Bible Strands
Job 2:13
Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights, but no one spoke a word to him because they saw how intense his suffering was.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Job’s three friends arrive after recognizing his ruined state and begin sitting with him on the ground following his catastrophic losses and physical affliction.
The words — וַ/יֵּשְׁב֤וּ (va/yishevu) = and they sat [H3427]; וְ/אֵין־ (ve/ein) = and not [H369].
The thread — The motif of sitting for seven days in mourning appears in Ezekiel 3:15, while prolonged grieving and weeping parallel the lamentations in Genesis 50:10 and Nehemiah 1:4.
Why it lands — The text records a period of silent presence during acute grief, asking the reader to recognize that prolonged mourning and speechless solidarity can precede any attempt at explanation or counsel.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
So they sat down with him upon the ground seven days and seven nights, and none spake a word unto him: for they saw that his grief was very great.
Cross-references
- Genesis 50:10 When they reached the threshing floor of Atad, which is across the Jordan, they lamented and wailed loudly, and Joseph mourned for his father seven days.
- Nehemiah 1:4 When I heard these words, I sat down and wept. I mourned for days, fasting and praying before the God of heaven.
- Ezekiel 3:15 I came to the exiles at Tel-abib who dwelt by the River Kebar. And for seven days I sat where they sat and remained there among them, overwhelmed.
- Isaiah 3:26 And the gates of Zion will lament and mourn; destitute, she will sit on the ground.
- Genesis 1:5 God called the light “day,” and the darkness He called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.
- Genesis 1:8 God called the expanse “sky.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.
- Ezra 9:3 When I heard this report, I tore my tunic and cloak, pulled out some hair from my head and beard, and sat down in horror.
- Job 4:2 “If one ventures a word with you, will you be wearied? Yet who can keep from speaking?
- Psalms 77:4 You have kept my eyes from closing; I am too troubled to speak.
- Isaiah 47:1 “Go down and sit in the dust, O Virgin Daughter of Babylon. Sit on the ground without a throne, O Daughter of the Chaldeans! For you will no longer be called tender or delicate.