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EPHPHATHA.—Mar_7:34, where Jesus says to a man who was deaf and had an impediment in his speech, ‘Ephphatha,’ that is, ‘Be opened.’ The word is really Aramaic, and if we transliterate it as it stands we obtain eppattach or eppethach. Both these forms are contracted: the former for ithpattach, the latter for ithpethach, which are respectively second sing, imperative Ithpaal and Ithpeal of the verb pethach, ‘to open.’ Some Gr. MSS present ephphetha, which is certainly Ithpeal, whereas ephphatha may be Ithpaal. Jerome also reads ephphetha.
It is not certain whom or what Jesus addressed when He said ‘Be opened.’ It may be the mouth of the man as in Luk_1:64 (so Weiss, Morison, etc.); or the ear, as in Targ. of Isa_50:5 (so Bruce, Swete, etc.); or it may be the deaf man himself. One gate of knowledge being closed, the man is conceived of as a bolted room, and ‘Jesus said to him. Be thou opened.’
J. T. Marshall.