Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Job 4:16
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],
16. it stood still ] It is the mysterious object in his presence.
there was silence, and I heard a voice ] lit. stillness and a voice I heard, i. e. probably, I heard a still voice; cf. “whisper,” Job 4:12.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
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. Hence, Horatius, in Hamlet, tortured by the imperturbable silence of the Ghost, earnestly entreated it to give him relief by speaking.
Hor. – What art thou that usurpst this time of night,
Together with that fair and warlike form
In which the majesty of buried Denmark
Did sometime march? By heaven, I charge thee, speak.
Mar. – It is offended.
Ber. – See: It stalks away.
Hor. – Stay; speak: speak, I charge thee speak.
Act i. Sc. i.
Re-enter Ghost.
Hor. – But, soft; behold! lo, where it comes again!
Ill cross it, though it blast me. – Stay, illusion!
If thou hast any sound, or use of voice,
Speak to me:
If there be any good thing to be done,
That may to thee do ease, and grace to me,
Speak to me:
Which, happily, foreknowing may avoid,
If thou art privy to thy countrys fate.
O speak!
Or if thou hast uphoarded in thy life
Extorted treasure in the womb of earth,
For which, they say, you spirits oft walk in death,
Speak of it; stay, and speak.
Act i. Sc. i.
Enter Ghost
Hor. – Look, my lord; it comes!
Ham. – Angels and ministers of grace, defend us!
Be thou a spirit of health, or goblin damnd,
Bring with thee airs from heaven, or blasts from hell,
Be thy intents wicked or charitable,
Thou comst in such a questionable shape,
That I will speak to thee: Ill call thee, Hamlet,
King, father, royal Dane: O, answer me;
Let me not burst in ignorance!
Act i: Sc. iv.
But I could not discern the form thereof – This might have arisen from fear, or from the darkness of the night, or because the spirit was not distinct enough in its outline to enable him to do it. There is here just the kind of obscurity which is essential to the sublime, and the statement of this circumstance is a master-stroke in the poet. A less perfect imagination would have attempted to describe the form of the spectre, and would have given an account of its shape, and eyes, and color. But none of these are here hinted at. The subject is left so that the imagination is most deeply impressed, and the whole scene has the aspect of the highest sublimity. Noyes very improperly renders this, Its face I could not discern. But the word used, mar’eh, does not mean face here merely; it means the form, figure, aspect, of the spectre.
An image was before mine eyes – Some form; some appearance was before me, whose exact figure I could not mark or describe.
There was silence – Margin, I heard a still voice. So Rosenmuller says that the word here, demamah, does not mean silence, but a gentle breeze, or air – auram lenem – such as Elijah heard after the tempest had gone by, and when God spoke to him, 1Ki 19:12-13. Grotins supposes that it means here the bath qol, or daughter of the voice, of which the Jewish Robbins speak so often – the still and gentle voice in which God spoke to people. The word used demamah usually means silence, stillness, as of the winds after a storm, a calm, Psa 107:29. The Septuagint renders it, I heard a gentle breeze, auran, and a voice, kai phonen. But it seems to me that the common reading is preferable. There was stillness – a solemn, awful silence, and then he heard a voice impressively speaking. The stillness was designed to fix the attention, and to prepare the mind for the sublime announcement which was to be made.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Job 4:16
There was silence and I heard a voice.
Silence and a voice
1. Gods humbling dispensations toward His people will all come to a good issue, and the close of all His dealings will still be sweet. For after all his humbling and fear, preparing Eliphaz for the vision, and assuring him that God was present, the voice cometh.
2. The composing of our spirits, from the confusions and tumultuous disorders incident to them, is a necessary antecedent to Gods revealing of His mind. For when there was silence, I heard a voice.
3. As for this way of the Lords speaking by a still, or calm voice, albeit we need inquire after no reason why He makes use of it, who doth all things after the counsel of His own will, yet without wresting we may observe these in it.
(1) The Lord hereby did teach that these supernatural truths were mysteries, not blazed abroad throughout the world, but whispered among some few believers.
(2) The Lord hereby did press attention on those to whom He revealed His mind, while He spake not so loud as might reach them whether they attended or not, but in a still voice, which might excite them seriously to hearken.
(3) Hereby also the Lord declared that He will not be a terror to such as delight to converse with Him in His Word, for to such He would not appear as wind, earthquake, or fire, but in a still sweet voice.
(4) However men ought to speak the truths of God so audibly as they may be heard, and with that zeal and fervency that becometh; yet, it is not the clamorous voice that makes the word effectual, but the weight and importance of the matter seriously pressed home by the Spirit of God. For even by this still voice, God communicated His will, and made it to be obeyed in the world. (George Hutcheson.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
It stood still; having passed by him to and again he made a stand, as one that had some business with him, and addressed himself to speak to him.
I could not discern the form thereof; to wit, exactly and distinctly, so as to know what or who it was.
An image was before mine eyes; I saw some corporal or visible resemblance, though in a confused manner.
