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Read the Bible

The Holy Bible, Berean Study Bible

Job 12:18

He loosens the bonds placed by kings and fastens a belt around their waists.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Afflictions and Adversities;   Atheism;   God;   Philosophy;   The Topic Concordance - God;   Government;   Nations;  

Dictionaries:

- Charles Buck Theological Dictionary - Greatness of God;   Hypocrisy;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Girdle;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Bond;   Girdle;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Job;   Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types - Loose;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Loins;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
He releases the bonds put on by kingsand fastens a belt around their waists.
Hebrew Names Version
He loosens the bond of kings, He binds their loins with a belt.
King James Version
He looseth the bond of kings, and girdeth their loins with a girdle.
English Standard Version
He looses the bonds of kings and binds a waistcloth on their hips.
New Century Version
He takes off chains that kings put on and puts a garment on their bodies.
New English Translation
He loosens the bonds of kings and binds a loincloth around their waist.
Amplified Bible
"He loosens the bond of kings And binds their loins with a loincloth.
New American Standard Bible
"He undoes the binding of kings, And ties a loincloth around their waist.
World English Bible
He loosens the bond of kings, He binds their loins with a belt.
Geneva Bible (1587)
He looseth the collar of Kings, and girdeth their loynes with a girdle.
Legacy Standard Bible
He opens the bond of kingsAnd binds their loins with a belt.
Contemporary English Version
and makes slaves of kings.
Complete Jewish Bible
He removes authority from kings, then binds them up [as prisoners].
Darby Translation
He weakeneth the government of kings, and bindeth their loins with a fetter;
Easy-to-Read Version
He strips kings of their authority and makes them slaves.
George Lamsa Translation
He brings kings down to beg at the gates, and girds their loins with girdles of power.
Good News Translation
He dethrones kings and makes them prisoners;
Lexham English Bible
He loosens the fetters of kings, and he binds a loincloth on their loins.
Literal Translation
He loosens the bonds of kings, and He binds their loins with a girdle;
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
He lowseth the gyrdle of kynges, and gyrdeth their loynes with a bonde.
American Standard Version
He looseth the bond of kings, And he bindeth their loins with a girdle.
Bible in Basic English
He undoes the chains of kings, and puts his band on them;
JPS Old Testament (1917)
He looseth the bond of kings, and bindeth their loins with a girdle.
King James Version (1611)
He looseth the bond of kings, and girdeth their loines with a girdle.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
He taketh away the subiection of the people from their kinges, and girdeth their loynes with a bonde.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
He seats kings upon thrones, and girds their loins with a girdle.
English Revised Version
He looseth the bond of kings, and bindeth their loins with a girdle.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
He vnbindith the girdil of kyngis, and girdith her reynes with a coorde.
Update Bible Version
He looses the authority of kings, and he binds their loins with a girdle.
Webster's Bible Translation
He looseth the bond of kings, and girdeth their loins with a girdle.
New King James Version
He loosens the bonds of kings, And binds their waist with a belt.
New Living Translation
He removes the royal robe of kings. They are led away with ropes around their waist.
New Life Bible
He takes off chains put on by kings, and holds back the power of kings.
New Revised Standard
He looses the sash of kings, and binds a waistcloth on their loins.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
The fetters of kings, He looseth, or hath bound a slave's waistcloth about their loins:
Douay-Rheims Bible
He looseth the belt of kings, and girdeth their loins with a cord.
Revised Standard Version
He looses the bonds of kings, and binds a waistcloth on their loins.
Young's Literal Translation
The bands of kings He hath opened, And He bindeth a girdle on their loins.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
"He loosens the bond of kings And binds their loins with a girdle.

