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Identify the explicit claims before importing later doctrine or assumptions.
JOB • CHAPTER 12
Job 12
Innocent suffering, divine justice, friendship, protest, wisdom, the limits of human explanation, and God's response from the whirlwind.
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Job 12
WORLD ENGLISH BIBLE
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1
Then Job answered,
2
“No doubt, but you are the people,
and wisdom will die with you.
and wisdom will die with you.
3
But I have understanding as well as you;
I am not inferior to you.
Yes, who doesn’t know such things as these?
I am not inferior to you.
Yes, who doesn’t know such things as these?
4
I am like one who is a joke to his neighbor,
I, who called on God, and he answered.
The just, the blameless man is a joke.
I, who called on God, and he answered.
The just, the blameless man is a joke.
5
In the thought of him who is at ease there is contempt for misfortune.
It is ready for them whose foot slips.
It is ready for them whose foot slips.
6
The tents of robbers prosper.
Those who provoke God are secure,
who carry their god in their hands.
Those who provoke God are secure,
who carry their god in their hands.
7
“But ask the animals, now, and they will teach you;
the birds of the sky, and they will tell you.
the birds of the sky, and they will tell you.
8
Or speak to the earth, and it will teach you.
The fish of the sea will declare to you.
The fish of the sea will declare to you.
9
Who doesn’t know that in all these,
Yahweh’s hand has done this,
Yahweh’s hand has done this,
10
in whose hand is the life of every living thing,
and the breath of all mankind?
and the breath of all mankind?
11
Doesn’t the ear try words,
even as the palate tastes its food?
even as the palate tastes its food?
12
With aged men is wisdom,
in length of days understanding.
in length of days understanding.
13
“With God is wisdom and might.
He has counsel and understanding.
He has counsel and understanding.
14
Behold, he breaks down, and it can’t be built again.
He imprisons a man, and there can be no release.
He imprisons a man, and there can be no release.
15
Behold, he withholds the waters, and they dry up.
Again, he sends them out, and they overturn the earth.
Again, he sends them out, and they overturn the earth.
16
With him is strength and wisdom.
The deceived and the deceiver are his.
The deceived and the deceiver are his.
17
He leads counselors away stripped.
He makes judges fools.
He makes judges fools.
18
He loosens the bond of kings.
He binds their waist with a belt.
He binds their waist with a belt.
19
He leads priests away stripped,
and overthrows the mighty.
and overthrows the mighty.
20
He removes the speech of those who are trusted,
and takes away the understanding of the elders.
and takes away the understanding of the elders.
21
He pours contempt on princes,
and loosens the belt of the strong.
and loosens the belt of the strong.
22
He uncovers deep things out of darkness,
and brings out to light the shadow of death.
and brings out to light the shadow of death.
23
He increases the nations, and he destroys them.
He enlarges the nations, and he leads them captive.
He enlarges the nations, and he leads them captive.
24
He takes away understanding from the chiefs of the people of the earth,
and causes them to wander in a wilderness where there is no way.
and causes them to wander in a wilderness where there is no way.
25
They grope in the dark without light.
He makes them stagger like a drunken man.
He makes them stagger like a drunken man.
WISDOM
Where this chapter fits
Job belongs to Israel's wisdom/poetic tradition, where literary form matters as much as historical setting.
Chapter numbers were added long after the biblical books were written.
Read this chapter together with what comes immediately before and after it.
ANCIENT TEXT, MODERN QUESTIONS
Historical claims should be compared with historical evidence.
Scientific claims should be compared with science.
Moral claims should be examined morally.
Theological claims require theological and philosophical argument.
QUESTIONS WORTH ASKING
Don't skip the hard parts.
What kind of literature is this?
Narrative, poetry, prophecy, law, letters, wisdom, and apocalypse communicate differently.
What historical evidence matters?
Ask whether names, places, institutions, events, customs, and chronology can be independently investigated.
What are the strongest competing interpretations?
Compare serious Jewish, Christian, academic, and skeptical readings rather than caricatures.
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