a hand (the open one (indicating power · preposition + noun, common both genders singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
soul
נֶ֣פֶשׁNe.fesh
H5315
properly · noun, common feminine singular construct
thing
חָ֑יChai
H2416
alive · adjective, masculine singular absolute
breath
וְ֝ר֗וּחַve.Ru.ach
H7307
wind · conjunction + noun, common feminine singular construct
mankind
אִֽישׁ'Ish
H376
a man as an individual or a male person · noun, common masculine singular absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Acts 17:28 For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.
Job 33:4 The Spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life.
Acts 17:25 Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;
Numbers 16:22 And they fell upon their faces, and said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and wilt thou be wroth with all the…
Job 27:3 All the while my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils;
Daniel 5:23 But hast lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of his house before thee, and thou, and thy lords,…
Psalms 146:3-4 Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help.
Job 34:14-15 If he set his heart upon man, if he gather unto himself his spirit and his breath;
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Job 12:6-11
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. 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. Even great sinners may enjoy great prosperity. Observe, 1. How he describes the sinners. They are robbers, and such as provoke God, the…
the soul--that is, the animal life. Man, reasons Job, is subjected to the same laws as the lower animals.
John Gill on Job 12:10
In whose hand is the soul of every living thing,.... Of every animal, of every brute creature, as distinct from man, in the next clause: the life of everyone of them is from him, and it is continued by him as long as he pleases, nor can it be taken away without his leave; two sparrows, which are not worth more than a farthing, not one of them falls to the ground, or dies without the knowledge and will of God, Matthew 10:29; of the soul or spirit of beasts, see Ecclesiastes 3:21;
and the breath of all mankind; the breath of man is originally from God, he at first breathed into man the breath of life; and though this is in his nostrils, which makes him of little account, yet it would not cont…
7 But ask now even the beasts - they shall teach it thee;
And the birds of heaven - they shall declare it to thee:
8 Or look thoughtfully to the ground - it shall teach it thee;
And the fish of the sea shall tell it thee.
9 Who would not recognise in all this
That the hand of Jehovah hath wrought this,
10 In whose hand is the soul of every living thing,
And the breath of all mankind?!
The meaning of the whole strophe is perverted if זאת (Job 12:9), is, with Ewald, referred to "the destiny of severe suffering and pain," and if that which precedes is accordingly referred to the testimony of creation to God as its author. Since, as a glance at what follows shows, Job further on praises God as t…
The Church Fathers
"Unless all living beings are not under his power. One can therefore know that he has created everything, since he holds in his hands the life of all that breathes. "And the breath that animates the body. of man, »all
In Whose Hand is the soul of every living thing, and the spirit of all flesh of man. For by the 'Hand' Power is denoted. Thus 'the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind,' is in the Power of Him, from Whom it has its being, that He Himself should appoint in what condition it should be, Who vouchsafed that to be, which was not. But by 'the soul of every living thing' may be denoted the life of beasts. Now Almighty God quickens the soul of beasts to the extent of the corporeal senses, but man's spirit He draws out to a spiritual understanding; and thus 'in His Hand is the soul of every living thing and the breath of all flesh of men,' in that both the one, He bestows this power on the soul that it should give life to the flesh, and in the other He quickens the soul to this degree, that it should attain to the understanding of eternity. But we are to bear in mind that in Holy Writ 'the spirit of man' is wont to be put in two ways. For sometimes 'the spirit' is put for the soul, sometimes for spiritual agency. Thus 'the spirit' is put for the soul, as it is written of our own Head Himself, And He bowed His Head, and gave up His Spirit. For if the Evangelist had called any thing else 'the spirit' saving the soul, then surely upon that spirit departing, the soul would have remained. Moreover, the term 'spirit' is used for spiritual agency, as where it is written, Who maketh His Angels spirits, His Ministers a flaming fire. For Preachers are occasionally called 'Angels,' i.e. 'bearers of tidings,' in Holy Writ, as where it is said by the Prophet, The priest's lips keep knowledge, and they seek the law from his mouth: for he is the Angel of the Lord of Hosts. Thus Almighty God 'maketh His Angels spirits,' in that He changeth His Preachers into spiritual men. But in this passage, if by 'the soul of every living thing,' the mere life of the body is denoted, by the 'spirit of all flesh of man,' there is set forth the agency of a spiritual understanding.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Satan — Adversary; accuser. When used as a proper name, the Hebrew word so rendered has the article “the adversary” (Job 1:6-12; 2:1-7). In the New Testament it is used as interchangeable with Diabolos, or…
Atheism · ARGUMENTS AGAINST — ARGUMENTS AGAINST
Design · In nature, evi — In nature, evi
Life, Natural · Is in the hand of God — Is in the hand of God
Philosophy · provi — provi
Religion · NATURAL — NATURAL
Wisdom · .UNCLASSIFIED SCRIPTURES RELATING TO — .UNCLASSIFIED SCRIPTURES RELATING TO
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
from the hand of the Lord: This is the only place in the dialogues (chs 3–27; 29–37) that the Hebrew Yahweh (“the Lord”) is used. For Job, the dispute was not about who caused his misery but why it happened.
Rashi on Job 12:6
prosper I know that at times tents will prosper, namely those of the Kedarites who dwell in tents in the deserts, and who are robbers, as it is stated (Gen. 16:12): “a free man among men; his hand shall be against every man.”
are secure Those who provoke God have perfection, anyone to whom the Rock brought peace with His hand, whether he is good or bad.
