The Meaning of Job 5:12 Explained

Job 5:12

KJV: He disappointeth the devices of the crafty, so that their hands cannot perform their enterprise.

YLT: Making void thoughts of the subtile, And their hands do not execute wisdom.

Darby: He disappointeth the devices of the crafty, and their hands carry not out the enterprise.

ASV: He frustrateth the devices of the crafty, So that their hands cannot perform their enterprise.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

He disappointeth  the devices  of the crafty,  so that their hands  cannot perform  [their] enterprise. 

What does Job 5:12 Mean?

Context Summary

Job 5:1-27 - The Benefits Of Chastisement
In this chapter Eliphaz closes his first speech. He had already suggested that Job's sufferings were the result of some secret sin. It could not be otherwise according to his philosophy. Affliction and trouble did not come by chance. It was as much a law of nature, so Eliphaz thought, for calamity to follow sin as for sparks to fly upward. However deeply evil men had rooted themselves, they were doomed to be destroyed. Was it not obvious that Job had in some way offended? Let him confess and be restored!
The ideal life which will ensue on a genuine repentance is described in the most thrilling and glowing terms, Job 5:8-17. Each sentence is a priceless jewel, and each has been tested by generations of returning prodigals, for whom each promise has been countersigned by the "Yea" of Christ, 2 Corinthians 1:20. Paul quotes Job 5:13 in 1 Corinthians 3:19. [source]

Chapter Summary: Job 5

1  Eliphaz shows that the end of the wicked is misery;
6  that man is born to trouble;
8  that God is to be regarded in affliction;
17  the happy end of God's correction

What do the individual words in Job 5:12 mean?

He frustrates the devices of the crafty so that cannot carry out their hands their plans
מֵ֭פֵר מַחְשְׁב֣וֹת עֲרוּמִ֑ים וְֽלֹא־ תַעֲשֶׂ֥ינָה יְ֝דֵיהֶ֗ם תּוּשִׁיָּֽה

מֵ֭פֵר  He  frustrates 
Parse: Verb, Hifil, Participle, masculine singular
Root: פָּרַר 
Sense: to break, frustrate.
מַחְשְׁב֣וֹת  the  devices 
Parse: Noun, feminine plural construct
Root: מַחֲשָׁבָה  
Sense: thought, device.
עֲרוּמִ֑ים  of  the  crafty 
Parse: Adjective, masculine plural
Root: עָרוּם  
Sense: subtle, shrewd, crafty, sly, sensible.
וְֽלֹא־  so  that  cannot 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Adverb, Negative particle
Root: הֲלֹא 
Sense: not, no.
תַעֲשֶׂ֥ינָה  carry  out 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person feminine plural
Root: עָשָׂה 
Sense: to do, fashion, accomplish, make.
יְ֝דֵיהֶ֗ם  their  hands 
Parse: Noun, fdc, third person masculine plural
Root: יָד  
Sense: hand.
תּוּשִׁיָּֽה  their  plans 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular
Root: תּוּשִׁיָּה  
Sense: wisdom, sound knowledge, success, sound or efficient wisdom, abiding success.