EPHPHATHA - ef'-a-tha, ef-a'-tha (Ephphatha): Aramaic word used by Christ (Mk
7:34),
the 'ethpa`al imperative of Aramaic pethach (Hebrew pathach), translated,
"Be (thou) opened"; compare Isa
35:5.
The Aramaic was the sole popular language of Palestine (Shurer, History of the
Jewish People in the Time of Jesus Christ, IIg, 9) and its use shows that we
have here the graphic report of an eyewitness, upon whom the dialectic form
employed made a deep impression. This and the corresponding act of the touch
with the moistened finger is the foundation of a corresponding ceremony in the church’s
formula for baptism.
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