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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 wants to reveal their wrong perceptions with the words, “But I have understanding as well as you,” and still I do not think the same thoughts as you. Or do you think that your thinking is unsurpassed? I am reasonable too, and reason is not different from reason, but the difference is in the application. So it is said for example about the evil ones, “Listen to me, you stubborn of heart,” for not the creature but its evil activity he calls “stubbornness of heart.”
45. For who is ignorant how greatly the practice and the knowledge of blessed Job excels the knowledge that his friends have? Now in order to correct their pride, he asserts that he is ‘not inferior’ to them, and lest he should transgress the limits of his own humility, he keeps to himself that he is superior to them; not by setting himself above, but by equalling himself to them, he points out what they should learn concerning themselves, who are far unlike to him; that whereas that wisdom which is high is voluntarily bowed down, the knowledge which lies grovelling may never erect itself against the nature of its powers, and he does well that he immediately recalls these to a sense of their equal condition, reflecting that they are swoln to excess as if for singurality in greatness, when he afterwards proceeds,
Yea, who knoweth not such things as these that ye know?
46. As though he said in plain words; Since what ye say is known to all men, wherefore are ye puffed up by the knowledge contained in your sayings, as of singular merit? Therefore whereas in bringing back the pride of the self-conceited to a common level of equality, he has reproved with a full correction, he now breaks out into statements of instruction; that his friends having been humbled first might learn the weightiness of Truth, and how reverently they should hear it.
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SUMMARY
Job 12:3 captures Job's indignant and defiant response to his three friends, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar, who have offered what he perceives as simplistic and condescending counsel regarding his immense suffering. In this verse, Job asserts his intellectual and spiritual equality with his friends, challenging their presumed superior wisdom and dismissing their conventional theological explanations for his plight as common knowledge that fails to account for the profound mystery of his unmerited affliction.
CONTEXT
Literary Context: Job 12:3 is a pivotal part of Job's second major monologue, which commences in Job 12 and extends through Job 14. This speech serves as a direct and forceful rebuttal to Zophar's first discourse in Job 11, where Zophar had accused Job of arrogance and urged him to repent and seek God. Job's response in Job 12-14 systematically dismantles his friends' rigid retribution theology, which posits a direct and simple correlation between suffering and sin. He argues that their "wisdom" is not profound or divinely revealed but rather a rehash of widely known proverbs, yet it is misapplied to his unique and righteous suffering. This verse sets the tone for Job's continued defense of his integrity and his increasingly bold questioning of God's ways, moving beyond merely defending himself to critiquing the very framework of his friends' understanding of divine justice.
Historical & Cultural Context: The Book of Job is set in the patriarchal era, a period when wisdom literature flourished across the ancient Near East. The prevailing cultural and theological understanding among many, including Job's friends, was a strict form of retribution theology: the righteous prosper, and the wicked suffer. This belief system provided a seemingly orderly and predictable explanation for the world, attributing all calamity directly to divine punishment for sin. Job's friends represent this conventional wisdom, applying it rigidly to Job's catastrophic losses and physical affliction. However, the book itself, through Job's experience, challenges this simplistic worldview, suggesting a more complex reality where the righteous can suffer without discernible cause, and God's ways are often inscrutable to human understanding. The friends' arguments, though rooted in common ancient Near Eastern wisdom traditions, are ultimately shown to be inadequate in explaining the depth and mystery of Job's suffering.
Key Themes: Job 12:3 contributes significantly to several key themes within the book. Firstly, it highlights the Limits of Human Wisdom when confronted with the mystery of God's sovereignty and the complexities of suffering. Job's friends believe they possess ultimate wisdom, but Job exposes its superficiality and inadequacy, especially when applied to his unmerited pain. Secondly, it underscores the theme of Unjust Suffering, as Job, a man explicitly declared righteous by God in Job 1:1, endures immense pain without having sinned. His assertion of equality challenges the notion that his suffering proves his inferiority or guilt. Thirdly, the verse subtly introduces the theme of God's Inscrutability, as Job implies that the answers to his suffering lie beyond the conventional wisdom his friends offer, hinting at a deeper, unsearchable divine purpose that human intellect cannot fully grasp, a theme explored further when God finally speaks in Job 38-41.
