Job 5:12
He disappointeth the devices of the crafty, so that their hands cannot perform their enterprise.
Study Note
Study Note
'He disappointeth the devices of the crafty, so that their hands cannot perform their enterprise' — Eliphaz's theological observation, however misapplied to Job's specific situation, states a genuine biblical principle: divine wisdom regularly subverts human scheming. The verse anticipates Proverbs 19:21 ('many are the plans in a person's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails') and Paul's quotation of Job 5:13 in 1 Corinthians 3:19 ('He taketh the wise in their own craftiness') to address the Corinthian boasting in human wisdom. Within Job's ironic frame, Eliphaz's correct theological statement is wrongly applied: God is indeed thwarting schemes, but it is the accuser's scheme against Job — not Job's presumed sin — that the narrative undermines.
Other Translations
He frustrateth the devices of the crafty, So that their hands cannot perform their enterprise.
Making void thoughts of the subtile, And their hands do not execute wisdom.
Who makes the designs of the wise go wrong, so that they are unable to give effect to their purposes.
Cross References
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With him is strength and wisdom: the deceived and the deceiver are his.
He leadeth counsellors away spoiled, and maketh the judges fools.
For they intended evil against thee: they imagined a mischievous device, which they are not able to perform.
The Lord bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought: he maketh the devices of the people of none effect.