“With God is wisdom and might. He has counsel and understanding.
Parallel Translations
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“With God is wisdom and might. He has counsel and understanding.
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With him is wisdom and strength, he hath counsel and understanding.
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With Him is wisdom and might; He hath counsel and understanding.
Cross-references (21)
Passages linked to Job 12:13 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Job 9:4 God who is wise in heart, and mighty in strength: who has hardened himself against him and prospered?
- Job 36:5 “Behold, God is mighty, and doesn’t despise anyone. He is mighty in strength of understanding.
- Proverbs 2:6-7 For Yahweh gives wisdom. Out of his mouth comes knowledge and understanding. He lays up sound wisdom for the upright. He is a shield to those who walk in integrity,
- Job 28:20-28 Where then does wisdom come from? Where is the place of understanding? Seeing it is hidden from the eyes of all living, and kept close from the birds of the sky. Destruction and Death say, ‘We have heard a rumor of it with our ears.’ “God understands its way, and he knows its place. For he looks to the ends of the earth, and sees under the whole sky. He establishes the force of the wind. Yes, he measures out the waters by measure. When he made a decree for the rain, and a way for the lightning of the thunder, then he saw it, and declared it. He established it, yes, and searched it out. To man he said, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom. To depart from evil is understanding.’ ”
- James 1:5 But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.
- Psalms 147:5 Great is our Lord, and mighty in power. His understanding is infinite.
- Proverbs 8:14 Counsel and sound knowledge are mine. I have understanding and power.
- Daniel 2:20 Daniel answered, “Blessed be the name of God forever and ever; for wisdom and might are his.
- Ephesians 1:11 We were also assigned an inheritance in him, having been foreordained according to the purpose of him who does all things after the counsel of his will,
- Job 11:6 that he would show you the secrets of wisdom! For true wisdom has two sides. Know therefore that God exacts of you less than your iniquity deserves.
- Colossians 2:3 in whom all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden.
- Job 12:16 With him is strength and wisdom. The deceived and the deceiver are his.
- Job 38:36 Who has put wisdom in the inward parts? Or who has given understanding to the mind?
- Isaiah 40:13-14 Who has directed Yahweh’s Spirit, or has taught him as his counselor? Who did he take counsel with, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of justice, and taught him knowledge, and showed him the way of understanding?
- Isaiah 46:10 I declare the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done. I say: My counsel will stand, and I will do all that I please.
- Jeremiah 10:12 God has made the earth by his power. He has established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding has he stretched out the heavens.
- Luke 21:15 for I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries will not be able to withstand or to contradict.
- Romans 11:34 “For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?”
- 1 Corinthians 1:24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God;
- Ephesians 1:8 which he made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence,
- Job 32:6-9 Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite answered, “I am young, and you are very old; Therefore I held back, and didn’t dare show you my opinion. I said, ‘Days should speak, and multitude of years should teach wisdom.’ But there is a spirit in man, and the Spirit of the Almighty gives them understanding. It is not the great who are wise, nor the aged who understand justice.
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Job 12:13 With him [is] wisdom and strength, he…
Job 12:13 With him [is] wisdom and strength, he hath counsel and understanding.
Ver. 13. With him is wisdom and strength, &c.] Wisdom, strength, counsel, and understanding, are all concentred in the Ancient of days; complete he is in all excellence and perfection, all which meet in him, and continue always in the highest degree. The mighty God "fainteth not, neither is weary; there is no searching of his understanding," Isa 40:28. He is also no less good than great and wise; good, original, universal, all sufficient, and satisfactory, proportionate, and fitting for our soul; which, as it was made by him, and for him, so it is never at quiet till it resteth in him. See Job 9:4.
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He hath counsel and understanding] Counsel he hath, but without consultation; wisdom, but without experience; knowledge, but without discourse; decree, but without deliberation: Loquimur de Deo, &c., We speak of God, saith one, not as we ought, but as we are able. And these things we speak of God, saith Augustine, because we find not what better to speak of him. But Job hath a mind to say the utmost that may be said.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain With him, i.e. with God; the relative being put…
With him, i.e. with God; the relative being put for the antecedent, which is easily and necessarily understood out of the scope of the place, and all the following verses.
