G2188 G2188
Ephphatha, an Aramaic command meaning 'be opened'; Jesus' healing word
This is the Aramaic word Jesus spoke when healing a deaf man with a speech impediment in Mark 7:34. Looking to heaven and sighing deeply, Jesus touched the man's ears and tongue and said 'Ephphatha'—'Be opened.' Mark preserves the original Aramaic and translates it for Greek readers, one of several instances where Jesus' native language breaks through the Greek narrative, adding intimacy and historical authenticity to the healing account.
Senses
1. sense 1 — Mark's preservation of Jesus' Aramaic word (7:34) heightens the scene's vividness—we hear the very syllables Jesus spoke. The command addressed not just the man's ears but the entire blockage preventing communication. Jesus' sigh suggests the weight of living in a fallen world where such afflictions exist. The translations simply transliterate the Aramaic since Mark provides the translation. This word captures the sovereign command that restored hearing and clear speech instantaneously. 1×
AR["إِفَّثَا"]·ben["ইফফাথা"]·DE["Ephata"]·EN["Ephphatha"]·FR["Ephphatha"]·heb["אֶפַּתַּח"]·HI["उससे"]·ID["Efata"]·IT["ephphatha"]·jav["Éfata,"]·KO["에바다"]·PT["Efatá"]·RU["Еффафа"]·ES["Ephphathá"]·SW["Efatha"]·TR["Effata"]·urd["افتاح"]
Related Senses
H3808 1. simple negation (not) (4839×)G1722 1. locative: in, within (2442×)H1004b 1. house, dwelling, building (2015×)G3756 1. not (negation particle) (1635×)H4480a 1. source or separation (1198×)H5892b 1. city, town (1093×)G1519 1. direction: into, to, toward (1061×)H3427 1. Qal: to dwell, inhabit (937×)G1537 1. from, out of (source/origin) (886×)H8034 1. Name (designation / identifier) (856×)G3361 1. subjective negation (not) (834×)G1909 1. on, upon (spatial surface) (757×)H0369 1. existential negation: there is not (738×)H5869a 1. in the eyes/sight of (evaluative) (734×)H5650 1. Servant, attendant, subject (723×)H0408 1. prohibitive negation do-not (712×)G2443 1. so that, in order that (purpose/result) (665×)G0575 1. from (649×)G1223 1. through, by means of (582×)H3541 1. thus, so, in this manner (569×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
Transliteration of Hebrew פְּתַח 'to open' [H6606]. Not in LSJ.