In brief
The woman with the issue of blood is a woman whose name the Bible does not give, who had suffered from bleeding for twelve years. She had spent everything she had on physicians without relief. In the midst of the crowd, she touches Jesus’ clothes and is healed at once. Jesus looks around for her, calls her “daughter” and tells her that her faith has made her well. Her story is told in Matthew 9, Mark 5 and Luke 8, during Jesus’ ministry in Galilee.
What does the name The Woman with the Issue of Blood mean?
The Gospels do not give her personal name. The expression “issue of blood” describes a woman suffering from a flow of blood. She is known by her illness, but Jesus calls her “daughter” and gives her a place again.
The world of The Woman with the Issue of Blood
The story of the woman with the discharge of blood takes place in Galilee, during the public ministry of Jesus, in the years leading up to his death and resurrection, which by the usual reckoning belong to the first century AD. Jesus has just crossed back over to the other side of the lake, where a great multitude gathers to him (Mark 5:21). Jairus, one of the rulers of the synagogue, falls at his feet: his daughter is at the point of death (Mark 5:22-23). Jesus goes with him, and the crowd presses on him. It is in the course of this journey that the woman’s healing is set. The Law of Moses dealt with the uncleanness linked to a long-lasting flow of blood: a woman who had a discharge of blood for many days outside her regular time was unclean as long as the discharge lasted, and anyone who touched her was made unclean (Leviticus 15:25-27). The Gospels do not say that the woman was thinking of this law, and we must stay with their text. They do note, however, that she comes up from behind, that she is fearing and trembling when Jesus looks for her, and that she has lived twelve years of suffering and useless spending on physicians. The first three Gospels tell this scene, with small differences of emphasis.
The story of The Woman with the Issue of Blood
Jesus on the way to Jairus’ house
Mark 5:21-24Jesus crosses back to the other side of the lake, where a great multitude gathers to him. One of the rulers of the synagogue, named Jairus, falls at his feet and begs him: his little daughter is at the point of death, and he asks Jesus to come and lay his hands on her so that she may be made healthy and live. Jesus goes with him, and a great multitude follows and presses upon him. Luke specifies that Jairus’ daughter is an only daughter, about twelve years of age, and she is dying (Luke 8:42). It is in this crowd and this urgency that the woman draws near.
Twelve years of suffering
Mark 5:25-26A woman has had a discharge of blood for twelve years. Mark says she has suffered many things from many physicians, has spent all that she had, and was no better, but rather grew worse. Luke, for his part, notes that she had spent all her living on physicians and could not be healed by any (Luke 8:43). The Gospels give neither her name nor her town. They show only a woman at the end of her resources, whose illness has lasted as long as Jairus’ daughter has lived.
If I just touch
Mark 5:27-29Having heard the things concerning Jesus, she comes up behind him in the crowd and touches his clothes. Mark reports what she was saying: “If I just touch his clothes, I will be made well.” Luke specifies that she touches the fringe of Jesus’ cloak (Luke 8:44). Immediately the flow of her blood dries up, and she feels in her body that she is healed of her affliction. Her faith is born of what she has heard, it takes the form of a precise gesture, and the answer is immediate. Nothing in the text suggests a magical act: everything starts from what she has heard of Jesus.
Who touched my clothes?
Mark 5:30-32Jesus, perceiving in himself that the power had gone out from him, turns around in the crowd and asks, “Who touched my clothes?” His disciples are astonished, since the multitude is pressing against him. Luke reports that Peter and those with him say that the multitudes press and jostle him (Luke 8:45). Jesus answers that someone did touch him, for he perceived that power has gone out of him (Luke 8:46). He looks around to see her who has done this thing. He does not want the healing to remain a secret: he looks for the person.
She told him all the truth
Mark 5:33The woman, fearing and trembling, knowing what had been done to her, comes and falls down before him and tells him all the truth. Luke adds that she declares in the presence of all the people the reason why she had touched him, and how she was healed immediately (Luke 8:47). What was hidden becomes a public testimony. She could have gone back into the anonymity of the crowd, but she steps forward and speaks. Her fear does not vanish at once, since the text describes her trembling, but it does not stop her from coming before Jesus and telling all that happened.
Daughter, your faith has made you well
Mark 5:34Jesus says to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be cured of your disease.” Matthew reports a similar word: “Daughter, cheer up! Your faith has made you well” (Matthew 9:22). Jesus calls her “daughter,” a word the Gospel records for no other woman healed in this way. She leaves with a healing, but also with a relationship, a peace and a confirmation before all the people. The healing of her body is followed by a word that touches her whole person.
Don’t be afraid, only believe
Mark 5:35-43While Jesus is still speaking, people come from the synagogue ruler’s house and say that his daughter is dead: why bother the Teacher any more? Jesus, paying no heed to these words, says to Jairus, “Don’t be afraid, only believe.” He allows no one to follow him except Peter, James and John. At the house he says that the child is not dead but asleep. They ridicule him. He takes the child by the hand, says “Talitha cumi,” and the girl rises up and walks, for she was twelve years old. The faith of the woman and that of Jairus are tested on the same journey.
Test your knowledge
What The Woman with the Issue of Blood teaches us
- When every human resource is exhausted, Jesus remains within reach of anyone who comes to him in faith.
- Faith is born of what we hear about Jesus, then takes shape in a concrete act, even a timid and quiet one.
- Jesus is not content with a hidden miracle: he wants to meet the person, call her “daughter” and restore her.
- Testimony is part of the healing: she tells all the truth in the presence of all the people.