Wisdom; perfect wisdom is only in him, and all wisdom in the world cometh from him, who giveth to old or young as it pleaseth him. The ancient are not wise without his gift and grace, and with that a younger man may be wiser than the ancients, as David was, Psa 119:100.
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Counsel and understanding; counsel, i.e. practical wisdom to guide all the affairs of the world; and understanding, or a speculative knowledge of all persons and things.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Behold, he breaketh down, and it cannot be built…
Behold, he breaketh down, and it cannot be built again,.... Which some restrain to the tower of Babel; but though the builders of it were obliged to desist from building, it does not appear that it was broken down, but seems to have continued many ages after: others more probably refer it to the destruction of Sodom, as Sephorno, which was an utter destruction, a perpetual desolation, and that city never was rebuilt to this day; and the same may be observed of many other cities that have had their foundations razed up, and have never been rebuilt, Thebes, Tyre, &c. and as will be the case of Rome, or the great city of Babylon, when once destroyed; yea, this has been true of kingdoms and states, such as Jeremiah was to root out, pull down, and destroy; that is, by prophesying of their destruction, as the Ammonites, Moabites, Edomites, and others, whose names and nations are no more, see Jer 1:10; and the four monarchies broken down and destroyed, and made as the chaff of the summer threshing floor, by the kingdom of Christ, Dan 2:35; and may be exemplified in particular persons and families; in Job and his family, the Lord broke him with breach upon breach; he broke him in his estate and substance; he broke down the hedge about him, and exposed him to thieves and robbers that plundered him of his substance; he broke down his family, that had been so largely and happily built up, by taking away his children by death; and he broke his constitution by diseases, afflictions, and sorrows, to which Job may have here respect, when he at this time never expected to have his losses in his substance, and in his family, and in his health, repaired, as they were; nor could it have been done without the will and pleasure of God; and oftentimes, when such breaches are made, there is no reparation; a man's wealth, and health, and family, are never built up again:
he shutteth up a man, and there can be no opening; if he shut up a man in a prison, there is no opening the doors of it to let out unless he pleases; whether it be the prison of sin, in which all are concluded, in the fetters and with the cords of which they are held, and will continue, unless those shackles are broken off by powerful and efficacious grace, and the Lord proclaims liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound, and gives it; or whether it be the prison of the law, in which sinners are shut up, and held as condemned malefactors; 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; or whether it be the prison of afflictions, straits, and difficulties in life, with which even good men are surrounded, being bound in fetters, and holden in cords of affliction; there is no opening for them, or getting out of them, unless the Lord breaks their bands asunder, and brings them out of darkness and distress, as out of prison houses, and so opens and makes a way for their escape; or whether he shuts them up, and they are so straitened in their souls that they cannot come forth in the free exercise of grace, and discharge of duty, as it was with Heman, when he said, "I am shut up, and I cannot come forth", Psa 88:8; and as it was with David, when he prayed, "bring my soul out of prison, that I may praise thy name", Psa 142:7; there is no opening for them till the spirit of the Lord opens their hearts and their graces, and brings them forth into exercise; and "where he is there is liberty", Co2 3:17; or if he shuts up a man in the grave, as the Targum paraphrases it, brings him to the house appointed for all living, and locks him up in it; there can be no opening for him till the resurrection morn, when Christ, who has the keys of hell and death, will unlock the graves, and the dead shall come forth, as Lazarus did at his call, Joh 11:43, or if "he shuts upon a man" (r), as the words may be rendered; shuts the gates of heaven upon a man, as the door into the marriage chamber of the Lamb will be shut upon and against the foolish virgins, as well as profane sinners, there can be no opening, cry as long as they will; see Mat 25:10; and as God shut the door of Eden, or the earthly paradise, against Adam, when he drove him out, Gen 3:23, to which Sephorno refers this passage; or if the Lord shuts up a man in hell, there is no opening, no way of escape from thence. We read of "spirits in prison", Pe1 3:19, which is to be understood not of the limbus or purgatory of the Papists, but of hell; and these "spirits" are the disobedient in the times of Noah, who dying, or being swept away with the flood, were cast into hell, where they have lain ever since, and will lie unto the judgment of the great day; between the place of the damned, and of the happy, in Abraham's bosom, is a great gulf, that there is no passing from one to the other, which is the immutable and unalterable decree of God, which has fixed the everlasting states of men, Luk 16:26.
