Job 21:12
in Job 21singing to the tambourine and lyre and making merry at the sound of the flute.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
They sing to the timbrel and harp, And rejoice at the sound of the pipe.
KJV
They take the timbrel and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the organ.
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This verse in Job 21
Commentary
8 notes on this verseVer. 12. They take the timbrel, and harp, and rejoice at the noise of the organ. As if he said in plain speech; 'Whilst the masters swell with honours and substance, the dependants rejoice in festive sports.' But, O blessed man, wherefore dost thou tell us all these many things of the delights of the wicked? It is now a long time that thou runnest on in the description of them; after much said, in one word point out what thou thinkest.
This site's exposition
the tambourine and lyre
on Job 21:12-13
The end is quiet, "They spend their days in prosperity and go down to Sheol in peace", against Zophar's picture in chapter 20 of terror. Ease in life and a peaceful death together are the observation Job asks the friends to explain.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
Third, he discusses their instruction as a part of which among the ancients consisted in instructing children in music, and so he says, "They play the tambourine and harp and they enjoy the sound of the organ," for they are taught both to play music …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Here is none of that care taken of their children which Abraham took of his, to teach them the way of the Lord, Gen. xviii. Their children do not pray, or say their catechism, but dance, and sing, and rejoice at the sound of the organ. Sensual pleasures are all the delights of carnal people, and as men are themselves so they breed their children.
They take the timbrel and harp,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
They take the timbrel and harp - ישאו yisu, they rise up or lift themselves up, probably alluding to the rural exercise of dancing. תף toph, which we translate timbrel, means a sort of drum, such as the tom-tom of the Asiatics. כנור kinnor may mean something of the harp kind. עוגב ugab, organ, means nothing like the instrument now called the organ, though thus translated both by the Septuagint and Vulgate; it probably means the syrinx, composed of several unequal pipes, close at the bottom, which when blown into at the top, gives a very shrill and lively sound.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
take--rather, "lift up the voice" (sing) to the note of [UMBREIT]. timbrel--rather, "tambourine." organ--not the modern "organ," but the "pipe" (Ge 4:21). The first clause refers to stringed, the latter, to wind instruments; thus, with "the voice" all kinds of music are enumerated.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
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
They take the timbrel - They have instruments of cheerful music in their dwellings; and this is an evidence that they are not treated as the friends of Job had maintained. Instead of being, as they asserted, overwhelmed with calamity, they are actually happy. They have all that can make them cheerful, and their houses exhibit all that is usually the emblem of contentment and peace. Rosenmuller and Noyes suppose this to mean, “They sing to the timbrel and harp;” that is, “they raise up” (ישׂאו yı̂s'û) “the voice” to accompany the timbrel. Dr. Good renders it, “They rise up to the tabor and harp, and trip merrily to the sound of the pipe.” So Wemyss. It is literally, “They rise up with the tabor;” and the word “voice” may be understood, and the meaning may be that they accompany the timbrel with the voice. The Vulgate and the Septuagint, however, render it, they “Take up the timbrel.” Dr. Good supposes that the allusion is to the modes of dancing; to their raising themselves in an erect position, and then changing their position - advancing and retreating as in alternate dances, and quotes the following exquisite piece of poetry as illustrating it: “Now pursuing, now retreating, Now in circling troops they meet; To brisk notes, in cadence meeting. Glance their many-twinkling feet.” Still, it seems to me, that the exact idea has not been expressed. It is this, “They raise, or elevate (ישׂאו yı̂s'û) scil. themselves;” that is, they become exhilarated and excited at the sound of music. It is in their dwellings, and it is one of the indications of joy. Instead of lamentations and wo, as his friends said there would be in such dwellings, Job says that there was there the sound of music and mirth; that they exhilarated themselves, and were happy. […]
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
and in a moment they descend to the grave When his dying day arrived, he would die in a moment, easily, without suffering.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 7 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| יִ֭שְׂאוּ | yisu | they lift | H5375 → | 656 times |
| כְּתֹ֣ף | ketof | according to tambourine | H8596 → | |
| וְכִנּ֑וֹר | vekhinor | and harp | H3658 → | |
| וְ֝יִשְׂמְח֗וּ | veyismechu | so they may rejoice | H8055 → | 155 times |
| לְק֣וֹל | lekol | to [the] sound of | H6963 → | 506 times |
| עוּגָֽב׃ | ʾugav | a flute | H5748 → |
יִ֭שְׂאוּthey lift
yisuH5375 →656 times
כְּתֹ֣ףaccording to tambourine
ketofH8596 →
וְכִנּ֑וֹרand harp
vekhinorH3658 →
וְ֝יִשְׂמְח֗וּso they may rejoice
veyismechuH8055 →155 times
לְק֣וֹלto [the] sound of
lekolH6963 →506 times
עוּגָֽב׃a flute
ʾugavH5748 →
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
Isaiah 22:13But look, there is joy and gladness, butchering of cattle and slaughtering of sheep, eating of meat and drinking of wine: “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!”
it leads to
- Isaiah 56:12
“Come, let me get the wine, let us imbibe the strong drink, and tomorrow will be like today, only far better!”
- Luke 17:26–29
Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man:
- 1 Corinthians 15:32
If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus for human motives, what did I gain? If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”
- Isaiah 56:12
Through
Isaiah 5:12At their feasts are the lyre and harp, tambourines and flutes and wine. They disregard the actions of the LORD and fail to see the work of His hands.
it leads to
- Psalms 28:5
Since they show no regard for the works of the LORD or what His hands have done, He will tear them down and never rebuild them.
- Job 21:11–14
They send forth their little ones like a flock; their children skip about,
- Job 34:27
because they turned aside from Him and had no regard for any of His ways.
- Amos 6:4–6
You lie on beds inlaid with ivory, and lounge upon your couches. You dine on lambs from the flock and calves from the stall.
- Psalms 28:5
Through
Genesis 31:27Why did you run away secretly and deceive me, without even telling me? I would have sent you away with joy and singing, with tambourines and harps.
it leads to
- Exodus 15:20
Then Miriam the prophetess, Aaron’s sister, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women followed her with tambourines and dancing.
- Exodus 15:20
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 XV; 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.