Job 11:12

Job 11:12 For vain man would be wise, though man be born [like] a wild ass’s colt.

Ver. 12. For vain man would be wise] Heb. Hollow man, that is, as void of grace as a hollow tree is of heart of oak.

Would be wise] Heb. Would be hearty, egregie cordatus homo, there is an elegance in the original that cannot be translated into English. "Wilt thou know, O vain man," saith St James, Jas 2:20. The Greek is, thou empty man, κενε, thou that hast nothing in thee, and yet art highly conceited; thou that art (Ephraim like) a silly dove without a heart, Hos 7:11, and yet in superbiam erectus (as the Vulgate here hath it), raised up to pride: that little knowledge he hath puffeth him up, 1Co 8:1. So bellows like is the natural soul, or rather so bladder like, that, filled with earthly vanities, it grows great, and swelleth in pride; but pricked with the least pin of piercing grief, it shrivelleth to nothing. The prophet Isaiah fitly compareth it to a bulrush, Isa 58:5, the colour whereof is fresh, the skin smooth; but if you peel it, what is under but a kind of spongeous, unsubstantial substance, of no use in the world worth the speaking of? Formalists and pretenders to holiness are flat nothing, worse than nothing, iniquity, Mat 23:28.

Though man be born as a wild ass’s colt] Take him in his pure naturals, he is no wiser; created he was in God’s image, which consisted in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness; knowledge in his understanding, rightness or straightness in his will, and holiness in his affections, Eph 4:24. But since the fall all this is lost and gone quite; he hath principium laesum, neither can he know the things of God, no, though he be φυχικος, a souly man, one that doth excolere animam, develops the soul, such as Cicero and Aristotle; yet is he in spirituals as blind as a beetle, a mere ass’s colt. A colt is not among the wisest of creatures, much less an ass’s colt, least of all a wild ass’s colt; and yet such is man, sensual man, Jdg 19:22, sapless man, Psa 14:1, he is as an ass’s foal for rudeness, a wild ass for unruliness, untamed, and untractable. Surely as a wild ass’s colt (saith Gregory upon this text), not used to the yoke, runneth up and down the large fields and woods at his pleasure, and when he is weary lieth down, and thus doth from day to day: so man by nature is licentious, running as his lusts carry him, to all manner of sin, and giveth not overrunning till he is weary; he will not be held in by any reins, or kept to do the work he should by any yoke which the Lord by teaching seeks to put upon him. Surely, saith Marbury, God is fain to deal with such as men do with frisking jades {A contemptuous name for a horse; a horse of inferior breed} in a pasture, that cannot take them up till they get them to a gate; so till the hour of death, &c. Thomas Blaverus, chief counsellor sometime to the king of Scots, believed not that there was God or devil, heaven or hell, till he came to die, and then cried out he was damned (Theatr. Hist. p. 127, 128). So also died one Arthur Miller, and before him, a desperate dean of St Paul’s (Sword against Swearers, p. 34). When death comes, saith Sir Walter Raleigh, which hates and destroys men, that is believed. But God, that loveth and maketh men, he is not regarded. Oh eloquent death! Oh mighty death! whom none could advise, thou art able to persuade, &c.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Job 11:12. For, or, yet, vain man would be wise — Man, who since the fall is void of all true wisdom, pretends to be wise, and able to pass a censure upon all God’s ways and works. Born like a wild ass’s colt — Ignorant, and dull, and stupid, as to divine things, and yet heady and untractable. Such is man by his birth; this evil is now natural and hereditary, and therefore common to all men: of consequence it is not strange, if Job partake of the common distemper.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

That is, without understanding: so that whatsoever gifts he hath afterward, come of God, and not of nature.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

vain--hollow.

would be--"wants to consider himself wise"; opposed to God's "wisdom" (see on Job 11:11); refuses to see sin, where God sees it (Rom 1:22).

