Job 40:3–40:5, King James Version
Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.
Job 40:3–40:5
Job Places His Hand over His Mouth
Job answers that he is small, and he covers his mouth
Job answered the LORD and said, Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer you? I will lay my hand on my mouth. Once have I spoken, but I will not answer; yes, twice, but I will proceed no further.
The KJV's 'vile' here is slightness, smallness, being of little account, not a doctrine that Job should hate himself or that sufferers should call themselves garbage. He stops. He does not yet say the later, harder sentences of 42:1-6.
This silence is not a gag for every lamenter
Job's hand on his mouth is his response after being shown a world he did not build. It is not a rule that grieving people must now be quiet, that questions are shameful, or that the friends may resume their case.
The LORD is not finished. A second whirlwind speech is coming. To freeze this moment as the whole theology of Job is to miss both Behemoth and the epilogue.
How this should shape us
You may need to stop talking when the world gets larger than your case. Do not turn Job's hand into a muzzle for the sick, and do not read 'vile' as a command to despise yourself.
Teach it back
Explain Job 40:3–40:5 in your own words. Name the speaker, the unit's place in Job, one source-controlled textual or literary observation, one uncertainty, and one harmful use the passage does not authorize.
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Go deeper
The explanation above is meant to stand on its own. Open these notes only if you want language, history, disagreements, or source locations.
Research trail and exact locationsThe source record behind this section
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete thought-unit coverage.
Job 40:3–40:5, 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 40:3–40:5
Supports: Verse-level controls for Job's difficult Hebrew, syntax, older KJV language, textual issues, speech boundaries, and alternatives in Job 40:3–40:5.
Official NET Job PDF, exact translator, study, and textual notes attached to Job 40:3–40:5
Supports: Book-level and passage-level literary, historical, theological, and pastoral synthesis with speaker distinctions and visible uncertainty.
Enter the Bible Job course, Introductory Issues and Theological Themes: divine speeches, creation, Behemoth, and Leviathan; applied to Job 40:3–40:5
Supports: A fully inspected critical alternative on the framework, litigation, human condition, divine speeches, and moral evaluation.
Harvey, 'Questions on the Book of Job,' Religious Studies 59.S1 (2023), pp. S7-S16, God's Answer and Job's First Reply; applied to Job 40:3–40:5
Supports: Polyphony, retribution critique, justice, Job's response, divine verdict, and the book's interpretive openness.
Ausloos, 'A Matter of Justice,' OTE 36.1 (2023), pp. 151-165, divine speeches and unresolved justice question; applied to Job 40:3–40:5
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 40:3–40:5, 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 40:3–40:5
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 40:3–40:5.
Exact location: Official NET Job PDF, exact translator, study, and textual notes attached to Job 40:3–40:5
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, Introductory Issues and Theological Themes: divine speeches, creation, Behemoth, and Leviathan; applied to Job 40:3–40:5
Open the Enter the Bible Job course ↗open access philosophical and literary article
Questions on the Book of Job
Warren Zev Harvey
Religious Studies 59, Special Issue S1, 2023
Supports: A fully inspected critical alternative on the framework, litigation, human condition, divine speeches, and moral evaluation.
Exact location: Harvey, 'Questions on the Book of Job,' Religious Studies 59.S1 (2023), pp. S7-S16, God's Answer and Job's First Reply; applied to Job 40:3–40:5
Open the Cambridge Job article ↗peer reviewed open access literary and theological article
A Matter of Justice: The Openness of the Book of Job
Hans Ausloos
Old Testament Essays 36.1, 2023
Supports: Polyphony, retribution critique, justice, Job's response, divine verdict, and the book's interpretive openness.
Exact location: Ausloos, 'A Matter of Justice,' OTE 36.1 (2023), pp. 151-165, divine speeches and unresolved justice question; applied to Job 40:3–40:5
Open Ausloos on Job and justice ↗