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.
Parallel translations
- 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.
- BSB He deprives the earth’s leaders of reason and makes them wander in a trackless wasteland.
- 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 contempt on princes, and causes them to wander in a trackless waste.
- Job 12:20He removes the speech of those who are trusted, and takes away the understanding of the elders.
- Hos 7:11“Ephraim is like an easily deceived dove, without understanding. They call to Egypt. They go to Assyria.
- Ps 107:4They wandered in the wilderness in a desert way. They found no city to live in.
- Dan 4:16let his heart be changed from man’s, and let an animal’s heart be given to him; and let seven times pass over him.
- Dan 4:33This was fulfilled the same hour on Nebuchadnezzar. He was driven from men, and ate grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of the sky, until his hair had grown like eagles’ feathers, and his nails like birds’ claws.
- Isa 19:1The burden of Egypt: “Behold, Yahweh rides on a swift cloud, and comes to Egypt. The idols of Egypt will tremble at his presence; and the heart of Egypt will melt within it.
- Isa 6:9–10He said, “Go, and tell this people, ‘You hear indeed, but don’t understand; and you see indeed, but don’t perceive.’
- Job 17:4For you have hidden their heart from understanding, Therefore you shall 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.