The Meaning of Job 9:12 Explained

Job 9:12

KJV: Behold, he taketh away, who can hinder him? who will say unto him, What doest thou?

YLT: Lo, He snatches away, who bringeth it back? Who saith unto Him, 'What dost Thou?'

Darby: Behold, he taketh away: who will hinder him? Who will say unto him, What doest thou?

ASV: Behold, he seizeth the prey , who can hinder him? Who will say unto him, What doest thou?

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Behold, he taketh away,  who can hinder  him? who will say  unto him, What doest  thou? 

What does Job 9:12 Mean?

Context Summary

Job 9:1-35 - "the Daysman"
Ponder the sublimity of the conceptions of God given in this magnificent passage. To God are attributed the earthquake that rocks the pillars on which the world rests, Job 9:6; the eclipse which hides the heavenly bodies, Job 9:7; the storm in which he bows the heavens and treads majestically on the waves, Job 9:8; and the creation of the constellations, Job 9:9. Who can dare to argue with or call to account so great a God as this? Job 9:10-19. Even if a man be outwardly and inwardly righteous (that is, so far as the measure of his light), yet in such a Presence the heart of the most perfect must condemn him. "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves"¦. God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all." We cannot but feel that this old-world thinker had a truer view of that conscious imperfection and sin which must be experienced by every mortal who has a right appreciation of the holiness of God, than have those who refuse to say the Lord's Prayer because it contains a petition for forgiveness!
Truly we need that Daysman! But we have Him in Jesus our Mediator, who can lay His hand on God and us, Job 9:33; 1 Timothy 2:5. [source]

Chapter Summary: Job 9

1  Job acknowledges God's justice
22  Man's innocence is not to be condemned by afflictions

What do the individual words in Job 9:12 mean?

If He takes away who can hinder Him who can say to Him what are You doing
הֵ֣ן יַ֭חְתֹּף מִ֣י יְשִׁיבֶ֑נּוּ מִֽי־ יֹאמַ֥ר אֵ֝לָ֗יו מַֽה־ תַּעֲשֶֽׂה

יַ֭חְתֹּף  He  takes  away 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: חָתַף  
Sense: (Qal) to seize, take away, snatch away.
יְשִׁיבֶ֑נּוּ  can  hinder  Him 
Parse: Verb, Hifil, Imperfect, third person masculine singular, third person masculine singular
Root: שׁוּב  
Sense: to return, turn back.
יֹאמַ֥ר  can  say 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: אָמַר 
Sense: to say, speak, utter.
אֵ֝לָ֗יו  to  Him 
Parse: Preposition, third person masculine singular
Root: אֶל  
Sense: to, toward, unto (of motion).
תַּעֲשֶֽׂה  are  You  doing 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, second person masculine singular
Root: עָשָׂה 
Sense: to do, fashion, accomplish, make.