5:27a

When the woman heard about Jesus: The woman heard about Jesus at some time in the past. This was the reason that she joined the crowd. She hoped that she would be able to touch Jesus. The text does not indicate when she heard about Jesus.

In some languages you may need to make explicit what she had heard about Jesus. For example:

when she heard about the things that Jesus had done (There is a textual variant (that, as Edwards says on page 164, is supported by “a small but weighty number of manuscripts”) that is close to this model. If we are to supply an object for what the woman heard, it seems that staying close to the variant would be a good choice.)
-or-
when she heard that Jesus healed people

5:27b–28

The woman’s thought in 5:28 happened before her action in 5:27b. In some languages it may be more natural to reorder 5:27b and 5:28. See the General Comment on 5:27–28 after 5:28 for an example.

5:27b

she came up through the crowd behind Him: The woman came to Jesus from behind Him because she did not want him to notice her.

and touched His cloak: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as touched is the main verb in 5:25–27. The text emphasizes the woman’s action of touching Jesus’ cloak. See the General Comment on 5:25–27 below about this.

cloak: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as cloak refers to a long, loose outer garment like a coat or robe. If such a garment is not worn in your area, you may want to use a general expression. For example:

clothing
-or-
garment

Be careful not to use a term that would imply foreign or expensive clothing.

General Comment on 5:25–27

In 5:25–27, there are eight verbs. The first seven verbs are dependent forms. This indicates that the main action is “touched.” Mark emphasized the action of the woman touching Jesus’ cloak. Here is a literal translation of the verbs:

…a woman being in a flow of blood…, and having suffered much…, and having spent all that she had, and not having benefited anything, but rather having come to the worse, hearing about Jesus, coming behind in the crowd, she touched his cloak.

Consider whether there is a natural way in your language to emphasize the action of touching Jesus’ cloak.

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All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
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