Job 12:19

He leadeth princes away spoiled,.... Of their principalities and dominions, of their wealth and riches, and of their honour and glory; or "priests" (u), as some choose to render the word, against

He leadeth princes away spoiled, and overthroweth the mighty. Princes - rather, priests, as the Hebrew is rendered, Psalms 99:6 (Umbreit). Even the sacred ministers of religion are not exempt from reverses and captivity.

Princes; so this word, which usually signifies priests, is oft used, as 47:22,26 Exodus 2:16 , compared with .

Job 12:19 He leadeth princes away spoiled, and overthroweth the mighty.Ver. 19. He leadeth away princes spoiled] Or priests. Ducit sacerdotes inglorios, so the Vulgate translateth, He leadeth away the priests without glory, dishonoured. Priests were generally much esteemed and privileged in all ages. Alexander the Great gave greatest respect to Jaddus, the Jewish high priest. When the Gauls had burnt Rome, and were besieging the capitol, Gaius Fabius Dorso, attired as a priest, with his sacrifice and other necessaries in his hand, marched through the midst of the enemies, astonished at his resolution, offered his sacrifice on the hill Quirinalis, and returned in safety. The Bardi, a kind of priests, were here in Albion of such esteem among the greatest commanders, that if two armies were even at push of pike, and a bard had stepped in between them, they would have held their hands, hearkened to his advice, and not have offered to strike till he were out of danger: Magna fuit quondam capitis reverentia sacri. Howbeit, such also have been carried captive, and slain by the enemy, as was Seraiah, the high priest, by Nebuchadnezzar; and before him the two sons of Eli (whose white ephod covered foul sins), slain by the Philistines. "The Lord hath despised, in the indignation of his anger, both the king and the priest," Lamentations 2:6. "Both the prophet and the priest go about into a land that they know not," Jeremiah 14:18. The word Cohen is used indifferently to signify a priest or prince, an ecclesiastical or secular governor. Broughton rendereth it here dukes; others, presidents or praefects of provinces. Honour is no shelter against the wrath of God. And overthroweth the mighty] Such as might seem immoveable as a rock, or tree firmly rooted, these God shaketh and shattereth to pieces; he rooteth them up, and ruineth them. Let no man think to prevail by strength, 1 Samuel 2:9, since the weakness of God (if any such thing there were) is stronger than men, 1 Corinthians 1:25. He will smite his enemies (as so many puny boys) in the hinder parts, and so put them to a perpetual reproach, Psalms 78:66. Yea, he will not only smite them on the loins, but through the loins, Deuteronomy 32:11, that they never rise again. Let them, therefore, learn to meddle with their match, Ecclesiastes 6:10, and take heed how they fall into the punishing hands of the living God.

(19) He leadeth princes.—Some understand priests rather than princes. The word appears to be used in both senses; here the parallelism seems to suit princes better. The latter part of this chapter seems to re-echo the sentiments of Eliphaz in Job 5:11-16; but, instead of giving them the optimist direction he had sketched, he confesses that his own position is rather one of blank despair. Eliphaz is quite sure he possesses the key to the interpretation of the ways of Providence. Job ever fears that his ignorance is so profound as to amount almost to sheer hopelessness, Job is thus the type of a man who has felt the hollowness and unreality of traditional orthodox), and is feeling his way in thick darkness, sustained, nevertheless, by an unquenchable faith that there is light, and that the light will eventually dawn. That this character is the more acceptable to the God of truth is made abundantly clear in the sequel. It is to be observed, however, that Job’s breadth of view far exceeds that of Eliphaz, inasmuch as the latter generalises vaguely, while Job declares that not men, but nations, are the subjects of God’s guiding providence.

Verse 19. He leadeth princes away spoiled, and overthroweth the mighty.] What multitudes of proofs of this does the history of the world present! Even the late disastrous war with the French republic and empire, which began in 1793, and continued without intermission till 1814, was afterwards renewed, and had a catastrophe that went nearly to ruin Europe. How many princes, or rather priests, כהנים cohanim, have been spoiled of their power, influence, and authority; and how many mighty men - captains, generals, admirals, c., have been overthrown! But supposing that the writer of the Book of Job lived, as some think, after the captivity, how many priests were led away spoiled, both from Israel and Judah and how many kings and mighty men were overthrown in the disastrous wars between the Assyrians, Babylonians, and Jews!

19. leadeth princes away spoiled] Rather, priests. In antiquity priests occupied influential places; cf. what is said of Melchizedek, Genesis 14, of Jethro, priest of Midian, Exodus 2:16 seq., and of the influence of the priests in several crises of the history of Israel. On “spoiled’ see Job 12:17. the mighty] lit. the established or perennial; being in apposition with priests, usually a hereditary caste, the word describes those who occupied high permanent place among men.

He leadeth princes away spoiled - That is, plundered. The word here rendered “princes” כהנים kôhênı̂ym means properly priests, and it is usually so rendered in the Scriptures.

Second double strophe, Job 12:19-25.a. This wisdom confounds and overwhelms the best as well as the mightiest of the earth. Job 12:19-21.19. Princes — The Hebrew also means priests.