Job 12:25

_THEY GROPE IN THE DARK WITHOUT LIGHT, AND HE MAKETH THEM TO STAGGER LIKE A DRUNKEN MAN._ They grope in the dark without light. "Thou shalt grope at, noonday, as the blind gropeth in darkness" (Deuteronomy 28:29). Psalms 107:27. again quotes Job, but in a different connection. Remarks: (1) How many are the self-sufficient people who seem to think all the wisdom in the world is centered in themselves (Job 12:2). A more just view of ourselves and of others will lead us "not to think of ourselves more highly than we ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith" ...

12-25 This is a noble discourse of Job concerning the wisdom, power, and sovereignty of God, in ordering all the affairs of the children of men, according to the counsel of His own will, which none can resist. It were well if wise and good men, who differ about lesser things, would see how it is for their honour and comfort, and the good of others, to dwell most upon the great things in which they agree. Here are no complaints, or reflections. He gives many instances of God's powerful management of the children of men, overruling all their counsels, and overcoming all their oppositions. Having all strength and wisdom, God knows how to make use, even of those who are foolish and bad; otherwise there is so little wisdom and so little honesty in the world, that all had been in confusion and ruin long ago. These important truths were suited to convince the disputants that they were out of t...

Verse Job 12:25. _THEY GROPE IN THE DARK_] The writer seems to have had his eye on those words of Moses, Deuteronomy 28:28-5: _The Lord shall smite thee with madness, and blindness, and_ _astonishment of heart; and thou shalt GROPE AT NOONDAY, as the_ _BLIND GROPETH IN DARKNESS_. And this also may refer to the unaccountable errors, transgressions, and judicial blindness of the Israelites in their journeying to the promised land: but it will apply also to the state of wicked nations under judicial blindness. The writer is principally indebted for his _imagery_, and indeed for the _chief expressions_ used here, to Psalms 107:27: They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man...

THEY GROPE IN THE DARK - They are like persons who attempt to feel their way along in the dark; compare the notes at Isaiah 59:10. AND HE MAKETH THEM TO STAGGER LIKE A DRUNKEN MAN - Margin, “wander.” Their unstable and perplexed counsels are like the reelings of a drunken man; see Isaiah 19:14, note; Isaiah 24:20, note. This closes the chapter, and with it the controversy in regard to the ability to adduce pertinent and striking proverbial expressions; see the notes at Job 12:3. Job had showed them that he was as familiar with proverbs respecting God as they were, and that h

EXPOSITION The discourse of Job, here begun, continues through three chapters (Job 12:1; Job 13:1; Job 14:1.). It is thought to form the conclusion of the first day's colloquy. In it Job for the first time really pours scorn upon his friends, and makes a mock of them (see verses 2, 8, 20; Job 13:4). This, however, is a secondary matter; his main object is to justify his previous assertions, (1) that the whole course of mundane events, whether good or evil, must be attributed to God (verses 6-25); (2) that his sufferings entitle him to plead with God, and demand to know why he is so punished ...

THEY GROPE IN THE DARK WITHOUT LIGHT,.... Like blind men, as the men of Sodom, when they were struck with blindness; or "they grope", or "feel the dark, and not light" g, as the Targum; as the Egyptian, did when such gross darkness was upon them as might be felt: AND HE MAKETH THEM TO STAGGER LIKE [A] DRUNKEN [MAN]; that has lost his sight, his senses, and his feet, and knows not where he is, which way to go, nor how to keep on his legs, but reels to and fro, and is at the utmost loss what to do; all this is said of the heads or chief of the people, in consequence of their hearts being taken away, and so left destitute of wisdom and strength. g ימששו חשך ולא אור "palpant tenebras et non lucem", Vatablus, Mercerus, Drusius, Schultens....

CHAPTER S 12-14 JOB'S ANSWER TO ZOPHAR _ 1. His sarcasm (Job 12:1)_ 2. He describes God's power (Job 12:7) 3. He denounces his friends (Job 13:1) 4. He appeals to God (Job 13:14) 5. The brevity and trouble of life (Job 14:1) 6. The ray of light through hope of immortality (Job 14:7) Job 12:1. He answers not only Zophar but the others as well. Before this Job had expressed his

Eliphaz had appealed to revelation, Bildad to the wisdom of the ancients, Zophar assumes that he himself is the oracle of God's wisdom. Job answers this assumption. Firstly Zophar is not the only wise man in the world, and secondly, as to this wisdom of God, which explains everything, Job has himself studied the ways of God, and whatever wisdom there may be in them there is certainly also the most arbitrary exercise of Divine power. The friends take themselves to be the whole people (Job 12:2); in your own estimation, Job says, you-' re everybody (Peake). Job, however, is not behind them in wisdom: they are not its sole oracle (Job 12:3). JOB 12:4. According to Duhm an interpolation. They treat of the contrast between the fate of the

Job 12:7-10 referred to what one could _see_of God's power and wisdom in the world, these verses refer to what one might learn of them by _hearing_ancient men discourse regarding them. In ch. Job 13:1, where Job looks back upon this chapter, he refers to both channels of knowledge, his eye and his ear. He does not despise knowledge learned from the observation of others when it is pertinent, cf. ch. Job 21:29. And it is obvious that the description in Job 12:13 contains many allusions to catastrophes, both in nature and in human society, which Job could not have seen himself, but must have learned from tradition....

3. ARBITRARILY HE DECREES WHAT WILL BE. (JOB 12:13-25) TEXT 12:13-25 13 With _God_ is wisdom and might; He hath counsel and understanding. 14 Behold, he breaketh down, and it cannot be built again; He shutteth up a man, and there can be no opening. 15 Behold, he withholdeth the waters, and they dry up; Again, he sendeth them oat, and they overturn the earth. 16 With him is strength and wisdom; The deceived and the deceiver are his. 17 He leadeth counsellors away stripped, And Judges maketh he fools. 18 He looseth the bond of kings, And bindeth their loins with a girdle. 19 He leadeth priests away stripped, And overthroweth the mighty. 20 He removeth the speech of the trusty, And taketh away the understanding of the elders. 21 He poureth contempt upon princes, And looseth