Ephphatha

Biblical Text

Ephphatha appears in the Gospel of Mark 7:31–37. Jesus left the region of Tyre, passed through Sidon, and traveled through the region of the Decapolis to the Sea of Galilee. There people brought to Him a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment, and they asked Him to lay His hand on him. Jesus took the man aside from the crowd, put His fingers into his ears, spat, and touched his tongue. Then, looking up to heaven, He sighed and said "Ephphatha," which Mark glosses as "Be opened" (Mark 7:34). The man's ears were opened, his tongue was loosed, and he spoke plainly. Jesus charged them to tell no one, but they spread the news all the more widely. The people were astonished beyond measure, saying, "He hath done all things well" (Mark 7:37).

This account appears only in Mark. At the corresponding point in its narrative, the Gospel of Matthew 15:29–31 gives a summary of Jesus healing many people.

The Word and Its Background

Ephphatha is one of the places in the Greek text of Mark where the Aramaic spoken by Jesus has been preserved. Aramaic was the everyday language of the Jews of Palestine at the time. Scholars regard the word as an imperative form of an Aramaic verb meaning "to open," although some view it as a Hebrew form. Mark frequently transliterates words from the original language and then explains their meaning; other examples include "Talitha cumi" (5:41) and "Corban" (7:11). For further discussion, see Languages of the Bible.

The Korean Catholic Bible transliterates the word as "Epata." The Decapolis refers to a group of Hellenistic cities southeast of the Sea of Galilee, a region with a large Gentile population.

Significance in the Wider Bible

The Greek word translated "had an impediment in his speech" in Mark 7:32 occurs nowhere else in the New Testament. It is reported to appear also in the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament) at Isaiah 35:6. Isaiah 35 celebrates a time of restoration when the ears of the deaf are unstopped and the tongue of the dumb sings. For this reason, many interpreters read this miracle as a sign that this promise is being fulfilled in Jesus—that is, as an event that reveals Jesus as the Messiah.

Interpretations and Issues

• A miracle in Gentile territory: This account immediately follows the healing of the daughter of the Syrophoenician woman. Many interpreters therefore read it as part of a narrative movement in which the gospel reaches the Gentiles. The text, however, does not state that the man who was healed was a Gentile.
• Fingers and spittle: Some interpret these actions as gestures by which Jesus communicated His intent to a man who could not hear; others connect them with the ancient practice of using saliva in healing; still others see them as sacramental signs.
• Spiritual interpretation: Some read the account in connection with Mark 8:18 ("having ears, hear ye not?") and with the healing of a blind man by similar means in Mark 8:22–26, as a story about the opening of the disciples' "closed ears." This is a reading offered by interpreters rather than something the text states directly.

In Church Tradition and the Korean Church

The Western church is known to have practiced, from ancient times, a rite within the baptism liturgy in which the minister touched the ears and mouth while saying "Ephphatha." The rite of infant baptism in the Catholic Church still retains the "Ephphatha rite" as an optional rite. In Korean Protestantism, this passage is often used as a sermon text on the theme of opening the heart and ears. Some ministries and fellowships for the deaf also include "Ephphatha" in their names.