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Job 12:1–25 — Job Presents His Case. Each verse below carries the full apparatus: the Berean Standard Bible, the vocalized original (tap any word), and a parsed breakdown of every term transcribed from the interlinear. Synthesized commentary, canonical threads, and the reading of Christ gather at the end, over the whole unit.

Then Job answered:

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

’î·yō·wḇ way·yō·mar way·ya·‘an

Word by word3 · parsed

אִיּ֗וֹב’î·yō·wḇThen JobH347

√ ʼÎyôwb — Ijob, the patriarch famous for his patienceNounpropermasculine singular

ʼÎyôwb: Job The proper name; the speaker now answering the third friend, Zophar (ch. 11).

וַיֹּאמַֽר׃way·yō·mar. . .H559

√ ʼâmar — to say (used with great latitude)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular

ʼâmar: to say The common verb of speech, paired with ʻânâh in the fixed formula.

וַיַּ֥עַןway·ya·‘anansweredH6030

√ ʻânâh — properly, to eye or (generally) to heed, iConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular

ʻânâh: to answer, respond Qal consecutive imperfect. The verb matters in this chapter: in v. 4 Job uses it of God, “I called on Eloah and He answered him.” The man who now answers his friends is the man who once had God answer him, and that remembered answer is the ground of his complaint.

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Jamieson, Fausset & BrownCommentary Critical and Explanatory1871

Ironical, as if all the wisdom in the world was concentrated in them and would expire when they expired.

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Joseph BensonCommentary on the Old and New Testaments1810s

When wise and good men die, it is a comfort to think that wisdom and goodness do not die with them: it is folly to think that there will be a great, irreparable loss of us when we are gone, since God has the residue of the Spirit, and can raise up others more fit to do his work.

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Geneva Study BibleMarginal Notes1599

Because you do not feel what you speak, you think the whole stands in words, and so flatter yourselves as though no one else knew anything, or could know except you.

Geneva diagnoses the friends’ fault as speaking what they do not feel: orthodoxy held as words rather than as experience.

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“Truly then you are the people with whom wisdom itself will die!

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

’ā·mə·nām kî ’at·tem- ‘ām wə·‘im·mā·ḵem ḥāḵ·māh tā·mūṯ

Word by word7 · parsed

אָ֭מְנָם’ā·mə·nāmTrulyH551

√ ʼomnâm — verilyConjunction

ʼomnâm: verily Adverb of affirmation, here set up as mock agreement. K&D distinguishes the order kî ʼomnām from ʼomnām kî (Job 36:4).

כִּ֣יkîthenH3588

√ kîy — (by implication) very widely used as a relative conjunction or adverb (as below)Conjunction

אַתֶּם־’at·tem-youH859

√ ʼattâh — thou and thee, or (plural) ye and youPronounsecond person masculine plural

עָ֑ם‘āmare the peopleH5971

√ ʻam — a people (as a congregated unit)Nounmasculine singular

ʻam: a people Collective noun. Job's irony makes three men into a whole nation of sages. JFB adds that wisdom makes “a people” and cites Romans 10:19 on a foolish nation being “not a people.”

וְ֝עִמָּכֶ֗םwə·‘im·mā·ḵemwith [whom]H5973

√ ʻim — adverb or preposition, with (iConjunctive wawPrepositionsecond person masculine plural

חָכְמָֽה׃ḥāḵ·māhwisdom [itself]H2451

√ chokmâh — wisdom (in a good sense)Nounfeminine singular

chokmâh: wisdom The key word of the chapter. It recurs at v. 12 (with the aged) and v. 13 (with God): the movement of the speech is from the friends’ wisdom, through the elders’, to God’s. Job 28 later asks where ḥoḵmāh can be found at all.

תָּמ֥וּתtā·mūṯwill dieH4191

√ mûwth — to die (literally or figuratively)VerbQalImperfectthird person feminine singular

mûwth: to die Qal imperfect. Gill draws the sober point under the sarcasm: the wise men themselves must die, but wisdom does not die with them.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“Truly indeed, you are the-people, and-with-you will-die wisdom!”

Where the English smooths the original

אָ֭מְנָם אָ֭מְנָם (’ā·mə·nām, H551, “verily, truly”) with kî. K&D notes the order kî ʼomnām (“truly then”) is a concession “intended as irony.” The BSB “Truly then” keeps the words; the reader must hear the sneer in the tone, since the Hebrew gives no other marker.
עָ֑ם עָ֑ם (‘ām, H5971): “a people.” K&D reads it as the whole race of men: you are not individuals but humanity itself. Cambridge compares the corporate “We, the people.” The sound play with the next word וְעִמָּכֶם (‘im·mā·ḵem, “with you”) is audible in Hebrew: ‘ām / ‘im, people / with-you.
תָּמ֥וּת תָּמ֥וּת (tā·mūṯ, Qal imperfect 3fs of mûwth, “to die”): the feminine subject is ḥoḵmāh, wisdom. Wisdom is pictured as a mortal who will be buried in the friends’ grave. The BSB adds “itself” for emphasis; the Hebrew needs no intensifier, the personification carries it.

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Albert BarnesNotes on the Bible1834

Job claims to be equal to them in the power of quoting the sayings. of the ancients; and in order to show this, he proceeds to adduce a number of proverbial sayings, occupying the remainder of this chapter, to show that he was familiar with that mode of reasoning, and that in this respect he was fully their equal.

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Matthew PooleAnnotations upon the Holy Bible1685

the truth is, neither you nor I have any reason to be puffed up with our knowledge of these things; for the most foolish and barbarous nations know that God is infinite in wisdom, and power, and justice. But this is not the question between you and me.

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Keil & DelitzschBiblical Commentary on the Old Testament1860s

He is not second to them; מן נפל, like Job 13:2 , properly to slip from, to be below any one; מן is not the comparative (Ewald). Oetinger's translation is not bad: I cannot slink away at your presence.

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But I also have a mind; I am not inferior to you. Who does not know such things as these?

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

gam- lî lê·ḇāḇ kə·mō·w·ḵem ’ā·nō·ḵî lō- nō·p̄êl mik·kem wə·’eṯ- mî- ’ên kə·mōw- ’êl·leh

Word by word13 · parsed

גַּם־gam-But I alsoH1571

√ gam — properly, assemblageConjunction

לִ֤יlîhave

Prepositionfirst person common singular

לֵבָ֨ב׀lê·ḇāḇa mindH3824

√ lêbâb — the heart (as the most interior organ)Nounmasculine singular

lêbâb: heart, the inner man In Hebrew anthropology the heart thinks, decides and remembers. Job claims a lêbāḇ equal to theirs, rebutting Zophar’s “empty” man (Job 11:12), and the same organ reappears in v. 24, where God removes the lêḇ of the earth’s leaders.

כְּֽמוֹכֶ֗םkə·mō·w·ḵem. . .H3644

√ kᵉmôw — a form of the prefix 'k-', but used separately as, thus, soPrepositionsecond person masculine plural

אָנֹכִ֣י’ā·nō·ḵîIH595

√ ʼânôkîy — IPronounfirst person common singular

ʼânôkîy: I Emphatic first-person pronoun: “I, for my part.”

לֹא־lō-am notH3808

√ lôʼ — not (the simple or absAdverbNegative particle

נֹפֵ֣לnō·p̄êlinferiorH5307

√ nâphal — to fall, in a great variety of applications (intransitive or causative, literal or figurative)VerbQalParticiplemasculine singular

nâphal: to fall Participle. The verb of the slip and the collapse; Job uses the same idiom again at 13:2. The image anticipates v. 5, where those whose feet slip are despised.

מִכֶּ֑םmik·kemto you

Prepositionsecond person masculine plural

וְאֶת־wə·’eṯ-. . .H854

√ ʼêth — properly, nearness (used only as a preposition or an adverb), nearConjunctive wawPreposition

מִי־mî-WhoH4310

√ mîy — who? (occasionally, by a peculiar idiom, of things)Interrogative

mîy: who? Rhetorical interrogative expecting “no one.”

אֵ֥ין’êndoes not [know]H369

√ ʼayin — a non-entityAdverb

כְּמוֹ־kə·mōw-such thingsH3644

√ kᵉmôw — a form of the prefix 'k-', but used separately as, thus, soPreposition

אֵֽלֶּה׃’êl·lehas theseH428

√ ʼêl-leh — these or thosePronouncommon plural

ʼêl-leh: these Points back to Zophar’s hymn to divine wisdom (Job 11:7 to 12), per Cambridge.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“Also to-me a-heart like-you; not falling am-I below-you; and-with whom are-not such-things-as-these?”

Where the English smooths the original

לֵבָ֨ב׀ לֵבָ֨ב (lê·ḇāḇ, H3824): literally “heart.” BSB “mind” is correct in sense; Barnes and K&D both note that for the Hebrew the heart is the seat of understanding. K&D calls Ewald’s “head” a western form. Job answers Zophar’s jibe that an empty man gets understanding (Job 11:12, Cambridge).
נֹפֵ֣ל נֹפֵ֣ל (nō·p̄êl, Qal participle of nâphal, “to fall”) with min: “I am not falling below you.” BSB “inferior” loses the picture. K&D: min nāphal means “to slip from, to be below any one” (as Job 13:2); Gill hears also “I am not falling,” that is, not an apostate as they suppose.
אֵ֥ין וְאֶת־מִי־אֵין כְּמוֹ־אֵלֶּה: literally “and with whom are not such as these?” (Cambridge). BSB “Who does not know” supplies the verb; the Hebrew says such knowledge is with everyone, a common possession, not a secret of three sages.

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Joseph BensonCommentary on the Old and New Testaments1810s

Thus the Jews mocked our Lord Jesus: “He trusted in God; (said they;) let him deliver him now, if he will have him.” “This man calleth for Elias; let us see whether Elias will come and save him.

Benson offers the reading that the line is the friends’ taunt; that is one of several interpretations, and his link to the cross is an application, not a claim about Job’s intent.

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Charles EllicottCommentary for English Readers1878

This is either the character Job claims for himself, or it is the supposed taunt of his friends—the righteous and the perfect a laughing-stock, or, the righteous and the perfect might be a laughing-stock. Ridicule is no test of truth or of merit.

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The Pulpit CommentarySpence & Exell, eds.1880s

You mock me, though I have always clung to religion, have called upon God in prayer, and from time to time had my prayers answered by him. Thus it is the just upright man that is laughed to scorn.

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Matthew HenryConcise Commentary on the Whole Bible1706

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.

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I am a laughingstock to my friends, though I called on God, and He answered. The righteous and upright man is a laughingstock.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

’eh·yeh śə·ḥōq lə·rê·‘ê·hū qō·rê le·’ĕ·lō·w·ah way·ya·‘ă·nê·hū ṣad·dîq tā·mîm śə·ḥôq

Word by word9 · parsed

אֶֽהְיֶ֗ה’eh·yehI amH1961

√ hâyâh — to exist, iVerbQalImperfectfirst person common singular

שְׂחֹ֤קśə·ḥōqa laughingstockH7814

√ sᵉchôwq — laughter (in merriment or defiance)Nounmasculine singular construct

sᵉchôwq: laughter, derision Construct noun, repeated at the end of the verse (index 8) so the verse begins and ends in mockery. Benson pairs Lamentations 3:14, “I was a derision to all my people.”

לְרֵעֵ֨הוּ׀lə·rê·‘ê·hūto my friendsH7453

√ rêaʻ — an associate (more or less close)Preposition-lNounmasculine singular constructthird person masculine singular

קֹרֵ֣אqō·rêthough I calledH7121

√ qârâʼ — to call out to (iVerbQalParticiplemasculine singular

qârâʼ: to call The participle describes a habit, one who calls on God, the posture of prayer.

לֶ֭אֱלוֹהַּle·’ĕ·lō·w·ahon GodH433

√ ʼĕlôwahh — a deity or the DeityPreposition-lNounmasculine singular

ʼĕlôwahh: God The singular Eloah, the book’s favoured poetic name for God in the dialogues. It returns in v. 6, where the violent carry “Eloah” in their hand.

וַֽיַּעֲנֵ֑הוּway·ya·‘ă·nê·hūand He answeredH6030

√ ʻânâh — properly, to eye or (generally) to heed, iConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singularthird person masculine singular

ʻânâh: to answer Consecutive imperfect with suffix: “and He answered him.” Answered prayer was once the mark of Job’s life; now the friends treat his suffering as proof God will not answer.

צַדִּ֥יקṣad·dîqThe righteousH6662

√ tsaddîyq — justAdjectivemasculine singular

tsaddîyq: righteous, just K&D explains it from a root meaning hard, straight: one who rules himself strictly by God’s will. Job uses the very category the friends deny him.

