Job 2:11–2:13, King James Version
Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.
Job 2:11–2:13
The Friends Arrive and Keep Seven Days of Silence
Three friends travel in order to mourn and to comfort
When Job's three friends heard of all this evil that was come upon him, they came every one from his own place: Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. They have made an appointment together to come to mourn with him and to comfort him.
What they do first is right: they match his grief and they stop talking
When they lift up their eyes afar off, they do not know him. They lift up their voice and weep; they rend every one his mantle, and sprinkle dust upon their heads toward heaven. So they sit down with him upon the ground seven days and seven nights, and none speaks a word unto him: for they saw that his grief was very great.
Silent presence is initially fitting. Later speeches will be judged, and the epilogue will say these men have not spoken of God what is right. This scene does not make silence the only faithful act, and it does not replace food, shelter, medical care, or safety. It does show that the first gift is not a theory.
How this should shape us
Arrive. Weep. Sit. Ask what practical help is needed. Do not rush a suffering person into explanation, and do not treat this week of silence as permission to become an accuser later.
Teach it back
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Job 2:11–2:13, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology checked at the exact unit without treating morphology as a complete apparatus or interpretation.
Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Job.xml, OSIS 2:11–2:13
Supports: Verse-level controls for Job's difficult Hebrew, syntax, older KJV language, textual issues, speech boundaries, and alternatives in Job 2:11–2:13.
Official NET Job PDF, exact translator, study, and textual notes attached to Job 2:11–2:13
Supports: Book-level and passage-level literary, historical, theological, and pastoral synthesis with speaker distinctions and visible uncertainty.
Enter the Bible Job course, Summary, Background, Introductory Issues: framework, adversary, historicity, and unity; applied to Job 2:11–2:13
Supports: Communication safeguards against romanticizing, sensationalizing, diagnosing, blaming, or simplifying death wishes, despair, severe loss, and suicide-related material; not exegesis.
WHO, Preventing Suicide: A Resource for Media Professionals, Update 2023, quick guide p. xiii, evidence pp. 7-10, dos and don'ts pp. 11-16; applied only to modern safety-aware presentation of Job 2:11–2:13
Sources for This Section
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Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete thought-unit coverage.
Exact location: Job 2:11–2:13, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Job
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology checked at the exact unit without treating morphology as a complete apparatus or interpretation.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Job.xml, OSIS 2:11–2:13
Open the fixed Hebrew Job file ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible First Edition Notes: Job
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006; current official PDF
Supports: Verse-level controls for Job's difficult Hebrew, syntax, older KJV language, textual issues, speech boundaries, and alternatives in Job 2:11–2:13.
Exact location: Official NET Job PDF, exact translator, study, and textual notes attached to Job 2:11–2:13
Open the official NET Job PDF ↗modern scholarly book course
Job course: summary, outline, background, introductory issues, theological themes, and Bible in the world
Daniel J. Simundson and Kathryn Schifferdecker
Enter the Bible, Luther Seminary, current online edition inspected 2026
Supports: Book-level and passage-level literary, historical, theological, and pastoral synthesis with speaker distinctions and visible uncertainty.
Exact location: Enter the Bible Job course, Summary, Background, Introductory Issues: framework, adversary, historicity, and unity; applied to Job 2:11–2:13
Open the Enter the Bible Job course ↗public health communication guidance
Preventing Suicide: A Resource for Media Professionals, Update 2023
World Health Organization
World Health Organization, 2023
Supports: Communication safeguards against romanticizing, sensationalizing, diagnosing, blaming, or simplifying death wishes, despair, severe loss, and suicide-related material; not exegesis.
Exact location: WHO, Preventing Suicide: A Resource for Media Professionals, Update 2023, quick guide p. xiii, evidence pp. 7-10, dos and don'ts pp. 11-16; applied only to modern safety-aware presentation of Job 2:11–2:13
Open the WHO communication guide ↗