Job 12:16

Verse

Berean Standard Bible

True wisdom and power belong to Him. The deceived and the deceiver are His.

American Standard Version (1901)

With him is strength and wisdom; The deceived and the deceiver are his.

Bible in Basic English

With him are strength and wise designs; he who is guided into error, together with his guide, are in his hands;

Free Bible Version

He is mighty and victorious; both deceivers and those deceived are subject to him.

King James (Authorized) Version

With him is strength and wisdom: the deceived and the deceiver are his.

Translation for Translators

He is the one who is truly strong and wise; he rules over those who deceive others and those whom they deceive.

Unlocked Literal Bible

With him are strength and wisdom; people who are deceived and the deceiver are both in his power.

Noah Webster Bible

With him is strength and wisdom: the deceived and the deceiver are his.

World English Bible

With him is strength and wisdom. The deceived and the deceiver are his.

Young's Literal Translation

With Him [are] strength and wisdom, His the deceived and deceiver.

Context

Job Presents His Case

¹⁵If He holds back the waters, they dry up, and if He releases them, they overwhelm the land. ¹⁶True wisdom and power belong to Him. The deceived and the deceiver are His. ¹⁷He leads counselors away barefoot and makes fools of judges.

Sermons

Backslidings of Balaam

Charles Banna

619

Summary

In Job 12:16, Job acknowledges that true wisdom and strength come from God alone. He highlights that God holds the power to uproot and destroy, as well as to build and establish. Job's words reflect the understanding that all authority and sovereignty ultimately belong to God, emphasizing the importance of humility and reverence before Him. This verse serves as a reminder of God's supreme control over all things, encouraging trust and reliance on His wisdom and might in the face of life's challenges.

Commentary

Adam Clarke
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
John Gill

Adam Clarke Bible Commentary

With him is strength and wisdom - עז ותושיה oz vethushiyah, strength and sufficiency. Strength or power, springing from an exhaustless and infinite source of potency. In the thirteenth verse it is said, With him is wisdom and strength; but the expressions are not the same, חכמה וגבורה chochmah ugeburah, intelligence and fortitude, or strength in action, the wisdom ever guiding the exertions of power; but here is strength or power in essence, and an eternal potentiality. With him is every excellence, in potentia and in esse. He borrows nothing, he derives nothing. As he is self-existent, so is he self-sufficient. We have had the word tushiyah before. See the note on Job 11:6. The deceived and the deceiver are his - Some think this refers to the fall; even Satan the deceiver or beguiler, and Adam and Eve, the deceived or beguiled, are his. Satan, as this book shows, cannot act without especial permission; and man, whom the seducer thought to make his own property for ever, is claimed as the peculium or especial property of God, for the seed of the woman was then appointed to bruise the head of the serpent; and Jesus Christ has assumed the nature of man, and thus brought human nature into a state of fellowship with himself. Thus he who sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one, for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren; Heb 2:11.