Job12
New Living Translation
1Then Job spoke again:
2“You people really know everything, don’t you? And when you die, wisdom will die with you!
3Well, I know a few things myself— and you’re no better than I am. Who doesn’t know these things you’ve been saying?
4Yet my friends laugh at me, for I call on God and expect an answer. I am a just and blameless man, yet they laugh at me.
5People who are at ease mock those in trouble. They give a push to people who are stumbling.
6But robbers are left in peace, and those who provoke God live in safety— though God keeps them in his power.
7“Just ask the animals, and they will teach you. Ask the birds of the sky, and they will tell you.
8Speak to the earth, and it will instruct you. Let the fish in the sea speak to you.
9For they all know that my disaster has come from the hand of the Lord.
10For the life of every living thing is in his hand, and the breath of every human being.
11The ear tests the words it hears just as the mouth distinguishes between foods.
12Wisdom belongs to the aged, and understanding to the old.
13“But true wisdom and power are found in God; counsel and understanding are his.
14What he destroys cannot be rebuilt. When he puts someone in prison, there is no escape.
15If he holds back the rain, the earth becomes a desert. If he releases the waters, they flood the earth.
16Yes, strength and wisdom are his; deceivers and deceived are both in his power.
17He leads counselors away, stripped of good judgment; wise judges become fools.
18He removes the royal robe of kings. They are led away with ropes around their waist.
19He leads priests away, stripped of status; he overthrows those with long years in power.
20He silences the trusted adviser and removes the insight of the elders.
21He pours disgrace upon princes and disarms the strong.
22“He uncovers mysteries hidden in darkness; he brings light to the deepest gloom.
23He builds up nations, and he destroys them. He expands nations, and he abandons them.
24He strips kings of understanding and leaves them wandering in a pathless wasteland.
25They grope in the darkness without a light. He makes them stagger like drunkards.
Study Guide
Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Job 12.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: Job reproves his friends. (1–5). The wicked often prosper. (6–11). Job speaks of the wisdom and power of God. (12–25).
vv1-5
Job upbraids his friends with the good opinion they had of their own wisdom compared with his. We are apt to call reproofs reproaches, and to think ourselves mocked when advised and admonished; this is our folly; yet here was colour for this charge. He suspected the true cause of their conduct to be, that they despised him who was fallen into poverty. It is the way of the world. Even the just, upright man, if he comes under a cloud, is looked upon with contempt.
vv6-11
Job appeals to facts. The most audacious robbers, oppressors, and impious wretches, often prosper. Yet this is not by fortune or chance; the Lord orders these things. Worldly prosperity is of small value in his sight: he has better things for his children. Job resolves all into the absolute proprietorship which God has in all the creatures. He demands from his friends liberty to judge of what they had said; he appeals to any fair judgment. (Job 12:12-25)
vv12-25
This is a noble discourse of Job concerning the wisdom, power, and sovereignty of God, in ordering all the affairs of the children of men, according to the counsel of His own will, which none can resist. It were well if wise and good men, who differ about lesser things, would see how it is for their honour and comfort, and the good of others, to dwell most upon the great things in which they agree. Here are no complaints, or reflections. He gives many instances of God's powerful management of the children of men, overruling all their counsels, and overcoming all their oppositions. Having all strength and wisdom, God knows how to make use, even of those who are foolish and bad; otherwise there is so little wisdom and so little honesty in the world, that all had been in confusion and ruin long ago. These important truths were suited to convince the disputants that they were out of their depth in attempting to assign the Lord's reasons for afflicting Job; his ways are unsearchable, and his judgments past finding out. Let us remark what beautiful illustrations there are in the word of God, confirming his sovereignty, and wisdom in that sovereignty: but the highest and infinitely the most important is, that the Lord Jesus was crucified by the malice of the Jews; and who but the Lord could have known that this one event was the salvation of the world?
Key Words
אִיּוֹב: Ijob, the patriarch famous for his patience
עָנָה: properly, to eye or (generally) to heed, i.e. pay attention; by implication, to respond; by extension to begin to speak; specifically to sing, shout, testify, announce
אָמַר: to say (used with great latitude)
אׇמְנָם: verily
עַם: a people (as a congregated unit); specifically, a tribe (as those of Israel); hence (collectively) troops or attendants; figuratively, a flock
חׇכְמָה: wisdom (in a good sense)
מוּת: to die (literally or figuratively); causatively, to kill
גַּם: properly, assemblage; used only adverbially also, even, yea, though; often repeated as correl. both...and
לֵבָב: the heart (as the most interior organ);
נָפַל: to fall, in a great variety of applications (intransitive or causative, literal or figurative)
Cross References
Job 12Directly quoted in Psalm 107:40 regarding pouring contempt on princes and wandering in a pathless wilderness.
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Job directly counters Zophar's words about God shutting up a man so none can hinder.
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Psalm 107:27 closely mirrors the imagery of reeling and staggering like a drunken man.
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Parallel Hebrew expression and concept of one's foot slipping in times of sudden adversity.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Proverbs 8:14 declares that counsel, sound wisdom, and strength belong inherently to God.
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Parallel imagery of absolute divine key-holding: He shuts and no one can open.
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Illustrates how the deceived and the deceiver are ultimately under God's sovereign control and purpose.
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Job repeats this claim of equal understanding and not being inferior in the next chapter.
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Job responds directly to Zophar's accusation of mocking by stating he is the one mocked.
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Contrasts the stumble of the faltering foot in darkness with those who are at ease.
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Relates to the appeal to the aged and ancient ones for wisdom and traditional understanding.
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Parallels God revealing deep and secret things and knowing what lies in darkness.
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Reflects Job's recurring argument that the earth is given into the hand of the wicked.
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Job repeats this exact proverb later, comparing the ear testing words to the mouth tasting meat.
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The curse of groping at noonday in the dark without light under divine judgment.
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