Job 12:24
in Job 12He deprives the earth’s leaders of reason and makes them wander in a trackless wasteland.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
He taketh away understanding from the chiefs of the people of the earth, And causeth 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.
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This verse in Job 12
Commentary
9 notes on this verseWho changeth the heart of the chief of the people of the earth, and deceiveth them, that they wander in vain where there is no way, they shall grope in the dark without any light, and He shall make them to stagger like a drunken man. For 'the heart of the chief of the earth was changed,' when the chief priests and elders of the people in Judaea set themselves to withstand Him by their counsels, Whom they beforehand proclaimed, that He was to come.
This site's exposition
He makes nations great and destroys them
on Job 12:23-25
"He makes nations great and destroys them" closes the survey at its largest scale, whole peoples rising and falling by the hand that unseated kings. "He makes them stagger like drunkards" answers the friends' confident order with a providence that unsettles the very men who claim to understand it.
This site's exposition
makes them wander in a trackless wasteland
Clarke reads the verse as God taking courage from leaders, so that armies panic and counsels fail. Psalm 107:40 borrows this picture of rulers lost in a trackless wasteland. The leaders of the earth lose their reason.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
After he has shown there is strength, wisdom, and counsel in God, he finally shows that God is intelligent, understanding by this the knowledge which He has of hidden things, which seem above all to designate what is hidden in the heart. He shows that …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
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
(9.) Those that were driving on their projects with full speed are strangely bewildered and at a loss; they know not where they are nor what they do, are unsteady in their counsels and uncertain in their motions, off and on, this way and that way, wandering like men in a desert (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
He taketh away the heart of the chief of the people of the earth,.... The people of the earth are the common people; the "chief" or "heads" (f) of them, as it may be rendered, are kings, princes and generals of armies; whose "hearts" may be said to be "taken away" when they are dispirited, and deprived both of courage and conduct; have neither valour nor wisdom, neither fortitude of mind, nor military skill to defend themselves and their people against their enemies.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
He taketh away the heart of the chief - Suddenly deprives the leaders of great counsels, or mighty armies of courage; so that, panic-struck, they flee when none pursueth, or are confounded when about to enter on the accomplishment of important designs. And causeth them to wander in a wilderness - A plain allusion to the journeyings of the Israelites in the deserts of Arabia, on their way to the promised land.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
He taketh away the heart - The word heart here evidently means mind, intelligence, wisdom; see the notes at Job 12:3. Of the chief of the people - Hebrew “Heads of the people;” that is, of the rulers of the earth. The meaning is, that he leaves them to infatuated and distracted counsels. By withdrawing from them, he has power to frustrate their plans, and to leave them to an entire lack of wisdom; see the notes at Job 12:17. And causeth them to wander in a wilderness - They are like persons in a vast waste of pathless sands without a waymark, a guide, or a path. The perplexity and confusion of the great ones of the earth could not be more strikingly represented than by the condition of such a lost traveler.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| מֵסִ֗יר | mesir | [he is] removing | H5493 → | 299 times |
| לֵ֭ב | lev | [the] heart of | H3820 → | 595 times |
| רָאשֵׁ֣י | rashei | [the] leaders of | H7218 → | 599 times |
| עַם־ | ʾam- | [the] people of | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| הָאָ֑רֶץ | haaretz | the earth | H776 → | 2504 times |
| וַ֝יַּתְעֵ֗ם | vaiyatem | and he made wander them | H8582 → | 50 times |
| בְּתֹ֣הוּ | betohu | in a wasteland | H8414 → | 20 times |
| לֹא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| דָֽרֶךְ׃ | darekh | a path | H1870 → | 707 times |
מֵסִ֗יר[he is] removing
mesirH5493 →299 times
לֵ֭ב[the] heart of
levH3820 →595 times
רָאשֵׁ֣י[the] leaders of
rasheiH7218 →599 times
עַם־[the] people of
ʾam-H5971 →1873 times
הָאָ֑רֶץthe earth
haaretzH776 →2504 times
וַ֝יַּתְעֵ֗םand he made wander them
vaiyatemH8582 →50 times
בְּתֹ֣הוּin a wasteland
betohuH8414 →20 times
לֹא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
דָֽרֶךְ׃a path
darekhH1870 →707 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
Psalms 107:4Some wandered in desert wastelands, finding no path to a city in which to dwell.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 32:10
He found him in a desert land, in a barren, howling wilderness; He surrounded him, He instructed him, He guarded him as the apple of His eye.
- Ezekiel 34:12
As a shepherd looks for his scattered sheep when he is among the flock, so I will look for My flock. I will rescue them from all the places to which they were scattered…
- Ezekiel 34:6
My flock went astray on all the mountains and every high hill. They were scattered over the face of all the earth, with no one to search for them or seek them out.’
- Deuteronomy 32:10
Through
Job 12:20He deprives the trusted of speech and takes away the discernment of elders.
it leads to
- Job 32:9
It is not only the old who are wise, or the elderly who understand justice.
- Job 32:9
Through
Psalms 107:40He pours out contempt on the nobles and makes them wander in a trackless wasteland.
it leads to
- Job 12:21
He pours out contempt on nobles and disarms the mighty.
- Job 12:21
Through
Job 17:4You have closed their minds to understanding; therefore You will not exalt them.
it leads to
- Matthew 11:25
At that time Jesus declared, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.
- Matthew 13:11
He replied, “The knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them.
- Matthew 11:25
Through
Hosea 7:11So Ephraim has become like a silly, senseless dove—calling out to Egypt, then turning to Assyria.
it leads to
- Hosea 12:1
Ephraim chases the wind and pursues the east wind all day long; he multiplies lies and violence; he makes a covenant with Assyria and sends olive oil to Egypt.
- Hosea 12:1
About Job
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); 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 (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.