What Does Job 29:21 Mean in the King James?
Unto me men gave ear, and waited, and kept silence at my counsel.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
Job’s “kept silence” and the Psalm’s “Rest in the LORD” share a Hebrew root for stillness: silence can be settled attention, not emptiness.
THE MEANING
Where counsel is received with weight, attention gathers: people hear, wait, and fall quiet. For you now, that quiet can be the room in which a word settles, rather than proof that nothing is happening.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
Silence means the listener is disengaged. Here, it can show that the listener is waiting for the counsel to settle.
THE ROOT
וְיִדְּמוּ
wəyiddəmū
GROWS FROM
דמם
damam
to be silent, still, or at rest
“kept silence” in this verse is wəyiddəmū. The root דמם (damam), meaning “be silent” or “be still,” also appears in the command translated “Rest in the LORD” in Psalm 37:7. The quiet around counsel can therefore carry settled attention, not withdrawal.
ALSO GROWS
dōm: Be still; rest.
דּוֹם
Psalm 37:7 uses this form for resting in the LORD, joining stillness with trust.
demāmāh: Stillness; silence.
דְּמָמָה
In 1 Kings 19:12, this root appears in the “still small voice,” showing that stillness can hold a voice.
וְיִחֵלוּ
wəyîḥēlū
GROWS FROM
יחל
yachal
to wait, hope, or expect
The verb translated “waited” can also carry hope and expectation, so the listeners are not merely paused; they anticipate something from the counsel. In Job 13:15, this same root appears where the KJV says, “yet will I trust in him,” showing that waiting can hold trust even under uncertainty.
ALSO GROWS
yāḥal: To wait or hope.
יָחַל
Job 13:15 uses this verb for Job’s trust in God, linking waiting with expectation.
tōḥelet: Hope; expectation.
תּוֹחֶלֶת
Proverbs 10:28 uses this noun for hope, showing the expectation contained in waiting.
שָׁמְעוּ
shāmeʿū
GROWS FROM
שמע
shama
to hear or listen; in some contexts, to heed or respond
“Gave ear” evokes a listening posture, while the verb itself says they heard. The root can also carry the sense of heeding or responding, making this more than sound merely reaching the ear.
ALSO GROWS
shema: Hear and respond.
שְׁמַע
The command “Hear, O Israel” uses this root, where hearing opens toward response.
shemuʿāh: Report; tidings.
שְׁמוּעָה
A report is something heard and carried onward, showing how this root can move what is heard beyond the listener.
THE PATTERN
Receptive wisdom gives a word time to arrive: it hears first, waits, and restrains speech.
He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him.Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they consider not that they do evil.Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:THE THREAD
Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.The word translated “Rest” is דמם (damam), meaning “be silent” or “be still,” the same root as “kept silence” here. The shared root links the listeners’ stillness before counsel with stillness before the LORD.
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