Job responds to God 'I am of small account; what shall I answer thee? I lay my hand on my mouth.' This verse presents Job's response to God's challenge: silence and submission. Job acknowledges his small account or insignificance relative to God. The image of laying a hand on the mouth suggests Job silencing himself, ceasing his complaint. The response is remarkable: Job does not defend his complaint, does not attempt to answer God's implicit challenge, but rather submits and silences himself. Yet the submission seems incomplete: Job does not withdraw his assertion of innocence, merely ceases to argue about it. The verse represents a turning point: Job's long discourse of complaint ends in silence. Yet whether this silence represents genuine conviction or merely submission to superior power remains somewhat ambiguous.

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