He leads counselors away barefoot and makes fools of judges.
Parallel translations
- WEB He leads counselors away stripped. He makes judges fools.
- KJV He leadeth counsellors away spoiled, and maketh the judges fools.
- NKJV He leads counselors away plundered, And makes fools of the judges.
- NASB “He makes advisers walk barefoot And makes fools of judges.
- NLT He leads counselors away, stripped of good judgment; wise judges become fools.
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
God leads counselors away stripped and makes judges into fools. He humbles the wise and powerful at will.
Overview
Job describes God overturning the mighty by reducing skilled counselors and judges to folly. The verse begins a litany showing that human power and wisdom stand only at God's pleasure. It echoes the truth that God frustrates the wise and brings down rulers, a theme fulfilled as the cross confounds the wisdom of this age (1 Corinthians 1:19-20; Luke 1:51-52).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Isa 29:14Therefore I will again confound these people with wonder upon wonder. The wisdom of the wise will vanish, and the intelligence of the intelligent will be hidden.”
- 1 Cor 1:19–20For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”
- 2 Sam 17:23When Ahithophel saw that his advice had not been followed, he saddled his donkey and set out for his house in his hometown. He put his affairs in order and hanged himself. So he died and was buried in his father’s tomb.
- Job 3:14with kings and counselors of the earth, who built for themselves cities now in ruins,
- Job 9:24The earth is given into the hand of the wicked; He blindfolds its judges. If it is not He, then who is it?
- 2 Sam 17:14Then Absalom and all the men of Israel said, “The advice of Hushai the Archite is better than that of Ahithophel.” For the LORD had purposed to thwart the good counsel of Ahithophel in order to bring disaster on Absalom.
- 2 Sam 15:31Now someone told David: “Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom.” So David pleaded, “O LORD, please turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness!”
- Isa 19:12–14Where are your wise men now? Let them tell you and reveal what the LORD of Hosts has planned against Egypt.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
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 12:17 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.