Amplified Bible
Job 11:12
12But a hollow (empty-headed) man will become intelligent and wise [Only] when the colt of a wild donkey is born as a man.
Job 11:12 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)For vain man would be wise, though man be born like a wild ass’s colt.
- New International Version (NIV)But the witless can no more become wise than a wild donkey’s colt can be born human.
- English Standard Version (ESV)But a stupid man will get understanding when a wild donkey's colt is born a man!
- New King James Version (NKJV)For an empty-headed man will be wise, When a wild donkey’s colt is born a man.
Context of Job 11:12
10If God passes by or arrests, Or calls an assembly [of judgment], who can restrain Him? [If He is against a man, who can call Him to account for it?] 11For He recognizes and knows false and worthless men, And He sees wickedness, will He not consider it? But a hollow (empty-headed) man will become intelligent and wise [Only] when the colt of a wild donkey is born as a man. 13“If you direct your heart [on the right path] And stretch out your hands to Him, 14If sin is in your hand, put it far away [from you], And do not let wrongdoing dwell in your tents;
Read all of Job 11Job 11:12 word by word
וְאִ֣ישׁ נָ֭בוּב יִלָּבֵ֑ב וְעַ֥יִר פֶּ֝֗רֶא אָדָ֥ם יִוָּלֵֽד׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Job 11:12
- Psalms 62:9Men of low degree are only a breath (emptiness), and men of [high] rank are a lie (delusion). In the balances they go up [because they have no measurable weight or value]; They are together lighter than a breath.
- Psalms 73:22Then I was senseless and ignorant; I was like a beast before You.
- Psalms 92:6A senseless man [in his crude and uncultivated state] knows nothing, Nor does a [self-righteous] fool understand this:
- Ecclesiastes 3:18I said to myself regarding the sons of men, “God is surely testing them in order for them to see that [by themselves, without God] they are [only] animals.”
- Romans 1:22Claiming to be wise, they became fools,
- James 2:20But are you willing to recognize, you foolish [spiritually shallow] person, that faith without [good] works is useless?
- Job 5:13He catches the [so-called] wise in their own shrewdness, And the advice of the devious is quickly thwarted.
- Job 12:2“No doubt you are the [only wise] people [in the world], And wisdom will die with you!
- Job 28:28But to man He said, ‘Behold, the reverential and worshipful fear of the Lord—that is wisdom; And to depart from evil is understanding.’ ”
- Proverbs 30:2Surely I am more brutish and stupid than any man, And I do not have the understanding of a man [for I do not know what I do not know].
- Romans 12:16Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty [conceited, self-important, exclusive], but associate with humble people [those with a realistic self-view]. Do not overestimate yourself.
- 1 Corinthians 3:18Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool [discarding his worldly pretensions and acknowledging his lack of wisdom], so that he may become [truly] wise.
- James 3:13Who among you is wise and intelligent? Let him by his good conduct show his [good] deeds with the gentleness and humility of true wisdom.
- Job 15:14What is man, that he should be pure and clean, Or he who is born of a woman, that he should be righteous and just?
- Psalms 51:5I was brought forth in [a state of] wickedness; In sin my mother conceived me [and from my beginning I, too, was sinful].
- Ephesians 2:3Among these [unbelievers] we all once lived in the passions of our flesh [our behavior governed by the sinful self], indulging the desires of human nature [without the Holy Spirit] and [the impulses] of the [sinful] mind. We were, by nature, children [under the sentence] of [God’s] wrath, just like the rest [of mankind].
Commentaries on Job 11:12
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 12For vain man would be wise - The original is difficult and uncertain, ילבב נבוב ואיש veish nabub yillabeb, "And shall the hollow man assume courage," or "pride himself?" Or, as Mr. Good rather paraphrases it, Will he then accept the hollow-hearted person? The Chaldee gives two renderings: An eloquent man shall become wiser in his heart, and the colt of the wild ass is born as the son of man. Or, The wise man shall ponder it; and the refractory youth, who…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 12For vain man - Margin, “empty.” נבוב nâbûb according to Gesenius, from the root נבב nâbab to bore through, and then to be hollow; metaphorical, “empty,” “foolish.” The Septuagint, strangely enough, renders this,” but man floats about with words.” The Hebrew here means, manifestly, hollow, empty; then insincere and hypocritical. Zophar refers to a hollow-hearted man, who, though he was in fact like a wild ass‘s colt, attempted to appear mild and gentle…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 7-12Verses 7-12 Zophar speaks well concerning God and his greatness and glory, concerning man and his vanity and folly. See here what man is; and let him be humbled. God sees this concerning vain man, that he would be wise, would be thought so, though he is born like a wild ass's colt, so unteachable and untameable. Man is a vain creature; empty, so the word is. Yet he is a proud creature, and self-conceited. He would be wise, would be thought so, though he…Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1212. vain--hollow. would be--"wants to consider himself wise"; opposed to God's "wisdom" (see on Job 11:11); refuses to see sin, where God sees it (Ro 1:22). wild ass's colt--a proverb for untamed wildness (Job 39:5, 8; Jr 2:24; Ge 16:12; Hebrew, "a wild-ass man"). Man wishes to appear wisely obedient to his Lord, whereas he is, from his birth, unsubdued in spirit.Read the comment
Topics related to Job 11:12
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Job 11
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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