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Wednesday, July 23rd, 2025
the Week of Proper 11 / Ordinary 16
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Read the Bible

Complete Jewish Bible

Job 12:3

But I too have a brain, as much as you, In no way am I inferior to you. Besides, who doesn't know things like these?

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Pride;   Sarcasm;   Self-Exaltation;   Wisdom;  

Dictionaries:

- Charles Buck Theological Dictionary - Greatness of God;   Hypocrisy;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Job, the Book of;  

Encyclopedias:

- The Jewish Encyclopedia - Memra;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
But I also have a mind like you;I am not inferior to you.Who doesn’t know the things you are talking about?
Hebrew Names Version
But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you: Yes, who doesn't know such things as these?
King James Version
But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you: yea, who knoweth not such things as these?
English Standard Version
But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you. Who does not know such things as these?
New Century Version
But my mind is as good as yours; you are not better than I am. Everyone knows all these things.
New English Translation
I also have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you. Who does not know such things as these?
Amplified Bible
"But I have intelligence and understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you. Who does not know such things as these [of God's wisdom and might]?
New American Standard Bible
"But I have intelligence as well as you; I am not inferior to you. And who does not know such things as these?
World English Bible
But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you: Yes, who doesn't know such things as these?
Geneva Bible (1587)
But I haue vnderstanding aswel as you, and am not inferior vnto you: yea, who knoweth not such things?
Legacy Standard Bible
But I have a heart of wisdom as well as you;I do not fall short of you.And who does not know such things as these?
Berean Standard Bible
But I also have a mind; I am not inferior to you. Who does not know such things as these?
Contemporary English Version
But I know as much as you do, and so does everyone else.
Darby Translation
I also have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you; and who knoweth not such things as these?
Easy-to-Read Version
But my mind is as good as yours. You aren't any smarter than I am. You haven't said anything that people don't already know.
George Lamsa Translation
But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you; but to whom are such things as these not known?
Good News Translation
But I have as much sense as you have; I am in no way inferior to you; everyone knows all that you have said.
Lexham English Bible
I also have insight like you; I am not more inferior than you. And who does not know things like these?
Literal Translation
I also have a heart as well as you; I do not fall short of you. And with whom are not things like these?
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
But I haue vnderstodinge as well as ye, and am no lesse then ye. Yee who knoweth not these thinges?
American Standard Version
But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you: Yea, who knoweth not such things as these?
Bible in Basic English
But I have a mind as well as you; I am equal to you: yes, who has not knowledge of such things as these?
JPS Old Testament (1917)
But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you; yea, who knoweth not such things as these?
King James Version (1611)
But I haue vnderstanding as well as you, I am not inferiour to you: yea, who knoweth not such things as these?
Bishop's Bible (1568)
But I haue vnderstanding aswell as ye, and am not inferior to you: Yea who knoweth not these thinges?
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
But I also have a heart as well as you.
English Revised Version
But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you: yea, who knoweth not such things as these?
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And to me is an herte, as and to you, and Y am not lowere than ye; for who knowith not these thingis, whiche ye knowen?
Update Bible Version
But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you: Yes, who doesn't know such things as these?
Webster's Bible Translation
But I have understanding as well as you; I [am] not inferior to you: yes, who knoweth not such things as these?
New King James Version
But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you. Indeed, who does not know such things as these?
New Living Translation
Well, I know a few things myself— and you're no better than I am. Who doesn't know these things you've been saying?
New Life Bible
But I have understanding as well as you. I am not less than you. Who does not know such things as these?
New Revised Standard
But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you. Who does not know such things as these?
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
I also, have a mind like you, I, fall not short, of you, But who hath not such things as these?
Douay-Rheims Bible
I also have a heart as well as you: for who is ignorant of these things, which you know?
Revised Standard Version
But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you. Who does not know such things as these?
Young's Literal Translation
I also have a heart like you, I am not fallen more than you, And with whom is there not like these?
New American Standard Bible (1995)
"But I have intelligence as well as you; I am not inferior to you. And who does not know such things as these?

