Isaiah 32:4

32:4 The mind that acts rashly will possess discernment ¹ 

and the tongue that stutters will speak with ease and clarity.

Psalms 51:15

51:15 O Lord, give me the words! ² 

Then my mouth will praise you. ³ 

Matthew 9:32-33

9:32 As ⁴  they were going away, ⁵  a man who could not talk and was demon-possessed was brought to him. 9:33 After the demon was cast out, the man who had been mute spoke. The crowds were amazed and said, “Never has anything like this been seen in Israel!”

Matthew 12:22

Jesus and Beelzebul

12:22 Then they brought to him a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute. Jesus ⁶  healed him so that he could speak and see. ⁷ 

Matthew 15:30

15:30 Then ⁸  large crowds came to him bringing with them the lame, blind, crippled, mute, and many others. They ⁹  laid them at his feet, and he healed them.

Mark 7:32-37

7:32 They brought to him a deaf man who had difficulty speaking, and they asked him to place his hands on him. 7:33 After Jesus ¹⁰  took him aside privately, away from the crowd, he put his fingers in the man’s ¹¹  ears, and after spitting, he touched his tongue. ¹²  7:34 Then ¹³  he looked up to heaven and said with a sigh, “Ephphatha” (that is, “Be opened”). ¹⁴  7:35 And immediately the man’s ¹⁵  ears were opened, his tongue loosened, and he spoke plainly. 7:36 Jesus ordered them not to tell anything. But as much as he ordered them not to do this, they proclaimed it all the more. ¹⁶  7:37 People were completely astounded and said, “He has done everything well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”

Mark 9:17-25

9:17 A member of the crowd said to him, “Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that makes him mute. 9:18 Whenever it seizes him, it throws him down, and he foams at the mouth, grinds his teeth, and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to cast it out, but ¹⁷  they were not able to do so.” ¹⁸  9:19 He answered them, ¹⁹  “You ²⁰  unbelieving ²¹  generation! How much longer ²²  must I be with you? How much longer must I endure ²³  you? ²⁴  Bring him to me.” 9:20 So they brought the boy ²⁵  to him. When the spirit saw him, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He ²⁶  fell on the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth. 9:21 Jesus ²⁷  asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. 9:22 It has often thrown him into fire or water to destroy him. But if you are able to do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” 9:23 Then Jesus said to him, “‘If you are able?’ ²⁸  All things are possible for the one who believes.” 9:24 Immediately the father of the boy cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!”

9:25 Now when Jesus saw that a crowd was quickly gathering, he rebuked ²⁹  the unclean spirit, ³⁰  saying to it, “Mute and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.”

Luke 1:64

1:64 Immediately ³¹  Zechariah’s ³²  mouth was opened and his tongue ³³  released, ³⁴  and he spoke, blessing God.

Luke 11:14

Jesus and Beelzebul

11:14 Now ³⁵  he was casting out a demon that was mute. ³⁶  When ³⁷  the demon had gone out, the man who had been mute began to speak, ³⁸  and the crowds were amazed.

Colossians 3:16

3:16 Let the word of Christ ³⁹  dwell in you richly, teaching and exhorting one another with all wisdom, singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, all with grace ⁴⁰  in your hearts to God.

[32:4]  ¹ tn Heb “the heart of rashness will understand knowledge”; cf. NAB “The flighty will become wise and capable.”

[51:15]  ² tn Heb “open my lips.” The imperfect verbal form is used here to express the psalmist’s wish or request.

[51:15]  ³ tn Heb “and my mouth will declare your praise.”

[9:32]  ⁴ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[9:32]  ⁵ tn Grk “away, behold, they brought a man to him.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou) has not been translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1).

[12:22]  ⁶ tn Grk “And he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[12:22]  ⁷ tn Grk “demoniac, and he healed him, so that the mute man spoke and saw.”

[15:30]  ⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “Then.”

[15:30]  ⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[7:33]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[7:33]  ¹¹ tn Grk “his”; the referent (the deaf man) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[7:33]  ¹² 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.

[7:34]  ¹³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[7:34]  ¹⁴ sn The author’s parenthetical note gives the meaning of the Aramaic word Ephphatha.

[7:35]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “his”; the referent (the man who had been a deaf mute) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[7:36]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “but as much as he ordered them, these rather so much more proclaimed.” Greek tends to omit direct objects when they are clear from the context, but these usually need to be supplied for the modern English reader. Here what Jesus ordered has been clarified (“ordered them not to do this”), and the pronoun “it” has been supplied after “proclaimed.”

[9:18]  ¹⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[9:18]  ¹⁸ tn The words “to do so” are not in the Greek text, but have been supplied for clarity and stylistic reasons.

