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Commentary on Job 12 verses 1–5
The reproofs Job here gives to his friends, whether they were just or no, were very sharp, and may serve for a rebuke to all that are proud and scornful, and an exposure of their folly.
I. He upbraids them with their conceitedness of themselves, and the good opinion they seemed to have of their own wisdom in comparison with him, than which nothing is more weak and unbecoming, nor better deserves to be ridiculed, as it is here. 1. He represents them as claiming the monopoly of wisdom, Job 12:2. He speaks ironically: "No doubt you are the people; you think yourselves fit to dictate and give law to all mankind, and your own judgment to be the standard by which every man's opinion must be measured and tried, as if nobody could discern between truth and falsehood, good and evil, but you only; and therefore every top-sail must lower to you, and, right or wrong, we must all say as you say, and you three must be the people, the majority, to have the casting vote." Note, It is a very foolish and sinful thing for any to think themselves wiser than all mankind besides, or to speak and act confidently and imperiously, as if they thought so. Nay, he goes further: "You not only think there are none, but that there will be none, as wise as you, and therefore that wisdom must die with you, that all the world must be fools when you are gone, and in the dark when your sun has set." Note, It is folly for us to think that there will be any great irreparable loss of us when we are gone, or that we can be ill spared, since God has the residue of the Spirit, and can raise up others, more fit than we are, to do his work. When wise men and good men die it is a comfort to think that wisdom and goodness shall not die with them. Some think Job here reflects upon Zophar's comparing him (as he thought) and others to the wild ass's colt, Job 11:12. "Yes," says he, "we must be asses; you are the only men." 2. He does himself the justice to put in his claim as a sharer in the gifts of wisdom (Job 12:3): "But I have understanding (a heart) as well as you; nay, I fall not lower than you;" as it is in the margin. "I am as well able to judge of the methods and meanings of the divine providence, and to construe the hard chapters of it, as you are." He says not this to magnify himself. It was no great applause of himself to say, I have understanding as well as you; no, nor to say, "I understand this matter as well as you;" for what reason had either he or they to be proud of understanding that which was obvious and level to the capacity of the meanest? "Yea, who knows not such things as these? What things you have said that are true are plain truths, and common themes, which there are many that can talk as excellently of as either you or I." But he says it to humble them, and check the value they had for themselves as doctors of the chair. Note, (1.) It may justly keep us from being proud of our knowledge to consider how many there are that know as much as we do, and perhaps much more and to better purpose. (2.) When we are tempted to be harsh in our censures of those we differ from and dispute with we ought to consider that they also have understanding as well as we, a capacity of judging, and a right of judging for themselves; nay, perhaps they are not inferior to us, but superior, and it is possible that they may be in the right and we in the wrong; and therefore we ought not to judge or despise them (Rom 14:3), nor pretend to be masters (Jam 3:1), while all we are brethren, Mat 23:8. It is a very reasonable allowance to be made to all we converse with, all we contend with, that they are rational creatures as well as we.
II. He complains of the great contempt with which they had treated him. Those that are haughty and think too well of themselves are commonly scornful and ready to trample upon all about them. Job found it so, at least he thought he did (Job 12:4): I am as one mocked. I cannot say there was cause for this charge; we will not think Job's friends designed him any abuse, nor aimed at any thing but to convince him, and so, in the right method, to comfort him; yet he cries out, I am as one mocked. Note, We are apt to call reproofs reproaches, and to think ourselves mocked when we are but advised and admonished; this peevishness is our folly, and a great wrong to ourselves and to our friends. Yet we cannot but say there was colour for this charge; they came to comfort him, but they vexed him, gave him counsels and encouragements, but with no great opinion that either the one or the other would take effect; and therefore he thought they mocked him, and this added much to his grief. Nothing is more grievous to those that have fallen from the height of prosperity into the depth of adversity than to be trodden on, and insulted over, when they are down; and on this head they are too apt to be suspicious. Observe,
1.What aggravated this grievance to him. Two things: - (1.) That they were his neighbours, his friends, his companions (so the word signifies), and the scoffs of such are often most spitefully given, and always most indignantly received. Psa 55:12, Psa 55:13, It was not an enemy that reproached me; then I would have slighted it, and so borne it; but it was thou, a man, my equal. (2.) That they were professors of religion, such as called upon God, and said that he answered them: for some understand that of the persons mocking. "They are such as have a regard to heaven, and an interest in heaven, whose prayers I would therefore be glad of and thankful for, whose good opinion I cannot but covet, and therefore whose censures are the more grievous." Note, It is sad that any who call upon God should mock their brethren (Jam 3:9, Jam 3:10), and it cannot but lie heavily on a good man to be thought ill of by those whom he thinks well of, yet this is no new thing.
