Raising of Jairus's Daughter

Text and Content

The event is recorded in Mark 5:21-43, Luke 8:40-56, and Matthew 9:18-26. According to Mark and Luke, Jairus, a ruler of the synagogue, falls at Jesus' feet and begs him to heal his dying daughter. While Jesus is on his way to the house, the woman with the issue of blood touches his garment and is healed, and meanwhile word arrives that the daughter has died. Jesus says, "Be not afraid, only believe" (Mark 5:36). When he reaches the house, he enters the room with only Peter, James, and John, together with the child's parents. He then takes the child by the hand and says, "Talitha cumi," and the girl rises and walks. Matthew gives a shorter account. He does not name the father, calling him only "a certain ruler," and records him as saying from the outset that his daughter "is even now dead."

Background

The ruler of the synagogue was the leader responsible for the synagogue's worship and administration and was a respected figure in the local community. "Talitha cumi" is Aramaic, the everyday language of the Jewish homeland in Jesus' time. Mark renders it, "Damsel, I say unto thee, arise" (Mark 5:41). Matthew mentions "the minstrels and the people making a noise" (Matthew 9:23), which is understood to reflect the Jewish custom of the period of employing mourners and musicians at funerals. Under the Law, touching a corpse made a person unclean (Numbers 19:11), and the scene in which Jesus takes the dead child by the hand is frequently interpreted against this background.

Significance in the Whole of Scripture

The Gospels record three accounts of Jesus raising the dead: this event, the raising of the son of the widow of Nain (Luke 7:11-17), and the raising of Lazarus (John 11). The account bears similarities to the Old Testament narratives in which Elijah raises the son of the widow of Zarephath and Elisha raises the son of the Shunammite woman (1 Kings 17; 2 Kings 4). Peter's raising of Tabitha (Acts 9:40) is also compared with it. Because the girl presumably died again later, theologians sometimes distinguish this event from the resurrection of the last day by calling it a "resuscitation." At the same time, it is also read as a sign that foreshadows that resurrection.

Interpretation and Issues

• "Not dead, but sleepeth": Some scholars have taken this saying as evidence that the girl had not actually died. Traditional interpretation, by contrast, reads it as the biblical figure of speech that likens death to sleep (John 11:11; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14). Luke records that the people laughed Jesus to scorn, "knowing that she was dead" (Luke 8:53).
• Intercalated structure: Mark and Luke insert the story of the woman with the issue of blood into the middle of this event. Many interpreters note that the length of the woman's illness and the age of the girl are both twelve years, and that both stories are connected with "faith" and "salvation."
• Differences among the Gospels: Regarding the differences among the three Gospel accounts, some read the narratives harmonistically, while others hold that each Gospel has its own emphasis (see Synoptic Problem). Jesus' command that no one should be told of this (Mark 5:43) is discussed in connection with Mark's theme of the "messianic secret."
• Later additions: Scripture gives neither the girl's name nor any account of Jairus's later life.

In Korean Churches

In Korean Protestant churches, the words "Be not afraid, only believe" are frequently cited in sermons on faith. Jesus' words likening death to sleep serve as a text for proclaiming the hope of the resurrection at funeral services and in sermons of consolation. Churches that emphasize divine healing sometimes point to this event as an example of healing and faith.