Must I wait, now that they are silent, now that they stand and no longer reply?
Parallel translations
- WEB Shall I wait, because they don’t speak, because they stand still, and answer no more?
- KJV When I had waited, (for they spake not, but stood still, and answered no more;)
- NKJV And I have waited, because they did not speak, Because they stood still and answered no more.
- NASB “Should I wait, because they are not speaking, Because they have stopped and no longer answer?
- NLT Should I continue to wait, now that you are silent? Must I also remain silent?
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 tablets and their writing were the direct work of God. This stresses the divine origin and authority of the law.
Overview
The text emphasizes that both the stone and the engraving came from God Himself, underscoring the law's holiness. This divine authorship gives the Ten Commandments their enduring authority. It also magnifies Israel's guilt, for they have spurned words written by the very hand of God.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 4
- Job 13:5If only you would remain silent; for that would be your wisdom!
- Prov 17:28Even a fool is considered wise if he keeps silent, and discerning when he holds his tongue.
- Jas 1:19My beloved brothers, understand this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger,
- Amos 5:13Therefore, the prudent keep silent in such times, for the days are evil.
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 32:16 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.