Healing of the Deaf Man with a Speech Impediment

Biblical Text

This account appears only in the Gospel of Mark (Mark 7:31-37); no other Gospel contains the same story. Jesus leaves the region of Tyre, passes through Sidon, and comes to the Sea of Galilee through the region of the Decapolis. People bring to him a man who is deaf and has a speech impediment and ask him to lay his hand on him. Jesus takes him aside, away from the crowd. He puts his fingers into the man's ears, spits and touches his tongue, and then, looking up to heaven, he sighs and says, "Ephphatha." At once the man's ears are opened, his tongue is loosed, and he speaks plainly.

Jesus commands them to tell no one. Instead, they spread the news all the more widely. The people are astonished, saying, "He hath done all things well: he maketh both the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak" (Mark 7:37).

Background

Decapolis means "ten cities." It refers to a region east and southeast of the Sea of Galilee made up of cities strongly shaped by Hellenistic culture. The account immediately preceding this one is the story of the Syrophoenician woman, so this miracle is also read as part of Jesus' continuing ministry in Gentile territory. The text does not, however, state whether the man who was healed was a Jew or a Gentile.

"Ephphatha" is Aramaic, and Mark renders it as "Be opened." The Greek word translated "had an impediment in his speech" (mogilalos) means "speaking with difficulty." In the New Testament it occurs only in this passage.

Significance in the Broader Biblical Context

The same Greek word is also used in the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament) at Isaiah 35:6. That verse belongs to the prophecy of restoration in Isaiah 35:5-6: "the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped... and the tongue of the dumb sing." Many interpreters therefore understand Mark to be presenting this miracle as the fulfillment of that prophecy. Jesus' reply to John the Baptist also includes the words "the deaf hear" (Luke 7:22).

This account is similar in structure to the healing of the blind man at Bethsaida in Mark 8. In both stories Jesus takes the afflicted man aside and uses spittle and his hands. Between the two accounts, Jesus rebukes his disciples: "having ears, hear ye not?" (Mark 8:18). For this reason some interpreters read the two miracles together as signs depicting the opening of the disciples' closed ears and eyes.

Interpretation and Points of Debate

• Spittle and gestures: Interpretations differ as to why Jesus put his fingers into the man's ears and touched his tongue. Some see it as a considerate act of communicating through gestures that a deaf man could understand. Others connect it with the contemporary practice of using saliva in healing. The text does not explain the reason.
• The sigh: Jesus' sigh is read by some as compassion for the suffering man and by others as an expression of prayer.
• The command to silence: Why Jesus told them not to make the miracle known is discussed in connection with the so-called "messianic secret," a theme that runs throughout the Gospel of Mark.
• Healing today: Pentecostal and charismatic churches, which hold that the gift of divine healing continues today, frequently cite this passage as grounds for expecting healing in the present. By contrast, those who hold that the miraculous gifts ceased with the apostolic age place greater emphasis on reading the passage as a sign revealing Jesus' identity (see Cessationism and Continuationism).
• Liturgical tradition: The baptismal rite of the Catholic Church includes the "Ephphetha" rite, named after this passage. In it the priest touches the ears and mouth and prays that the person may hear the word of God and profess the faith. Most Protestant baptismal services do not include this element.

In the Korean Church

In the Korean church, "Ephphatha" from this passage is sometimes used as a name for ministries to the deaf or for related institutions. In preaching, the passage is frequently used to point not only to physical healing but also to spiritual restoration, in which ears and mouths closed to the Word are opened.