He deprives the earth’s leaders of reason and makes them wander in a trackless wasteland.
Parallel translations
- WEB He 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.
- KJV He taketh away the heart of the chief of the people of the earth, and causeth them to wander in a wilderness where there is no way.
- NKJV He takes away the understanding of the chiefs of the people of the earth, And makes them wander in a pathless wilderness.
- NASB “He deprives the leaders of the earth’s people of intelligence And makes them wander in a pathless wasteland.
- NLT He strips kings of understanding and leaves them wandering in a pathless wasteland.
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 can strip leaders of their wisdom and leave them aimless. Human authority depends wholly on God's permission.
Overview
Job says God takes away understanding from the chiefs of the earth, causing them to wander in a trackless wilderness. The mightiest rulers become lost when God withdraws discernment. Scripture consistently teaches that true wisdom comes from God alone, and apart from Him even the wise are confounded.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Ps 107:40He pours out contempt on the nobles and makes them wander in a trackless wasteland.
- Job 12:20He deprives the trusted of speech and takes away the discernment of elders.
- Hos 7:11So Ephraim has become like a silly, senseless dove—calling out to Egypt, then turning to Assyria.
- Ps 107:4Some wandered in desert wastelands, finding no path to a city in which to dwell.
- Dan 4:16Let his mind be changed from that of a man, and let him be given the mind of a beast till seven times pass him by.
- Dan 4:33At that moment the sentence against Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled. He was driven away from mankind. He ate grass like an ox, and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven, until his hair grew like the feathers of an eagle and his nails like the claws of a bird.
- Isa 19:1This is the burden against Egypt: Behold, the LORD rides on a swift cloud; He is coming to Egypt. The idols of Egypt will tremble before Him, and the hearts of the Egyptians will melt within them.
- Isa 6:9–10And He replied: “Go and tell this people, ‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’
- Job 17:4You have closed their minds to understanding; therefore You will not exalt them.
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 12:24 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.