תָּמִֽים׃tā·mîmand upright manH8549

√ tâmîym — entire (literally, figuratively or morally)Adjectivemasculine singular

tâmîym: entire, blameless Integrity, wholeness. K&D: one whose thoughts are without disguise what they should be, “in one word: pure.” Same root as the narrator’s tām for Job (1:1, 1:8, 2:3).

שְׂ֝ח֗וֹקśə·ḥôqis a laughingstockH7814

√ sᵉchôwq — laughter (in merriment or defiance)Nounmasculine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“A-laughingstock to-his-friend I-am, one-calling to-Eloah and-He-answered-him; a-laughingstock, the-righteous, the-blameless.”

Where the English smooths the original

לְרֵעֵ֨הוּ׀ לְרֵעֵ֨הוּ (lə·rê·‘ê·hū): literally “to his friend,” third person singular. BSB smooths to “my friends.” K&D calls it a synallage (shift of person) and translates “a laughing-stock to my own friend.” The singular may glance at Zophar, whose word “mock” (Job 11:3) Job throws back (JFB, Pulpit).
קֹרֵ֣א קֹרֵ֣א (qō·rê, Qal participle of qârâʼ): “one calling.” BSB “though I called” supplies a concession the Hebrew leaves open. Interpreters divide: Job’s own past communion with God (Barnes, Pulpit, K&D, Cambridge), the friend who prays (Poole, Gill), or the friends’ mocking words about Job (Benson).
תָּמִֽים׃ צַדִּ֥יק תָּמִֽים (ṣad·dîq tā·mîm): “righteous, blameless,” two bare adjectives with no article. BSB “The righteous and upright man” adds “man” and “and.” tāmîm is from the root tmm that gives Job’s own title in 1:1 (tām), so the generic phrase points back at Job himself.

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Keil & DelitzschBiblical Commentary on the Old Testament1860s

contempt (befits) misfortune, according to the thoughts (or thinking), idea of the prosperous.

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Jamieson, Fausset & BrownCommentary Critical and Explanatory1871

The wanderer, arrived at his night-quarters, contemptuously throws aside the torch which had guided his uncertain steps through the darkness. As the torch is to the wanderer, so Job to his friends. Once they gladly used his aid in their need; now they in prosperity mock him in his need.

JFB follows the older “torch” reading (with Umbreit); K&D and Cambridge read “misfortune.” Both are given so the reader can weigh them.

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Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges—1880s

But such is the treatment which those who fall into misfortune, even though they be righteous men, receive at the hands of those that are at ease and prosperous.

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The one at ease scorns misfortune as the fate of those whose feet are slipping.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

ša·’ă·nān būz lap·pîḏ lə·‘aš·tūṯ nā·ḵō·wn rā·ḡel lə·mō·w·‘ă·ḏê

Word by word7 · parsed

שַׁאֲנָ֑ןša·’ă·nānThe one at easeH7600

√ shaʼănân — secureAdjectivemasculine singular

shaʼănân: secure, at ease A word with a moral edge: in 10 verses it often names careless complacency (Amos 6:1; Psalm 123:4, where “those at ease” pour out contempt). Job puts his friends among them.

בּ֭וּזbūzscornsH937

√ bûwz — disrespectNounmasculine singular

bûwz: contempt The same noun returns in v. 21: the contempt the secure pour on the fallen is the contempt God pours on nobles. The chapter quietly turns the friends’ attitude back on the great.

לַפִּ֣ידlap·pîḏmisfortuneH6365

√ pîyd — (figuratively) misfortunePreposition-l, ArticleNounmasculine singular

pîyd: calamity, misfortune Rare (4 verses). K&D suggests an original sense of dissolution or fall.

לְעַשְׁתּ֣וּתlə·‘aš·tūṯas the fateH6248

√ ʻashtûwth — cogitationPreposition-lNounfeminine singular construct

ʻashtûwth: thought A rare noun of inner reckoning: the contempt lives in the mind of the comfortable before it reaches the lips.

נָ֝כ֗וֹןnā·ḵō·wn. . .H3559

√ kûwn — properly, to be erect (iNounmasculine singular

kûwn: to be established, ready Niphal participle used as predicate. Ready, set in place.

רָֽגֶל׃rā·ḡelof those whose feetH7272

√ regel — a foot (as used in walking)Nounfeminine singular

לְמ֣וֹעֲדֵיlə·mō·w·‘ă·ḏêare slippingH4571

√ mâʻad — to waverPreposition-lVerbQalParticiplemasculine plural construct

mâʻad: to waver, slip Participle. The slipping foot is the psalmist’s image of near-collapse (Psalm 73:2, cited by Barnes and Cambridge).

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“Contempt for-misfortune, in-the-thoughts of-the-one-at-ease; ready for-those-slipping of-foot.”

Where the English smooths the original

לַפִּ֣יד לַפִּ֣יד: the consonants can be read lappîḏ, “a torch” (Targum, Vulgate, Luther, hence KJV “as a lamp despised”), or la-pîḏ, “for misfortune” (H6365 pîyd), which K&D, Cambridge, Pulpit and BSB follow. pîyd is rare (4 verses: Job 30:24, 31:29, Proverbs 24:22). The tradition of the despised torch (JFB, Benson, Poole, Gill) is old and vivid, but the pointing and parallelism favour “misfortune.”
לְעַשְׁתּ֣וּת לְעַשְׁתּ֣וּת (lə·‘aš·tūṯ, H6248 ʻashtûwth, “thought, cogitation”): “in the thought(s) of.” BSB renders “as the fate,” which turns a statement about the attitude of the comfortable into a statement about the sufferer’s lot. K&D: “according to the ideas of the prosperous.”
נָ֝כ֗וֹן נָ֝כ֗וֹן (nā·ḵō·wn, from kûwn, “established, ready”): left untranslated in BSB (“. . .”). K&D: contempt “is ready and waiting for them” (compare Exodus 34:2). The prepared contempt stands where a prepared kindness should be.

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Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges—1880s

The words might also mean: they who carry ( their ) god in their hand , the idea being that their god is their own strong hand or the weapon in it; cf. what the prophet says of the Chaldeans, This their power is their god, Habakkuk 1:11

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Albert BarnesNotes on the Bible1834

This is Job's original proposition, to which he all along adheres. It is, that God does not deal with people in this life according to their character;

Barnes states Job’s thesis sharply; God’s speeches (chs. 38 to 41) and the epilogue later test it, so the reader should hear it as Job’s claim, not the book’s last word.

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Matthew PooleAnnotations upon the Holy Bible1685

which shows that the most wicked, and injurious, and impudent oppressors, tyrants, and robbers, are so far from meeting with those disappointments and miseries wherewith thou didst threaten them, that they commonly succeed in their cursed enterprises, and flourish in wealth and glory, and fill their houses with the goods of others which they violently took away; whereof the Chaldeans and Sabeans, Job 1:15 ,17 , are a present and pregnant evidence.

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The tents of robbers are safe, and those who provoke God are secure—those who carry their god in their hands.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

’ō·hā·lîm lə·šō·ḏə·ḏîm yiš·lā·yū lə·mar·gî·zê ’êl la·’ă·šer ū·ḇaṭ·ṭu·ḥō·wṯ hê·ḇî ’ĕ·lō·w·ah bə·yā·ḏōw

Word by word10 · parsed

אֹֽהָלִ֨ים׀’ō·hā·lîmThe tentsH168

√ ʼôhel — a tent (as clearly conspicuous from a distance)Nounmasculine plural

ʼôhel: tent The dwelling of the semi-nomad; in Zophar’s scheme the tent of the wicked should be unsafe (Job 11:14). Job reports the opposite.

לְשֹׁ֥דְדִ֗יםlə·šō·ḏə·ḏîmof robbersH7703

√ shâdad — properly, to be burly, iPreposition-lVerbQalParticiplemasculine plural

shâdad: to devastate Qal participle: the ravager by trade.

יִשְׁלָ֤יוּyiš·lā·yūare safeH7951

√ shâlâh — to be tranquil, iVerbQalImperfectthird person masculine plural

shâlâh: to be at ease, at rest The verb of quiet prosperity. Job’s claim here is the problem of Psalm 73 and Jeremiah 12:1, stated with no softening.

לְמַרְגִּ֣יזֵיlə·mar·gî·zêand those who provokeH7264

√ râgaz — to quiver (with any violent emotion, especially anger or fear)Preposition-lVerbHifilParticiplemasculine plural construct

râgaz: to quiver, provoke Hiphil participle: those who make God tremble with anger, that is, provoke Him.

אֵ֑ל’êlGodH410

√ ʼêl — strengthNounmasculine singular

ʼêl: God, the Mighty The short name El, set beside Eloah later in the verse.

לַאֲשֶׁ֤רla·’ă·šerH834

√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatPreposition-lPronounrelative

וּֽ֭בַטֻּחוֹתū·ḇaṭ·ṭu·ḥō·wṯare secureH987

√ baṭṭuchôwth — securityConjunctive wawNounfeminine plural

baṭṭuchôwth: security Plural of intensity: abundant safety. Rare noun from the root of trust (bāṭaḥ).

הֵבִ֖יאhê·ḇîthose who carryH935

√ bôwʼ — to go or come (in a wide variety of applications)VerbHifilPerfectthird person masculine singular

bôwʼ: to come; Hiphil, to bring Hiphil perfect. The subject is the crux: if God brings goods into their hand, Job ascribes their prosperity to God; if the man brings his god in his hand, the line names idolatry of force.

אֱל֣וֹהַּ’ĕ·lō·w·ahtheir godH433

√ ʼĕlôwahh — a deity or the DeityNounmasculine singular

ʼĕlôwahh: God or a god The same Eloah on whom the righteous man called in v. 4. Cambridge notes the strict antithesis: the righteous calls on Eloah and is mocked, the violent carry Eloah in their fist and are safe.

בְּיָדֽוֹ׃bə·yā·ḏōwin their handsH3027

√ yâd — a hand (the open one (indicating power, means, direction, etcPreposition-bNounfeminine singular constructthird person masculine singular

yâd: hand The hand is the chapter’s hinge word: here the human fist, in vv. 9 to 10 the hand of the LORD in which every life rests.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“At-peace are-the-tents of-destroyers, and-securities belong to-those-who-provoke El, to-him-who brings Eloah in-his-hand.”

Where the English smooths the original

יִשְׁלָ֤יוּ יִשְׁלָ֤יוּ (yiš·lā·yū, Qal imperfect of shâlâh, “to be tranquil”): “they are at rest, untroubled.” K&D notes it as an intensive form for yišlû. BSB “safe” is close; the word is the quiet of undisturbed prosperity that Zophar promised only to the righteous (Job 11:18 to 19).
לְשֹׁ֥דְדִ֗ים לְשֹׁ֥דְדִ֗ים (lə·šō·ḏə·ḏîm, participle of shâdad, “to ravage, devastate”): “destroyers, plunderers.” BSB “robbers” is milder than the word, which describes violent devastation. Benson, Poole and Gill name the Chaldeans and Sabeans of Job 1:15, 17.
הֵבִ֖יא הֵבִ֖יא אֱל֣וֹהַּ בְּיָדֽוֹ (Hiphil perfect of bôwʼ, “cause to come, bring”): “who brings Eloah in his hand.” Two readings: KJV, Benson, Poole, Barnes and Ellicott, “into whose hand God bringeth abundantly”; Cambridge, JFB, Pulpit and BSB, “who carry their god in their hands,” that is, whose fist is their god (compare Habakkuk 1:11). The Hebrew is genuinely ambiguous.

But ask the animals, and they will instruct you; ask the birds of the air, and they will tell you.

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Hebrew — tap a word ↓

wə·’ū·lām šə·’al- nā ḇə·hê·mō·wṯ wə·ṯō·re·kā wə·‘ō·wp̄ haš·šā·ma·yim wə·yag·geḏ- lāḵ

Word by word9 · parsed

וְֽאוּלָ֗םwə·’ū·lāmButH199

√ ʼûwlâm — however or on the contraryConjunction

ʼûwlâm: however, but indeed Marks the turn to the main argument.

שְׁאַל־šə·’al-askH7592

√ shâʼal — to inquireVerbQalImperativemasculine singular

shâʼal: to ask, inquire Imperative singular: Job addresses one friend, likely Zophar, directly. Bildad had told Job to “inquire” of the former generation (Job 8:8, same verb); Job sends him to the animals instead.

נָ֣אnā. . .H4994

√ nâʼ — 'I pray', 'now', or 'then'Interjection

בְהֵמ֣וֹתḇə·hê·mō·wṯthe animalsH929

√ bᵉhêmâh — properly, a dumb beastNounfeminine plural

bᵉhêmâh: beast Domestic and wild animals; first of a creation order (beasts, birds, fish) that Pulpit compares with Genesis 9:2 and Psalm 8:7 to 8.

