The Meaning of Job 12:4 Explained

Job 12:4

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

YLT: A laughter to his friend I am: 'He calleth to God, and He answereth him,' A laughter is the perfect righteous one.

Darby: I am to be one that is a derision to his friend, I who call upon +God, and whom he will answer: a derision is the just upright man.

ASV: I am as one that is a laughing-stock to his neighbor, I who called upon God, and he answered: The just, the perfect man is a laughing-stock.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

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

What does Job 12:4 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 12:4 mean?

one mocked by his friends I am who called on God and He answered him [who is] ridiculed the just and blameless
שְׂחֹ֤ק לְרֵעֵ֨הוּ ׀ אֶֽהְיֶ֗ה קֹרֵ֣א לֶ֭אֱלוֹהַּ וַֽיַּעֲנֵ֑הוּ שְׂ֝ח֗וֹק צַדִּ֥יק תָּמִֽים

שְׂחֹ֤ק  one  mocked 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: שְׂחֹוק  
Sense: laughter, laughing stock, mocking, derision.
לְרֵעֵ֨הוּ ׀  by  his  friends 
Parse: Preposition-l, Noun, masculine singular construct, third person masculine singular
Root: רֵעַ  
Sense: friend, companion, fellow, another person.
אֶֽהְיֶ֗ה  I  am 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, first person common singular
Root: אֶהְיֶה 
Sense: to be, become, come to pass, exist, happen, fall out.
קֹרֵ֣א  who  called 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Participle, masculine singular
Root: קָרָא  
Sense: to call, call out, recite, read, cry out, proclaim.
לֶ֭אֱלוֹהַּ  on  God 
Parse: Preposition-l, Noun, masculine singular
Root: אֱלֹוהַּ  
Sense: God.
וַֽיַּעֲנֵ֑הוּ  and  He  answered  him 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine singular, third person masculine singular
Root: לְעַנּׄות 
Sense: to answer, respond, testify, speak, shout.
שְׂ֝ח֗וֹק  [who  is]  ridiculed 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: שְׂחֹוק  
Sense: laughter, laughing stock, mocking, derision.
צַדִּ֥יק  the  just 
Parse: Adjective, masculine singular
Root: צַדִּיק  
Sense: just, lawful, righteous.
תָּמִֽים  and  blameless 
Parse: Adjective, masculine singular
Root: תָּמִים  
Sense: complete, whole, entire, sound.