Luke 8:43-44

8:43 Now 1  a woman was there who had been suffering from a hemorrhage 2  for twelve years 3  but could not be healed by anyone. 8:44 She 4  came up behind Jesus 5  and touched the edge 6  of his cloak, 7  and at once the bleeding 8  stopped.

1 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.

2 tn Grk “a flow of blood.”

3 tc ‡ Most mss, including the majority of later mss (א[* C] A L W Θ Ξ [Ψ] Ë1,13 33 [1424] Ï [lat syc,p,h]) read here, “having spent all her money on doctors.” Uncertainty over its authenticity is due primarily to the fact that certain important witnesses do not have the phrase (e.g., Ì75 B [D] 0279 sys sa Or). This evidence alone renders its authenticity unlikely. It may have been intentionally added by later scribes in order to harmonize Luke’s account with similar material in Mark 5:26 (see TCGNT 121). NA27 includes the words in brackets, indicating doubt as to their authenticity.

4 tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

5 tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

6 sn The edge of his cloak refers to the kraspedon, the blue tassel on the garment that symbolized a Jewish man’s obedience to the law (cf. Num 15:37-41). The woman thus touched the very part of Jesus’ clothing that indicated his ritual purity.

7 tn Grk “garment,” but here ἱμάτιον (Jimation) denotes the outer garment in particular.

8 tn Grk “the flow of her blood.”

sn The woman was most likely suffering from a vaginal hemorrhage, in which case her bleeding would make her ritually unclean.