Job 12:7-10

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Job 12:7

Job 12:7. Ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee If thou observest the beasts, and their properties, actions, and events, from them thou mayest learn this lesson: namely, that which Zophar had uttered with so much pomp and gravity, (Job 11:7-9,) concerning God’s unsearchable wisdom, almighty power, and absolute sovereignty: thou dost not need, says Job, to go into heaven or hell to know it; but thou mayest learn it even from the brute creatures. The beasts of the earth, the fowls of... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Job 12:9

Job 12:9. Who knoweth not in all these Or, by all these brute creatures; that the hand of the Lord hath wrought this That God, by his power and wisdom, hath created and ordered all that is in them, or that is done by and among them. Job meant in these verses to express his firm opinion that all animate and inanimate nature clearly bore testimony to the creating power and overruling providence of God: see Nehemiah 9:6. This is the only time that we meet with the name Jehovah in all the... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Job 12:10

Job 12:10. In whose hand is the soul That is, the life, or the principle of life; of every living thing That is, of all irrational animals, of which he spake, Job 12:7, opposed to man in the last words of this verse. He means, in whose absolute power it is to give life or to take it away, when and how it seemeth good to him; and the breath of all mankind Or, the spirit, as the word רוח , ruach, here used, commonly means; that is, the immortal soul, which is no less a creature, and... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Job 12:1-25

Job’s reply to Zophar (12:1-14:22)The reply from Job opens with a sarcastic comment on the supposed wisdom of the three friends. They have merely been repeating general truths that everybody knows (12:1-3). They do not have the troubles Job has, and they make no attempt to understand how Job feels. A good person suffers while wicked people live in peace and security (4-6).Job does not argue with the fact that all life is in God’s hands. What worries him is the interpretation of that fact... read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Job 12:7

they shall, &c. Figure of speech Prosopopoeia. App-6 . read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Job 12:9

the hand. Figure of speech Anthropopatheia. App-6 . the LORD. Hebrew. Jehovah. App-4 . read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Job 12:10

soul = life. Hebrew. nephesh. App-13 . breath = spirit. Hebrew. ruach. mankind = flesh of man. Hebrew. 'ish. App-14 . read more

James Burton Coffman

Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - Job 12:7

JOB APPEALED TO THE LOWER CREATIONS AS SUPPORTERS OF HIS GRAND PROPOSITION IN JOB 12:6"But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee;And the birds of the heavens, and they shall teach thee:Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee;And the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee.Who knoweth not, in all these,That the hand of Jehovah hath wrought this,In whose hand is the soul of every living thing,And the breath of all mankind.Doth not the ear try words,Even as the palate tasteth... read more

Thomas Coke

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Job 12:8

Job 12:8. Or, speak to the earth— Or, survey the earth. read more

Thomas Coke

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Job 12:9

Job 12:9. Who knoweth not, &c.?— Who knoweth not among all these, that it is the hand of Jehovah which hath made them all? From the word Jehovah's being used in this place, some would infer that the book of Job must be at least posterior to the time of Moses, and written by a Jew: a very weak argument! as there seems no doubt that the name Jehovah was well known to Abraham and the patriarchs; nor was it made known to Moses by God, as a new name which he chose for himself, but as a name... read more

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