wild ass's colt--a proverb for untamed wildness (Job 39:5, Job 39:8; Jer 2:24; Gen 16:12; Hebrew, "a wild-ass man"). Man wishes to appear wisely obedient to his Lord, whereas he is, from his birth, unsubdued in spirit.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 12. For vain man would be wise] The original is difficult and uncertain, ואיש נבוב ילבב veish nabub yillabeb, "And shall the hollow man assume courage," or "pride himself?" Or, as Mr. Good rather paraphrases it, Will he then accept the hollow-hearted person? The Chaldee gives two renderings: An eloquent man shall become wiser in his heart, and the colt of the wild ass is born as the son of man. Or, The wise man shall ponder it; and the refractory youth, who at last becomes prudent, shall make a great man. Coverdale.-A vayne body exalteth him self; and the son of man is like a wylde asse's foale. Houbigant translates thus: - A man who hath understanding will become prudent; but he who is as the wild ass hath no heart, i.e., sense. According to this critic, the meaning is this: - A man of sense, should he at any time transgress, will learn wisdom from it; but a man of a brutish mind, uncultivated and unreflecting, will plunge yet deeper into iniquity.

Though man be born like a wild ass's colt] Is translated by Mr. Good, Or shall the wild ass colt assume the man? This is making a sense, but such as I fear the original will never allow. There is no end to the translations of this verse, and conjectures relative to its meaning. I shall conclude with the Vulgate. - Vir vanus in superbiam erigitur, et tanquam pullum onagri se liberum natum putat, "Vain man is puffed up with pride; and he supposes himself to be born free like the wild ass's colt." Man is full of self-conceit; and imagines himself born to act as he pleases, to roam at large, to be under no control, and to be accountable to none for his actions.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(12) For vain man would be wise, &c., is extremely difficult, because it is hard to distinguish subject and predicate. Literally, it runs, And hollow man is instructed, and the wild ass’s colt is born a man. Whether it means that if God did not thus conceal His observation of human actions, the very fool and the most obstinate would become instructed and disciplined, whereas now they are allowed to go on in their folly and obstinacy; or whether it is meant that, notwithstanding the dealings of Providence, hollow-hearted man is still devoid of heart, and every son of Adam at his birth is a very wild ass colt; or whether, again, it is meant that by reason of the Divine discipline the hollow-hearted man is disciplined, and the very wild ass colt is born a man and humanised, it is hard to decide. The uncertainty in part arises from our not knowing the exact meaning of the first verb: whether it is to get understanding or to be deprived of it—for either is possible. Another way of taking the context is to refer the last clause of Job_11:11, not to God, but to man. Man sees not that God sees him, for an empty man will get understanding when a wild ass’s colt is born a man—that is, the latter is as likely as the former. One point is pretty clear, that by the wild ass’s colt Zophar means Job. However, he suggests that if he will become something better and wiser, and will put away his secret sin, which he is convinced must cling to him, then he shall again know prosperity and be established in it.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

12. Having finished his brilliant picture of God’s omniscient wisdom, Zophar adds further brilliancy to it by contrasting it with the brutishness of man. The verse perhaps should read,

But an empty man will become wise

When a wild ass colt is born a man,

the one thing will happen when the other happens. The verse seems to be in the shape of a proverb, and is full of alliterations which cannot be reproduced in translation. The word “empty” is properly “hollow;” and “to become wise” is literally “to get heart,” i. e. understanding or mind (ch. Job_9:4, Job_12:3). The last phrase was understood by Gesenius to mean “to be without heart” or understanding. Following this view, many translate: But empty man is void of understanding, yea, man is born (like) a wild ass colt. Gesenius objects to the other that it offends against dignity. The verse has been interpreted in a great variety of ways.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

