Job 4:16
in Job 4It stood still, but I could not discern its appearance; a form loomed before my eyes, and I heard a whispering voice:
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
It stood still, but I could not discern the appearance thereof; A form was before mine eyes: There was silence, and I heard a voice, saying,
KJV
It stood still, but I could not discern the form thereof: an image was before mine eyes, there was silence, and I heard a voice, saying,
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This verse in Job 4
Commentary
13 notes on this verseA commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
It stood still--At first the apparition glides before Eliphaz, then stands still, but with that shadowy indistinctness of form which creates such an impression of awe; a gentle murmur: not (English Version): there was silence; for in 1Ki 19:12, the voice, as opposed to the previous storm, denotes a gentle, still murmur.
This site's exposition
Then a spirit glided past my face
on Job 4:15-17
A spirit "glided past my face" and stood, its form beyond discerning. Then "a whispering voice" gave the doctrine's climax, "Can a mortal be more righteous than God, or a man more pure than his Maker". The book's crux is whether Eliphaz applied a true word to a false case.
This site's exposition
I heard a whispering voice
Jamieson, Fausset and Brown hear a gentle murmur, the sound of 1 Kings 19:12, where the LORD came to Elijah in a still, small voice. Ishodad of Merv notes that a whisper has no form to be seen. Eliphaz saw a form but no face.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church4 voices
Eliphaz employs "murmur" and "voice" as words to express his ideas about God. As … the murmur and the voice strike our ears, they have no form or aspect. We only receive their sensation. Just as it is not possible to see a "murmur" or …
ON HOW HERETICS MISUSE THIS VERSE. And when a spirit passed before my face, the hair of my flesh stood up. There stood one, but I knew not the face of him. That they may shew that they have been made acquainted with incomprehensible mysteries, they relate, not that 'a spirit' stood still, but that it 'passed by before their face.' And they pretend that they beheld a countenance they knew not, that they may prove themselves to be known to Him, Whom the human mind is not equal to know. And here it is further added; An image was before mine eyes, and I heard the voice as it were of a light breath of air. Heretics often picture God to themselves by a sensible form, seeing that they are unable to behold Him spiritually. And they tell that they hear His 'voice as of a light breath of air,' in that for the obtaining the knowledge of His secret things, they delight to have as if a particular freedom of intercourse with Him. For they never teach the things, which God reveals openly, but such as are breathed into their ears in a secret manner.
There stood a certain one, but I could not discern the form thereof. For we do not speak of a certain one, saving surely in the case of him, whom we are either unwilling or unable to express. Now with what feeling it is here said a certain one, is clearly set forth, in that it immediately comes in, but I could not discern the form thereof.
He places the person revealing third, when the text says, "It stood still, but I could not discern the face, an image before my eyes." Here he indicates three things which show for certain that it was a vision. Note that sometimes because of an …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
An image - I saw some visible resemblance, though in a confused manner. Silence - The spirit, which possibly had made some noise with his motion, now standing still made no noise; all other persons and things about me were silent, and I also kept in my voice and breath, that I might distinctly hear. In the Hebrew, the words run thus, silence and a voice I heard.
5 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
4 Thy words have upholden him that was falling, and thou hast strengthened the feeble knees. 5 But now it is come upon thee, and thou faintest; it toucheth thee, and thou art troubled. 6 Is not this thy fear, thy confidence, thy hope, and the uprightness of thy ways?
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-scripture
When we are to speak either from God or to him it becomes us to address ourselves to it with a solemn pause, and so to set bounds about the mount on which God is to come down, and not be hasty to utter any thing. It was in a still small voice that the message was delivered, and this was it (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
It stood still,....
His conscience was to be awakened and informed, not his curiosity gratified. We know little of spirits; we are not capable of knowing much of them, nor is it fit that we should: all in good time; we must shortly remove to the world of spirits, and shall then be better acquainted with them.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
It stood still - It took a fixed position and looked on me. It at first glided by, or toward him, then stood in an immovable position, as if to attract his attention, and to prepare him for the solemn announcement which it was about to make. This was the point in which most horror would be felt. We should be less alarmed at anything which a strange messenger should say, than to have him stand and fix his eyes steadily and silently upon us.
The words behind it
10 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| יַעֲמֹ֤ד׀ | yaamod | it stood still | H5975 → | 521 times |
| וְֽלֹא־ | velo'- | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| אַכִּ֬יר | ʾakir | I recognized | H5234 → | 49 times |
| מַרְאֵ֗הוּ | marehu | appearance its | H4758 → | |
| תְּ֭מוּנָה | temunah | a form | H8544 → | |
| לְנֶ֣גֶד | leneged | [was] to before | H5048 → | 151 times |
| עֵינָ֑י | ʾeinai | eyes my | H5869 → | 887 times |
| דְּמָמָ֖ה | demamah | a whisper | H1827 → | |
| וָק֣וֹל | vakol | and a voice | H6963 → | 506 times |
| אֶשְׁמָֽע׃ | ʾeshma' | I heard | H8085 → | 1159 times |
יַעֲמֹ֤ד׀it stood still
yaamodH5975 →521 times
וְֽלֹא־and not
velo'-H3808 →5168 times
אַכִּ֬ירI recognized
ʾakirH5234 →49 times
מַרְאֵ֗הוּappearance its
marehuH4758 →
תְּ֭מוּנָהa form
temunahH8544 →
לְנֶ֣גֶד[was] to before
lenegedH5048 →151 times
עֵינָ֑יeyes my
ʾeinaiH5869 →887 times
דְּמָמָ֖הa whisper
demamahH1827 →
וָק֣וֹלand a voice
vakolH6963 →506 times
אֶשְׁמָֽע׃I heard
ʾeshma'H8085 →1159 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 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
1 Kings 19:12After the earthquake there was a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a still, small voice.
it leads to
- Zechariah 4:6
So he said to me, “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the LORD of Hosts.
- Deuteronomy 4:33
Has a people ever heard the voice of God speaking out of the fire, as you have, and lived?
- Deuteronomy 4:11–12
You came near and stood at the base of the mountain, a mountain blazing with fire to the heavens, with black clouds and deep darkness.
- Job 33:7
Surely no fear of me should terrify you; nor will my hand be heavy upon you.
- Exodus 34:6
Then the LORD passed in front of Moses and called out: “The LORD, the LORD God, is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion and faithfulness,
- Zechariah 4:6
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Job
This page draws on 11 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Book of Job; Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book V; Ishodad of Merv, Commentary on Job; Ishodad of Merv, COMMENTARY ON JOB 4:16; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.