Noli me tangere (´touch me not´) is the Latin version of a phrase spoken, according to John 20:17, by Jesus to Mary Magdalene when she recognized him after his resurrection. The biblical scene has been portrayed in numerous works of Christian art from Late Antiquity to the present. The phrase has also been used in literature, and later in a variation by military units since the late 18th century.
The original Koine Greek phrase, Μή μου ἅπτου (mḗ mou háptou), is better represented in translation as "cease holding on to me" or "stop clinging to me", i.e. an ongoing action, not one done in a single moment.
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