Mark

7:24-37

The journey to God's mountain, 6:1-10:52

1. Growing discontent, 6:1-7:37

vii] Israel's blindness forces Jesus amongst the Gentiles

In 7:24-37 Mark relates two stories. i] The healing of a foreign woman's daughter, 7:24-30: Jesus withdraws to Tyre in Gentile territory. There he meets a Gentile woman who begs him to heal her demon-possessed daughter. Her understanding of divine grace sees her request granted. ii] The healing of a deaf stammerer, 7:31-37: On his journey back from Tyre, people bring to Jesus a man who is deaf and with an impediment of speech. The man's healing is performed in a number of steps.

Mark's construction of his gospel is interesting. From 6:30 to 8:30 he parallels two sets of stories, running in tandem from the feeding of the 5,000 to the healing of the deaf and mute man, 6:30-7:37, and from the feeding of the 4,000 to the confession at Caesarea Philippi, 8:1-30. Both sets of stories describe a journey of growing faith. In the two episodes we have before us we witness the belief of a Gentile offset by the new sight of a blind man, 8:22-26, and a healing, prompting the confession "he has done everything well", offset by Peter's confession at Caesarea Philippi, 8:27-30.

anastaV (anisthmi) aor. part. "Jesus left" - having arisen. A teacher gets up, since he teaches sitting down, so "getting up (after the teaching session) he departed to the region of Tyre." The participle possibly forms a temporal clause, so "when Jesus had finished teaching his disciples he departed ..."; "then he rose", Weymouth.

eiselqwn (eisercomai) aor. part. "he entered" - having entered. The participle is possibly temporal; "he then entered", or attendant circumstance.

gnwnai (ginwskw) aor. inf. "to know it" - to escape notice. The infinitive is complementary, completing the sense of the verb "able"; "he was not able to escape notice." "He didn't want people to know he was there", CEV.

kai "yet [he could not keep his presence secret]" - and. Here kai is adversative; "but his presence could not remain concealed."

euquV "[in fact], as soon" - [but] immediately. Possible a general sense, "so then", although with the participle, "having heard", some sense of time is being indicated; "almost at once", REB.

akousasa (akouw) aor. part. "she heard" - [immediately] having heard. The participle, with "immediately", forms a temporal clause.

qugatrion (on) "little daughter" - diminutive of daughter expressing a state of affection between mother and daughter.

eicen (ecw) imperf. "was possessed" - was having. The imperfect tense indicating the ongoing state of the possession.

elqousa (ercomai) aor. part. "came" - having come. Attendant circumstance participle, "when she heard, she came."

prosepesen (prospiptw) aor. "fell" - fell down before. An action expressing deep respect, "prostrated herself before him", Phillips.

tw/ genei (genoV) dat. "born in" - by birth, race, people, kind [a syrophonician (ie. "Gentile / pagan")]. The dative is instrumental.

hrwta (erwtaw) imperf. "she begged [Jesus]" - she was asking [him]. The imperfect indicating ongoing action, so "begged", NIV.

iJna + subj. "to [drive out]" - that [he might cast out]. Introducing a dependent statement expressing the content of what she asked. "She begged Jesus to force the demon out of her daughter", CEV.

prwton adj. "first" - One possible meaning is that "the first", the children, the children of Israel, have precedence over Gentiles. The problem with this interpretation is that it requires a high degree of theological understanding on the part of the woman. A more natural sense may be intended: Jesus is here for a rest and needs to recuperate. "Let the children first be fed", Taylor.

afeV (afihmi) aor. imp. "let" - allow, permit.

cortasqhnai (cortazw) aor. pas. inf. "eat" - to be satisfied. The infinitive functions here as an object complement, "the children" being the direct object of the verb "allow"

labein (lambanw) aor. inf. "to take" - to take. The infinitive again functions as an object complement stating what is not right.

kunarioiV (on) "dogs" - The Jews often referred to Gentiles as "dogs". Whatever is intended, it is unlikely that the words are insulting, even though, to our ears, they are. Diminutive, so possibly small pet dogs are implied. "Puppy", Taylor.

nai "yes" - yes, even so. This variant reading is not adopted by all translations, eg. NRSV.

kurie (oV) voc. "Lord" - "Sir".

kai "but even" - and. A contrastive, even adversative sense, is probably not intended. The woman is simply progressing Jesus' argument, so "even", REB. The intent of Jesus' words, and of the woman's reply, is hard to gauge. As noted above, it is possible that this is a very natural exchange. Jesus has said he is here for a rest and she adds that her request will not trouble him much. If this is the case, her faith is indeed mighty. Casting out demons is no ordinary task, but she obviously believes that Jesus is up to it, ie. for Jesus it is but a crumb. "True sir, and still the dogs under the table eat what the children leave", Goodspeed.

apo + gen. "[eat the children's crumbs]" - [eat] from [the crumbs]. Not in the sense of eating "from" some of the crumbs, but rather eating "from" this particular food source, namely, crumbs.

dia + acc. "for" - because of [this word]. "In view of what you have just said."

uJpage (uJpagw) imp. "you may go" - go. Command, "go", Barclay.

