Job 12

This sounds a little different than what Job had been saying in earlier chapters, when he was tearing into God with complaints. This speech extends through three chapters, until the end of Job 14. It marks a turning point in this story. Job moves from complaining about God to engaging in a conversation with him and asking him the question that God very seldom answers in the Bible: “Why?” Job wants to know what he did wrong and why God wass treating him in such a vicious and horrifying way (Job 13:23).

Bible scholars debate how to interpret this line. Ideas include: “They carry their god [idol] in their hands.” “Their hands [self-confidence?] have become their gods.” “They are in the protective hands of God,” as in God protects them—which would sound like another complaint against God.

The original Hebrew text more literally says God will lead the advisors away naked as a jaybird, without referencing the jaybird, which is native to North America. Some scholars guess that the phrase means the royal advisors are taken captive by invaders and led away naked into captivity. That’s what invaders often did when they captured people of nobility. They humiliated them and led them away as slaves into a foreign land.