And Jesus departed from thence— Jesus at length departing from the coasts of Tyre and Sidon, returned to the sea of Galilee through the region of Decapolis, on the east side of Jordan. See Mark 7:31. Having continued in Decapolis a considerable time, the fame of his being in the country reached every corner; wherefore, to avoid the crowds, he retired into a desert mountain beside the sea of Galilee. Here the sick, the lame, the dumb, the blind, and the maimed, were brought to him from all quarters, and laid down around him by their friends who followed him thither. The sight of so many people in distress moved the compassion of the Son of God exceedingly; for he graciously healed them all; particularly the dumb, who are commonly deaf also. He not only conferred the faculty of hearing and pronouncing articulate sounds, but he conveyed into their mind at once the whole language of their country, making them perfectly acquainted with all the words in it, their significations, their forms, their powers, and their uses, so as to comprehend the whole distinctly in their memories; and at the same time he gave them the habit of speaking it both fluently and copiously! This was a kind of miracle very astonishing; but the change produced in the bodies of men was but the least part of it: what passed in their minds was the grand and principal thing, being an effect so extensive, that nothing inferior to infinite power could have produced it. With respect to the blind restored to sight by this great Light of the world, they saw every object distinctly, and immediately bore, without any inconvenience, the fullforce of unaccustomed light! A most wonderful circumstance, but which was universally the case, so far as we can judge by all the accounts of the blind restored to sight which occur in the Gospels.
And with respect to the maimed,— κυλλους, that is, persons who had lost their legs and arms, and who are here distinguished from the lame or crippled (see Mark 9:43.), Jesus gave new members in their stead; but when he thus created such parts of their bodies as were wanting, without having any thing at all as a subject to work upon, the spectators could not have been more surprised, had they seen him form a whole human body out of the dust of the earth. The Jewish multitudes seem to have apprehended the greatness of these miracles more distinctly than the generality of Christian; for we are told, ch. Matthew 9:33 when Jesus opened the mouth of the dumb man, the multitude marvelled, saying, It was never so seen in Israel. See also ch. Matthew 12:22-23. On this occasion likewise they were not silent nor unaffected: They glorified the God of Israel; acknowledging that in this event was fulfilled the prophesy of Isaiah, Isaiah 35:5. This clause makes it probable, that many heathens were now present with our Lord, beheld his miracles, and formed a just notion of them. It seems, hisfamespreadingitselfintotheneighbouringcountrieshadmadesuch an impression even upon the idolatrous nations, that numbers of them came from far to hear and see the wonderful man of whom such things were reported, and if possible to experience his healing goodness; wherefore, when they beheld these effects of his power, they were exceedingly struck with them, and broke forth in praises of the God, by whose assistance and authority they considered him as acting: and it may be also, from that time forth devoted themselves to his worship. See Macknight, Beza, and Elsne