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 let me speak. After I have spoken, you may resume mocking me. 4“My complaint is with God, not with people. I have good reason to be so impatient. Look at me and be stunned. Put your hand over your mouth in shock. 6When I think about what I am saying, I shudder. My body trembles. 7“Why do the wicked prosper, growing old and 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 Job from a distance, they scarcely recognized him. Wailing loudly, they tore their robes and threw dust into the air over their heads to show their grief.
• Job 17:8The virtuous are horrified when they see me. The innocent rise up against the ungodly.
• Job 19:20I have been reduced to skin and bones and have escaped death by the skin of my teeth.
• Job 29:9The princes stood in silence and put their hands over their mouths.
• Job 40:4“I am nothing—how could I ever find the answers? I will cover my mouth with my hand.
• Judges 18:19“Be quiet and come with us,” they said. “Be a father and priest to all of us. Isn’t it better to be a priest for an entire tribe and clan of Israel than for the household of just one man?”
• Psalms 39:9I am silent before you; I won’t say a word, for my punishment is from you.
• Proverbs 30:32If you have been a fool by being proud or plotting evil, cover your mouth in shame.
• Amos 5:13So those who are smart keep their mouths shut, for it is an evil time.
• Micah 7:16All the nations of the world will stand amazed at what the Lord will do for you. They will be embarrassed at their feeble power. They will cover their mouths in silent awe, deaf to everything around them.
• Romans 11:33Oh, how great are God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge! How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and 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