So Jesus took him aside privately, away from the crowd, and put His fingers into the man’s ears. Then He spit and touched the man’s tongue.
Parallel translations
- WEB He took him aside from the multitude, privately, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spat, and touched his tongue.
- KJV And he took him aside from the multitude, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spit, and touched his tongue;
- NKJV And He took him aside from the multitude, and put His fingers in his ears, and He spat and touched his tongue.
- NASB And Jesus took him aside from the crowd, by himself, and put His fingers in his ears, and after spitting, He touched his tongue with the saliva;
- NLT Jesus led him away from the crowd so they could be alone. He put his fingers into the man’s ears. Then, spitting on his own fingers, he touched the man’s tongue.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Jesus takes a deaf man aside and uses tangible signs—touching his ears and tongue—to heal him personally. It shows Jesus meeting people with individual care.
Overview
Continuing his ministry in the Gentile Decapolis region, Jesus draws the man away from the crowd for an intimate encounter. The physical actions (fingers in the ears, spittle on the tongue) were a sign-language the deaf man could understand, communicating that healing was coming. Jesus' tender, personal method reveals a Savior who stoops to our weakness rather than working from a distance.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Mark 8:23So He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village. Then He spit on the man’s eyes and placed His hands on him. “Can you see anything?” He asked.
- John 9:6–7When Jesus had said this, He spit on the ground, made some mud, and applied it to the man’s eyes.
- Mark 5:40And they laughed at Him. After He had put them all outside, He took the child’s father and mother and His own companions, and went in to see the child.
- 1 Kgs 17:19–22But Elijah said to her, “Give me your son.” So he took him from her arms, carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his own bed.
- 2 Kgs 4:33–34So he went in, closed the door behind the two of them, and prayed to the LORD.
- 2 Kgs 4:4–6Then go inside, shut the door behind you and your sons, and pour oil into all these jars, setting the full ones aside.”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Mark drives urgently to the cross, showing Jesus the Son of God as the suffering Servant who 'came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.'
How Mark 7:33 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.