Mark 5:33

The woman felt afraid, not because she was guilty, but because she realized she had witnessed a powerful miracle from God. Unlike the fear of the people in the region of the Gerasenes (5:15–17), her fear was positive and led to Jesus blessing her. She experienced God’s grace and salvation.

As Jesus heads to Jairus's home, followed by a large crowd, Mark introduces a woman in the crowd who suffers from constant bleeding. This condition not only harms her health but also makes her ceremonially unclean. This prevents her from participating in normal community life (see Leviticus 15:25–27). She is an example of the faith that Jairus should have.

Two healing miracles are connected by the need for faith (5:34, 36). The story of Jairus’s daughter begins, then the account of the woman with constant bleeding comes in the middle (5:25–34), and then the story of Jairus’s daughter continues. This pattern places the two stories together and connects them (see Mark Book Introduction, “Literary Features”). During the delay caused by the woman’s healing, Jairus’s daughter died (5:35–43).

The three miracle stories in this section are connected by:

• a shared location (the Sea of Galilee),

• the presence of the disciples,

• the use of a boat, and

• a common theme, "Who is this" (4:41).