Healing the deaf mute of Decapolis
Encyclopedia
Healing the deaf mute of Decapolis is one of the miracles of Jesus in the Gospels, namely Mark 7:31-37. Its narration offers many parallels with the healing of the blind man of Bethsaida
in Mark 8:22-26.
According to the Gospel of Mark
, when Jesus entered the region of the Decapolis
after passing through Sidon and down the Sea of Galilee
, some people brought to him a man who was deaf and could hardly talk, and they begged Jesus to place his hand on him. The Gospel of Mark then states:
The editor of Mark, Lamar Williamson comments that this is the last unit in a series of miracles concerned with the identity of Jesus, as earlier confirmed by Apostle Peter's christological affirmation in Mark 8:29 where Peter exclaimed: "You are the Messiah".
The Blind Man of Bethsaida
The Blind Man of Bethsaida is the subject of one of the miracles of Jesus in the Gospels. It is found only in Mark 8:22-26.According to the Gospel of Mark, when Jesus came to Bethsaida, a town in Galilee, he was asked to heal a blind man. Jesus took his patient out of town, put some spittle on his...
in Mark 8:22-26.
According to the Gospel of Mark
Gospel of Mark
The Gospel According to Mark , commonly shortened to the Gospel of Mark or simply Mark, is the second book of the New Testament. This canonical account of the life of Jesus of Nazareth is one of the three synoptic gospels. It was thought to be an epitome, which accounts for its place as the second...
, when Jesus entered the region of the Decapolis
Decapolis
The Decapolis was a group of ten cities on the eastern frontier of the Roman Empire in Judea and Syria. The ten cities were not an official league or political unit, but they were grouped together because of their language, culture, location, and political status...
after passing through Sidon and down the Sea of Galilee
Sea of Galilee
The Sea of Galilee, also Kinneret, Lake of Gennesaret, or Lake Tiberias , is the largest freshwater lake in Israel, and it is approximately in circumference, about long, and wide. The lake has a total area of , and a maximum depth of approximately 43 m...
, some people brought to him a man who was deaf and could hardly talk, and they begged Jesus to place his hand on him. The Gospel of Mark then states:
33 After he took him aside, away from the crowd, Jesus put his fingers into the man's ears. Then he spit and touched the man's tongue. 34 He looked up to heaven and with a deep sigh said to him, "Ephphatha!" (which means "Be opened!"). 35 At this, the man's ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly. Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone. But the more he did so, the more they kept talking about it. People were overwhelmed with amazement. "He has done everything well," they said. "He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak."
The editor of Mark, Lamar Williamson comments that this is the last unit in a series of miracles concerned with the identity of Jesus, as earlier confirmed by Apostle Peter's christological affirmation in Mark 8:29 where Peter exclaimed: "You are the Messiah".