For vain man would be wise,.... Or "hollow" (r), empty man; empty of all that is good, though full of all unrighteousness; without God, the knowledge, love, and fear of him; without Christ, the knowledge of him, faith in him, and love to him; destitute of the Spirit, and of his grace, having no good thing in him: yet such a man "would be wise"; not desirous of true wisdom, but would be thought to be wise; he in conceit thinks himself that he is very wise, and he would fain have others think so of him; or is, or "may", or "will be wise" (s); may be made wise by the chastisements of God through afflictions, being sanctified to him by the grace of God; though he is a vain man, and also is what is after said of him; afflicting dispensations are sometimes teaching ones, and in the school of afflictions many useful lessons are learnt, whereby men become wiser; see Psa 94:12; though some understand the word in a very different sense, and interpret it bold, audacious, proud, and haughty; man takes heart (t), and lifts up himself against God, stretches his hand, and hardens his heart against him:

though man be born like a wild ass's colt; foolish and stupid, without understanding of divine and spiritual things; given to lust and wantonness, to serve divers lusts and pleasures; not subject to the yoke of the law of God, stubborn, refractory, and untameable, but by the grace of God; the ass, and especially the wild ass, and the colt of one, being a very stupid creature, and a very lustful and wanton one, chooses to be free, will not bear the yoke, but ranges about in desert places; see Job 39:5; some render the words, "and a wild ass's colt is", or "may be born a man" (u); that is, one that is by his first birth, and by his life and conversation, like a wild ass's colt, is or may be born again, and be made a new man, as Jarchi also interprets it, and so become a wise, knowing, and good man, which is a great truth; but whether the truth in this text, is not so clear: the Targum seems to incline this way;"a refractory, youth that grows wise shall become a great man.''

(r) "concavus", Montanus; "cavus", Drusius; "vacuus", Pagninus, Beza, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Michaelis. (s) "fiat vel fit cordatus", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; so Broughton, Beza. (t) "In superbiam erigitur", V. L. "audaciam sumit", Schmidt. (u) "Pullus onager homo nascitur", Cocceius, Schmidt; "nascatur", Schultens.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

For vain man - Margin, “empty.” נבוב nâbûb, according to Gesenius, from the root נבב nâbab, to bore through, and then to be hollow; metaphorical, “empty,” “foolish.” The Septuagint, strangely enough, renders this,” but man floats about with words.” The Hebrew here means, manifestly, hollow, empty; then insincere and hypocritical. Zophar refers to a hollow-hearted man, who, though he was in fact like a wild ass’s colt, attempted to appear mild and gentle, and to have a heart. The meaning is, that man by nature has a spirit untamed and unsubdued, and that with this, he assumes the appearance of gentleness and tenderness, and attempts to appear as if he was worthy of love and affection. God, seeing this hollow-heartedness, treats him accordingly. The reference here is to men like Job, and Zophar undoubtedly meant to say that he was hollow-hearted and insincere, and yet that he wished to appear to be a man having a heart, or, having true piety.

Would be wise - Various interpretations have been given to this expression. The most simple and obvious seems to be the true one, though I have not seen it noticed by any of the commentators. The word rendered “would be wise” (ילבב yı̂lâbēb) is from לבב lâbab, or לב lêb, meaning “heart,” and the sense here, as it seems to me, is, “vain, hollow, and insincere, man would wish to seem to have a heart;” that is, would desire to appear sincere, or pious. Destitute of that truly, and false and hollow, he would nevertheless wish to appear different, and would put on the aspect of sincerity and religion. This is the most simple exposition, and this accords with the drift of the passage exactly, and expresses a sentiment which is unquestionably true. Gesenius, however, and some others render it, “but man is hollow and wanteth understanding; yea, man is born like a wild ass’s colt, signifying the weakness and dullness of the human understanding in comparison with the divine wisdom.” Others render it, “but the foolish man becometh wise when the wild ass’s colt shall become a man,” that is, never, a most forced and unnatural construction. Dr. Good renders it:

Will he then accept the hollow-hearted person?

Or shall the wild ass-colt assume the man?

Schultens and Dathe translate it:

Let then vain man be wise,

And the wild ass’s colt become a man.

