So they sat down with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his grief was very great.
Parallel translations
- WEB So they sat down with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his grief was very great.
- KJV So they sat down with him upon the ground seven days and seven nights, and none spake a word unto him: for they saw that his grief was very great.
- BSB Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights, but no one spoke a word to him because they saw how intense his suffering was.
- NASB Then they sat down on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights, with no one speaking a word to him, for they saw that his pain was very great.
- NLT Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and nights. No one said a word to Job, for they saw that his suffering was too great for words.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The friends sit silently with Job for seven days, overwhelmed by his pain. Their wordless presence is their finest moment.
Overview
For a week the three friends share Job's silence, recognizing that his grief is too great for speech. This silent companionship is genuine comfort, in contrast to the unhelpful arguments that follow. The verse commends the ministry of simply being present with those who suffer rather than rushing to explanations.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Gen 50:10They came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan, and there they lamented with a very great and severe lamentation. He mourned for his father seven days.
- Neh 1:4When I heard these words, I sat down and wept, and mourned several days; and I fasted and prayed before the God of heaven,
- Ezek 3:15Then I came to them of the captivity at Tel Aviv, that lived by the river Chebar, and to where they lived; and I sat there overwhelmed among them seven days.
- Isa 3:26Her gates shall lament and mourn; and she shall be desolate and sit on the ground.
- Ezra 9:3When I heard this thing, I tore my garment and my robe, and pulled the hair out of my head and of my beard, and sat down confounded.
- Job 4:2“If someone ventures to talk with you, will you be grieved? But who can withhold himself from speaking?
- Gen 1:8God called the expanse “sky”. There was evening and there was morning, a second day.
- Gen 1:5God called the light “day”, and the darkness he called “night”. There was evening and there was morning, the first day.
- Ps 77:4You hold my eyelids open. I am so troubled that I can’t speak.
- Isa 47:1“Come down, and sit in the dust, virgin daughter of Babylon. Sit on the ground without a throne, daughter of the Chaldeans. For you will no longer be called tender and delicate.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Job's cry for a mediator who can lay his hand on both God and man, and his confidence that 'my Redeemer lives' and will stand on the earth, reaches forward to Jesus the living Redeemer.
How Job 2:13 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.