The Meaning of Job 12:11 Explained

Job 12:11

KJV: Doth not the ear try words? and the mouth taste his meat?

YLT: Doth not the ear try words? And the palate taste food for itself?

Darby: Doth not the ear try words, as the palate tasteth food?

ASV: Doth not the ear try words, Even as the palate tasteth its food?

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Doth not the ear  try  words?  and the mouth  taste  his meat? 

What does Job 12:11 Mean?

Context Summary

Job 12:1-25 - "god's Paths In Deep Waters"
Job sets himself to disprove Zophar's contention that wickedness invariably causes insecurity in men's dwellings; and in doing so he bitterly complains that his friends mocked at him so contemptuously. He says that they remind him of those who are glad enough of a torch when their foot is slipping in the dark, but cast it aside when they reach their quarters, Job 12:5.
Those who rob are often the most prosperous, Job 12:6, and nature teaches that the animals and plants which are most sturdy in their self-assertion are most secure. Is not the vulture more secure than the dove, the lion than the ox, the shark than the dolphin, the rose than the thorn which tears it? In all such cases you cannot explain the mystery except by referring it to the will of God, whose reasons are past finding out. Similar mysteries beset human life.
Job still further illustrates his point from human life, showing that the lives of counselors, judges, kings, priests, princes, and elders are exposed to the same apparent anomalies and inequalities of treatment. We know, however, that suffering is purifying to the soul, and often redemptive, as Christ's was, for others. [source]

Chapter Summary: Job 12

1  Job maintains himself against his friends that reprove him
7  He acknowledges the doctrine of God's omnipotence

What do the individual words in Job 12:11 mean?

Does not the ear words test and the mouth food taste its
הֲלֹא־ אֹ֭זֶן ؟ מִלִּ֣ין תִּבְחָ֑ן וְ֝חֵ֗ךְ ؟ אֹ֣כֶל יִטְעַם־ לֽוֹ

הֲלֹא־  Does  not 
Parse: Adverb, Negative particle
Root: הֲלֹא 
Sense: not, no.
אֹ֭זֶן  the  ear 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular
Root: אֹזֶן  
Sense: ear, as part of the body.
؟ מִלִּ֣ין  words 
Parse: Noun, feminine plural
Root: מִלָּה  
Sense: word, speech, utterance.
תִּבְחָ֑ן  test 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person feminine singular
Root: בָּחַן  
Sense: to examine, try, prove.
וְ֝חֵ֗ךְ  and  the  mouth 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, masculine singular
Root: חֵךְ  
Sense: mouth, palate, taste, gums.
؟ אֹ֣כֶל  food 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: אֹכֶל  
Sense: food.
יִטְעַם־  taste 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: טָעַם  
Sense: to taste, perceive, eat.
לֽוֹ  its 
Parse: Preposition, third person masculine singular