HEALING IN HER WINGS
by Jeremy Chance Springfield
2/1/2026
We live in a world wounded by sin. Man’s rebellion ushered an epidemic into every corner of creation—a virus wreaking violence to the peace ordained to oversee the universe. The foundation of order was invaded by Adam's iniquity, spreading the shadow of plague and woe by perverting reality until contamination left the worlds in ruin.
This injection of an atomic contagion into the very fabric of creation became a sickness without quarantine. In our own fallen strength is found not a whisper of a prescription for healing the fundamental malady diminishing all dimensions into the darkness of death. All that is heard instead is the mournful cosmos wailing without relief, groaning under entropy’s consuming corruption.
The futility of enduring another poisoned moment is only alleviated by looking at the Creator who designed all worlds to work in perfect harmony. His Word offers the sole solution to undo the damage we have done. In the final chapter of the book of Malachi, the prophet foretells the luminous remedy in a wonderfully poetic passage. Malachi 3:20 (4:2 in most English versions) announces the divine balm this world so badly needs.
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And shall rise upon you who are revering My name [the] sun of righteousness, and healing is in her wings. And you shall go forth and leap as calves of the stall.
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This passage describes a time of renewed hope for the world. Those perishing under the dark repercussion of Adam’s Edenic decision can expect an invigorating glow to illuminate creation. It rises with a power to restore beyond natural physical means—for it reaches all the way to the realm of righteousness!
This deeper healing is hinted at in the original language of the passage, which uses the Hebrew term SHEMESH “sun.”
Interestingly, the term SHEMESH “sun” is spelled identically to the Biblical Aramaic term SHAMMASH “servant / to serve” [see: Daniel 7:10], even providing the basis for the concept of the sun itself—it “serves” physical creation.
The prophet’s words reveal a key element to fixing creation: expect the coming of a “servant” of righteousness who administers far more than physical healing: his restorative work cures creation itself. In fact, Judaism understands the term SHEMESH “sun” to be a title for someone very special, as seen in Likutei Moharan 49:8.
Symptom and cause are targeted by the light of this “sun,” expelling the sin of Adam through the exalted merit of righteousness.
This repair of reality is explained to be BICHNAFEHA “in her wings.” This conjugation stems from the word KANAF, meaning “wing”—but also “corner / edge.” The sun shines without physical wings, but when the concept of a “servant” is considered then the notion adapts to a portrait of a human wearing a garment that has corners / edges.
The deeper significance of the prophet’s words begins to be perceived when it is understood that the Torah commands the wearing of a special garment possessing four specific corners, as found in Numbers 15:37-40.
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37 And YHWH spoke to Mosheh, to say,
38 “Speak to the sons of Yisra’el and say to them that they shall make for them a tassel upon the corners of their garments for their generations, and they shall set upon the tassel of the corner a cord of blue. |
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39 And it shall be for you for a tassel, and you shall look at it, and remember all the commandments of YHWH, and you shall do them, and not investigate after your heart, and after your eyes, which you whore after,
40 so that you shall remember and do all My commandments and shall be holy to your Deity.”
40 so that you shall remember and do all My commandments and shall be holy to your Deity.”
This commandment is restated with slightly different terminology in a more succinct manner in Deuteronomy 22:12.
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Braids you shall make for you upon the four corners of your cloak which you are covered in.
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The braided “tassel” that adorns the corner of this special garment is known as a TZITZIT.
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The Bible uses the term TZITZIT as seen above three distinct times in the Torah, and then only once more—in Ezekiel 8:3—for a total of four occurrences, which parallels the four corners of the garment the tassels are to be placed upon.
Included in the threads of each tzitzit is one dyed a special blue color called TECHEILET.
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This garment with its accompanying threads and required TECHEILET which the Torah commands is known in Hebrew as a TALLIT “covering.”
From antiquity the commandment has been fulfilled by the faithful in various ways. The most widely recognizable form is in the TALLIT GADOL “large covering”—or what is often referred to as a “prayer shawl.”
A lesser-known version is the TALLIT KATAN “small covering”—a thin, four-cornered shirt typically worn under an outer layer of clothing.
