Word study

Mute

2 Hebrew and 3 Greek words behind this English word

The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with “mute”. English often uses one word where Hebrew or Greek has several, each with its own shade of meaning. Under each word are verses where it is translated this way; choose the word itself for its full study: every verse, how else it is translated, the forms it takes and what the dictionaries say.

At a glance

How often each original word is translated “mute” or one of its forms.

Compare the Hebrew words side by side Compare the Greek words side by side

Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)

  • אִלֵּם illêmdumbtranslated this way 4 times of its 6 uses · Strong’s H483Adjective  ·  Translated: mute 3, like a mute man 1, voice 1, cannot speak 1

    Exodus 4:11 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?

    Psalm 38:13 But like a deaf man, I do not hear; and like a mute man, I do not open my mouth.

    Full study and all 6 verses →
  • אָלַם âlambindtranslated this way 3 times of its 9 uses · Strong’s H481Verb  ·  Translated: silent 2, mute 2

    Psalm 39:9 I have become mute; I do not open my mouth because of what You have done.

    Ezekiel 24:27 On that day your mouth will be opened to him who has escaped; you will speak and no longer be mute. So you will be a sign to them, and they will know that I am the LORD.”

    Full study and all 9 verses →

Greek words (New Testament)

  • κωφός kōphósdumb, deaftranslated this way 6 times of its 12 uses · Strong’s G2974Adjective  ·  Translated: mute 6, deaf 4, man who was deaf 1, unable to speak 1

    Matthew 9:32 As they were leaving, a demon-possessed man who was mute was brought to Jesus.

    Luke 11:14 One day Jesus was driving out a demon that was mute. And when the demon was gone, the man who had been mute spoke. The crowds were amazed,

    Full study and all 11 verses →
  • ἄλαλος álalosunable to speaktranslated this way 3 times of its 3 uses · Strong’s G216Adjective  ·  Translated: mute 3

    Mark 7:37 The people were utterly astonished and said, “He has done all things well! He makes even the deaf hear and the mute speak!”

    Mark 9:17 Someone in the crowd replied, “Teacher, I brought You my son, who has a spirit that makes him mute.

    Full study and all 3 verses →
  • ἄφωνος áphōnossoundless, voiceless, speechless, dumbtranslated this way 1 time of its 4 uses · Strong’s G880Adjective  ·  Translated: silent 1, mute 1, without meaning 1, without speech 1

    1 Corinthians 12:2 You know that when you were pagans, you were influenced and led astray to mute idols.

    Full study and all 4 verses →
How to study a word well
  1. Start from the verse, not the dictionary. Find which Hebrew or Greek word stands in the verse you are studying. One English word often translates several different original words.
  2. Read every place the word is used. A word means what its writers used it to mean. The list of verses and the count by book show its range, and who uses it most.
  3. Look at how it is translated. A word rendered five different ways has a wider meaning than any one English word can carry.
  4. Notice the form. A command is not a statement, and a passive verb is something done to the subject. The form in your verse is part of the meaning.
  5. See what it keeps company with. The words that appear beside it again and again show how the Bible itself connects ideas.
  6. Then read the dictionaries. They give the considered view of scholars, with their evidence.
  7. Come back to the verse. Context decides. A word does not carry every one of its meanings into every verse, and where a word came from does not settle what it means in a sentence written centuries later.

Scripture text and translation counts: Berean Standard Bible. Full entry: Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906, public domain), in the digital edition Brown-Driver-Briggs Enhanced by unfoldingWord (Joel Ruark, J. de Joode), based on data by Eliran Wong and Stephen Ku; its additions are used under CC BY 4.0. Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary: Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible Project, CC BY 4.0. Hebrew-to-English verse numbering: original work of the Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible available at https://github.com/openscriptures/morphhb, CC BY 4.0. We reformatted the data, linked the references to this site’s Bible text and left out words in other scripts that the source holds only as images. These are historical reference works; an entry gives its authors’ view, and a word’s meaning in any verse depends on how it is used there.