Original Word: עִלֵּג
Part of Speech: Adjective
Transliteration: `illeg
Pronunciation: ah-LAH
Phonetic Spelling: (il-layg')
KJV: stammerer
NASB: stammerers
Word Origin: [from an unused root meaning to stutter]

1. stuttering

stammerer

From an unused root meaning to stutter; stuttering -- stammerer.

Word Origin
from an unused word
Definition
speaking inarticulately
NASB Translation
stammerers (1).

[עִלֵּג] adjective speaking inarticulately; — plural לְשׁוֺן עִלְּנִים Isaiah 32:4 (ᵐ5 ψελλίζουσαι; Lag^l.c.).

Occurrence and Translation

The Hebrew term עִלֵּג appears only once, in Isaiah 32:4, where the Berean Standard Bible reads: “…and the tongue of the stammerers will speak promptly and clearly.” The word portrays speech hampered by impediment—physical, psychological, or spiritual—suddenly freed for articulate expression.

Historical and Prophetic Setting

Isaiah 32 belongs to an oracle (Isaiah 28–35) that alternates between judgment on Judah’s corruption and a vision of a righteous future. Verses 1–8 introduce a coming king who rules justly with princes who defend truth. Within that milieu the “stammerers” are listed among the formerly disadvantaged (the rash, the fool, the scoundrel) whose conditions are reversed when righteous governance dawns. In Isaiah’s eighth-century world of political turmoil under Ahaz and Hezekiah, the promise signaled that God would counter human inability and restore honest public discourse.

Theological and Spiritual Themes

• Restoration of Communication: God’s revelation is speech-centered (Genesis 1:3). Healing stammering tongues signifies the removal of barriers between divine truth and human reception.
• Reversal of Babel: Speech confusion at Babel (Genesis 11:7) is undone as clarity replaces obscurity, foreshadowing Pentecost when every listener understood the apostles (Acts 2:6).
• Moral Clarity: Isaiah 32:4 links clear speech to discerning hearts; under the Messiah both thought and language are purified.
• Messianic Hope Fulfilled in Christ: Jesus literally loosened impeded tongues (Mark 7:32–35) and spiritually empowered clear proclamation (Acts 4:31).

Intertextual Connections

Exodus 4:10; Isaiah 28:11; Isaiah 35:6; Zephaniah 3:9; 1 Corinthians 14:21.

Practical Ministry Insights

• Compassionate Outreach: The passage encourages ministry to those with speech disabilities, mirroring the kingdom’s inclusiveness.
• Clarity in Proclamation: As stammerers speak clearly, preachers must communicate God’s word plainly (2 Corinthians 4:2).
• Spirit-Empowered Boldness: Isaiah ties moral renewal to restored speech; believers seek the Spirit’s aid for clear, courageous witness (Ephesians 6:19).
• Hope for the Inadequate: Those who feel tongue-tied—like Moses or Jeremiah—can trust the Lord who transforms impediments into instruments of praise.

Summary

By depicting stammerers suddenly speaking with precision, עִלֵּג encapsulates the prophetic promise that the righteous reign of the coming King will dissolve every barrier to understanding and proclamation. The church already tastes this reality through the healing works of Christ and the empowering Spirit, while awaiting its fullness when “the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea” (Habakkuk 2:14).

עִלְּגִ֔ים עלגים ‘il·lə·ḡîm ‘illəḡîm illeGimInterlinear Greek • Interlinear Hebrew • Strong's Numbers • Englishman's Greek Concordance • Englishman's Hebrew Concordance • Parallel Texts