This detail of the term KANAF with a secondary definition of “corner” and its connection to the four-cornered garment of the TALLIT is key to appreciating the deeper prophetic implication of this passage. An individual is foretold whose specially cornered clothing holds a unique healing power that surpasses the spectrum of human medicine, for the text emphasizes the servant is “of righteousness.” The individual focuses on a mission to rectify more than physical disorders, curing also the diseased imperfections fomenting under the framework of reality.
A secondary aspect of this prophetic passage is illuminated in the phrase “in her wings.” Knowing KANAF can be just as legitimately rendered here as “corners [of clothing],” the prophecy assumes a curiosity in that the term is grammatically feminine: “her wings” / “her corners.” This detail is not explained in the text, but it does point to a distinct future fulfillment.
That hope is recorded in an incredible encounter in the synoptic Gospels of the New Testament. The ministry of Yeshua chronicles two incidents that occurred in the eastern area of the Galilee region called the Gadarenes that deeply align with the intriguing words of the prophet Malachi.
The situation is recorded in Matthew 9:18-26; Mark 5:22-43; and Luke 8:41-56. Focusing on the latter book, and using the others for supplemental details, will show the profound Messianic fulfillment of Malachi’s prophecy.
A secondary aspect of this prophetic passage is illuminated in the phrase “in her wings.” Knowing KANAF can be just as legitimately rendered here as “corners [of clothing],” the prophecy assumes a curiosity in that the term is grammatically feminine: “her wings” / “her corners.” This detail is not explained in the text, but it does point to a distinct future fulfillment.
That hope is recorded in an incredible encounter in the synoptic Gospels of the New Testament. The ministry of Yeshua chronicles two incidents that occurred in the eastern area of the Galilee region called the Gadarenes that deeply align with the intriguing words of the prophet Malachi.
The situation is recorded in Matthew 9:18-26; Mark 5:22-43; and Luke 8:41-56. Focusing on the latter book, and using the others for supplemental details, will show the profound Messianic fulfillment of Malachi’s prophecy.
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41 And one fellow whose name was Yu’arash, a head of the congregation, fell before the feet of Yeshua, and was seeking from him that he should enter his house, 42 for an only daughter he had, as a daughter of twelve years, and she had drawn near to death. And when Yeshua went with him a great crowd was thronging him. |
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The text introduces a man named Yu’arash, or Jairus as the English versions have traditionally rendered it (commonly claimed to stem from the Hebrew YA’IR “Enlightened,” but properly arising from the Hebrew YOREISH “Heir”).
Additionally, the position of the man coming to Yeshua merits attention: the Aramaic text of the Peshitta describes him as a RISH KENUSHTA “head of the congregation.”
The phrase describes one who leads the Jewish synagogue—especially used in antiquity and is the Aramaic cognate for the Hebrew ROSH HaKNESET.
This brief detail shows the request for aid came from a significant individual in the community, and is important because Yeshua’s willingness to go with him to heal his daughter exemplified his role as a SHAMMASH “servant,” a term also used in the synagogue context as an attendant serving the leadership so the congregational needs are met. Yeshua truly inhabited the SHAMMASH role.
The account as given in Matthew 9:18 shows the ominous nature of the situation.
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Yet, while these he spoke with them, one ruler came, drew close to him, and said, “My daughter is [by] now dead—but you must come, you must lay your hand upon her, and she shall live!”
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Matthew recorded it as the father saying “My daughter is [by] now dead”—a declaration of almost utter despair. It is held back by the thinnest thread of hope: that Yeshua’s merit could be shared and reclaim her from the brink of death.
Yeshua immediately agrees to follow him, but his desire to address this precarious situation is met with an unexpected interruption, as seen in 8:43-45.
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43 Yet, one woman who had a gushing of blood twelve years—she who among the doctors all her possession had exhausted and was not able from a man to be healed-- 44 drew near from behind him, and she touched the corner of his garment, and immediately the flow of her blood stood [still]. 45 And Yeshua said, “Who touched me?” And when all denied, Shemun Kifa and those with him said, “Our rabbi, the crowd presses you and is thronging, and you are saying, ‘Who touched me?’” |
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A woman, desperate for a healing that had eluded her for twelve years—paralleling the age of the daughter in dire need of her own healing—ignores all propriety and touches Yeshua’s garment.
