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Mark 7:35

in Mark 7

Immediately the man’s ears were opened and his tongue was released, and he began to speak plainly.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And his ears were opened, and the bond of his tongue was loosed, and he spake plain.

KJV

And straightway his ears were opened, and the string of his tongue was loosed, and he spake plain.

This verse in Mark 7

Commentary

13 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

He spake plain - Ορθως, distinctly, without stammering. One MS. has, And he spoke, praising God. There is no doubt of this: but the evangelist, I think, did not write these words.

This site's exposition

the man’s ears were opened

Immediately the man’s ears were opened and his tongue was released, the healing told in full physical detail. Then he began to speak plainly, with no halting speech left from years of disuse, so the healing is complete. Mark gives such physical detail throughout his Gospel.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

A commentator

Lucius Caecilius Firmianus Lactantius

DIVINE INSTITUTES 4.26 · Written before 325.

proposed

He thereby declared that it would shortly come to pass, that those who were destitute of the revealed truth would both hear and understand the majestic words of God. Accordingly you may truly call those deaf who do not hear the heavenly things which are true, and worthy of being performed. He loosed the tongues of the dumb. They spoke plainly—a power worthy of admiration even in its ordinary operation. But there was also contained in this display of power another meaning.

The Medieval Church3 voices

A commentator

Bede

On the Gospel of Mark · Written before 735.

proposed

And immediately his ears were opened, and the bond of his tongue was loosed, and he began to speak correctly. Here, both natures of the one and same mediator between God and humans are clearly distinct. For, ascending into heaven as a man, he sighed …

A commentator

Bede

Catena Aurea by Aquinas · Written before 735.

proposed

Wherefore it goes on, And straightway his ears were opened, and the string of his tongue was loosed, and he spake plain. Where each nature of one and the same Christ is manifestly distinct, looking up indeed into Heaven as man, praying unto God, He groaned, but presently with one word, as being strong in the Divine Majesty, He healed. It goes on, And he charged them that they should tell no man.
But the ears are opened to hymns, and songs, and psalms; and He looses the tongue, that it may pour forth the good word, which neither threats nor stripes can restrain.

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

Now this cure was, (1.) A proof of Christ's being the Messiah; for it was foretold that by his power the ears of the deaf should be unstopped, and the tongue of the dumb should be made to sing, Isa. xxxv. (2.) It was a specimen of the operations of his gospel upon the minds of men.
6 more voices on this verse

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

6 He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. 7 Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-scripture

And straightway his ears were opened,.... It is in the Greek text, "his hearings"; the instruments of his hearing, and so rightly rendered, "his ears": the Persic version reads, "both his ears"; but the word "both" is unnecessary, since the word, "ears", takes in both.

The Nineteenth Century4 voices

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

And straightway his ears were opened--This is mentioned first as the source of the other derangement. and the string of his tongue was loosed, and he spake plain--The cure was thus alike instantaneous and perfect.
The first thing that demands our notice in these verses, is the mighty miracle that is here recorded . We read that they brought unto our Lord "one that was deaf and had an impediment in his speech," and besought Him that He would "put His hand upon him." At once the petition is granted, and the cure is wrought. Speech and hearing are instantaneously given to the man by a word and a touch. "Immediately his ears were opened, and his tongue was loosed, and he spoke plain."
The first thing that demands our notice in these verses, is the mighty miracle that is here recorded . We read that they brought unto our Lord "one that was deaf and had an impediment in his speech," and besought Him that He would "put His hand upon him." At once the petition is granted, and the cure is wrought. Speech and hearing are instantaneously given to the man by a word and a touch. "Immediately his ears were opened, and his tongue was loosed, and he spoke plain." We see but half the instruction of this passage, if we only regard it as an example of our Lord's divine power. It is such an example, beyond doubt, but it is something more than that. We must look further, deeper, and lower than the surface, and we shall find in the passage precious spiritual truths. Here we are meant to see our Lord's power to heal the spiritually deaf. He can give the chief of sinners a hearing ear. He can make him delight in listening to the very Gospel which he once ridiculed and despised. Here also we are meant to see our Lord's power to heal the spiritually dumb. He can teach the hardest of transgressors to call upon God. He can put a new song in the mouth of him whose talk was once only of this world. He can make the vilest of men speak of spiritual things, and testify the Gospel of the grace of God. When Jesus pours forth His Spirit, nothing is impossible. We must never despair of others. We must never regard our own hearts as too bad to be changed. He that healed the deaf and dumb still lives. The cases which society pronounces hopeless, are not incurable if they are brought to Christ. The second thing which demands our notice in these verses, is the peculiar manner in which our Lord thought good to work the miracle here recorded .
The string of his tongue was loosed - The difficulty in his speaking was removed.

The words behind it

16 Greek words

Every Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Matthew 11:5

    The blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.

    it leads to

    • Isaiah 35:4–6

      Say to those with anxious hearts: “Be strong, do not fear! Behold, your God will come with vengeance. With divine retribution He will come to save you.”

    • Isaiah 61:1–3

      The Spirit of the Lord GOD is on Me, because the LORD has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty…

    • Isaiah 42:6–7

      “I, the LORD, have called you for a righteous purpose, and I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and appoint you to be a covenant for the people and a…

    • Luke 4:18

      “The Spirit of the Lord is on Me, because He has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight…

    • Isaiah 29:18

      On that day the deaf will hear the words of the scroll, and out of the deep darkness the eyes of the blind will see.

  • Through

    Psalms 33:9

    For He spoke, and it came to be; He commanded, and it stood firm.

    it leads to

    • Genesis 1:3

      And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.

    • Psalms 33:6

      By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, and all the stars by the breath of His mouth.

    • Psalms 148:5–6

      Let them praise the name of the LORD, for He gave the command and they were created.

Where this verse is studied

About Mark

Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee, Rembrandt, 1633, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Public domain.
Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee, Rembrandt, 1633, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Public domain.
This page draws on 11 works. Open the list of works

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Gospels; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bede, On the Gospel of Mark; Bede, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Mark (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); Lucius Caecilius Firmianus Lactantius, DIVINE INSTITUTES 4.26; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Pseudo-Jerome, Catena Aurea by Aquinas.