Bible Dictionaries
Spit, Spittle
Holman Bible Dictionary
Spitting at or on someone is the strongest sign of contempt. The brother who refused to perform levirate marriage (have a child by his brother's wife to carry on the name of the brother, Deuteronomy 25:5-6 ) would have his face spit in by the spurned wife of the brother (Deuteronomy 25:7-9 ). The soldiers that mocked Jesus before His crucifixion spat on Him (Matthew 27:30 ). The religious leaders who tried Jesus before taking Him to Pilate spat in His face (Matthew 26:67 ). Spittle was used to heal (Mark 8:23; John 9:6 ). Mixing spittle with clay (John 9:6 ) may have been to deliberately break the Sabbath laws of the Jewish religious leaders.
Copyright Statement
These dictionary topics are from the Holman Bible Dictionary, published by Broadman & Holman, 1991. All rights reserved. Used by permission of Broadman & Holman.
Bibliography Information
Butler, Trent C. Editor. Entry for 'Spit, Spittle'. Holman Bible Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/hbd/s/spit-spittle.html. 1991.