Mark 7:31-33

Healing a Deaf Mute

7:31 Then ¹  Jesus ²  went out again from the region of Tyre ³  and came through Sidon ⁴  to the Sea of Galilee in the region of the Decapolis. ⁵  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 ⁶  took him aside privately, away from the crowd, he put his fingers in the man’s ⁷  ears, and after spitting, he touched his tongue. ⁸ 

[7:31]  ¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[7:31]  ² tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[7:31]  ³ map For location see Map1 A2; Map2 G2; Map4 A1; JP3 F3; JP4 F3.

[7:31]  ⁴ map For location see Map1 A1; JP3 F3; JP4 F3.

[7:31]  ⁵ sn The Decapolis refers to a league of towns (originally consisting of ten; the Greek name literally means “ten towns”) whose region (except for Scythopolis) lay across the Jordan River.

[7:33]  ⁶ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

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

[7:33]  ⁸ 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.