Job 12 · a question people ask
"The LORD’s hand has done this" (12:9). Done what?
The verse doesn't name it. Job says, "Who doesn’t know that in all these, the LORD’s hand has done this" (12:9). Nor does it say what all these are. Just before, he has named "the animals" and "the birds of the sky" (12:7), "the earth" and "The fish of the sea" (12:8). The next verse goes on, "in whose hand is the life of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind" (12:10). From 12:13 Job tells what God does: "he breaks down, and it can’t be built again" (12:14), "he withholds the waters, and they dry up" (12:15), and he brings down counselors, judges, kings and priests (12:17-19). The book has told you things it never says Job was told. The LORD said to Satan, "Behold, all that he has is in your power" (1:12), and "Behold, he is in your hand. Only spare his life" (2:6); and at the end Job's family and friends comforted him "concerning all the evil that the LORD had brought on him" (42:11). The book doesn't explain how these fit together, and these notes don't add a theory. They leave 12:9 as Job says it.
The verses
““But ask the animals now, and they will teach you; the birds of the sky, and they will tell you. Or speak to the earth, and it will teach you. The fish of the sea will declare to you. Who doesn’t know that in all these, the LORD’s hand has done this, in whose hand is the life of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind?”
“Behold, he breaks down, and it can’t be built again. He imprisons a man, and there can be no release. Behold, he withholds the waters, and they dry up. Again, he sends them out, and they overturn the earth.”
“He leads counselors away stripped. He makes judges fools. He loosens the bond of kings. He binds their waist with a belt. He leads priests away stripped, and overthrows the mighty.”
“The LORD said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your power. Only on himself don’t stretch out your hand.” So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD.”