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(r) "super virum", Montanus, Mercerus, Bolducius; "super viro", Schmidt, Michaelis.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 13. With him is wisdom and strength] But…
Verse 13. With him is wisdom and strength] But all these things come from GOD; he is the Fountain of wisdom and the Source of power. He alone can give us unerring counsel, and understanding to comprehend and act profitably by it. See on Job 12:16.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Job 12:13. With him is wisdom — That is,…
Job 12:13. With him is wisdom — That is, with God. Perfect wisdom is only in him, and all wisdom in the world cometh from him, who giveth to young and old as it pleaseth him. The ancients were not wise without his gift and grace, and with that a younger man may be wiser than the ancients. He hath counsel — Practical wisdom to guide and govern all the affairs of the world; and understanding — A perfect knowledge of all persons and things. “Job shows, in the following verses, that the affairs of the world, and the fortunes of men, are subject to such variety of changes, that all human reason and wisdom must be silent with respect to them; since the same calamities involve the good and the wicked, and seem rather to flow from the supreme dominion and unsearchable will of God, than to be distributed according to the rule of exact justice.” — Schultens and Dodd.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain With him is wisdom - Margin, correctly, “God.” However…
With him is wisdom - Margin, correctly, “God.” However much wisdom there may seem to be with aged men, yes the true wisdom - that which was supreme and worthy of the name - was to be found in God alone. The object of Job was to lead the thoughts up to God, and to bring his friends to a contemplation of the wisdom which he manifests in his works. Accordingly he goes on in the remainder of this chapter to state some of the illustrations of wisdom and power which God had exhibited, and particularly to show that he was a sovereign, and did his pleasure every where. He made all things; he sustains all things; he reverses the condition of people at his pleasure; he sets up whom he pleases, and when he chooses he casts them down. His works are contrary in many respects to what we should anticipate; and the sense of all is, that God was a holy and a righteous sovereign, and that such were the reverses under his administration that we could not argue that he treated all according to their character on earth.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain In contrast to, "with the ancient is wisdom" (Job…
In contrast to, "with the ancient is wisdom" (Job 12:12), Job quotes a saying of the ancients which suits his argument, "with Him (God) is (the true) wisdom" (Pro 8:14); and by that "wisdom and strength" "He breaketh down," &c., as an absolute Sovereign, not allowing man to penetrate His mysteries; man's part is to bow to His unchangeable decrees (Job 1:21). The Mohammedan saying is, "if God will, and how God will."
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain Section Second — THE WISDOM OF GOD, SUBORDINATED TO…
Section Second — THE WISDOM OF GOD, SUBORDINATED TO INFINITE AND IRRESISTIBLE POWER, INVOLVES THE DIVINE MORAL GOVERNMENT IN AN INEXPLICABLE MAZE, Job_12:13-25.
First double strophe. Job_12:13-18.
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a. Admits the wisdom and power of God, as illustrated by the divine government in the natural world, Job_12:13-15.
