The princes refrained from speaking and covered their mouths with their hands.
Parallel translations
- WEB The princes refrained from talking, and laid their hand on their mouth.
- KJV The princes refrained talking, and laid their hand on their mouth.
- NKJV The princes refrained from talking, And put their hand on their mouth;
- NASB “The leaders stopped talking And put their hands on their mouths;
- NLT The princes stood in silence and put their hands over their mouths.
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
Even princes held their speech and covered their mouths when Job was present.
Overview
Job recalls that leaders of rank fell silent in deference to his wisdom and authority. Laying a hand on the mouth was a gesture of respectful restraint. This portrait of his former influence magnifies the reversal of his fortunes and reminds us that all human honor is fleeting apart from God's sustaining grace.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Job 21:5Look at me and be appalled; put your hand over your mouth.
- Job 40:4“Behold, I am insignificant. How can I reply to You? I place my hand over my mouth.
- Prov 10:19When words are many, sin is unavoidable, but he who restrains his lips is wise.
- Jas 1:19My beloved brothers, understand this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger,
- Prov 30:32If you have foolishly exalted yourself or if you have plotted evil, put your hand over your mouth.
- Job 7:11Therefore I will not restrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.
- Job 4:2“If one ventures a word with you, will you be wearied? Yet who can keep from speaking?
- Judg 18:19“Be quiet,” they told him. “Put your hand over your mouth and come with us and be a father and a priest to us. Is it better for you to be a priest for the house of one person or a priest for a tribe and family in Israel?”
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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 29:9 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.