apelqousa (apercomai) aor. part. "she went" - having departed [to the house]. The participle possibly forms a temporal clause, "and when she returned home", REB; or a consecutive (consequence) clause, "so she returned home", Moffatt.

beblhmenon (ballw) perf. pas. part. "lying" - having been placed, thrown. Attendant circumstance participle expressing action accompanying the main verb "she found". The sense is a little unclear. Is the girl lying exhausted, as if thrown upon her bed, but now resting at peace? "She found her child exhausted on the bed."

exelhluqoV (exercomai) perf. part. "gone" - having gone out. Attendant circumstance participle. The perfect tense indicating a past action with ongoing consequences. The little thing for Jesus involved overcoming dark powers with a word, and this from a distance. "The demon had gone", CEV.

exelqwn (exercomai) aor. part. "then Jesus left" - [and again] having come out. The participle is probably adverbial, forming a temporal clause, as NIV, "when / then / after Jesus left."

dia "through [Sidon]" - Seeing Sidon is North of Tyre it is unlikely that Jesus went "through" Sidon to get to the Sea of Galilee. Possibly Mark has not expressed himself well and intended to say: Jesus left "the region of Tyre and Sidon", Schmidt.

ana meson + gen. "into" - up in the middle. "Right through the region of Decapolis", Moule.

ferousin (ferw) pres. "brought" - they bring, carry. Historic present, so rendered in the past tense, as NIV.

mogilalon adj. "could hardly talk" - mute. A very rare word, the meaning of which is unclear; "speaking with difficulty / having an impediment in speech", Cranfield; "stammered", Moffatt.

iJna + subj. "-" - that. Here introducing a dependent statement expressing what they begged. "They begged Jesus just to touch him", CEV.

apolabomenoV (apolambanw) aor. part. "after he took [him] aside" - having led off, taken away, taken aside. The participle probably forms a temporal clause, as NIV. Here we have another example of the messianic secret where Jesus restricts his signs for those with eyes to see. Of course, a more pragmatic argument may be posited: Jesus maintains a low profile so as to reduce popular messianic expectations which could prompt a reaction from the authorities.

ptusaV (ptuw) aor. part. "then he spit" - having spit [he touched]. The participle probably forms a temporal clause. The action here is unclear. What does Jesus do with the spittle and what is the point of such actions? Taylor notes that "such actions are common to the technique of Greek and Jewish healers", but obviously Jesus is in no way dependent on such actions. It is often argued that these actions are performed for the sake of the deaf and mute man in that they serve to encourage his weak faith, but is Jesus restricted by the weakness, or strength, of a person's faith? France suggests that the actions are symbolic, reinforcing the sign nature of the miracle, a miracle which serves to illustrate the opening of the spiritual ears of the disciples. This symbolism is similarly reflected in the healing of the blind man at Bethsaida, 8:22-26, a miracle which served to illustrate the opening of the spiritual eyes of the disciples. Similar actions are used in both miracles, and both miracles are followed with a command not to speak of what has happened. Possibly, "he put his fingers into the man's ears, touched his tongue with saliva", Moffatt.

anableyaV (anablepw) aor. part. "he looked up" - having looked up. The participle is adverbial, possibly temporal. Probably as in an act of prayer. "Looking up to heaven", Moffatt.

estenaxen (stenazw) aor. "with a deep sigh" - he sighed, groaned. Probably an emotional outburst, but what emotion? Possibly the actual prayer recited quietly and quickly, so Lagrange.

dianoicqhti (dianoigw) aor. pas. imp. "be opened" - The use of the original Aramaic indicates that the word of command made an impact on the original hearers. The command is directed to the offending parts, ear and tongue. "Open up thoroughly", "open completely", Cranfield.

euqewV "at this" - immediately. The weight seems to be on this being a later addition to the text, although emphasizing the immediacy of the healing suits the symbolic nature of this miracle. "At once the man could hear", CEV.

elalei (lalew) "he began to speak" - he was speaking. Probably an inceptive imperfect, as NIV.

orqwV adv. "plainly" - rightly, clearly, normally, correctly. Supporting the argument that he only had a defect in his speech.

autoiV "them" - Unidentified, but it is likely to refer to the disciples rather than the crowd, given that Jesus had withdrawn from the crowd to perform the healing.

iJna + subj. "-" - that. Introducing a dependent statement expressing the content of what Jesus commanded. Further underlining the symbolic significance of the miracle. Was this a command to the disciples, and if so, does this mean the disciples got to witness the miracle?

ekhrusson (khrussw) imperf. "they kept talking" - were proclaiming. Probably an iterative imperfect expressing repeated action. The more Jesus told them to be quiet, "the more they broadcast the news", Phillips.

uJperperisswV adv. "overwhelmed" - completely, beyond all measure, exceedingly. "They were astonished in the extreme", Moffatt.

alalouV adj. "[he even makes the deaf hear and the] mute [speak]" - speechless, mute. Serving as a popular confession. Although a variant article exists with this word, it was likely an addition. The sense may be "the deaf and the dumb to hear and speak", Turner.

Mark Introduction

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