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.
• 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.
• New Living Translation (NLT)Look at me and be stunned. Put your hand over your mouth in shock.

Context of Job 21:5

3Bear with me while I speak, and after I have spoken, mock on. 4“Is my complaint directed to a human being? Why should I not be impatient? Look at me and be appalled; clap your hand over your mouth. 6When I think about this, I am terrified; trembling seizes my body. 7Why do the wicked live on, growing old and increasing 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 saw him from a distance, they could hardly recognize him; they began to weep aloud, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads.
• Job 17:8The upright are appalled at this; the innocent are aroused against the ungodly.
• Job 19:20I am nothing but skin and bones; I have escaped only by the skin of my teeth.
• Job 29:9the chief men refrained from speaking and covered their mouths with their hands;
• Job 40:4“I am unworthy—how can I reply to you? I put my hand over my mouth.
• Judges 18:19They answered him, “Be quiet! Don’t say a word. Come with us, and be our father and priest. Isn’t it better that you serve a tribe and clan in Israel as priest rather than just one man’s household?”
• Psalms 39:9I was silent; I would not open my mouth, for you are the one who has done this.
• Proverbs 30:32“If you play the fool and exalt yourself, or if you plan evil, clap your hand over your mouth!
• Amos 5:13Therefore the prudent keep quiet in such times, for the times are evil.
• Micah 7:16Nations will see and be ashamed, deprived of all their power. They will put their hands over their mouths and their ears will become deaf.
• Romans 11:33Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!

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