Job 5:13
in Job 5He catches the wise in their craftiness, and sweeps away the plans of the cunning.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
He taketh the wise in their own craftiness; And the counsel of the cunning is carried headlong.
KJV
He taketh the wise in their own craftiness: and the counsel of the froward is carried headlong.
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This verse in Job 5
Commentary
13 notes on this verseA commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Paul (1Co 3:19) quoted this clause with the formula establishing its inspiration, "it is written." He cites the exact Hebrew words, not as he usually does the Septuagint, Greek version (Ps 9:15). Haman was hanged on the gallows he prepared for Mordecai (Es 5:14; 7:10). the wise--that is, "the cunning." is carried headlong--Their scheme is precipitated before it is ripe.
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.
This site's exposition
He catches the wise in their craftiness
Wesley takes the wise here as men wise to do evil, whose own schemes and plans God turns against them. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown point to Haman, hanged on the gallows he had prepared for Mordecai at Esther 7:10. The cunning are caught by their own craft.
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
Some however deceive others by cunning. As for these he says, "He surprises the wise in their own craftiness," because what the cunning plan go contrary to their design, "and dissipates the plan of evil men," when what they seemed to wisely plan cannot be …
He taketh the wise in their own craftiness, and the counsel of the froward is carried headlong. For oftentimes, some that are puffed up with human wisdom, when they see that the decrees of God are contrary to their inclinations, set themselves to oppose them with crafty manoeuvres, and that they may bend the power of the dispensation of the Most High to meet their own wishes, they busy themselves in cunning contrivances, they devise schemes of excessive refinement.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
There 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 is quoted by the apostle ( 1 Cor. iii. 19 ) to show how the learned men of the heathen were befooled by their own vain philosophy. Fifthly, When God infatuates men they are perplexed, and at a loss, even in those things that seem most plain and easy (
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5 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
The wise - Men wise to do evil, and wise in the opinion of the world, he not only deceives in their hopes and counsels, but turns them against themselves. Froward - Or, wrestlers: such as wind and turn every way, as wrestlers do, and will leave no means untried to accomplish their counsels. Is carried - Is tumbled down and broken, and that by their own precipitation.
He taketh the wise in their own craftiness,....
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,
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
He taketh the wise in their own craftiness - So counterworks them as to cause their feet to be taken in their own snares, and their evil dealings to fall on their own pate. Such frequent proofs has God given of his especial interference in behalf of the innocent, who have been the objects of the plots and evil designs of the wicked, by turning those evil devices against their framers, that he who digs a pit for his neighbor shall fall into it himself has become a universal adage, and has passed, either in so many words or in sense, into all the languages of all the people of the earth. Lucretius expresses it strongly: Circumretit enim vis atque injuria quemque, Atque, unde exorta est, ad eum plerumque revortit. Lucret. lib. v., ver. 1151. “For force and wrong entangle the man that uses them; And, for the most part, recoil on the head of the contriver.”
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
He taketh the wise in their own craftiness - This passage is quoted by the apostle Paul in 1Co 3:19, with the usual formula in referring to the Old Testament, γέγραπται γάρ gegraptai gar, “for it is written,” showing that he regarded it as a part of the inspired oracles of God. The word “wise” here undoubtedly means the cunning, the astute, the crafty, and the designing.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
is hasty Any counsel that is planned hastily is foolishness.
2 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
so that their hands do not carry out their plans The counsel that they planned to perform.
By day, they meet darkness For their counsel is not executed nor accomplished, and the light of their wisdom is converted to darkness.
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
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לֹכֵ֣ד | lokhed | [who] catches | H3920 → | 121 times |
| חֲכָמִ֣ים | chakhamim | wise [people] | H2450 → | 138 times |
| בְּעָרְמָ֑ם | bearemam | when are crafty they | H6191 → | |
| וַעֲצַ֖ת | vaatzat | and [the] counsel of | H6098 → | 89 times |
| נִפְתָּלִ֣ים | niftalim | tortuous [people] | H6617 → | |
| נִמְהָֽרָה׃ | nimharah | it is hasty | H4116 → |
לֹכֵ֣ד[who] catches
lokhedH3920 →121 times
חֲכָמִ֣יםwise [people]
chakhamimH2450 →138 times
בְּעָרְמָ֑םwhen are crafty they
bearemamH6191 →
וַעֲצַ֖תand [the] counsel of
vaatzatH6098 →89 times
נִפְתָּלִ֣יםtortuous [people]
niftalimH6617 →
נִמְהָֽרָה׃it is hasty
nimharahH4116 →
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
1 Corinthians 3:19For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. As it is written: “He catches the wise in their craftiness.”
it leads to
- Psalms 141:10
Let the wicked fall into their own nets, while I pass by in safety.
- 1 Corinthians 1:19–20
For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”
- Romans 1:21–22
For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking and darkened in their foolish hearts.
- Isaiah 44:25
who foils the signs of false prophets and makes fools of diviners, who confounds the wise and turns their knowledge into nonsense,
- 1 Corinthians 2:6
Among the mature, however, we speak a message of wisdom—but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing.
- Psalms 141:10
Through
Luke 1:51He has performed mighty deeds with His arm; He has scattered those who are proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
it leads to
- Psalms 98:1
Sing to the LORD a new song, for He has done wonders; His right hand and holy arm have gained Him the victory.
- Isaiah 52:10
The LORD has bared His holy arm in the sight of all the nations; all the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God.
- 1 Samuel 2:3–4
Do not boast so proudly, or let arrogance come from your mouth, for the LORD is a God who knows, and by Him actions are weighed.
- Psalms 98:1
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies3
On this verse
About Job
This page draws on 11 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); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.