Contextual Overview

12Wisdom is found with the elderly, and understanding comes with long life. 13Wisdom and strength belong to God; counsel and understanding are His. 14What He tears down cannot be rebuilt; the man He imprisons cannot be released. 15If He holds back the waters, they dry up, and if He releases them, they overwhelm the land. 16True wisdom and power belong to Him. The deceived and the deceiver are His. 17He leads counselors away barefoot and makes fools of judges. 18He loosens the bonds placed by kings and fastens a belt around their waists.19He leads priests away barefoot and overthrows the established. 20He deprives the trusted of speech and takes away the discernment of elders. 21He pours out contempt on nobles and disarms the mighty.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

2 Chronicles 33:11-14, Jeremiah 52:31-34, Daniel 2:21, Revelation 19:16

Reciprocal: 1 Kings 20:32 - Thy servant Job 30:11 - loosed Isaiah 5:27 - neither Isaiah 45:5 - I girded thee Daniel 4:32 - until

Cross-References

Genesis 3:13
Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" "The serpent deceived me," she replied, "and I ate."
Genesis 4:10
"What have you done?" replied the LORD. "The voice of your brother's blood cries out to Me from the ground.
Genesis 12:9
And Abram journeyed on toward the Negev.
Genesis 12:10
Now there was a famine in the land. So Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe.
Genesis 12:11
As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, "Look, I know that you are a beautiful woman,
Genesis 31:26
Then Laban said to Jacob, "What have you done? You have deceived me and carried off my daughters like captives of war!
Genesis 44:15
"What is this deed you have done?" Joseph declared. "Did you not know that a man like me can surely divine the truth?"
Exodus 32:21
"What did this people do to you," Moses asked Aaron, "that you have led them into so great a sin?"
Joshua 7:19
So Joshua said to Achan, "My son, give glory to the LORD, the God of Israel, and make a confession to Him. I urge you to tell me what you have done; do not hide it from me."
1 Samuel 14:43
"Tell me what you have done," Saul commanded him. So Jonathan told him, "I only tasted a little honey with the end of the staff that was in my hand. And now I must die?"

Gill's Notes on the Bible

He looseth the bonds of kings,.... Not with which they themselves may be bound, being taken prisoners, or being so before made kings, and brought from thence to reign, as in Ecclesiastes 4:14; but that which they bind on their subjects, a yoke of bondage, tyranny, and oppression; so that to loose their bond is to loose their subjects from it, and free them from their arbitrary and despotic power, and from the burdens they lay upon them: unless rather it should be understood of loosing their waistbands, as an emblem of their government, ungirding them, or unkinging them, stripping them of their royal power and authority, called a "loosing of their loins", Isaiah 45:1; and this power God has over such great personages, as to set up kings, and remove them at his pleasure, Daniel 2:21; which shows that strength and power, as well as wisdom, are with him; this may respect Chedorlaomer casting off the yoke of Nimrod, and the kings of Canaan casting off the yoke of Chedorlaomer, and being loosed from it, Genesis 14:1;

and girdeth their loins with a girdle; not with a royal waistband, as an ensign of government; see Isaiah 11:5; which he looses, and strips them of, but another instead of that; he girds them with the girdle of a servant or traveller; the allusion being to the custom in those eastern countries, where they wore long garments, for servants to gird them up, when they waited on their masters, or when men went long journeys, see Luke 17:7; and so may signify that kings sometimes become servants, or go into captivity, and there be used as such, as they sometimes are; the Vulgate Latin version is, "he girds their reins with a rope".

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

He looseth the bond of kings - The bond of kings (מוּסר mûsâr) here means that by which they bind others. Their power over others he loosens or takes away.

And girdeth their loins with a girdle - That is, he girds them with a rope or cord, and leads them away as prisoners. The whole series of remarks here refers to the reverses and changes in the conditions of life. The meaning here is, that the bonds of authority which they imposed on others are unbound, and that their own loins are bound with a girdle, not a girdle of royal dignity and ornament, but such a one as they are bound with who are servants, or who travel. “Pict. Bib.”

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Job 12:18. 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.


 
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