“No doubt you are the people, and wisdom will die with you.
English Standard Version (ESV)
Job's statement drips with sarcasm: he's not agreeing they are wise, but ironically suggesting their inflated ego believes all wisdom will vanish with them. He's calling out their arrogant certainty that only they hold the truth, implying their "wisdom" is merely self-serving opinion.
“No doubt you are the people, and wisdom will die with you.
English Standard Version (ESV)
Job is responding to his three friends, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar, who have been lecturing him, assuming his suffering is due to hidden sin and asserting their own superior understanding. Job sarcastically acknowledges their self-proclaimed wisdom, implying they believe all knowledge will vanish from the earth when they are gone. He suggests their pride in their own intellect blinds them to the possibility that he, or anyone else, might possess genuine insight.
Job's friends have been lecturing him for chapters, convinced they hold all the answers. But Job hears something different in their words – something biting and ironic.
In these verses, Job uses sarcasm to deflate his friends' inflated sense of self. He doesn't directly accuse them of pride; instead, he mockingly agrees with their presumed self-assessment.
Saying the Opposite of What You Mean
When Job says, 'No doubt you are the people,' he's dripping with irony. He means the exact opposite – that they are not the ultimate authority on wisdom. It's a way of highlighting their arrogance by pretending to admire it.
Wisdom That Dies
The claim that 'wisdom will die with you' is equally sarcastic. Job implies that their supposed wisdom is so limited, so self-contained, that it will vanish when they do. It’s a jab at their exclusivity and their failure to recognize that true wisdom comes from God and is not confined to any single group.
Job's friends acted as if they had a monopoly on truth. But history shows that wisdom is rarely found when one group claims to possess it all.
Job's ironic words expose a dangerous mindset: the belief that wisdom is an exclusive commodity, held only by a select few.
Arrogance vs. Humility
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When Job's friends speak, they present their opinions as divine decrees. They believe they have all the answers and that Job is ignorant for disagreeing. Job, however, sees this not as wisdom but as arrogance. True wisdom is humble; it acknowledges limitations and seeks understanding.
God's Wisdom vs. Human Wisdom
The commentary highlights that Job is indirectly pointing to the source of true wisdom: God. Human wisdom, especially when hoarded and used to belittle others, is ultimately fleeting and incomplete. God's wisdom, however, is eternal and available to all who seek it.
Understand the original words
chokmah · Hebrew Noun
Refers to the capacity for discernment, insight, and the practical application of knowledge, particularly in relation to God and His ways. It is often associated with the fear of the Lord and the ability to distinguish between right and wrong or true and false.
This proverb directly contrasts Job's friends' arrogance with divine wisdom, stating 'There is more hope for a fool than for one who is wise in his own eyes,' highlighting the dangerous self-deception of Job's companions.
Romans 10:19Paul quotes Deuteronomy in a way that echoes Job's sarcasm, referring to Israel's failure to understand God's ways; Job implies his friends act as if they are the 'people' who truly understand, but are mistaken.
1 Corinthians 1:20This passage calls the wisdom of the wise foolish in God's sight, directly challenging the notion that human wisdom, especially when vaunted, holds ultimate truth, as Job's friends presumed.
Job 38:2In response to Job's friends' self-proclaimed wisdom, God Himself interrogates Job about the foundations of the cosmos, demonstrating that true wisdom belongs to the Creator, not to those who merely speak about it.
bensonJob 12:2: "No doubt but ye are the people, and wisdom shall die with you."
Job 12:2. No doubt but ye are the people — You, of all people, are the most eminent for wisdom; the only men living of distinguished knowledge and prudence. You have engrossed all the reason of mankind, and each of you has as much wisdom as a whole people put together. And wisdom shall die with you — All the wisdom which is in the world lives in you, and will be utterly lost when you die. When wise and good men die, it i…
pooleJob 12:2: "No doubt but ye are the people, and wisdom shall die with you."
Ye are the people; you three, and you only, are the people , i.e. people of all people for eminency of wisdom, the only company of reasonable creatures; all others are but fools or beasts: you have engrossed all the reason of mankind; and each of you have as much wisdom as a whole people put together. It is an ironical expression, as the next verse showeth. Wisdom shall die with you; all the wisdom and knowledge of Divin…
Job's statement drips with sarcasm: he's not agreeing they are wise, but ironically suggesting their inflated ego believes all wisdom will vanish with them. He's calling out their arrogant certainty that only they hold the truth, implying their "wisdom" is merely self-serving opinion.
Job is responding to his three friends, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar, who have been lecturing him, assuming his suffering is due to hidden sin and asserting their own superior understanding. Job sarcastically acknowledges their self-proclaimed wisdom, implying they believe all knowledge will vanish from the earth when they are gone. He suggests their pride in their own intellect blinds them to the possibility that he, or anyone else, might possess genuine insight.
Job is responding to his three friends, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar, who have been lecturing him, assuming his suffering is due to hidden sin and asserting their own superior understanding. Job sarcastically acknowledges their self-proclaimed wisdom, implying they believe all knowledge will vanish from the earth when they are gone. He suggests their pride in their own intellect blinds them to the possibility that he, or anyone else, might possess genuine insight.
"“No doubt you are the people, and wisdom will die with you." — Job's statement drips with sarcasm: he's not agreeing they are wise, but ironically suggesting their inflated ego believes all wisdom will vanish with them. He's calling out their arrogant certainty…
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Last reviewed October 2026