Job 12:7 - Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible

Bible Comments

They shall teach thee, to wit, objectively, i.e. if thou observest the beasts, and their properties, and actions, and events, from them thou mayst learn this lesson. What lesson? I answer, either,

1. That which was last mentioned, Job 12:5. God's providence doth order things in the like manner among the very beasts, and fowls, and fishes; of which the most ravenous and mischievous fare the best, whilst those which are more harmless, and serviceable, and beneficial to men meet with the hardest usage. Or,

2. That which Zophar had uttered with so much pomp and gravity, Job 11:7-9, concerning God's infinite wisdom; which, saith Job, thou needest not go into heaven or hell to know, but thou mayst learn it even from the beasts, &c.

Job 12:7

7 But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee: