Job 12 Study Notes: Job Affirms God's Rule Over All
Job answers his friends with sarcasm, insisting he understands as much as they do and complaining that he, an upright man, is mocked while robbers live in peace. He says all creation knows God's hand is at work, and he describes God's wisdom and power to overturn counselors, kings, priests and nations.
General
In Job 12:7-10, what does Job say every creature knows?
Answer: That the LORD’s own hand is behind what has happened
Job tells his friends to learn from the animals, the birds, the earth and the fish (12:7-8). Every one of them knows that the LORD’s own hand has brought this about (12:9). Every living creature’s life and every person’s breath rest in His hand (12:10). Job’s point is that God’s rule over what happens is plain even to animals, so his friends have told him nothing new. Job does not spell out everything he means by this, though in context his own troubles seem to be in view. Job had confessed the same truth at the start, when he blessed the LORD who gives and takes away (1:21). Scripture elsewhere says God gives all people life and breath (Acts 17:25) and holds each person’s breath in His hand (Daniel 5:23), and Isaiah uses almost the same words about the LORD’s hand at work (Isaiah 41:20).
- Job 12:7-10 (BSB)“But ask the animals, and they will instruct you; ask the birds of the air, and they will tell you. Or speak to the earth, and it will teach you; let the fish of the sea inform you. Which of all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this? The life of every living thing is in His hand, as well as the breath of all mankind.”Job says all creatures know that the LORD has done this and that every life is in His hand.
- Job 1:21 (BSB)“saying: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD.””At the start Job confessed that the LORD both gave and took away.
- Acts 17:25 (BSB)“Nor is He served by human hands, as if He needed anything, because He Himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else.”Paul teaches that God Himself gives everyone life and breath.
- Daniel 5:23 (BSB)“Instead, you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven. The vessels from His house were brought to you, and as you drank wine from them with your nobles, wives, and concubines, you praised your gods of silver and gold, bronze and iron, wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or understand. But you have failed to glorify the God who holds in His hand your very breath and all your ways.”Daniel tells the king that God holds his very breath in His hand.
- Isaiah 41:20 (BSB)“so that all may see and know, may consider and understand, that the hand of the LORD has done this and the Holy One of Israel has created it.””Isaiah uses the same language of the LORD’s hand having done His work.
Theological
What does Job say all creation knows, according to Job 12:7-10?
Answer: That the LORD’s own hand is behind what has happened
Job sends his friends to the beasts, birds, earth and fish (12:7-8), for every creature knows that the LORD’s hand has brought this about (12:9); every living soul and all human breath rest in His hand (12:10). God’s sovereign rule over all things is so evident that creation itself testifies to it, and in context Job’s own calamities appear to be in view; the friends’ wisdom is no special insight. The confession echoes Job’s response in 1:21, and Scripture elsewhere affirms that God gives all life and breath (Acts 17:25) and holds every person’s breath (Daniel 5:23); Isaiah 41:20 uses nearly identical language of the LORD’s hand.
- Job 12:7-10 (BSB)“But ask the animals, and they will instruct you; ask the birds of the air, and they will tell you. Or speak to the earth, and it will teach you; let the fish of the sea inform you. Which of all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this? The life of every living thing is in His hand, as well as the breath of all mankind.”Job says all creatures know that the LORD has done this and that every life is in His hand.
- Job 1:21 (BSB)“saying: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD.””At the start Job confessed that the LORD both gave and took away.
- Acts 17:25 (BSB)“Nor is He served by human hands, as if He needed anything, because He Himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else.”Paul teaches that God Himself gives everyone life and breath.
- Daniel 5:23 (BSB)“Instead, you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven. The vessels from His house were brought to you, and as you drank wine from them with your nobles, wives, and concubines, you praised your gods of silver and gold, bronze and iron, wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or understand. But you have failed to glorify the God who holds in His hand your very breath and all your ways.”Daniel tells the king that God holds his very breath in His hand.
