Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Job 12:11

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Job 12:11. Doth not the ear try words? — All these are common-place sayings. Ye have advanced nothing new; ye have cast no light upon the dispensations of Providence.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Job’s reply to Zophar (12:1-14:22)

The reply from Job opens with a sarcastic comment on the supposed wisdom of the three friends. They have merely been repeating general truths that everybody knows (12:1-3). They do not have the troubles Job has, and they make no attempt to understand how Job feels. A good person suffers while wicked people live in peace and security (4-6).
Job does not argue with the fact that all life is in God’s hands. What worries him is the interpretation of that fact (7-10). As a person tastes food before swallowing it, so Job will test the old interpretations before accepting them (11-12).
Being well taught himself, Job then quotes at length from the traditional teaching. God is perfect in wisdom and his power is irresistible (13-16). He humbles the mighty (17-22) and overthrows nations (23-25). Job knows all this as well as his friends do. What he wants to know is why God does these things (13:1-3). The three friends think they are speaking for God in accusing Job, but Job points out that this cannot be so, because God does not use deceit. They would be wiser to keep quiet (4-8). They themselves should fear God, because he will one day examine and judge them as they believe he has examined and judged Job (9-12).

The friends are now asked to be silent and listen as Job presents his case before God (13). He knows he is risking his life in being so bold, for an ungodly person could not survive in God’s presence. Job, however, believes he is innocent. If God or anyone else can prove him guilty, he will willingly accept the death sentence (14-19). Job makes just two requests of God. First, he asks God to give him some relief from pain so that he can present his case. Second, he asks that God will not cause him to be overcome with fear as he comes into the divine presence. He wants to ask God questions, and he promises to answer any questions God asks him (20-22).
To begin with, Job asks what accusations God has against him. Why is he forced to suffer (23-25)? Is he, for example, reaping the fruits of sins done in his youth? Whatever the answer, he feels completely helpless in his present plight (26-28).
Life is short and a certain amount of trouble and wrongdoing is to be expected (14:1-5). Why then, asks Job, does God not leave people alone so that they can enjoy their short lives without unnecessary suffering (6)? Even trees are better off than people. A tree that is cut down may sprout again, but a person who is ‘cut down’ is dead for ever (7-10). He is (to use another picture) like a river or lake that has dried up (11-12).
Job wishes that Sheol, the place of the dead, were only a temporary dwelling place. Then, after a period when he gains relief from suffering and cleansing from sin, he could continue life in a new and more meaningful fellowship with God. If he knew this to be true, he would be able to endure his present sufferings more patiently (13-17). Instead, the only feeling that accompanies his pain is the feeling of hopelessness. He knows he will be cut off from those he loves most, never to see them or hear of them again. Like soil washed away by a river he will disappear, never to return (18-22).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

JOB APPEALED TO THE LOWER CREATIONS AS
SUPPORTERS OF HIS GRAND PROPOSITION IN Job 12:6

"But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; And the birds of the heavens, and they shall teach thee: Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee; And the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee. Who knoweth not, in all these, That the hand of Jehovah hath wrought this, In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, And the breath of all mankind. Doth not the ear try words, Even as the palate tasteth food? With aged men is wisdom, And in length of days understanding."

What Job declared here was so clearly the truth that only a fool could have denied it. "In the whole creation, the strong prey on the weak, the fierce upon the tame, and the violent upon the timid. God does not intervene to destroy the lion, the tiger, and the wolfe, and to deliver the lambs and the chickens!Ibid., p. 247.

"And the birds of the heavens" The hawks and the eagles are not forbidden to prey upon the small and the weak.

"And the fishes of the sea" Do the big ones ever protect the little ones? The sharks and the barracudas are always as busy as they can be eating up the smaller fishes!

"Speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee" Every farmer knows that all of the good crops must suffer from the encroachments of the crab grass, the ragweeds, the cockleburs, the Johnson grass, thistles, briars and grass-spurs. And Job's observation here is that all of these conditions reflect quite accurately the situation as it exists among men also. Is it the lambs, the doves, and the good crops, along with the righteous man, who are always blessed; and do the disasters always fall upon the wolves, the sharks, the hawks, the weeds, and the robbers? Certainly not!

"The hand of Jehovah hath wrought this" This argument should have silenced Job's comforters; but it didn't. There is no blindness as complete as that which exists in the adherents to some false theology. As this is written, a current example of such blindness is being acted out near Waco, Texas, where the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) was trying to arrest David Koresh and his Branch-Davidians!

