Matthew 9:20–21

9:20 But40 a woman who had been suffering from a hemorrhage41 for twelve years came up behind him and touched the edge42 of his cloak.43 9:21 For she kept saying to herself,44 “If only I touch his cloak, I will be healed.”45

40	tn Grk “And behold a woman.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou) has not been translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1).
41	sn Suffering from a hemorrhage. The woman was most likely suffering from a vaginal hemorrhage which would make her ritually unclean.
42	sn The edge of his cloak refers to the kraspedon, the blue tassel on the garment that symbolized a Jewish man’s obedience to the law (cf. Num 15:37–41). The woman thus touched the very part of Jesus’ clothing that indicated his ritual purity.
43	tn Grk “garment,” but here ἱμάτιον (himation) denotes the outer garment in particular.
44	tn The imperfect verb is here taken iteratively, for the context suggests that the woman was trying to find the courage to touch Jesus’ cloak.
45	tn Grk “saved.” sn In this pericope the author uses a term for being healed (Grk “saved”) that would have spiritual significance to his readers. It may be a double entendre (cf. parallel in Mark 5:28 which uses the same term), since elsewhere he uses verbs that simply mean “heal“: If only the reader would “touch” Jesus, he too would be “saved.”