And behold there was a woman
In the synagogue, who, as infirm as she is hereafter described,
got out to the place of worship; and which may be a rebuke to
such, who, upon every trifling indisposition, keep at home, and
excuse themselves from an attendance in the house of God:
which had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years;
or a weakness that was brought upon her by an evil spirit, by
Satan; as appears from ( Luke 13:16 ) who, by
divine permission, had a power of inflicting diseases on mankind,
as is evident from the case of Job; and so the Ethiopic version
renders it, "whom a demon had made infirm": and this disorder had
been of a long standing; she had laboured under it for the space
of eighteen years, so that it was a known case, and had been
given up as incurable, which made the following miracle the more
illustrious and remarkable.
And was bowed together, and could in no wise lift up
herself;
or lift up her head, look up, or stand upright; it was a thing
utterly impossible, which she could by no means do; her body was
convulsed, and every part so contracted, that, as the Persic
version renders it, "she could not stretch out a hand or foot".
