A Woman’s Touch: Feminist Encounters with the Hemorrhaging Woman in Mark 5.24-34

Abstract

The hemorrhaging woman of Mk 5.24-34 has recently been the subject of scholarly dispute, with some feminist scholars interpreting the narrative as a critique of Jewish purity laws and others contending that purity issues are totally irrelevant. This study assesses the extent to which purity issues are essential to the narrative. Central to this investigation are two questions: (1) What is the significance of the woman’s flow of blood? (2) How does Mark’s representation of the hemorrhaging women serve his rhetorical agenda? These issues are addressed through an investigation of the pertinent biblical purity legislation, an analysis of the language in Mk 5.24-34 and an examination of Mark’s portrayal of the woman in the context of his rhetorical agenda. This inquiry suggests that it is the woman’s health that is the primary concern of the miracle story, and not her ritual impurity. The significance of her impurity cannot, however, be ignored. It remains an integral part of the narrative in so far as it is a consequence of her medical condition. But the point of the story, not least for feminist criticism, does not lie in any supposed critique or abrogation of the purity laws.