Bible Strands
Job 12:14
What He tears down cannot be rebuilt; the man He imprisons cannot be released.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Job addresses his three friends during his prolonged suffering, immediately following his declaration that wisdom, strength, counsel, and understanding belong exclusively to God. He speaks this in the midst of a discourse meant to dismantle their theological assumptions about retribution.
The words — The Hebrew יַ֭הֲרוֹס (ya.haros) translates literally to "he tears down," while יִסְגֹּ֥ר (yis.gor) means "he shuts" or "imprisons." These paired verbs describe God's unilateral actions that leave no human capacity for reversal or escape.
The thread — The motif of inescapable divine confinement appears in Job 11:10, which states that no one can stop God when He convenes judgment. The same unshakable authority over opening and shutting is echoed in Isaiah 22:22 and Revelation 3:7 regarding divine keys.
Why it lands — The passage requires the reader to acknowledge that human plans cannot override divine decrees, forcing a confrontation with absolute sovereignty. It demands the cessation of self-justification when facing actions that cannot be undone.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Behold, he breaketh down, and it cannot be built again: he shutteth up a man, and there can be no opening.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 22:22 I will place on his shoulder the key to the house of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open.
- Revelation 3:7 To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: These are the words of the One who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What He opens no one can shut, and what He shuts no one can open.
- Job 11:10 If He comes along to imprison you, or convenes a court, who can stop Him?
- Malachi 1:4 Though Edom may say, “We have been devastated, but we will rebuild the ruins,” this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “They may build, but I will demolish. They will be called the Land of Wickedness, and a people with whom the LORD is indignant forever.
- 1 Samuel 17:46 This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand. This day I will strike you down, cut off your head, and give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the creatures of the earth. Then the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel.
- 1 Samuel 26:8 Abishai said to David, “Today God has delivered your enemy into your hand. Now, therefore, please let me thrust the spear through him into the ground with one stroke. I will not need to strike him twice!”
- Job 9:12 If He takes away, who can stop Him? Who dares to ask Him, ‘What are You doing?’
- Job 16:11 God has delivered me to unjust men; He has thrown me to the clutches of the wicked.
- Job 19:10 He tears me down on every side until I am gone; He uproots my hope like a tree.
- Job 37:7 He seals up the hand of every man, so that all men may know His work.