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Wisdom & Poetry · Old Testament

Job 12

Job 12: Job says wisdom is not the friends' alone

General context

Job answers Zophar. He says with irony that the friends are the people and wisdom will die with them, then insists he has understanding as well as they and is not inferior; everyone knows such things. He says he is as one mocked of his neighbour, one who calls on God and is answered, and that the just upright man is laughed to scorn while one about to slip is despised by those at ease. The tabernacles of robbers prosper and those who provoke God are secure. He tells them to ask the beasts, the fowls, the earth and the fishes, which will teach that the hand of the Lord has done this, and that the soul of every living thing and the breath of all mankind are in his hand. The ear tries words as the mouth tastes meat; with the ancient is wisdom. He then describes God's power: he breaks down what cannot be rebuilt, shuts up a man, withholds waters so they dry up and sends them out to overturn the earth; the deceived and the deceiver are his. He leads counsellors away spoiled, makes judges fools, looses the bond of kings, overthrows the mighty, takes away the speech of the trusty and the understanding of the aged, pours contempt on princes, brings deep things out of darkness, enlarges nations and destroys them, and takes away the heart of the chief of the people so they wander in a pathless wilderness and stagger like a drunken man.

Cited passages: Job 12:1, Job 12:2, Job 12:3, Job 12:4, Job 12:5, Job 12:6, Job 12:7, Job 12:8, Job 12:9, Job 12:10, Job 12:12, Job 12:13, Job 12:14, Job 12:15, Job 12:16, Job 12:17, Job 12:18, Job 12:20, Job 12:22, Job 12:23, Job 12:24, Job 12:25

Job 12 (KJV)

1And Job answered and said,

2No doubt but ye are the people, and wisdom shall die with you.

3But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you: yea, who knoweth not such things as these?

4I am as one mocked of his neighbour, who calleth upon God, and he answereth him: the just upright man is laughed to scorn.

5He that is ready to slip with his feet is as a lamp despised in the thought of him that is at ease.

6The tabernacles of robbers prosper, and they that provoke God are secure; into whose hand God bringeth abundantly.

7But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee:

8Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee: and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee.

9Who knoweth not in all these that the hand of the Lord hath wrought this?

10In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind.

11Doth not the ear try words? and the mouth taste his meat?

12With the ancient is wisdom; and in length of days understanding.

13With him is wisdom and strength, he hath counsel and understanding.

14Behold, he breaketh down, and it cannot be built again: he shutteth up a man, and there can be no opening.

15Behold, he withholdeth the waters, and they dry up: also he sendeth them out, and they overturn the earth.

16With him is strength and wisdom: the deceived and the deceiver are his.

17He leadeth counsellors away spoiled, and maketh the judges fools.

18He looseth the bond of kings, and girdeth their loins with a girdle.

19He leadeth princes away spoiled, and overthroweth the mighty.

20He removeth away the speech of the trusty, and taketh away the understanding of the aged.

21He poureth contempt upon princes, and weakeneth the strength of the mighty.

22He discovereth deep things out of darkness, and bringeth out to light the shadow of death.

23He increaseth the nations, and destroyeth them: he enlargeth the nations, and straiteneth them again.

24He taketh away the heart of the chief of the people of the earth, and causeth them to wander in a wilderness where there is no way.

25They grope in the dark without light, and he maketh them to stagger like a drunken man.

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Historical context

The narrator's only line is And Job answered and said. Job's reply is the longest of his speeches so far, running through chapters 12 to 14 with no new speaker line until Eliphaz at 15.1. His claim to have understanding as well as the friends answers Zophar's charge in 11.2 and 3 that he is a man full of talk who tells lies. I am as one mocked of his neighbour describes Job's own situation; the text names no particular neighbour. The statement that the tabernacles of robbers prosper and those who provoke God are secure is Job's counter-observation to the friends' rule that the wicked perish; the narrator does not adjudicate. Verse 9 uses the name the Lord; elsewhere in the chapter Job says God. The lists of counsellors, judges, kings, princes and nations in verses 17 to 25 speak of God's action on rulers in general; no ruler or nation is named. With the ancient is wisdom is stated by Job here and taken up by Eliphaz in 15.10, who claims the aged are on the friends' side.

Cited passages: Job 12:1, Job 15:1, Job 12:3, Job 11:2, Job 11:3, Job 12:4, Job 12:6, Job 12:9, Job 12:10, Job 12:17, Job 12:18, Job 12:23, Job 12:12, Job 15:10

Literary context

The chapter opens with irony, wisdom shall die with you, and then a claim of equality, I am not inferior to you, which Job repeats at 13.2 so that it frames the whole reply. The command to ask the beasts, fowls, earth and fishes turns Zophar's Canst thou by searching find out God around: the friends' teaching is so ordinary that animals could give it. The proverb about the ear trying words and the mouth tasting meat suggests that Job is testing their words and finding them wanting, an image he also used in 6.30. The long hymn of God's power in verses 13 to 25 matches the hymns of Eliphaz in 5.9 to 16 and of Job himself in 9.5 to 10, but its content differs: this God does not lift the lowly or catch the crafty, he strips counsellors, judges, kings, princes, the trusty and the aged, and leaves nations to grope in the dark. The last image, staggering like a drunken man, ends the chapter on disorder rather than the order the friends have promised.

Cited passages: Job 12:2, Job 12:3, Job 13:2, Job 12:7, Job 12:8, Job 11:7, Job 12:11, Job 6:30, Job 12:13, Job 5:11, Job 5:13, Job 9:10, Job 12:17, Job 12:20, Job 12:24, Job 12:25

Key moments

  1. Wisdom will die with you (Job 12:2). Job mocks the friends as the only wise people.
  2. Not inferior to you (Job 12:3). Job insists he has understanding as well as they.
  3. The just man laughed to scorn (Job 12:4). Job says he is as one mocked of his neighbour, who calls on God and is answered.
  4. Robbers prosper (Job 12:6). Job says the tents of robbers prosper and provokers of God are secure.
  5. Ask the beasts (Job 12:7). Job says the beasts and fowls can teach what the friends teach.
  6. Counsellors spoiled, judges fools (Job 12:17). Job says God leads counsellors away spoiled and makes judges fools.
  7. Staggering like a drunken man (Job 12:25). Job says God makes the chiefs of the people grope in the dark.

For reflection

Job says the robbers' tents prosper and the provokers of God are secure, and that this too is the Lord's hand. Does his hymn of God's power comfort him, accuse God, or simply describe what he sees, and how would a reader decide?

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