Though man be born - Though man by nature, or in connection with his birth, is untamed, lawless, rebellious. The wild ass is a striking image of that which is untamed and unsubdued; compare the notes at Job 39:5. Thus, Jeremiah describes it, “a wild ass used to the wilderness, that snuffeth up the wind at her pleasure,” Jer 2:24. Thus, it is said of Ishmael Gen 16:12, “and he will be a wild man,” אדם פרא pârâ' 'âdâm - a wild ass of a man. So Job 39:5 :

Who hath sent out the wild ass free?

Or who hath loosed the bands of the wild ass?

It is not quite easy for us to understand these allusions, for with us the ass is the proverbial image of stupidity, dullness, obstinacy, and immobility. But it was not so with the ancients. It is mentioned as distinguished for velocity, for wildness, and for an unsubdued spirit. Thus, Oppian, as quoted by Bochart, Hieroz. Lib. i. c. ix. p. 63, says:

Κῤαιπνὸν, ἀελλοπόδην, κρατερώνυχον, ὀξύτατον Θεῖν.

Kraipnon, aellopodēn, kraterōnuchon, ocutaton thein.

“Swift, rapid, with strong hoofs, and most fleet in his course.”

And Aristotle mentions wild asses as τήν ταχυτῆτα διαφέροντες tēn tachutēta diapherontes, Hist. Lib. vi. 6 c. 36. So Aelian says of them, ὤκιστοι δραμεῖν ōkistoi dramein, fleet in their course. And Xenophon says of them, πολὺ τοῦ ἵππου θᾶττον ἔτρεχον polu tou hippou thatton etrechon, they run much swifter than a horse. In describing the march of the younger Cyrus through Syria, he says, “The wild ass, being swifter of foot than our horses, would, in gaining ground upon them, stand still and look around; and when their pursuers got nearly up to them, they would start off, and repeat the same trick; so that there remained to the hunters no other method of taking them but by dividing themselves into dispersed parties which succeeded each other in the chase;” compare Bochart, Hieroz. P. I. Lib. iii. c. xvi. pp. 867-879. A similar statement is made by Aelian (Lib. xiv. cap. 10, as quoted by Bochart), “The wild asses of Maurusius ὄνοι Μανρούσιοι onoi Maurousioi are most fleet in their course, and at the commencement of their course they seem to be borne along by the winds, or as on the wings of a bird.” “In Persia,” says the Editor of the Pictorial Bible, “the wild ass is prized above all other animals as an object of chase, not only from its fleetness, but the delicacy of its flesh, which made it an article of luxury even at the royal tables.”

“They are now most abundantly found in the deserts of Tartary, and of the countries between the Tigris and the Indus, more particularly in the central parts of the regions thus defined. We know that they were also anciently found in the regions of Mesopotamia, Asia Minor, Syria, and Arabia Deserta; but from these regions they seem to have been, in the course of ages, almost entirely expelled or extirpated.” Pict. Bib. on Job 39:5. The idea in the passage before us is, that man at his birth has a strong resemblance to a wild and untamed animal; and the passage undoubtedly indicates the early belief of the native proneness of man to wander away from God, and of his possessing by nature an insubmissive spirit.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Is. Hebrew, "is he heart? or wise, (Calmet) he who is born like a," &c. Shall he assert his independence, or pretend to be wise? (Haydock) --- The Hebrews place wisdom in the heart, as we do courage, chap. xii. 3., and Proverbs ii. 2., &c. (Calmet)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Or, Yet, or But, vain or empty man (that foolish creature, that since the fall is void of all true wisdom and solid knowledge and judgment of the things of God) would be wise, i.e. pretends to be, and would be thought, wise, and able to pass a censure upon all God’s ways and works. Or thus, But vain man is foolish, or without heart, i.e. without understanding, unable to judge aright of the ways and things of God. For a verb very like this and coming from the same root, signifies to have one’s heart taken away, Son 4:9.

