The term "lame" in the Bible refers to individuals who are physically disabled, specifically those who have difficulty walking due to injury, deformity, or paralysis. The condition of being lame is mentioned in various contexts throughout the Scriptures, often highlighting themes of healing, restoration, and divine intervention.

Old Testament References

In the Old Testament, being lame is frequently associated with weakness and vulnerability. For instance, in Leviticus 21:18, the law stipulates that no man with a defect, including being lame, may approach to offer the food of his God, emphasizing the requirement for physical wholeness in the priesthood. Similarly, in 2 Samuel 5:8, David expresses disdain for the lame and the blind, stating, "Whoever conquers the Jebusites must strike down the lame and the blind, who are detested by David’s soul." This reflects the cultural perception of lameness as a significant impediment.

The prophet Isaiah, however, speaks of a future time of restoration when the lame will be healed. Isaiah 35:6 proclaims, "Then the lame will leap like a deer, and the mute tongue will shout for joy." This prophetic vision points to the Messianic age, where physical infirmities will be overcome through divine intervention.

New Testament References

In the New Testament, Jesus Christ's ministry is marked by numerous healings of the lame, demonstrating His compassion and divine authority. In Matthew 11:5, Jesus refers to His miracles as evidence of His messianic identity: "The blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor." These acts of healing fulfill Old Testament prophecies and signify the inbreaking of God's kingdom.

One notable healing occurs in John 5:2-9, where Jesus heals a man who had been lame for thirty-eight years at the Pool of Bethesda. Jesus commands him, "Get up, pick up your mat, and walk," and the man is immediately healed. This miracle not only demonstrates Jesus' power over physical ailments but also serves as a sign of spiritual renewal and salvation.

The early church continues this ministry of healing through the apostles. In Acts 3:2-8, Peter and John heal a man lame from birth at the temple gate called Beautiful. Peter declares, "In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, get up and walk!" The man leaps up, walking and praising God, which leads to many witnessing the power of Jesus' name.

Symbolic and Theological Significance

The condition of being lame is often used symbolically in Scripture to represent spiritual weakness or moral deficiency. In Hebrews 12:13, believers are exhorted to "make straight paths for your feet, so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed." This metaphorical use underscores the call to live righteously and support one another in faith.

The healing of the lame serves as a powerful testament to God's redemptive work through Christ. It illustrates the transformative power of faith and the hope of complete restoration in the eschatological future. The physical healing of the lame is a foretaste of the ultimate healing and wholeness promised to all believers in the new creation.1. (superl.) Moving with pain or difficulty on account of injury, defect, or temporary obstruction of a function; as, a lame leg, arm, or muscle.

2. (superl.) To some degree disabled by reason of the imperfect action of a limb; crippled; as, a lame man.

3. (superl.) Hence, hobbling; limping; inefficient; imperfect.

4. (v. t.) To make lame.

LAME

lam (piceach, nakheh; cholos):

(1) The condition of being unable or imperfectly able to walk, which unfitted any descendant of Aaron so afflicted for service in the priesthood (Leviticus 21:18), and rendered an animal unsuitable for sacrifice (Deuteronomy 15:21). The offering of animals so blemished was one of the sins with which Malachi charges the negligent Jews of his time (Malachi 1:8-13).

(2) Those who suffered from lameness, such as Mephibosheth, whose limbs were injured by a fall in childhood (2 Samuel 4:4; 2 Samuel 9:3). In the prophetic description of the completeness of the victory of the returning Israelites, it is predicted that the lame shall be made whole and shall leap like a hart (Jeremiah 3:18 Isaiah 35:6). The unfitness of the lame for warfare gives point to the promise that the lame shall take the prey (Isaiah 33:23). Job in his graphic description of his helpfulness to the weak before his calamity says, "And feet was I to the lame" (Job 29:15). The inequality of the legs of the lame is used in Proverbs 26:7 as a similitude of the ineptness with which a fool uses a parable.

In the enigmatical and probably corrupt passage describing David's capture of Jerusalem, the lame and blind are mentioned twice. In 2 Samuel 5:6 it was a taunt on the part of the Jebusites that even a garrison of cripples would suffice to keep out the Israelites. The allusion in 5:8 may be read, "Whosoever smiteth the Jebusites let him.... slay both the lame and blind, which hate David's soul" as it is in Septuagint. The Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) says, "David had offered a reward on that day to the man who should smite the Jebusite and reach the water pipes of the houses, and remove the blind and lame who hated David's soul." It is possible, however, that Budde's emendation is more correct and that it is a threat against the indiscriminate slaughter of the Jebusites: "Whoso slayeth a Jebusite shall bring his neck into peril; the lame and blind are not hated of David's soul." The proverbial saying quoted in 5:8 cannot be correct as rendered in the King James Version, for we read in Matthew 21:14 that the lame came to our Lord in the temple and were healed.

