📖 Biblical Definition
Silence in Scripture is not empty — it is reverent and attentive. "Be still, and know that I am God" (Ps 46:10). "The LORD is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him" (Hab 2:20). When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, "there was silence in heaven for about half an hour" (Rev 8:1) — cosmic reverence. "A time to keep silence, and a time to speak" (Eccl 3:7). Wisdom knows when each applies: "Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise" (Prov 17:28). Silence before God is worship; silence with a brother can be solidarity in sorrow; silence at the wrong moment is complicity.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
SI'LENCE, n.
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SI'LENCE, n. [L. silentium.] Entire absence of sound; stillness; also, refraining from speech. In Scripture, silence is the reverent posture before God, the discipline of the wise, the sign of attention. "Be still, and know that I am God." When the seventh seal of Revelation was opened, heaven itself fell silent for half an hour — the pause before the final judgments poured out. Silence is not emptiness; it is the fullness of attention.
📖 Key Scripture
Psalm 46:10 — "Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!"
Habakkuk 2:20 — "But the LORD is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him."
Revelation 8:1 — "When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour."
Ecclesiastes 3:7 — "A time to keep silence, and a time to speak."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
Modern life has no silence. Notifications, music, podcasts fill every gap. The discipline of biblical silence is a lost art.
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The constant noise of modern life crowds out silence, which crowds out attention, which crowds out prayer. Christians desperately need to recover the biblical silence: literal quiet — car with nothing playing, walk with no podcast, hour in the chair before Scripture with nothing buzzing. Only in silence does the still small voice register. Elijah did not hear God in the earthquake or fire but in "the sound of a low whisper" (1 Kgs 19:12). Install silence on your calendar.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
H1826 — damam. G4602 — sigē.
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H1826 — damam (דָּמַם) — to be silent, to be still.
G4602 — sigē (σιγή) — silence; Revelation's heavenly silence.
Usage
"Be still, and know that I am God. Stillness is the precondition of knowing."
"Heaven fell silent for half an hour. Even eternity pauses. Your Tuesday should occasionally too."