Commentaries:
Barnes' Notes
He poureth contempt upon princes - He has power to hurl them from their thrones, and to overwhelm them with disgrace.
And weakeneth the strength of the mighty - Margin, as in Hebrew "looseth the girdle of the strong." The Orientals wore loose flowing robes, which were secured by a girdle around the loins. When they labored, ran, or traveled, their robes were girded up. But this is common everywhere. Wrestlers, leapers, and runners, put a girdle around them, and are able thus to accomplish much more than they otherwise could. To loosen that, is to weaken them. So Job says that God had power to loosen the strength of the mighty. He here seems to labor for expressions, and varies the form of the image in every way to show the absolute control which God has over people, and the fact that his power is seen in the reverses of mankind. Lucretius has a passage strongly resembling this in the general sentiment:
Usque adeo res humanas vis abdita quaedam
Obterit; et pulchros fasces, saevasque secures,
Proculcare, atque ludibrio sibi habere, videtur.
Lib. v. 1232.
So from his awful shades, some Power unseen
O' erthrows all human greatness! Treads to dust
Rods, ensigns, crowns - the proudest pomps of state;
And laughs at all the mockery of mad!
Good.
Other Barnes' Notes entries containing Job 12:21:
Psalms 107:40
Isaiah 13:2
Isaiah 40:23
Isaiah 45:1
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