The healing of the lame by our Lord is recorded in Matthew 11:5; Matthew 15:30, 31; 21:14 Luke 7:22; Luke 14:13. For the apostolic miracles of healing the lame, see CRIPPLE. In Hebrews 12:13 the Christians are counseled to courage under chastisement, lest their despair should cause that which is lame to be "turned out of the way."

Alexander Macalister

5560. cholos -- lame, halt, maimed
... lame, halt, maimed. Part of Speech: Adjective Transliteration: cholos Phonetic Spelling:
(kho-los') Short Definition: lame, deprived of a foot Definition: lame ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/5560.htm - 6k

2948. kullos -- crippled
... crippled. Part of Speech: Adjective Transliteration: kullos Phonetic Spelling:
(kool-los') Short Definition: crippled, lame Definition: crippled, lame ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/2948.htm - 6k

434. anemeros -- not tame
... fierce, savage. From a (as a negative particle) and hemeros (lame); savage -- fierce.
see GREEK a. (anemeroi) -- 1 Occurrence. 433, 434. anemeros. 435 . ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/434.htm - 6k

6455. pisseach -- lame
... 6454, 6455. pisseach. 6456 . lame. Transliteration: pisseach Phonetic
Spelling: (pis-say'-akh) Short Definition: lame. Word Origin ...
/hebrew/6455.htm - 6k

6452b. pasach -- to limp
... to limp. Transliteration: pasach Short Definition: lame. Word Origin a prim. root
Definition to limp NASB Word Usage became lame (1), hesitate (1), leaped (1). ...
/hebrew/6452b.htm - 5k

5223. nakeh -- smitten, stricken
... contrite, lame. Smitten, ie (literally) maimed, or (figuratively) dejected --
contrite, lame. 5222, 5223. nakeh. 5224 . Strong's Numbers.
/hebrew/5223.htm - 6k

6452. pacach -- to pass or spring over
... pacach. 6452a . to pass or spring over. Transliteration: pacach Phonetic Spelling:
(paw-sakh') Short Definition: halt. halt, become lame, leap, pass over ...
/hebrew/6452.htm - 5k

6760. tsala -- to limp
... to limp. Transliteration: tsala Phonetic Spelling: (tsaw-lah') Short Definition:
lame. ... root Definition to limp NASB Word Usage lame (3), limping (1). halt. ...
/hebrew/6760.htm - 6k

8006. Shillem -- a man of Naphtali
... 8005, 8006. Shillem. 8007 . a man of Naphtali. Transliteration: Shillem
Phonetic Spelling: (shil-lame') Short Definition: Shillem. ...
/hebrew/8006.htm - 6k

3390. Yerushalem -- the capital city of all Isr.
... 3389, 3390. Yerushalem. 3391 . the capital city of all Isr. Transliteration:
Yerushalem Phonetic Spelling: (yer-oo-shaw-lame') Short Definition: Jerusalem. ...
/hebrew/3390.htm - 6k

483. illem -- mute (unable to speak)
... 482, 483. illem. 484 . mute (unable to speak). Transliteration: illem
Phonetic Spelling: (il-lame') Short Definition: mute. Word ...
/hebrew/483.htm - 6k

8004. Shalem -- "peaceful," an early name of Jer.
... 8003, 8004. Shalem. 8005 . "peaceful," an early name of Jer. Transliteration:
Shalem Phonetic Spelling: (shaw-lame') Short Definition: Salem. ...
/hebrew/8004.htm - 6k

8005. shillem -- recompense
... 8004, 8005. shillem. 8006 . recompense. Transliteration: shillem Phonetic
Spelling: (shil-lame') Short Definition: retribution. ...
/hebrew/8005.htm - 6k

A Common Mistake and Lame Excuse
... THE BOOK OF EZEKIEL A COMMON MISTAKE AND LAME EXCUSE. '... He prophesieth
of the times that are far off.'"Ezekiel 12:27. Human ...
/.../maclaren/expositions of holy scripture a/a common mistake and lame.htm

'Then Shall the Lame Man Leap as an Hart'
... 'THEN SHALL THE LAME MAN LEAP AS AN HART'. 'Now Peter and John went up
together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ...
/.../maclaren/expositions of holy scripture the acts/then shall the lame man.htm

