Spitting

How Nave’s arranged it

• In the face, as an indignityNumbers 12:14Deuteronomy 25:9Job 30:10Matthew 26:67Matthew 27:30
• Jesus used spittle for healingMark 7:33Mark 8:23

The passages, in Bible order (7)

The same references, sorted Genesis to Revelation. The first 7 are quoted in full; the rest are one click beneath them, book by book.

1. Numbers 12:14

   But the LORD answered Moses, “If her father had but spit in her face, would she not have been in disgrace for seven days? Let her be confined outside the camp for seven days; after that she may be brought back in.”

   ›Commentary on Numbers 12:141 voice

   “If her father had but spit in her face - This appears to have been done only in cases of great provocation on the part of the child, and strong irritation on the side of the parent. Spitting in the face was a sign of the deepest contempt. See Job 30:10; Isa 50:6; Mar 14:65. In a case where a parent was obliged by the disobedient conduct of his child to treat him in this way, it appears he was banished from the father’s presence for seven days.

   Everything gathered on Numbers 12:14→

   Verse page →Original language →

2. Deuteronomy 25:9

   his brother’s widow shall go up to him in the presence of the elders, remove his sandal, spit in his face, and declare, “This is what is done to the man who will not maintain his brother’s line.”

   ›Commentary on Deuteronomy 25:91 voice

   “And loose his shoe - It is difficult to find the reason of these ceremonies of degradation. Perhaps the shoe was the emblem of power; and by stripping it off, deprivation of that power and authority was represented. Spitting in the face was a mark of the utmost ignominy; but the Jews, who are legitimate judges in this case, say that the spitting was not in his face, but before his face on the ground.

   Everything gathered on Deuteronomy 25:9→

   Verse page →Original language →

3. Job 30:10

   They abhor me and keep far from me; they do not hesitate to spit in my face.

   Verse page →Original language →

4. Matthew 26:67

   Then they spit in His face and struck Him. Others slapped Him

   ›Commentary on Matthew 26:672 voices

   “(Verse 67.) Then they spat in his face and struck him with their fists. As it was foretold: I have given my cheeks to those who struck me; I have not turned my face from disgrace and spitting. (Lamentations 3:30)

   “Then did they spit in his face - This, among the Jews, as among us, was significant of the highest contempt and insult, Num 12:14; Isa 50:6; Job 30:10. And buffeted him - That is, they struck him with their hands closed, or with the fist. Others smote him with the palms of their hands - The word used in the original here means literally to strike with rods. It also means to strike the mouth with the open hand, as if to prevent a person’s speaking, or to evince abhorrence of what he had spoken.

   Everything gathered on Matthew 26:67→

   Verse page →Original language →

5. Matthew 27:30

   Then they spit on Him and took the staff and struck Him on the head repeatedly.

   ›Commentary on Matthew 27:302 voices

   “(Verse 30) And spitting on him, they took a reed and struck his head. At that time it was fulfilled; I did not turn my face away from the shame of spitting (Isaiah 50:6), yet when they strike his head with the reed, he endures everything patiently, to fulfill the true prophecy of Isaiah, which says: He will not break a bruised reed (Isaiah 42:3).

   “And they spit upon him,.... The Syriac and Persic versions add, "upon his face", which he did not hide from spitting; see Isa 1:6, and so what with sweat, by being hurried from place to place, and with blood trickling down from his temples, scratched with thorns, and with the spittle of these filthy soldiers, his visage was more marred than any man's, and his form than the sons of men, Isa 52:

   Everything gathered on Matthew 27:30→

   Verse page →Original language →

6. Mark 7:33

   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.

   ›Commentary on Mark 7:332 voices

   “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.

   “What is designated by the fingers of the Redeemer except the gifts of the Holy Spirit? Hence, when in another place He had cast out a demon, He said: "If I cast out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has surely come upon you." Concerning which matter He is described by another Evangelist as having said: "If I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you." From both these passages it is gathered that the finger of God is called the Spirit.

   Everything gathered on Mark 7:33→

   Verse page →Original language →

7. Mark 8:23

   So 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.

   ›Commentary on Mark 8:231 voice

   “Led him out of the town - Why this was done the sacred writers have not told us. It might have been to avoid the collecting of a multitude, and thus to have escaped the designs of the Pharisees who were attempting to take his life, and chiefly on a charge of sedition and of exciting the people.

   Everything gathered on Mark 8:23→

   Verse page →Original language →