Job 12:4

Job 12:4 Meaning and Explanation

I am as one mocked of his neighbour, who calleth upon God, and he answereth him: the just upright man is laughed to scorn.

King James Version (KJV)

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Job grieves that he, a righteous man who once knew answered prayer, is now an object of ridicule.

What Does Job 12:4 Mean?

Job describes the cruelty of his situation. He had been one who called upon God and was answered, a just and upright man. Now that same man is mocked by his own neighbor, laughed to scorn precisely because calamity has fallen on him, as though his suffering proved him a fraud.

This is the loneliness of the faithful when the world equates misfortune with guilt. Job's lament reaches forward to the One who was supremely righteous and yet supremely scorned, mocked by passersby as He suffered. The Scriptures are honest that integrity does not shield a person from contempt. To be laughed at while keeping faith is a fellowship the upright have always shared, and it is not abandonment by God.

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What does Job 12:4 mean?

Job grieves that he, a righteous man who once knew answered prayer, is now an object of ridicule.

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