New King James Version
Job 13:5
5Oh, that you would be 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.
- English Standard Version (ESV)Oh that you would keep 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 reason with God. 4But you forgers of lies, You are all worthless physicians. Oh, that you would be silent, And it would be your wisdom! 6Now hear my reasoning, And heed the pleadings of my lips. 7Will you speak wickedly for God, And talk 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“Hold your peace with me, and let me speak, Then let come on me what may!
- Job 11:3Should your empty talk make men hold their peace? And when you mock, should no one rebuke you?
- Job 16:3Shall words of wind have an end? Or what provokes you that you answer?
- Job 18:2“How long till you put an end to words? Gain understanding, and afterward we will speak.
- Job 19:2“How long will you torment my soul, And break me in pieces with words?
- Job 21:2“Listen carefully to my speech, And let this be your consolation.
- Job 32:1So these three men ceased answering Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes.
- Proverbs 17:28Even a fool is counted wise when he holds his peace; When he shuts his lips, he is considered perceptive.
- Ecclesiastes 5:3For a dream comes through much activity, And a fool’s voice is known by his many words.
- Amos 5:13Therefore the prudent keep silent at that time, For it is an evil time.
- James 1:19So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath;
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
New King James Version — © 1982 Thomas Nelson, Inc
Commentaries