Job 5:12

He disappointeth the devices of the crafty, so that their hands cannot perform their enterprise.

King James Version · Read in your translation · Open the Explore console

Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
disappointeth	מֵ֭פֵר Me.fer	H6565	to break up (usually figuratively) · verb, hiphil active participle, masculine singular absolute
devices	מַחְשְׁב֣וֹת mach.she.Vot	H4284	a contrivance · noun, common feminine plural construct
crafty	עֲרוּמִ֑ים 'a.ru.Mim	H6175	cunning (usually in a bad sense) · adjective, masculine plural absolute
hands	יְ֝דֵיהֶ֗ם ye.dei.Hem	H3027	a hand (the open one (indicating power · noun, common both genders dual construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
perform	תַעֲשֶׂ֥ינָה ta.'a.Sei.nah	H6213	to do or make · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person feminine plural
enterprise	תּוּשִׁיָּֽה tu.shi.Yah	H8454	support or (by implication) ability · noun, common feminine 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

Psalms 21:11 For they intended evil against thee: they imagined a mischievous device, which they are not able to perform.
Psalms 33:10-11 The LORD bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought: he maketh the devices of the people of none effect.
Isaiah 8:10 Take counsel together, and it shall come to nought; speak the word, and it shall not stand: for God is with us.
Proverbs 21:30 There is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the LORD.
Psalms 37:17 For the arms of the wicked shall be broken: but the LORD upholdeth the righteous.
Isaiah 37:36 Then the angel of the LORD went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose…
Acts 12:11 And when Peter was come to himself, he said, Now I know of a surety, that the Lord hath sent his angel, and hath delivered me out of the han…
Nehemiah 4:15 And it came to pass, when our enemies heard that it was known unto us, and God had brought their counsel to nought, that we returned all of…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Job 5:6-16

Eliphaz, having touched Job in a very tender part, in mentioning both the loss of his estate and the death of his children as the just punishment of his sin, that he might not drive him to despair, here begins to encourage him, and puts him in a way to make himself easy. Now he very much changes his voice (Gal 4:20), and speaks in the accents of kindness, as if he would atone for the hard words he had given him. I. He reminds him that no affliction comes by chance, nor is to be attributed to second causes: It doth not come forth of the dust, nor spring out of the ground, as the grass doth, Job 5:6. It doth not come of course, at certain seasons of the year, as natural productions do, by a ch…

Read the whole note in the console

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Job 5:12

enterprise--literally, "realization." The Hebrew combines in the one word the two ideas, wisdom and happiness, "enduring existence" being the etymological and philosophical root of the combined notion [UMBREIT].

John Gill on Job 5:12

He disappointeth the devices of the crafty,.... Or, "it disappointeth"; that is, the rain, as some Jewish commentators (m) interpret it, and the whole paragraph to this sense; the rain coming upon the earth makes it fruitful, and causes it to produce a plentiful crop, whereby the schemes of crafty men are disappointed, who in a time of drought withhold the corn, and enhance the price of it, and distress the poor; and this in order to make a penny of them, according to Amos 8:4; but through the rain falling are not able to gain their end, but are obliged to bring out their corn, and sell it at a low price, and so are taken in their own craftiness; their counsel becomes brutish, and they are b…

Read the whole note in the console

Keil & Delitzsch on Job 5:12-16

12 Who bringeth to nought the devices of the crafty, So that their hands cannot accomplish anything; 13 Who catcheth the wise in their craftiness; And the counsel of the cunning is thrown down. 14 By day they run into darkness, And grope in the noon-day as in the night. 15 He rescueth from the sword, that from their mouth, And from the hand of the strong, the needy. 16 Hope ariseth for the weak, And folly shall close its mouth. All these attributes are chosen designedly: God brings down all haughtiness, and takes compassion on those who need it. The noun תּוּשׁיּה, coined by the Chokma, and out of Job and Proverbs found only in Mic 6:9; Isa 28:29, and even there in gnomical connection, is fo…

The Church Fathers

"That their hand may not accomplish what they have meditated; That they do not do what they promised, when they threatened to crush the weak.
— Augustine of Hippo, ANNOTATIONS ON THE BOOK OF JOB (tr. J. Litteral, draft)

What do these words mean? Eliphaz insults Job, who should be a crafty man. He has a desire for justice, without doing anything for which he boasts with real justice. However, God does not stand still without penetrating such schemes, and "the schemes of the wily are brought to a quick end."
— Hesychius of Jerusalem, HOMILIES ON JOB 8.5.12-13

He disappointeth the devices of the crafty, so that their hands cannot perform their enterprise. The minds of the lost are ever awake to evil imaginations, but very often the Providence above counteracts them, and though not even when they are crushed with adversities do they amend the wickedness of their counsel, yet that they may never prevail against the good, He puts a check upon their power. And against these it is brought to pass by marvellous retribution, that whilst the effect of their evil doing is lacking to them, still conscience gives them over convicted to the just sentence of the Judge. Whereas then they devise evil things, they shew what they themselves are about; but, whereas they cannot 'perform their enterprize,' they, against whom it was imagined, are protected.
— Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book VI

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

Fellowship · WITH CHRIST — WITH CHRIST
Hands, The · God makes impotent — God makes impotent
Philosophy · provi — provi
Regeneration · 1:16,17,25;4:4;12:3;26:12;29:23;32:3,4,15,17;35:5,6;42:16;43:7;44:3-5;49:9;55:1-3; — 1:16,17,25;4:4;12:3;26:12;29:23;32:3,4,15,17;35:5,6;42:16;43:7;44:3-5;49:9;55:1-3;
Unbelief · 5:12-14; — 5:12-14;
Widow · General references — General references

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).

Job 5:12

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Job 5:6-16

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Job 5:12

John Gill on Job 5:12

Keil & Delitzsch on Job 5:12-16

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Job 5:12

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Job 5:6-16

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Job 5:12

John Gill on Job 5:12

Keil & Delitzsch on Job 5:12-16

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Job 5:9-16

Rashi on Job 5:12