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Read the Bible

New King James Version

Job 12:18

He loosens the bonds of kings, And binds their waist with a belt.

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

12 Wisdom is with aged men, And with length of days, understanding. 13 "With Him are wisdom and strength, He has counsel and understanding. 14 If He breaks a thing down, it cannot be rebuilt; If He imprisons a man, there can be no release. 15 If He withholds the waters, they dry up; If He sends them out, they overwhelm the earth. 16 With Him are strength and prudence. The deceived and the deceiver are His. 17 He leads counselors away plundered, And makes fools of the judges. 18 He loosens the bonds of kings, And binds their waist with a belt. 19 He leads princes [fn] away plundered,And overthrows the mighty. 20 He deprives the trusted ones of speech, And takes away the discernment of the elders. 21 He pours contempt on princes, 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
And the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."
Genesis 4:10
And He said, "What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood cries out to Me from the ground.
Genesis 12:9
So Abram journeyed, going on still toward the South. [fn]
Genesis 12:10
Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to dwell there, for the famine was severe in the land.
Genesis 12:11
And it came to pass, when he was close to entering Egypt, that he said to Sarai his wife, "Indeed I know that you are a woman of beautiful countenance.
Genesis 31:26
And Laban said to Jacob: "What have you done, that you have stolen away unknown to me, and carried away my daughters like captives taken with the sword?
Genesis 44:15
And Joseph said to them, "What deed is this you have done? Did you not know that such a man as I can certainly practice divination?"
Exodus 32:21
And Moses said to Aaron, "What did this people do to you that you have brought so great a sin upon them?"
Joshua 7:19
Now Joshua said to Achan, "My son, I beg you, give glory to the LORD God of Israel, and make confession to Him, and tell me now what you have done; do not hide it from me."
1 Samuel 14:43
Then Saul said to Jonathan, "Tell me what you have done." And Jonathan told him, and said, "I only tasted a little honey with the end of the rod that was in my hand. So 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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