This bold and scandalous act displayed her frantic desire for healing at any cost, for she flouted the Torah’s prohibition for someone in her situation, as recorded in Leviticus 15:25.
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And a woman, if she shall discharge a discharge of blood many days when it is not the time of her separation, or if it shall discharge past her separation, all the days of her discharge she is unclean as the days of her separation. She shall be unclean.
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Her willingness to touch another while in a state of uncleanness reveals how she saw no other path forward in her malady. The account as mentioned in Mark 5:26 describes with greater impact just how bad her experience had been in attempting to receive help from the wisdom and skill of man’s effort to heal her.
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…by the hand of many had suffered from many doctors, and exhausted everything that she had, and not a thing benefited, but even more was afflicted… |
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In an act that should have made Yeshua unclean, the situation is instead reversed: he imparts his holy status to her—erasing her uncleanness! The prophecy from Malachi thus begins to be fulfilled. Even that grammatical nuance of it being “her corner” receives clarity of meaning! She effectively claimed the corner of Yeshua’s four-cornered tallit as her own—trusting the promise of the Holy One in that moment to bring her what no man had provided. The link to the prophetic hope lay in the Peshitta’s word referring of where she grabbed: KENFA “corner”—the Aramaic cognate of the previously mentioned Hebrew KANAF!
Defying all decorum, the woman seized the rabbi’s tallit, fueled by an underlying faith that her cure lay in the corner holding the commanded tassel. However, in the same way her action was unthinkable, Yeshua’s response is perhaps equally absurd. His demand to know who touched him while in the middle of a jostling crowd is simply ridiculous and would have appeared to diminish the urgency of the need he traveled to meet. Was he really going to pause his important task to demand an answer for such an arguably trivial incident?
At this point, we can also briefly pause to consider the astonishing depth behind her grasping the garment’s corner with its commanded tassel. Intriguingly, the text of the Talmud Bavli, in Ketuvot 5b, discusses the topic of a newlywed virgin couple engaging in intercourse for the very first time with a debate regarding if it was permissible to do so if the initial act were to occur on the Sabbath. The question of permissibility is found in the idea that it is likely that a virgin woman would experience an unnatural blood loss during her first experience of intercourse with the tearing of her hymen, and thus the husband would be liable for intentionally causing such to occur—in particular, on the Sabbath. The act could potentially cause unintended further bleeding to ensue, thereby exacerbating the situation into a prolonged duration of bleeding. After an incredibly complex presentation of nuanced intent, the basic conclusion reached in the text is that the act is permissible because the blood from that act—although not a natural bodily function of the female reproductive system—is not drawn from the intent to take life from the bride. The blood that is potentially drawn is only present due to the desire to fulfill the commandment of union between husband and wife.
This overview is provided because the Tosefta to that passage cites a further clarification of the allowance revealing why this is of interest to our topic. However, to appreciate the clarification, before that Tosefta is quoted we must first turn to the words of the Talmud Bavli, Menachot 42b, about how the special TECHEILET “blue” pigment for the thread of the tzitzit is obtained.
This overview is provided because the Tosefta to that passage cites a further clarification of the allowance revealing why this is of interest to our topic. However, to appreciate the clarification, before that Tosefta is quoted we must first turn to the words of the Talmud Bavli, Menachot 42b, about how the special TECHEILET “blue” pigment for the thread of the tzitzit is obtained.
The text proceeds to describe the method by which the TECHEILET is obtained, but the key component is the CHILAZON, which is the Hebrew term for the marine creature used from antiquity to obtain the blue color adorning the tassels on a tallit. It is essentially understood today to be the Hexaplex (aka murex) trunculus sea snail.
The Talmud introduces a vital detail to the topic of the woman grasping the tasseled corner of Yeshua's garment: it directly connects the color TECHEILET to being made from the "blood" of the CHILAZON! Suddenly, with the realization of this factor, her desperate reaching for the garment where the dyed thread was held takes on a deeper context.
