Jesus takes Jairus' daughter by the hand and says, 'Talitha koum.' Mark preserves the Aramaic expression and immediately translates it for his readers: 'Little girl, I say to you, arise.'
Jesus in Context
Talitha Koum: Little Girl, Arise
Mark preserves Jesus' Aramaic words to Jairus' daughter and then records the very ordinary instruction that the restored girl be given something to eat.
Introduction
Historical and Cultural Context
Aramaic was widely spoken among Jews in first-century Galilee and Judea. Mark preserves several Aramaic expressions associated with Jesus, usually providing a Greek explanation for readers who would not understand them.
After the dramatic restoration of the girl, Jesus tells the household to give her something to eat. The mundane instruction follows immediately upon an extraordinary event.
Why It Matters
The preserved Aramaic wording brings readers unusually close to the linguistic world in which Jesus spoke. The instruction about food then grounds the account in ordinary physical life: the girl who has arisen is not presented as an apparition but as a child who resumes normal bodily needs.