Mark 7:33-34

7:33 After Jesus ¹  took him aside privately, away from the crowd, he put his fingers in the man’s ²  ears, and after spitting, he touched his tongue. ³  7:34 Then ⁴  he looked up to heaven and said with a sigh, “Ephphatha” (that is, “Be opened”). ⁵ 

¹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² tn Grk “his”; the referent (the deaf man) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

³ sn After spitting, he touched his tongue. It was not uncommon in Judaism of the day to associate curative powers with a person’s saliva. The scene as a whole reflects Jesus’ willingness to get close to people and have physical contact with them where appropriate. See W. L. Lane, Mark (NICNT), 267 n. 78.

⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

⁵ sn The author’s parenthetical note gives the meaning of the Aramaic word Ephphatha.