Returning now to the Tosefta to Ketuvot 5b, the passage suddenly introduces the topic of the CHILAZON into the context of a husband causing a virgin bride to bleed (and potentially bleed beyond the tearing of the hymen) on the Sabbath for the purpose of intercourse and likens the matter to a person who catches a CHILAZON to obtain its “blood” for dying tzitzit, but who is not held liable for any subsequent damage done to it.
Incredibly, the act resulting in the dye needed to fulfill the commandment to wear tzitzit is justified because the intent is not to kill (as the snail’s hypobranchial gland wherein is contained this “blood” can be punctured and the special mucus inside be extracted without causing death), but to give spiritual life to the wearer in his obedience to the Torah. This explanation is directly linked to the notion of a woman bleeding due to an act commanded by the Torah—and the unintended consequences that might cause bleeding beyond a reasonable span of time.
The woman recorded in the Gospels experienced an abnormally sustained blood flow, and her desperate solution was to seize the tzitzit of Yeshua’s tallit—the very tassel that contained the blue thread obtained by the “blood” of the chilazon who was also bled for a holy purpose!
All of this is essentially infused into the Scriptural terms themselves at the center of this topic: for KANAF “corner,” TZITZIT “tassel,” and TECHEILET “blue” just happen to be grammatically feminine in the Hebrew language—as is the Aramaic term KENFA “corner”—clues linking the prophesied healing of the righteous servant’s tallit first to the female gender of mankind.
The woman recorded in the Gospels experienced an abnormally sustained blood flow, and her desperate solution was to seize the tzitzit of Yeshua’s tallit—the very tassel that contained the blue thread obtained by the “blood” of the chilazon who was also bled for a holy purpose!
All of this is essentially infused into the Scriptural terms themselves at the center of this topic: for KANAF “corner,” TZITZIT “tassel,” and TECHEILET “blue” just happen to be grammatically feminine in the Hebrew language—as is the Aramaic term KENFA “corner”—clues linking the prophesied healing of the righteous servant’s tallit first to the female gender of mankind.
We can return now to the text of Luke 8 and see that Yeshua halted his important journey until the one who accosted him admitted to the unexpected act, which occurred in 8:46-48.
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46 Yet, he said, “A person touched me, for I know that power went forth from me.” 47 Yet she, the woman, when she saw that she was not concealed, came while trembling, and she fell and bowed to him, and she spoke in the eyes of all the people, on account of the matter she had touched him, and how immediately she had been healed. 48 Yet he, Yeshua, said to her, “Take heart, my daughter! Your belief has enlivened you! You must go in peace!” |
Rather than berate the woman for her unthinkable breach of decency, Yeshua responded in compassion. Notably, he used the same Aramaic term BARTI “my daughter” that Yu’arash used concerning his dire need. The subtle but endearing term exemplifies Yeshua’s concern for her.
That moment of astonishment and elation over her faith to be healed is suddenly darkened by the arrival of one from the house of Yu’arash with devastating news. The information is immediately countered by the encouragement of Yeshua, as seen in 8:49-50.
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49 And while he was speaking, a man came from the house of the master of the congregation, and said to him, “She is dead—your daughter! Do not trouble the teacher.”
50 Yet, Yeshua heard, and said to the father of the young girl, “Do not fear, only, you must believe, and she lives!” |
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This response must be meditated upon. Yeshua had just witnessed the tallit he faithfully wore being used expressly in the arrival of a long-awaited Messianic prophecy. It is important to acknowledge that his actions had not attempted to force that fulfillment—it had occurred unexpectedly and with a bold show of profound power when the woman acted in her own faith and reached out to claim the commanded corner of his garment for her healing.
He surely perceived that this was the moment foretold in Malachi long ago: the healing was, as the Hebrew grammar of the prophecy expressed it, BICHNAFEHA “in her corners”—a dual conjugation. This implied not a singular event, but two instances of miraculous restoration would happen with the tallit! Yeshua’s earnest pleading with the forlorn father was intended to keep faith alive for his daughter who had none of her own.
