Job's Friends Visit and Mourn Silently
Job 2:11-13
Genesis
Exodus
Leviticus
Numbers
Deuteronomy
Joshua
Judges
Ruth
1 Samuel
2 Samuel
1 Kings
2 Kings
1 Chronicles
2 Chronicles
Ezra
Nehemiah
Esther
Job
Psalm
Proverbs
Ecclesiastes
Song
Isaiah
Jeremiah
Lamentations
Ezekiel
Daniel
Hosea
Joel
Amos
Jonah
Micah
Nahum
Habakkuk
Zephaniah
Haggai
Zechariah
Malachi
Matthew
Mark
Luke
John
Acts
Romans
1 Corinthians
2 Corinthians
Galatians
Ephesians
Philippians
Colossians
1 Thessalonians
2 Thessalonians
1 Timothy
2 Timothy
Titus
Philemon
Hebrews
James
1 Peter
2 Peter
1 John
Jude
Revelation
Job.2.11 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- וישמעו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
- שלשת: NUM,m,pl,abs
- רעי: NOUN,m,pl,cons
- איוב: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- את: PRT,acc
- כל: DET
- הרעה: NOUN,f,sg,def
- הזאת: DEM,f,sg,def
- הבאה: NOUN,f,sg,def
- עליו: PREP,3,m,sg
- ויבאו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
- איש: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ממקמו: PREP
- אליפז: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- התימני: ADJ,m,sg,def
- ובלדד: CONJ+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- השוחי: ADJ,m,sg,def
- וצופר: CONJ+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- הנעמתי: ADJ,m,sg,def
- ויועדו: VERB,qal,wayyiqtol,3,m,pl
- יחדו: ADV
- לבוא: VERB,qal,inf
- לנוד: PREP+VERB,qal,inf
- לו: PRON,3,m,sg
- ולנחמו: CONJ+VERB,qal,inf+PRON,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Job 42:11 (structural): Direct narrative parallel: after Job's restoration his brothers, sisters and former acquaintances come to comfort him—mirroring the arrival of Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar to console Job in 2:11.
- Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 (thematic): Theme of mutual assistance in adversity: 'Two are better than one... if they fall, one will lift up his companion'—reflects the idea of friends coming to support one in distress as in Job 2:11.
- Proverbs 17:17 (thematic): Proverbial statement about friendship under trial: 'A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity'—captures the expectation of friends coming to comfort the afflicted, as the three friends do in Job 2:11.
- 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 (thematic): New Testament reflection on consolation: God 'comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may comfort those in any affliction'—provides theological framing for the act of coming to console another found in Job 2:11.
Alternative generated candidates
- When the three friends of Job heard of all the evil that had come upon him, each came from his place—Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite—and they had agreed together to come to visit and comfort him.
- When the three friends of Job heard of all this calamity that had come upon him, each came from his place—Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite—and they had agreed together to come to mourn with him and to comfort him.
Job.2.12 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- וישאו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
- את: PRT,acc
- עיניהם: NOUN,f,pl,abs+3mp
- מרחוק: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ולא: CONJ
- הכירהו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl+obj3,m,sg
- וישאו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
- קולם: NOUN,m,sg,abs+PRON,3,m,pl
- ויבכו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
- ויקרעו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
- איש: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- מעלו: NOUN,m,sg,abs+3,m,sg
- ויזרקו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
- עפר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- על: PREP
- ראשיהם: NOUN,m,pl,abs,3,m,pl
- השמימה: NOUN,m,pl,def
Parallels
- Job 1:20 (structural): Immediate narrative parallel within Job: Job rises, rends his clothes and shaves his head in mourning—same ritual gestures of tearing and lamentation echoed in ch.2.
- Genesis 37:34–35 (thematic): Jacob tears his garments, puts on sackcloth and mourns for Joseph—an Old Testament instance of the same mourning customs (rending clothes, sackcloth, refusal of comfort).
- Lamentations 2:10 (verbal): Speaks of casting dust upon the head and sitting in ashes—uses the same motif/phrase of sprinkling dust on the head as an expression of grief.
- Luke 24:16 (verbal): The Emmaus disciples’ eyes are prevented from recognizing Jesus—parallels the motif of ‘not recognizing’ someone at first sight after a traumatic or transformative event.
- 2 Samuel 1:11–12 (thematic): David and others rend their clothes and mourn for Saul and Jonathan—another example of public lamentation practices (tearing garments, weeping, fasting) comparable to Job’s friends.
Alternative generated candidates
- They lifted up their eyes from afar and did not recognize him; they lifted up their voices and wept, and each one tore his robe, and they threw dust upon their heads toward heaven.
- They lifted up their eyes from afar; they did not recognize him. They raised their voices and wept, and each stripped off his robe, and they threw dust upon their heads toward heaven.
Job.2.13 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- וישבו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
- אתו: PRON,3,m,sg,acc
- לארץ: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- שבעת: NUM,card,construct
- ימים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- ושבעת: CONJ+VERB,qal,perf,2,m,sg
- לילות: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- ואין: CONJ+PART,exist
- דבר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אליו: PREP+PRON,3,m,sg
- דבר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- כי: CONJ
- ראו: VERB,qal,impv,2,pl
- כי: CONJ
- גדל: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- הכאב: NOUN,m,sg,def
- מאד: ADV
Parallels
- Genesis 50:10 (verbal): Communal mourning for seven days — the motif of sitting/mourning for seven days (שִׁבְעַת יָמִים) parallels the time frame in Job 2:13.
- Genesis 37:34–35 (thematic): Jacob’s intense grief over Joseph, refusing to be comforted, echoes the description in Job 2:13 that the visitors were silent because his suffering was exceedingly great.
- Lamentations 3:28–30 (thematic): Calls to ‘sit alone and keep silence’ in the face of suffering resonate with the practice in Job 2:13 of sitting silently with the afflicted.
- Psalm 39:2–3 (verbal): The psalmist’s being ‘mute with silence’ because of inward anguish parallels the motif of silence in Job 2:13 as a response to overwhelming grief.
- Job 16:2 (structural): An intratextual contrast: Job later rebukes his ‘comforters’ after they speak — highlighting the significance of their initial seven‑day silence in 2:13.
Alternative generated candidates
- They sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his suffering was very great.
- They sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights; and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his pain was very great.
When Job's three friends heard of all the evil that had come upon him, they came, each from his place: Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. They agreed together to come to mourn with him and to comfort him.
They lifted up their eyes from afar and did not recognize him. They lifted up their voices and wept; each of them tore his robe, and they threw dust upon their heads toward heaven.
They sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his pain was very great.