Job 21:5

21:5 Look ¹  at me and be appalled;

put your hands over your mouths. ² 

Job 29:9

29:9 the chief men refrained from talking

and covered their mouths with their hands;

Jude 1:19

1:19 These people are divisive, ³  worldly, ⁴  devoid of the Spirit. ⁵ 

Psalms 39:9

39:9 I am silent and cannot open my mouth

because of what you have done. ⁶ 

Proverbs 30:32

30:32 If you have done foolishly by exalting yourself ⁷ 

or if you have planned evil,

put ⁸  your hand over your mouth!

Micah 7:16

7:16 Nations will see this and be disappointed by ⁹  all their strength,

they will put their hands over their mouths,

and act as if they were deaf. ¹⁰ 

Habakkuk 2:20

2:20 But the Lord is in his majestic palace. ¹¹ 

The whole earth is speechless in his presence!” ¹² 

Zechariah 2:13

2:13 Be silent in the Lord’s presence, all people everywhere, ¹³  for he is being moved to action in his holy dwelling place. ¹⁴ 

¹ tn The verb פְּנוּ (pÿnu) is from the verb “to turn,” related to the word for “face.” In calling for them to turn toward him, he is calling for them to look at him. But here it may be more in the sense of their attention rather than just a looking at him.

² tn The idiom is “put a hand over a mouth,” the natural gesture for keeping silent and listening (cf. Job 29:9; 40:4; Mic 7:16).

³ tn Grk “these are the ones who cause divisions.”

⁴ tn Or “natural,” that is, living on the level of instincts, not on a spiritual level (the same word occurs in 1 Cor 2:14 as a description of nonbelievers).

⁵ tn Grk “not having [the] Spirit.”

⁶ tn Heb “because you acted.” The psalmist has in mind God’s disciplinary measures (see vv. 10-13).

⁷ tn The construction has the בְּ (bet) preposition with the Hitpael infinitive construct, forming a temporal clause. This clause explains the way in which the person has acted foolishly.

⁸ tn Heb “hand to mouth.” This express means “put your hand to your mouth” (e.g., Job 40:4, 5); cf. NIV “clap your hand over.”

⁹ tn Or “be ashamed of.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “and their ears will be deaf.” Apparently this means the opposing nations will be left dumbfounded by the Lord’s power. Their inability to respond will make them appear to be deaf mutes.

¹¹ tn Or “holy temple.” The Lord’s heavenly palace, rather than the earthly temple, is probably in view here (see Ps 11:4; Mic 1:2-3). The Hebrew word ֹקדֶשׁ (qodesh, “holy”) here refers to the sovereign transcendence associated with his palace.

¹² tn Or “Be quiet before him, all the earth!”

¹³ tn Heb “all flesh”; NAB, NIV “all mankind.”

¹⁴ sn The sense here is that God in heaven is about to undertake an occupation of his earthly realm (v. 12) by restoring his people to the promised land.