He surely perceived that this was the moment foretold in Malachi long ago: the healing was, as the Hebrew grammar of the prophecy expressed it, BICHNAFEHA “in her corners”—a dual conjugation. This implied not a singular event, but two instances of miraculous restoration would happen with the tallit! Yeshua’s earnest pleading with the forlorn father was intended to keep faith alive for his daughter who had none of her own.
They come in 8:51-53 to the home filled already with mourners.
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51 Yet, Yeshua came to the house and did not allow a man to enter with him, except Shemun, and Yaqub, and Yukhanan, and the father of the young girl, and her mother.
52 But all of them were weeping and wailing concerning her. Yet, Yeshua said, “You shall not weep, for she is not dead, but she is asleep!” 53 And they mocked him, as they knew that she was dead. |
Notice Yeshua’s words intended to uplift their grief. He ignores the understandable mocking and maintains focus yet again on the thread of hope tethering the young girl from the grave.
Only those with life-giving faith deserved to be present for the completion of the healing prophesied to occur by his tallit, as recorded in 8:54.
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Yet, he sent forth everyone outside, and grasped her by her hand, and called out and said, “Young girl, you must arise!” |
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The act of enlivening occurred by Yeshua uttering two words in the Aramaic: TALITHA KUMI “Young girl, you must arise!” This command conceals a deeper truth at work in her restoration: the term TALITHA, while being the Aramaic word for “young girl,” is also how one says the Hebrew word TALLIT according to the grammatical nuance of the Aramaic language.
Yeshua thus stated two commands simultaneously: “Young girl, you must arise!” and “Tallit, you must arise!” This secondary meaning is even hinted at in the way the event is recorded, which does not say Yeshua spoke to her, but that he merely “called out” the Aramaic phrase TALITHA KUMI. The phrase could be interpreted as being addressed to the young girl if the Aramaic is understand as intending that distinct term, or it could be interpreted as a general prayerful plea for the second of the two prophesied miracles of healing to occur through the “corners” of the tallit.
Yeshua had just witnessed the Creator grant healing through one corner of his tallit. The immediacy of that miracle would make sense for him to comprehend the gravity of the moment and seek to fully realize the prophetic nature of the healing occurring through his four-cornered garment, especially when realizing the young girl was twelve years old—the general age for female puberty to begin, and thus the biological processes of the reproductive system starting to occur—and the twelve-year timeframe of the woman’s unnatural flow of blood that prevented her from experiencing those same natural biological processes of her reproductive system.
Yeshua had just witnessed the Creator grant healing through one corner of his tallit. The immediacy of that miracle would make sense for him to comprehend the gravity of the moment and seek to fully realize the prophetic nature of the healing occurring through his four-cornered garment, especially when realizing the young girl was twelve years old—the general age for female puberty to begin, and thus the biological processes of the reproductive system starting to occur—and the twelve-year timeframe of the woman’s unnatural flow of blood that prevented her from experiencing those same natural biological processes of her reproductive system.
Additionally, the Hebrew text of Scripture embeds a unique vivifying aspect into the conceptual context of the tzitzit themselves. This is brought forth in Likutei Moharan 8:8:1.
The text goes on to derive proof of this notion from Ezekiel 37:9, which is in the prophet’s famous vision of the “valley of the dry bones.”
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And He said unto me, “You must prophesy unto the wind! You must prophesy, son of man, and say unto the wind: ‘Thus says the Master YHWH: “From the four extremes points you must come—the Spirit—and you must breathe on these, the slain, and they shall live!”’”
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A play exists here on the Hebrew word RUACH, which, while generally encountered as referring to “spirit,” “wind,” or “breath,” is also used several times in Scripture to refer to the “extreme point” of a locale [see: Jeremiah 52:23; Ezekiel 42:16-20, where it is typically rendered as “side”]. If interpreted from this view, then the claim made in Likutei Moharan that tzitzit are conceptual aspects signifying the life-giving power of the Spirit makes sense in that the tassels found on the four “corners” / of the tallit are directly linked to the “four extreme points”—that is, from the Spirit who comes in an unavoidable work to give life to the dead.