וְתֹרֶ֑ךָּwə·ṯō·re·kāand they will instruct youH3384

√ yârâh — properly, to flow as water (iConjunctive wawVerbHifilConjunctive imperfectthird person feminine singularsecond person masculine singular

yârâh: to throw, point out, teach Hiphil. The beasts become teachers. Interpreters divide on the lesson: God’s sovereign hand over all (K&D, Pulpit, Gill), or that the strong prey on the weak just as robbers prosper (Barnes, JFB). Verse 9 decides it in favour of the first, while not excluding the second.

וְע֥וֹףwə·‘ō·wp̄ask the birdsH5775

√ ʻôwph — a bird (as covered with feathers, or rather as covering with wings), often collectivelyConjunctive wawNounmasculine singular construct

הַ֝שָּׁמַ֗יִםhaš·šā·ma·yimof the airH8064

√ shâmayim — the sky (as aloftArticleNounmasculine plural

וְיַגֶּד־wə·yag·geḏ-and they will tellH5046

√ nâgad — properly, to front, iConjunctive wawVerbHifilConjunctive imperfect Jussivethird person masculine singular

nâgad: to declare, make known Hiphil jussive: “let it tell you.”

לָֽךְ׃lāḵyou

Prepositionsecond person feminine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“But-indeed, ask now the-beasts, and-she-will-teach-you; and-the-birds of-the-heavens, and-he-will-tell you.”

Where the English smooths the original

וְֽאוּלָ֗ם וְֽאוּלָ֗ם (wə·’ū·lām, H199, “but indeed, on the contrary”): a strong adversative. K&D renders verum enim vero and sees here the turn from personal complaint to a hymn on God’s rule. BSB “But” is accurate but slight.
וְתֹרֶ֑ךָּ וְתֹרֶ֑ךָּ (wə·ṯō·re·kā, Hiphil of yârâh): “and she will instruct you.” The verb of formal instruction, the root traditionally linked to tôrâh. Grammatically the plural “beasts” takes a feminine singular verb (K&D notes the pattern). BSB “they will instruct” regularises it.
נָ֣א נָ֣א (nā): the particle of polite urging, “please, now,” left untranslated in BSB. It gives the imperative a mock courtesy: go on, consult the animals.

The Voices✦ 3 public domain

John GillExposition of the Entire Bible1746–63

and they will all unite in this doctrine, that they are raised and preserved by the power of God, and are so many instances of his wisdom, power, and goodness:

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Albert BarnesNotes on the Bible1834

The sentiment is that it is a great principle which pervades all things that the ferocious the strong, the wicked, are often prospered, while the weak, the defenseless, the innocent, the pious, are subject to calamities, and that God does not apportion his dealings to the exact character of his creatures.

Barnes reads the creatures’ lesson as the prosperity of the predator; K&D and Gill read it as testimony to the Creator. Verse 9 (“the hand of the LORD has done this”) supports the second more directly.

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The Pulpit CommentarySpence & Exell, eds.1880s

The testimony will be unanimous - beasts, birds, reptiles, and fishes will unite in it.

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Or speak to the earth, and it will teach you; let the fish of the sea inform you.

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Hebrew — tap a word ↓

’ōw śî·aḥ lā·’ā·reṣ wə·ṯō·re·kā də·ḡê hay·yām wî·sap·pə·rū lə·ḵā

Word by word8 · parsed

א֤וֹ’ōwOrH176

√ ʼôw — desire (and so probably in Proverbs 31:4)Conjunction

שִׂ֣יחַśî·aḥspeakH7878

√ sîyach — to ponder, iVerbQalImperativemasculine singular

sîyach: to ponder, converse Imperative. The verb of inner musing and outer talk; the earth becomes a partner in meditation.

לָאָ֣רֶץlā·’ā·reṣto the earthH776

√ ʼerets — the earth (at large, or partitively a land)Preposition-l, ArticleNounfeminine singular

ʼerets: earth, land Cambridge: the earth here includes all the lower life with which it teems.

וְתֹרֶ֑ךָּwə·ṯō·re·kāand it will teach youH3384

√ yârâh — properly, to flow as water (iConjunctive wawVerbHifilConjunctive imperfectthird person feminine singularsecond person masculine singular

yârâh: to teach Same Hiphil as v. 7, now with the earth as teacher.

דְּגֵ֣יdə·ḡêlet the fishH1709

√ dâg — a fish (often used collectively)Nounmasculine plural construct

dâg: fish The last of the creatures, from the depths. Even the voiceless will “recount.”

הַיָּֽם׃hay·yāmof the seaH3220

√ yâm — a sea (as breaking in noisy surf) or large body of waterArticleNounmasculine singular

וִֽיסַפְּר֥וּwî·sap·pə·rūinformH5608

√ çâphar — properly, to score with a mark as a tally or record, iConjunctive wawVerbPielConjunctive imperfectthird person masculine plural

sâphar: to count, recount Piel. Creation is not merely evidence; it narrates.

לְ֝ךָ֗lə·ḵāyou

Prepositionsecond person masculine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“Or speak to-the-earth and-it-will-teach-you, and-will-recount to-you the-fish of-the-sea.”

Where the English smooths the original

שִׂ֣יחַ שִׂ֣יחַ (śî·aḥ, H7878 sîyach, “to muse, meditate, talk”): read as imperative “speak / muse” (LXX, Targum, Vulgate, BSB) or as the noun “shrub” (JFB after Umbreit; Gill, “a sprig of the earth”). K&D argues against the noun on grammar and sequence and prefers a pregnant sense: look thoughtfully to the ground.
וִֽיסַפְּר֥וּ וִֽיסַפְּר֥וּ (wî·sap·pə·rū, Piel of sâphar, “to count, recount”): “and they will recount.” BSB “inform” misses the sense of telling something out in order, as one recounts a history; the same verb is used of the heavens that “declare” God’s glory (Psalm 19:1).

The Voices✦ 3 public domain

Charles EllicottCommentary for English Readers1878

This is the only place in the dialogue parts of Job in which the sacred name of Jehovah is found, and Job’s very use of the word in such a context is the clearest evidence of the superior knowledge that he claims. No one of his friends makes use of the name; but Job uses it here, and shows thereby his knowledge of the covenant name.

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Albert BarnesNotes on the Bible1834

In Job 12:9 , the word yahweh, though found in the printed editions, is missing in nine ancient manuscripts.

A textual note worth keeping: the uniqueness of the name here makes scribal assimilation plausible, but the received Hebrew text has it.

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John GillExposition of the Entire Bible1746–63

by the things that are made, the invisible things of God are clearly seen and understood, even his eternal power and Godhead, Romans 1:20 ;

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Which of all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this?

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

mî bə·ḵāl ’êl·leh lō- yā·ḏa‘ kî yaḏ- Yah·weh ‘ā·śə·ṯāh zōṯ

Word by word10 · parsed

מִ֭יmîWhichH4310

√ mîy — who? (occasionally, by a peculiar idiom, of things)Interrogative

mîy: who? Rhetorical: no one fails to know.

בְּכָל־bə·ḵālof allH3605

√ kôl — properly, the wholePreposition-bNounmasculine singular construct

אֵ֑לֶּה’êl·lehtheseH428

√ ʼêl-leh — these or thosePronouncommon plural

לֹא־lō-does notH3808

√ lôʼ — not (the simple or absAdverbNegative particle

יָדַ֣עyā·ḏa‘knowH3045

√ yâdaʻ — to know (properly, to ascertain by seeing)VerbQalPerfectthird person masculine singular

yâdaʻ: to know Qal perfect. Knowledge here is general revelation: what creation teaches every observer.

כִּ֥יkîthatH3588

√ kîy — (by implication) very widely used as a relative conjunction or adverb (as below)Conjunction

יַד־yaḏ-the handH3027

√ yâd — a hand (the open one (indicating power, means, direction, etcNounfeminine singular construct

yâd: hand The hand of the LORD is the agent of creation and providence. It answers v. 6, where the violent carry their god in their own hand: two hands, two theologies.

יְ֝הוָהYah·wehof the LORDH3068

√ Yᵉhôvâh — Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodNounpropermasculine singular

Yᵉhôvâh: the LORD The covenant name, unique in the dialogue. Ellicott sees it as evidence of the “superior knowledge” Job claims; Pulpit suggests the author “forgets to be consistent.” Either way, at the one point Job confesses the Creator’s universal rule, he names Him with Israel’s covenant name.

עָ֣שְׂתָה‘ā·śə·ṯāhhas doneH6213

√ ʻâsâh — to do or make, in the broadest sense and widest applicationVerbQalPerfectthird person feminine singular

ʻâsâh: to do, make Qal perfect. The verb of Genesis 1 (“God made”) and of providence alike.

זֹּֽאת׃zōṯthisH2063

√ zôʼth — this (often used adverb)Pronounfeminine singular

zôʼth: this Feminine demonstrative; its referent is the interpretive crux (see divergence).

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“Who does-not know in-all these, that the-hand of-YHWH has-done this?”

Where the English smooths the original

יְ֝הוָה יְ֝הוָה (Yah·weh, H3068): the covenant name, found only here in the poetic dialogue (Ellicott, Barnes, JFB, Pulpit, Gill). Elsewhere in the debate the speakers say El, Eloah, Shaddai. Barnes reports that nine ancient manuscripts lack it here. BSB “the LORD” is the conventional rendering; the reader should know how unusual the word is on Job’s lips.
בְּכָל־ בְּכָל־אֵלֶּה (bə·ḵāl ’êl·leh): “in all these” or “by all these” (Cambridge, Pulpit, Gill). BSB “Which of all these” makes the creatures the knowers; the Hebrew can equally mean: who does not know, by means of all these creatures, that the LORD has acted.
עָ֣שְׂתָה עָ֣שְׂתָה זֹּֽאת (Qal perfect of ʻâsâh, feminine to agree with yad, “hand”): “has done this.” Cambridge prefers “doeth this,” that is, rules thus. What “this” refers to is disputed: creation and preservation (K&D) or the distribution of suffering (Ewald, rejected by K&D; compare Cambridge).

The life of every living thing is in His hand, as well as the breath of all mankind.

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Hebrew — tap a word ↓

’ă·šer ne·p̄eš kāl- ḥāy bə·yā·ḏōw wə·rū·aḥ kāl- bə·śar- ’îš

Word by word9 · parsed

אֲשֶׁ֣ר’ă·šerH834

√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatPronounrelative

ʼăsher: who, which Relative pronoun linking back to the hand of the LORD in v. 9.

נֶ֣פֶשׁne·p̄ešThe lifeH5315

√ nephesh — properly, a breathing creature, iNounfeminine singular construct

nephesh: living being, life Construct. Every creature’s life is held, not owned. Gill joins Matthew 10:29: not a sparrow falls without the Father.

כָּל־kāl-of everyH3605

√ kôl — properly, the wholeNounmasculine singular construct

חָ֑יḥāyliving thingH2416

√ chay — aliveAdjectivemasculine singular

chay: alive, living “Every living thing,” the creatures of vv. 7 to 8.

בְּ֭יָדוֹbə·yā·ḏōwis in His handH3027

√ yâd — a hand (the open one (indicating power, means, direction, etcPreposition-bNounfeminine singular constructthird person masculine singular

yâd: hand With suffix: “His hand.” Daniel 5:23 says the same to Belshazzar: “the God who holds in His hand your very breath” (Gill cites it).

וְ֝ר֗וּחַwə·rū·aḥas well as the breathH7307

√ rûwach — windConjunctive wawNouncommon singular construct

rûwach: wind, breath, spirit God gave it in Genesis 2:7 (Gill) and takes it back (Psalm 104:29; Ecclesiastes 12:7). Elihu will make the same confession (Job 33:4; 34:14 to 15).

כָּל־kāl-of allH3605

√ kôl — properly, the wholeNounmasculine singular construct

בְּשַׂר־bə·śar-mankindH1320

√ bâsâr — flesh (from its freshness)Nounmasculine singular construct

bâsâr: flesh Human beings as frail creatures, under the same hand as beasts (JFB, Barnes).

אִֽישׁ׃’îš. . .H376

√ ʼîysh — a man as an individual or a male personNounmasculine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“In-whose hand is-the-life of-every living-thing, and-the-spirit of-all flesh of-man.”

Where the English smooths the original

נֶ֣פֶשׁ נֶ֣פֶשׁ (ne·p̄eš, H5315): the living being, the life-principle shared with animals. BSB “life” is right (Barnes prefers the margin “life” to KJV “soul”). It is the nep̄eš ḥayyāh language of Genesis 1:20 to 24 and 2:7.
וְ֝ר֗וּחַ וְ֝ר֗וּחַ (wə·rū·aḥ, H7307): “breath, spirit.” BSB “breath” is legitimate; Benson and Poole read it as the immortal spirit of man as distinct from the animal soul, Gill as both breath and rational soul. The word holds both senses.
בְּשַׂר־ כָּל־בְּשַׂר־אִישׁ: literally “all flesh of man” (Barnes margin; Pulpit). BSB “all mankind” is a fair gloss but loses “flesh,” the word that marks human frailty (Genesis 6:3; Isaiah 40:6).