13. Him — God. The rest of this chapter is thought by some to be an old Idumaean poem, or else a collection of maxims handed down from antediluvian ancestors or sages. (Wemyss.) In the original, the first word, WISDOM, (hhokmah,) is the general and most comprehensive word for wisdom; the second, STRENGTH, (gebourah,) from the same root as geber, man, implies the ability to carry into execution the behest of the will; the third, COUNSEL, (‘hetsah,) gives the idea of “strength,” the “making firm” — practical wisdom; fourth, UNDERSTANDING, (tebounah,) implies the intellectual perception, characterized by its power of penetrating into, and distinguishing between, the true and false.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 13. With him is wisdom and strength] i. e.…
13. With him is wisdom and strength] i. e. with God, him being emphatic. There is no antithesis however between His wisdom and that of the aged referred to Job_12:12. The passage that follows to the end of the chapter describes God’s power and wisdom as their operations had been observed by men, though naturally the picture receives its colour from the state of Job’s mind. “Strength” is rather might or power to execute what wisdom devises. These attributes of God’s confound and bring to nought everything bearing the same name among men.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain With him is wisdom and strength. With God wisdom…
With him is wisdom and strength. 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. Such wisdom infinitely transcends any to which man can attain, and therefore is doubtless the wisdom whereby the world is governed. He hath counsel and understanding. God has these qualities as his own. They are not acquired or imparted, but belong to him, necessarily and always.
Vers. 13-25. Job to Zophar: 3. The providence of God described.
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I As INFINITELY WISE AND POWERFUL. "With God is wisdom and strength, he hath counsel and understanding" (ver. 13) a sentiment repeated in ver. 16. Of the two attributes here mentioned, the first is involved in his supreme Divinity; though in the connection Job seems to base it on his eternal existence, as if he meant to say, "You affirm that in length of days is understanding, and I grant it; but what then must be the wisdom of him who is eternal in his years?" The second, which is equally involved in the conception of Godhead, may here be said to rest upon the already stated fact that "in his hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind" (ver. 10). The Creator of the universe must be strong, and the Eternal Intelligence must be wise. Being, then, infinitely wise and powerful, the like qualities must appear in his handiwork. As the artist puts his conceptions into the painting which he executes, and the artificer directs attention to the work he has fashioned as a proof of his ability; so, reasons Job, will the providential government of God be seen, when thoroughly examined, to reflect the matchless wisdom of his omniscient mind, and attest the measureless force of his almighty hand.
II AS ABSOLUTELY SOVEREIGN AND RESISTLESS. "Behold, he breaketh down, and it cannot be built again: he shutteth up a man, and there can be no opening" (ver. 14). The first may allude to the destruction of the Tower of Babel, and the second to the confusion of tongues; though the reference may be more general, to such acts of destruction/and, by implication, of restoration) and of restraint (and again, by implication, of liberation) as attest his almighty power. Illustrations of the former may be found in the burning of Sodom by fire; the destruction of Jerusalem by the armies of Titus; the overthrow of Babylon and Nineveh; the engulfment of Herculaneum and Pompeii by volcanic agency; while the shutting up of men in prisons may be regarded as having been exemplified in Joseph, (Gen_37:24) Jeremiah. (Lam_3:53; cf. Jon_1:17)
III AS EXTENDING TO NATURE AND MAN.
1. To nature. "Behold, he withholdeth the waters, and they dry up: also he sendeth them out, and they overturn the earth" (ver. 15). Perhaps exemplified in the first formation of the dry land, (Gen_1:9) and in the Deluge; (Gen_7:11) though more probably pointing to the Divine agency as the true cause of drought, (1Ki_17:1) and of floods or destructive inundations.
2. To man. "The deceived and the deceiver are his" (ver. 16). Possibly alluding to himself and his companions (M. Good), though it is better to give the language a wider reference. Exemplified in Satan and man, (Rev_20:3) the lying spirit and Ahab, (1Ki_22:22) antichrist and unbelievers. (2Th_2:11) The language forcibly expresses God"s complete control over all classes of men.
IV AS CONTROLLING INDIVIDUALS AND COMMUNITIES.
1. Individuals.
(1) Civic riflers. "He leadeth counsellors away spoiled literally, "naked," i.e. "stripped of their official robes, and of their clothes and shoes as captives ", and maketh judges fools," destroying their power and degrading their position. (cf. Isa_3:2, 4 40:23 44:25) "He looseth the bond of kings, and girdeth their loins with a girdle" or cord; meaning either he unbinds their prisoners, and makes them prisoners instead, or he unlooses the jewelled girdle of kings, the insignia of royalty, and ties their loins with the cords of servitude. Illustrations: Zedekiah, Napoleon, etc.