- Isaiah 41:20 (BSB)“so that all may see and know, may consider and understand, that the hand of the LORD has done this and the Holy One of Israel has created it.””Isaiah uses the same language of the LORD’s hand having done His work.
General
In Job 12:17-25, what does Job say God does with counselors, judges, kings and nations?
Answer: He humbles their leaders and builds up or ruins nations as He wills
Job describes God’s rule over the powerful. God sends counselors off barefoot, makes judges look foolish, loosens the authority of kings, sends priests off barefoot as well, and topples those long established (12:17-19). He silences trusted advisers, takes away the good sense of elders, and heaps scorn on nobles (12:20-21). He brings hidden things out of darkness into light (12:22), builds up nations and then brings them to ruin (12:23), and causes the leaders of the earth to lose their reason and wander in a pathless wilderness, groping in the dark and staggering like drunken men (12:24-25). Psalm 107:40 repeats Job’s words about nobles almost exactly. Scripture elsewhere teaches that God removes kings and sets them up (Daniel 2:21), brings rulers to nothing (Isaiah 40:23), and fixes the times and boundaries of nations (Acts 17:26).
- Job 12:17-25 (BSB)“He leads counselors away barefoot and makes fools of judges. He loosens the bonds placed by kings and fastens a belt around their waists. He leads priests away barefoot and overthrows the established. He deprives the trusted of speech and takes away the discernment of elders. He pours out contempt on nobles and disarms the mighty. He reveals the deep things of darkness and brings deep shadows into light. He makes nations great and destroys them; He enlarges nations, then disperses them. He deprives the earth’s leaders of reason and makes them wander in a trackless wasteland. They grope in the darkness without light; He makes them stagger like drunkards.”Job describes God overturning counselors, judges, kings, priests, nobles and whole nations.
- Psalm 107:40 (BSB)“He pours out contempt on the nobles and makes them wander in a trackless wasteland.”The psalm uses the same words about God humbling nobles and making them wander.
- Daniel 2:21 (BSB)“He changes the times and seasons; He removes kings and establishes them. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning.”God removes kings and establishes them.
- Isaiah 40:23 (BSB)“He brings the princes to nothing and makes the rulers of the earth meaningless.”God brings princes and rulers of the earth to nothing.
- Acts 17:26 (BSB)“From one man He made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and He determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their lands.”God determines the appointed times and boundaries of the nations.
Theological
What does Job affirm about God’s dealings with rulers and nations in Job 12:17-25?
Answer: He humbles their leaders and builds up or ruins nations as He wills
Job surveys God’s sovereignty over human power: He sends counselors off barefoot, confounds judges, undoes the authority of kings, sends priests off barefoot and topples the entrenched (12:17-19), silences the trusted, removes elders’ discernment and humiliates nobles (12:20-21). He exposes what is hidden in darkness (12:22), builds up nations and brings them to ruin (12:23), and robs the world’s rulers of good sense so that they stagger in a pathless waste (12:24-25). Psalm 107:40 echoes 12:21 and 12:24 nearly word for word, and Daniel 2:21, Isaiah 40:23 and Acts 17:26 affirm the same rule over kings, princes and the bounds of nations. Job and the friends agree on God’s power; their dispute is over how it relates to Job’s suffering.
- Job 12:17-25 (BSB)“He leads counselors away barefoot and makes fools of judges. He loosens the bonds placed by kings and fastens a belt around their waists. He leads priests away barefoot and overthrows the established. He deprives the trusted of speech and takes away the discernment of elders. He pours out contempt on nobles and disarms the mighty. He reveals the deep things of darkness and brings deep shadows into light. He makes nations great and destroys them; He enlarges nations, then disperses them. He deprives the earth’s leaders of reason and makes them wander in a trackless wasteland. They grope in the darkness without light; He makes them stagger like drunkards.”Job describes God overturning counselors, judges, kings, priests, nobles and whole nations.
- Psalm 107:40 (BSB)“He pours out contempt on the nobles and makes them wander in a trackless wasteland.”The psalm uses the same words about God humbling nobles and making them wander.