Does not the ear test words as the tongue tastes its food?

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

hă·lō- ’ō·zen tiḇ·ḥān mil·lîn wə·ḥêḵ yiṭ·‘am- lōw ’ō·ḵel

Word by word8 · parsed

הֲלֹא־hă·lō-Does notH3808

√ lôʼ — not (the simple or absAdverbNegative particle

אֹ֭זֶן’ō·zenthe earH241

√ ʼôzen — broadnessNounfeminine singular

ʼôzen: ear The organ of hearing and so of receiving tradition (Cambridge: the ear as a channel of knowledge, as the eye was in vv. 7 to 10).

תִּבְחָ֑ןtiḇ·ḥāntestH974

√ bâchan — to test (especially metals)VerbQalImperfectthird person feminine singular

bâchan: to test, assay The verb God uses of testing hearts (Psalm 7:9; Jeremiah 17:10) and Job of his own ordeal (Job 23:10, “when He has tested me I will come forth as gold”). The friends’ sayings must pass the assay the friends refuse to apply to themselves.

מִלִּ֣יןmil·lînwordsH4405

√ millâh — a wordNounfeminine plural

millâh: word, saying The poetic word for discourse, frequent in Job. K&D: specifically the sayings of the ancients (Job 8:10).

וְ֝חֵ֗ךְwə·ḥêḵas the tongueH2441

√ chêk — properly, the palate or inside of the mouthConjunctive wawNounmasculine singular

chêk: palate The seat of taste (Barnes cites Psalm 119:103).

יִטְעַם־yiṭ·‘am-tastesH2938

√ ṭâʻam — to tasteVerbQalImperfectthird person masculine singular

ṭâʻam: to taste Rare (10 verses). Its noun ṭa‘am (taste, discernment) returns in v. 20, where God removes the ṭa‘am of the elders: the faculty Job commends here God can take away.

לֽוֹ׃lōwits

Prepositionthird person masculine singular

אֹ֣כֶל’ō·ḵelfoodH400

√ ʼôkel — foodNounmasculine singular

ʼôkel: food What the palate selects and the body keeps.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“Does-not the-ear test words, as-the-palate tastes food for-itself?”

Where the English smooths the original

תִּבְחָ֑ן תִּבְחָ֑ן (tiḇ·ḥān, Qal imperfect of bâchan, H974): “test, assay,” used especially of testing metals. BSB “test” is right; the metallurgical background is worth hearing: words are to be assayed, not swallowed.
וְ֝חֵ֗ךְ וְ֝חֵ֗ךְ (wə·ḥêḵ, H2441): “palate, inside of the mouth” (Barnes margin, Cambridge, Pulpit), not “tongue.” K&D reads the waw as waw adaequationis, “as,” setting two analogous acts side by side; BSB rightly renders “as.”
לֽוֹ׃ לֽוֹ (lōw, “for itself”): left as “its” in BSB. K&D calls it a dative of advantage: the palate tastes food for its own benefit, discerning what nourishes. So the ear tests sayings to keep what is sound.

Wisdom is found with the elderly, and understanding comes with long life.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

ḥāḵ·māh bî·šî·šîm tə·ḇū·nāh wə·’ō·reḵ yā·mîm

Word by word5 · parsed

חָכְמָ֑הḥāḵ·māhWisdomH2451

√ chokmâh — wisdom (in a good sense)Nounfeminine singular

chokmâh: wisdom Second of three uses (vv. 2, 12, 13). Job grants the friends’ premise, that age brings wisdom (Bildad, 8:8 to 10), in order to trump it in v. 13.

בִּֽישִׁישִׁ֥יםbî·šî·šîmis found with the elderlyH3453

√ yâshîysh — an old manPreposition-bAdjectivemasculine plural

yâshîysh: aged Rare. The thread of this word through Job (15:10, 29:8, 32:6) tracks the book’s argument about whether age guarantees wisdom; Elihu finally answers that it is the Spirit, not years, that gives understanding (32:8 to 9).

תְּבוּנָֽה׃tə·ḇū·nāhand understandingH8394

√ tâbûwn — intelligenceNounfeminine singular

tâbûwn: understanding Discernment; repeated in v. 13 of God.

וְאֹ֖רֶךְwə·’ō·reḵcomes with longH753

√ ʼôrek — lengthConjunctive wawNounmasculine singular construct

ʼôrek: length Construct: length of days. The traditional blessing of long life (Proverbs 3:2, 16).

יָמִ֣יםyā·mîmlifeH3117

√ yôwm — a day (as the warm hours), whether literal (from sunrise to sunset, or from one sunset to the next), or figurative (a space of time defined by an associated term), (often used adverb)Nounmasculine plural

yôwm: day Plural: a lifetime of days.

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Keil & DelitzschBiblical Commentary on the Old Testament1860s

but wisdom belongs to God as an attribute of His nature, and indeed absolutely, i.e., on every side, and without measure, as the piling up of synonymous expressions implies:

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The Pulpit CommentarySpence & Exell, eds.1880s

With God wisdom and strength dwell essentially. He is not wiser or stronger at one time than at another. Time and experience add nothing to the perfection of his attributes, which are unchangeable.

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Jamieson, Fausset & BrownCommentary Critical and Explanatory1871

as an absolute Sovereign, not allowing man to penetrate His mysteries; man's part is to bow to His unchangeable decrees

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Matthew HenryConcise Commentary on the Whole Bible1706

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?

Henry reads the whole of vv. 12 to 25 toward the cross. This is an application in the light of the New Testament, not a claim about what Job knew.

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Wisdom and strength belong to God; counsel and understanding are His.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

ḥāḵ·māh ū·ḡə·ḇū·rāh lōw ‘im·mōw ‘ê·ṣāh ū·ṯə·ḇū·nāh

Word by word6 · parsed

חָכְמָ֣הḥāḵ·māhWisdomH2451

√ chokmâh — wisdom (in a good sense)Nounfeminine singular

chokmâh: wisdom Third use. K&D: wisdom belongs to God “as an attribute of His nature… without measure.” The chapter has moved from the friends’ wisdom (v. 2) through the elders’ (v. 12) to God’s.

וּגְבוּרָ֑הū·ḡə·ḇū·rāhand strengthH1369

√ gᵉbûwrâh — force (literally or figuratively)Conjunctive wawNounfeminine singular

gᵉbûwrâh: might Power to execute. Wisdom without might is advice; might without wisdom is force; God has both.

ל֝֗וֹlōw

Prepositionthird person masculine singular

עִ֭מּוֹ‘im·mōwbelong to GodH5973

√ ʻim — adverb or preposition, with (iPrepositionthird person masculine singular

ʻim: with Emphatic position. The answer to “with the aged” (v. 12) and to the ironic “with you” (v. 2, ‘immāḵem).

עֵצָ֥ה‘ê·ṣāhcounselH6098

√ ʻêtsâh — adviceNounfeminine singular

ʻêtsâh: counsel Three of this verse’s nouns (wisdom, counsel, might) rest together on the Spirit-anointed Branch in Isaiah 11:2, and Proverbs 8:14 puts counsel, understanding and might in the mouth of personified Wisdom (cited by JFB and Gill).

וּתְבוּנָֽה׃ū·ṯə·ḇū·nāhand understanding are HisH8394

√ tâbûwn — intelligenceConjunctive wawNounfeminine singular

tâbûwn: understanding K&D: the insight that penetrates to the bottom of what is true and false (compare 1 Kings 3:9).

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“With-Him is-wisdom and-might; His are counsel and-understanding.”

Where the English smooths the original

עִ֭מּוֹ עִ֭מּוֹ (‘im·mōw, “with Him”) and ל֝֗וֹ (lōw, “to Him”): both placed first for emphasis. K&D: they “manifestly introduce an antithesis” to the aged of v. 12. BSB “belong to God” names the referent, which the Hebrew leaves as a bare pronoun (Barnes, Poole).
וּגְבוּרָ֑ה וּגְבוּרָ֑ה (ū·ḡə·ḇū·rāh, H1369): “might, valour.” BSB “strength” is fine. K&D: the power able to carry out what wisdom decides “against all hindrance.” Gill: the aged grow in wisdom but decline in strength; God has both without measure.
עֵצָ֥ה עֵצָ֥ה (‘ê·ṣāh, H6098): “counsel, plan.” Poole: practical wisdom to guide all affairs. The noun anticipates v. 17, where God strips the yō‘ăṣîm (counsellors, same root): human counsel collapses before divine counsel.

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Keil & DelitzschBiblical Commentary on the Old Testament1860s

should He close upon any one (i.e., the dungeon, as perhaps a cistern covered with a stone, Lamentations 3:53 , comp. Jeremiah 38:6 ; על with reference to the depth of the dungeon, instead of the usual בּעד), it (that which is closed from above) cannot be opened again.

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Albert BarnesNotes on the Bible1834

We may now refer to such illustrations as Sodom, Babylon, Petra, Tyre, Herculaneum, and Pompeii, as full proof of what is here affirmed.

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John GillExposition of the Entire Bible1746–63

there is no deliverance from it but by Christ, who has redeemed his people from the curse and condemnation of it; and by his Spirit, as a spirit of adoption, who delivers them from the bondage of it, and makes them free indeed;

Gill extends the image to bondage under sin and the law; this is spiritual application, not exegesis of Job’s meaning.

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What He tears down cannot be rebuilt; the man He imprisons cannot be released.

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Hebrew — tap a word ↓

hên ya·hă·rō·ws wə·lō yib·bā·neh ’îš yis·gōr ‘al- wə·lō yip·pā·ṯê·aḥ

Word by word9 · parsed

הֵ֣ןhênWhatH2005

√ hên — lo!Interjection

יַ֭הֲרוֹסya·hă·rō·wsHe tears downH2040

√ hâraç — to pull down or in pieces, break, destroyVerbQalImperfectthird person masculine singular

hâraç: to tear down The verb of demolition (Jeremiah 1:10 pairs it with building). Gill thinks of Sodom; Pulpit doubts any particular event is meant.

וְלֹ֣אwə·lōcannotH3808

√ lôʼ — not (the simple or absConjunctive wawAdverbNegative particle

יִבָּנֶ֑הyib·bā·nehbe rebuiltH1129

√ bânâh — to build (literally and figuratively)VerbNifalImperfectthird person masculine singular

bânâh: to build Niphal imperfect: “cannot be built.”

אִ֝֗ישׁ’îšthe manH376

√ ʼîysh — a man as an individual or a male personNounmasculine singular

יִסְגֹּ֥רyis·gōrHe imprisonsH5462

√ çâgar — to shut upVerbQalImperfectthird person masculine singular

çâgar: to shut The same verb Job used of God “hedging” the sufferer (Job 3:23 uses a different verb, sûk; the shutting image is shared). Isaiah 22:22 sets shutting and opening as the power of the key of David (JFB cites it), and Revelation 3:7 gives that key to Christ.

עַל־‘al-. . .H5921

√ ʻal — above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applicationsPreposition

וְלֹ֣אwə·lōcannotH3808

√ lôʼ — not (the simple or absConjunctive wawAdverbNegative particle

יִפָּתֵֽחַ׃yip·pā·ṯê·aḥbe releasedH6605

√ pâthach — to open wide (literally or figuratively)VerbNifalImperfectthird person masculine singular

pâthach: to open Niphal. The same root returns in v. 18 (Piel, “He loosens”): God shuts some, and looses the authority of kings.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“Behold, He-tears-down, and-it-is-not rebuilt; He-shuts upon a-man, and-it-is-not opened.”

Where the English smooths the original

הֵ֣ן הֵ֣ן (hên, H2005, “behold!”): BSB turns it into “What,” losing the exclamation. It opens v. 15 too: the two “beholds” present two exhibits of power.
יִסְגֹּ֥ר יִסְגֹּ֥ר עַל־אִישׁ (yis·gōr ‘al): “He shuts upon a man.” BSB “imprisons” is a fair gloss. K&D notes the preposition ‘al pictures a pit closed from above, “as perhaps a cistern covered with a stone” (Lamentations 3:53; Jeremiah 38:6). JFB hears Zophar’s word “shut up” (Job 11:10) turned back on him.
יִפָּתֵֽחַ׃ יִפָּתֵֽחַ (Niphal of pâthach, “be opened”): BSB “be released.” Both halves end in a Niphal passive negated (“not rebuilt,” “not opened”), a deliberate balance: no agent can reverse God’s act.

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The Pulpit CommentarySpence & Exell, eds.1880s

Once upon a time he overwhelmed the whole earth, and destroyed almost the entire race of mankind, by a deluge of an extraordinary character, which so fixed itself in the human consciousness, that traces of it are to be found in the traditions of almost all the various races of men.