2.What supported him under it. (1.) That he had a God to go to, with whom he could lodge his appeal; for some understand those words of the person mocked, that he calls upon God and he answers him; and so it agrees with Job 16:20. My friends scorn me, but my eye poureth out tears to God. If our friends be deaf to our complaints, God is not; if they condemn us, God knows our integrity; if they make the worst of us, he will make the best of us; if they give us cross answers, he will give us kind ones. (2.) That his case was not singular, but very common: The just upright man is laughed to scorn. By many he is laughed at even for his justice and his uprightness, his honesty towards men and his piety towards God; these are derided as foolish things, which silly people needlessly hamper themselves with, as if religion were a jest and therefore to be made a jest of. By most he is laughed at for any little infirmity or weakness, notwithstanding his justice and uprightness, without any consideration had of that which is so much his honour. Note, It was of old the lot of honest good people to be despised and derided; we are not therefore to think it strange (Pe1 4:12), no, nor to think it hard, if it be our lot; so persecuted they not only the prophets, but even the saints of the patriarchal age (Mat 5:12), and can we expect to fare better than they?
3.What he suspected to be the true cause of it, and that was, in short, this: they were themselves rich and at ease, and therefore they despised him who had fallen into poverty. It is the way of the world; we see instances of it daily. Those that prosper are praised, but of those that are going down it is said, "Down with them." He that is ready to slip with his feet and fall into trouble, though he has formerly shone as a lamp, is then looked upon as a lamp going out like the snuff of a candle, which we throw to the ground and tread upon, and is accordingly despised in the thought of him that is at ease, Job 12:5. Even the just upright man, that is in his generation as a burning and shining light, if he enter into temptation (Psa 73:2) or come under a cloud, is looked upon with contempt. See here, (1.) What is the common fault of those that live in prosperity. Being full, and easy, and merry themselves, they look scornfully upon those that are in want, pain, and sorrow; they overlook them, take no notice of them, and study to forget them. See Psa 123:4. The chief butler drinks wine in bowls, but makes nothing of the afflictions of Joseph. Wealth without grace often makes men thus haughty, thus careless of their poor neighbours. (2.) What is the common fate of those that fall into adversity. Poverty serves to eclipse all their lustre; though they are lamps, yet, if taken out of golden candlesticks, and put, like Gideon's, into earthen pitchers, nobody values them as formerly, but those that live at ease despise them.
Job speaks in an admirable way. Instead of briefly saying, “You would not be able to be men,” he questions them, and what does he ask? “So are you really men, and shall wisdom die with you?” This means, “Is the honor of rational beings really intact within you? Do you know the decisions that God forms with regard to sinners and righteous people?” It is convenient, in fact, that people are aware of this. Know that God tests the righteous and shows tolerance with sinners. That is why the latter are wealthy and the former in the ordeal, because for sinners God’s long tolerance will be the reason for a return to repentance, while to the righteous the long battle will offer the occasion to be crowned. If you knew that, you would not condemn the righteous person who is in the ordeal, and you would not consider the sinner who is wealthy, as the righteous.
44. Whosoever reckons himself to excel all men in the faculty of reason, what else does such a man but exult that he is the ‘only Man?’ And it often happens that when the mind is borne on high through pride, it is uplifted in contempt of all men, and in admiration of self. For self-applause springs up in the imagination, and folly is itself its own flatterer for singularity of wisdom. It ponders all that it has heard, and considers the words that it utters; and it admires its own, and scoffs at those of others. He then, who thinks that he only is wise, what else is this but that he believes that that same ‘wisdom dies with him?’ For what he denies to be with others, ascribing to himself alone, he doth, in truth, confine within the period of his brief span. But we are to consider what exact discretion the holy man employs, in order that the arrogance of his friends in the fulness of pride might be brought within bounds.
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SUMMARY
Job 12:2 encapsulates Job's profound exasperation and biting sarcasm directed at his three friends, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar. Having endured their lengthy and self-assured pronouncements on his suffering, which he perceives as rigid, unhelpful, and devoid of true empathy, Job mockingly concedes their perceived intellectual superiority. He implies that their wisdom is so absolute and exclusive that truth itself would cease to exist without their singular insight. This verse serves as a sharp, rhetorical rebuke against intellectual arrogance and a poignant critique of human attempts to fully comprehend divine mysteries through limited, conventional frameworks.
