דּוּמָה

From the study of Psalm 94:17

Range of meaning

From the root d-w-m / d-m-m, 'to be still, silent'. It is used only twice in the Bible as a common noun, both times in the Psalms (94:17; 115:17), and both times for the realm of the dead: 'The dead do not praise the LORD, nor any who go down into Silence' (Ps 115:17). The same spelling also appears as a place or tribal name (Dumah, an Ishmaelite oasis, Gen 25:14; Isa 21:11), which is a different use. Related words (dûmîyâ, 'stillness, silent waiting', Ps 62:1; 39:2) show the root's range from death-silence to the quiet of trust.

Against the English

KJV, YLT and WEB give a bare 'silence', which a modern reader may hear as quietness, calm, or being speechless. BSB and NASB ('the abode of silence'), ESV ('the land of silence'), NIV ('the silence of death') and NLT ('the silence of the grave') all show that a place, the underworld, is meant.

How it drifted

In older English 'silence' could carry a poetic sense of death, but today the word has lost it. Without a note, 'dwelt in silence' sounds like an emotional state, not death.

Used elsewhere in the period

The Septuagint renders it 'Hades' in both Ps 93:17 and 113:25 (=115:17), so ancient Jewish translators read it as the underworld. N. Tromp's study of Israel's ideas of the netherworld lists Dumah among its poetic names, next to Sheol, the Pit, and Abaddon. The silence of the dead is a recurring Psalms theme: Ps 6:5; 30:9; 88:10–12; 31:17 ('let the wicked… be silent in Sheol'); Isa 38:18.

From the study of Psalm 115:17

Range of meaning

From a root meaning 'be still, be silent, cease' (compare dāmam, 'be silent / stand still', Josh 10:12; Ps 31:17). As a common noun it means 'silence'. In poetry it works as a name for the underworld: the land where nothing is heard. It also occurs as an unrelated place and tribal name (Gen 25:14; Isa 21:11).

Against the English

Most English versions keep 'silence' (KJV, BSB, WEB, YLT, ESV, NASB). NIV spells out the place, 'the place of silence', and NLT says 'the silence of the grave'. Plain 'silence' can sound like a quiet death or a fading away. The Hebrew is naming a destination.

How it drifted

English 'silence' names a condition, not a place. Without capitals or a preposition of place, readers lose the sense that Dumah is another name for Sheol, the realm of the dead.

Used elsewhere in the period

Ps 94:17 uses the same expression for nearly dying: 'my soul would soon have dwelt in Silence'. Ps 31:17 says the wicked are to 'be silent in Sheol', and 1 Sam 2:9 that they are 'silenced in darkness'. The Septuagint renders dûmāh here as 'Hades' and the Vulgate as 'infernum' (the underworld), so ancient translators read it as the realm of the dead. Later rabbinic tradition turned Dumah into a person, the angel in charge of the souls of the dead. Studies of Israelite ideas of death (e.g. N. Tromp, 1969) list Dumah among the poetic names for the underworld.