Hebrew word · H483

אִלֵּם

'ilem

mute

Someone who cannot speak, physically mute (Exodus 4:11; Isaiah 35:6). It is also used for someone who stays silent and does not answer, especially under accusation or suffering (Psalm 38:13).

Appears 6 times in 6 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

mute, silent, dumb, unable to speak

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Proverbs 31:8

Range of meaning

Someone who cannot speak, physically mute (Exodus 4:11; Isaiah 35:6). It is also used for someone who stays silent and does not answer, especially under accusation or suffering (Psalm 38:13). It can describe failed watchmen who should raise the alarm and do not (Isaiah 56:10, "mute dogs that cannot bark").

Against the English

KJV "dumb" was accurate in 1611, when it meant "unable to speak." Today most readers hear "stupid." BSB "those with no voice" and the NIV's "those who cannot speak for themselves" spell out the picture. ESV and WEB keep "mute."

How it drifted

In English, "dumb" moved from "speechless" to "stupid," mainly in the 19th and 20th centuries (partly under the influence of German dumm). The KJV wording now gives the wrong picture.

Used elsewhere in the period

The closest parallel is Psalm 38:13: "like a mute (illem) who does not open his mouth (lo yiftach-piv)." There the same two words, illem and "open the mouth," appear together, describing a sufferer who cannot answer his accusers. In Proverbs 24:7 the fool "does not open his mouth in the gate." The city gate was where court was held, so the idiom of opening or not opening the mouth belongs to legal settings.

From the study of Isaiah 35:6

Range of meaning

Mute, unable to speak. From a root meaning "to be bound, tied" (compare Ps 39:9, "I was mute, I did not open my mouth"). It can describe a physical condition or a chosen or forced silence.

Against the English

KJV's "dumb" meant exactly this in 1611. Today "dumb" mostly means "stupid," which badly distorts the verse for modern readers (see drift).

How it drifted

English "dumb" originally meant speechless. Its main sense shifted to "unintelligent" in modern (especially American) usage.

Used elsewhere in the period

Exod 4:11 is the key parallel: "Who has made a person's mouth? Who makes him mute ('illem) or deaf (cheresh), or seeing or blind ('iwwer)? Is it not I, the LORD?" Isa 35:5–6 names the same conditions: blind, deaf, mute, plus lame. Isa 56:10 calls negligent watchmen "mute dogs." In the Septuagint the word here is mogilalos ("speaking with difficulty"). It appears only here in the Greek Old Testament, and in the New Testament only in Mark 7:32. Mark ends that healing with "he makes even the deaf hear and the mute speak" (7:37), a strong sign that Mark is pointing back to this passage.

From the study of Isaiah 56:10

Range of meaning

Mute, unable to speak. Used of people who physically cannot speak, of someone who chooses to keep silent, and of idols that cannot speak.

Against the English

KJV 'dumb' meant exactly this in 1611. Today 'dumb' mainly means 'stupid', which is not what the Hebrew says. NIV/BSB 'mute' and ESV 'silent' are clearer.

How it drifted

In English, 'dumb' moved from 'unable to speak' to 'stupid' over the 19th–20th centuries, largely under the influence of the German dumm. It also became offensive when used of Deaf or non-speaking people.

Used elsewhere in the period

Exod 4:11 ('Who makes a person mute or deaf?'); Ps 38:13 ('like a mute who does not open his mouth'); Prov 31:8 ('Open your mouth for the mute'); Isa 35:6 ('the tongue of the mute will shout for joy'); Hab 2:18 (mute idols).

Where it appears

Exodus · 1

  1. Exodus 4:11 אִלֵּ֔ם dumb

    And the LORD said to him, “Who gave man his mouth? Or who makes the mute or the deaf, the sighted or the blind? Is it not I, the LORD?

    Here: Someone without speech. It comes first because it is closest to Moses' worry about his speaking.

Psalms · 1

  1. Psalm 38:13 וּ֝כְאִלֵּ֗ם and like a dumb [person]

    But like a deaf man, I do not hear; and like a mute man, I do not open my mouth.

Proverbs · 1

  1. Proverbs 31:8 לְאִלֵּ֑ם for [the] dumb

    Open your mouth for those with no voice, for the cause of all the dispossessed.

    Here: "For a mute person." The prefix le- means "on behalf of." Illem is the ordinary word for someone who physically cannot speak (Exodus 4:11). Here it is a picture of anyone who cannot plead their own case: no standing, no advocate, no money, no nerve.

Isaiah · 2

  1. Isaiah 35:6 אִלֵּ֑ם a dumb [person]

    Then the lame will leap like a deer and the mute tongue will shout for joy. For waters will gush forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert.

    Here: A person unable to speak. It is the same word God uses in Exodus 4:11 ("Who makes a person mute or deaf, seeing or blind? Is it not I, the LORD?").

  2. Isaiah 56:10 אִלְּמִ֔ים dumb

    Israel’s watchmen are blind, they are all oblivious; they are all mute dogs, they cannot bark; they are dreamers lying around, loving to slumber.

    Here: Unable to make a sound. It is not 'stupid' (the later English sense of KJV 'dumb'). A silent guard dog is as useless as a blind lookout.

Habakkuk · 1

  1. Habakkuk 2:18 אִלְּמִֽים׃ ס dumb

    What use is an idol, that a craftsman should carve it—or an image, a teacher of lies? For its maker trusts in his own creation; he makes idols that cannot speak.

    Here: 'Mute ones.' 'Elilim illemim' is a sound-play, roughly 'nothing-gods, no-voice gods'. It lands on the irony: the 'teacher' cannot speak.

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