He took hold of the blind man by the hand, and brought him out of the village. When he had spat on his eyes, and laid his hands on him, he asked him if he saw anything.
World English Bible
Mark 8:23
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WEB World English Bible Public Domain ✓ - Modern English
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- F35 Family 35 New Testament Wilbur Pickering's Byzantine-priority New Testament, with text-critical commentary notes · CC BY-SA 4.0
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Examined in Scripture Analysis
Science (1)
Historical claims about the natural world, weighed against the scientific record.
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Human saliva applied directly to the eyes can restore vision to a blind person.
Medicine · Mark 8:22-23
The scientific record: Saliva carries pathogens harmful to the eyes, and blindness has identifiable structural causes requiring specific interventions. (CDC)
Contradictions (1)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
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How did Jesus cure the blind man?
Mark 8:22-25 has Jesus heal a blind man at Bethsaida by spitting directly on his eyes and laying hands on him — twice, because the first attempt only half-worked. John 9:1-7 has Jesus heal a blind man in Jerusalem by spitting on the ground, mixing clay, anointing the man's eyes, and sending him to wash in the Pool of Siloam.
Critical scholarship: Genuinely disputed among scholars.
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"Mark 8:23 — Scripture Analysis" GEBible, https://gebible.app/analysis/verse/mark/8/23?version=WEB (retrieved 27 August 2026).