- Jesus says “go in peace”: his grace touches the body, but also the peace and the place of the one he welcomes.
Key verses
“If I just touch his clothes, I will be made well.” What she says to herself shows a simple, precise and active faith, which starts from what she has heard about Jesus.
Jesus calls her “daughter” and says that her faith has made her well. He gives her peace, and the healing, confirmed in public, does not leave her anonymous in the crowd.
In Matthew’s account, Jesus turns around, sees her and says: “Daughter, cheer up! Your faith has made you well.” He encourages the woman who had come in secret, and her healing is immediate.
Bible verses to meditate on
Sermons about The Woman with the Issue of Blood
- Jesus Still Acts: Two Miracles from Mark 5He brings together Jairus’ distress and that of the woman with the issue of blood: two acts of faith, two miracles, and a Jesus who still acts for the one who comes to him.
- Dare to Believe: Hear, Obey, PersevereHe shows that faith leads to concrete obedience: this woman could have stayed at a distance, but she makes her way through the crowd and touches Jesus.
- Your Healing Is Already Signed: Dare to Declare It NowHe notes that many touched Jesus that day, but only one was healed: the difference is her own faith, put into action, which Jesus himself names.
- In This Season of Deliverance: Stand Firm and Take the VictoryHe invites us to imitate the woman who had been ill for twelve years: come near to Jesus to touch his garment, and share a concrete testimony that awakens faith.
Frequently asked questions
Who is the woman with the issue of blood in the Bible?
She is a nameless woman who had suffered from bleeding for twelve years, who touches Jesus’ clothes in the crowd and is healed at once. Her story is told in Matthew 9:20-22, Mark 5:25-34 and Luke 8:43-48.
Why does Jesus ask “Who touched my clothes?”
Jesus perceives that power has gone out from him and looks around to see her who had done this thing (Mark 5:30-32). The woman then falls down before him and tells him all the truth. Jesus says to her: “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be cured of your disease” (Mark 5:34). The text gives no other explanation.
Where can I find the story of the woman with the issue of blood in the Bible?
She appears in three Gospels: Matthew 9:20-22, Mark 5:25-34 and Luke 8:43-48. In each account, her story is set inside the story of Jairus, the synagogue ruler, whose daughter is dying and then raised up by Jesus.
What did the Law of Moses say about this woman’s condition?
Leviticus deals with the uncleanness linked to a flow of blood. A woman who had a discharge of blood for many days outside her regular time, or whose flow went beyond her regular time, was unclean as long as the flow lasted (Leviticus 15:25). Anyone who touched her bed or anything she sat on had to wash his clothes, bathe in water and remain unclean until evening (verses 26-27). After her cleansing she counted seven days, then brought two turtledoves or two young pigeons to the priest (verses 28-30). The Gospels do not cite this law about the woman, but it helps us understand why her condition set her apart.
Why does the woman touch Jesus from behind, without asking him for anything?
Mark says she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his clothes (Mark 5:27). Luke specifies that she came behind him and touched the fringe of his cloak (Luke 8:44). The Gospels do not give the reason. We see only that, once discovered, she is “fearing and trembling” (Mark 5:33), and that Luke shows her coming “trembling” (Luke 8:47). The text does not say she feared the Law, or the crowd, or Jesus. What it keeps is her decision: she says within herself that touching his clothes will be enough to make her well, and she acts in spite of the crowd.
What does “the power had gone out from him” mean?
Mark writes that Jesus, perceiving in himself that the power had gone out from him, turned around (Mark 5:30), and Luke reports Jesus saying he perceived that power has gone out of him (Luke 8:46). Luke had already noted that the whole multitude sought to touch him, because power was coming out of him and healing them all (Luke 6:19). These texts present healing as the power of God at work in Jesus. They describe not an exhaustion but a knowledge: Jesus knows that a healing has just taken place. He distinguishes this touch from the crowd that presses on him, because this one was made with faith.
Why are this woman and Jairus’ daughter both linked to the number twelve?
Mark notes that the woman has had a discharge of blood for twelve years (Mark 5:25), then that the girl was twelve years old (Mark 5:42). Luke also brings the two numbers together: Jairus’ daughter is about twelve years of age (Luke 8:42), and the woman has had a flow of blood for twelve years (Luke 8:43). The Gospels do not comment on this coincidence. We can only point it out: during the child’s entire life, the woman has suffered. Jesus calls the woman “daughter” and raises the child, and both receive life and peace. It is better to stay with what the text shows, without making it say more.
Was it Jesus’ clothing or the woman’s faith that healed her?
Jesus does not speak of his clothing. He says, “Daughter, your faith has made you well” (Mark 5:34), and in Matthew, “Your faith has made you well” (Matthew 9:22). The crowd pressed on Jesus from every side, but he picks out one single touch, that of a person who touched with faith (Luke 8:45-46). The clothing is the place of the gesture, not the source of the healing. The source is Jesus himself, from whom power went out. By adding “Go in peace,” he also shows that the woman receives more than a healing of the body: he speaks to her whole person.
Do the three Gospels tell exactly the same scene?
The core is the same: a woman, twelve years of illness, a touch on Jesus’ clothing, an immediate healing, and a word from Jesus. Matthew is briefer: he mentions neither the physicians nor the search in the crowd, and he reports that Jesus turns and sees her (Matthew 9:20-22). Mark and Luke give in detail the question “Who touched my clothes?” and the confession before all the people. Another difference: in Matthew, the ruler says that his daughter has just died (Matthew 9:18), whereas in Mark and Luke she is dying before anyone announces her death. These differences of emphasis complement one another.