New Testament · Gospel

Mark 5:35

Legion and the Little Girl

While He was still speaking, messengers from the house of Jairus arrived and said, “Your daughter is dead; why bother the Teacher anymore?” Mark 5:35 · Berean Standard Bible

What It Means

Mark 5:35, in plain English

While Jesus is still speaking, people arrive from Jairus' house with the worst possible news: 'Your daughter is dead. Don't bother the teacher anymore.'

Why it's here

Imagine being Jairus in this moment. The delay to heal the woman may have cost him his daughter's life. His world has just collapsed.

Who's speaking

Messengers from Jairus' household deliver the devastating news.

Where it sits in the story

The words every parent dreads. And there's an implied accusation in the air: if Jesus hadn't stopped for that woman, would he have made it in time? But Jesus isn't done yet.

A Closer Look

The scholarly reading

Messengers from Jairus' house deliver the devastating news: 'Your daughter is dead' (he thygater sou apethanen). The phrase 'why bother the teacher anymore?' (ti eti skylleis ton didaskalon) assumes death ends Jesus' relevance.

Language and setting

The arrival of death-news during the delay caused by the hemorrhaging woman creates maximum dramatic tension. The messengers represent a worldview where death is final — precisely what Jesus will challenge.

Voice

Messengers from Jairus' household deliver the news of the girl's death.

Significance

The worst possible news arrives: Jairus' daughter has died during the delay. The messengers assume all hope is lost and see no reason to trouble Jesus further.

In context

Mark 5:33–37

33Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him trembling in fear, and she told Him the whole truth.

34“Daughter,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be free of your affliction.”

35While He was still speaking, messengers from the house of Jairus arrived and said, “Your daughter is dead; why bother the Teacher anymore?”

36But Jesus overheard their conversation and said to Jairus, “Do not be afraid; just believe.”

37And He did not allow anyone to accompany Him except Peter, James, and John the brother of James.

Read all of Mark 5 — A man possessed by a thousand demons, a woman who has bled for twelve years, a father whose daughter has just died — all healed in a single chapter.

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