Therefore the prudent shall keep silence in that time; for it is an evil time.
Therefore the prudent - the spiritually wise.
Shall keep silence in that time; for it is an evil time - not mere silence of tongue, but the prudent shall keep himself quiet from taking part in any public or private affairs which he can avoid; as it is "an evil time," and one in which all law is set at naught. Ephesians 5:16, "See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil;" and Colossians 4:4, "Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time," refer to this. Instead of impatiently agitating against irremediable evils, the godly wise will not cast pearls before swine (answering to "them that are without"), who would trample these, and rend the offerers (Matthew 7:6), but will patiently wait for God's time of deliverance in silent submission (Psalms 39:9, "I was dumb, I opened not my mouth; because thou didst it." Also in the time of "evil" - i:e., calamity-the godly prudent will be silently submissive to God's stroke; as when Nadab and Abihu, Aaron's sons, had been devoured by "fire from the Lord," because they offered "strange fire," and the Lord said, "I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me," "Aaron held his peace," Leviticus 10:3).