Bible Strands
Job 29:9
The princes refrained from speaking and covered their mouths with their hands.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Job recounts a past period of honor when he addressed the community. He describes a moment when the princes stopped talking and placed their hands over their mouths in his presence.
The words — The Hebrew עָצְרוּ ('a.tze.Ru) means "they restrained," paired with וְ֝/כַ֗ף (ve./Khaf) for "and a hand" and לְ/פִי/הֶֽם (le./fi./Hem) for "to their mouth." This literal phrasing records the physical act of silencing oneself.
The thread — This gesture appears in Job 21:5, Job 40:4, and Proverbs 10:19. These passages connect the physical restraint of speech with awe, humility, or wisdom.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition of how profound authority or solemn encounter naturally halts human speech. It asks the reader to identify moments when their own words are restrained by reverence, prudence, or the weight of another's presence.
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
The princes refrained talking, and laid their hand on their mouth.
Cross-references
- Job 21:5 Look at me and be appalled; put your hand over your mouth.
- Job 40:4 “Behold, I am insignificant. How can I reply to You? I place my hand over my mouth.
- Proverbs 10:19 When words are many, sin is unavoidable, but he who restrains his lips is wise.
- Proverbs 30:32 If you have foolishly exalted yourself or if you have plotted evil, put your hand over your mouth.
- James 1:19 My beloved brothers, understand this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger,
- Judges 18:19 “Be quiet,” they told him. “Put your hand over your mouth and come with us and be a father and a priest to us. Is it better for you to be a priest for the house of one person or a priest for a tribe and family in Israel?”
- Job 4:2 “If one ventures a word with you, will you be wearied? Yet who can keep from speaking?
- Job 7:11 Therefore I will not restrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.