He removes the speech of those who are trusted, and takes away the understanding of the elders.
Parallel translations
- KJV He removeth away the speech of the trusty, and taketh away the understanding of the aged.
- BSB He deprives the trusted of speech and takes away the discernment of elders.
- NKJV He deprives the trusted ones of speech, And takes away the discernment of the elders.
- NASB “He deprives the trusted ones of speech, And takes away the discernment of the elders.
- NLT He silences the trusted adviser and removes the insight of the elders.
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 removes the speech of trusted advisers and takes away the discernment of elders. He silences the respected and wise.
Overview
Job affirms that God can strip eloquent counselors of speech and aged leaders of judgment. Human reliability and wisdom are gifts that God may grant or withdraw. The verse humbles all confidence in human leadership and turns us to the God whose counsel alone stands forever, supremely in His plan of salvation through Christ (Psalm 33:10-11; Isaiah 46:10).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Job 32:9It is not the great who are wise, nor the aged who understand justice.
- Job 17:4For you have hidden their heart from understanding, Therefore you shall not exalt them.
- Job 12:24He takes away understanding from the chiefs of the people of the earth, and causes them to wander in a wilderness where there is no way.
- Job 39:17because God has deprived her of wisdom, neither has he imparted to her understanding.
- Isa 3:1–3For, behold, the Lord, Yahweh of Armies, takes away from Jerusalem and from Judah supply and support, the whole supply of bread, and the whole supply of water;
- Prov 12:19Truth’s lips will be established forever, but a lying tongue is only momentary.
- Prov 12:22Lying lips are an abomination to Yahweh, but those who do the truth are his delight.
- Prov 10:21The lips of the righteous feed many, but the foolish die for lack of understanding.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 12:20 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.