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Albert BarnesNotes on the Bible1834

But it is remarkable that in the argument here there is no allusion to any historical fact, not to the flood, or to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, or to the passage through the Red Sea, though these occurrences would have furnished so appropriate illustrations of the points under discussion.

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Joseph BensonCommentary on the Old and New Testaments1810s

springs, brooks, and rivers dry up, as after the general deluge, to which here is a manifest allusion.

Benson and JFB see the deluge here; Barnes and Pulpit are more cautious. The text itself names no event.

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If He holds back the waters, they dry up, and if He releases them, they overwhelm the land.

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Hebrew — tap a word ↓

hên ya‘·ṣōr bam·ma·yim wə·yi·ḇā·šū wî·šal·lə·ḥêm wə·ya·hap̄·ḵū ’ā·reṣ

Word by word7 · parsed

הֵ֤ןhênIfH2005

√ hên — lo!Interjection

יַעְצֹ֣רya‘·ṣōrHe holds backH6113

√ ʻâtsâr — to incloseVerbQalImperfectthird person masculine singular

ʻâtsar: to restrain Drought as divine withholding.

בַּמַּ֣יִםbam·ma·yimthe watersH4325

√ mayim — waterPreposition-b, ArticleNounmasculine plural

mayim: water The waters are the classic sign of God’s sovereign power over chaos (Genesis 1:9; 7:11; Psalm 104:6 to 9).

וְיִבָ֑שׁוּwə·yi·ḇā·šūthey dry upH3001

√ yâbêsh — to be ashamed, confused or disappointedConjunctive wawVerbQalConjunctive imperfectthird person masculine plural

yâbêsh: to dry up Benson and JFB hear the drying after the flood; Barnes notes Job names no historical event.

וִֽ֝ישַׁלְּחֵ֗םwî·šal·lə·ḥêmand if He releases themH7971

√ shâlach — to send away, for, or out (in a great variety of applications)Conjunctive wawVerbPielConjunctive imperfectthird person masculine singularthird person masculine plural

shâlach: to send Piel: “He sends them out,” release as deliberate as restraint.

וְיַ֖הַפְכוּwə·ya·hap̄·ḵūthey overwhelmH2015

√ hâphak — to turn about or overConjunctive wawVerbQalConjunctive imperfectthird person masculine plural

hâphak: to overturn The verb of total overthrow. Pulpit expands on floods that “overturn the earth.”

אָֽרֶץ׃’ā·reṣthe landH776

√ ʼerets — the earth (at large, or partitively a land)Nounfeminine singular

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Matthew PooleAnnotations upon the Holy Bible1685

Yet God is not the cause or author of any error or sin, but only the wise and holy governor and disposer of it.

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The Pulpit CommentarySpence & Exell, eds.1880s

But it behoves men, when they approach such great mysteries, to be very cautious and wary in their speech. Job touches with somewhat too bold a hand the deepest problems of the universe.

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Keil & DelitzschBiblical Commentary on the Old Testament1860s

which affirms that, in the supremacy of His rule and the wisdom of His counsels, God makes evil in every form subservient to His designs.

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Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges—1880s

he that errs and he that leads into error , he that is ruled and he that rules oppressively.

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True wisdom and power belong to Him. The deceived and the deceiver are His.

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Hebrew — tap a word ↓

wə·ṯū·šī·yå̄h lōw ‘ōz ‘im·mōw šō·ḡêḡ ū·maš·geh

Word by word6 · parsed

וְתֽוּשִׁיָּ֑הwə·ṯū·šī·yå̄hTrue wisdomH8454

√ tûwshîyâh — support or (by implication) ability, iConjunctive wawNounfeminine singular

tûwshîyâh: sound wisdom, effective counsel Zophar used it of God’s hidden wisdom (Job 11:6, Cambridge); Proverbs 8:14 gives it to Wisdom. Job repeats v. 13 (Poole: “to prepare the way for the following events”), but with a word that stresses wisdom that accomplishes.

ל֝֗וֹlōw

Prepositionthird person masculine singular

עֹ֣ז‘ōzand powerH5797

√ ʻôz — strength in various applications (force, security, majesty, praise)Nounmasculine singular

ʻôz: strength Might as firm power.

עִ֭מּוֹ‘im·mōwbelong to HimH5973

√ ʻim — adverb or preposition, with (iPrepositionthird person masculine singular

ʻim: with “With Him,” the refrain of vv. 13 and 16 that frames the strophe (K&D).

שֹׁגֵ֥גšō·ḡêḡThe deceivedH7683

√ shâgag — to stray, iVerbQalParticiplemasculine singular

shâgag: to stray, err Qal participle. Rare (4 verses), elsewhere of unwitting sin (Leviticus 5:18; Numbers 15:28). Here the one who is misled.

וּמַשְׁגֶּֽה׃ū·maš·gehand the deceiver [are His]H7686

√ shâgâh — to stray (causatively, mislead), usually (figuratively) to mistake, especially (morally) to transgressConjunctive wawVerbHifilParticiplemasculine singular

shâgâh: to stray; Hiphil, to mislead The one who misleads. The theological weight is heavy: both the misled and the misleader are “His,” under His government. Poole, Benson and Gill insist God is not the author of sin but its holy governor (compare 1 Kings 22:20 to 23; 2 Thessalonians 2:11; James 1:13).

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“With-Him is-strength and-sound-wisdom; His are the-one-who-errs and-the-one-who-leads-astray.”

Where the English smooths the original

וְתֽוּשִׁיָּ֑ה וְתֽוּשִׁיָּ֑ה (wə·ṯū·šî·yāh, H8454 tûwshîyâh): “sound wisdom, effectual working, substance.” BSB “true wisdom.” K&D: “that which really exists… in contrast with what only appears to be”; Pulpit (with RV): “effectual working.” A word of solidity: God’s wisdom works.
שֹׁגֵ֥ג שֹׁגֵ֥ג וּמַשְׁגֶּֽה: two participles from kindred roots, Qal shâgag (to stray, err) and Hiphil shâgâh (to cause to stray). Cambridge: “he that errs and he that leads into error.” BSB “the deceived and the deceiver” adds the idea of deceit; the Hebrew is about straying and causing to stray, a near wordplay that the English loses.

He leads counselors away barefoot and makes fools of judges.

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Hebrew — tap a word ↓

yō·w·‘ă·ṣîm mō·w·lîḵ šō·w·lāl yə·hō·w·lêl wə·šō·p̄ə·ṭîm

Word by word5 · parsed

יוֹעֲצִ֣יםyō·w·‘ă·ṣîmHe leads counselorsH3289

√ yâʻats — to adviseVerbQalParticiplemasculine plural

yâʻats: to advise Participle: professional counsellors. Ahithophel is the classic case of counsel turned to folly (2 Samuel 15:31; 17:14, 23; cited by Poole).

מוֹלִ֣יךְmō·w·lîḵawayH1980

√ hâlak — to walk (in a great variety of applications, literally and figuratively)VerbHifilParticiplemasculine singular

hâlak: to walk; Hiphil, to lead Hiphil participle: He leads them off, as captives in procession.

שׁוֹלָ֑לšō·w·lālbarefootH7758

√ shôwlâl — nude (especially bare-foot)Adjectivemasculine singular

shôwlâl: stripped, barefoot The look of the deportee. Isaiah 20:4 describes Egyptian captives led away “naked and barefoot” (K&D cites it).

יְהוֹלֵֽל׃yə·hō·w·lêland makes foolsH1984

√ hâlal — to be clear (origVerbPielImperfectthird person masculine singular

hâlal: to make foolish Piel. Barnes quotes the proverb Quem Deus vult perdere prius dementat; K&D repeats it at v. 24.

וְֽשֹׁפְטִ֥יםwə·šō·p̄ə·ṭîmof judgesH8199

√ shâphaṭ — to judge, iConjunctive wawVerbQalParticiplemasculine plural

shâphaṭ: to judge Participle: judges. Those charged with discernment are robbed of it, the inverse of Solomon’s prayer for a discerning heart (1 Kings 3:9).

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“He-leads counsellors stripped, and-judges He-makes-fools.”

Where the English smooths the original

שׁוֹלָ֑ל שׁוֹלָ֑ל (šō·w·lāl, H7758): rare (3 verses: here, v. 19, Micah 1:8). K&D: not “chained” nor “captive” but “stripped of their clothes with violence… in particular of the insignia of their power”; LXX at Micah 1:8 has “barefoot” (Cambridge), which BSB follows. KJV “spoiled.”
יְהוֹלֵֽל׃ יְהוֹלֵֽל (yə·hō·w·lêl, Poel/Piel of hâlal II, “to make mad, foolish”): BSB “makes fools of.” The same consonantal root in another stem means “to praise”; here it means to make one act like a madman. Cambridge: “turns them into fools, and shews them as fools” (compare Isaiah 44:25).
יוֹעֲצִ֣ים יוֹעֲצִ֣ים (yō·w·‘ă·ṣîm, participle of yâʻats): “counsellors,” from the root of ‘êṣāh (counsel) in v. 13. BSB keeps the word but loses the echo: God, who has counsel, strips the counsellors.

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Albert BarnesNotes on the Bible1834

Their power over others he loosens or takes away. And girdeth their loins with a girdle - That is, he girds them with a rope or cord, and leads them away as prisoners.

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Jamieson, Fausset & BrownCommentary Critical and Explanatory1871

the cord, with which they are bound as captives, instead of the royal "girdle" they once wore (Isa 22:21), and the bond they once bound others with. So "gird"—put on one the bonds of a prisoner instead of the ordinary girdle (Joh 21:18).

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Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges—1880s

he relaxes, removes the authority of kings, destroys their bond or power over men; and as a consequence their own loins are girt with a girdle, i. e. either the common girdle of the labourer, or the cord of the captive.

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He loosens the bonds placed by kings and fastens a belt around their waists.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

pit·tê·aḥ mū·sar mə·lā·ḵîm way·ye’·sōr ’ê·zō·wr bə·mā·ṯə·nê·hem

Word by word6 · parsed

פִּתֵּ֑חַpit·tê·aḥHe loosensH6605

√ pâthach — to open wide (literally or figuratively)VerbPielPerfectthird person masculine singular

pâthach: to open; Piel, to loosen Same root as v. 14’s “opened.” Here God unties what kings had fastened.

מוּסַ֣רmū·sarthe bondsH4148

√ mûwçâr — properly, chastisementNounmasculine singular construct

mûwçâr: discipline, correction In Proverbs the word of wise instruction; here the coercive rule of kings. K&D thinks the poet chose it for its sound-link with môsērîm, bonds.

מְלָכִ֣יםmə·lā·ḵîmplaced by kingsH4428

√ melek — a kingNounmasculine plural

melek: king The highest civil rank; the list ascends and descends through every office.

וַיֶּאְסֹ֥רway·ye’·sōrand fastensH631

√ ʼâçar — to yoke or hitchConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular

ʼâçar: to bind The binder is bound.

אֵ֝ז֗וֹר’ê·zō·wra beltH232

√ ʼêzôwr — something girtNounmasculine singular

ʼêzôwr: girdle, loincloth Jeremiah 13:1 to 11 uses the same word for the linen waistcloth that signifies Israel’s pride ruined (Poole cites Jeremiah 13:1 to 2).

בְּמָתְנֵיהֶֽם׃bə·mā·ṯə·nê·hemaround their waistsH4975

√ môthen — properly, the waist or small of the backPreposition-bNounmasculine dual constructthird person masculine plural

môthen: loins Dual: the waist, seat of strength.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“The-discipline of-kings He-loosens, and-binds a-waistcloth on-their-loins.”

Where the English smooths the original

מוּסַ֣ר מוּסַ֣ר (mū·sar, H4148 mûwçâr): normally “discipline, correction.” BSB “the bonds placed by kings” follows the reading “bonds” (as if from môsēr). K&D argues mûsar never means “bond” in the singular and reads “the authority (rule, discipline) of kings”; Barnes and Poole: the bond by which kings bind their subjects.
אֵ֝ז֗וֹר אֵ֝ז֗וֹר (’ê·zō·wr, H232): a loincloth or girdle. BSB “a belt.” The girdle may be the captive’s rope (Vulgate “rope,” per Gill) or the servant’s waistcloth (Benson, Poole); JFB contrasts it with the royal girdle once worn (Isaiah 22:21) and cites John 21:18.
וַיֶּאְסֹ֥ר וַיֶּאְסֹ֥ר (way·ye’·sōr, Qal of ʼâçar, “to bind, yoke”): “and He binds.” BSB “fastens” is mild for the verb that elsewhere means to tie up prisoners (Genesis 42:24; Judges 16:21).

He leads priests away barefoot and overthrows the established.