CONTEXT
EXPOSITION AND ANALYSIS
Key Word Analysis
Verse Breakdown
Literary Devices
Job 12:2 is a masterclass in rhetorical strategy, primarily employing Sarcasm, where Job says the opposite of what he means to convey profound contempt and mockery. His "praise" for his friends' wisdom is clearly insincere, serving as a biting critique of their self-importance and the inadequacy of their counsel. This sarcasm is powerfully amplified by Hyperbole, the deliberate exaggeration for dramatic emphasis. The idea that "wisdom shall die with you" is an obvious overstatement, used to underscore the extreme nature of his friends' perceived intellectual arrogance and their belief in their own infallibility. Furthermore, the verse is steeped in Irony, as Job's statement, while literally acknowledging his friends' superiority, actually highlights their profound lack of true wisdom, empathy, and understanding of God's ways. The dramatic contrast between the literal meaning of his words and his true, critical intent creates a powerful rhetorical effect, exposing the inadequacy and superficiality of their theological framework.
THEOLOGICAL AND THEMATIC CONNECTIONS
Job 12:2 serves as a profound commentary on the nature of wisdom and the essential posture of humility before the inscrutable ways of God. It challenges the inherent human tendency to absolutize one's own understanding, especially when attempting to interpret the intricate and often mysterious workings of the divine. The friends' rigid adherence to a simplistic retribution theology, which utterly failed to account for Job's blameless suffering, starkly demonstrates the severe limitations of human wisdom when it attempts to fully grasp God's sovereign and often paradoxical plan. True wisdom, as the book of Job ultimately reveals, is not found in human pronouncements, rigid theological systems, or self-assured declarations, but rather in a reverent fear of the Lord and a humble acknowledgment of His incomprehensible power, justice, and mercy. This verse serves as a potent warning against intellectual pride and strongly encourages a posture of profound humility, recognizing that God's thoughts and ways are infinitely higher and more complex than our own, transcending all human logic and categories.
REFLECTION AND APPLICATION
Job's cutting retort in Job 12:2 offers a timeless and vital lesson on the dangers of intellectual arrogance and the critical need for humility, particularly when engaging with those who are experiencing deep suffering. It challenges us to critically examine our own tendencies to offer simplistic solutions or to impose rigid theological frameworks onto complex human experiences that defy easy explanation. Rather than rushing to judgment, confidently asserting our perceived wisdom, or offering platitudes, we are called to cultivate profound empathy, listen deeply with an open heart, and humbly acknowledge the inherent limits of our own understanding in the face of life's profound mysteries and God's often inscrutable ways. This verse encourages us to approach others with genuine compassion and a spirit of humility, recognizing that true wisdom often involves the courage to admit what we do not know and to trust implicitly in God's ultimate sovereignty and goodness, even when circumstances defy our logic or expectations. It powerfully reminds us that our role is not always to provide definitive answers, but often, and more importantly, to offer a compassionate presence, genuine comfort, and a humble spirit that walks alongside those in pain.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
Does Job's sarcasm in this verse mean he is being disrespectful to God or his friends?
Answer: Job's sarcasm in Job 12:2 is primarily directed at his friends' intellectual arrogance, their rigid and unhelpful theology, and their lack of empathy, rather than directly at God. While Job does express profound frustration and even challenges God later in the book (e.g., Job 13:3), this particular verse is a human-to-human interaction, a raw and unvarnished expression of his exasperation with their condescending and judgmental counsel. He perceives their words as adding to his immense suffering rather than alleviating it. In the ancient Near East, direct and forceful speech, including sarcasm and hyperbole, was a recognized and often effective form of rhetorical engagement, especially in disputes or philosophical debates. Job is not being disrespectful in the sense of discrediting their personhood, but rather forcefully rejecting their flawed wisdom and their presumptuous claim to superior insight into divine matters. His words reflect the depth of his pain and his desperate need for genuine understanding and compassion, which his friends fail to provide.
CHRIST-CENTERED FULFILLMENT
Job 12:2, with its biting critique of human wisdom and its inherent inability to fully grasp the complexities of suffering and divine justice, finds its ultimate and profound fulfillment in the person and redemptive work of Jesus Christ. The "wisdom" that Job's friends claimed to possess was a limited, human-centered understanding of God's ways, rigidly rooted in a simplistic retribution theology that could not account for innocent suffering. In stark contrast, Christ embodies the true, ultimate, and divine wisdom of God, a wisdom that consistently confounds human logic, challenges conventional expectations, and transcends all earthly categories of understanding. The cross, in particular, is described by the Apostle Paul as "foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God" (1 Corinthians 1:18). God's wisdom, perfectly revealed in Christ's suffering, sacrificial death, and glorious resurrection, utterly transcends and redefines human categories of justice, prosperity, and success. Unlike Job's friends, who offered rigid pronouncements from a comfortable distance, Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, entered fully into human suffering, identifying with it and ultimately conquering it. He is the one in whom "are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" (Colossians 2:3). Through Christ, the inadequacy and superficiality of human wisdom are exposed, and the profound, self-giving, and redemptive wisdom of God is fully manifested, offering not just an explanation for suffering, but ultimate redemption, reconciliation, and an eternal hope that no human philosophy or theological system could ever conceive or provide (Romans 5:8).