The Meaning of Job 12:9 Explained

Job 12:9

KJV: Who knoweth not in all these that the hand of the LORD hath wrought this?

YLT: 'Who hath not known in all these, That the hand of Jehovah hath done this?

Darby: Who knoweth not in all these, that the hand of Jehovah hath wrought this?

ASV: Who knoweth not in all these, That the hand of Jehovah hath wrought this,

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Who knoweth  not in all these that the hand  of the LORD  hath wrought  this? 

What does Job 12:9 Mean?

Context Summary

Job 12:1-25 - "god's Paths In Deep Waters"
Job sets himself to disprove Zophar's contention that wickedness invariably causes insecurity in men's dwellings; and in doing so he bitterly complains that his friends mocked at him so contemptuously. He says that they remind him of those who are glad enough of a torch when their foot is slipping in the dark, but cast it aside when they reach their quarters, Job 12:5.
Those who rob are often the most prosperous, Job 12:6, and nature teaches that the animals and plants which are most sturdy in their self-assertion are most secure. Is not the vulture more secure than the dove, the lion than the ox, the shark than the dolphin, the rose than the thorn which tears it? In all such cases you cannot explain the mystery except by referring it to the will of God, whose reasons are past finding out. Similar mysteries beset human life.
Job still further illustrates his point from human life, showing that the lives of counselors, judges, kings, priests, princes, and elders are exposed to the same apparent anomalies and inequalities of treatment. We know, however, that suffering is purifying to the soul, and often redemptive, as Christ's was, for others. [source]

Chapter Summary: Job 12

1  Job maintains himself against his friends that reprove him
7  He acknowledges the doctrine of God's omnipotence

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

Who not does know among all these that the hand of Yahweh has done this
מִ֭י לֹא־ יָדַ֣ע בְּכָל־ אֵ֑לֶּה כִּ֥י יַד־ יְ֝הוָה עָ֣שְׂתָה ؟ זֹּֽאת

יָדַ֣ע  does  know 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: דָּעָה 
Sense: to know.
בְּכָל־  among  all 
Parse: Preposition-b, Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: כֹּל  
Sense: all, the whole.
אֵ֑לֶּה  these 
Parse: Pronoun, common plural
Root: אֵהֶל 
Sense: these.
כִּ֥י  that 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: כִּי 
Sense: that, for, because, when, as though, as, because that, but, then, certainly, except, surely, since.
יַד־  the  hand  of 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular construct
Root: יָד  
Sense: hand.
יְ֝הוָה  Yahweh 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יהוה 
Sense: Jehovah—used primarily in the combination ‘Lord Jehovah’.
עָ֣שְׂתָה  has  done 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person feminine singular
Root: עָשָׂה 
Sense: to do, fashion, accomplish, make.
؟ זֹּֽאת  this 
Parse: Pronoun, feminine singular
Root: זׄאת  
Sense: this, this one, here, which, this … that, the one … the other, such.