Contextual Overview

1 Iyov responded: 2 "No doubt you are [the only] people [that matter]; and when you die, so will wisdom. 3 But I too have a brain, as much as you, In no way am I inferior to you. Besides, who doesn't know things like these? 4 "Anyone who calls on God, and he answers him, becomes a laughingstock to his friends — they make fun of an innocent, blameless man. 5 Those at ease have contempt for misfortune, for the blow that strikes somebody already staggering.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

But I have: Job 13:2-5, Proverbs 26:4, 2 Corinthians 11:5, 2 Corinthians 11:21-23

understanding: Heb. an heart

I am not inferior to you: Heb. I fall not lower than you. who knoweth not such things as these. Heb. with whom are not such as these. Job 6:6, Job 6:7, Job 26:2, Job 26:3

Reciprocal: Job 6:13 - and is wisdom Job 11:12 - would Job 12:9 - Who Job 34:16 - General Job 37:19 - Teach Job 38:2 - General

Cross-References

Genesis 18:18
inasmuch as Avraham is sure to become a great and strong nation, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed by him?
Genesis 27:29
May peoples serve you and nations bow down to you. May you be lord over your kinsmen, let your mother's descendants bow down to you. Cursed be everyone who curses you, and blessed be everyone who blesses you!"
Genesis 28:14
Your descendants will be as numerous as the grains of dust on the earth. You will expand to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. By you and your descendants all the families of the earth will be blessed.
Genesis 30:27
Lavan answered him, "If you regard me favorably, then please listen: I have observed the signs that Adonai has blessed me on account of you.
Genesis 30:30
The few you had before I came have increased substantially; Adonai has blessed you wherever I went. But now, when will I provide for my own household?"
Genesis 39:5
From the time he appointed him manager of his household and all his possessions, Adonai blessed the Egyptian's household for Yosef's sake; Adonai 's blessing was on all he owned, whether in the house or in the field.
Exodus 23:22
But if you listen to what he says and do everything I tell you, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and a foe to your foes.
Numbers 24:9
"When they lie down they crouch like a lion, or like a lioness — who dares to rouse it? Blessed be all who bless you! Cursed be all who curse you!"
Psalms 72:17
May his name endure forever, his name, Yinnon, as long as the sun. May people bless themselves in him, may all nations call him happy.
Matthew 25:40
The King will say to them, ‘Yes! I tell you that whenever you did these things for one of the least important of these brothers of mine, you did them for me!'

Gill's Notes on the Bible

But I have understanding as well as you,.... A natural understanding, or an understanding of natural things, which distinguishes a man from a brute; and a spiritual understanding, an understanding enlightened by the spirit of God, which is naturally dark as to divine things; but he had an understanding given him, to know himself, his state and condition by nature; to know God, his love and grace to men, and, as his covenant God, to know Christ his living Redeemer, who should stand on the earth in the latter day, both to be his Redeemer and his Judge; to know his interest in him, and in the blessings of grace and glory by him: or, "I have an heart as well as you" d; a wise and an understanding one; a new heart, and a right spirit; an heart to fear and serve the Lord, a sincere and upright one, and devoid of hypocrisy and deceit; and as good an one as theirs:

I [am] not inferior unto you: he was indeed as to estate and substance, being now reduced; though he had been, in that sense, the greatest man in all the east; but in wisdom and knowledge, in gifts and grace: thus a modest man, when oppressed and insulted by the speeches of overbearing men, may be obliged and see it necessary to say some things of himself, in his own vindication, which he otherwise would not; see