(2) Ecclesiastical officers. "He leadeth princes literally, "priests away spoiled literaly, "stripped of their robes "], and overthroweth the mighty or, "the long established those of great and high repute for sanctity and wisdom, probably such priest-princes as Melchizedek and Jethro.
(3) Eloquent senators. "He removeth away the speech literally, "the lip of the trusty, and taketh away the understanding of the aged" (ver. 20). So he turned the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness. (2Sa_15:31)
(4) Haughty nobles. "He poureth contempt upon princes, and weakeneth the strength of the mighty;" literally, "looseth the girdle of the strong" (ver. 21). The girdle being the belt by which the garments were fastened prior to undertaking any violent exertion, the language expresses the idea that it is God"s province either to impart or to withhold the strength requisite for any undertaking in which man may engage.
(5) Intriguing politicians. "He discovereth deep things out of darkness, and bringeth out to light the shadow of death" (ver. 22). While the language may with perfect propriety be applied to the power possessed by God of disclosing truths which lie beyond the reach of the human intellect, as e.g. those of revelation, or of bringing to light recondite discoveries in science and philosophy, which are ever wrapt in impenetrable darkness till he is pleased to unfold them, the connection seems to rather point to God"s ability to read the secret thoughts and intentions of the human heart, (Heb_4:12, Heb_4:13) and in particular to detect and expose "the deep and desperate designs of traitors, conspirators, and other state villains" (Good); as those, e.g. of Absalom against David, (2Sa_15:6) and Haman against the Jews, (Est_3:9) of Herod against Christ, (Mat_2:8) and of the Jews against Paul, (Act_23:21) as the Catiline conspiracy in Rome, and the Gunpowder Plot in England.
2. Communities.
(1) National tendencies. The deep things out of darkness and the discovered death-shade may also allude to "the hidden bents and currents which slowly give shape to the character and functions of a nation or ever it is aware, or ever even its rulers are aware, of them; that stream of tendency running partly underground for a while, which silently carries us we know not whither, we know not how, and lands us in enterprises and modes of national activity alien and opposed to those towards which our subtlest politicians supposed they were guiding us" (Cox).
(2) National movements. "He increaseth the nations, and destroyeth them: he enlargeth the nations, and straiteneth them again" (ver. 23). The original distribution of mankind into nations, and their dispersion over the face of earth, although effected in accordance with natural law, was directly the work of God. (Ge 10,ge 11) So national increase and national diminution, national prosperity and national adversity, however these may seem to be the result of well-known and invariably operating causes, are traceable in the last analysis to the will and power of God. (Psa_22:28 Psa_24:1 Psa_47:2, 3 Isa_40:22, 23 Dan_4:17 Act_17:26) He increased Israel in Egypt, (Exo_1:12) and diminished it in the wilderness, (Num_14:29) advanced it to prosperity under David, (2Sa_8:6, 2Sa_8:11, 2Sa_8:14) and gave it up to decay from the time of Rehoboam forward. (1Ki_12:24) He enlarged in turn Egypt, Assyria, Babylonia, Persia, Greece, Rome, and in turn straitened them. He has exalted Britain, America, Germany, but he has not deprived himself of power to bring them to the dust again.
(3) National leaders. "He 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," leaving them to their own foolish and distracted counsels, so that "they grope in the dark without light," and causing them "to wander in a wilderness where there is no way" (vers. 24, 25). It is not in man that walketh, whether he be a statesman or a ploughman, to direct his steps aright. They that guide either themselves or others by the light of their own understanding are like travellers who follow an ignis fatuus to their destruction. Hence no politician can safely guide a state, unless God first guides him. A gigantic intellect, splendid eloquence, prolonged experience, the subtlest craft, the most careful deliberation, the rarest sobriety of judgment, will not suffice for political success (of the highest kind) without the help of Divine wisdom and strength. Even a Solomon, if deserted by God, will begin to play the fool, and a Samson to be weak as other men.
