Job 12 · Verse 25

Job 12:25

They grope in the dark without light, and he maketh them to stagger like a drunken man.
Job 12:25, King James Version

Job 12:25 in other translations

BSBThey grope in the darkness without light; He makes them stagger like drunkards.
WEBThey grope in the dark without light. He makes them stagger like a drunken man.
ASVThey grope in the dark without light; And he maketh them to stagger like a drunken man.
YLTThey feel darkness, and not light, He causeth them to wander as a drunkard.
DARBYThey grope in the dark without light, and he maketh them to stagger like a drunkard.
BBEThey go feeling about in the dark without light, wandering without help like those overcome with wine.
WebsterThey grope in the dark without light, and he maketh them to stagger like a drunken man.

What does Job 12:25 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
25. De 28:29; Psa 107:27 again quote Job, but in a different connection.

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

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 25 They grope in the dark - The writer seems to have had his eye on those words of Moses, Deu 28:28, Deu 28:29 : The Lord shall smite thee with madness, and blindness, and astonishment of heart; and thou shalt Grope At Noonday, as the Blind Gropeth In Darkness. And this also may refer to the unaccountable errors, transgressions, and judicial blindness of the Israelites in their journeying to the promised land: but it will apply also to the state of wicked nations under judicial blindness. The writer is principally indebted for his imagery, and indeed for the chief expressions used here, to Psa 107:27 : They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man. Psa 107:39, Psa 107:40 : Again, they are minished and brought low through oppression, affliction, and sorrow. He Poureth Contempt Upon Princes, and Causeth Them To Wonder In The Wilderness, where there is No Way. Mr. Good has some judicious reflections on this chapter, particularly on Job 12:13-22 : "It should be observed," says he, "that the entire passage has a reference to the machinery of a regular and political government; and that its general drift is to imprint on the mind of the hearer the important doctrine that the whole of the constituent principles of such a government, its officers and institutions; its monarchs and princes; its privy-counselors, judges, and ministers of state; its chieftains, public orators, and assembly of elders; its nobles, or men of hereditary rank; and its stout robust peasantry, as we should express it in the present day; nay, the deep designing villains that plot in secret its destruction; - that the nations themselves, and the heads or sovereigns of the nations, are all and equally in the hands of the Almighty: that with him human pomp is poverty; human excellence, turpitude; human judgment, error; human wisdom, folly; human dignity, contempt; human strength, weakness."

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 12:25 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.

יְמַֽשְׁשׁוּ\־ye.mash.shu-they gropeH4959
חֹ֥שֶׁךְCho.shekhdarknessH2822
וְלֹא\־ve.lo'-and notH3808
א֑וֹר'orlightH216
וַ֝יַּתְעֵ֗םvai.yat.'Emand he made wander themH8582
כַּשִּׁכּֽוֹר\׃ka.shi.Korlike <the> drunkardH7910

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

Cross references for Job 12:25

  • Job 5:14

    They meet with darkness in the daytime, and grope in the noonday as in the night.

  • Psalms 107:27

    They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end.

  • Isaiah 24:20

    The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again.

  • Isaiah 19:14

    The Lord hath mingled a perverse spirit in the midst thereof: and they have caused Egypt to err in every work thereof, as a drunken man staggereth in his vomit.

  • Deuteronomy 28:29

    And thou shalt grope at noonday, as the blind gropeth in darkness, and thou shalt not prosper in thy ways: and thou shalt be only oppressed and spoiled evermore, and no man shall save thee.

  • 1 John 2:11

    But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes.

  • Isaiah 59:10

    We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes: we stumble at noonday as in the night; we are in desolate places as dead men.

  • Genesis 19:11

    And they smote the men that were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great: so that they wearied themselves to find the door.

  • Acts 13:11

    And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for a season. And immediately there fell on him a mist and a darkness; and he went about seeking some to lead him by the hand.

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
grope.
5:14; Ge 19:11; De 28:29; Isa 59:10; Ac 13:11; 1Jo 2:11
maketh.
Ps 107:27; Isa 19:14; 24:20
stagger. Heb. wander.

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

Context

  • Job 12:24

    He taketh away the heart of the chief of the people of the earth, and causeth them to wander in a wilderness where there is no way.

  • Job 12:25

    They grope in the dark without light, and he maketh them to stagger like a drunken man.

Read all of Job 12

Job 12:25 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Van á tientas como en tinieblas y sin luz, y los hace errar como borrachos.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Ils tâtonnent dans les ténèbres où il n’y a point de lumière; il les fait errer comme un homme ivre.
German
Elberfelder 1871		sie tappen in der Finsternis, wo kein Licht ist, und er macht sie umherirren gleich einem Trunkenen.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		palpabunt quasi in tenebris, et non in luce, et errare eos faciet quasi ebrios.