Scripture · Mark 14:3
Mark 5:27 · A woman approaches Jesus through the crowd
The Woman who Touched the Hem of his Garment
When the woman heard about Jesus, she came up through the crowd behind Him and touched His cloak.
Everyone is pressing toward Jesus, but one woman has come almost to the ground. Harold Copping places her reaching hand beside His white robe, giving a small gesture room within a street full of watching faces. Mark 5:27 explains why she has come through that crowd.
What does The Woman who Touched the Hem of his Garment show?
Jesus stands near the center beneath a white hood, His gaze lowered toward the woman. Her blue clothing and bare feet stretch across the foreground. Around them, striped robes, head coverings, and overlapping faces crowd the narrow space beneath a stone arch. The upright figures make her low position unmistakable.
Jesus looks down while people on both sides turn toward the woman. That makes this more than a literal snapshot of her secret approach from behind. Copping gathers the touch and its discovery into one encounter, with the lowered woman already surrounded by attention. The stripes and overlapping heads press inward, but the small space around her hand keeps the reason for the crowd’s pause visible.
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What does Mark 5:27 mean?
Mark places this encounter during Jesus’ journey to Jairus’s house. The woman has been bleeding for twelve years; treatment has consumed her resources without bringing relief. Hearing about Jesus, she comes up behind Him through the crowd and touches His cloak. Verse 27 gives her action before the reader hears the thought that prompted it.
The following verses move from bodily healing to conversation. Jesus asks who touched His clothes; the disciples point out the pressing crowd. The woman comes forward in fear and tells Him what happened. He addresses her as a daughter and sends her away in peace. Copping’s gathered faces help us see how a private hope becomes a public encounter.
The crowded street makes Mark 5:27’s quiet reach visible, while the passage carries that touch toward healing and a personal reply.
Sources
Bridgeman Images — Copping’s Crown Series illustration. The matching reproduction is catalogued as a color lithograph from the Crown Series, c. 1920s. This is a publication date estimate, not a verified date for the original artwork.
Bridgeman Images — The Women of the Bible reproduction. Catalogue entry IL281084 identifies this illustration in The Women of the Bible, published by the Religious Tract Society in 1927. This is a publication date, not a verified creation date for the painting.
Mark 5 — Berean Standard Bible. The woman’s approach, healing, and conversation with Jesus in verses 25–34.
Also from Mark:A ForerunnerThe Calling of the Apostles Peter and Andrew
Continue looking:The Storm on the Sea of GalileeRaising of Jairus’ DaughterThe Resurrection of Christ