the Week of Proper 28 / Ordinary 33
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Bible Encyclopedias
Dumb
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
or Temporary dumbness was inflicted as a sign upon Ezekiel (Ezekiel 3:26; Ezekiel 24:27; Ezekiel 33:22 ) and as a punishment for unbelief upon Zacharias (Luke 1:22 ). There are several cases recorded of our Lord's healing the dumb (Matthew 15:30; Mark 7:37; Luke 11:14 , etc.). Dumbness is often associated with imbecility and was therefore regarded as due to demoniac possession (Matthew 9:32; Matthew 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 (Mark 9:17 ). The deaf man with the impediment in his speech (Mark 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 Psalm 39:1-13 : "I doumbed and meked and was ful stille."
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Orr, James, M.A., D.D. General Editor. Entry for 'Dumb'. International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/isb/d/dumb.html. 1915.