Though man be born; and man is born, i. e. he is by his birth such: this evil is now natural and hereditary, and therefore common to all men; and therefore it is not strange if Job partake of the common distemper.

Like a wild ass’s colt, i.e. ignorant, and dull, and stupid, as to the knowledge of Divine things, and withal heady and untractable; and therefore very incompetent to judge of these high affairs.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

12. For — And or so. The transition of thought is, according to Hirtzel, “Over against this infinite knowledge of God man appears as a born fool.” Its drift, rather, is to show the effect of the divine arraignment upon men — meaning Job — who shows himself so ready to refer his case to God. This verse contains several ambiguous words, and has given rise to a great variety of interpretations. Thus Gesenius, Olshausen, and others: “But empty man is devoid of understanding, and (like) the foal of an ass man is born.” Others interpret it: “Before an empty man will become wise, a wild ass would be born a man.” (Oehler, Delitzsch.) Others yet, (Schultens and Dathe:) “Let, then, vain man be wise, and the wild ass’s colt become a man.” The rendering of most moderns approaches that of our translators, though with a modified sense. So would a witless man become wise, and a wild ass’s foal be born a man. In other words, were God to summon him before his tribunal, the most senseless man must get understanding, and the wildest and most stubborn sinner (here compared to a wild ass) become a man. “We have here,” says Hengstenberg, “the first passage of Scripture which speaks of a regeneration.” In the expressions, naboub, “hollow” (headed,) and yillabeb, “get wisdom,” (literally, heart,) there is, as Hitzig has remarked, a play on Job’s name, Iyyob, a personality which Job appreciates. See note on Job_12:3. “The void in his head is to be filled up, as it were, by a new heart.”

Vain man — נבוב, hollow-headed. The word is used of a pillar. Jer_52:21. Wild ass’s colt — This is evidently a proverbial expression, and as such is still used by the Arabs, who employ the terms, “an ass of the desert,” or “wild ass,” to describe an obstinate, indocile, and contumacious person. — KITTO, Pictorial Bible. “A young wild ass is the wildest and roughest of creatures.” — Wetzstein. Among classic writers Oppian describes the ass as “swift, rapid, with strong hoofs, and most fleet in his course.” Thus Confucius: “The Master said, Men all say, ‘We are wise;’ but being driven forward and taken in a net, a trap, or a pitfall, they know not how to escape. Men all say, ‘We are wise,’ but happening to choose the course of the mean, they are not able to keep it for a round month.” — The Doctrine of the Mean, section 7. Plato introduces the poets as “mentioning man’s predisposition to vice, and saying: —

How vice at once and easily we choose,

The way so smooth, its dwelling, too, so nigh!

Toil before virtue, thus forewilled the gods.”

— Republic, ii, chap. 7.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

For vain man would be wise, though man be born like a wild ass"s colt; rather, and a vain man may get understanding, and the colt of a wild ass become a than (compare the Revised Version, marginal rendering). Zophar seems to mean that, through Divine discipline, such as that described in ver. 10, a vain, foolish, puffed-up man may be reclaimed and become a man of understanding a stubborn and untamed one, wild as the colt of a wild ass, grow into a real man, i.e. acquire sense and discretion. If this is the meaning, undoubtedly Job is glanced at (so Schultens, Dillmann, and Canon Cook).

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Man - That since the fall is void of all true wisdom, pretends to be wise, and able to pass a censure upon all God's ways and works. Colt - Ignorant, and dull, and stupid, as to divine things, and yet heady and untractable.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

But an empty man a hollow man, without a heart [i.e., understanding], who did not understand His way.

will gain understanding Heb. ילבב, he will gain for himself a heart [i.e., understanding] to return to his Creator and to search through his deeds—or [he will remain] a man who was like a wild donkey, accustomed to the desert, hasty, without sense.

a man will be born He will teach himself to be a new man according to the order of people, and he will determine his way.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.