What Does Mark 7:32 Mean in the King James?
And they bring unto him one that was deaf, and had an impediment in his speech; and they beseech him to put his hand upon him.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The Greek word for “impediment in his speech” is the rare word Isaiah uses for the tongue that will sing when streams break through the wilderness.
THE MEANING
You are seen here as a whole person even when hearing or speech is constrained. Those around you carry the request for care, and the appeal is physical: a hand placed upon you. The verse leaves the encounter open, before it tells what happens next.
THE ROOT
μογιλάλον
mogilalon
GROWS FROM
μόλις + λαλέω (molis + laleō)
To speak with difficulty.
“impediment in his speech” in this verse is mogilalon. The word describes speech under strain. Its echo in Isaiah connects this very difficulty to the image of a tongue singing, so the request here carries a picture of speech opening.
ALSO GROWS
laleō: to speak, utter
λαλέω
This is the speech at the heart of the word, still present even when speaking is difficult.
molis: with difficulty, scarcely
μόλις
This names the strain that qualifies the speaking; the word holds both the effort and the voice together.
THE PATTERN
Scripture describes restoration as bodily capacities opening into action and expression.
And the LORD said unto him, Who hath made man’s mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the LORD?Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert.The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.THE THREAD
Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert.The Greek Isaiah uses a form of μογιλάλος for “dumb”; Mark uses the same rare word for the man whose speech is difficult. This joins the request for touch to Isaiah’s image of a tongue singing as streams break through the wilderness.
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