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He leads priests away barefoot and overthrows the established.
Job 12:19 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB He leads priests away stripped, and overthrows the mighty.
  • KJV He leadeth princes away spoiled, and overthroweth the mighty.
  • NKJV He leads princes away plundered, And overthrows the mighty.
  • NASB “He makes priests walk barefoot, And overthrows the secure ones.
  • NLT He leads priests away, stripped of status; he overthrows those with long years in power.

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 priests away stripped and overthrows the mighty. Even sacred and strong figures fall before Him.

Overview

Job declares that God humbles priests and topples the powerful, showing that no office or strength is secure apart from Him. Religious standing and human might alike depend on God's will. This points to the supremacy of Christ, our great High Priest, before whom every lesser authority must yield (Hebrews 7:23-28; Philippians 2:9-11).

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 10

  • Isa 37:36–38Then the angel of the LORD went out and struck down 185,000 men in the camp of the Assyrians. When the people got up the next morning, there were all the dead bodies!
  • Isa 45:1This is what the LORD says to Cyrus His anointed, whose right hand I have grasped to subdue nations before him, to disarm kings, to open the doors before him, so that the gates will not be shut:
  • Job 24:22Yet by His power, God drags away the mighty; though rising up, they have no assurance of life.
  • 1 Sam 17:45–46But David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD of Hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.
  • Rev 19:19–21Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies assembled to wage war against the One seated on the horse, and against His army.
  • Rev 17:14They will make war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will triumph over them, because He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and He will be accompanied by His called and chosen and faithful ones.”
  • Josh 10:24When they had brought the kings to Joshua, he summoned all the men of Israel and said to the army commanders who had accompanied him, “Come here and put your feet on the necks of these kings.” So the commanders came forward and put their feet on their necks.
  • Josh 10:42And because the LORD, the God of Israel, fought for Israel, Joshua captured all these kings and their land in one campaign.
  • Job 35:9Men cry out under great oppression; they plead for relief from the arm of the mighty.
  • Job 34:28They caused the cry of the poor to come before Him, and He heard the outcry of the afflicted.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (3)

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 12:19YouTube · 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 12:19 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.