Job 12:3
in Job 12But I also have a mind; I am not inferior to you. Who does not know such things as these?
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you: Yea, who knoweth not such things as these?
KJV
But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you: yea, who knoweth not such things as these?
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This verse in Job 12
Commentary
10 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
But I have understanding as well as you - Margin, as in the Hebrew “an heart.” The word “heart” in the Scriptures is often used to denote the understanding or mind. It seems to have been regarded as the source of that which was called life or soul. Indeed, I do not recollect a single instance in the Scriptures in which the word “head” is used, as with us, as the seat of the intellect, or where the distinction is adverted to that is so common with us, between the head and the heart.
This site's exposition
Then Job answered
on Job 12:1-3
Job answers all three friends with "Truly then you are the people with whom wisdom itself will die", the book's sharpest irony. The sarcasm is plain, since he at once claims, "I am not inferior to you". The friends have told him nothing new.
This site's exposition
I also have a mind
Barnes notes that the Hebrew says heart, the usual word in Scripture for the mind and understanding. Job claims an understanding equal to his friends', and Clarke hears him dismiss their wisdom as proverbs found in every mouth. Everyone knows such things, Job says.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
Job wants to reveal their wrong perceptions with the words, "But I have understanding as well as you," and still I do not think the same thoughts as you. Or do you think that your thinking is unsurpassed? I am reasonable too, and reason is …
The Medieval Church2 voices
Since they could object, 'We are not the only ones who know, but even so, you still do not know,' he answers saying, "I too have a heart," to know these things, "as do you, and this heart is not less than yours," in this …
But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you. Yea, who knoweth not such things as these that ye know? For who is ignorant how greatly the practice and the knowledge of blessed Job excels the knowledge that his friends have?
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Such things - The truth is, neither you nor I have any reason to be puffed up with our knowledge of these things: for the most barbarous nations know that God is infinite in wisdom, and power, and justice. But this is not the question between you and me.
What things you have said that are true are plain truths, and common themes, which there are many that can talk as excellently of as either you or I." But he says it to humble them, and check the value they had for themselves as doctors of the chair.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
2 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
But I have understanding as well as you,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
I am not inferior to you - I do not fall short of any of you in understanding, wisdom, learning, and experience. Who knoweth not such things as these? - All your boasted wisdom consists only in strings of proverbs which are in every person’s mouth, and are no proof of wisdom and experience in them that use them.
The words behind it
13 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| גַּם־ | gam- | also | H1571 → | 769 times |
| לִ֤י | li | [belongs] to me | ||
| לֵבָ֨ב׀ | levav | a heart | H3824 → | 252 times |
| כְּֽמוֹכֶ֗ם | kemokhem | like you | H3644 → | 143 times |
| לֹא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| נֹפֵ֣ל | nofel | [am] falling | H5307 → | 435 times |
| אָנֹכִ֣י | ʾanokhi | I | H595 → | 359 times |
| מִכֶּ֑ם | mikem | more than you | ||
| וְאֶת־ | veet | and with | H854 → | 929 times |
| מִי־ | mi- | whom? | H4310 → | 423 times |
| אֵ֥ין | ʾein | [are] there not | H369 → | 789 times |
| כְּמוֹ־ | kemov- | like | H3644 → | 143 times |
| אֵֽלֶּה׃ | ʾeleh | these [things] | H428 → | 746 times |
גַּם־also
gam-H1571 →769 times
לִ֤י[belongs] to me
li
לֵבָ֨ב׀a heart
levavH3824 →252 times
כְּֽמוֹכֶ֗םlike you
kemokhemH3644 →143 times
לֹא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
נֹפֵ֣ל[am] falling
nofelH5307 →435 times
אָנֹכִ֣יI
ʾanokhiH595 →359 times
מִכֶּ֑םmore than you
mikem
וְאֶת־and with
veetH854 →929 times
מִי־whom?
mi-H4310 →423 times
אֵ֥ין[are] there not
ʾeinH369 →789 times
כְּמוֹ־like
kemov-H3644 →143 times
אֵֽלֶּה׃these [things]
ʾelehH428 →746 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 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
Proverbs 26:4Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you yourself will be like him.
it leads to
- Proverbs 26:5
Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he become wise in his own eyes.
- 1 Peter 3:9
Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.
- Jude 1:9
But even the archangel Michael, when he disputed with the devil over the body of Moses, did not presume to bring a slanderous charge against him, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!”
- 1 Kings 12:14
and spoke to them as the young men had advised, saying, “Whereas my father made your yoke heavy, I will add to your yoke. Whereas my father scourged you with whips, I will scourge…
- Proverbs 17:14
To start a quarrel is to release a flood; so abandon the dispute before it breaks out.
- Proverbs 26:5
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, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments; Didymus the Blind, COMMENTARY ON JOB 12:3; Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book X; 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.