1 And Job answered and said,
2 Truly ye are the people, and wisdom shall die with you!
3 I also have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you; and who knoweth not such things as these?
4 I am to be one that is a derision to his friend, I who call upon +God, and whom he will answer: a derision is the just upright [man].
5 He that is ready to stumble with the foot is a lamp despised in the thought of him that is at ease.
6 The tents of desolators are in peace, and they that provoke ùGod are secure; into whose hand +God bringeth.
7 But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; and the fowl of the heavens, and they shall tell thee;
8 Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee; and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee.
9 Who knoweth not in all these, that the hand of Jehovah hath wrought this?
10 In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the spirit of all flesh of man.
11 Doth not the ear try words, as the palate tasteth food?
12 With the aged is wisdom, and in length of days understanding.
13 With him is wisdom and might; he hath counsel and understanding.
14 Behold, he breaketh down, and it is not built again; he shutteth up a man, and there is no opening.
15 Behold, he withholdeth the waters, and they dry up; and he sendeth them out, and they overturn the earth.
16 With him is strength and effectual knowledge; the deceived and the deceiver are his.
17 He leadeth counsellors away spoiled, and judges maketh he fools;
18 He weakeneth the government of kings, and bindeth their loins with a fetter;
19 He leadeth priests away spoiled, and overthroweth the mighty;
20 He depriveth of speech the trusty, and taketh away the judgment of the elders;
21 He poureth contempt upon nobles, and slackeneth the girdle of the mighty;
22 He discovereth deep things out of darkness, and bringeth out into light the shadow of death;
23 He increaseth the nations, and destroyeth them; he spreadeth out the nations, and bringeth them in;
24 He taketh away the understanding of the chiefs of the people of the earth, and causeth them to wander in a pathless waste.
25 They grope in the dark without light, and he maketh them to stagger like a drunkard.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Job 12
Commentary on Job 12 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 12
In this and the two following chapters we have Job's answer to Zophar's discourse, in which, as before, he first reasons with his friends (see 13:19) and then turns to his God, and directs his expostulations to him, from thence to the end of his discourse. In this chapter he addresses himself to his friends, and,
Job 12:1-5
The reproofs Job here gives to his friends, whether they were just or no, were very sharp, and may serve for a rebuke to all that are proud and scornful, and an exposure of their folly.
Job 12:6-11
Job's friends all of them went upon this principle, that wicked people cannot prosper long in this world, but some remarkable judgment or other will suddenly light on them: Zophar had concluded with it, that the eyes of the wicked shall fail, ch. 11:20. This principle Job here opposes, and maintains that God, in disposing men's outward affairs, acts as a sovereign, reserving the exact distribution of rewards and punishments for the future state.
Job 12:12-25
This is a noble discourse of Job's concerning the wisdom, power, and sovereignty of God, in ordering and disposing of all the affairs of the children of men, according to the counsel of his own will, which none dares gainsay or can resist. Take both him and them out of the controversy in which they were so warmly engaged, and they all spoke admirably well; but, in that, we sometimes scarcely know what to make of them. It were well if wise and good men, that differ in their apprehensions about minor things, would see it to be for their honour and comfort, and the edification of others, to dwell most upon those great things in which they are agreed. On this subject Job speaks like himself. Here are no passionate complaints, no peevish reflections, but every thing masculine and great.
Thus are the revolutions of kingdoms wonderfully brought about by an overruling Providence. Heaven and earth are shaken, but the Lord sits King for ever, and with him we look for a kingdom that cannot be shaken.