Job 12:19
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He leads priests away barefoot and overthrows the established.
Commentaries
Excerpts gathered from published commentaries to ground the reading.
In this and the two following chapters we have Job's answer to Zophar's discourse, in which, as before, he first reasons with his friends (see Job 13:19) and then turns to his God, and directs his expostulations to him, from thence to the end of his discourse. In this chapter he addresses himself to his friends, and, I. He condemns what they had said of him, and the judgment they had given of his character (Job 12:1-5). II. He contradicts and confronts what they had said of the destruction of wicked people in this world, showing that they often prosper (Job 12:6-11). III. He consents to what they had said of the wisdom, power, and sovereignty of God, and the dominion of his providence over the children of men and all their affairs; he confirms this, and enlarges upon it (Job 12:12-25).
Open source ↗12:19 The priests are figuratively stripped of status (the NLT adds “of status” for clarity) or are actually stripped of priestly robes; they might even be naked captives (12:18).
Open source ↗Original language
The Hebrew and Greek words behind this passage, with Strong's numbers — from openscriptures (CC BY-SA).
Cross-references
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This is what the LORD says to Cyrus His anointed, whose right hand I have grasped to subdue nations before him, to disarm kings, to open the doors before him, so that the gates will not be shut:
Yet by His power, God drags away the mighty; though rising up, they have no assurance of life.
Men cry out under great oppression; they plead for relief from the arm of the mighty.
They will make war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will triumph over them, because He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and He will be accompanied by His called and chosen and faithful ones.”
And because the LORD, the God of Israel, fought for Israel, Joshua captured all these kings and their land in one campaign.
They caused the cry of the poor to come before Him, and He heard the outcry of the afflicted.
When they had brought the kings to Joshua, he summoned all the men of Israel and said to the army commanders who had accompanied him, “Come here and put your feet on the necks of these kings.” So the commanders came forward and put their feet on their necks.