Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Mark 10:47

"And when he heard that it was Jesus the Nazarene, he began to cry out, and say, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me." — Mark 10:47 (ASV)

Bartimaeus must have heard of Jesus’ reputation as a healer. When he discovered that Jesus was coming by, he seized the opportunity of approaching him. The title he used to address Jesus—“Son of David”—is messianic (cf. Isaiah 11:1, 10; Jeremiah 23:5–6; Ezekiel 34:23–24; cf. Mark 12:35). The pilgrims going up to Jerusalem for the Feast of Passover did not appreciate Bartimaeus’s loud shouting and tried to silence him, but he shouted all the more.

Unlike the crowd, Jesus did not try to silence Bartimaeus. This implies that he did not reject the title “Son of David.” Since Jesus was now close to the fulfillment of his messianic mission, it was no longer necessary to keep the secret .