King James Bible Dictionary

DEAF, noun deef.

1. Not perceiving sounds; not receiving impressions from sonorous bodies through the air; as a deaf ear.

2. Wanting the sense of hearing; having organs which do not perceive sounds; as a deaf man. It is followed by to before that which ought to be heard; as deaf to the voice of the orator.

3. In a metaphorical sense, not listening; not regarding; not moved, persuaded or convinced; rejecting; as deaf to reason or arguments. Men are deaf to the calls of the gospel.

4. Without the ability or will to regard spiritual things; unconcerned; as, hear, ye deaf Is. x1ii.

5. Deprived of the power of hearing; deafened; as deaf with clamor.

6. Stifled; imperfect; obscurely heard; as a deaf noise or murmur.

DEAF, verb transitive to deafen, is used by Dryden, but is obsolete, unless perhaps in poetry.

DE'AFEN, verb transitive dee'fn.

1. To make deaf; to deprive of the power of hearing; to impair the organs of hearing, so as to render them unimpressible to sounds.

2. To stun; to render incapable of perceiving sounds distinctly; as deafened with clamor or tumult.

DE'AFLY, adverb dee'fly. Without sense of sounds; obscurely heard.

Law concerning
Leviticus 19:14

Inflicted by God
Exodus 4:11

Miraculous cure of
Matthew 11:5; Mark 7:32; Mark 9:25

Figurative of moral insensibility
Isaiah 6:10; Isaiah 29:18; Isaiah 35:5; Ezekiel 12:2; Matthew 13:15; John 12:40; Acts 28:26-27
Blindness, Spiritual; Conscience, Dead; Impenitence; Obduracy

DE'AFNESS, noun, dee'fness.

1. Incapacity of perceiving sounds; the state of the organs which prevents the impressions which constitute hearing; as the deafness of the ears: hence, applied to persons, want of the sense of hearing.

2. Unwillingness to hear and regard; voluntary rejection of what is addressed to the ear and to the understanding.