Job 5:12
in Job 5He thwarts the schemes of the crafty, so that their hands find no success.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
He frustrateth the devices of the crafty, So that their hands cannot perform their enterprise.
KJV
He disappointeth the devices of the crafty, so that their hands cannot perform their enterprise.
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This verse in Job 5
Commentary
10 notes on this verseThere is a supreme power that manages and overrules men who think themselves free and absolute, and fulfils its own purposes in spite of their projects. Observe, First, The froward, that walk contrary to God and the interests of his kingdom, are often very crafty; for they are the seed of the old serpent that was noted for his subtlety.
This site's exposition
He thwarts the schemes of the crafty
on Job 5:12-13
The hymn turns to human schemes, then gives the one sentence of this book the New Testament quotes, "He catches the wise in their craftiness". Paul cites it at 1 Corinthians 3:19 as written Scripture, though God later says the friends did not speak what is right.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
What do these words mean? Eliphaz insults Job, who should be a crafty man. He has a desire for justice, without doing anything for which he boasts with real justice. However, God does not stand still without penetrating such schemes, and "the schemes of the …
The Medieval Church2 voices
He disappointeth the devices of the crafty, so that their hands cannot perform their enterprise. The minds of the lost are ever awake to evil imaginations, but very often the Providence above counteracts them, and though not even when they are crushed with adversities do they amend the wickedness of their counsel, yet that they may never prevail against the good, He puts a check upon their power.
Second he speaks of those who oppress others. These are of two sorts. Some openly oppress others through force, and as to these he says, "He frustrates the designs of evildoers, so that their hands achieve no success," because they are impeded in accomplishing their …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
He disappointeth the devices of the crafty,....
That the afflictions which are borne well will end well; and Job particularly, if he would come to a better temper, might assure himself that God had great mercy in store for him,
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
enterprise--literally, "realization." The Hebrew combines in the one word the two ideas, wisdom and happiness, "enduring existence" being the etymological and philosophical root of the combined notion [UMBREIT].
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
He disappointeth the devices of the crafty - All these sayings refer to God’s particular providence, by which he is ever working for the good, and counterworking the plots of the wicked. And as various as are the contingent, capricious, and malevolent acts of men, so varied are his providential interferences; disappointing the devices, snares, and plots of the crafty, so that their plans being confounded, and their machinery broken in pieces, their hands cannot perform their enterprises.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
He disappointeth the devices of the crafty - He foils them in their schemes, or makes their plans vain. This too was the result of close observation on the part of Eliphaz. He had seen instances where the plans of crafty, designing, and artful people had been defeated, and where the straightforward had been prospered and honored. Such cases led him to believe that God was the friend of virtue, and was worthy of entire confidence. So that their hands - So that they. The hands are the instruments by which we accomplish our plans. Their enterprise - Margin, Or, “anything.” Hebrew תשׁיה tûshı̂yâh. This word properly means uprightness from ישׁע yâsha‛; then help, deliverance, Job 6:13; then purpose, undertaking, enterprise, that is, what one wishes to set up or establish. Gesenius. This is its meaning here. Vulgate, “Their hands cannot finish (implere) what they had begun.” Septuagint, “Their hands cannot perform that which is true” - ὰληθές alēthes. The Chaldee Paraphrase refers this to the defeat of the purposes of the Egyptians: “Who made vain the thoughts of the Egyptians, who acted wisely (or cunningly - דחכימו) that they might do evil to Israel, but their hands did not perform the work of their wisdom Job 5:13, who took the wise men of Pharaoh in their own wisdom, and the counsel of their perverse astrologers he made to return upon them.” The general sense is, that artful and designing men - people who work in the dark, and who form secret purposes of evil, are disappointed and foiled. Eliphaz probably had seen instances of this, and he now attributes it to God as rendering him worthy of the confidence of people. It is still true. The crafty and the designing are often foiled in such a manner as to show that it is wholly of God. […]
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
so that their hands do not carry out their plans The counsel that they planned to perform.
2 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
to place the humble on high He gives the rain, and He frustrates the plans of the crafty, who intend to raise the prices and buy the fields of the poor for little grain.
is hasty Any counsel that is planned hastily is foolishness.
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. 2 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
7 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| מֵ֭פֵר | mefer | [who] frustrates | H6565 → | 50 times |
| מַחְשְׁב֣וֹת | machshevot | [the] plans of | H4284 → | |
| עֲרוּמִ֑ים | ʾarumim | crafty [people] | H6175 → | |
| וְֽלֹא־ | velo'- | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תַעֲשֶׂ֥ינָה | taaseinah | they will bring about | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| יְ֝דֵיהֶ֗ם | yedeihem | hands their | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| תּוּשִׁיָּֽה׃ | tushiyah | success | H8454 → | 12 times |
מֵ֭פֵר[who] frustrates
meferH6565 →50 times
מַחְשְׁב֣וֹת[the] plans of
machshevotH4284 →
עֲרוּמִ֑יםcrafty [people]
ʾarumimH6175 →
וְֽלֹא־and not
velo'-H3808 →5168 times
תַעֲשֶׂ֥ינָהthey will bring about
taaseinahH6213 →2628 times
יְ֝דֵיהֶ֗םhands their
yedeihemH3027 →1618 times
תּוּשִׁיָּֽה׃success
tushiyahH8454 →12 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
Isaiah 8:10Devise a plan, but it will be thwarted; state a proposal, but it will not happen. For God is with us.”
it leads to
- Lamentations 3:37
Who has spoken and it came to pass, unless the Lord has ordained it?
- Romans 8:31
What then shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
- Proverbs 21:30
There is no wisdom, no understanding, no counsel that can prevail against the LORD.
- Lamentations 3:37
Through
Psalms 37:17For the arms of the wicked will be broken, but the LORD upholds the righteous.
it leads to
- Isaiah 41:10
Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you; I will surely help you; I will uphold you with My right hand…
- Psalms 63:8
My soul clings to You; Your right hand upholds me.
- Psalms 145:14
The LORD upholds all who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down.
- Isaiah 42:1
“Here is My Servant, whom I uphold, My Chosen One, in whom My soul delights. I will put My Spirit on Him, and He will bring justice to the nations.
- Psalms 37:24
Though he falls, he will not be overwhelmed, for the LORD is holding his hand.
- Isaiah 41:10
Where this verse is studied
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 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 VI; Hesychius of Jerusalem, HOMILIES ON JOB 8.5.12-13; 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.