Job 12:8

_BUT ASK NOW THE BEASTS, AND THEY SHALL TEACH THEE; AND THE FOWLS OF THE AIR, AND THEY SHALL TELL THEE:_ Ask now the beasts ... and the fowls ... and the fish. Beasts birds, fish, and plants, reasons Job, teach that the violent live the most securely (Job 12:6). The vulture lives more securely than the dove, the lion than the ox, the shark than the dolphin, the thorn which tears it than the rose. SPEAK TO THE EARTH, х_ SIYACH_ (H7878)] - either 'meditate upon' or "speak to the earth" - i:e., the animals of the earth....

6-11 Job appeals to facts. The most audacious robbers, oppressors, and impious wretches, often prosper. Yet this is not by fortune or chance; the Lord orders these things. Worldly prosperity is of small value in his sight: he has better things for his children. Job resolves all into the absolute proprietorship which God has in all the creatures. He demands from his friends liberty to judge of what they had said; he appeals to any fair judgment....

OR SPEAK TO THE EARTH, AND IT SHALL TEACH THEE - Perhaps this appeal to the earth may mean, as Stuhlman supposes, that the same thing is shown in the productions of the earth, as in the case of fierce animals. Noxious weeds and useless plants are more thrifty than the plants which are useful and the growth of poisonous or annoying things on the earth illustrates the same thing as the dealings of God with people - that his dealings are not in accordance with the real nature of objects. AND THE FISHES OF THE SEA - The same thing is manifested in the sea, where the mighty prey upon the feeble, and the fierce and the ferocious overcome the defenseless. The sentiment is that it is a great principle which pervades all things that the ferocious the strong, the wicked, are often prospered, while the weak, the defenseless, the innocent, the pious, are subject to calamities, and that God does not...

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 ...

OR SPEAK TO THE EARTH, AND IT SHALL TEACH THEE,.... Or ask "a sprig of the earth" n, any shrub, or tree, or whatsoever grows out of it, and they will all unite in this doctrine, that they are raised and preserved by the power of God, and are so many instances of his wisdom, power, and goodness: AND THE FISHES OF THE SEA SHALL DECLARE UNTO THEE; as mute as they are, they will proclaim this truth, that God is the mighty Maker and wise Disposer of them. n שיח לארץ "virgultum terrae", Pagninus, Schmidt; so Drusius and Michaelis....

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

Such knowledge as the friends possessed of God's wisdom and power and their action in the world could be learned by any one who had eyes to observe the life and fate of the lower creatures. In all may be seen God's absolute might and sway prevailing (Job 12:10)....

OR, SPEAK TO THE EARTH— _Or, survey the earth._...

2. God is responsible for all that is. (Job 12:7-12) TEXT 12:7-12 7 BUT ASK NOW THE BEASTS, AND THEY SHALL TEACH THEE; And the birds of the heavens, and they shall tell THEE: 8 Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee; And the fishes of THE SEA SHALL declare unto THEE. 9 Who knoweth not in all these, That the hand of Jehovah hath wrought this, 10 In whose hand is the SOUL OF EVERY living thing, AND THE BREATH of all mankind? 11 DOTH NOT THE ear try words, Even as the palate tasteth its FOOD? 12 With aged men is wisdom, AND IN length OF DAYS understanding. COMMENT 12:7-12 JOB 12:7Job begins by addressing all three Mends. Here the pronoun is in the singul