Of the Cure of a Lame Man which the Same Saint Wrought.
... The Conferences of John Cassian. Chapter V. Of the cure of a lame man which
the same saint wrought. Or when the same man as he went ...
/.../cassian/the conferences of john cassian/chapter v of the cure.htm

The Lame Man Cured by Peter and John.
... LECTURES LECTURE IV. THE LAME MAN CURED BY PETER AND JOHN. Chap. iii.1-16.
THE Apostles were commissioned to promulgate a religion ...
/.../dick/lectures on the acts of the apostles/lecture iv the lame man.htm

The Healing of the Lame Man at the Beautiful Gate
... THE NEW TESTAMENT THE HEALING OF THE LAME MAN AT THE BEAUTIFUL GATE. By
agreement the believers met together daily in the Temple. ...
/...//christianbookshelf.org/sherman/the childrens bible/the healing of the lame.htm

The Lame Man at the Temple Gate.
... THE LAME MAN AT THE TEMPLE GATE. ACTS III.1-8. Although this miracle ... thoughtful,
gift. Probably Peter had often passed this lame man before. To ...
//christianbookshelf.org/dods/how to become like christ/the lame man at the.htm

And Let not Celsus be Angry if we Describe as Lame and Mutilated ...
... Chapter LII. And let not Celsus be angry if we describe as lame and mutilated
in soul? And let not Celsus be angry if we describe ...
/.../christianbookshelf.org/origen/origen against celsus/chapter lii and let not.htm

How, when the Pelagian Heresy Began to Spring up Afresh, Germanus ...
... XXI. How, when the Pelagian heresy began to spring up afresh, Germanus, returning
to Britain with Severus, first restored bodily strength to a lame youth, then ...
/.../bede/bedes ecclesiastical history of england/chap xxi how when the.htm

Celsus, Moreover, Unable to Resist the Miracles which Jesus is ...
... And now he represents us as saying that "we deemed Jesus to be the Son of God, because
he healed the lame and the blind." And he adds: "Moreover, as you assert ...
/.../origen/origen against celsus/chapter xlviii celsus moreover unable.htm

Concerning the Multitudes who were Healed. Comparison of the ...
... Son of God sits, some who have become deaf to the things promised, and others blind
in soul and not looking at the true light, and others who are lame and not ...
/.../18 concerning the multitudes who.htm

Lame (35 Occurrences)
... 1. (superl.) Moving with pain or difficulty on account of injury, defect, or temporary
obstruction of a function; as, a lame leg, arm, or muscle. ...LAME. ...
/l/lame.htm - 21k

Crippled (15 Occurrences)
... 2. (a.) Lamed; lame; disabled; impeded. ... (WEY NIV). Luke 14:13 But when you entertain,
invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind; (WEY DBY NAS NIV). ...
/c/crippled.htm - 11k

Maimed (10 Occurrences)
... Hippocrates, however, uses kullos for a deformation of the legs in which the knees
are bent so far outward as to render the patient lame; while he applies the ...
/m/maimed.htm - 11k

Cripple (2 Occurrences)
... 1. (n.) One who creeps, halts, or limps; one who has lost, or never had, the use
of a limb or limbs; a lame person; hence, one who is partially disabled. ...
/c/cripple.htm - 7k

Mephibosheth (13 Occurrences)
... the property lost. Not till many days after did the lame prince get his
chance to give David his own version of the story. He met ...
/m/mephibosheth.htm - 17k

Mephib'osheth (13 Occurrences)
... Multi-Version Concordance Mephib'osheth (13 Occurrences). 2 Samuel 4:4 Now
Jonathan, Saul's son, had a son that was lame of his feet. ...
/m/mephib'osheth.htm - 10k

Mute (29 Occurrences)
... (WEB NAS NIV). Matthew 15:30 Great multitudes came to him, having with them the
lame, blind, mute, maimed, and many others, and they put them down at his feet. ...
/m/mute.htm - 16k

Persons (156 Occurrences)
... Blind men receive sight, the lame walk, lepers are purified, deaf persons hear,
the dead are raised to life, the poor have the Good News proclaimed to them. ...
/p/persons.htm - 38k

Walk (315 Occurrences)
... Matthew 11:5 the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed,
the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached ...
/w/walk.htm - 39k

Cured (62 Occurrences)
... Matthew 11:5 the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed,
the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached ...
/c/cured.htm - 23k

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