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Hebrew — tap a word ↓

kō·hă·nîm mō·w·lîḵ šō·w·lāl yə·sal·lêp̄ wə·’ê·ṯā·nîm

Word by word5 · parsed

כֹּהֲנִ֣יםkō·hă·nîmHe leads priestsH3548

√ kôhên — literally one officiating, a priestNounmasculine plural

kôhên: priest Religious authority is no shelter. JFB: “Even the sacred ministers of religion are not exempt from reverses and captivity.”

מוֹלִ֣יךְmō·w·lîḵawayH1980

√ hâlak — to walk (in a great variety of applications, literally and figuratively)VerbHifilParticiplemasculine singular

שׁוֹלָ֑לšō·w·lālbarefootH7758

√ shôwlâl — nude (especially bare-foot)Adjectivemasculine singular

shôwlâl: stripped Repeated from v. 17, binding counsellors and priests into one humiliated procession.

יְסַלֵּֽף׃yə·sal·lêp̄and overthrowsH5557

√ çâlaph — properly, to wrench, iVerbPielImperfectthird person masculine singular

çâlaph: to twist, overturn Piel. God subverts what seemed fixed.

וְאֵֽתָנִ֣יםwə·’ê·ṯā·nîmthe establishedH386

√ ʼêythân — permanenceConjunctive wawNounmasculine singular

ʼêythân: perennial, enduring Amos 5:24 uses it of an ever-flowing stream; Jeremiah 5:15 of an enduring nation (K&D).

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“He-leads priests stripped, and-the-long-established He-overthrows.”

Where the English smooths the original

כֹּהֲנִ֣ים כֹּהֲנִ֣ים (kō·hă·nîm, H3548): “priests.” KJV “princes”; BSB, Barnes, JFB, Cambridge, Pulpit and K&D read “priests,” thinking of priest-kings like Melchizedek and Jethro. Pulpit notes this is the only mention of priests in Job. Ellicott and Poole allow “princes.”
וְאֵֽתָנִ֣ים וְאֵֽתָנִ֣ים (wə·’ê·ṯā·nîm, H386 ʼêythân, “perennial, enduring”): BSB “the established.” K&D: used of streams that never fail, then of nations and persons “firmly-rooted and stedfast.” Cambridge: the hereditary, permanent class. The point: even what seemed perennial God overturns.
יְסַלֵּֽף׃ יְסַלֵּֽף (Piel of çâlaph, “to twist, subvert”): BSB “overthrows.” Barnes: the root suggests slipping; Proverbs 13:6 (“wickedness overthrows the sinner”) uses it. It is a word of distortion as much as of collapse.

He deprives the trusted of speech and takes away the discernment of elders.

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Hebrew — tap a word ↓

mê·sîr lə·ne·’ĕ·mā·nîm śā·p̲āh yiq·qāḥ wə·ṭa·‘am zə·qê·nîm

Word by word6 · parsed

מֵסִ֣ירmê·sîrHe deprivesH5493

√ çûwr — to turn off (literal or figurative)VerbHifilParticiplemasculine singular

çûwr: to turn aside; Hiphil, to remove Hiphil participle; repeated in v. 24 (“He deprives”), framing the second half of the list.

לְנֶאֱמָנִ֑יםlə·ne·’ĕ·mā·nîmthe trustedH539

√ ʼâman — properly, to build up or supportPreposition-lVerbNifalParticiplemasculine plural

ʼâman: to be firm, faithful Niphal participle. The verb of reliability and of faith (Genesis 15:6 uses its Hiphil). God can make the most reliable speech fail.

שָׂ֭פָהśā·p̲āhof speechH8193

√ sâphâh — the lip (as a natural boundary)Nounfeminine singular

sâphâh: lip The organ of speech and counsel.

יִקָּֽח׃yiq·qāḥand takes awayH3947

√ lâqach — to take (in the widest variety of applications)VerbQalImperfectthird person masculine singular

lâqach: to take K&D compares Hosea 4:11, where wine and new wine “take away the heart.”

וְטַ֖עַםwə·ṭa·‘amthe discernmentH2940

√ ṭaʻam — properly, a taste, iConjunctive wawNounmasculine singular construct

ṭaʻam: taste, judgment 1 Samuel 25:33 uses it of Abigail’s “discretion” (K&D). Discernment is a gift that can be withdrawn.

זְקֵנִ֣יםzə·qê·nîmof eldersH2205

√ zâqên — oldAdjectivemasculine plural

zâqên: old, elder The elders, whom v. 12 credited with wisdom. Job’s concession there is now qualified: even their discernment is God’s to take.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“He-removes the-lip of-the-trusted, and-the-discernment of-elders He-takes.”

Where the English smooths the original

שָׂ֭פָה שָׂ֭פָה (śā·p̄āh, H8193): literally “lip” (Barnes margin, “lip of the faithful”). BSB “speech” is the meaning; the concrete “lip” keeps the picture of a mouth that can no longer form counsel.
לְנֶאֱמָנִ֑ים לְנֶאֱמָנִ֑ים (lə·ne·’ĕ·mā·nîm, Niphal participle of ʼâman): “those proven faithful, reliable.” K&D: “such as are tested… the ready in speech and counsel.” It is the root of ’āmēn: the dependable are made undependable.
וְטַ֖עַם וְטַ֖עַם (wə·ṭa·‘am, H2940): literally “taste” (JFB), then judgment, tact. BSB “discernment.” It deliberately echoes v. 11, where the palate “tastes” (yiṭ‘am). The faculty Job praised, God can remove.

He pours out contempt on nobles and disarms the mighty.

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Hebrew — tap a word ↓

šō·w·p̄êḵ būz ‘al- nə·ḏî·ḇîm ū·mə·zî·aḥ rip·pāh ’ă·p̄î·qîm

Word by word7 · parsed

שׁוֹפֵ֣ךְšō·w·p̄êḵHe pours outH8210

√ shâphak — to spill forth (blood, a libation, liquid metalVerbQalParticiplemasculine singular

shâphak: to pour out The verb of poured blood and poured wrath (Psalm 69:24; 79:6). Contempt comes as a flood.

בּ֭וּזbūzcontemptH937

√ bûwz — disrespectNounmasculine singular

bûwz: contempt Rare (11 verses). Its reappearance from v. 5 is the chapter’s moral irony: the scorn the secure pour on the fallen, God pours on the secure.

עַל־‘al-onH5921

√ ʻal — above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applicationsPreposition

נְדִיבִ֑יםnə·ḏî·ḇîmnoblesH5081

√ nâdîyb — properly, voluntary, iAdjectivemasculine plural

nâdîyb: noble, generous Pulpit: literally “the munificent,” then princes (1 Samuel 2:8).

וּמְזִ֖יחַū·mə·zî·aḥand disarmsH4206

√ mâzîyach — a belt (as movable)Conjunctive wawNounmasculine singular construct

mâzîyach: girdle Rare (3 verses). To loosen it is to unfit for battle (Isaiah 5:27, cited by Cambridge, Poole, K&D).

רִפָּֽה׃rip·pāh. . .H7503

√ râphâh — to slacken (in many applications, literal or figurative)VerbPielPerfectthird person masculine singular

râphâh: to slacken Piel: to make slack, to unman. The girdle God loosens here contrasts with the girdle He binds on kings as captives in v. 18.

אֲפִיקִ֣ים’ă·p̄î·qîmthe mightyH650

√ ʼâphîyq — properly, containing, iNounmasculine plural

ʼâphîyq: strong; channel Those who held together power.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“He-pours contempt upon-nobles, and-the-girdle of-the-strong He-loosens.”

Where the English smooths the original

בּ֭וּז שׁוֹפֵ֣ךְ בּ֭וּז (šō·w·p̄êḵ būz): “pouring contempt.” The noun bûz is the same contempt the comfortable held for the slipping in v. 5. God now pours it, like liquid, on the great. Gill: “as if they were clothed and covered with it.” The line recurs verbatim in Psalm 107:40 (K&D, JFB).
וּמְזִ֖יחַ וּמְזִ֖יחַ (ū·mə·zî·aḥ, H4206): “girdle” (Psalm 109:19; Benson). BSB collapses “He loosens the girdle of the strong” into “disarms the mighty,” correct in sense but losing the image (Barnes, Cambridge, Pulpit all give the literal). K&D: the girdle tightened for “desperate conflict.”
אֲפִיקִ֣ים אֲפִיקִ֣ים (’ă·p̄î·qîm, H650): “the strong.” K&D: only here and Job 41:7 in this sense (elsewhere the word means stream-channels), from a root meaning to hold together. BSB “the mighty.”

He reveals the deep things of darkness and brings deep shadows into light.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

mə·ḡal·leh ‘ă·mu·qō·wṯ min·nî- ḥō·šeḵ way·yō·ṣê ṣal·mā·weṯ lā·’ō·wr

Word by word7 · parsed

מְגַלֶּ֣הmə·ḡal·lehHe revealsH1540

√ gâlâh — to denude (especially in a disgraceful sense)VerbPielParticiplemasculine singular

gâlâh: to uncover, reveal Piel participle. God uncovers; nothing is too deeply hidden. The verb of revelation that 1 Samuel 3:21 uses of God revealing Himself to Samuel.

עֲ֭מֻקוֹת‘ă·mu·qō·wṯthe deep thingsH6013

√ ʻâmôq — deep (literally or figuratively)Adjectivefeminine plural

ʻâmôq: deep The deep things that men conceal (Isaiah 29:15, cited by Cambridge).

מִנִּי־min·nî-ofH4480

√ min — properly, a part ofPreposition

חֹ֑שֶׁךְḥō·šeḵdarknessH2822

√ chôshek — the darkNounmasculine singular

chôshek: darkness The darkness of Genesis 1:2, and the darkness in which the leaders grope in v. 25.

וַיֹּצֵ֖אway·yō·ṣêand bringsH3318

√ yâtsâʼ — to go (causatively, bring) out, in a great variety of applications, literally and figuratively, direct and proximConjunctive wawVerbHifilConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular

yâtsâʼ: to go out; Hiphil, to bring out The verb of the Exodus (“I brought you out”). Here light is brought out of the realm of death.

צַלְמָֽוֶת׃ṣal·mā·weṯdeep shadowsH6757

√ tsalmâveth — shade of death, iNounmasculine singular

tsalmâveth: deep shadow, shadow of death A key word of Job’s vocabulary of despair (3:5; 10:21 to 22). Here, for once, it is not where Job sits but what God brings into light. Isaiah 9:2 promises light to those dwelling in the land of ṣalmāweṯ.

לָא֣וֹרlā·’ō·wrinto lightH216

√ ʼôwr — illumination or (concrete) luminary (in every sense, including lightning, happiness, etcPreposition-l, ArticleNouncommon singular

ʼôwr: light Contrast with v. 25, “without light.” God gives light to the hidden and withholds it from the proud.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“He-uncovers deep-things out-of darkness, and-brings-out to-light the-shadow-of-death.”

Where the English smooths the original

מְגַלֶּ֣ה מְגַלֶּ֣ה (mə·ḡal·leh, Piel participle of gâlâh, “to uncover, reveal”): BSB “reveals.” The root means to lay bare; it is the verb of revelation (Amos 3:7; Daniel 2:22 in Aramaic). Participle: this is what God habitually does.
צַלְמָֽוֶת׃ צַלְמָֽוֶת (ṣal·mā·weṯ, H6757): traditionally “shadow of death” (KJV, Barnes), BSB “deep shadows.” Barnes calls it a favourite word of the poet (Job 3:5; 10:21 to 22; 24:17; 34:22; 38:17). BSB’s rendering is defensible but drops the death overtone that the tradition, including Psalm 23:4, hears in it.
עֲ֭מֻקוֹת עֲ֭מֻקוֹת (‘ă·mu·qō·wṯ, H6013): “deep things.” K&D notes the Masoretic long-vowel form shared only with Proverbs 23:27. What these deep things are is debated: hidden schemes of the wicked (Pulpit, K&D, Poole) or God’s own secrets (Gill; Cambridge thinks this less likely).

He makes nations great and destroys them; He enlarges nations, then disperses them.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

lag·gō·w·yim maś·gî way·’ab·bə·ḏêm šō·ṭê·aḥ lag·gō·w·yim way·yan·ḥêm

Word by word6 · parsed

לַ֭גּוֹיִםlag·gō·w·yimHe makes nationsH1471

√ gôwy — a foreign nationPreposition-l, ArticleNounmasculine plural

gôwy: nation K&D distinguishes gôy (a mass held together by origin, language, land) from ‘am (a people united by government, v. 24). Ellicott: Job’s scope is nations, not merely individuals.

מַשְׂגִּ֣יאmaś·gîgreatH7679

√ sâgâʼ — to grow, iVerbHifilParticiplemasculine singular

sâgâʼ: to grow great Hiphil participle. Rare. Elihu uses the verb of God’s work in Job 36:24 (Verifier candidate).

