Job 5:13
Verse
Summary
Commentary
- Adam Clarke
- Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
- John Gill
- Tyndale
Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
He taketh the wise in their own craftiness - So counterworks them as to cause their feet to be taken in their own snares, and their evil dealings to fall on their own pate. Such frequent proofs has God given of his especial interference in behalf of the innocent, who have been the objects of the plots and evil designs of the wicked, by turning those evil devices against their framers, that he who digs a pit for his neighbor shall fall into it himself has become a universal adage, and has passed, either in so many words or in sense, into all the languages of all the people of the earth. Lucretius expresses it strongly: Circumretit enim vis atque injuria quemque, Atque, unde exorta est, ad eum plerumque revortit. Lucret. lib. v., ver. 1151. "For force and wrong entangle the man that uses them; And, for the most part, recoil on the head of the contriver."
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
Paul (Co1 3:19) quoted this clause with the formula establishing its inspiration, "it is written." He cites the exact Hebrew words, not as he usually does the Septuagint, Greek version (Psa 9:15). Haman was hanged on the gallows he prepared for Mordecai (Est 5:14; Est 7:10). the wise--that is, "the cunning." is carried headlong--Their scheme is precipitated before it is ripe.
John Gill Bible Commentary
He taketh the wise in their own craftiness,.... As beasts are taken in a pit, or birds in a snare or net, or with birdlime; so these crafty men, who are wise in their own opinion, and really so in things natural, civil, and worldly, or however, to do evil are entangled and taken in their own schemes; they fall into the pit they have digged for others, and are snared in the works of their own hands, as Haman and his sons were hanged on the gallows he prepared for Mordecai, Est 7:10; or, "by their own craftiness" (q), by the crafty schemes they themselves have formed: so sometimes those very things crafty men design to prevent, are brought about by the very means they make use of; thus Joseph's brethren designed to prevent the accomplishment of his dreams, which portended their subjection to him, Gen 37:9, by selling him to the Ishmaelites, who carried him to Egypt, where, in process of time, he was made governor of the land, and where his brethren became obedient to him, Gen 42:6; with which fact Eliphaz might be acquainted, it being not long before his time: so the Jews, to prevent the Romans taking away their city and nation, contrived to put Christ to death, and did, whereby they brought the wrath of God upon them, executed by those very persons; the same they did also, to prevent the spread of his fame and glory in the world, and that he might not be believed on as the Saviour of men, whereas, hereby he became the Saviour of them; and he a crucified Christ, being preached to the world by his ministers, the savour of his knowledge has been diffused in every place, his glory great in all the earth, and will be more so: the Targum applies this to the wise men of Pharaoh, and the Apostle Paul to the Jewish doctors and wise philosophers of the Gentiles, Co1 3:19; which quotation proves the authority of this book: and the counsel of the froward is carried headlong: that is, the counsel or well contrived schemes of the crafty and wise before mentioned, who twist and wind about, as the word (r) here used signifies, that there is no tracing their measures, and finding out the spring of them, nor the ends they have in view; yet these are sometimes carried on to execution in a rash and precipitate manner, and so miscarry; and like a man that is had to a precipice, and is thrown down from thence, and is destroyed at once, so are their counsels and schemes dashed to pieces by the providence of God: or, "is hastened" (s); too much haste is made to accomplish it, and so it comes to nought, through an over eagerness to have it done at once; not waiting a fit opportunity for the accomplishment of it. (q) "per suam ipsorum astutiam", Schultens. (r) "intorquentium", Schmidt; "tortuosorum", Schultens. (s) "festinata, ab origine festinandi", Schultens.
Tyndale Open Study Notes
5:13 God traps the wise in the cleverness of their words (Prov 12:13). Paul alluded to this verse in his rejection of worldly wisdom (1 Cor 1:19).
