Behold, a woman who had an issue of blood for twelve years came behind him, and touched the fringe of his garment;
Parallel translations
- KJV And, behold, a woman, which was diseased with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind him, and touched the hem 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 8:43–56A woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years, who had spent all her living on physicians, and could not be healed by any,
- Mark 6:56Wherever he entered, into villages, or into cities, or into the country, they laid the sick in the marketplaces, and begged him that they might touch just the fringe of his garment; and as many as touched him were made well.
- Matt 14:36and they begged him that they might just touch the fringe of his garment. As many as touched it were made whole.
- Mark 5:25–43A certain woman, who had an issue of blood for twelve years,
- Deut 22:12You shall make yourselves fringes on the four corners of your cloak with which you cover yourself.
- Acts 5:15They even carried out the sick into the streets, and laid them on cots and mattresses, so that as Peter came by, at the least his shadow might overshadow some of them.
- Lev 15:25–33“‘If a woman has a discharge of her blood many days not in the time of her period, or if she has a discharge beyond the time of her period; all the days of the discharge of her uncleanness shall be as in the days of her period: she is unclean.
- Matt 23:5But all their works they do to be seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad, enlarge the fringes of their garments,
- Num 15:38–39“Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them that they should make themselves fringes in the borders of their garments throughout their generations, and that they put on the fringe of each border a cord of blue:
- Acts 19:12so that even handkerchiefs or aprons were carried away from his body to the sick, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out.
- Mark 8:22He came to Bethsaida. They brought a blind man to him, and begged 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.