Disease and Healing in a Changing World: 'Medical' Vocabulary and the Woman with the 'Issue of Blood' in the Vetus Latina Mark 5:25-34 and Luke 8:40-48

The Vetus Latina, or 'Old Latin Bible,' comprises a diverse collection of Latin biblical texts which encompasses unauthorised versions of the Bible translated into Latin. These Old Latin manuscripts reflect the early struggle for a 'proper' understanding of biblical texts, which is interesting for the healing stories of 'female patients' like the woman with 'the issue of blood'. This paper argues that parallel to the spread of medical knowledge beyond medical circles, medical designations arise, some similar to, some strikingly different from, those current in medical discourses. The Vetus Latina 'Afra' and 'European' text tradition avoid all references to uncleanness for Mark 5:25-34 and Luke 8:40-48: In the Markan narrative, however, the manuscripts condense the medical nomenclature of illness in a medical correct manner, which is not seen consistently in Luke 8:40-48.