וַֽיְאַבְּדֵ֑םway·’ab·bə·ḏêmand destroys themH6

√ ʼâbad — properly, to wander away, iConjunctive wawVerbPielConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singularthird person masculine plural

ʼâbad: to perish; Piel, to destroy Consecutive imperfect: rise followed by ruin, the arc Pulpit traces in Egypt, Elam, Babylon and the Hittites.

שֹׁטֵ֥חַšō·ṭê·aḥHe enlargesH7849

√ shâṭach — to expandVerbQalParticiplemasculine singular

shâṭach: to spread out Expansion of territory.

לַ֝גּוֹיִ֗םlag·gō·w·yimnationsH1471

√ gôwy — a foreign nationPreposition-l, ArticleNounmasculine plural

וַיַּנְחֵֽם׃way·yan·ḥêmthen disperses themH5148

√ nâchâh — to guideConjunctive wawVerbHifilConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singularthird person masculine plural

nâchâh: to lead, guide Hiphil. The verb of the shepherd’s guidance (Psalm 23:3; Exodus 13:21) here describes leading nations into exile. The same God who leads His flock leads the proud away.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“He-makes-great the-nations and-destroys-them; He-spreads-out the-nations and-leads-them-away.”

Where the English smooths the original

מַשְׂגִּ֣יא מַשְׂגִּ֣יא (maś·gî, Hiphil participle of sâgâʼ, “to grow, make great”): rare (the Verifier finds it in Job 36:24 too). K&D notes the LXX misread it as from šāgāh (to mislead); the correct reading with sin means upward growth. BSB “makes great” is right.
וַיַּנְחֵֽם׃ וַיַּנְחֵֽם (way·yan·ḥêm, Hiphil of nâchâh, “to lead, guide”): BSB “disperses them,” KJV “straiteneth them again.” The verb ordinarily means to lead (Psalm 23:3). K&D: here, as in 2 Kings 18:11, to lead away into exile; Barnes and Benson: lead back, confine; Cambridge calls the clause obscure.
שֹׁטֵ֥חַ שֹׁטֵ֥חַ (šō·ṭê·aḥ, Qal participle of shâṭach, “to spread out”): growth in extent, as maśgî is growth in height (K&D, after Hirzel). BSB “enlarges.”

The Voices✦ 3 public domain

The Pulpit CommentarySpence & Exell, eds.1880s

rather, in a chaos - one of the words used in Genesis 1:2 to describe the condition of the material universe before God had ordered and arranged it.

source ↗

Jamieson, Fausset & BrownCommentary Critical and Explanatory1871

figurative; not referring to any actual fact. This cannot be quoted to prove Job lived after Israel's wanderings in the desert. Ps 107:4, 40 quotes this passage.

JFB treats Psalm 107 as quoting Job; that direction of borrowing is an inference, not established by the text.

source ↗

Albert BarnesNotes on the Bible1834

They are like persons in a vast waste of pathless sands without a waymark, a guide, or a path. The perplexity and confusion of the great ones of the earth could not be more strikingly represented than by the condition of such a lost traveler.

source ↗

He deprives the earth’s leaders of reason and makes them wander in a trackless wasteland.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

mê·sîr hā·’ā·reṣ rā·šê ‘am- lêḇ way·yaṯ·‘êm lō- ḏā·reḵ bə·ṯō·hū

Word by word9 · parsed

מֵסִ֗ירmê·sîrHe deprivesH5493

√ çûwr — to turn off (literal or figurative)VerbHifilParticiplemasculine singular

çûwr: to remove Hiphil participle, repeated from v. 20.

הָאָ֑רֶץhā·’ā·reṣthe earth’sH776

√ ʼerets — the earth (at large, or partitively a land)ArticleNounfeminine singular

ʼerets: land, earth K&D: here “the country.”

רָאשֵׁ֣יrā·šêleadersH7218

√ rôʼsh — the head (as most easily shaken), whether literal or figurative (in many applications, of place, time, rank, itcNounmasculine plural construct

rôʼsh: head Plural construct: the heads, chiefs of the people.

עַם־‘am-H5971

√ ʻam — a people (as a congregated unit)Nounmasculine singular construct

לֵ֭בlêḇof reasonH3820

√ lêb — the heartNounmasculine singular construct

lêb: heart, mind The understanding of the leaders. Removal of heart is a recognized prophetic judgment (Isaiah 19:11 to 14; Hosea 4:11).

וַ֝יַּתְעֵ֗םway·yaṯ·‘êmand makes them wanderH8582

√ tâʻâh — to vacillate, iConjunctive wawVerbHifilConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singularthird person masculine plural

tâʻâh: to wander, err Hiphil: He makes them stray. Repeated in v. 25. Isaiah 19:14 uses the same verb of Egypt’s princes led astray “as a drunkard staggers” (K&D hears this as an echo).

לֹא־lō-in a tracklessH3808

√ lôʼ — not (the simple or absAdverbNegative particle

דָֽרֶךְ׃ḏā·reḵ. . .H1870

√ derek — a road (as trodden)Nouncommon singular

derek: way, road The way is the Wisdom literature’s great metaphor for life under God (Psalm 1:6; Proverbs 4:18 to 19). To be left “with no way” is the opposite of being taught (vv. 7 to 8).

בְּתֹ֣הוּbə·ṯō·hūwastelandH8414

√ tôhûw — a desolation (of surface), iPreposition-bNounmasculine singular

tôhûw: formlessness, waste 19 verses. Genesis 1:2 and Jeremiah 4:23 (creation undone). God who made order out of tōhû can return the proud to it.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“He-removes the-heart of-the-heads of-the-people of-the-land, and-makes-them-wander in-a-formless-waste with-no way.”

Where the English smooths the original

לֵ֭ב לֵ֭ב (lêḇ, H3820): “heart,” that is, understanding (Barnes, Cambridge). BSB “reason.” It answers v. 3, where Job claimed a heart (lēḇāḇ) equal to the friends’: the heart is God’s to give or remove.
בְּתֹ֣הוּ בְּתֹ֣הוּ (bə·ṯō·hū, H8414): “in a tōhû,” the word of Genesis 1:2 (“formless”). BSB “wasteland.” Cambridge: “i.e. chaos”; Pulpit: the leaders are returned to the condition of the world before God ordered it.
דָֽרֶךְ׃ לֹא־דָרֶךְ (lō ḏā·reḵ, “no way”): K&D takes it as a virtual adjective, “a trackless waste” (BSB follows). The leaders who should show the way have none. Psalm 107:40b repeats this clause (JFB).

They grope in the darkness without light; He makes them stagger like drunkards.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

yə·maš·šū- ḥō·šeḵ wə·lō- ’ō·wr way·yaṯ·‘êm kaš·šik·kō·wr

Word by word6 · parsed

יְמַֽשְׁשׁוּ־yə·maš·šū-They gropeH4959

√ mâshash — to feel ofVerbPielImperfectthird person masculine plural

mâshash: to grope, feel Piel. The blind man’s groping of Deuteronomy 28:29, a covenant curse, applied to the world’s rulers.

חֹ֥שֶׁךְḥō·šeḵin the darknessH2822

√ chôshek — the darkNounmasculine singular

chôshek: darkness Repeated from v. 22: God brings deep things out of darkness, but leaves the proud in it.

וְלֹא־wə·lō-withoutH3808

√ lôʼ — not (the simple or absConjunctive wawAdverbNegative particle

א֑וֹר’ō·wrlightH216

√ ʼôwr — illumination or (concrete) luminary (in every sense, including lightning, happiness, etcNouncommon singular

ʼôwr: light “Not light”: Poole notes the doubling (“in the dark without light”) emphasizes their profound darkness.

וַ֝יַּתְעֵ֗םway·yaṯ·‘êmHe makes them staggerH8582

√ tâʻâh — to vacillate, iConjunctive wawVerbHifilConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singularthird person masculine plural

tâʻâh: to wander Hiphil, God as agent. The last word of the chapter’s argument is that God’s wisdom leaves human wisdom lost.

כַּשִּׁכּֽוֹר׃kaš·šik·kō·wrlike drunkardsH7910

√ shikkôwr — intoxicated, as astate or a habitPreposition-k, ArticleAdjectivemasculine singular

shikkôwr: drunk The drunkard’s reeling as the picture of failed counsel (Isaiah 19:14; 24:20; Psalm 107:27).

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“They-grope in-darkness and-not light, and-He-makes-them-wander like-the-drunkard.”

Where the English smooths the original

יְמַֽשְׁשׁוּ־ יְמַֽשְׁשׁוּ (yə·maš·šū, Piel of mâshash, “to feel, grope”): Deuteronomy 28:29 uses the same verb in the covenant curse of groping at noon like a blind man in darkness (Pulpit, JFB). Gill reads it as feeling the darkness itself, as in the Egyptian darkness that “might be felt.”
וַ֝יַּתְעֵ֗ם וַ֝יַּתְעֵ֗ם (way·yaṯ·‘êm, Hiphil of tâʻâh): “He makes them wander,” same form as v. 24. BSB “stagger” (Barnes, Pulpit and Cambridge note the margin “wander”). The repetition binds the two verses: wandering in the waste, wandering like a drunkard.
כַּשִּׁכּֽוֹר׃ כַּשִּׁכּֽוֹר (kaš·šik·kō·wr, H7910): “like the drunkard,” singular with article, a type. Psalm 107:27 and Isaiah 19:14 use the same image (Cambridge, Barnes). BSB plural “drunkards.”

The verse-by-verse work is done. What follows gathers the whole unit. All three layers below are machine-generated (⚙). Weigh them; they have no authority.

⚙

Grand Commentary — the unit, read whole

synthesis · verify

AI synthesis — woven from the public-domain voices above and the original text; generated and fallible.

i. Sarcasm and the laughingstock — 12:1 to 12:6

Job begins his longest reply of the first cycle with irony: “you are the עָם, and wisdom will die with you.” Pulpit calls it “bitterly ironical,” K&D hears in ʻam the whole race of men, and Benson draws the pastoral lesson that God “has the residue of the Spirit.” Job then claims a לֵבָב (heart, understanding) equal to theirs and refuses to “fall below” them (K&D, Barnes). The pivot is v. 4: he who once “called on Eloah and He answered him” is now שְׂחֹק, a laughingstock, and so is the ṣaddîq tāmîm in general. Verse 5 describes the cold logic of the comfortable: contempt is “ready” for the one whose foot slips (K&D, Cambridge; JFB and Poole keep the older torch reading). Verse 6 states the scandal plainly: the tents of ravagers are at peace. Whether God brings plenty into their hand (Barnes, Poole) or they carry their god in their fist (Cambridge, Pulpit, JFB), the friends’ moral arithmetic fails.

ii. Ask the beasts: the hand of the LORD — 12:7 to 12:12

With וְאוּלָם Job turns to a hymn (K&D). Beasts, birds, earth and fish will “teach” (yārāh) and “recount” (sippēr), and everyone knows “that the hand of יְהוָה has done this.” Ellicott, Barnes, JFB, Pulpit and Gill all note that this is the only use of the covenant name in the dialogue (Barnes records that nine manuscripts lack it). Verse 10 places every nep̄eš and the rûaḥ of all flesh in that hand. Verses 11 to 12 then turn to method: the ear tests words as the palate tastes food (K&D: the sayings of the ancients must be tested, not swallowed), and wisdom is with the aged, a concession to Bildad (Job 8:8), as Benson, Poole and Geneva observe.

iii. With Him: wisdom and might that overturn — 12:13 to 12:16

“With Him” (עִמּוֹ), placed first for emphasis, answers “with the aged” (K&D). God possesses ḥoḵmāh, gəḇûrāh, ‘êṣāh, təḇûnāh as His nature (Pulpit: not acquired). What He tears down is not rebuilt, whom He shuts in is not opened (v. 14); He holds back the waters or lets them out (v. 15; Pulpit and JFB hear the flood, Barnes notes the absence of any named historical event). Verse 16 is the boldest line: “the one who errs and the one who leads astray are His.” Poole and Benson guard it at once: God is not the author of sin but its holy governor; Pulpit warns that Job “touches with somewhat too bold a hand the deepest problems of the universe.”

iv. The great brought low, the nations led out — 12:17 to 12:25

A procession of the powerful marches past: counsellors and priests led away שׁוֹלָל (stripped, K&D; barefoot, LXX at Micah 1:8), judges made fools, kings’ authority loosed (K&D on mûsar), the trusted silenced, elders’ ṭa‘am (taste, judgment) removed, contempt poured on nobles, the girdle of the strong loosened. K&D and JFB note that v. 21 and v. 24b reappear in Psalm 107:40. Then the frame widens: God brings deep things out of darkness (v. 22), makes nations great and destroys them (v. 23), and leaves leaders wandering in תֹהוּ, the word of Genesis 1:2 (Cambridge, Pulpit), groping without light and staggering like drunkards. Ellicott reads the whole as Job’s faith in an inscrutable providence; Henry finds in it the God who overrules even the crucifixion for the salvation of the world.

