American Standard Version
Job 12:4
4I am as one that is a laughing-stock to his neighbor,I who called upon God, and he answered:The just, the perfect man is a laughing-stock.
Job 12:4 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)I am as one mocked of his neighbour, who calleth upon God, and he answereth him: the just upright man is laughed to scorn.
- New International Version (NIV)“I have become a laughingstock to my friends, though I called on God and he answered— a mere laughingstock, though righteous and blameless!
- English Standard Version (ESV)I am a laughingstock to my friends; I, who called to God and he answered me, a just and blameless man, am a laughingstock.
- New King James Version (NKJV)“I am one mocked by his friends, Who called on God, and He answered him, The just and blameless who is ridiculed.
Context of Job 12:4
2No doubt but ye are the people, And wisdom shall die with you. 3But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you: Yea, who knoweth not such things as these? I am as one that is a laughing-stock to his neighbor, I who called upon God, and he answered: The just, the perfect man is a laughing-stock. 5In the thought of him that is at ease there is contempt for misfortune; It is ready for them whose foot slippeth. 6The tents of robbers prosper, And they that provoke God are secure; Into whose hand God bringeth abundantly.
Read all of Job 12Job 12:4 word by word
שְׂחֹ֤ק לְרֵעֵ֨הוּ׀ אֶֽהְיֶ֗ה קֹרֵ֣א לֶ֭אֱלוֹהַּ וַֽיַּעֲנֵ֑הוּ שְׂ֝ח֗וֹק צַדִּ֥יק תָּמִֽים׃Read the interlinear
Cross-references for Job 12:4
- Job 11:3Should thy boastings make men hold their peace? And when thou mockest, shall no man make thee ashamed?
- Job 16:10They have gaped upon me with their mouth; They have smitten me upon the cheek reproachfully: They gather themselves together against me.
- Job 17:2Surely there are mockers with me, And mine eye dwelleth upon their provocation.
- Job 21:3Suffer me, and I also will speak; And after that I have spoken, mock on.
- Job 30:1But now they that are younger than I have me in derision, Whose fathers I disdained to set with the dogs of my flock.
- Psalms 22:7All they that see me laugh me to scorn: They shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying,
- Psalms 35:16Like the profane mockers in feasts, They gnashed upon me with their teeth.
- Matthew 27:29And they platted a crown of thorns and put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand; and they kneeled down before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews!
- Hebrews 11:36and others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment:
- Job 16:20My friends scoff at me: But mine eye poureth out tears unto God,
- Psalms 91:15He shall call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble: I will deliver him, and honor him.
- Jeremiah 33:3Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and will show thee great things, and difficult, which thou knowest not.
- Micah 7:7But as for me, I will look unto Jehovah; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me.
- Proverbs 14:2He that walketh in his uprightness feareth Jehovah; But he that is perverse in his ways despiseth him.
- Mark 5:40And they laughed him to scorn. But he, having put them all forth, taketh the father of the child and her mother and them that were with him, and goeth in where the child was.
- Luke 16:14And the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all these things; and they scoffed at him.
Commentaries on Job 12:4
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 4I am as one mocked of his neighbor - Though I am invoking God for help and salvation, yet my friends mock me in this most solemn and sacred work. But God answereth me. The just upright man is laughed to scorn - This is a very difficult verse, on which no two critics seem to be agreed. Mr. Good translates the fourth and fifth verses thus: - "Thus brother is become a laughing-stock to his companions, While calling upon God that he would succor him. The…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 4I am as one mocked of his neighbour - There has been considerable variety in the interpretation of this verse. The general sense is, that Job felt himself to be a mere laughing-stock for his neighbors. They treated him as if he were not worth regarding. They had no sympathy for him in his sorrows, and they showed no respect for his opinions. Dr. Good understands this and the following verses as a part of the controversy in which Job proposes to show his…Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 44. The unfounded accusations of Job's friends were a "mockery" of him. He alludes to Zophar's word, "mockest" (Job 11:3). neighbour, who calleth, &c.--rather, "I who call upon God that he may answer me favorably" [Umbreit].Read the comment
Topics related to Job 12:4
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Job 12
- 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
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
American Standard Version — 1901 — Public Domain
Commentaries