Mark 7:33

And he took him aside from the multitude, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spit, and touched his tongue; AND HE TOOK HIM ASIDE FROM THE MULTITUDE - as in another case He "took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the town" (), probably to fix his undistracted attention on Himself and, by means of certain actions He was about to do, to awaken and direct his attention to the proper source of relief. AND PUT HIS FINGERS INTO HIS EARS. An his indistinct articulation arose from his deafness, our Lord addresses Himself to this first. To the impotent man He said, "Wilt thou be made whole?" to the blind men, "What will ye that I shall do unto you?" and "Believe ye that I am able to do this?" (;...

33._And when he had taken him aside from the multitude. _This was done, partly to afford to those who were ignorant, and not yet sufficiently qualified for becoming witnesses, an opportunity of perceiving at a distance the glory of his Divine nature, and partly that he might have a better opportunity of pouring out earnest prayer. When he _looked up to heaven and sighed_, it was an expression of strong feeling; and this enables us to perceive the vehemence of his love towards men, for whose miseries he feels so much compassion. Nor can it be doubted, that by conveying the spittle from his own mouth to the mouth of another, and by _putting his fingers into his ears, _he intended to manifest and express the same feeling of kindness. Yet that he has supreme power to remove all our defects, and restore us to health, is proclaimed by him when he simply orders the tongue and ears _to be opened...

31-37 Here is a cure of one that was deaf and dumb. Those who brought this poor man to Christ, besought him to observe the case, and put forth his power. Our Lord used more outward actions in the doing of this cure than usual. These were only signs of Christ's power to cure the man, to encourage his faith, and theirs that brought him. Though we find great variety in the cases and manner of relief of those who applied to Christ, yet all obtained the relief they sought. Thus it still is in the great concerns of our souls....

Verse 33. _AND HE SPIT, AND TOUCHED HIS TONGUE_] This place is exceedingly difficult. There is scarcely an action of our Lord's life but one can see an _evident reason_ for, except this. Various interpretations are given of it-none of them satisfies my mind. The Abbe Giradeau spiritualizes it thus: - 1. _He took him aside from_ _the multitude _- When Christ saves a sinner, he _separates_ him from all his old evil companions, and from the spirit and maxims of an ungodly world. 2. _He put his fingers in his ears _- to show that they could be _opened_ only by the _finger_, i.e. the _power_, of God, and that they should be _shut_ to every _word_ and _voice_, but what came from him. 3. _Spitting out he touched his tongue _- to show that his mental _taste_ and _relish_ should be entirely _changed_: that he should _detest_ those things which he before _esteemed_,

AND HE TOOK HIM ASIDE FROM THE MULTITUDE - Why this was done we have no means of information. It might have been to conceal from the multitude everything respecting the “manner” of cure, in order that none might attempt to cure in a similar way. AND HE PUT HIS FINGERS INTO HIS EARS ... - Why this was done it has been found exceedingly difficult to explain. Jesus had power at once to open his ears and loose his tongue, but for some cause he chose to accompany it with a sign. This was intended, probably, simply to denote that the power of healing came from him; to satisfy the man by the touch that he had this power, and that it could come from no other quarter. Our Saviour often used signs in this way to denote his power to heal. See Mark 8:23; John 9:6

EXPOSITION MARK 7:1, MARK 7:2 These verses, according to the Greek construction, should run thus: AND THERE ARE GATHERED TOGETHER UNTO THE PHARISEES, AND CERTAIN OF THE scribes, WHICH HAD COME FROM JERUSALEM, AND HAD SEEN THAT SOME OF HIS DISCIPLES ATE THEIR BREAD WITH DEFILED, THAT IS, UNWASHEN, HANDS. The word (ἐμέμψαντο) translated in the Authorized Version, "they found fault," does not appear in the best authorities. It seems to have been interpolated to help the construction. St. Mark explains the meaning of the word κοιναῖς_ _(literally, common), by the word (ἀνίπτοις) "unwashen." The disciples, doubtless, washed their hands, but they abstained from the multiplied ceremonial washings of the Pharisees, wh

AND HE TOOK HIM ASIDE FROM THE MULTITUDE,.... To shun all appearance of ostentation and vain glory: AND PUT HIS FINGERS INTO HIS EARS; the finger of his right hand into his left ear, and the finger of his left hand into his right ear: AND HE SPIT AND TOUCHED HIS TONGUE; that is, either he spit upon his tongue, for so the Vulgate Latin renders it, "spitting he touched his tongue"; and the Persic version thus, "he cast his spittle on his tongue"; or rather, he spit on his finger, and touched his tongue with it. These actions were not done as means of healing, or as having any natural virtue, or tendency in them, to effect a cure; but to show the power of Christ, that by the mere touch of his finger, and by the spittle of his mouth, as well as by laying on of hands, as was desired, and by a word speaking, he could at once remove this, or any such disorder. The taking this man aside from t...

CHAPTER 7 _ 1. The Opposition of the Pharisees. (Mark 7:1 .Matthew 15:1)_ 2. Grace shown to the Syrophenician Woman. (Mark 7:24. Matthew 15:21) 3. The healing of the deaf man. (Mark 7:31. Matthew 15:29 .) 1. THE OPPOSITION OF THE PHARISEES. Mark 7:1 This paragraph is of much importance. The scope of the analysis forbids a full annotation, but we refer th

THE HEALING OF A DEAF-MUTE. The cure of the Syro-Phœ nician woman's daughter threatens the privacy Jesus sought in Tyre. He therefore withdraws to Decapolis (another Gentile district, Matthew 4:25 *), going northward through Sidon, and presumably reaching Decapolis by a circuitous route which avoided Galilee. (Wellhausen's conjecture, Bethsaida for Sidon, is unnecessary.) The incident that follows is peculiar to Mk. Jesus heals a deaf-mute, by means not unusual in that age (_cf._ account of healings by Vespasian in Tacitus, _Hist._ iv. 81). Mt. omits this story, perhaps because the methods employed (cf. Mark 8:23) savour of magic. Mk., a popular writer, is interested in the details and in the actual word used. The rare word _mogilalos,_ with an impediment in his speech, recalls...

CLEAN AND UNCLEAN (Mark 7:1-4)...