"With aged men is wisdom" The paragraph divisions in this chapter are unfortunate. Job 12:13 states that, "With God is wisdom"; and Job here offered that as a correction to the stupid notion that aged men are necessarily wise. Wisdom is not with the `old men' of our world, but with God.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

Doth not the ear try words? - The literal meaning of this, which is evidently a proverbial expression, is plain; but about its bearing here there is more difficulty. The literal sense is, that it is the office of the ear to mark the distinction of sounds, and to convey the sense to the soul. But in regard to the exact bearing of this proverb on the case in hand, commentators have not been agreed. Probably the sense is, that there ought to be a diligent attention to the signification of words, and to the meaning of a speaker, as one carefully tastes his food; and Job, perhaps, may be disposed to complain that his friends had not given that attention which they ought to have done to the true design and signification of his remarks. Or it may mean that man is endowed with the faculty of attending to the nature and qualities of objects, and that he ought to exercise that faculty in judging of the lessons which are taught respecting God or his works.

And the mouth - Margin, as in the Hebrew חך chêk - “palate.” The word means not merely the palate, but the lower part of the mouth (Gesenius), and is especially used to designate the organ or the seat of taste; Psalms 119:103; Job 6:30.

His meat - Its food - the word “meat” being used in Old English to denote all kinds of food. The sense is, man is endowed with the faculty of distinguishing what is wholesome from what is unwholesome, and he should, in like manner, exercise the faculty which God has given him of distinguishing the true from the false on moral subjects. He should not suppose that all that had been said, or that could be said, must necessarily be true. He should not suppose that merely to string together proverbs, and to utter common-place suggestions, was a mark of true wisdom. He should separate the valuable from the worthless, the true from the false, and the wholesome from the injurious. Job complains that his friends had not done this. They had shown no power of discrimination or selection. They had uttered common place apothegms, and they gathered adages of former times, without any discrimination, and had urged them in their arguments against him, whether pertinent or not. It was by this kind of irrelevant and miscellaneous remark that he felt that he had been mocked by his friends, Job 12:4.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Chapter 12

So Job answered him and said, No doubt but you are the people, and wisdom is going to die with you ( Job 12:1-2 ).

He's about had it with these guys who think they know all the answers, and they're not really ministering or reaching him at all. Now, it's very frustrating to try to explain yourself to people and have people in a mindset where they are determined they know all the answers about you, and yet they don't understand it at all. Oh, how frustrating that is. To talk with people who are of that mind bent. "Oh yes, I understand completely what's going on." "Hey, man, you don't understand a thing." And all of these words of wisdom. "Well, yes, you're the people; wisdom is going to die with you."

But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you: who doesn't know these things you're talking about? ( Job 12:3 )

I know all of these things. You're not teaching me anything new.

I am as one who is mocked of his neighbor, who calleth upon God, and he answereth him: the just upright man is laughed to scorn ( Job 12:4 ).

You guys are mocking me. You're laughing me to scorn.

He that is ready to slip with his feet is as a lamp despised in the thought of him that is at ease ( Job 12:5 ).

You guys have it easy. All right. So you can despise me because I'm about ready to slip in the pit. Just because you're at ease, you can say these things. But if things were reversed, you wouldn't find these words so easy on your lips.

Now Job points out a fallacy of their whole arguments. Because their arguments have been predicated upon, "Surely if you are righteous, you're going to be blessed of God. And that the blessings of God are more or less proof of your righteousness. Or the plague that you're experiencing is the proof of your sinfulness." So you've got the converse. If a man is plagued because he is sinful, then he would be blessed because he is righteous. And so Job now points to the fallacy of their whole argument, and here it is:

The tents of the robbers prosper, and they who provoke God are secure; into whose hand God bringeth abundantly ( Job 12:6 ).

So, you tell me that it's because I'm so wicked that I've lost everything. But look, the tents of the robbers prosper.

But ask now the beasts, and they'll teach you; fowls of the air, they will tell thee: Speak to the earth, it'll teach you: the fish of the sea shall declare it unto you. Who knoweth not in all these that the hand of the LORD hath wrought this? In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind ( Job 12:7-10 ).

He said, "Nature will testify that God has wrought all of these things. Because the soul of every living thing is in the hand of God. And the breath of all mankind." Did you realize how totally you are dependent upon God for the sustaining of your life? There is a weird disease that some people have, or it's a weird something, malfunction of their body. They have to think to breathe. Now wouldn't that be horrible to have to think to breathe? But they don't breathe in a reflex way, but they have actually have to think to breathe, and they almost die when they go to sleep. In fact, when they go to sleep they quit breathing, and then they wake up for a few seconds and think, "Oh, I'd better breathe," they take a breath and then they drop back to sleep again. And they follow their sleep patterns. It must be miserable to have to think to breathe. I'm glad I don't have to think to breathe; it's just automatic. But the Bible teaches that your breath is in the hand of God.

