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 while I speak. Then after I’ve spoken, you may go on mocking. 4Am I complaining about a person? Why shouldn’t I be impatient? Look at me, and be shocked, and put ⌞your⌟ hand over ⌞your⌟ mouth. 6When I remember it, I’m terrified, and shuddering seizes my body. 7“Why do the wicked go on living, grow old, and even become more powerful?

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 saw him from a distance, they didn’t even recognize him. They cried out loud and wept, and each of them tore his own clothes in grief. They threw dust on their heads.
• Job 17:8Decent people are shocked by this, and it stirs up the innocent against godless people.
• Job 19:20I am skin and bones, and I have escaped only by the skin of my teeth.
• Job 29:9Princes held back ⌞their⌟ words and put their hands over their mouths.
• Job 40:4“I’m so insignificant. How can I answer you? I will put my hand over my mouth.
• Judges 18:19They told him, “Keep quiet! Don’t say a word! Come with us and be our father and priest. Is it better for you to be a priest for one man’s house or for a tribe in Israel and its families?”
• Psalms 39:9I remained speechless. I did not open my mouth because you are the one who has done this.
• Proverbs 30:32If you are such a godless fool as to honor yourself, or if you scheme, you had better put your hand over your mouth.
• Amos 5:13That is why a wise person remains silent at such times, because those times are so evil.
• Micah 7:16Nations will see this and be ashamed in spite of all their strength. They will put their hands over their mouths. Their ears will become deaf.
• Romans 11:33God’s riches, wisdom, and knowledge are so deep that it is impossible to explain his decisions or to understand 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