Word Pictures in the New Testament - David Cox

Word Pictures in the NT [Mark: Chapter 5].
dunamin exelthousan\). The aorist participle here is punctiliar
simply and timeless and can be illustrated by Lu 10:18: "I was
beholding Satan fall" (\ethe•roun ton Satan•n pesonta\), where
\pesonta\ does not mean _fallen_ (\pept•kota\) as in Re 9:1 nor
falling (\piptonta\) but simply the constative aorist {fall}
(Robertson, _Grammar_, p. 684). So here Jesus means to say: "I
felt in myself the power from me go." Scholars argue whether in
this instance Jesus healed the woman by conscious will or by
unconscious response to her appeal. Some even argue that the
actual healing took place after Jesus became aware of the woman's
reaching for help by touching his garment. What we do know is
that Jesus was conscious of the going out of power from himself.
Lu 8:46 uses \egn•n\ (personal knowledge), but Mark has
\epignous\ (personal and additional, clear knowledge). One may
remark that no real good can be done without the outgoing of
power. That is true of mother, preacher, teacher, doctor. {Who
touched my garments?} (\Tis mou h•psato t•n himati•n;\). More
exactly, {Who touched me on my clothes}; The Greek verb uses two
genitives, of the person and the thing. It was a dramatic moment
for Jesus and for the timid woman. Later it was a common practice
for the crowds to touch the hem of Christ's garments and be
healed (Mr 6:56). But here Jesus chose to single out this case
for examination. There was no magic in the garments of Jesus.
Perhaps there was superstition in the woman's mind, but Jesus
honoured her darkened faith as in the case of Peter's shadow and
Paul's handkerchief.
5:31 {Thronging thee} (\sunthlibonta se\). See verse 24. The
disciples were amazed at the sensitiveness of Jesus to the touch
of the crowd. They little understood the drain on Jesus from all
this healing that pulled at his heart-strings and exhausted his
nervous energy even though the Son of God. He had the utmost
human sympathy.
5:32 {And he looked round about} (\kai perieblepeto\). Imperfect
middle indicative. He kept looking around to find out. The answer
of Jesus to the protest of the disciples was this scrutinizing
gaze (see already 3:5,34). Jesus knew the difference between
touch and touch (Bruce).
5:33 {Fearing and trembling, knowing} (\phob•theisa kai tremousa,
eiduia\). These participles vividly portray this woman who had
tried to hide in the crowd. She had heard Christ's question and
felt his gaze. She had to come and confess, for something "has
http://www.ccel.org/r/robertson_at/wordpictures/htm/MR5.RWP.html (6 of 9) [28/08/2004 09:03:42 a.m.]