Mark 7:35 — Community Reflections

MARK 7:35 — KING JAMES VERSION 0

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

At this, the man's ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly — the threefold restoration mirrors the threefold impairment: ears opened (hearing restored), tongue loosened (speech freed), began to speak plainly (communication established). The healing is comprehensive and immediate. The ears first, then the tongue — the sequence communicates that hearing is prior to speech, that receiving precedes giving. The man who could not communicate can now participate fully in the community's life of hearing and speaking.

Church Fathers on Mark 7:35

The Lord did not wish to stay in the parts of the Gentiles, lest He should give the Jews occasion to say, that they esteemed Him a transgressor of the law, because He held communion with the Gentiles, and therefore He immediately returns.
Theophylact · 11th century

Decapolis is a region of ten cities, across the Jordan, to the east, over against Galilee [ed. note: It appears, however, from Reland, Pales. v.1, p198, that a portion of Decapolis, including its metropolis, Scythopolis, was on this side Jordan, and therefore this text of St. Mark may be taken literally.] When therefore it is said that the Lord came to the sea of Galilee, through the midst of the borders of Decapolis, it does not mean that He entered the confines of Decapolis…
Bede · 8th century · in Marc., 2, 31

A city, however, placed on a hill cannot be hid, and lowliness always comes before glory.
Pseudo-Jerome · 5th century

Read all 12 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain

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