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;
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;
- BSB 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.
- NKJV And He took him aside from the multitude, and put His fingers in his ears, and He spat and touched his tongue.
- 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 8:23He took hold of the blind man by the hand, and brought him out of the village. When he had spit on his eyes, and laid his hands on him, he asked him if he saw anything.
- John 9:6–7When he had said this, he spat on the ground, made mud with the saliva, anointed the blind man’s eyes with the mud,
- Mark 5:40They ridiculed him. But he, having put them all out, took the father of the child, her mother, and those who were with him, and went in where the child was lying.
- 1 Kgs 17:19–22He said to her, “Give me your son.” He took him out of her bosom, and carried him up into the room where he stayed, and laid him on his own bed.
- 2 Kgs 4:33–34He went in therefore, and shut the door on them both, and prayed to Yahweh.
- 2 Kgs 4:4–6Go in and shut the door on you and on your sons, and pour oil into all those containers; and set aside those which are full.”
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.