“Look at everyone who is arrogant, and humble him, And trample down the wicked where they stand.
Parallel translations
- WEB Look at everyone who is proud, and humble him. Crush the wicked in their place.
- KJV Look on every one that is proud, and bring him low; and tread down the wicked in their place.
- BSB Look on every proud man and humble him; trample the wicked where they stand.
- NKJV Look on everyone who is proud, and bring him low; Tread down the wicked in their place.
- NLT Humiliate the proud with a glance; walk on the wicked where they stand.
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 repeats the challenge: let Job humble the proud and crush the wicked where they stand. Such sovereign judgment is beyond any mere man.
Overview
Reinforcing the previous verse, God calls Job to subdue the proud and tread down the wicked, if he is able. The repetition drives home Job's inability to administer cosmic justice. God alone can perfectly humble evil and vindicate the right. This prepares Job to rest in God's governance and points ahead to the final judgment, when Christ will set all things right.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Isa 63:3“I have trodden the wine press alone; and of the peoples, no one was with me: Yes, I trod them in my anger, and trampled them in my wrath. Their lifeblood is sprinkled on my garments, and I have stained all my clothing.
- Mal 4:3You shall tread down the wicked; for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I make,” says Yahweh of Armies.
- Isa 13:11I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity. I will cause the arrogance of the proud to cease, and will humble the haughtiness of the terrible.
- Isa 10:6I will send him against a profane nation, and against the people who anger me will I give him a command to take the plunder and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.
- Eccl 11:3If the clouds are full of rain, they empty themselves on the earth; and if a tree falls toward the south, or toward the north, in the place where the tree falls, there shall it be.
- Job 36:20Don’t desire the night, when people are cut off in their place.
- Zech 10:5They shall be as mighty men, treading down muddy streets in the battle; and they shall fight, because Yahweh is with them; and the riders on horses will be confounded.
- Acts 1:25to take part in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas fell away, that he might go to his own place.”
- Ps 60:12Through God we shall do valiantly, for it is he who will tread down our adversaries.
- 1 Sam 2:7Yahweh makes poor, and makes rich. He brings low, he also lifts up.
- Prov 15:25Yahweh will uproot the house of the proud, but he will keep the widow’s borders intact.
- Rom 16:20And the God of peace will quickly crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
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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 40:12 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.