly,” is interpolatedinto the text by Bezae, Theta (see), Minuscules 28, 565, 700 (see), a few other Greekmanuscripts and a majority of the Old Latin witnesses.This interpolation appears to be of the nature of early commentary on the originaltext, seeking to give a reason for the woman’s “fear and trembling.” It is a goodexplanation–but not part of the original text. This again reminds us of the manner in whichBezae has treated the text of Acts in so many instances.France comments that “ her fear may derive not only from her awe in the presenceof the miraculous healer and the general embarrassment of the situation, but also from theawareness that in touching Jesus without permission she has made him ritually unclean; ifthat is the case, however, neither Jesus nor Mark mentions the point.” (P. 238)741The feminine singular dative pronoun áô, aute, “to her,” is read by Sinaiticus,Vaticanus, Ephraemi Rescriptus, Bezae, L, Minuscules 892, 2427, Lectionary 2211 and afew other Greek manuscripts.It is changed to read evp v auvth|/, ep’ aute, “upon her,” by Alexandrinus, W, Theta,(continued...)448