Bible Questions and Answers

Jesus said these words, which are in the Syriac dialect of Aramaic, probably Jesus' native language, in the context of the raising of Jairus' daughter from the dead and is recorded in Mark 5:22-43. The phrase literally means "Little girl, get up!"

Jesus is going to the home of Jairus, one of the chief men in the local Synagogue in order to heal his daughter. While Jairus is out seeking the Lord, his daughter dies so those of his family and friends who bring him the sad news tell him that it is too late. The daughter, to their minds is past the point where she could be healed so they tell him essentially not to waste Jesus' time. Of course, this healing is not beyond Jesus' power and a great miracle takes place and the girl is brought back from death.

The other miracle in this story, the woman healed of a flow of blood which had disabled her and caused her to be an outcast for 12 years [Mark 5:25], has a very interesting possibility. Note the age of the girl who was healed - 12 years old! [Mark 5:42]. Was this the girl's mother? Had she suffered some kind of damage to her womb at the time of her daughter's birth? Such a continuous flow of blood would have separated her from her community and family as, under the law, she would have been considered to be "unclean". Knowing of her daughter's critical illness, was she desperate to be healed so that she could go to her? Jesus healed this woman on the way to healing the girl. I like to think that not only was the woman healed and the girl brought back to life but that a whole family was "healed" and reunited by our Lord's grace and power.

I hope you have found this helpful.

May God bless you,
Mike