LAME. This term describes a physical state in which a person walks with difficulty, or else is entirely unable to do so. If lameness is present at birth it is called congenital, but if it develops subsequently it is known as acquired. One form of lameness recognizable from Near Eastern antiquity was cyllosis, or clubfoot, which appeared in variant forms but which always involved permanent disability of the extremities. Another was represented on an Egyp. stele of the eighteenth dynasty (1570-1310 b.c.), depicting a man with an atrophied right leg, evidently the result of infantile paralysis. Imperfectly formed or proportioned lower limbs were not unknown in early Israel (Lev 21:18); such deformities disqualified a man from serving in the priesthood. During the early monarchy there were numerous lame people among the Jebusite population of Jerusalem, though precise information is lacking (2 Sam 5:6, 8). Allusions to lameness were incorporated into the lore of the Heb. sages, who formulated a saying to the effect that a proverb in the mouth of a fool was similar to the legs of a lame man (Prov 26:7). By this they implied that only the wise could use a proverb properly so that when employed by a fool it was as useless as the legs of a cripple.

Quite apart from congenital conditions, many people doubtless became lame through accidents. Such was the case with Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan (2 Sam 4:4), who sustained lameness through being dropped as a child by his nurse. Some form of local treatment was apparently used thereafter, since he did not dress (עָשָׂ֨ה, LXX ἐθεράπευσεν), his feet before meeting David (2 Sam 19:24).

Christ healed many lame persons (Matt 15:30; 21:14), though the precise nature of the various conditions cannot be determined. More carefully described was the healing in Acts 3:2-8, where Peter and John were confronted by a congenital cripple at the Beautiful Gate. Luke used the medical terms βάσις, G1000, “foot” and σφυρά, “ankles” in describing a weakness of the bones of the foot. While the exact nature of the pathology is unknown it may have been a form of cyllosis or it could have resulted from a lesion of the spinal cord. Luke recorded the healing of another congenital cripple at Lystra by Paul (Acts 14:8). Although this man had never walked it is uncertain as to whether there was either malformation or atrophy present since he was able to stand upright and walk when instructed to do so.

Bibliography R. K. Harrison, IDB, III, 59, 60.