Job 12:4
in Job 12I am a laughingstock to my friends, though I called on God, and He answered. The righteous and upright man is a laughingstock.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
I am as one that is a laughing-stock to his neighbor, I who called upon God, and he answered: The just, the perfect man is a laughing-stock.
KJV
I am as one mocked of his neighbour, who calleth upon God, and he answereth him: the just upright man is laughed to scorn.
⋯
This verse in Job 12
Commentary
9 notes on this verseI am as one mocked of his neighbor - Though I am invoking God for help and salvation, yet my friends mock me in this most solemn and sacred work. But God answereth me. The just upright man is laughed to scorn - This is a very difficult verse, on which no two critics seem to be agreed. Mr. Good translates the fourth and fifth verses thus: - “Thus brother is become a laughing-stock to his companions, While calling upon God that he would succor him.
This site's exposition
I am a laughingstock to my friends
on Job 12:4-6
Job, a righteous man who "called on God, and He answered", is "a laughingstock to my friends", a fact the friends refuse to reckon with. "The tents of robbers are safe, and those who provoke God are secure" states in brief the problem their theology cannot answer.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"Did I lose my common sense, by any chance," Job says, "because I fell into misery?" Here he presents himself as a righteous man, not by testifying to his perfect virtue but to the fact that he did not do anything wrong to anyone and that nobody can blame him. "And that my houses should be spoiled by transgressors," it was necessary that this happened, he says. It had been ordained from above. "However," he says, "do not believe that these misfortunes will stop for me. Indeed, if I, who have committed no act of injustice, suffer so, the wicked will suffer even more so."
The Medieval Church2 voices
He that is mocked of his neighbour as I am, calleth upon God, and He answereth him. Oftentimes the frail mind, when it is welcomed by the breath of human regard on the score of good actions, runs out into outward delights, so that it lays aside what it inwardly desires, and willingly lies all loosely in that which it gives ear to without.
But by the fact that you say that I am ignorant of these things, you seem to hold me in contempt as though I am ignorant of things which everyone knows. Thus he says, "Someone who is derided by his friends like I am," as …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Upon God - Even by my religious neighbours, by those who call upon God, and not in vain; whose prayers therefore I covet, not their reproaches. The just - I, who, notwithstanding all their hard censures dare still own it, that through God's grace I am an upright man.
"They are such as have a regard to heaven, and an interest in heaven, whose prayers I would therefore be glad of and thankful for, whose good opinion I cannot but covet, and therefore whose censures are the more grievous." Note, It is sad that any who call upon God should mock their brethren ( Jam. iii.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
2 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
I am as one mocked of his neighbour,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
I am as one mocked of his neighbour - There has been considerable variety in the interpretation of this verse. The general sense is, that Job felt himself to be a mere laughing-stock for his neighbors. They treated him as if he were not worth regarding. They had no sympathy for him in his sorrows, and they showed no respect for his opinions. Dr. Good understands this and the following verses as a part of the controversy in which Job proposes to show his skill in debate, and to adduce proverbs after the manner of his friends. But it is more probably an allusion to himself, and is designed to state that he felt that he was not treated with the respect which was due to him. Much difficulty has been felt in understanding the connection. Reiske contends that Job 12:2 has no connection with Job 12:3, and that Job 12:11-12, should be interposed between them. The connection seems to me to be this: Job complains that he was not treated with due deference. They had showed no respect for his understanding and rank. They had urged the most common-place topics; advanced stale and trite apothegms, as if he had never heard them; dwelt on maxims familiar even to the meanest persons; and had treated him in this manner as if he were a mere child in knowledge. Thus, to be approached with vague common-places, and with remarks such as would be used in addressing children, he regarded as insult and mockery. Who calleth upon God, and he answereth him - This phrase has given occasion to great variety in the interpretation. Umbreit renders it, “I, who once called upon God, and he answered me;” that is, I, who once was a happy man, and blessed of God. […]
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| שְׂחֹ֤ק | sechok | a laughingstock | H7814 → | 15 times |
| לְרֵעֵ֨הוּ׀ | lereehu | to friend his | H7453 → | 188 times |
| אֶֽהְיֶ֗ה | ʾehyeh | I am | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| קֹרֵ֣א | kore' | [one who] called | H7121 → | 733 times |
| לֶ֭אֱלוֹהַּ | leeloah | to God | H433 → | 57 times |
| וַֽיַּעֲנֵ֑הוּ | vaiyaanehu | and he answered him | H6030 → | 331 times |
| שְׂ֝ח֗וֹק | sechok | [is] a laughingstock | H7814 → | 15 times |
| צַדִּ֥יק | tzadik | a righteous [person] | H6662 → | 206 times |
| תָּמִֽים׃ | tamim | a blameless [person] | H8549 → | 91 times |
שְׂחֹ֤קa laughingstock
sechokH7814 →15 times
לְרֵעֵ֨הוּ׀to friend his
lereehuH7453 →188 times
אֶֽהְיֶ֗הI am
ʾehyehH1961 →3559 times
קֹרֵ֣א[one who] called
kore'H7121 →733 times
לֶ֭אֱלוֹהַּto God
leeloahH433 →57 times
וַֽיַּעֲנֵ֑הוּand he answered him
vaiyaanehuH6030 →331 times
שְׂ֝ח֗וֹק[is] a laughingstock
sechokH7814 →15 times
צַדִּ֥יקa righteous [person]
tzadikH6662 →206 times
תָּמִֽים׃a blameless [person]
tamimH8549 →91 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 91:15When he calls out to Me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble. I will deliver him and honor him.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 33:3
Call to Me, and I will answer and show you great and unsearchable things you do not know.
- Isaiah 65:24
Even before they call, I will answer, and while they are still speaking, I will hear.
- Psalms 50:15
Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor Me.”
- Psalms 138:7
If I walk in the midst of trouble, You preserve me from the anger of my foes; You extend Your hand, and Your right hand saves me.
- John 12:26
If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, My servant will be as well. If anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.
- Jeremiah 33:3
Through
Job 17:6He has made me a byword among the people, a man in whose face they spit.
it leads to
- Psalms 44:14
You have made us a byword among the nations, a laughingstock among the peoples.
- Job 30:9
And now they mock me in song; I have become a byword among them.
- Psalms 44:14
Through
Job 21:3Bear with me while I speak; then, after I have spoken, you may go on mocking.
it leads to
- Job 16:10
They open their mouths against me and strike my cheeks with contempt; they join together against me.
- Job 16:10
About Job
This page draws on 9 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); Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book X; John Chrysostom, COMMENTARY ON JOB 12:2-5; 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.