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Job
Chapter
12
{Chapters
4-14: The First Debate}
{Chapters
11-14: Debate with Zophar - Job Responds to the Accusations in
Chapters 12-14}
{Self-Righteous
Arrogance Gets What it Deserves}
1-2~~And
Job replied and said, 2~~
"No
doubt you {Self-righteous Zophar} are 'God's special people'
{idiom literally 'the people'}.
And wisdom shall die with you.
{Note: In sarcasm, Job is saying that when Zophar dies there will be no more wisdom on earth. Zophar's speech has indicated to Job that Zophar is the self-appointed keeper of all God's wisdom.}
3~~But I have a mind/understanding as well as you.
And, I am not inferior to you.
Who does not know all these things?
4~~But I {Job} have become a laughing stock to my friends.
Though I called who call upon God/ 'Elowahh, and He answered.
A mere laughing stock though righteous and blameless.
5~~Men
at ease have contempt for misfortune
as
the fate of those whose feet are slipping.
6~~The
tents of marauders are undisturbed,
and
those who provoke God/'El are secure . . .
those
who carry their god/'elowahh in their hand
{these are idolaters carrying small idols}.
{Illustrations
from the Animal Kingdom}
7~~You
won't learn anything from me,
ask
the animals and they will teach you.
Or {ask} the fowls of the air, and they shall tell you.
8~~Or speak to the earth, and it will teach you.
Or let the fish of the sea inform you.
9~~Which
of all these does not know that the hand of Jehovah/God
has
done/manufactured {`asah} this?
{All
Live because of the Grace of God}
10~~In
Whose hand is the soul/life {nephesh}
of
every living creature,
and
the breath/spirit {ruwach} of all mankind.
11~~Does
not the ear test/try words {dabar}
as
the tongue tastes food?
{Note: With the advent of TV, the ability of people to hear words and test them as true or false has diminished. We all need to listen with our ears and compare what is being said with the Truth that is the Word of God.}
12~~Is not wisdom found among the aged? {Yes, it does}
Does not long life/'length of days' bring understanding? {Yes it does}
13~~To God belongs wisdom and power.
Counsel and understanding are His.
{Note: Job reminds his friends that wisdom, power, counseling others, and understanding are the prerogatives of God (after the canon of scriptures was completed in 96 AD, God now counsels us through the written Word).}
14~~What He tears down can not be rebuilt.
The man He imprisons can not be released.
15~~If He holds back the waters, they dry up {drought - disaster}.
If
He lets them {the waters} loose,
they
devastate the land {flooding}.
16~~To Him belongs strength and victory/wisdom.
Both the deceived and the deceiver are His.
17~~He lead counselors away stripped.
He makes fools out of judges.
{Note: This is what God will do to Job's three 'friends' here who are 'counseling' Job.}
18~~He takes off shackles put on by kings.
And ties a loin-cloth around their waist.
19~~He leads priests away stripped.
And overthrows men long established.
20~~He silences the lips of trusted advisors.
And takes away the discernment/understanding of elders/'the aged'.
21~~He pours contempt upon nobles/princes.
And disarms the mighty.
22~~He
reveals the deep things of darkness,
and
bring deep shadows into light.
23~~He makes nations great.
And He destroys nations.
He enlarges nations.
And He scatters them.
24~~He
deprives the leaders of the earth
of
their reason/hearts/'right lobes'.
He sends them wandering through a trackless waste.
25~~They grope in darkness with no light.
He makes them stagger like they are drunk.
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