the Week of Proper 28 / Ordinary 33
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Bible Encyclopedias
Mouth
Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature
or The ordinary applications of this word, common to all languages, require no explanation; but the following somewhat peculiar uses may be noted: 'Heavy-mouthed,' that is, slow of speech, and so translated in; 'smooth mouth' (), that is, a flattering mouth; so also 'a mouth of deceit' (). The following are also remarkable phrases: 'To speak with one mouth to mouth, that is, in person, without the intervention of an interpreter (; comp.; ). 'With one mouth,' that is, with one voice or consent (;; ). 'With the whole mouth,' that is, with the utmost strength of voice (; ). 'To put words into one's mouth,' that is, to suggest what one shall say (;;;; , etc.). 'To be in one's mouth,' is to be often spoken of, as a law, etc. (; comp.; ). 'To lay the hand upon the mouth,' is to be silent (;;; comp. ), just as we lay the finger on the mouth to enjoin silence. 'To write from the mouth of anyone' is to do so from his dictation (;;; ).
The mouth, as the organ of speech, also signifies the words that proceed out of it, which in the sacred style are the same as commands and actions. Hence, for a person or thing to come out of the mouth of another is to be constituted or commanded to become an agent or minister under a superior power: this is frequent in the Revelations (;;;; ). The term mouth is not only applied to a speech or words, but to the speaker (; ), in which sense it has a near equivalent in our expression 'mouthpiece.'
Public Domain.
Kitto, John, ed. Entry for 'Mouth'. "Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature". https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/kbe/m/mouth.html.
