Job 27:12
in Job 27Surely all of you have seen it for yourselves. Why then do you keep up this empty talk?
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Behold, all ye yourselves have seen it; Why then are ye become altogether vain?
KJV
Behold, all ye yourselves have seen it; why then are ye thus altogether vain?
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This verse in Job 27
Commentary
11 notes on this verseYe yourselves have seen it - Your own experience and observation have shown you that the righteous are frequently in affliction, and the wicked in affluence. Why then are ye thus altogether vain? - The original is very emphatical: הבל תהבלו hebel tehbalu, and well expressed by Mr. Good: “Why then should ye thus babble babblings!” It our language would allow it, we might say vanitize vanity.
This site's exposition
I will instruct you in the power of God
on Job 27:11-12
"I will instruct you in the power of God" turns Job from defense to teaching. "Surely all of you have seen it for yourselves" gives the friends only the view Job has. The verse opens the section where Job describes the wicked man's end in the friends' own terms.
This site's exposition
Why then do you keep up this empty talk?
Barnes turns what the friends have seen against them: the ways of God they observed should have taught them that suffering proves no guilt. Clarke notes the emphatic Hebrew, hebel tehbalu. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown hear Job asking why their empty talk makes him wicked.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
Second, he shows that what he is about to say is so clear that even they cannot be ignorant of it, and so he says, "Behold all of you know," what I am about to say is true, and so it is strange that you …
A commentator
Gregory the DialogistMorals on the Book of Job, Book XVIII · Written before 604.
proposed
I will teach you by the hand of God, that which is with the Almighty; I will not conceal. Behold, all ye yourselves know: why then do ye utter vain things without cause? This is the portion of an ungodly man with God, and the heritage of oppressors, which they shall receive of the Almighty. In such a way does blessed Job speak in his own words as to denote something connected with what relates to us. For Holy Church in teaching, in so far as it is expedient to know it, hides not a particle of truth.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
What he would teach them: " That which is with the Almighty, " that is, "the counsels and purposes of God concerning wicked people, which are hidden with him, and which you cannot hastily judge of; and the usual methods of his providence concerning them." This, says Job, will I not conceal.
Job's Protestation of His Sincerity. 1 Moreover Job continued his parable, and said, 2 As God liveth, who hath taken away my judgment; and the Almighty, who hath vexed my soul; 3 All the while my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils;
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:87%@v1-3
Behold, all ye yourselves have seen it,....
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)
The fact is, it is probable that Job tacitly, by giving, in the twenty-eighth chapter, only a general answer, implies, that in spite of the wicked often dying, as he said, in prosperity, he does not mean to deny that the wicked are in the main dealt with according to right, and that God herein vindicates His moral government even here.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
"Ye yourselves see" that the wicked often are afflicted (though often the reverse, Job 21:33). But do you "vainly" make this an argument to prove from my afflictions that I am wicked?
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Behold, all ye yourselves have seen it - You have had an opportunity of tracing the proofs of the wisdom of God in his works. Why then are ye thus altogether vain - Why is it that you maintain such opinions - that you evince no more knowledge of his government and plans - that you argue so inconclusively about him and his administration! Why, since you have had an opportunity of observing the course of events, do you maintain that suffering is necessarily a proof of guilt, and that God deals with all people, in this life, according to their character? A close observation of the course of events would have taught you otherwise. Job proceeds to state what he supposes to be the exact truth on the subject, and particularly aims, in the following chapter, to show that the ways of God are inscrutable, and that we cannot be expected to comprehend them, and are not competent to pronounce upon them.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
all of you have seen that this is the portion of a wicked man.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
I will instruct you what the standard is that is in God’s hand, and the way.. what is with the Almighty I will not conceal Like (above:10), “Because He knows the way that is with me.”
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. 3 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
8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הֵן־ | hen- | there! | H2005 → | 316 times |
| אַתֶּ֣ם | ʾatem | you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| כֻּלְּכֶ֣ם | kulekhem | all of you | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| חֲזִיתֶ֑ם | chazitem | you have seen | H2372 → | 55 times |
| וְלָמָּה־ | velamah- | and <to> why? | H4100 → | 752 times |
| זֶּ֝֗ה | zeh | this | H2088 → | 1180 times |
| הֶ֣בֶל | hevel | vanity | H1892 → | 73 times |
| תֶּהְבָּֽלוּ׃ | tehbalu | do you act in vain | H1891 → |
הֵן־there!
hen-H2005 →316 times
אַתֶּ֣םyou
ʾatemH859 →1094 times
כֻּלְּכֶ֣םall of you
kulekhemH3605 →5413 times
חֲזִיתֶ֑םyou have seen
chazitemH2372 →55 times
וְלָמָּה־and <to> why?
velamah-H4100 →752 times
זֶּ֝֗הthis
zehH2088 →1180 times
הֶ֣בֶלvanity
hevelH1892 →73 times
תֶּהְבָּֽלוּ׃do you act in vain
tehbaluH1891 →
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
Ecclesiastes 8:14There is a futility that is done on the earth: There are righteous men who get what the actions of the wicked deserve, and there are wicked men who get what the actions of…
it leads to
- Ecclesiastes 7:15
In my futile life I have seen both of these: A righteous man perishing in his righteousness, and a wicked man living long in his wickedness.
- Malachi 3:15
So now we call the arrogant blessed. Not only do evildoers prosper, they even test God and escape.’”
- Ecclesiastes 2:14
The wise man has eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. Yet I also came to realize that one fate overcomes them both.
- Ecclesiastes 9:1–3
So I took all this to heart and concluded that the righteous and the wise, as well as their deeds, are in God’s hands. Man does not know what lies ahead, whether love or…
- Ecclesiastes 7:15
Through
Job 16:3Is there no end to your long-winded speeches? What provokes you to continue testifying?
it leads to
- Job 6:26
Do you intend to correct my words, and treat as wind my cry of despair?
- Job 6:26
Through
Job 21:3Bear with me while I speak; then, after I have spoken, you may go on mocking.
it leads to
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
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, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book XVIII; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.