12 years bleed

[MarkRA]

in mark 5:25 Jesus meets a woman who has been bleeding for 12 years. I heard somewhere that this bleed was a problem with menstruation, which would mean a lot in terms of purity. is this an accurate interpretation or is there a different meaning to the passage?

 

[karebear92]

in mark 5:25 Jesus meets a woman who has been bleeding for 12 years. I heard somewhere that this bleed was a problem with menstruation, which would mean a lot in terms of purity. is this an accurate interpretation or is there a different meaning to the passage?

This is from my study Bible:

5:25 a flow of blood: A condition that makes the woman and everything she touches legally unclean (Lev 15:25-30). This excludes her from full participation in the covenant life of Israel. To the crowd’s astonishment, Jesus removes her uncleanness by physical contact, not in spite of it.

Page(s): 292, The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible New Testament by Hahn, Scott
NOOKstudy. This material is protected by copyright.

If you refer to Leviticus 15:25-30, it is talking about “discharge of blood for many days, not at the time of her impurity, or if she has discharge beyond the time of her impurity, she shall continue in her uncleanness; as in the days of her impurity she shall be unclean” (Leviticus 15:25).

 

[MarkRA]

that passage from leviticus that was sighted refers to menstruation so I’m going to assume that’s what a flow of blood refers to. thanks.

 

[karebear92]

that passage from leviticus that was sighted refers to menstruation so I’m going to assume that’s what a flow of blood refers to. thanks.

Yep . Sorry, I probably could have been more clear in my first post.

 

[stevekehl]

This means more than not participating in Israel’s covenant. She would have had to be separated from her family.

Leviticus 15:19 When a woman has her monthly period, she remains unclean for seven days, and if you touch her, you must take a bath, but you remain unclean until evening. 20 Anything that she rests on or sits on is also unclean, and if you touch either of these, you must wash your clothes and take a bath, but you still remain unclean until evening.

24 Any man who has sex with her during this time becomes unclean for seven days, and anything he rests on is also unclean. 25 Any woman who has a flow of blood outside her regular monthly period is unclean until it stops, just as she is during her monthly period.
26 Anything that she rests on or sits on during this time is also unclean, just as it would be during her period. 27 If you touch either of these, you must wash your clothes and take a bath, but you still remain unclean until evening.

She could not have sex with her husband or even sleep with him. She could not sit with her children, or possibly have one spot where she could sit to keep her family clean. Her family could not hug her, comfort her, if she fell they couldn’t help her up. Throw on top of that the common belief at the time that God punished sinners with physical maladies and she was probably completely ostracized. What a horrible way to live for 12 years. No wonder she was desperate to touch Jesus. But the lesson is not how the woman suffered, but that we are as unclean as she was. Are we that desparate to touch Jesus or are we confident in our own cleanliness?