2 Corinthians 11:15; or, "I am not falling before you"; or "by you" e; as one intimidated, conquered, and yielding; I stand my ground, and will not gave way or submit to you, or allow you to have the superiority of me: or, "I am falling [no more] than you"; they took him for an apostate from God, and the fear of him, and the true religion he had professed, which Job denies; he held fast his integrity; and though he was fallen into calamities and afflictions, he was not fallen from God; from his fear of him, faith in him, and love and obedience to him; he was a holy, good man, a persevering saint; and though he had slips and falls in common with good men, yet fell not finally and totally, or was an apostate from the faith:

yea, who knoweth not such things as these? or, "with whom are not as these" f? the things you have been discoursing of, which you would fain have pass for the secrets of wisdom, deep and mysterious things, hid from vulgar eyes, which none have and know but yourselves, are common things, what everyone is possessed of, and understands as well as you; that there is a God that has made the world, and governs it; that he himself is unsearchable, infinite and incomprehensible; a sovereign Being that does according to his will and pleasure, and sees and knows all things, and does all things well and wisely, and according to the counsel of his will: though some think Job has reference not to what Zophar had been discoursing concerning the infinity and wisdom of God, but to the thing or things in dispute between them, or to the assertions of his friends; that it is always well with good men, and ill with bad men, or that wicked men only are punished and afflicted, and particularly what Zophar concluded his speech with, Job 11:20. Now these were vulgar notions, which the common people had taken up, and were vulgar errors, as he proves in the following verses, by giving instances of good men, being afflicted, and of bad men being in prosperity.

d גם לי לבב כמוכם "etiam mihi cor sicut vobis", Pagninus, Montanus, Mercerus, Schmidt, Michaelis, Schultens; so Broughton. e לא נפל אנכי מכם "non cadens ego a vobis", Montanus, Vatablus, Bolducius, Beza, Mercerus, Michaelis; "prae vobis", Schmidt. f ואת מי אין כמו אלה "et cum quo non sicut haec?" Pagninus, Montanus, Bolducius, Mercerus; and to the same sense Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Cocceius, Schultens.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

But I have understanding as well as you - Margin, as in the Hebrew “an heart.” The word “heart” in the Scriptures is often used to denote the understanding or mind. It seems to have been regarded as the source of that which was called life or soul. Indeed, I do not recollect a single instance in the Scriptures in which the word “head” is used, as with us, as the seat of the intellect, or where the distinction is adverted to that is so common with us, between the head and the heart. With us, the heart is the seat of the affections and emotions; with the Hebrews, it was the seat of understanding, and the σπλάγχνα splangchna - the viscera, the bowels, were the seat of the emotions; see the notes at Isaiah 16:11. A more correct physiology has taught us that the brain is the organ of the intellect, and we now speak of “the heart” as the seat of the affections. The Romans regarded the “breast” as the seat of the soul. Thus, Virgil, speaking of the death of Lucagus by the hand of Aeneas, says:

Tum latebras animae pectus mucrone recludit

Aeneid x. 601.

I am not inferior to you - Margin, “fall not lower than.” This is the literal translation: “I do not fall beneath you.” Job claims to be equal to them in the power of quoting the sayings. of the ancients; and in order to show this, he proceeds to adduce a number of proverbial sayings, occupying the remainder of this chapter, to show that he was familiar with that mode of reasoning, and that in this respect he was fully their equal. This may be regarded as a trial of skill, and was quite common in the East. Wisdom consisted in storing up a large amount of proverbs and maxims, and in applying them readily and pertinently on all public occasions; and in this controversy, Job was by no means disposed to yield to them.

Yea, who knoweth not such things as these? - Margin, “With whom” are “not such as these?” The meaning is, that instead of being original, the sentiments which they advanced were the most commonplace imaginable. Job not only said that he knew them, but that it would be strange if every body did not know them.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Job 12:3. I am not inferior to you — I do not fall short of any of you in understanding, wisdom, learning, and experience.

Who knoweth not such things as these? — All your boasted wisdom consists only in strings of proverbs which are in every person's mouth, and are no proof of wisdom and experience in them that use them.


 
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