Mar 7:34 Ephphatha, (that is), Be opened.
Mar 7:34 Ephphatha, (that is), Be opened.
The Greek word used means more than just "to open." It means to open in order to make a connection. It is used several times in the Gospels (mostly by Luke) to describe Christ's general effect on those who heard him, allowing them to connect words to meaning.
In Greek, the Aramaic for "ephphatha" is written ??????. This could be from the Aramaic 'ethptha?', the passive imperative of the verb 'ptha?', 'to open', since the 'th' could assimilate in western Aramaic.
This is the only time that either the Aramaic word or the Greek word that Mark translates it into are used by Christ in the Gospels. It seem particularly appropriate for the end of this chapter, which deals with how we "communicate" what we are, exposing our thoughts through our actions.
I have written here about why I think that Christ taught in Greek as well as Aramaic, mostly because of all the Greek wordplay that doesn't work in Aramaic. Included in that evidence are Mark's references to the times where Christ used actual Aramaic.
"Be opened" is from dianoigô (dianoigo), which means "to lay open," "to open so as to connect," "to reveal," and "to explain."
