Job 12:10
in Job 12The life of every living thing is in His hand, as well as the breath of all mankind.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, And the breath of all mankind?
KJV
In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind.
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This verse in Job 12
Commentary
10 notes on this verseIn whose hand is the soul of every living thing - נפש כל חי nephesh col chai, “the soul of all life.” And the breath of all mankind - ורוח כל בשר veruach col besar, “and the spirit or breath of all flesh.” Does not the first refer to the immortal soul, the principle of all intellectual life; and the latter to the breath, respiration, the grand means by which animal existence is continued? See Job 10:1.
This site's exposition
The life of every living thing
on Job 12:10-11
"The life of every living thing is in His hand, as well as the breath of all mankind" carries verse 9 to its widest reach. The faculty that judges food also judges argument, and Job claims it to weigh the friends' speeches and find them wanting.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
Why do you behave as if you had made a great and wonderful discovery? It was necessary, in fact, that such a man died, and nobody ignores it. At the same time, we all know that "in his hand is the life of every human being." Do you see how not only creation but Providence also testifies to God? They both give witness that he controls everything and supports both the life and soul of human beings, so well that he can, when he wants, punish and correct them.
The Medieval Church2 voices
In Whose Hand is the soul of every living thing, and the spirit of all flesh of man. For by the 'Hand' Power is denoted. Thus 'the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind,' is in the Power of Him, from Whom it has its being, that He Himself should appoint in what condition it should be, Who vouchsafed that to be, which was not. But by 'the soul of every living thing' may be denoted the life of beasts.
If, however, creatures of this sort were made by God, it is evident that they are in the power of God as artifacts in the power of the artisan, and so he adds, "In whose hand," in whose power "lies the soul of every living …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
All the creatures, and mankind particularly, derive their being from him, owe their being to him, depend upon him for the support of it, lie at his mercy, are under his direction and dominion and entirely at his disposal, and at his summons must resign their lives. All souls are his; and may he not do what he will with his own? The name Jehovah is used here (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
In whose hand is the soul of every living thing,....
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
THESE verses occur in Job's answer to Zophar the Naamathite. Job had his failings, but certainly he appears less faulty in this dialog than those three men who sought to reprove him and convict him of error. Zophar the Naamathite had the very highest opinion of his own personal wisdom. He addressed Job as though he had been an inferior. And all in the 11th Chapter he used language which though extremely beautiful, must have been very grating upon the ears of such a sufferer as Job; for it is a lecture full of high-flown language, abounding in poetry, and noble images, but containing little solid sense and less sympathy. Job, being exceedingly irritated both with the style and with the matter of Zophar's speech, begins at once to pluck off his plumes and to pull to pieces his fine language. In biting irony Job cries from his dunghill—"No doubt but you are the people, and wisdom shall die with you. But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you; yes, who knows not such things as these?" You have put into flowery language things which an ordinary observer might discover! You have pointed to the Heaven above and to the depth beneath, to prove a truth which the creeping insects of the earth could tell you, and which the fishes of the sea might proclaim! "Ask now the beasts, and they shall teach you; and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell you—or speak to the earth and it shall teach you—and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto you. Who knows not in all these that the hand of the Lord has worked this?" There is much temper here, but there is also very much of good common sense. I wish we had another Job to chastise the high-sounding language of modern theologians. There are starting up in our midst, men, who if they are not heretics in doctrine, are aliens in speech.
THESE verses occur in Job's answer to Zophar the Naamathite. Job had his failings, but certainly he appears less faulty in this dialog than those three men who sought to reprove him and convict him of error. Zophar the Naamathite had the very highest opinion of his own personal wisdom. He addressed Job as though he had been an inferior.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
In whose hand is the soul of every living thing - Margin, “Life.” The margin is the more correct rendering. The idea is, that all are under the control of God. He gives life, and health, and happiness when he pleases, and when he chooses he takes them away. His sovereignty is manifested, says Job, in the inferior creation, or among the beasts of the field, the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of heaven. And the breath of all mankind - Margin, “Flesh of man.” The margin is in accordance with the Hebrew. The meaning is, that man is subjected to the same laws as the rest of the creation. God is a sovereign, and the same great principles of administration may be seen in all his works.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
Does not the ear discern words So why did the listeners not know this, as the palate tastes to eat?
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 6 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
9 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אֲשֶׁ֣ר | ʾasher | [he] whom | H834 → | 5497 times |
| בְּ֭יָדוֹ | beyado | [is] in hand his | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| נֶ֣פֶשׁ | nefesh | [the] life of | H5315 → | 754 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | every | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| חָ֑י | chai | living [thing] | H2416 → | 498 times |
| וְ֝ר֗וּחַ | veruach | and [the] breath of | H7307 → | 378 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| בְּשַׂר־ | besar- | flesh of | H1320 → | 270 times |
| אִֽישׁ׃ | ʾish | humankind | H376 → | 1663 times |
אֲשֶׁ֣ר[he] whom
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
בְּ֭יָדוֹ[is] in hand his
beyadoH3027 →1618 times
נֶ֣פֶשׁ[the] life of
nefeshH5315 →754 times
כָּל־every
kol-H3605 →5413 times
חָ֑יliving [thing]
chaiH2416 →498 times
וְ֝ר֗וּחַand [the] breath of
veruachH7307 →378 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
בְּשַׂר־flesh of
besar-H1320 →270 times
אִֽישׁ׃humankind
ʾishH376 →1663 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Job 33:4The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.
it leads to
- Genesis 2:7
Then the LORD God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils, and the man became a living being.
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- Job 32:8
But there is a spirit in a man, the breath of the Almighty, that gives him understanding.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Job 27:3
as long as my breath is still within me and the breath of God remains in my nostrils,
- Genesis 2:7
Through
Acts 17:28‘For in Him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are His offspring.’
it leads to
- Colossians 1:17
He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.
- Hebrews 1:3
The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His nature, upholding all things by His powerful word. After He had provided purification for sins, He sat down at the…
- Psalms 36:9
For with You is the fountain of life; in Your light we see light.
- Luke 20:38
He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for to Him all are alive.”
- John 11:25
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me will live, even though he dies.
- Colossians 1:17
About Job
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Job; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Charles Spurgeon, The New Park Street Pulpit, Sermon No. 326: “Everywhere And Yet Forgotten” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book XI; John Chrysostom, COMMENTARY ON JOB 12:7A-10B; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.