Job 12:9
in Job 12Which of all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this?
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Who knoweth not in all these, That the hand of Jehovah hath wrought this,
KJV
Who knoweth not in all these that the hand of the Lord hath wrought this?
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This verse in Job 12
Commentary
11 notes on this verseWho knoweth not in all these that the hand of the Lord hath wrought this? As if he said in plain terms; 'Whether you ask the dull of understanding, or persons full of the loftiest subjects, or those devoted to earthly ways, or the men busied with investigations that belong to this world, all of them acknowledge God to be the Creator of all things, and with one consent agree about His Power, though they do not with one consent live in submission to it.
This site's exposition
ask the animals, and they will instruct you
on Job 12:7-9
The call to "ask the animals, and they will instruct you" looks ahead to the whirlwind's method, turning the reader toward creation as a witness. Verse 9, "the hand of the LORD has done this", is the one verse of the human debate to carry the covenant name.
This site's exposition
the hand of the LORD has done this
Every creature, Job says, knows that the hand of the LORD is behind all these things. Barnes reads it as a lesson plain enough for the beasts to teach, and Gregory hears Job saying the dull and learned alike know it. The friends have told Job nothing new.
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 Church1 voice
He shows that all these things answer when asked, "Who does not know that the hand of the Lord made all these things?" So, then, all things confess that they have been made by God.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
), and it is the only time that we meet with it in all the discourses between Job and his friends; for God was, in that age, more known by the name of Shaddai--the Almighty.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
Who knoweth not in all these,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Who knoweth not in all these - Who cannot see in all these the proofs of the same divine and sovereign agency? Who cannot see the hand of the same God and the same great principles of administration? The meaning of Job is, that the position which he defends is so plain, that it may be learned from the very earth and the lowest orders of animals which God has made. That the hand of the Lord hath wrought this - In this place the original word is יהוה yehovâh.
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
In all these cases, says Job, the agency must be referred to Jehovah, though they may seem to man to imply imperfection (Job 12:6; This is the only undisputed passage of the poetical part in which the name "Jehovah" occurs; in the historical parts it occurs frequently.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
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.
The words behind it
10 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| מִ֭י | mi | who? | H4310 → | 423 times |
| לֹא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יָדַ֣ע | yada' | does it know | H3045 → | 945 times |
| בְּכָל־ | bekhol | among all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| אֵ֑לֶּה | ʾeleh | these | H428 → | 746 times |
| כִּ֥י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| יַד־ | yad- | [the] hand of | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| יְ֝הוָה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| עָ֣שְׂתָה | ʾasetah | it has done | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| זֹּֽאת׃ | zot | this | H2063 → | 603 times |
מִ֭יwho?
miH4310 →423 times
לֹא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
יָדַ֣עdoes it know
yada'H3045 →945 times
בְּכָל־among all
bekholH3605 →5413 times
אֵ֑לֶּהthese
ʾelehH428 →746 times
כִּ֥יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
יַד־[the] hand of
yad-H3027 →1618 times
יְ֝הוָהYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
עָ֣שְׂתָהit has done
ʾasetahH6213 →2628 times
זֹּֽאת׃this
zotH2063 →603 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
Romans 11:36For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever! Amen.
it leads to
- Colossians 1:15–17
The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
- 1 Corinthians 8:6
yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we exist. And there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and…
- Hebrews 2:10
In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting for God, for whom and through whom all things exist, to make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering.
- 1 Timothy 1:17
Now to the King eternal, immortal, and invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
- Romans 16:27
to the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ! Amen.
- Colossians 1:15–17
Through
Isaiah 41:20so that all may see and know, may consider and understand, that the hand of the LORD has done this and the Holy One of Israel has created it.”
it leads to
- Psalms 109:27
Let them know that this is Your hand, that You, O LORD, have done it.
- Isaiah 43:21
The people I formed for Myself will declare My praise.
- Isaiah 44:23
Sing for joy, O heavens, for the LORD has done this; shout aloud, O depths of the earth. Break forth in song, O mountains, you forests and all your trees. For the LORD has…
- Psalms 109:27
About Job
This page draws on 11 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on 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); Charles Spurgeon, The New Park Street Pulpit, Sermon No. 326: “Everywhere And Yet Forgotten” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Book of Job; Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book XI; Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom, COMMENTARY ON JOB 12:7A-10B; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.