English Standard Version
Job 13:5
5Oh that you would keep silent, and it would be your wisdom!
Job 13:5 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)O that ye would altogether hold your peace! and it should be your wisdom.
- New International Version (NIV)If only you would be altogether silent! For you, that would be wisdom.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Oh, that you would be silent, And it would be your wisdom!
- New Living Translation (NLT)If only you could be silent! That’s the wisest thing you could do.
Context of Job 13:5
3But I would speak to the Almighty, and I desire to argue my case with God. 4As for you, you whitewash with lies; worthless physicians are you all. Oh that you would keep silent, and it would be your wisdom! 6Hear now my argument and listen to the pleadings of my lips. 7Will you speak falsely for God and speak deceitfully for him?
Read all of Job 13Job 13:5 word by word
מִֽי־יִ֭תֵּן הַחֲרֵ֣שׁ תַּחֲרִישׁ֑וּן וּתְהִ֖י לָכֶ֣ם לְחָכְמָֽה׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Job 13:5
- Job 13:13"Let me have silence, and I will speak, and let come on me what may.
- Job 11:3Should your babble silence men, and when you mock, shall no one shame you?
- Job 16:3Shall windy words have an end? Or what provokes you that you answer?
- Job 18:2"How long will you hunt for words? Consider, and then we will speak.
- Job 19:2"How long will you torment me and break me in pieces with words?
- Job 21:2"Keep listening to my words, and let this be your comfort.
- Job 32:1So these three men ceased to answer Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes.
- Proverbs 17:28Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise; when he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent.
- Ecclesiastes 5:3For a dream comes with much business, and a fool's voice with many words.
- Amos 5:13Therefore he who is prudent will keep silent in such a time, for it is an evil time.
- James 1:19Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger;
Commentaries on Job 13:5
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 5Hold your peace! and it should be your wisdom - In Proverbs 17:28; we have the following apophtheym: "Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise; and he that shutteth his lips, a man of understanding." There is no reason to say that Solomon quotes from Job: I have already expressed my opinion that the high antiquity attributed to this book is perfectly unfounded, and that there is much more evidence that Solomon was its author, than there is…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 5Oh that ye would altogether hold your peace! - You would show your wisdom by silence. Since you can say nothing that is adapted to give comfort, or to explain the true state of the case, it would be wise to say nothing; compare Proverbs 17:28: “Even a fool when he holdeth his peace is counted wise.”Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 55. (Pr 17:28). The Arabs say, "The wise are dumb; silence is wisdom."Read the comment
Topics related to Job 13:5
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Job 13
- 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
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
English Standard Version — © 2001 Crossway Bibles
Commentaries