And when he came out, he could not speak unto them,.... Or deliver the benediction they were waiting for: and they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple: which he made them to understand, by the gestures he used: for he beckoned unto them; nodding his head, or by some motions of his hands the Ethiopic version adds, "with his hand": or of his lips; for the signs of a dumb man are distinguished into and (q); the one is a sign which is expressed by the head and hands; and the other is a sign expressed by the lips: hence that rule, (r). "a dumb man beckons, and is beckoned to; and Ben Bethira says, he moves his lips, and lips are moved to him: and remained speechless; to the time the angel fixed, (q) Bartenora in Misa. Gittin, c. 5. sect. 7. (r) Misn. ib.