Job 12:25

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

Job 12:25 in Other Translations

King James Version (KJV)
25 They grope in the dark without light, and he maketh them to stagger like a drunken man.
English Standard Version (ESV)
25 They grope in the dark without light, and he makes them stagger like a drunken man.
New Living Translation (NLT)
25 They grope in the darkness without a light. He makes them stagger like drunkards.
The Message Bible (MSG)
25 They grope in the dark without a clue, lurching and staggering like drunks.
American Standard Version (ASV)
25 They grope in the dark without light; And he maketh them to stagger like a drunken man.
GOD'S WORD Translation (GW)
25 They grope in the dark with no light, and he makes them stumble like drunks.
Holman Christian Standard Bible (CSB)
25 They grope around in darkness without light; He makes them stagger like drunken men.
New International Reader's Version (NIRV)
25 Without any light, they feel their way along in darkness. God makes them unsteady like those who get drunk.

Job 12:25 Meaning and Commentary

Job 12:25

They grope in the dark without light
Like blind men, as the men of Sodom, when they were struck with blindness; or "they grope", or "feel the dark, and not light" F7, as the Targum; as the Egyptian, did when such gross darkness was upon them as might be felt:

and he maketh them to stagger like [a] drunken [man];
that has lost his sight, his senses, and his feet, and knows not where he is, which way to go, nor how to keep on his legs, but reels to and fro, and is at the utmost loss what to do; all this is said of the heads or chief of the people, in consequence of their hearts being taken away, and so left destitute of wisdom and strength.


FOOTNOTES:

F7 (rwa alw Kvx wvvmy) "palpant tenebras et non lucem", Vatablus, Mercerus, Drusius, Schultens.

Job 12:25 In-Context

23 He makes nations great, and destroys them; he enlarges nations, and disperses them.
24 He deprives the leaders of the earth of their reason; he makes them wander in a trackless waste.
25 They grope in darkness with no light; he makes them stagger like drunkards.

Cross References 2

  • 1. S Deuteronomy 28:29; Job 18:6; Job 21:17; Job 29:3; Job 5:14
  • 2. Psalms 107:27; Isaiah 24:20
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