John Gill Commentary Job 11:12

"But vain man is void of understanding, Yea, man is born [as] a wild ass`s colt." — Job 11:12 (ASV)

For vain man would be wise
Or "hollow" ^F18 , empty man; empty of all that is good, though full of all unrighteousness; without God, the knowledge, love, and fear of him; without Christ, the knowledge of him, faith in him, and love to him; destitute of the Spirit, and of his grace, having no good thing in him: yet such a man "would be wise"; not desirous of true wisdom, but would be thought to be wise; he in conceit thinks himself that he is very wise, and he would fain have others think so of him; or is, or "may", or "will be wise" ^F19 ; may be made wise by the chastisements of God through afflictions, being sanctified to him by the grace of God; though he is a vain man, and also is what is after said of him; afflicting dispensations are sometimes teaching ones, and in the school of afflictions many useful lessons are learnt, whereby men become wiser; see (Psalms 94:12) ;

though some understand the word in a very different sense, and interpret it bold, audacious, proud, and haughty; man takes heart ^F20 , and lifts up himself against God, stretches his hand, and hardens his heart against him:

though man be born [like] a wild ass's colt ;
foolish and stupid, without understanding of divine and spiritual things; given to lust and wantonness, to serve divers lusts and pleasures; not subject to the yoke of the law of God, stubborn, refractory, and untameable, but by the grace of God; the ass, and especially the wild ass, and the colt of one, being a very stupid creature, and a very lustful and wanton one, chooses to be free, will not bear the yoke, but ranges about in desert places; see (Job 39:5) (Jeremiah 2:23Jeremiah 2:24) ;

some render the words, "and a wild ass's colt is", or "may be born a man" ^F21 ; that is, one that is by his first birth, and by his life and conversation, like a wild ass's colt, is or may be born again, and be made a new man, as Jarchi also interprets it, and so become a wise, knowing, and good man, which is a great truth; but whether the truth in this text, is not so clear: the Targum seems to incline this way;

``a refractory, youth that grows wise shall become a great man.''

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FOOTNOTES:

• F18: (bwbn) "concavus", Montanus; "cavus", Drusius; "vacuus", Pagninus, Beza, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Michaelis.
• F19: (bbly) "fiat vel fit cordatus", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; so Broughton, Beza.
• F20: "In superbiam erigitur", V. L. "audaciam sumit", Schmidt.
• F21: "Pullus onager homo nascitur", Cocceius, Schmidt; "nascatur", Schultens.