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With aged men is wisdom, in length of days understanding.
Job 12:12 · World English Bible
Parallel translations
  • KJV With the ancient is wisdom; and in length of days understanding.
  • BSB Wisdom is found with the elderly, and understanding comes with long life.
  • NKJV Wisdom is with aged men, And with length of days, understanding.
  • NASB “Wisdom is with the aged, And with long life comes understanding.
  • NLT Wisdom belongs to the aged, and understanding to the old.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

Job acknowledges that wisdom is found with the aged and understanding comes with length of days. He grants the value of accumulated experience.

Overview

Job affirms the common conviction that long life brings wisdom and understanding. Yet the following verse will redirect this, locating true wisdom supremely in God Himself. The verse honors the insight that often comes with age while reminding us that all genuine wisdom finally derives from and depends upon God (Proverbs 16:31; Job 12:13).

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 3

  • Job 32:7I said, ‘Days should speak, and multitude of years should teach wisdom.’
  • Job 15:10With us are both the gray-headed and the very aged men, much elder than your father.
  • Job 8:8“Please inquire of past generations. Find out about the learning of their fathers.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (6)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Job videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Job 12:12YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on JobMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Job's cry for a mediator who can lay his hand on both God and man, and his confidence that 'my Redeemer lives' and will stand on the earth, reaches forward to Jesus the living Redeemer.

How Job 12:12 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.