Teks -- Job 12:24 (NET)

12:24 He deprives the leaders of the earth of their understanding; he makes them wander in a trackless desert waste.

Tafsiran/Catatan -- Catatan Kata/Frasa (per frasa)

JFB: Job 12:24 - heart

Intelligence.

JFB: Job 12:24 - wander in a wilderness

Figurative; not referring to any actual fact. This cannot be quoted to prove Job lived after Israel's wanderings in the desert. Psa 107:4, Psa 107:40 quotes this passage.

Clarke: Job 12:24 - He taketh away the heart of the chief

He taketh away the heart of the chief - Suddenly deprives the leaders of great counsels, or mighty armies of courage; so that, panic-struck, they flee when none pursueth, or are confounded when about to enter on the accomplishment of important designs

Clarke: Job 12:24 - And causeth them to wander in a wilderness

And causeth them to wander in a wilderness - A plain allusion to the journeyings of the Israelites in the deserts of Arabia, on their way to the promised land. Their chief, Aaron, had his courage all taken away by the clamors of the people; and so made them a molten calf to be the object of their worship, which defection from God was the cause of their wandering nearly forty years in the trackless wilderness. The reference is so marked, that it scarcely admits of a doubt; yet Houbigant and some others have called it in question, and suppose that those chiefs or heads of families which led out colonies into distant parts are principally intended. It answers too well to the case of the Israelites in the wilderness to admit of any other interpretation.

Defender: Job 12:24 - wander in a wilderness

Except for the fertile plains of Shinar and the Nile Valley, the world after the Flood was largely an uncharted wilderness. It was into this that God scattered the rebelling tribes at Babel."

TSK: Job 12:24 - He taketh // and causeth // in a wilderness

He taketh : Job 12:20, Job 17:4; Isa 6:9, Isa 6:10, Isa 19:1; Dan 4:16, Dan 4:33; Hos 7:11

and causeth : Psa 107:4, Psa 107:40

in a wilderness : Bethohoo , ""in chaos,""i.e., in a state of utter confusion; it is the same word which is employed in Gen 1:2, to describe the chaotic state of the earth at the creation.

Tafsiran/Catatan -- Catatan Kata/Frasa (per Ayat)

Poole: Job 12:24 - The heart // The chief // Causeth them to wander in a wilderness

The heart which signifies either,

1. Their courage, as Psa 76:12 ; or rather,

2. Their wisdom and counsel, as Job 5:13 Isa 3:4 , as the following words show.

The chief either for place and power, or for wisdom and conduct.

Causeth them to wander in a wilderness i.e. fills them with confusion, and uncertainty, and perplexity of mind, so that they know not how to govern themselves or their people.

Haydock: Job 12:24 - Changeth // No way

Changeth. Hebrew, "taketh away the heart," or prudence "of princes." Hence they follow the most absurd counsels, Isaias xxix. 19. (Calmet) ---

No way. This was the case of Pharao, when he pursued the Israelites into the sea; (Tirinus) and the like may rationally be feared by those princes, who attempt to make innovations in the true religion, or in the sound laws of a kingdom. (Menochius)

Gill: Job 12:24 - He taketh away the heart of the chief of the people of the earth // and caused them to wander in a wilderness where there is no way

He taketh away the heart of the chief of the people of the earth,.... The people of the earth are the common people; the "chief" or "heads" ^f of them, as it may be rendered, are kings, princes and generals of armies; whose "hearts" may be said to be "taken away" when they are dispirited, and deprived both of courage and conduct; have neither valour nor wisdom, neither fortitude of mind, nor military skill to defend themselves and their people against their enemies. Sephorno interprets this of Sihon and Og, whose spirits the Lord hardened, and made their hearts obstinate to war with Israel, Deu 2:30; but it may be better understood of the Israelites, and the heads of them, when they were discomfited by the Amalekites, quickly after their coming out of Egypt, see Num 14:45; about which time Job lived: and the rather, since it follows,

and caused them to wander in a wilderness where there is no way: no track, no beaten path to follow, to be a guide to them, and direct their way; in such a wilderness the Israelites wandered near forty years, see Psa 107:40.