Paragraph 5:25–34

This paragraph begins a new story that happens before the story of Jairus ends. It describes how Jesus helped someone else before he arrived at Jairus’ house. Introduce it in a way that is natural in your language for such a context.

5:25a

And a woman was there: This verse introduces a new story, that is, a new series of events. It is about how Jesus helped a certain woman. This verse introduces the woman and gives background information about her. Introduce the woman in a natural way in your language. For example:

There was a woman who… (Good News Bible)
-or-
In the crowd was a woman who… (God’s Word)
-or-
Meanwhile, a woman had come into the crowd. She…

5:25b–26b

had suffered from bleeding…had borne…had spent: The Greek verbs that the Berean Standard Bible translates as had suffered from bleeding, had borne, and had spent describe the woman’s situation before she came to Jesus. These events happened over a period of time. Use appropriate forms in your language to refer to background events in a story.

5:25b

who had suffered from bleeding for twelve years: The Greek clause that the Berean Standard Bible translates as who had suffered from bleeding is literally “being in a flow of blood.” It means that the woman had a sickness that caused her to bleed from her womb/uterus at times when it was not normal.

Consider if people in your culture would describe this condition with a euphemism. Use a phrase that would be clearly understood and yet would be suitable for public reading. Your translation should not imply that the bleeding was caused from a cut or wound.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

whose bleeding never stopped for twelve years
-or-
who had had a female disorder for twelve years

The woman was unclean according to the law of Moses because of the bleeding that was caused by her sickness. If you are using footnotes for background information, you may want to use one here. For example:

According to the law of Moses (Leviticus 15:19–30), a woman with menstrual bleeding or other bleeding from her womb was considered ritually unclean.

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All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
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