Job 13:5
in Job 13If only you would remain silent; for that would be your wisdom!
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Oh that ye would altogether hold your peace! And it would be your wisdom.
KJV
O that ye would altogether hold your peace! and it should be your wisdom.
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This verse in Job 13
Commentary
10 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Oh 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 Pro 17:28: “Even a fool when he holdeth his peace is counted wise.”
This site's exposition
you are all worthless physicians
on Job 13:4-5
Job's charge, "You, however, smear with lies; you are all worthless physicians", names the friends' comfort itself as the failure, false diagnosis dressed as wisdom. Gill reads the worthless physicians against the ancient custom of physicians attending the sick, useless doctors who worsen the patient they claim to treat.
This site's exposition
that would be your wisdom
Clarke sets the line beside Proverbs 17:28, where even a fool who keeps silent is counted wise. Chrysostom adds that when words make no sense, silence shows more wisdom than speech. The friends are the worthless physicians of verse 4.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
A worthless physician is literally one who applies curing strategies that are not useful for the suffering. This happens in two ways: either it is due to lack of experience in the physician or to his wickedness. The friends who are contradicted here speak out …
Indeed, when senseless words are spoken, it is better to remain in silence, and in being silent, one will show greater wisdom than in speaking.
The Medieval Church2 voices
O that ye would altogether hold your peace, and ye should be accounted wise! As in a house, when the door is shut, it is not known what members there are hidden within, so, generally speaking, if a fool hold his peace, it is hidden whether he be wise or foolish, only, however, if no other works come to light, which may speak the mind even of one that is silent.
Men often propose some things as capable of being proved, although they are false; but when they do not know how to defend them or prove them convincingly they show their ignorance when they speak. This was the case with the friends of Job. So …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
And that ye would altogether hold your peace,....
2 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Better say nothing than nothing to the purpose or that which tends to the dishonour of God and the grief of our brethren. Even a fool, when he holds his peace, is accounted wise, because nothing appears to the contrary, Prov. xvii. And, as silence is an evidence of wisdom, so it is a means of it, as it gives time to think and hear.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Hold your peace! and it should be your wisdom - In Pro 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 that it was the composition of Moses. But, whenever Job lived, whether before Abraham or after Moses, the book was not written till the time of Solomon, if not later. But as to the saying in question, it is a general apophthegm, and may be found among the wise sayings of all nations. I may observe here, that a silent man is not likely to be a fool; for a fool will be always prating, or, according to another adage, a fool’s bolt is soon shot. The Latins have the same proverb: Vir sapit, qui pauca loquitur, “A wise man speaks little.”
The words behind it
7 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| מִֽי־ | mi- | who? | H4310 → | 423 times |
| יִ֭תֵּן | yiten | will he give | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| הַחֲרֵ֣שׁ | hacharesh | certainly <to be silent> | H2790 → | 74 times |
| תַּחֲרִישׁ֑וּן | tacharishun | you will be silent ! | H2790 → | 74 times |
| וּתְהִ֖י | utehi | and it may become | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| לָכֶ֣ם | lakhem | for you | ||
| לְחָכְמָֽה׃ | lechakhemah | <into> wisdom | H2451 → | 153 times |
מִֽי־who?
mi-H4310 →423 times
יִ֭תֵּןwill he give
yitenH5414 →2011 times
הַחֲרֵ֣שׁcertainly <to be silent>
hachareshH2790 →74 times
תַּחֲרִישׁ֑וּןyou will be silent !
tacharishunH2790 →74 times
וּתְהִ֖יand it may become
utehiH1961 →3559 times
לָכֶ֣םfor you
lakhem
לְחָכְמָֽה׃<into> wisdom
lechakhemahH2451 →153 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
James 1:19My beloved brothers, understand this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger,
it leads to
- Proverbs 10:19
When words are many, sin is unavoidable, but he who restrains his lips is wise.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Proverbs 18:13
He who answers a matter before he hears it—this is folly and disgrace to him.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Proverbs 17:27
A man of knowledge restrains his words, and a man of understanding maintains a calm spirit.
- Proverbs 21:23
He who guards his mouth and tongue keeps his soul from distress.
- Proverbs 14:29
A patient man has great understanding, but a quick-tempered man promotes folly.
- Proverbs 10:19
Through
Proverbs 17:28Even a fool is considered wise if he keeps silent, and discerning when he holds his tongue.
it leads to
- Proverbs 15:2
The tongue of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouth of the fool spouts folly.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Ecclesiastes 10:14
Yet the fool multiplies words. No one knows what is coming, and who can tell him what will come after him?
- Ecclesiastes 5:3
As a dream comes through many cares, so the speech of a fool comes with many words.
- Proverbs 15:2
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Job
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Didymus the Blind, COMMENTARY ON JOB 13:4-5; Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book XI; John Chrysostom, Commentary on Job; John Chrysostom, COMMENTARY ON JOB 13:4-5; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.