You remember when Belshazzar was having his great feast for one thousand of his lords, and the handwriting came on the wall and he began to shake. And they called for the wise men and the counselors. None of them could tell him what the writing said, "Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin." And so finally the queen said, "During the time of your grandfather's reign, there was a man of great wisdom, who was one of the counselors to your grandfather. He's of the Hebrews who were brought here into captivity." So they ordered Daniel to come into the room. And here Daniel saw the whole scene of debauchery, drunkenness. The golden vessels that had been in the temple that had been sanctified for the service of the house of God, and they were drinking their wine out of them and praising the gods of gold and silver. And so Daniel began. This old, stately, beautiful man of God began to rebuke that pagan king, Belshazzar. And he said, "God has brought you into the kingdom and given you glory and honor and power, and you've ruled over the great kingdom of Babylon that God had given to your grandfather, Nebuchadnezzar; established in him, but it has been given into your hands. And yet you did not regard God, but you've exalted the gods of gold and silver. And the God in whose hand your very breath is, you've not glorified." These people realized how totally dependent man is upon God for his very existence.

Paul said concerning God, "In Him we live, we move, we have our being." We are dependent upon God. Our very breath. And yet, with that very breath, how many times we're cursing God. God gives us the very breath we use to curse Him. It's unreal.

Do not the ear try words? and the mouth taste his meat? With the ancient is wisdom; and in length of days understanding. With him is wisdom and strength, he hath counsel and understanding. Behold, he breaks down, and it cannot be built again: he shuts up a man, and there can be no opening. Behold, he withholdeth the waters, and they dry up: also he sends them out, and they overturn the earth. With him is strength and wisdom: the deceived and the deceiver are his. He leadeth counselors away spoiled, and makes the judges fools. He looses the bond of kings, and girds their loins with a girdle. He leadeth princes away spoiled, and overthrows the mighty. He removes away the speech of the trusty, and takes away the understanding of the aged. He pours contempt upon the princes, and weakens the strength of the mighty. He discovers deep things out of the darkness, he brings out to light the shadow of death. He increases the nations, and destroys them: he enlarges the nations, and straitens them again. He takes away the heart of the chief of the people of the earth, and causes them to wander in a wilderness where there is no way. They grope in the dark without light, and he makes them to stagger as a drunken man ( Job 12:11-25 ).

God is sovereign. He rules over all. Man's soul, man's breath, is in His hand. And who can withstand God? Who can withstand the purpose or the work of God? "

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

Doth not the ear try words?.... Articulate sounds; and the mind by them judges whether what is expressed and designed by them is right or wrong, true or false, to be received or rejected; so such that have spiritual ears to hear, try the words of God and men, the wholesome words of Christ, and those of false teachers, which eat as a canker; and by their spiritual judgment can distinguish between the one and the other, discern those that differ, and approve those that are excellent, by bringing them to the standard of the word, the balance of the sanctuary, the Scriptures of truth:

and the mouth taste his meat? and judge of it, whether good or bad, or savoury or unsavoury, and so receive or reject it: thus such who have their taste changed, and relish spiritual things, can distinguish between the meat that perishes, and that which endures to everlasting life, even Christ, whose flesh is meat indeed; and those that have tasted that the Lord is gracious, and to whose taste the fruits of Christ and the doctrines of grace are sweet; these will desire the sincere milk of the word, and that strong meat in it, which belongs to discerning and experienced souls; and will feed by faith upon the pure word of the Gospel, and mix it with it, and reject all others. Job by this would signify, that the things his friends had been discoursing of, and which they thought were such deep and wonderful things, were as easy to be searched and found out, tried and judged of, as sounds by the ear, or food by the taste; and it may be also that hereby he suggests, that his doctrine, if it was impartially examined and tried by proper judges, it would appear as plain as anything tried by the ear, or tasted by the mouth. Some think that Job intends by this, that from the senses of hearing and tasting in men might be inferred the omniscience of God, his knowledge of all things, and his quick discernment of men, and their actions, since "he that planted the ear, shall he not hear? he that formed the eye, shall not he see?" Psalms 94:9. Some versions read the whole, "doth not the ear try words, as the mouth tastes his meat" q? as in Job 34:3. Saadiah Gaon connects these words "as the ear tries words", c. with Job 12:12, "so with the ancient is wisdom".

q Vatablus, Drusius, Junius et Tremellius, Piscator, Mercerus, Cocceius, Schultens so Broughton.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      6 The tabernacles of robbers prosper, and they that provoke God are secure; into whose hand God bringeth abundantly.   7 But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee:   8 Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee: and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee.   9 Who knoweth not in all these that the hand of the LORD hath wrought this?   10 In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind.   11 Doth not the ear try words? and the mouth taste his meat?

      Job's friends all of them went upon this principle, that wicked people cannot prosper long in this world, but some remarkable judgment or other will suddenly light on them: Zophar had concluded with it, that the eyes of the wicked shall fail,Job 11:20; Job 11:20. This principle Job here opposes, and maintains that God, in disposing men's outward affairs, acts as a sovereign, reserving the exact distribution of rewards and punishments for the future state.

