It stood still, but I could not discern the form thereof: an image was before mine eyes, there was silence, and I heard a voice, saying,
Parallel translations
- WEB It stood still, but I couldn’t discern its appearance. A form was before my eyes. Silence, then I heard a voice, saying,
- BSB It stood still, but I could not discern its appearance; a form loomed before my eyes, and I heard a whispering voice:
- NKJV It stood still, But I could not discern its appearance. A form was before my eyes; There was silence; Then I heard a voice saying:
- NASB “Something was standing still, but I could not recognize its appearance; A form was before my eyes; There was silence, then I heard a voice:
- NLT The spirit stopped, but I couldn’t see its shape. There was a form before my eyes. In the silence I heard a voice say,
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 form stood still, indistinct, and out of the silence a voice spoke. This sets up the vision's central question about human righteousness before God.
Overview
Eliphaz cannot make out the shape, only sense a presence and hear a voice from the stillness. The blurriness keeps the source ambiguous even as the message claims authority. What follows is genuinely true about human frailty, yet Eliphaz wields it as a weapon; the contrast warns that true doctrine spoken without love or discernment can become cruelty toward the suffering.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 1
- 1 Kgs 19:12And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.
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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 4:16 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
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