Job 5:13
Eliphaz Continues: God Blesses those Who Seek Him
12He thwarts the schemes of the crafty, so that their hands find no success. 13He catches the wise in their craftiness, and sweeps away the plans of the cunning. 14They encounter darkness by day and grope at noon as in the night.
- Scripture
- Sermons
- Commentary
- Adam Clarke
- Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
- John Gill
- Tyndale
Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
He taketh the wise in their own craftiness - So counterworks them as to cause their feet to be taken in their own snares, and their evil dealings to fall on their own pate. Such frequent proofs has God given of his especial interference in behalf of the innocent, who have been the objects of the plots and evil designs of the wicked, by turning those evil devices against their framers, that he who digs a pit for his neighbor shall fall into it himself has become a universal adage, and has passed, either in so many words or in sense, into all the languages of all the people of the earth. Lucretius expresses it strongly: Circumretit enim vis atque injuria quemque, Atque, unde exorta est, ad eum plerumque revortit. Lucret. lib. v., ver. 1151. "For force and wrong entangle the man that uses them; And, for the most part, recoil on the head of the contriver."
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
Paul (Co1 3:19) quoted this clause with the formula establishing its inspiration, "it is written." He cites the exact Hebrew words, not as he usually does the Septuagint, Greek version (Psa 9:15). Haman was hanged on the gallows he prepared for Mordecai (Est 5:14; Est 7:10). the wise--that is, "the cunning." is carried headlong--Their scheme is precipitated before it is ripe.
John Gill Bible Commentary
He taketh the wise in their own craftiness,.... As beasts are taken in a pit, or birds in a snare or net, or with birdlime; so these crafty men, who are wise in their own opinion, and really so in things natural, civil, and worldly, or however, to do evil are entangled and taken in their own schemes; they fall into the pit they have digged for others, and are snared in the works of their own hands, as Haman and his sons were hanged on the gallows he prepared for Mordecai, Est 7:10; or, "by their own craftiness" (q), by the crafty schemes they themselves have formed: so sometimes those very things crafty men design to prevent, are brought about by the very means they make use of; thus Joseph's brethren designed to prevent the accomplishment of his dreams, which portended their subjection to him, Gen 37:9, by selling him to the Ishmaelites, who carried him to Egypt, where, in process of time, he was made governor of the land, and where his brethren became obedient to him, Gen 42:6; with which fact Eliphaz might be acquainted, it being not long before his time: so the Jews, to prevent the Romans taking away their city and nation, contrived to put Christ to death, and did, whereby they brought the wrath of God upon them, executed by those very persons; the same they did also, to prevent the spread of his fame and glory in the world, and that he might not be believed on as the Saviour of men, whereas, hereby he became the Saviour of them; and he a crucified Christ, being preached to the world by his ministers, the savour of his knowledge has been diffused in every place, his glory great in all the earth, and will be more so: the Targum applies this to the wise men of Pharaoh, and the Apostle Paul to the Jewish doctors and wise philosophers of the Gentiles, Co1 3:19; which quotation proves the authority of this book: and the counsel of the froward is carried headlong: that is, the counsel or well contrived schemes of the crafty and wise before mentioned, who twist and wind about, as the word (r) here used signifies, that there is no tracing their measures, and finding out the spring of them, nor the ends they have in view; yet these are sometimes carried on to execution in a rash and precipitate manner, and so miscarry; and like a man that is had to a precipice, and is thrown down from thence, and is destroyed at once, so are their counsels and schemes dashed to pieces by the providence of God: or, "is hastened" (s); too much haste is made to accomplish it, and so it comes to nought, through an over eagerness to have it done at once; not waiting a fit opportunity for the accomplishment of it. (q) "per suam ipsorum astutiam", Schultens. (r) "intorquentium", Schmidt; "tortuosorum", Schultens. (s) "festinata, ab origine festinandi", Schultens.
Tyndale Open Study Notes
5:13 God traps the wise in the cleverness of their words (Prov 12:13). Paul alluded to this verse in his rejection of worldly wisdom (1 Cor 1:19).