Journal for the Study of Religion and History (JSRH)

No. 3 (2026): JSRH
Articles

Hermeneutical Trajectories of the Hemorrhaging Woman (Mark 5:25–34)

PDF
  • Daniel Nii Aboagye Aryeh
Daniel Nii Aboagye Aryeh
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5055-0551 (unauthenticated) Alpha University College, Ghana

Published 2026-05-10

Keywords

  • Mark 5:25–34, hermeneutics, miracles, vulnerability, rhetoric, illness, faith
Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Share

Abstract

This study traces the hermeneutical trajectory of the healing of the hemorrhaging woman (Mark 5:25–34) to illuminate how changing interpretive frameworks have shaped understanding of Markan miracles. It then undertakes a socio-rhetorical interpretation of the narrative to offer a contemporary understanding of the text. Historically, this narrative was read apologetically, foregrounding the miracle as proof of Jesus’s divinity and a model for the efficacy of faith. The form-critical shift reclassified it as a Novelle, prioritizing its Sitz im Leben for early community instruction and Christological confession. Contemporary scholarship, however, engages its literary artistry, particularly its function as a theological intercalation within the Jairus narrative. This hermeneutical trajectory reveals a critical development within the interpretation of Markan miracles in that they are no longer seen merely as a display of power but as sophisticated rhetorical devices. Hence, the narrative is a vehicle designed to draw vulnerable persons to Jesus and to demonstrate that the power of Jesus to heal is above his peers.

PDF

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

  1. Allison Jr., Dale C. 2011. The Living Water. Journal for the Study of the New Testament 34, no. 2: 150–165.
  2. Aryeh, Daniel Nii Aboagye. 2025. The Structure/Pattern of Healing Miracle Narratives in the Gospels Performed Through “Touching” Jesus. Biblical Theology Bulletin, vol. 54, no. 5: 233–242.
  3. Decker, Rodney J. 2014. Mark 1–8: A Handbook on the Greek Text, Baylor Handbook on the Greek New Testament. Waco, TX: Baylor University Press.
  4. Dube, Musa W. 2004. Talitha Cum! A Postcolonial Feminist & HIV/AIDS Reading of Mark 5:21–43. In Grant Me Justice! HIV/AIDS & Gender Readings of the Bible. Edited by Musa W. Dube and Musimbi R. A. Kanyoro. Pietermaritzburg: Cluster Publications. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books: pp. 115–140.
  5. Dumont, M. 1992. La gynécologie et l’obstétrique chez les Romains. Revue Française de Gynécologie et d’Obstétrique 87, no. 10: 493–505.
  6. Henderson, Greig. 1989. Logology and Theology: Kenneth Burke and the Rhetoric of Religion. Method & Theory in the Study of Religion, vol. 1, no. 1: 20–39.
  7. Joynes, Christine E. 2012. Still at the Margins?: Gospel Women and their Afterlives. In Radical Christian Voices and Practice: Essays in Honour of Christopher Rowland. Edited by Zoë Bennett and David B. Gowler. Oxford: Oxford University Press: pp. 117–137
  8. Karura, Mwaniki. 2020. Catalyzing Reader-Response to the Oral Gospel: A Rhetorical Analysis of the Convincing and Convicting Devices in the Markan Text. Carlisle: Langham Monographs.
  9. König, Judith. 2025. The Woman Who Took the Initiative: A Look at Mark 5:25–34 from the Perspective of Power Dynamics. Religions 16, no. 2: 134–145.
  10. Kubiś, Adam. 2020. The Hemorrhaging Woman and Jairus’ Daughter as Representatives of Israel: An Attempt at the Symbolic Reading of Mark 5:21–43. The Biblical Annals 10, no. 3: 355–346.
  11. Kusio, Mateusz. 2015. Theological Implications of Markan Interpretative Intercalations. Polskie Towarzystwo Teologiczne 68, no. 3: 265–274.
  12. Lawrence, Louise J. 2013. Sense and Stigma in the Gospels: Depictions of Sensory-Disabled Characters. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  13. Marcus, Joel. 2005. Mark 1–8: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary (Anchor Bible). New Haven: Yale University Press.
  14. Miceli, Calogero A. 2016. Perspective Criticism and the Study of Narrative Biblical Literature: The Story of the Hemorrhaging Woman (Mark 5,24–34) as a Test Case. Théologiques, vol. 24, no. 1: 139–160.
  15. Moss, Candida R. 2010. The Man with the Flow of Power: Porous Bodies in Mark 5: 25–34. Journal of Biblical Literature, vol. 129, no. 3: 507–519.
  16. Petropoulos, J. C. B. 2008. Introduction: Magic in Byzantium. In Greek Magic: Ancient, Medieval and Modern. Edited by J.C.B. Petropoulos. London: Routledge: pp. 1–7.
  17. Reid, Robert Stephen. 2008. A Rhetoric of Contemporary Christian Discourse. The Journal of Communication and Religion, vol. 31, no. 2: 109–142.
  18. Reimer-Barry, Emily. 2024. Interpreting Mk 5: 25–34 in Solidarity with Women Who Have Experienced Pregnancy Loss. Irish Theological Quarterly, vol. 89, no. 4: 283–299.
  19. Remus, Harold.1997. Jesus as Healer. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  20. Robbins, Vernon K. 2004. Beginnings and Developments in Socio-Rhetorical Interpretation. Atlanta, GA: Emory University.
  21. Robbins, Vernon K. Robert H. von Thaden Jr., and Bart B. Bruehler eds. 2016. Foundations for Socio-Rhetorical Exploration: A Rhetoric of Religious Antiquity Reader. Atlanta: SBL Press.
  22. Robbins, Vernon K. 2016. Conceptual Blending and Early Christian Imagination. In Foundations for Socio-Rhetorical Exploration: A Rhetoric of Religious Antiquity Reader. Edited by Vernon K. Robbins, Robert H. von Thaden Jr., and Bart B. Bruehler. Atlanta: SBL Press, pp. 329–364.
  23. Shepherd, Tom. 1991. The Definition and Function of Markan Intercalation as Illustrated in a Narrative Analysis of Six Passages. PhD dissertation, Andrews University. Available online: https://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1141&context=dissertations (accessed on May 9, 2026).
  24. Smith, Julie M. 2018. The Gospel According to Mark, BYU New Testament Commentary. Provo, UT: Brigham Young University Press.
  25. Strauss, Mark L. 2014. Mark, Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
  26. Taylor, Vincent. 1966. The Gospel According to St. Mark, 2nd Edition. London: Macmillan.
  27. Thomas, Aled and Edward Graham-Hyde, eds. 2024. ‘Cult’ Rhetoric in the 21st Century: Deconstructing the Study of New Religious Movements. London: Bloomsbury Academic.
  28. Weissenrieder, Annette. 2017. Disease and Healing in a Changing World: ‘Medical’ Vocabulary and the Woman with the ‘Issue of Blood’ in the Vetus Latina Mark 5:25–34 and Luke 8:40–48. Religion in the Roman Empire, vol. 3, no. 2: 265–285.

Similar Articles

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.