God’s Word Translation
Job 12:23
23He makes nations important and then destroys them. He makes nations large and leads them away.
Job 12:23 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)He increaseth the nations, and destroyeth them: he enlargeth the nations, and straiteneth them again.
- New International Version (NIV)He makes nations great, and destroys them; he enlarges nations, and disperses them.
- English Standard Version (ESV)He makes nations great, and he destroys them; he enlarges nations, and leads them away.
- New King James Version (NKJV)He makes nations great, and destroys them; He enlarges nations, and guides them.
Context of Job 12:23
21He pours contempt on influential people and unbuckles the belt of the mighty. 22He uncovers mysteries ⌞hidden⌟ in the darkness and brings gloom into the light. He makes nations important and then destroys them. He makes nations large and leads them away. 24He takes away the common sense of a country’s leaders and makes them stumble about in a pathless wilderness. 25They grope in the dark with no light, and he makes them stumble like drunks.
Read all of Job 12Job 12:23 word by word
מַשְׂגִּ֣יא לַ֭גּוֹיִם וַֽיְאַבְּדֵ֑ם שֹׁטֵ֥חַ לַ֝גּוֹיִ֗ם וַיַּנְחֵֽם׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Job 12:23
- Exodus 1:7But the descendants of Israel had many children. They became so numerous and strong that the land was filled with them.
- Psalms 107:38He blesses them, and their numbers multiply, and he does not allow a shortage of cattle.
- Isaiah 9:3You will expand the nation and increase its happiness. It will be happy in your presence like those who celebrate the harvest or rejoice when dividing loot.
- Isaiah 26:15You have expanded the nation, O Lord. You have expanded the nation. You are honored. You have extended all the land’s boundaries.
- Isaiah 27:6In times to come Jacob will take root. Israel will blossom, bud, and fill the whole world with fruit.
- Isaiah 51:2Look to Abraham, your ancestor, and to Sarah, from whom you are descended. When I called Abraham, he was childless. I blessed him and gave him many descendants.
- Isaiah 60:22The smallest of them will become a family. The weakest of them will become a mighty nation. At the right time I, the Lord, will make it happen quickly.”
- Jeremiah 30:19The people who live there will sing songs of praise, and the sound of laughter will be heard from there. I’ll make them numerous, and their number won’t decrease. I’ll bring them honor, and they won’t be considered unimportant.
- Jeremiah 33:22I will multiply the descendants of my servant David and the Levites who serve me like the stars of heaven that cannot be counted and the sand on the seashore that cannot be measured.”
- Zechariah 10:8I will signal them with a whistle and gather them because I have reclaimed them. They will be as numerous as they have ever been.
Commentaries on Job 12:23
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 23He increaseth the nations - Mr. Good translates, He letteth the nations grow licentious. Pride, fullness of bread, with extensive trade and commerce, produce luxury; and this is ever accompanied with profligacy of manners. When, then, the cup of this iniquity is full, God destroys the nation, by bringing or permitting to come against it a nation less pampered, more necessitous, and inured to toil. He enlargeth the nations - Often permits a nation to…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 23He increaseth the nations, and destroyeth them - He has entire control over them. The sources of prosperity are in his hand, and at his pleasure he can visit them with famine, pestilence, or war, and diminish their numbers and arrest their prosperity. Dr. Good renders this very improperly, “He letteth the nations grow licentious;” but the word שׂגא śâgâ' never has this sense. It means, to make great; to multiply; to increase. And straiteneth them again…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 12-25Verses 12-25 This is a noble discourse of Job concerning the wisdom, power, and sovereignty of God, in ordering all the affairs of the children of men, according to the counsel of His own will, which none can resist. It were well if wise and good men, who differ about lesser things, would see how it is for their honour and comfort, and the good of others, to dwell most upon the great things in which they agree. Here are no complaints, or reflections. He…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 23-24Compare Daniel 2:21. He deprives the earth’s leaders of reason: See Job 12:18; compare Daniel 4:23, 32–33. He… makes them wander in a trackless wasteland: This is like the "nobles" in Psalm 107:40 (see Job 12:21).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2323. Is 9:3; Psa 107:38, 39, which Psalm quotes this chapter elsewhere. (See on Job 12:21). straiteneth--literally, "leadeth in," that is, "reduces."Read the comment
Topics related to Job 12:23
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
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
Commentaries