Greek word · G1769

ἐννεός

enneos

speechless

Unable to speak: mute, dumb. By extension, struck speechless with astonishment or fear, dumbfounded.

Appears once in the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

ἐνεός

(Rec. ἐνν-), -οῦ, ὁ [in LXX: Isaiah 56:10 (אִלֵּם), Ep. Jeremiah 41:1-18; ἐ. ποιεῖν, Proverbs 17:28 * ;]

dumb, speechless: Acts 9:7.†

(AS)

From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Acts 9:7

Range of meaning

Unable to speak: mute, dumb. By extension, struck speechless with astonishment or fear, dumbfounded.

Against the English

'Speechless' (KJV, BSB, WEB, ESV) is accurate. NLT-style phrasing such as 'stood speechless' or 'unable to speak' gets the same idea across. The Vulgate's 'stupefacti' (stunned) brings out the dazed side of the word.

Used elsewhere in the period

Isa 56:10 LXX uses it of Israel's watchmen as 'mute dogs' that cannot bark. In Prov 17:28 LXX a silent man is credited with sense. In classical Greek the word also means 'stupefied'.

Where it appears

Acts · 1

  1. Acts 9:7 ἐνεοί, speechless,

    The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless. They heard the voice but did not see anyone.

    Here: Struck dumb. They were too stunned to say anything. This is the shock of people who have run into something beyond their categories, not a quiet hush.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.