Job 12:18
in Job 12He loosens the bonds placed by kings and fastens a belt around their waists.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
He looseth the bond of kings, And he bindeth their loins with a girdle.
KJV
He looseth the bond of kings, and girdeth their loins with a girdle.
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This verse in Job 12
Commentary
11 notes on this verseA commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
He looseth the bond of kings--He looseth the authority of kings--the "bond" with which they bind their subjects (Isa 45:1; Da 2:21). a girdle--the cord, with which they are bound as captives, instead of the royal "girdle" they once wore (Isa 22:21), and the bond they once bound others with.
This site's exposition
He leads counselors away barefoot
on Job 12:17-19
"He leads counselors away barefoot and makes fools of judges" begins a list of the offices society trusts, each brought low in turn. Priests and "the established" fall, no office too high to reach, an answer to the friends' confidence that God's rule follows a ladder of reward.
This site's exposition
He loosens the bonds placed by kings
Barnes reads the bonds as royal power over others. God loosens that power and binds the kings themselves, leading them away as prisoners with a cord at the waist. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown set that cord beside the royal belt the kings once wore.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
These words must not refer to the sons of Aaron, who did not live anymore at that time, but to priests such as Job himself and Melchizedek. If the narrative is about real and holy priests, how is it said that they are led away …
The Medieval Church2 voices
He looseth the belt of kings, and girdeth their reins with a cord. They that know how to regulate aright the motions of their members, are not unjustly called 'kings.' But when the mind is touched with pride on the grounds of that very continence, it very often happens that Almighty God, deserting its pride, suffers it to fall into uncleanness of practice. And so 'He looseth the belt of kings,' when in the case of those who seemed to regulate their members aright, on account of the sin of pride he undoes the girdle of chastity.
Since he has said this in a general way, he now makes it clear by specific examples, showing how all things which seem excellent in human affairs are brought by the depth of divine counsel "to a foolish end" and "to dullness." In human affairs, …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Girdeth - He reduces them to a mean and servile condition; which is thus expressed, because servants did use to gird up their garments (that after the manner of those parts were loose and long) that they might be fitter for attendance upon their masters: he not only deposes them from their thrones, but brings them into slavery.
I am not inferior to you: yea, who knoweth not such things as these? 4 I am as one mocked of his neighbour, who calleth upon God, and he answereth him: the just upright man is laughed to scorn. 5 He that is ready to slip with his feet is as a lamp despised in the thought of him that is at ease.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-scripture
3 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
He looseth the bonds of kings,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
He looseth the bond of kings - He takes away their splendid robes, and clothes them with sackcloth; or, he dissolves their authority, permits their subjects to rebel and overthrow the state, to bind them as captives, and despoil them of all power, authority, and liberty. Many proofs of this occur in the Israelitish history and in the history of the principal nations of the earth, and not a few in the history of Britain.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
He looseth the bond of kings - The bond of kings (מוּסר mûsâr) here means that by which they bind others. Their power over others he loosens or takes away. And girdeth their loins with a girdle - That is, he girds them with a rope or cord, and leads them away as prisoners. The whole series of remarks here refers to the reverses and changes in the conditions of life. The meaning here is, that the bonds of authority which they imposed on others are unbound, and that their own loins are bound with a girdle, not a girdle of royal dignity and ornament, but such a one as they are bound with who are servants, or who travel. “Pict. Bib.”
The words behind it
6 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| מוּסַ֣ר | musar | [the] correction of | H4148 → | 50 times |
| מְלָכִ֣ים | melakhim | kings | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| פִּתֵּ֑חַ | piteach | he loosens | H6605 → | 144 times |
| וַיֶּאְסֹ֥ר | vaiye'sor | and he bound | H631 → | 72 times |
| אֵ֝ז֗וֹר | ʾezor | a loincloth | H232 → | |
| בְּמָתְנֵיהֶֽם׃ | bemateneihem | on loins their | H4975 → |
מוּסַ֣ר[the] correction of
musarH4148 →50 times
מְלָכִ֣יםkings
melakhimH4428 →2525 times
פִּתֵּ֑חַhe loosens
piteachH6605 →144 times
וַיֶּאְסֹ֥רand he bound
vaiye'sorH631 →72 times
אֵ֝ז֗וֹרa loincloth
ʾezorH232 →
בְּמָתְנֵיהֶֽם׃on loins their
bemateneihemH4975 →
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
Daniel 2:21He changes the times and seasons; He removes kings and establishes them. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning.
it leads to
- Psalms 75:5–7
Do not lift up your horn against heaven or speak with an outstretched neck.’”
- Psalms 31:14–15
But I trust in You, O LORD; I say, “You are my God.”
- Psalms 113:7–8
He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the dump
- Daniel 4:17
This decision is the decree of the watchers, the verdict declared by the holy ones, so that the living will know that the Most High rules over the kingdom of mankind and gives it…
- Daniel 7:25
He will speak out against the Most High and oppress the saints of the Most High, intending to change the appointed times and laws; and the saints will be given into his hand for…
- Psalms 75:5–7
Through
Revelation 19:16And He has a name written on His robe and on His thigh: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.
it leads to
- Revelation 17:14
They will make war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will triumph over them, because He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and He will be accompanied by His called and chosen…
- 1 Timothy 6:15
which the blessed and only Sovereign One—the King of kings and Lord of lords—will bring about in His own time.
- Revelation 17:14
Through
Psalms 116:16Truly, O LORD, I am Your servant; I am Your servant, the son of Your maidservant; You have broken my bonds.
it leads to
- Psalms 86:16
Turn to me and have mercy; grant Your strength to Your servant; save the son of Your maidservant.
- Psalms 86:16
About Job
This page draws on 11 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Ephrem the Syrian, COMMENTARY ON JOB 12:19; Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book XI; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.