Yeshua’s imperative command in the Aramaic that can legitimately be translated as “Tallit, you must arise!” thus makes complete sense when read with the consideration of the deeper linguistic connection to the vivifying power of the Spirit upon the dead.
Yeshua’s imperative command in the Aramaic that can legitimately be translated as “Tallit, you must arise!” thus makes complete sense when read with the consideration of the deeper linguistic connection to the vivifying power of the Spirit upon the dead.
The scenario in Luke concludes in 8:55-56 with the revival of the girl and an odd request made by Yeshua.
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55 And her spirit returned, and immediately she arose. And he commanded that they give her [food] to eat.
56 And her parents marveled, yet he admonished them that no man should be told what had happened. |
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Yeshua beseeches that they do not publicize how she was resurrected. His reasoning is absent, but further consideration gives sense to his request. The prophecy from Malachi was conjugated in a dual fashion—implying two occurrences, as the wings of a bird are two in number. The expectation of further miracles would be to seemingly go beyond the grammatical limits of the inspired Hebrew text in which the prophecy was preserved.
However, it should also be recalled that the Torah’s command envisions a garment of four corners—and therefore a tallit in this respect has four conceptual “wings” rather than two like a bird. Although the grammatical construction of BICHNAFEHA is dual, to view it in the sense of a tallit would assume further miracles being at least possible with Yeshua’s garment.
However, it should also be recalled that the Torah’s command envisions a garment of four corners—and therefore a tallit in this respect has four conceptual “wings” rather than two like a bird. Although the grammatical construction of BICHNAFEHA is dual, to view it in the sense of a tallit would assume further miracles being at least possible with Yeshua’s garment.
Incredibly, this is exactly what the Gospel text of Matthew 14:35-36 chronicles happened at a later point in Yeshua’s ministry!
34 And they rowed, and they came to the land of Genesar,
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35 and men of that region recognized him, and they sent to all the villages that surrounded them, and they drew near to him all those who were certainly evilly afflicted,
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36 and they were seeking from him that they should merely touch only the corner of his garment—and those who touched it, they were healed!
The setting for this additional fulfillment of healing “in her wings” is in the land of Genesar—which is also in eastern Galilee just a few miles away from the region of the Gadarenes, where the former two miracles with Yeshua’s tallit occurred! It appears that despite what he implored of the young girl’s parents, rumors of her resurrection spread far and wide, and others with similar afflictions came to likewise be healed.
It was proper for the prophecy of healing from the Torah-observant Messiah to begin in the region of the Gadarenes because the term comes from the Hebrew word GADAR “to repair.”
The mission of Yeshua was to rebuild what was broken. The carpenter from Galilee would bring the cure to restore the ruin caused by Adam’s devastating act. This grand purpose is prophesied in the words of Isaiah 58:12.
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And from your [merit] they shall build the ruins of old; the foundations of generations and generations [ago] you shall raise up. And you shall be called “Repairer of the Breach,” [and] “Restorer of Pathways to Abide In.”
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Using a conjugation of the term GADAR in the Hebrew phrase GODEIR PERETZ “Repairer of the Breach” as a title for the Messiah, the prophecy further links the healing from the servant of righteousness to the region of the Gadarenes, confirming in astounding fulfillment Yeshua as the one who initiated that repair in a place truly exemplifying the need for restoration.
The rectification of reality began with one man’s Torah observance in an area whose very essence screamed for help. Yeshua’s willingness to wear the commanded tallit allowed him to be the vessel for a long-awaited prophecy to come to pass. The healing experienced by the woman who had suffered for years, and the resurrection of the young girl cured a deeper wound in creation, vivifying the hearts of others to draw near in faith and find their own renewal by trusting the servant of the Holy One of Israel. Much remains to be reclaimed from a world still so unwell, but in the wings of faith first spread by the Messiah is found a healing that will eventually cover all creation!
All study contents Copyright Jeremy Chance Springfield, except for graphics and images, which are Copyright their respective creators.