Job 12 25

Job 12:25 kjv

They grope in the dark without light, and he maketh them to stagger like a drunken man.

Job 12:25 nkjv

They grope in the dark without light, And He makes them stagger like a drunken man.

Job 12:25 niv

They grope in darkness with no light; he makes them stagger like drunkards.

Job 12:25 esv

They grope in the dark without light, and he makes them stagger like a drunken man.

Job 12:25 nlt

They grope in the darkness without a light.
He makes them stagger like drunkards.

Job 12 verses

Job 12 25 Meaning

Job 12:25 portrays individuals who are profoundly disoriented and without guidance. God, in His absolute sovereignty, is depicted as the active agent who causes them to grope in utter darkness, stumbling uncontrollably as if intoxicated. This verse underscores the complete inability of human beings to comprehend or resist divine will, especially when God chooses to confound the seemingly wise or powerful. It signifies a state of spiritual and intellectual bewilderment divinely ordained, where discernment is stripped away, and judgment gives way to utter confusion.

Job 12 25 Context

Job 12:25 is part of Job’s second response to his three friends, specifically following Zophar’s speech in chapter 11. Job is challenging their rigid theology of divine retribution, which posits that suffering is always a direct result of sin. In Job 12, Job asserts God's overwhelming and mysterious sovereignty over all of creation, human affairs, and even human intellect. He argues that God’s power is absolute and operates beyond human comprehension or attempts to box Him into predictable cause-and-effect scenarios.

Within the chapter, Job sarcastically agrees that God’s hand is in everything, but he stresses that this power includes baffling the wise, stripping away the understanding of counselors, and confusing kings (Job 12:17-24). Job 12:25 serves as a potent summation of this point, demonstrating God's capacity to confound those who rely on their own wisdom or assume control. It stands as a polemic against human intellectual pride and the belief that humans can fully grasp divine logic. Culturally, this speaks to the ancient Near Eastern respect for wisdom and insight, portraying a divine being who can easily unravel such human achievements, humbling the proud and making the seemingly powerful appear foolish.

Job 12 25 Word analysis

• They grope (יְמַשְׁמְשׁוּ - yĕmašməšû):

  • Root: Mašash (משׁשׁ), to feel, grope, handle.
  • Grammar: Piel imperfect, suggesting an intensive, repeated, or active fumbling.
  • Significance: It implies searching blindly and helplessly, unable to find one's way, usually due to a lack of sight or light. This is a deliberate state of spiritual or intellectual blindness. The same verb is used in Deut 28:29 and Isa 59:10 for groping in the dark like a blind person, signifying divine judgment or profound despair and confusion.

• in the dark (בַחֹשֶׁךְ - baḥōšek):

  • Word: Ḥōšek (חֹשֶׁךְ), meaning darkness, obscurity, gloom.
  • Significance: This is not merely an absence of light, but often denotes profound spiritual, intellectual, or moral obscurity, representing a state of ignorance, despair, or judgment. It emphasizes a complete lack of orientation or knowledge, both literal and metaphorical. In biblical thought, darkness is frequently associated with chaos, evil, and divine disfavor.

• without light (וְלֹא-אֹור - wĕlōʾ-ʾôr):

  • Word: ʾÔr (אֹור), meaning light, illumination, dawn, understanding, guidance.
  • Significance: This phrase emphatically underlines the utter absence of any illumination, guidance, or discernment. It stresses that there is absolutely no insight or clarity for those in this state. Light in Scripture represents truth, wisdom, revelation, and God's presence, so its absence indicates spiritual destitution.

• and He makes them stagger (וַיַּתְעֵם - wayyaʿtēm):

  • Root: Taʿah (תָּעָה), meaning to err, wander, go astray, cause to stumble.
  • Grammar: Hiphil imperfect with Waw-consecutive, implying causative action. The subject is God.
  • Significance: This is the crucial point—God is actively causing them to stumble, wander, and go astray. It is not accidental; it is a direct act of divine causation. God takes away their direction and leads them into confusion, underscoring His sovereignty over even the most rational human faculties. This resonates with instances where God blinds or hardens hearts.

• like a drunkard (כַּשִׁכּוֹר - kaššikkôr):

  • Word: Šikkôr (שִׁכּוֹר), meaning drunkard, intoxicated.
  • Significance: This simile vividly describes the nature of their stumbling. A drunkard loses control, coordination, and judgment. They reel, fall, and cannot walk straight. The imagery powerfully conveys complete disorientation, irrationality, lack of self-control, and instability. It depicts utter helplessness and a pitiable state of being publicly confused and humiliated.

• Words-group by words-group analysis:

  • They grope in the dark without light: This opening phrase paints a picture of utter blindness and aimlessness. It suggests a desperate and fruitless search in absolute obscurity, signifying both an external condition (lack of light) and an internal state (lack of understanding or spiritual discernment). It is a double emphasis on the complete absence of guidance, intensifying the sense of helplessness and lostness. This condition is imposed.
  • and He makes them stagger like a drunkard: This concluding phrase identifies the agent (God) and clarifies the result: divinely imposed confusion and lack of control. The staggering "like a drunkard" portrays a person who has completely lost their footing, not only literally but also figuratively in terms of judgment and direction. This emphasizes God’s power to bring about disarray and impotence, even in those presumed to be strong or wise, making their supposed competence utterly futile. The divine hand is evident in their helplessness.

Job 12 25 Bonus section

This verse implicitly addresses a significant polemic against humanistic reliance on logic or experience. It posits that wisdom, insight, and direction are not inherently human capacities that can be developed independent of God, but rather are bestowed by Him and can be removed by Him. The confusion described is not a consequence of moral failure per se, but an expression of divine sovereignty, indicating that God can intervene to humble human pride or to fulfill His inscrutable purposes. It serves as a reminder that understanding and success ultimately flow from Him, and when He withdraws His light, human efforts are futile. This passage contributes to a larger biblical theme that true wisdom comes only from fearing the Lord, contrasting it sharply with the transient and manipulable wisdom of the world.

Job 12 25 Commentary

Job 12:25 delivers a stark assertion of God's untrammeled power over human wisdom and destiny. Far from a benevolent guide who always leads directly, God is depicted here as capable of plunging individuals—even the wise and authoritative figures Job previously referenced—into utter intellectual and spiritual chaos. He actively divests them of insight, leaving them to flail about like the blind, without any guiding light. Their subsequent stumbling, portrayed by the vivid simile of a drunkard, is not accidental or self-induced but is divinely orchestrated. This emphasizes that human wisdom, reason, or presumed stability is fragile and entirely subject to God's will. It’s a powerful argument by Job against the neat theological formulas of his friends; God operates in ways that defy human explanation, sometimes bringing down confusion upon those who think they are secure in their knowledge. This highlights the humility required before God's transcendent wisdom and uncontrollable power.