- Daniel 2:21 (BSB)“He changes the times and seasons; He removes kings and establishes them. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning.”God removes kings and establishes them.
- Isaiah 40:23 (BSB)“He brings the princes to nothing and makes the rulers of the earth meaningless.”God brings princes and rulers of the earth to nothing.
- Acts 17:26 (BSB)“From one man He made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and He determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their lands.”God determines the appointed times and boundaries of the nations.
General
How does Job begin his reply to his friends in Job 12:1-3?
Answer: With sarcasm about their wisdom, insisting he understands as much as they do
Job answers with biting sarcasm: surely his friends are the only wise people left, and wisdom will perish along with them (12:2). He insists that he too has understanding and is in no way below them, and that what they have said is common knowledge (12:3). This answers Zophar’s jab about an empty-headed man who could never become wise (11:12). Job repeats the point in the next chapter (13:2) and later calls his friends miserable comforters (16:2).
- Job 12:1-3 (BSB)“Then Job answered: “Truly then you are the people with whom wisdom itself will die! But I also have a mind; I am not inferior to you. Who does not know such things as these?”Job mocks his friends’ claim to wisdom and insists he understands as well as they do.
- Job 11:12 (BSB)“But a witless man can no more become wise than the colt of a wild donkey can be born a man!”Zophar had just implied that Job was a witless man incapable of wisdom.
- Job 13:2 (BSB)“What you know, I also know; I am not inferior to you.”Job repeats that he knows what his friends know and is not inferior to them.
- Job 16:2 (BSB)““I have heard many things like these; miserable comforters are you all.”Job later sums up his friends’ speeches as worthless comfort.
Theological
How does Job open his response to his friends in Job 12:1-3?
Answer: With sarcasm about their wisdom, insisting he understands as much as they do
Job opens with irony: his friends alone are wise, and wisdom will perish with them (12:2). He then asserts parity of understanding, refusing to concede any inferiority, and dismisses their arguments as commonplaces everyone knows (12:3). The retort answers Zophar’s insinuation that Job is a hollow man incapable of wisdom (11:12). Job reaffirms it in 13:2 and later dismisses the friends as miserable comforters (16:2).
- Job 12:1-3 (BSB)“Then Job answered: “Truly then you are the people with whom wisdom itself will die! But I also have a mind; I am not inferior to you. Who does not know such things as these?”Job mocks his friends’ claim to wisdom and insists he understands as well as they do.
- Job 11:12 (BSB)“But a witless man can no more become wise than the colt of a wild donkey can be born a man!”Zophar had just implied that Job was a witless man incapable of wisdom.
- Job 13:2 (BSB)“What you know, I also know; I am not inferior to you.”Job repeats that he knows what his friends know and is not inferior to them.
- Job 16:2 (BSB)““I have heard many things like these; miserable comforters are you all.”Job later sums up his friends’ speeches as worthless comfort.
General
True or False: Job says that, although he used to pray to God and receive answers, he has become a joke to his friends (Job 12:4).
Answer: True
This is true. Job complains that he, a man who prayed to God and was answered, has become someone his friends laugh at (12:4). A just and blameless man is treated as a joke. People who live in comfort look down on misfortune, as if trouble only comes to those who are already slipping (12:5). Job was in fact blameless and upright (1:1), so the mockery is undeserved. Job says the same later: his friends scoff at him while he weeps before God (16:20). Psalm 123:4 laments the same kind of scorn from proud and arrogant people.
- Job 12:4-5 (BSB)“I am a laughingstock to my friends, though I called on God, and He answered. The righteous and upright man is a laughingstock. The one at ease scorns misfortune as the fate of those whose feet are slipping.”Job complains that, though upright and once answered by God, he is mocked by those at ease.
- Job 1:1 (BSB)“There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. And this man was blameless and upright, fearing God and shunning evil.”Job is introduced as blameless and upright, so the scorn he receives is undeserved.
