And, behold, a woman, which was diseased with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind him, and touched the hem of his garment:
Parallel translations
- WEB Behold, a woman who had an issue of blood for twelve years came behind him, and touched the fringe of his garment;
- BSB Suddenly a woman who had suffered from bleeding for twelve years came up behind Him and touched the fringe of His cloak.
- NKJV And suddenly, a woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years came from behind and touched the hem of His garment.
- NASB And behold, a woman who had been suffering from a hemorrhage for twelve years came up behind Him, and touched the border of His cloak;
- NLT Just then a woman who had suffered for twelve years with constant bleeding came up behind him. She touched the fringe of his robe,
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
A woman suffering twelve years of bleeding touches the edge of Jesus' garment. Her quiet, desperate faith reaches out for healing.
Overview
The woman's condition made her ceremonially unclean and socially isolated for twelve years. In faith she touches the fringe of Jesus' cloak, believing even that contact can heal her. Her approach reveals genuine, if timid, trust that Christ's power is sufficient for the most chronic affliction.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Luke 8:43–56And a woman having an issue of blood twelve years, which had spent all her living upon physicians, neither could be healed of any,
- Mark 6:56And whithersoever he entered, into villages, or cities, or country, they laid the sick in the streets, and besought him that they might touch if it were but the border of his garment: and as many as touched him were made whole.
- Matt 14:36And besought him that they might only touch the hem of his garment: and as many as touched were made perfectly whole.
- Mark 5:25–43And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years,
- Deut 22:12Thou shalt make thee fringes upon the four quarters of thy vesture, wherewith thou coverest thyself.
- Acts 5:15Insomuch that they brought forth the sick into the streets, and laid them on beds and couches, that at the least the shadow of Peter passing by might overshadow some of them.
- Lev 15:25–33And if a woman have an issue of her blood many days out of the time of her separation, or if it run beyond the time of her separation; all the days of the issue of her uncleanness shall be as the days of her separation: she shall be unclean.
- Matt 23:5But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments,
- Num 15:38–39Speak unto the children of Israel, and bid them that they make them fringes in the borders of their garments throughout their generations, and that they put upon the fringe of the borders a ribband of blue:
- Acts 19:12So that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them.
- Mark 8:22And he cometh to Bethsaida; and they bring a blind man unto him, and besought him to touch him.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Matthew presents Jesus as the promised King — son of David, son of Abraham — the new Moses and true Israel in whom every prophecy reaches 'that it might be fulfilled.'
How Matthew 9:20 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.