Read under Sola Scriptura — this tool’s own fallible reading (⚙)

⚙ Read by itself, Job 12 does not deny that God rules; it insists on it more fiercely than the friends do. Job’s quarrel is not with divine sovereignty but with the friends’ claim to read it. The same hand that holds every breath (v. 10) is the hand that topples counsellors (v. 17) and leaves the wise wandering in tōhû (v. 24): God’s wisdom is real, but it is not available as a formula for sorting sufferers into the righteous and the wicked. The chapter therefore humbles both sides. It humbles the friends, whose wisdom “will die” with them. It also sets a boundary for Job, whose bold line in v. 16 needs the canon’s later light (James 1:13; Acts 2:23) to be held rightly: God governs deception without being its author. This is a fallible reading, offered to be tested against the whole of Scripture.

The hand that holds every breath is the same hand that humbles every expert; wisdom belongs to Him, not to the ones who explain Him.

⚙

Canonical Threads — out to the whole of Scripture

cross-refs · verify

AI-generated connections. Each carries a verification badge with a recorded basis; contested links are flagged.

“He pours contempt on nobles”: Job’s line in Psalm 107 verbal / quotation: confirmed

Job 12:21a (שׁוֹפֵךְ בּוּז עַל־נְדִיבִים) reappears word for word as Psalm 107:40a, and Job 12:24b (“makes them wander in a trackless tōhû”) supplies Psalm 107:40b. K&D: “Job 12:21 is repeated verbatim, Psalm 107:40”; JFB says Psalm 107:40 “quotes, in its first clause, this verse and, in its second, Job 12:24.” In the Psalm the sentence belongs to a hymn of redemption, where the God who humbles princes “lifts the needy” (107:41). Which text borrowed from which is not settled by the sources; we record a shared line, not a direction of dependence.

Psalm 107:40

basis: Verifier: shared lexemes H937 bûwz (in 11 vv) and H5081 nâdîyb (in 26 vv); K&D and JFB both record the clause as verbatim. Direction of borrowing not established.

“Barefoot, stripped”: the captive’s condition in Micah verbal / quotation: confirmed

שׁוֹלָל (H7758) occurs in only three verses: Job 12:17, 12:19, and Micah 1:8, where the prophet goes “barefoot and naked” in mourning for Samaria. K&D argues the word means stripped of clothing, especially the insignia of office; Cambridge notes the LXX at Micah 1:8 reads “barefoot.” Job pictures God doing to counsellors and priests what Micah enacts as a sign of judgment: the public humiliation of the deported.

Micah 1:8

basis: Verifier: shared rare lexeme H7758 shôwlâl (in 3 vv). A lexical link, not a quotation.

The loosed girdle: mâzîyach in Psalm 109 and Isaiah 23 verbal / quotation: confirmed

The girdle God loosens in Job 12:21b (מְזִיחַ, H4206) is one of the rarest words in the chapter. Benson notes Psalm 109:19 renders it “girdle”; Isaiah 23:10 uses it of Tarshish when its restraint is gone. K&D explains it as the girdle tightened for “desperate conflict”; to slacken it is to unman the strong.

Psalm 109:19 · Isaiah 23:10

basis: Verifier: shared rare lexeme H4206 mâzîyach (in 3 vv). Lexical, not a quotation.

Those at ease and their contempt: Psalm 123 verbal / quotation: confirmed

Job 12:5 joins שַׁאֲנָן (the one at ease) with בּוּז (contempt). Psalm 123:4 joins the same two words in its lament over the scorn of those at ease and the contempt of the proud. Gill cites Psalm 123:3 at this verse. The sufferer’s complaint in Job becomes, in the Psalter, a prayer lifted to the God “enthroned in the heavens.”

Psalm 123:4

basis: Verifier: shared lexemes H7600 shaʼănân (in 10 vv) and H937 bûwz (in 11 vv), a rare pair in collocation; no quotation claimed.

The ear tests words: Elihu takes up Job’s proverb verbal / quotation: confirmed

“Does not the ear test words as the palate tastes food?” (12:11) returns almost word for word in Elihu’s mouth at Job 34:3. Gill notes that some versions render 12:11 in exactly the form of 34:3. Elihu uses Job’s own proverb to summon Job to judgment: the tool Job turned against the friends is turned on him.

Job 34:3

basis: Verifier: shared lexemes H2938 ṭâʻam (in 10 vv), H4405 millâh (in 38 vv), H241 ʼôzen (in 179 vv); internal reuse within Job.

Wisdom with the aged: Elihu’s reply verbal / quotation: confirmed

יְשִׁישִׁים (the aged, H3453) occurs in only four verses, three of them in Job: 12:12, 15:10 (Eliphaz claims the gray-haired and aged for his side), 29:8 (the aged rose before Job), and 32:6 (Elihu, young, defers to the aged before speaking). Barnes cites these. Job concedes wisdom to age and then outbids it with God (12:13); Eliphaz claims age for his side; Elihu later sets age aside in favour of the Spirit (32:8). The word traces an argument across the book.

Job 15:10 · Job 29:8 · Job 32:6

basis: Verifier: shared rare lexeme H3453 yâshîysh (in 4 vv).

Erring in Leviticus: the shâgag of the unwitting structural / thematic: confirmed

שֹׁגֵג (H7683, “the one who errs”) in 12:16 is the verb Leviticus 5:18 and Numbers 15:28 use of sin committed unwittingly, for which atonement is made. The shared word is real but the setting differs: in Job it names the deceived in the world’s politics; in the Torah, the inadvertent sinner before the altar. We record the resonance without claiming Job alludes to the cultic law.

Leviticus 5:18 · Numbers 15:28

basis: Verifier: shared lexeme H7683 shâgag (in 4 vv); contexts differ (cultic versus political), so tiered structural, not verbal.

Tōhû: leaders returned to the formless waste structural / thematic: confirmed

The leaders of v. 24 wander בְּתֹהוּ, the word of Genesis 1:2 (“formless”). Cambridge: “i.e. chaos”; Pulpit: “one of the words used in Genesis 1:2.” God who brought order from tōhû can return the proud to it. Jeremiah 4:23 uses the same word for creation undone (Cambridge cites it).

Genesis 1:2 · Jeremiah 4:23

basis: Verifier pair Job 12:24 / Genesis 1:2: shared lexeme H8414 tôhûw (in 19 vv). Shared motif of uncreation; no quotation claimed.

“The hand of the LORD has done this”: Isaiah 41 structural / thematic: confirmed

Cambridge cites Isaiah 41:20 at Job 12:9, where the nations are to “know … that the hand of the LORD has done this.” The clause is closely parallel in thought and wording. The Verifier records only common shared lexemes for the pair (H3027, H3045, H2063), so the link is tiered as structural; a reader should check the Hebrew of both clauses directly before calling it a quotation.

Isaiah 41:20

basis: Verifier pair: shared lexemes H2063 zôʼth (570 vv), H3045 yâdaʻ (874 vv), H3027 yâd (1445 vv); common words only, so not tiered verbal.

Creation’s witness: Job 12:7 to 9 and Romans 1:20 structural / thematic: confirmed

Gill reads 12:9 with Romans 1:20: “by the things that are made, the invisible things of God are clearly seen.” Job sends the friends to beasts and birds; Paul says creation leaves humanity without excuse. The link is cross-Testament (Hebrew to Greek) and conceptual: both appeal to creation as a witness everyone already has.

Romans 1:20

basis: Cross-Testament (Hebrew to Greek): no shared Strong’s numbers possible. Shared motif of creation’s testimony, recorded by Gill; not a quotation.

⚙Christ in the Unittypology · verify

AI-generated reading; weigh it against the text.

The righteous one made a laughingstock ancient/widely-held

⚙ Job 12:4 names a type: the man who calls on God, whom God has answered, mocked by those near him precisely because he suffers. Benson makes the link explicit: “Thus the Jews mocked our Lord Jesus: ‘He trusted in God; let him deliver him now.’” Psalm 22:7 to 8 voices the same taunt, and Matthew 27:43 records it at the cross. Gill adds that cruel mockings are the common lot of the faithful (Hebrews 11:36). Job is not Christ, and he will be corrected in chs. 38 to 42; but the shape of the innocent sufferer derided for his trust is the shape the Gospels give the Passion.

Matthew 27:43 · Psalm 22:7-8 · Hebrews 11:36

The wisdom that overturns the wise: the cross ancient/widely-held

⚙ Verses 13 to 25 describe a God who makes judges fools, silences the eloquent, and takes the judgment of elders. Poole cites 1 Corinthians 1:19 at v. 17, where Paul quotes Isaiah: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise.” Henry goes to the centre: the highest illustration of this sovereign wisdom 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?” Acts 2:23 and 4:27 to 28 state the same pattern: rulers gathered against the Anointed did what God’s hand and counsel had determined. Job’s line “the deceived and the deceiver are His” finds its deepest and safest application here, where human evil is overruled for redemption without God being its author.

1 Corinthians 1:19-25 · Acts 2:23 · Acts 4:27-28

Light brought out of the shadow of death novel

⚙ Verse 22 says God “brings צַלְמָוֶת (deep shadow, the shadow of death) into light.” In Job’s context the stress is exposure: hidden plots laid bare (Pulpit, K&D). Gill widens it to the mysteries of the gospel revealed. Isaiah 9:2 promises light to those in the land of the shadow of death, and Matthew 4:16 and Luke 1:79 apply that light to Jesus. Reading Job 12:22 directly as a Christ-text goes beyond what most of the commentators claim; it is offered as a canonical echo, not as Job’s intended meaning.

Isaiah 9:2 · Matthew 4:16 · Luke 1:79 · 2 Corinthians 4:6

He shuts and none opens: the key of David novel

⚙ Job 12:14 ascribes to God the power to shut so that none can open. JFB cross-references Isaiah 22:22, where the key of the house of David is given to Eliakim: what he opens none shuts, what he shuts none opens. Revelation 3:7 applies that key to the risen Christ, the Holy and True One who holds the key of David. The apostolic reading of Isaiah 22:22 is ancient; joining it to Job 12:14 is this tool’s own canonical observation through JFB’s cross-reference, so it is marked novel. If the pattern holds, the sovereign power Job fears in v. 14 is finally held by the One who opens for His people.

Isaiah 22:22 · Revelation 3:7

Apparatus & Provenance

The biblical text is the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain (CC0). Hebrew/Greek text, transliteration, morphology and Strong’s are transcribed from the Berean interlinear (CC0) + Strong’s lexicons (PD); the literal renderings, divergence notes, word notes and all synthesis are this tool’s own work (⚙) — fallible; verify them.

Named voices, quoted verbatim from public-domain works:

Albert Barnes, Notes on the Bible (1834)
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges, — (1880s)
Charles Ellicott, Commentary for English Readers (1878)
Geneva Study Bible, Marginal Notes (1599)
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory (1871)
John Gill, Exposition of the Entire Bible (1746–63)
Joseph Benson, Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1810s)
Keil & Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1860s)
Matthew Henry, Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible (1706)
Matthew Poole, Annotations upon the Holy Bible (1685)
The Pulpit Commentary, Spence & Exell, eds. (1880s)

Text. Verse 5 has a real reading problem: לַפִּיד can be pointed “torch” (Targum, Vulgate, KJV) or “for misfortune” (Masoretic pointing as K&D reads it; BSB). Verse 6c (hēḇî’ ’ĕlôah bəyāḏô) is ambiguous as to subject. In v. 8, śîaḥ may be verb or noun (“shrub”). Barnes reports that יְהוָה in v. 9 is absent from nine ancient manuscripts; its presence in the dialogue is otherwise unique, which some take as a sign of a scribal substitution and others as deliberate. In v. 18, mûsar may mean “bond” or “discipline, authority” (K&D). In v. 19, kōhănîm is “priests” (Barnes, JFB, Cambridge, Pulpit, K&D) though KJV has “princes.”

Sources. The Barnes entry printed for 12:1 in the source belongs to Job 11:20 (Zophar); it is not used here. Gill’s 12:4 entry in the source is corrupted with text from vv. 14 to 15; only clean spans are quoted. Several older notes (Benson, Henry) quote earlier authorities; attribution follows the brief.

Uncertain. The direction of dependence between Job 12:21, 24 and Psalm 107:40 is not settled by the sources. The Isaiah 41:20 link is tiered structural because the Verifier found only common shared words.

✦ = human, public-domain source, quoted and named. ⚙ = machine synthesis, to be verified. Flagged cross-references are left visible on purpose — the verifier working in the open. “Search the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” (Acts 17:11)