cha.resh describes withholding speech: remaining quiet, refusing an answer, or asking that silence not continue.

The occurrences consistently portray silence or the withholding of speech: a person may remain quiet while observing, be commanded not to answer, or be addressed in appeals that silence should not continue. The same usage occurs in personal, public, and divine-address clauses, without a securely distinct lexical sense shown by the supplied verses.

1. Withholding speech or remaining quiet · dominant

   In Genesis 24:21, an active participle describes the man gazing while silent; in 2 Kings 18:36, the people answer no word because the king commanded them not to answer. In Exodus 14:14, the plural imperfect addresses Israel’s quietness while the LORD fights, and in Habakkuk 1:13 the second-person imperfect asks why silence continues while the wicked swallows the righteous. Psalm 28:1 likewise addresses the LORD with a request that silence not continue.

   Genesis 24:212 Kings 18:36Exodus 14:14Habakkuk 1:13Psalm 28:1Proverbs 17:28

In the Anselm Project Bible: The APB commonly presents the clauses with “silent,” “be silent,” “be quiet,” or “keep silent”; in some appeals it uses “do not be silent” or “do not be quiet.” These renderings show the clauses’ overall presentation rather than a fixed English equivalent for every form.