- Job 16:20 (BSB)“My friends are my scoffers as my eyes pour out tears to God.”Job again says his friends mock him while he weeps before God.
- Psalm 123:4 (BSB)“We have endured much scorn from the arrogant, much contempt from the proud.”The psalmist likewise laments enduring scorn and contempt from the proud.
Theological
True or False: Job laments that he, one who called upon God and was answered, has become a laughingstock to his friends (Job 12:4).
Answer: True
This is true. Job protests that he, one whose prayers God had heard, is now a laughingstock to his friends, and that the righteous and blameless are treated with derision (12:4). Those at ease hold misfortune in contempt, as fitting for those whose footing is already giving way (12:5). Job’s integrity is established at the outset (1:1), and he repeats the complaint of scoffing friends in 16:20. The same contempt from the arrogant is lamented in Psalm 123:4.
- Job 12:4-5 (BSB)“I am a laughingstock to my friends, though I called on God, and He answered. The righteous and upright man is a laughingstock. The one at ease scorns misfortune as the fate of those whose feet are slipping.”Job complains that, though upright and once answered by God, he is mocked by those at ease.
- Job 1:1 (BSB)“There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. And this man was blameless and upright, fearing God and shunning evil.”Job is introduced as blameless and upright, so the scorn he receives is undeserved.
- Job 16:20 (BSB)“My friends are my scoffers as my eyes pour out tears to God.”Job again says his friends mock him while he weeps before God.
- Psalm 123:4 (BSB)“We have endured much scorn from the arrogant, much contempt from the proud.”The psalmist likewise laments enduring scorn and contempt from the proud.
General
In Job 12:6, what does Job observe about robbers and people who anger God?
Answer: They often live in safety and feel secure
Job points out that the homes of robbers are often left in peace, and people who anger God live securely, trusting in a god they hold in their own hands (12:6). This directly challenges Zophar’s closing claim that the wicked have no escape (11:20). Other believers in Scripture wrestled with the same observation: the psalmist was troubled by how carefree and wealthy the wicked seemed (Psalm 73:3, 12), and Jeremiah asked God why evil people thrive (Jeremiah 12:1).
- Job 12:6 (BSB)“The tents of robbers are safe, and those who provoke God are secure—those who carry their god in their hands.”Job observes that robbers and those who provoke God often live in security.
- Job 11:20 (BSB)“But the eyes of the wicked will fail, and escape will elude them; they will hope for their last breath.””Zophar had just claimed that the wicked find no escape, the claim Job disputes.
- Psalm 73:3 (BSB)“For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.”The psalmist confesses envying the arrogant when he saw the wicked prosper.
- Psalm 73:12 (BSB)“Behold, these are the wicked—always carefree as they increase their wealth.”The psalmist describes the wicked as carefree while their wealth grows.
- Jeremiah 12:1 (BSB)“Righteous are You, O LORD, when I plead before You. Yet about Your judgments I wish to contend with You: Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all the faithless live at ease?”Jeremiah asks God why the wicked prosper and the faithless live at ease.
Theological
What does Job assert in Job 12:6 about robbers and those who anger God?
Answer: They often live in safety and feel secure
Against the friends’ retribution scheme, Job observes that marauders’ tents stand undisturbed and those who anger Him dwell in security, with a god they carry in their own hands (12:6). This rebuts Zophar’s promise that the wicked will find no escape (11:20). The thriving of evildoers is a recurring problem in Scripture, voiced by the psalmist (Psalm 73:3, 12) and by Jeremiah (Jeremiah 12:1).
- Job 12:6 (BSB)“The tents of robbers are safe, and those who provoke God are secure—those who carry their god in their hands.”Job observes that robbers and those who provoke God often live in security.
- Job 11:20 (BSB)“But the eyes of the wicked will fail, and escape will elude them; they will hope for their last breath.””Zophar had just claimed that the wicked find no escape, the claim Job disputes.
- Psalm 73:3 (BSB)“For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.”The psalmist confesses envying the arrogant when he saw the wicked prosper.