EXPOSITION AND ANALYSIS
Key Word Analysis
Verse Breakdown
Literary Devices
Job 12:3 is rich in Rhetorical Question, a prominent feature of Job's speeches, particularly in his interactions with his friends. The question "who knoweth not such things as these?" is not seeking information but rather emphatically asserting that the friends' "wisdom" is trite and obvious, thereby undermining their authority and the perceived profundity of their arguments. This device effectively conveys Job's exasperation and dismissiveness. There is also a strong element of Assertion and Declaration as Job forcefully states his equality ("I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you"), directly confronting his friends' condescension. Furthermore, Irony is present: the supposed comforters offer common, unhelpful platitudes, and Job, the one suffering, ironically points out the obviousness and inadequacy of their "deep" insights, demonstrating that true wisdom is not merely the recitation of common knowledge.
THEOLOGICAL AND THEMATIC CONNECTIONS
Job 12:3 serves as a pivotal statement in the larger biblical discussion about the nature of suffering and the limits of human understanding concerning divine justice. It directly challenges the simplistic retribution theology that often permeates human thought, where prosperity is equated with righteousness and suffering with sin. Job's experience, and his assertion of his own understanding, forces a deeper contemplation of God's sovereignty, which often operates beyond human comprehension. The verse highlights that true wisdom is not merely the recitation of conventional truths but the ability to discern God's complex ways, even when they defy human logic. It underscores that God's justice is not always immediately discernible or explicable through human frameworks, reminding us that suffering can serve purposes beyond immediate punishment and that God's wisdom far transcends human reasoning.
REFLECTION AND APPLICATION
Job 12:3 offers profound lessons for contemporary believers, particularly in how we approach others in their suffering and how we understand God's complex dealings with humanity. It is a powerful reminder against intellectual or spiritual arrogance, urging us to approach those in distress with humility and genuine empathy rather than quick, often judgmental, explanations. Job's insistence on his own understanding teaches us to trust our inner conviction and integrity, even when faced with well-meaning but misguided counsel that attempts to simplify complex spiritual realities. It challenges us to move beyond rigid, formulaic answers to life's deepest questions, especially concerning suffering, and instead embrace the mystery of God's sovereignty, recognizing that His ways are often higher than our ways. Ultimately, the verse encourages a robust and honest wrestling with faith, allowing for questions and doubts while holding fast to the character of God, even when circumstances seem to contradict our understanding of His justice.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
Why does Job emphasize his "understanding" and that he is "not inferior"?
Answer: Job emphasizes his "understanding" (Hebrew: lêbâb, meaning discernment or insight) and states he is "not inferior" to directly counter the condescending tone and implicit accusations of his friends. They had positioned themselves as superior in wisdom and spiritual insight, implying that Job's suffering was a result of his ignorance or sin. By asserting his equal capacity for discernment, Job challenges their authority and rejects their simplistic retribution theology. He is not merely claiming knowledge but the ability to process and interpret divine truth, suggesting that his friends' conventional wisdom is inadequate and insulting, failing to account for the profound mystery of his unmerited suffering. His declaration is a defense of his dignity and integrity in the face of their misinformed judgment, as seen throughout his arguments in Job 12-14.
CHRIST-CENTERED FULFILLMENT
Job 12:3, with its assertion of righteous suffering and a challenge to simplistic retribution, finds its ultimate fulfillment in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Job's unmerited suffering, which defied human explanation, foreshadows the perfect, sinless suffering of the Lamb of God, who endured the cross not for His own sin but for the sins of the world, as prophesied in Isaiah 53. While Job struggled to comprehend God's ways, Jesus, the embodiment of divine wisdom (Colossians 2:3), perfectly understood and willingly embraced the Father's plan, even when it involved immense suffering. Furthermore, Job's defiance of his friends' conventional wisdom—which failed to grasp the deeper purposes of God—parallels Christ's challenge to the rigid, legalistic interpretations of the Law by the Pharisees and Sadducees, who often missed the heart of God's will. Jesus' life and passion demonstrate that suffering is not always a sign of divine displeasure but can be the very means through which God's glory is revealed and salvation is accomplished (John 9:3). In Christ, the righteous sufferer is not merely vindicated, but becomes the source of eternal life, offering a profound answer to the mystery of suffering that Job so desperately sought. Through His resurrection, Jesus ultimately triumphed over suffering and death, offering hope and ultimate vindication to all who suffer righteously in Him (1 Peter 2:21-24).