There was 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 as much as I could, that I might distinctly hear what I perceived the spirit was speaking to me. In the Hebrew the words run thus, silence and a voice (i.e. a silent, or still, or low voice, by a very common figure, called hendiadis) I heard.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
16. It stood stillAt firstthe apparition glides before Eliphaz, then stands still, but withthat shadowy indistinctness of form which creates such an impressionof awe; a gentle murmur: not (English Version): there wassilence; for in 1Ki 19:12,the voice, as opposed to the previous storm, denotes a gentle, stillmurmur.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
It stood still,…. That is, the spirit, or the angel in a visible form; it was before going to and fro, but now it stood still right against Eliphaz, as if it had something to say to him, and so preparing him to attend to it; which he might do the better, it standing before him while speaking to him, that he might have the opportunity of taking more notice of it:
but, notwithstanding this advantageous position of it,
I could not discern the form thereof; what it was, whether human or any other:
an image [was] before mine eyes; he saw something, some appearance and likeness, but could not tell what it was; perhaps the fear and surprise he was in hindered him from taking in any distinct idea of it, or that particular notice of it, so as to be able to form in his own mind any suitable notion of it, or to describe it to others:
[there was] silence both in the spirit or image, which, standing still, made no rushing noise, and in Eliphaz himself, who kept in his breath, and listened with all the attention he could to it; or a small low voice, as Ben Melech interprets it: so it follows,
and I heard a voice; a distinct articulate voice or sound of words, very audibly delivered by the spirit or image that stood before him:
[saying]; as follows.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
16. An image (rendered by the Septuagint , form, comp. Php 2:6) is used in Num 12:8 of some glorious, visible representation of God. (Sept. , also same in Psa 17:15.) The word happily blends the indefiniteness and the substantiality of spiritual existence answering to Milton’s idea of that which:
Substance might be called that shadow seemed.
The preceding word form Hitzig renders face, visage, that which has features.
Silence, and I heard a voice Septuagint, I heard a soft murmur ( ) and a voice. Dillmann scouts the idea of rendering , silence, “because we cannot hear silence,” and in common with Schlottmann and other German commentators, adopts the Septuagint. Renan and Conant hold to the radical meaning of the word, which is unquestionably silence. Mercerus renders it, I heard silence and a voice, “as if his wonderful words were compounded of silence and a voice.” In 1Ki 19:12, even prosaical description admits of the “voice of silence,” . This would be no bolder a stroke for poetry than that of the author of “The Seasons,” who thus personifies silence,
Come, then, expressive silence, muse his praise.
We can almost feel the silence that for a little while prevailed as the shadowy form stood before the trembling Eliphaz. There is nothing in the structure of the sentence to conflict with the version of the text, (there was) silence, etc. Tyndale’s rendering is more explicit, “There was stylnes, so that I heard this voice.”
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Job 4:16. It stood still, but I could not discern the form thereof, &c. It stood still indeed, but I knew not its form: the appearance vanished from before mine eyes, but I heard a voice. Houbigant. Dr. Grey renders it, he stood, but I knew not his form, nor the image before mine eyes: there was a profound calm, and I heard a voice. It is supposed by this and many other commentators, that the word ruach, rendered spirit, in this and the 15th verse, should be rendered a wind: then a wind passed swiftly before my face; which wind they suppose, as in the case of Elijah, to have been the prelude to the divine presence. See 1Ki 19:11 and Gen 1:2. But see my own opinion in the Reflections.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Job 4:16 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],
Ver. 16. It stood still ] As now ready to speak. An ambulatory voice is hardly heard: the heavens, indeed, are walking preachers, but then they utter but these three words (Lib. ii. de Arca, cap. 3), saith Hugo, in all languages, Accipe, Redde, Fuge, that is, Receive mercies, Return duties, Flee offences, and their just punishments.
But I could not discern the form thereof
An image was before mine eyes
There was silence, and I heard a voice
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
there: etc. or, I heard a still voice, 1Ki 19:12
Reciprocal: Act 10:3 – saw Rev 8:1 – silence
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Job 4:16. It stood still Though it passed by me, it did not immediately disappear and vanish, but made a stand, as having some business with me, and designing to address me. But I could not discern the form thereof Namely, exactly and distinctly, so as to know what or who it was. An image was before my eyes My eyes could not be deceived. I am thoroughly satisfied there was an image which showed itself to me visibly. There was silence The spirit stood motionless; all other persons and things about me were entirely silent; and I also kept in my voice and breath as much as I could, that I might distinctly hear what I perceived the spirit was about to speak to me. In the Hebrew it is, Silence, and a voice I heard. Houbigants translation of the verse is, It stood still indeed, but I knew not its form; the appearance vanished from before my eyes, but I heard a voice.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
4:16 It stood still, but I could not discern the form thereof: an image [was] before mine eyes, [there was] {k} silence, and I heard a voice, [saying],
(k) When all things were quiet or when the fear was relieved as God appeared to Elijah, 1Ki 19:12.