Dumb

Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897)

From natural infirmity (Ex. 4:11); not knowing what to say (Prov. 31:8); unwillingness to speak (Ps. 39:9; Lev. 10:3). Christ repeatedly restored the dumb (Matt. 9:32, 33; Luke 11:14; Matt. 12:22) to the use of speech.

Scripture References

ISBE

dum (alam, 'illem, literally, "tied in the tongue"; kophos): Used either as expressing the physical condition of speechlessness, generally associated with deafness, or figuratively as meaning the silence produced by the weight of God's judgments ( Ps 39:2-9 ; Da 10:15 ) or the oppression of external calamity ( Ps 38:13 ). As an adjective it is used to characterize inefficient teachers destitute of spirituality ("dumb dogs," Isa 56:10 ). The speechlessness of Saul's companions ( Ac 9:7 ) was due to fright; that of the man without the wedding garment was because he had no excuse to give ( Mt 22:12 ). Idols are called mute, because helpless and voiceless ( Hab 2:18 , 19 ; 1Co 12:2 ). The dumbness of the sheep before the shearer is a token of submission ( Isa 53:7 ; Ac 8:32 ). Temporary dumbness was inflicted as a sign upon Ezekiel (3:26; 24:27; 33:22) and as a punishment for unbelief upon Zacharias ( Lu 1:22 ). There are several cases recorded of our Lord's healing the dumb ( Mt 15:30 ; Mr 7:37 ; Lu 11:14 , etc.). Dumbness is often associated with imbecility and was therefore regarded as due to demoniac possession ( Mt 9:32 ; 12:22 ). The evangelists therefore describe the healing of these as effected by the casting out of demons. This is especially noted in the case of the epileptic boy ( Mr 9:17 ). The deaf man with the impediment in his speech ( Mr 7:32 ) is said to have been cured by loosening the string of his tongue. This does not necessarily mean that he was tongue- tied, which is a condition causing lisping, not stammering; he was probably one of those deaf persons who produce babbling, incoherent and meaningless sounds. I saw in the asylum in Jerusalem a child born blind and deaf, who though dumb, produced inarticulate noises. In an old 14th-century psalter "dumb" is used as a verb in Ps 39 : "I doumbed and meked and was ful stille." Alexander Macalister