Job chapter 12

After reading chapter 12:

* Job replies sarcastically to Zophar, telling him "doubtless you are the people and wisdom will die with you." In other words, you think you know it all. Ouch. He goes on to say that his mind still works as good as anyone else's and he knows whether or not he has called on God, and whether or not he is blameless. People who have an easy life often have contempt for those that experience misfortune. So true. But, there are those who provoke God, like robbers, yet they are secure in their belongings.

*Verses 7-10 tell us that the animal kingdom can teach us a lesson about the control Yahweh has over every living thing. This is the only place in these dialogs that Yahweh is mentioned. Next Job states that wisdom should come with age, possibly a dig at his friends who think they are wise.

*The rest of the chapter poetically outlines many negative aspects of god's power, especially over those who once had places of social prominence. When this chapter is read from the Jewish study bible (JPS), I get the idea that it could be referring to the history of the Israelites.

*Since the KJV turned out to be quite different in translation from the NIV, while reading Job, today I decided to check out the JPS. After all, we are reading a Jewish text, wouldn't a Jewish translation be helpful. It is also worded differently in many instances and seems very close to the KJV.

More about the JPS here. We are reminded that all the English versions of the bible are interpretations by individuals with their own biases. The Jewish translators were obviously worried about christological  interpretations of Jewish texts. Those kinds of interpretations are clearly present in the NIV. There also appears to be a new JPS which is significantly different. You can find the searchable text here. I will also put a link in my link sidebar.