It stood still, but I could not discern the form thereof: an image was before mine eyes, there was silence, and I heard a voice, saying,

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 ,

There stood one whose countenance I knew not, an image before my eyes, and I heard the voice as it were of a gentle wind:

It stood still; I could not discern the appearance thereof: a form was before mine eyes; I heard a slight murmur and a voice:

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,

It standeth, and I discern not its aspect, A similitude is over-against mine eyes, Silence! and a voice I hear:

Something was present before me, but I was not able to see it clearly; there was a form before my eyes: a quiet voice came to my ears, saying:

It stood still, but I could not discern the appearance thereof; A form was before mine eyes; I heard a still voice:

There appeared an image before my eyes, someone whose face I did not recognize, and I heard a voice like a gentle breeze.

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 which it was about to make. This was the point in which most horror would be felt. We should be less alarmed at anything which a strange messenger should say, than to have 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.
Mark. - It is offended.
Ber. - See: It stalks away.
Hor. - Stay; speak: speak, I charge thee speak.
Acts 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:
Which, happily, foreknowing may avoid,
If thou art privy to thy country's fate.
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.
Acts 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!
Acts i: Sc. iv.
But I could not discern the form thereof - This might have arisen from fear, or from the darkness of the night, or because the spirit was not distinct enough in its outline to enable him to do it. There is here just the kind of obscurity which 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, and eyes, and color. But none of these are here hinted at. 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, aspect, of the spectre.
An image was before mine 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 demâmâh, does not mean silence, but a gentle breeze, or air - auram lenem - such as Elijah heard after the tempest had gone by, and when God spoke to him, 1-Kings 19:12-13. Grotins supposes that it means here the בת־קול bath qôl, or "daughter of the voice," of which the Jewish Robbins speak so often - the still and gentle voice in which God spoke to people. The word used דממה demâmâh usually means silence, stillness, as of the winds after a storm, a calm, Psalm 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 which was to be made.

It stood still, but I could not discern the form thereof: an image [was] before mine eyes, [there was] (k) silence, and I heard a voice, [saying],
(k) When all things were quiet or when the fear was relieved as God appeared to Elijah, (1-Kings 19:12).

It stood still,.... That is, the spirit, or the angel in a visible form; it was before going to and fro, but now it stood still right against Eliphaz, as if it had something to say to him, and so preparing him to attend to it; which he might do the better, it standing before him while speaking to him, that he might have the opportunity of taking more notice of it:
but, notwithstanding this advantageous position of it:
I could not discern the form thereof; what it was, whether human or any other:
an image was before mine eyes; he saw something, some appearance and likeness, but could not tell what it was; perhaps the fear and surprise he was in hindered him from taking in any distinct idea of it, or that particular notice of it, so as to be able to form in his own mind any suitable notion of it, or to describe it to others:
there was silence both in the spirit or image, which, standing still, made no rushing noise, and in Eliphaz himself, who kept in his breath, and listened with all the attention he could to it; or a small low voice, as Ben Melech interprets it: so it follows:
and I heard a voice; a distinct articulate voice or sound of words, very audibly delivered by the spirit or image that stood before him:
saying; as follows.

It stood still--At first the apparition glides before Eliphaz, then stands still, but with that shadowy indistinctness of form which creates such an impression of awe; a gentle murmur: not (English Version): there was silence; for in 1-Kings 19:12, the voice, as opposed to the previous storm, denotes a gentle, still murmur.

Stood - Having passed by him to, and again, he made a stand, and addressed himself to speak. The form - Exactly and distinctly. An image - I saw some visible resemblance, though in a confused manner. Silence - The spirit, which possibly had made some noise with his motion, now standing still made no noise; all other persons and things about me were silent, and I also kept in my voice and breath, that I might distinctly hear. In the Hebrew, the words run thus, silence and a voice I heard.