The princes refrained talking, and laid their hand on their mouth.
Parallel translations
- WEB The princes refrained from talking, and laid their hand on their mouth.
- BSB The princes refrained from speaking and covered their mouths with their hands.
- 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 21:5Mark me, and be astonished, and lay your hand upon your mouth.
- Job 40:4Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer thee? I will lay mine hand upon my mouth.
- Prov 10:19In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin: but he that refraineth his lips is wise.
- Jas 1:19Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:
- Prov 30:32If thou hast done foolishly in lifting up thyself, or if thou hast thought evil, lay thine hand upon thy mouth.
- Job 7:11Therefore I will not refrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.
- Job 4:2If we assay to commune with thee, wilt thou be grieved? but who can withhold himself from speaking?
- Judg 18:19And they said unto him, Hold thy peace, lay thine hand upon thy mouth, and go with us, and be to us a father and a priest: is it better for thee to be a priest unto the house of one man, or that thou be a priest unto a tribe and a 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.