Job 12 · Verse 18

Job 12:18

He looseth the bond of kings, and girdeth their loins with a girdle.
Job 12:18, King James Version

Job 12:18 in other translations

BSBHe loosens the bonds placed by kings and fastens a belt around their waists.
WEBHe loosens the bond of kings. He binds their waist with a belt.
ASVHe looseth the bond of kings, And he bindeth their loins with a girdle.
YLTThe bands of kings He hath opened, And He bindeth a girdle on their loins.
DARBYHe weakeneth the government of kings, and bindeth their loins with a fetter;
BBEHe undoes the chains of kings, and puts his band on them;
WebsterHe looseth the bond of kings, and girdeth their loins with a girdle.

What does Job 12:18 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
18. He looseth the bond of kings--He looseth the authority of kings--the "bond" with which they bind their subjects (Is 45:1; Ge 14:4; Da 2:21). a girdle--the cord, with which they are bound as captives, instead of the royal "girdle" they once wore (Is 22:21), and the bond they once bound others with. So "gird"--put on one the bonds of a prisoner instead of the ordinary girdle (Joh 21:18).

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 18 He looseth the bond of kings - He takes away their splendid robes, and clothes them with sackcloth; or, he dissolves their authority, permits their subjects to rebel and overthrow the state, to bind them as captives, and despoil them of all power, authority, and liberty. Many proofs of this occur in the Israelitish history and in the history of the principal nations of the earth, and not a few in the history of Britain.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Job 12:12-25

This is a noble discourse of Job concerning the wisdom, power, and sovereignty of God, in ordering all the affairs of the children of men, according to the counsel of His own will, which none can resist. It were well if wise and good men, who differ about lesser things, would see how it is for their honour and comfort, and the good of others, to dwell most upon the great things in which they agree. Here are no…

Read the full comment on Job 12:12-25 →

Job 12:18 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

מוּסַ֣רmu.Sar[the] correction ofH4148
מְלָכִ֣יםme.la.KhimkingsH4428
פִּתֵּ֑חַpi.Te.achhe loosensH6605
וַיֶּאְסֹ֥רvai.ye'.Sorand he boundH631
אֵ֝ז֗וֹר'e.Zora loinclothH232
בְּמָתְנֵיהֶֽם\׃be.ma.te.nei.Hemon loins theirH4975

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Job 12:18

  • Daniel 2:21

    And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding:

  • Psalms 116:16

    O Lord, truly I am thy servant; I am thy servant, and the son of thine handmaid: thou hast loosed my bonds.

  • Jeremiah 52:31-34

    And it came to pass in the seven and thirtieth year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, in the five and twentieth day of the month, that Evil–merodach king of Babylon in the first year of his reign lifted up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah, and brought him forth out of prison, And spake kindly unto him, and set his throne above the throne of the kings that were with him in Babylon, And changed his prison garments: and he did continually eat bread before him all the days of his life. And for his diet, there was a continual diet given him of the king of Babylon, every day a portion until the day of his death, all the days of his life.

  • 2 Chronicles 33:11-14

    Wherefore the Lord brought upon them the captains of the host of the king of Assyria, which took Manasseh among the thorns, and bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon. And when he was in affliction, he besought the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, And prayed unto him: and he was intreated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord he was God. Now after this he built a wall without the city of David, on the west side of Gihon, in the valley, even to the entering in at the fish gate, and compassed about Ophel, and raised it up a very great height, and put captains of war in all the fenced cities of Judah.

  • Revelation 19:16

    And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
2Ch 33:11-14; Jer 52:31-34; Da 2:21; Re 19:16

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Job 12:17

    He leadeth counsellors away spoiled, and maketh the judges fools.

  • Job 12:18

    He looseth the bond of kings, and girdeth their loins with a girdle.

  • Job 12:19

    He leadeth princes away spoiled, and overthroweth the mighty.

Read all of Job 12

Job 12:18 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		El suelta la atadura de los tiranos, y ata el cinto á sus lomos.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Il rend impuissant le gouvernement des rois, et lie de chaînes leurs reins;
German
Elberfelder 1871		Die Herrschaft der Könige löst er auf, und schlingt eine Fessel um ihre Lenden.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Balteum regum dissolvit, et præcingit fune renes eorum.