      I. He asserts it as an undoubted truth that wicked people may, and often do, prosper long in this world, Job 12:6; Job 12:6. Even great sinners may enjoy great prosperity. Observe, 1. How he describes the sinners. They are robbers, and such as provoke God, the worst kind of sinners, blasphemers and persecutors. Perhaps he refers to the Sabeans and Chaldeans, who had robbed him, and had always lived by spoil and rapine, and yet they prospered; all the world saw they did, and there is no disputing against sense; one observation built upon matter of fact is worth twenty notions framed by an hypothesis. Or more generally, All proud oppressors are robbers and pirates. It is supposed that what is injurious to men is provoking to God, the patron of right and the protector of mankind. It is not strange if those that violate the bonds of justice break through the obligations of all religion, bid defiance even to God himself, and make nothing of provoking him. 2. How he describes their prosperity. It is very great; for, (1.) Even their tabernacles prosper, those that live with them and those that come after them and descend from them. It seems as if a blessing were entailed upon their families; and that is sometimes preserved to succeeding generations which was got by fraud. (2.) They are secure, and not only feel no hurt, but fear none, are under no apprehensions of danger either from threatening providences or an awakened conscience. But those that provoke God are never the more safe for their being secure. (3.) Into their hand God brings abundantly. They have more than heart could wish (Psalms 73:7), not for necessity only, but for delight--not for themselves only, but for others--not for the present only, but for hereafter; and this from the hand of Providence too. God brings plentifully to them. We cannot therefore judge of men's piety by their plenty, nor of what they have in their heart by what they have in their hand.

      II. He appeals even to the inferior creatures for the proof of this--the beasts, and fowls, and trees, and even the earth itself; consult these, and they shall tell thee, Job 12:7; Job 12:8. Many a good lesson we may learn from them, but what are they here to teach us?

      1. We may from them learn that the tabernacles of robbers prosper (so some); for, (1.) Even among the brute creatures the greater devour the less and the stronger prey upon the weaker, and men are as the fishes of the sea, Habakkuk 1:14. If sin had not entered, we may suppose there would have been no such disorder among the creatures, but the wolf and the lamb would have lain down together. (2.) These creatures are serviceable to wicked men, and so they declare their prosperity. Ask the herds and the flocks to whom they belong, and they will tell you that such a robber, such an oppressor, is their owner: the fishes and fowls will tell you that they are served up to the tables, and feed the luxury, of proud sinners. The earth brings forth her fruits to them (Job 9:24; Job 9:24), and the whole creation groans under the burden of their tyranny, Romans 8:20; Romans 8:22. Note, All the creatures which wicked men abuse, by making them the food and fuel of their lusts, will witness against them another day, James 5:3; James 5:4.

      2. We may from them learn the wisdom, power, and goodness of God, and that sovereign dominion of his into which plain and self-evident truth all these difficult dispensations must be resolved. Zophar had made a vast mystery of it, Job 11:7; Job 11:7. "So far from that," says Job, "that what we are concerned to know we may learn even from the inferior creatures; for who knows not from all these?Job 12:9; Job 12:9. Any one may easily gather from the book of the creatures that the hand of the Lord has wrought this," that is, "that there is a wise Providence which guides and governs all these things by rules which we are neither acquainted with nor are competent judges of." Note, From God's sovereign dominion over the inferior creatures we should learn to acquiesce in all his disposals of the affairs of the children of men, though contrary to our measures.

      III. He resolves all into the absolute propriety which God has in all the creatures (Job 12:10; Job 12:10): In whose hand is the soul of every living thing. All the creatures, and mankind particularly, derive their being from him, owe their being to him, depend upon him for the support of it, lie at his mercy, are under his direction and dominion and entirely at his disposal, and at his summons must resign their lives. All souls are his; and may he not do what he will with his own? The name Jehovah is used here (Job 12:9; Job 12:9), 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.

      IV. Those words-- (Job 12:11; Job 12:11), Doth not the ear try words, as the mouth tastes meat? may be taken either as the conclusion to the foregoing discourse or the preface to what follows. The mind of man has as good a faculty of discerning between truth and error, when duly stated, as the palate has of discerning between what is sweet and what is bitter. Job therefore demands from his friends a liberty to judge for himself of what they had said, and desires them to use the same liberty in judging of what he had said; nay, he seems to appeal to any man's impartial judgment in this controversy; let the ear try the words on both sides, and it would be found that he was in the right. Note, The ear must try words before it receives them so as to subscribe to them. As by the taste we judge what food is wholesome to the body and what not, so by the spirit of discerning we must judge what doctrine is sound, and savoury, and wholesome, and what not, 1 Corinthians 10:15; 1 Corinthians 11:13.