Commentary for Job 4:16

It was standing It was standing before me, but I did not recognize its appearance.

a faint voice I heard the sound of faint words. Another explanation: I heard silence and a voice. I heard the voice of the silence, but the silence I did not hear. “Silence” denotes angels reciting praise silently, as [Jonathan] renders (I Kings 19:12): “a still small voice” as: a voice of those praising quietly. Moses heard the silence [i.e., the voice of the angels praising]—from here we deduce that the early prophets heard [lit. used] the voice, whereas the later ones heard an echo, like a man who hits with a hammer, and the echo resounds far away. From here... far away. Here it is written: silence and a voice, whereas concerning Elijah it is written: a still small voice; because Eliphaz heard only the silencing of the voice, like a person who shouts into a barrel, that the voice of the barrel shouts toward him. That is an echo, not the voice itself, but concerning Elijah if is written: a still, small voice, for he heard the voice itself] And this is what it said.