[9:19]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “And answering, he said to them.” The participle ἀποκριθείς (apokriqeis) is redundant, but the phrasing of the sentence was modified slightly to make it clearer in English.

[9:19]  ²⁰ tn Grk “O.” The marker of direct address, ὦ (w), is functionally equivalent to a vocative and is represented in the translation by “you.”

[9:19]  ²¹ tn Or “faithless.”

[9:19]  ²² tn Grk “how long.”

[9:19]  ²³ tn Or “put up with.” See Num 11:12; Isa 46:4.

[9:19]  ²⁴ sn The pronouns you…you are plural, indicating that Jesus is speaking to a group rather than an individual.

[9:20]  ²⁵ tn Grk “him.”

[9:20]  ²⁶ tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[9:21]  ²⁷ tn Grk “He”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[9:23]  ²⁸ tc Most mss (A C³ Ψ 33 Ï) have τὸ εἰ δύνασαι πιστεῦσαι (to ei dunasai pisteusai, “if you are able to believe”), instead of τὸ εἰ δύνῃ (to ei dunh, “if you are able”; supported by א B C* L N* Δ Ë¹ 579 892 pc). Others have εἰ δύνῃ (or δυνάσαι) πιστεῦσαι (“if you are able to believe”; so D K Θ Ë¹³ 28 565 al), while still others have τοῦτο εἰ δύνῃ (touto ei dunh, “if you can [do] this”; so [Ì⁴⁵] W). The reading that best explains the rise of the others is τὸ εἰ δύνῃ. The neuter article indicates that the Lord is now quoting the boy’s father who, in v. 22, says εἴ τι δύνῃ (ei ti dunh, “if you are able to do anything”). The article is thus used anaphorically (see ExSyn 238). However, scribes could easily have overlooked this idiom and would consequently read τὸ εἰ δύνῃ as the protasis of a conditional clause of the Lord’s statement. As such, it would almost demand the infinitive πιστεῦσαι, producing the reading τὸ εἰ δύνασαι πιστεῦσαι (“if you are able to believe, all things are possible…”). But the article here seems to be meaningless, prompting other scribes to modify the text still further. Some dropped the nonsensical article, while others turned it into the demonstrative τοῦτο and dropped the infinitive. It is clear that scribes had difficulty with the original wording here, and made adjustments in various directions. What might not be so clear is the exact genealogy of the descent of all the readings. However, τὸ εἰ δύνῃ is both a hard saying, best explains the rise of the other readings, and is supported by the best witnesses. It thus rightly deserves to be considered authentic.

[9:25]  ²⁹ tn Or “commanded” (often with the implication of a threat, L&N 33.331).

[9:25]  ³⁰ sn Unclean spirit refers to an evil spirit.

[1:64]  ³¹ tn Grk “And immediately.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[1:64]  ³² tn Grk “his”; the referent (Zechariah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:64]  ³³ sn The mention of both mouth and tongue here is a figure called zeugma and emphasizes that the end of the temporary judgment came instantly and fully upon Zechariah’s expression of faith in naming the child. He had learned to trust and obey God during his short period of silence. He had learned from his trial.

[1:64]  ³⁴ tn “Released” is implied; in the Greek text both στόμα (stoma) and γλῶσσα (glwssa) are subjects of ἀνεῴχθη (anewcqh), but this would be somewhat redundant in English.

[11:14]  ³⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.

[11:14]  ³⁶ tn The phrase “a demon that was mute” should probably be understood to mean that the demon caused muteness or speechlessness in its victim, although it is sometimes taken to refer to the demon’s own inability to speak (cf. TEV, “a demon that could not talk”).

[11:14]  ³⁷ tn Grk “And it happened that when.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated. Here δέ (de) has not been translated either.

[11:14]  ³⁸ sn This miracle is different from others in Luke. The miracle is told entirely in one verse and with minimum detail, while the response covers several verses. The emphasis is on explaining what Jesus’ work means.

[3:16]  ³⁹ tc Since “the word of Christ” occurs nowhere else in the NT, two predictable variants arose: “word of God” and “word of the Lord.” Even though some of the witnesses for these variants are impressive (κυρίου [kuriou, “of the Lord”] in א* I 1175 pc bo; θεοῦ [qeou, “of God”] in A C* 33 104 323 945 al), the reading Χριστοῦ (Cristou, “of Christ”) is read by an excellent cross-section of witnesses (Ì⁴⁶ א² B C² D F G Ψ 075 1739 1881 Ï lat sa). On both internal and external grounds, Χριστοῦ is strongly preferred.

[3:16]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “with grace”; “all” is supplied as it is implicitly related to all the previous instructions in the verse.