Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Matthew 9:21
For she said within herself, If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole.
21. she said ] The imperfect tense of the original; denotes intensity of feeling, “she kept saying over and over to herself.”
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 21. She said within herself, If I may but touch his garment] Her disorder was of that delicate nature that modesty forbade her to make any public acknowledgment of it; and therefore she endeavoured to transact the whole business in private. Besides, the touch of such a person was by the law reputed unclean. By faith in Christ Jesus, little things are often rendered efficacious to our salvation. What more simple than a morsel of bread, and a few drops of wine, in the Lord’s Supper! And yet, they who receive them by faith in the sacrifice they represent, are made partakers of the blessings purchased by the crucified body and spilled blood of the Lord Jesus!
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
For she said within herself,…. That is, she thought within herself, she reasoned the matter in her mind, she concluded upon it, and firmly believed it; being strongly impressed and influenced by the Spirit of God, and encouraged by instances of cures she had heard were performed by persons only touching him; see Lu 6:19
if I may but touch his garment. The Arabic version reads it, “the hem of his garment”, as before; but is not supported by any copy, nor by any other version: her faith was, that if she might be allowed, or if she could by any means come at him, to touch any part of his garment, she should have a cure:
I shall be whole, or “I shall be saved”; that is, from her disease, from which she could have no deliverance, by the advice and prescriptions of all her former physicians, and by all the means she had made use of.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
1) “For she said within herself,” (elegen gar en heaute) “Because she was saying in herself,” in her heart, she was thinking, believing as she approached from behind to touch Him.
2) “If I may but touch his garment,” (ean monon hapsomai tou himation autou) “If I may only touch his garment,” the outer garment He was wearing.
3) I shall be whole.” (sothesomai) “I will be or become healed,” of the bloody plague of twelve years of uncleanness toward my husband, and my people nearest me, and before the law, so that I may go to the synagogue again, for fellowship, and study, and worship. Such was her faith, cunning, and private scheme, with no intent of obstructing Jesus, as He was on His way to the house of the dead, Mat 9:23.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(21) She said within herself.The words indicate a faith real but not strong. She believed, as the leper did, in the power to heal, but did not trust the love, and shrank from the thought lest the Healer should shrink from her. And she thought not of a will that seeks to bless and save, but of a physical effluence passing from the body to the garments, and from the garments to the hand that touched them. Yet weak as the faith was, it was accepted, and outward things were endowed with a virtue which was not their own. So afterwards, where a like belief prevailed, the handkerchiefs and aprons that were brought from St. Pauls flesh became means of healing (Act. 19:12).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Mat 9:21. If, &c. If I can, &c. I shall be cured. The original , is, literally, I shall be saved; Dr. Doddridge renders it, I shall be recovered; and he observes that there are many other places in which the word is used in the same sense; as certainly it may with great propriety be applied to a rescue from any imminent danger, or pressing calamity, especially in an extraordinary way. The same word is used in the next verse. Compare Mar 5:23; Mar 5:43. Luk 8:36; Luk 17:19; Luk 18:42. Joh 11:12 and Act 4:9 in the original.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
21 For she said within herself, If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole.
Ver. 21. If I may but touch his garment ] This was a glorious faith of hers, and not much inferior to that of the centurion. Let us in like sort, when we feel the bloody flux of natural filth issuing out at our eyes, mouths, hands, and other parts, repair to Christ, and touch him by faith; so shall we feel that there goes a virtue out from him, to heal the soul. As fishes, when they are hurt, heal themselves again by touching the tench, a finding the slime of his body to be a sovereign salve; so must we, when wounded with sin, have recourse to Christ, and our faith will make us whole every whit.
a A thick-bodied freshwater fish, Tinca vulgaris, allied to the carp, inhabiting still and deep waters D
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
said = kept saying.
within herself. The second woman seems to have spoken to others.
If I may, &c. See App-118. The condition being quite hypothetical.
whole = saved: i.e. healed. A Hebraism. Compare Psa 42:11; Psa 43:5; Psa 67:2 = saving health. Not the same word as in Mat 9:12.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Mat 9:21. , His garment) The woman, from the sense of her own impurity, acknowledged the absolute purity of Jesus.-, I shall be made whole) The expression in Mat 9:22- , hath made thee whole-sweetly replies to this thought.[422]
[422] It is to a wonderful degree profitable to do simply, and without round-about methods, whatever the spirit of faith and love teaches; eh. Mat 26:7.-V. g.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
If: Mar 5:26-33, Luk 8:45-47, Act 19:12
Reciprocal: Lev 6:27 – touch Mat 14:36 – only Luk 6:19 – sought Act 5:15 – they brought
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
WORSHIP AND SUPERSTITION
If I may but touch His garment, I shall be whole.
Mat 9:21
This story records a most remarkable instance of our Saviours treatment of ignorance and superstition. It was a poor conceit of this woman, says good Bishop Hall, that she thought that she might receive so sovereign a remedy from Christ without His heed, without His knowledge. Christ healed, so she supposed, not by the exertion of His holy will, but rather by a certain magical influence and power which she thought dwelt in Him. But while this womans ideas were thus wholly wrong, being tinged with much superstition and ignorance, the result of her practised faith was wholly excellent.
I. Superstition and faith.There is a very frequent temptation for us, to whom has been granted, as we rightly consider, a purer revelation of Christian faith, to think harshly and intolerantly of those avowed Christians whose minds are as yet unenlightened on many points of Divine truth. We are tempted to regard their superstitions as a gulf across which we cannot embrace our fellow-Christians. It is good, therefore, to remind ourselves of this miracle of Jesus Christs. There is much spiritual worship in much apparent superstition; and, still more, there is much spiritual idolatry in that pride of better knowledge which can only think scornfully of our fellow-Christians because, in their guileless ignorance, they have been accustomed to bow their knees before a statue or to attribute fictitious power to an image of stone.
II. Only one received the blessing.There was nothing in the hem of Christs garment more than in the hem of any other to convey a blessing. A multitude was thronging all round Him, hustling against Him, and yet receiving no benefit. Only one woman in all of that crowd believed that His Sacred Person was full of healing blessing, so that if only she could come in contact with Him she would be at once healed. She recognised that one touch of Christ could overcome all the powers of darkness of this world. And He in turn recognised that touch of timid faith, even amid the pressure of the crowd. It is thus to-day within the Church of Jesus Christ. The Christ still conveys strength and healing to us through outward means. And if the hem of Christs garment had such power to heal and bless when touched by faith, how much more shall the Body and Blood of Christ, received by faith in our hearts, have power for the strengthening and for the refreshing of our souls!
The Rev. Ivor Farrar.
Illustration
When Henry Martyn, the great and holy missionary, saw once in Spain a poor old crone bowing down and reverently kissing the feet of a stone image and bathing it with her tears, he reflected that, however much his understanding of the scheme of Redemption might be better than hers, very probably in faith and love she was his superior.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
9:21
The woman expressed her faith in words only to herself.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Mat 9:21. If I do but touch, etc. May should be omitted; she was timid, not doubtful. It is implied that she wished only to touch some part of His clothes, no matter which. She may have looked for some magical influence, but twelve years in the hands of physicians in those days would certainly excuse such a thought in a weak woman.