Albert Barnes Commentary Job 12:7

"But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; And the birds of the heavens, and they shall tell thee:" — Job 12:7 (ASV)

But ask now the beasts—Rosenmuller supposes that this appeal to the inferior creation should be regarded as connected with Job 12:3, and that the intermediate verses are parenthetical.

Zophar had spoken with considerable parade of the wisdom of God. He had said (Job 11:7 and following) that the knowledge of God was higher than the heavens, and had professed (Job 12:6) that he himself had exalted views of the Most High.

In reply to this, Job says that the views Zophar had expressed were the most commonplace imaginable. He did not need to pretend to be acquainted with the more exalted works of God, or appeal to them as if his knowledge corresponded with them. Even the lower creation—the brutes, the earth, the fishes—could teach him knowledge he did not now possess.

Even from their nature, properties, and modes of life, higher views might be obtained than Zophar had. Others suppose that the meaning is that, in the distribution of happiness, God is so far from observing moral relations that even among the lower animals, the rapacious and the violent are prospered, and the gentle and the innocent are the victims.

Lions, wolves, and panthers are prospered—the lamb, the kid, the gazelle are the victims. Either of these views may suit the connection, though the latter seems to me to be the more probable interpretation. The object of Job is to show that rewards and punishments are not distributed according to character. This was so plain in his view as scarcely to admit of argument. It was seen all over the world, not only among people but even in the brute creation.

Everywhere the strong prey upon the weak, the fierce upon the tame, and the violent upon the timid. Yet God does not come forth to destroy the lion and the hyaena, or to deliver the lamb and the gazelle from their grasp.

Like robbers (Job 12:6), lions, panthers, and wolves prowl upon the earth; the eagle and the vulture from the air pounce upon the defenseless; and the great robbers of the deep prey upon the feeble—and still are prospered.

What a striking illustration this is of the course of events among people, and of the relative condition of the righteous and the wicked! Nothing could be more pertinent to Job’s design than this appeal, and nothing was more in accordance with the whole structure of the argument in the poem, where wisdom is seen mainly to consist in the result of careful observation.

And they shall teach thee—They shall teach you that God does not treat all according to their character. He does not give security to the gentle, the tame, and the innocent, and punish the ferocious, the blood-thirsty, and the cruel.

And the fowls—They shall give you information on the point under discussion. Those that prey upon others—such as the eagle and the vulture—are not exposed at once to the divine displeasure, and the tender and harmless are not protected. The general principle illustrated in them is that the dealings of God are not always in exact accordance with character.