Mark - 5:31



31 His disciples said to him, "You see the multitude pressing against you, and you say, 'Who touched me?'"

Verse In-Depth

Explanation and meaning of Mark 5:31.

Differing Translations

Compare verses for better understanding.
And his disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me?
And his disciples said to him, Thou seest the crowd pressing on thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me?
and his disciples said to him, 'Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and thou sayest, 'Who did touch me!'
And his disciples said to him, You see the multitude thronging you, and say you, Who touched me?
"You see the multitude pressing you on all sides," His disciples exclaimed, "and yet you ask, 'Who touched me?'"
And his disciples said to him, You see the people round you on every side, and you say, Who was touching me?
And his disciples said to him, 'You see the crowd pressing against you, and you say, 'Who touched me?'
And his disciples said to him, "You see that the crowd presses around you, and yet you say, 'Who touched me?' "
"You see the people pressing around you," exclaimed his disciples, "and yet you say 'Who touched me?'"

*Minor differences ignored. Grouped by changes, with first version listed as example.


Historical Commentaries

Scholarly Analysis and Interpretation.

Thou seest the multitude thronging then, etc. - Many touch Jesus who are not healed by him: the reason is, they do it not by faith, through a sense of their wants, and a conviction of his ability and willingness to save them. Faith conveys the virtue of Christ into the soul, and spiritual health is the immediate consequence of this received virtue.

And his disciples said unto him,.... Peter, and they that were with him; after the crowd that were about him denied that any of them had touched him; see Luke 8:45,
thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou who touched me? They seem astonished at his question, and answer with some degree of warmth, and almost ready to charge it as weak: and impertinent; since, as there was such a crowd about him, pressing him on every side, he could not but be touched by many; and therefore to ask who touched him, when this was the case, they thought was a very strange and unnecessary question.

And his disciples said unto him--Luke says (Luke 8:45), "When all denied, Peter and they that were with Him said, Master."
Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me?--"Askest thou, Lord, who touched Thee? Rather ask who touched Thee not in such a throng." "And Jesus said, Somebody hath touched Me"--"a certain person has touched Me"--"for I perceive that virtue is gone out of Me" (Luke 8:46). Yes, the multitude "thronged and pressed Him"--they jostled against Him, but all involuntarily; they were merely carried along; but one, one only--"a certain person--TOUCHED HIM," with the conscious, voluntary, dependent touch of faith, reaching forth its hand expressly to have contact with Him. This and this only Jesus acknowledges and seeks out. Even so, as AUGUSTINE long ago said, multitudes still come similarly close to Christ in the means of grace, but all to no purpose, being only sucked into the crowd. The voluntary, living contact of faith is that electric conductor which alone draws virtue out of Him.

*More commentary available at chapter level.


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