Job 2:13

"Then they sat down on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights with no one speaking. word to him, for they saw that his pain was very great"

The usual time for mourning for the dead was seven days (Genesis 50:10; 1 Samuel 31:13; Ezekiel 3:15). "For one of them to speak prior to the sufferer speaking would have been in bad taste" (Gaebelein p. 887). Some have noted that they were actually better comforters when they remained silent. "To their credit they do not turn away from their repulsive friend as others have done" (McKenna p. 48).