Learn:
1. To recognize God"s hand in the providential government of the world. Habitually to do so is no inconsiderable sign of a gracious heart.
2. Not to look for an exact distribution of rewards and punishments on earth. It is not included in the Divine programme that the justice of God"s procedure here shall always be perceptible by those to whom it relates.
3. To rest assured notwithstanding that God doeth all things well "Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?
4. To reverently bow before the providential dispensations of him who reigns in heaven and rules on earth. Though his will is too absolute to be resisted, yet the choice of how we shall submit to that will has been placed in our hands.
5. To carry the thought of God"s overruling providence with us into all the relations and duties of life. It is a great help to piety to recollect that God is near.
Vers. 13-15, 18-21, 23-25. Images of the irresistible power of God.
I THE WALL, OR HOUSE, OR CITY THUS DEMOLISHED CANNOT BE BUILT UP AGAIN. (Ver. 14) Swept with the besom of destruction, it becomes the possession of the bittern and pools of water. (Isa_14:23) The ruined walls of Babylon and her charred gates defy the weary toil of the people; (Jer_51:58) she sinks, and shall not rise from the evil that Jehovah will bring upon her. (Jer_51:64) Men may build, but he will throw down. (Mal_1:4)
II THE PRISON-DOORS WHICH HE SHUTS NO MAN CAN OPEN. (Ver. 14) He hath the key of David. (Isa_22:22 Rev_3:7) Vain all human bravery when the Lord hath determined to "deliver a man into the hand of his enemy". (1Sa_26:8) Yet there is a merciful aspect of this seeming harsh truth, as pointed out by St. Paul: "He hath shut them all up in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all". (Rom_11:32)
III THE DRYING UP AND SENDING OF FLOODS. (Ver. 15) As illustrated in the ancient story of Genesis 6 and Ge 8, and of the drought in Elijah"s time. (1Ki 17) He shuts the heaven, (1Ki_8:35) arid he alone can give showers. (Jer_14:22)
IV THE SUBJUGATION OF EARTHLY KINGS. (Ver. 18) As illustrated in the carrying of Manasseh captive to Babylon, (2Ch 23) and of Zedekiah (Jeremiah 52). The thought is repeated in ver. 21, and further illustrations may be drawn from the cases of Pharaoh, of Saul, of Ahab.
V THE DEPRIVATION OF SPEECH AND WISDOM. (Ver. 20) Men"s sagacity is turned to folly; their prudence is vain when it pleases him to put forth his power. (comp. Isa_3:1-3) So in ver. 24, where we are reminded of the striking judgment upon Nebuchadnezzar. (Da 4)
VI THE INCREASE AND DESTRUCTION OF NATIONS. (Ver. 23) The rise and fall of empires and peoples is determined by constant laws. Obedience to law means increase and prosperity; violation of law, decay and ruin.
VII CONFUSION AND BEWILDERMENT are evidences of the practical power of God (vers. 24, 25). Chaos, wandering, darkness, helpless vacillation, fall upon men and nations from time to time, because they have been unfaithful to the true light and the Divine leading. J.
Vers. 13-25. The wisdom and might of God.
Job meets his friend"s authoritative utterances of proverbs and worldly maxims by a citation of similar sayings, but with a different import. It is not true that the righteous always prosper, and that the wicked always suffer. Such a primitive notion implies too anthropocentric a conception of the universe; it goes on the assumption that all things are done just to suit our condition and conduct. Now, Job takes a higher and wider view. He appeals to sayings that speak of the supreme wisdom and irresistible might of God, altogether irrespective of man and his concerns.
I GOD"S WISDOM AND MIGHT ARE OVER ALL. We cannot fathom his thought; we cannot resist his arm. He will do what he thinks best whether we concur or not. The universe is under an irresistible Ruler. It is possible for us to question what God does, but we cannot answer him. We may rebel against his authority, but we cannot overthrow it. Therefore we should escape from our petty parochialism, and consider God"s large world and universal rule, before we attempt to form any theory of life.