- Psalm 73:12 (BSB)“Behold, these are the wicked—always carefree as they increase their wealth.”The psalmist describes the wicked as carefree while their wealth grows.
- Jeremiah 12:1 (BSB)“Righteous are You, O LORD, when I plead before You. Yet about Your judgments I wish to contend with You: Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all the faithless live at ease?”Jeremiah asks God why the wicked prosper and the faithless live at ease.
General
True or False: In Job 12:13-16, Job credits God with wisdom and might, and says that both the one who is misled and the one who misleads belong to Him.
Answer: True
This is true. Job grants that older people often have wisdom (12:12), but he says the deepest wisdom and might are found in God, along with counsel and understanding (12:13). What God tears down no one can rebuild, and whom He shuts in no one can free; He controls both drought and flood (12:14-15). Both the one who leads others astray and the one led astray are under His rule (12:16). This does not make God the author of evil, since God tempts no one to sin (James 1:13). Instead, God rules even over people’s evil choices and can turn them to good, as Joseph told his brothers (Genesis 50:20). Daniel also praised God as the owner of wisdom and power (Daniel 2:20), and no human wisdom can stand against the LORD (Proverbs 21:30).
- Job 12:12-16 (BSB)“Wisdom is found with the elderly, and understanding comes with long life. Wisdom and strength belong to God; counsel and understanding are His. What He tears down cannot be rebuilt; the man He imprisons cannot be released. If He holds back the waters, they dry up, and if He releases them, they overwhelm the land. True wisdom and power belong to Him. The deceived and the deceiver are His.”Job sets God’s wisdom and power above all human wisdom and over every person, including deceivers.
- Daniel 2:20 (BSB)“and declared: “Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, for wisdom and power belong to Him.”Daniel likewise confesses that wisdom and power belong to God.
- Proverbs 21:30 (BSB)“There is no wisdom, no understanding, no counsel that can prevail against the LORD.”No human wisdom or counsel can prevail against the LORD.
- James 1:13 (BSB)“When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He tempt anyone.”God rules over all, yet He tempts no one to evil.
- Genesis 50:20 (BSB)“As for you, what you intended against me for evil, God intended for good, in order to accomplish a day like this—to preserve the lives of many people.”God governs even evil human intentions and directs them to good ends.
Theological
True or False: Job ascribes wisdom, might, counsel and understanding to God and declares that both the one misled and the misleader are under His rule (Job 12:13-16).
Answer: True
This is true. Conceding that wisdom often accompanies age (12:12), Job locates wisdom and might, counsel and understanding supremely in God (12:13). His decrees are irreversible (what He demolishes stays down, whom He confines stays confined), and He governs drought and flood alike (12:14-15). Even deceiver and deceived fall within His dominion (12:16). God’s sovereignty over sinful agents never makes Him the author of sin (James 1:13); He rules over evil intentions and turns them to His good purpose (Genesis 50:20). The confession parallels Daniel 2:20 and Proverbs 21:30.
- Job 12:12-16 (BSB)“Wisdom is found with the elderly, and understanding comes with long life. Wisdom and strength belong to God; counsel and understanding are His. What He tears down cannot be rebuilt; the man He imprisons cannot be released. If He holds back the waters, they dry up, and if He releases them, they overwhelm the land. True wisdom and power belong to Him. The deceived and the deceiver are His.”Job sets God’s wisdom and power above all human wisdom and over every person, including deceivers.
- Daniel 2:20 (BSB)“and declared: “Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, for wisdom and power belong to Him.”Daniel likewise confesses that wisdom and power belong to God.
- Proverbs 21:30 (BSB)“There is no wisdom, no understanding, no counsel that can prevail against the LORD.”No human wisdom or counsel can prevail against the LORD.
- James 1:13 (BSB)“When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He tempt anyone.”God rules over all, yet He tempts no one to evil.
- Genesis 50:20 (BSB)“As for you, what you intended against me for evil, God intended for good, in order to accomplish a day like this—to preserve the lives of many people.”God governs even evil human intentions and directs them to good ends.