Job 29:10

Job 29:10 The nobles held their peace, and their tongue cleaved to the roof of their mouth.

Ver. 10. The nobles held their peace] The Hebrew word for nobles signifieth such as stand in the presence of great princes; or, such as the people eyeth and referreth all things to them, Conticuere omnes, intentique ora tenebant (Virg.). These (after the example of those forementioned princes, Job 29:9) held their peace Heb. hid their voice, as ashamed to hear themselves speak before such a master of speech as Job was; of whom it might well be said, as once of Dr Whitaker, That never any man saw him without reverence, nor heard him without wonder (Dr Hall).

And their tongue cleaved to the roof of their mouth] Ex metu loquendi, as being afraid before me, though themselves were antecessores vocis (as some render the former words), eloquent men and able speakers. Demosthenes, that great orator, being to speak before King Philip, three several times stood speechless, and thirty different times forgot what he had prepared to speak unto him: Tρις αφωνος εγενετο. Tρισακις διελαθετο των α λαλειν εσκοπει (Tzetzes, Chiliad 7). An awful respect to Job’s dignity and worth caused this extreme silence in these grandees. And besides, it may be they were of Pliny’s mind, who said, Non minus interdum oratoris est tacere quam dicere. There is a time to keep silence and a time to speak, Ecc 3:7.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Margin, "voice--hid," that is, "hushed" (Eze 3:26).

Tongue cleaved, &c.--that is, awed by my presence, the emirs or sheiks were silent.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 10. The nobles held their peace] PRINCES שרים sarim, and NOBLES, נגידים negidim, must have been two different classes of the great men of Idumea. שר sar, PRINCE, director, or ruler, was probably the head of a township, or what we would call a magistrate of a particular district. נגיד nagid, a NOBLE, or one of those who had the privilege of standing before, or in the presence of, the chief ruler. The participle נגד neged is frequently used to signify before, in the presence of, publicly, openly. And on this account, it is most likely that the noun means one of those nobles or counsellors who were always admitted to the royal presence. Mr. Good thinks that renowned speakers or eminent orators are meant: and others have embraced the same opinion. Job here intimates that his judgment was so sound, his decisions so accredited, and his reasoning power so great, that every person paid him the utmost deference.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

The nobles held their peace,.... These may be in some respects inferior to the others; not princes of the blood, or sons of kings, who were properly princes, and yet great personages, of a noble extraction, and of considerable families: some think the leaders and generals of armies are meant, commanders and captains, and such like military officers, those sons of Mars, who are generally bold and daring, boisterous and blustering, and full of talk; and yet even these held their peace in the presence of Job:, or their "voice was hid" (r); it could not be heard:

and their tongue cleaved to the roof of their mouth; so that they had no use of it, and it was as if they had none, see Eze 3:26. Here are various expressions made use of, signifying the profound silence of great personages while Job was present; and this silence was owing either to a consciousness of their own weakness, and lest they should, by speaking before him, betray it, and he should expose them; or to the desire they had of hearing Job's opinion first, which was as an oracle to them, and usually determined matters in debate before them; such high sentiments did they entertain of Job's good sense and abilities.

(r) "occultabatur", Drusius; "occultabat se", Piscator.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

The nobles - Margin, “The voice of the nobles was hid.” Literally, this may be rendered, “as to the voice the nobles hid themselves;” or the phrase here employed (נגידים קול נחבאו nechâbâ'û qôl nāgı̂ydiym) may be rendered, “the voice of the nobles was hid” - it being common in the Hebrew when two nouns come together, of different numbers and gender, for the verb to conform to the latter. Rosenmuller. The word “nobles” here is to be understood in the sense of “counsellors,” or men of rank. They would now be called “Emirs,” or “Sheiks.”

And their tongue cleaved to the roof of their mouth - They were so awed by my presence that they could not speak.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

It lay as still as if it had done so, and they could not have spoken.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

10. Tongue cleaved to the roof of their mouth — The cleaving of the tongue to the palate is an Oriental figure for dead silence.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The nobles held their peace. The other leading men followed the example of the "princes," and equally kept silence till Job had spoken. And their tongue cleaved to the roof of their month. A pleonastic repetition. The meaning is simply they said nothing, they stood in rapt attention.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Cleaved - It lay as still as if he had done so.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.