And having laid hold of the hand of the child, he says to her, Talitha koumi, which is, interpreted, Damsel, I say to thee, Arise.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
And immediately the damsel arose and walked, for she was twelve years old. And they were astonished with great astonishment.
Mark 5 closes in a room where a child has just died. Jesus speaks two words in the family's own language, and the girl gets up and walks.
Mark notes that she walked. That detail is not decoration; it measures the work done in her.
The daughter of Jairus was brought back to life, and her body rose up at once, strengthened as well as made alive. She was able to walk about, as Mark notes with the detail typical of his style. She was twelve years old, and so able to walk in the ordinary course of nature. But here the action showed that her restoration was as perfect as it was immediate.
Old Testament prophets also raised dead children. The way they did it shows how different Jesus is.
The simple, dignified way the Lord acted here stands in striking contrast with the Old Testament prophets when they performed similar miracles. The Lord spoke and acted in His own right. The prophets had to look above and plead earnestly for power to raise the dead, because that power was not in themselves. Elijah stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried to the LORD… and the LORD listened to the voice of Elijah, and the child's soul came into him again, and he revived (1 Kings 17:21-22). How different was the Lord's way. He took the child by the hand, said, "Talitha cumi," and at once she got up.
Mark keeps Jesus' two words in Aramaic, the family's everyday language. They belong at a bedside in the morning.
The glorious Person who spoke these words is none other than the Son of God… Into a scene of sorrow and death He brought the perfection of a love which "casts out fear" and "is strong as death." His voice of love has mighty power, and it scatters the darkness of death's night. He used the words a mother would use to wake her child at the start of a new day — "Talitha Cumi." The greeting "Talitha" holds the thought of "freshness." "Cumi" carries the suggestion of "established," "standing up in strength." Happy indeed are those who, in answer to the voice of the Son of God, are made to live, and to "walk in newness of life."
Mark ties the girl's age to the chapter's other number: the woman in the crowd had bled for twelve years. One writer reads the pairing as deliberate.
The same twelve years measure the length of the woman's bleeding and the age of the child raised from the dead. The same meaning must attach to them in both cases. "But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ… and raised us up with him" (Eph. 2:4-6). This goes beyond what we find in Mark. The words "with Christ" show Christ to be the Worker of the miracle of resurrection, in a deeper sense even than in the Gospel. In the Gospel we see a miracle of power. In the letter it is a miracle of righteousness, and yet of grace toward us.
Mark uses a strong word for how the witnesses reacted. Older translations read "astonished with great astonishment."
The word is ἔκστασις, "ecstasy," in which, as it were, the mind is carried beyond the body. It is translated "astonishment" in Mark 5:42, and "amazement" in Acts 3:10. It is rendered "trance" when Peter saw the vision of the sheet let down from heaven. The same word is used when Paul in the temple saw the Lord and heard Him speak to him.
One writer sees this household scene as a preview of something on a national scale.
Jairus felt how powerless all religious and legal machinery is in the presence of death. So he made his appeal to the Son of God… He took only Peter, James and John with Him into the death-chamber. There He overcame death at once by His life-giving word. It was enough for Him to say "Damsel, arise." Her spirit came back from the unseen world and joined the body again. This is a blessed foretaste of what the same gracious One will do in a spiritual way for her whole nation when He comes again!
- Word — He spoke in His own right. No stretching, no crying to heaven for power He lacked; two words in a child's home language were enough.
- Freshness — "Talitha" carries the thought of freshness. "Cumi" suggests standing up in strength. It is a mother's morning greeting, spoken by the Son of God.
- Walking — Rising proved she lived; walking proved the restoration was complete, not partial. The result was as perfect as it was immediate.
- Twelve — The woman's twelve years of illness and the girl's twelve years of life carry the same meaning. Both point on to God making us alive together with Christ.
- Astonishment — The sight carried the witnesses beyond themselves. Scripture uses the same word for a trance.