Albert Barnes Commentary Job 4:16

"It stood still, but I could not discern the appearance thereof; A form was before mine eyes: [There was] silence, and I heard a voice, [saying]," — Job 4:16 (ASV)

It stood still - It took a fixed position and looked on me. It at first glided by, or toward him, then stood in an immovable position, as if to attract his attention and to prepare him for the solemn announcement it was about to make.

This was the point at which most horror would be felt. We would be less alarmed by anything that a strange messenger might say than by having him stand and fix his eyes steadily and silently upon us. Hence, Horatius, in “Hamlet,” tortured by the imperturbable silence of the Ghost, earnestly entreated it to give him relief by speaking.

Hor. - What art thou that usurp’st this time of night,
Together with that fair and warlike form
In which the majesty of buried Denmark
Did sometime march? By heaven, I charge thee, speak.
Mar. - It is offended.
Ber. - See: It stalks away.
Hor. - Stay; speak: speak, I charge thee speak.
Act i. Sc. i.

Re-enter Ghost.

Hor. - But, soft; behold! lo, where it comes again!
I’ll cross it, though it blast me. - Stay, illusion!
If thou hast any sound, or use of voice,
Speak to me:
If there be any good thing to be done,
That may to thee do ease, and grace to me,
Speak to me:
If thou art privy to thy country’s fate,
Which, happily, foreknowing may avoid,
O speak!
Or if thou hast uphoarded in thy life
Extorted treasure in the womb of earth,
For which, they say, you spirits oft walk in death,
Speak of it; stay, and speak.
Act i. Sc. i.

Enter Ghost

Hor. - Look, my lord; it comes!
Ham. - Angels and ministers of grace, defend us!
Be thou a spirit of health, or goblin damn’d,
Bring with thee airs from heaven, or blasts from hell,
Be thy intents wicked or charitable,
Thou com’st in such a questionable shape,
That I will speak to thee: I’ll call thee, Hamlet,
King, father, royal Dane: O, answer me;
Let me not burst in ignorance!
Act i. Sc. iv.

But I could not discern the form of it - This might have arisen from fear, from the darkness of the night, or because the spirit was not distinct enough in its outline for him to do so.

Here, there is just the kind of obscurity that is essential to the sublime, and the statement of this circumstance is a master-stroke in the poet. A less perfect imagination would have attempted to describe the form of the spectre, and would have given an account of its shape, eyes, and color. But none of these are hinted at here.

The subject is left so that the imagination is most deeply impressed, and the whole scene has the aspect of the highest sublimity. Noyes very improperly renders this, “Its face I could not discern.” But the word used, מראה mar'eh—does not mean “face” here merely; it means the form, figure, or aspect of the spectre.

An image was before my eyes - Some form, some appearance was before me, whose exact figure I could not mark or describe.

There was silence - Margin, “I heard a still voice.” So Rosenmuller says that the word here, דּממה demamah—does not mean silence, but a gentle breeze, or air—auram lenem—such as Elijah heard after the tempest had passed by and when God spoke to him (1 Kings 19:12–13).

Grotius supposes that it means here the בת־קול bath qol, or “daughter of the voice,” of which the Jewish Rabbis speak so often—the still and gentle voice in which God spoke to people. The word used, דממה demamah, usually means silence, stillness, as of the winds after a storm, a calm (Psalms 107:29).

The Septuagint renders it, “I heard a gentle breeze, αυραν auran—and a voice,” καί φωνὴν kai phōnēn. But it seems to me that the common reading is preferable. There was stillness—a solemn, awful silence—and then he heard a voice impressively speaking.

The stillness was designed to fix the attention and to prepare the mind for the sublime announcement that was to be made.