Job 21:5

Job 21:5 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Mark me, and be astonished, and lay your hand upon your mouth.
• New International Version (NIV)Look at me and be appalled; clap your hand over your mouth.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Look at me and be appalled, and lay your hand over your mouth.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Look at me and be astonished; Put your hand over your mouth.

Context of Job 21:5

3Bear with me, and I also will speak; And after I have spoken, you may [continue to] mock [me]. 4As for me, is my complaint to man or about him? And why should I not be impatient and my spirit troubled? Look at me and be astonished and appalled; And put your hand over your mouth. 6Even when I remember, I am troubled and afraid; Horror and trembling take hold of my flesh. 7Why do the wicked still live, Become old, and become mighty in power?

Job 21:5 word by word

פְּנוּ־אֵלַ֥י וְהָשַׁ֑מּוּ וְשִׂ֖ימוּ יָ֣ד עַל־פֶּֽה׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Markפָּנָהpânâh · to turnH6437
• me, and be astonishedשָׁמֵםshâmêm · be desolate: appalledH8074
• and layשׂוּםώûm ώîym · to set: putH7760
• handיָדyâd · handH3027
• mouthפֶּהpeh · lipH6310

Cross-references for Job 21:5

• Job 2:12When they looked from a distance and did not recognize him [because of his disfigurement], they raised their voices and wept; and each one tore his robe [in grief] and they threw dust over their heads toward the sky [in sorrow].
• Job 17:8The upright will be [astonished and] appalled at this, And the innocent will stir himself up against the godless and polluted.
• Job 19:20My bone clings to my skin and to my flesh, And I have escaped [death] by the skin of my teeth.
• Job 29:9The princes stopped talking And put their hands on their mouths;
• Job 40:4“Behold, I am of little importance and contemptible; what can I reply to You? I lay my hand on my mouth.
• Judges 18:19They said to him, “Keep quiet, 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 to the house of one man, or to be a priest to a tribe and family in Israel?”
• Psalms 39:9I am mute, I do not open my mouth, Because it is You who has done it.
• Proverbs 30:32If you have foolishly exalted yourself, Or if you have plotted evil, put your hand on your mouth.
• Amos 5:13Therefore, he who is prudent and has insight will keep silent at such a [corrupt and evil] time, for it is an evil time [when people will not listen to truth and will disregard those of good character].
• Micah 7:16The [pagan] nations shall see [God’s omnipotence in delivering Israel] and be ashamed Of all their might [which cannot be compared to His]. They shall put their hand on their mouth [in silent astonishment]; Their ears shall be deaf.
• Romans 11:33Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and decisions and how unfathomable and untraceable are His ways!

Commentaries on Job 21:5

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 5Mark me, and be astonished - Consider and compare the state in which I was once, with that in which I am now; and be astonished at the judgments and dispensations of God. You will then be confounded; you will put your hands upon your mouths, and keep silent. Putting the hand on the mouth, or the finger on the lips, was the token of silence. The Egyptian god Harpocrates, who was the god of silence, is represented with his finger compressing his upper lip.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 5Mark me - Margin, “look unto.” Literally, “Look upon me. That is, attentively look on me, on my sufferings, on my disease, and my losses. See if I am a proper object of repreach and mockery - see if I have not abundant reason to be in deep distress when God has afflicted me in a manner so unusual and mysterious. And be astonished - Silent astonishment should be evinced instead of censure. You should wonder that a man whose life has been a life of piety…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 55. lay ... hand upon ... mouth--(Pr 30:32; Jud 18:19). So the heathen god of silence was pictured with his hand on his mouth. There was enough in Job's case to awe them into silence (Job 17:8).Read the comment

In the dictionaries

• Hand
• horror, horrible, object of horror

Commentaries on Job 21

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings