καὶ [εὐθέως] ἠνοίγησαν αὐτοῦ αἱ ἀκοαί, καὶ ἐλύθη ὁ δεσμὸς τῆς γλώσσης αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐλάλει ὀρθῶς.
35And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly.
In Gbaya, the notion of being open (including speaking plainly in conversations) is emphasized in the referenced verses with bóóŋ, an ideophone that means to be wide open, to be completely clear.
Ideophones are a class of sound symbolic words expressing human sensation that are used as literary devices in many African languages. (Source: Philip Noss)
Following is the translation of Mark 7:32-37 into Mexican Sign Language with back-translations into Spanish and English underneath:
© La Biblia en LSM / La Palabra de Dios
Un hombre sordo que no hablaba bien, las personas lo ayudaron (y lo dijeron que) vieniera con ellos. Fueron y dijeron a Jesús: “Él es sordo, por favor, ponle la mano y sanalo.”
Jesús (le hizo señal a que) vieniera, y fueron los dos a donde no había gente. Jesús puso los dedos en los oídos del hombre, escupió en sus dedos, metió los dedos y tocó la lengua del hombre. Entonces Jesús miró al cielo, suspiró y dijo: “Efata”, que significa ‘abre’ y al instante los oídos del hombre se abrieron y podía oír y hablar bien.
Los dos regresaron y Jesús dijo a las personas: “No digan nada, silencio, es un secreto.”
Las personas hablaban y lo decían a muchos, y Jesús les dijo que fueran silenciosos. Pero seguían diciendo y contandolo y se difundía: Jesús puede hacer todo bien, igual otra persona sorda que no puede hablar, Jesús puede mandarlo y el oído se abre, y puede hablar bien ¡huy, es increíble!”
A deaf man who didn’t speak well was helped by people who told him to come with them. They went and said to Jesus: “He is deaf, please put your hand on him and heal him.”
Jesus (gestured to him ) to come, and the two of them went to where there were no people. Jesus put his fingers in the man’s ears, spit on his fingers, stretched them out and touched the tongue of the man. Then Jesus looked up heaved a great sigh and said: “Ephphatha”, which means ‘open’ and at once the ears of the man were opened and he could hear and speak well.
The two of them came back and Jesus said to the people: “Don’t say anything, be quite, it’s a secret.”
The people talked and told many, but Jesus told them to be quiet. They continued telling people and it spread widely: Jesus can do everything well, in the same way another deaf person that cannot not talk, Jesus can order him and his ears open and he can speak well, wow it’s incredible!”
Source: La Biblia en LSM / La Palabra de Dios
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Following is the translation of Mark 7:31-37 into Russian Sign Language with a back-translation underneath:
Source: Russian Bible Society / Российское Библейское Общество
From the neighborhood of Tyre Jesus went to Sidon. There was a lake in Galilee and 10 towns near it. Jesus went out to the lake in the area where the towns were. As Jesus was walking, crowds of people gathered. There was one man there who was deaf. Jesus was told:
— This man here is deaf, he cannot speak. Lay your hands on him, maybe then he will begin to hear and begin to talk.
Jesus took the deaf man to a secluded place where there were no witnesses. There they were left alone. Jesus laid his hands on the deaf man’s ears, then spat on his fingers and touched his mouth, then prayed and said in a loud voice: “Ephphatha!” That means, “Open up.”
And the deaf man began to hear! He heard everything perfectly. He had not been able to speak before, but now he spoke with a clear voice.
Jesus and the man who used to be deaf went out to the people. Those were amazed and said to each other:
— He can speak! He hears perfectly and can speak!
Jesus turned to the people:
— Don’t tell anyone about this miracle — that he used to be deaf and then he began to hear, you’d better keep quiet.
The people agreed, but it was useless. The more Jesus forbade, the more people talked about him. When all the crowd dispersed, people began to spread the news about Jesus, how he was able to heal the deaf man, who began to hear everything and speak clearly.
Из окрестностей Тира Иисус пошел в Сидон. В Галилее было озеро, а рядом с ним 10 городов. Иисус вышел к озеру в той области, где были эти города. Пока Иисус шел, собирались толпы народа. Там был один человек, который был глухим. Иисусу сказали:
— Вот этот человек — глухой, он не может говорить. Возложи на него руки, может быть, тогда он начнет слышать и начнет разговаривать.
Иисус повел глухого в уединенное место, где не было свидетелей. Там они остались наедине. Иисус возложил руки на уши глухого, затем плюнул себе на пальцы и прикоснулся к его рту, потом начал молиться и громко сказал: Еффафа! Это означает «Откройся».