II GOD"S SUPREME WISDOM AND MIGHT CONCERN OTHER INTERESTS THAN THOSE OF MAN. Our narrow views of God"s government lead to false opinions about his action. We are tempted to fancy that all he does is solely with a view to its effect on ourselves. Thus we colour the universe with our egotism. But the Lord of all must have vast interests to consider of which we know nothing. What looks foolish to us because we cannot see the end in view an end often quite outside ourselves, would appear in a very different light if we knew all God"s far-reaching designs.
III GOD"S WISDOM AND MIGHT ARE BOTH IN HARMONY WITH HIS GOODNESS. This is not so apparent in Job"s representation of the Divine action as it must be to a Christian. The patriarch has fallen into the error of a one-sided view in combatting the narrow and erroneous opinion of his friends, and he has come to represent God too much as the irresponsible Oriental autocrat, whose only law is his will, but whose will may follow mere caprice, and may be free from all considerations of justice. Job would not say as much of God, but his description leans in this direction. Now, we know that the most supreme thing in God is not his might, nor is it his wisdom; it is his love. (1Jn_4:8, 1Jn_4:9) Therefore, although we cannot understand his large purpose, that must be a good one.
We see God in his irresistible might casting down kings and princes, leading clever people into scenes of bewilderment, apparently playing with all sorts of men as mere pawns. But this is only because we are shortsighted. The large purposes which include other worlds than ours do not exclude our world. God does not brush man aside as a nonentity when he goes forth to achieve his vast designs. One of God"s greatest purposes is the redemption of man by the gift of his own Son. W.F.A. (Joh_3:16)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain Behold, He breaketh down.
Job_12:13-25
Behold, He breaketh down.
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Jobs maxims
Perhaps Job uses this lofty language concerning God for two reasons.
1. To show that he could speak as grandly of the Eternal as his friends had spoken.
2. To show that he had as correct and extensive a view of Gods agency as they had. He gives them here at least six different ideas of Gods agency.
I. That it is active both in the mental and the moral world.
II. That it is destructive as well as restorative. Behold, He breaketh down, and it cannot be built again.
III. That it extends to individuals as well as to communities. He shutteth up a man, and there can be no opening.
IV. That it is absolutely sovereign and resistless.
V. That it operates in the unseen, as well as in the visible. He discovereth deep things out of darkness, etc.
VI. That it in no case appears to recognise moral distinctions among men. Not a word does Job here say about the righteous and the wicked in relation to Gods agency. His object being to show that God did not treat man on the ground of moral character. (Homilist.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 General Information:
General Information:
Verse 13 says that God is wise and mighty. The rest of this chapter shows that this is true by telling about the wise and mighty things that God does.
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With God are wisdom and might
The abstract nouns "wisdom" and "might" can be expressed with the adjectives "wise" and "mighty." AT: "God is wise and mighty" (See: Abstract Nouns)
See
"Look" or "Listen" or "Pay attention to what I am about to tell you"
it cannot be built again
This can be stated in active form. AT: "no one can rebuild it" (See: Active or Passive)
if he imprisons someone, there can be no release
The abstract noun "release" can be expressed with the verb "free." AT: "if God shuts someone in, no one can free him" (See: Abstract Nouns)
if he withholds the waters, they dry up
Possible meanings are that withholding waters represents 1) preventing the rain from falling. AT: "if he stops the rain from falling the land dries up" or 2) preventing running water from flowing. AT: "if he stops the water from flowing, the land dries up" (See: Metaphor)
if he sends them out, they overwhelm the land
Possible meanings are that sending them out is a metaphor meaning 1) causing the rain to fall. AT: "if he causes a lot of rain to fall, it floods the land" or 2) causing the waters to flow. AT: "if he makes a lot of water flow, it floods the land" (See: Metaphor)
translationWords
wise
might
prison
send
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.