Mark Chapter 7 verse 33 Holy Bible
And he took him aside from the multitude privately, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spat, and touched his tongue;
read chapter 7 in ASV
And he took him on one side from the people privately, and put his fingers into his ears, and he put water from his mouth on the man's tongue with his finger;
read chapter 7 in BBE
And having taken him away from the crowd apart, he put his fingers to his ears; and having spit, he touched his tongue;
read chapter 7 in DARBY
And he took him aside from the multitude, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spit, and touched his tongue;
read chapter 7 in KJV
read chapter 7 in WBT
He took him aside from the multitude, privately, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spat, and touched his tongue.
read chapter 7 in WEB
And having taken him away from the multitude by himself, he put his fingers to his ears, and having spit, he touched his tongue,
read chapter 7 in YLT
Pulpit Commentary
Pulpit CommentaryVerse 33. - And he took him aside from the multitude privately. This was done, no doubt, to fix the attention of the afflicted man upon himself, and upon the fact that he was about to act upon his ears and his tongue. And he put (ἔβαλε) - literally, cast or thrust - his fingers into his ears. The action was very significant. It was as though he said, "I am about to open a passage for hearing through these ears." And he spat, and touched his tongue; that is, he touched his tongue with saliva from his own sacred lips. These symbolical actions must have had a great meaning for the afflicted man. They were a tableau vivant, an acted metaphor, teaching him what he might expect from the mercy of Christ. The analogy of the miracle recorded in St. John (John 9:6) should be noticed here. It is an interesting circumstance (noticed in the 'Speaker's Commentary') that, in the Latin Church, the officiating priest touches the nostrils and ears of those who are to be baptized, with saliva from his own mouth. We may be assured that, in the case before us, these signs used by our Lord were intended to awaken the afflicted man's faith, and to stir up in him the lively expectation of a blessing.
Ellicott's Commentary
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(33) He took him aside from the multitude.--We trace in this, and in the manual acts that followed, the same tender considerateness for the infirmities of the sufferer as in our Lord's treatment of the blind. (See Note on Matthew 9:29.) Here the man could not find in the pitying tones of the voice of the Healer that on which his faith could fasten, and the act came in to fill up the void.