И глухой начал слышать! Он все отлично слышал. Раньше он не мог разговаривать, а теперь он говорил чистым голосом.
Иисус и человек, который раньше был глухим вышли к людям. Те были поражены и говорили друг другу:
— Он может говорить! Он слышит прекрасно и может говорить!
Иисус обратился к народу:
— Не рассказывайте никому об этом чуде — что раньше он был глухой, а потом начал слышать, лучше молчите.
Люди согласились, но все было бесполезно. Чем больше Иисус запрещал, тем больше люди говорили о Нем. Когда все толпа разошлась, люди стали распространять весть об Иисусе, как он смог исцелить глухого, тот начал все слышать и чисто говорить.
Back-translation by Luka Manevich
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Mark 8:1-10 in Russian Sign Language >>
Following are a number of back-translations of Mark 7:35:
Exegesis:
hai akoai (cf. 1.28) ‘the ears,’ i.e. the organs of hearing.
ēnoigēsan (only here in Mark) ‘they were opened’ (cf. dianoigō in previous verse).
eluthē ho desmos tēs glōssēs autou ‘the bond of his tongue was loosed.’
luō (cf. 1.7) ‘loose,’ ‘unbind.’
desmos (only here in Mark) ‘bond,’ ‘hindrance,’ ‘fetter.’ Deissmann suggests that these words indicate that the man was possessed of a demon (cf. Lk. 13.16).
kai elalei orthōs ‘and he was speaking clearly,’ ‘he began to speak plainly.’
orthōs (only here in Mark) ‘clearly,’ ‘normally,’ ‘correctly.’
Translation:
The ears must be the inner ear, not the outer ear (many languages make such a distinction, e.g. Spanish oidos vs. orejas).
Where languages cannot speak of the ‘ears being opened,’ it is still possible to say ‘he could hear with his ears’ or ‘he could hear.’
“Loosing the tongue” seems to us to be quite a universal kind of idiom, but in some languages it is meaningless, for there is obviously no actual cord binding toe tongue. In San Mateo del Mar Huave, therefore, one must say ‘his tongue was softened,’ in the sense of made pliable; in Toraja-Sa’dan it is said ‘his tongue became supple, mobile.’ In other languages one may say ‘healed what kept his tongue from moving,’ and in this way describe the cure.
Spoke plainly introduces a problem in languages which specify whether a particular action represents a new process (something not done previously by the person), or a return to a previous state. This means that one must decide whether the man had ever spoken plainly before. There is no evidence in the Greek text one way or the other. The fact that the man spoke at all would seem to imply that he had not always been deaf (or at least not completely so). Accordingly, it is probably preferable to assume the restoration of ability to speak, rather than miraculous ability to speak after total congenital deafness. On the other hand, the impediment in speech could have been congenital, while the deafness, whether partial or complete, could have come on later in life. One must, of course, make a decision in languages which require certain arbitrary categories expressed, but in making a choice between alternative forms it is well to be on the conservative side, in terms of the extent of the miracle of healing. This does not imply any lessening of the fact of the miracle, only a caution in overdoing what is implied in the originals.
Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on the Gospel of Mark. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1961. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
7:35a
Immediately: There is a textual issue here:
(1) Some Greek manuscripts have a word that means “immediately.” It occurs before “the man’s ears were opened.” The New International Version has:
At this…
(Berean Standard Bible, New International Version, Good News Bible, Contemporary English Version, New Century Version, New Living Translation, NET Bible, God’s Word, King James Version, New Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible)
(2) Other Greek manuscripts do not have this word that means “immediately.”
(Revised Standard Version, New American Standard Bible)
It is recommended that you follow option (1), since it has the majority of manuscript support. (UBS4 (pages 148–149), Swanson, page 116.) Also, most English versions follow this option.
the man’s ears were opened: In this context the man’s ears were opened is an idiom. It means “the man was able to hear.” Translate this phrase in a way that is natural for your language.
7:35b
his tongue was released: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as his tongue was released is literally “the bond of his tongue was loosened.” This phrase is an idiom. It means that the man became able to speak clearly. Translate this idiom in a natural way in your language.
Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:
his speech defect was removed
-or-
he was able to move his tongue freely
and he began to speak plainly: The word and in the Berean Standard Bible introduces what happened when the man’s tongue was released. In some languages it may be more natural to express this event as a result. For example, the New Century Version has:
so that he spoke clearly
speak plainly: The phrase speak plainly contrasts with “could hardly talk” in 7:32. The man was completely healed. He could speak clearly so that those around him understood what he said.
Here are some other ways to translate speak plainly:
talk without any trouble (Good News Bible)
-or-
speak clearly (New Century Version)
Paragraph 7:36–37
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