Tafsiran yang Mengutip untuk Ayub 12:5

Job pours great scorn (Ezekiel 23:32) on Zophar's philosophical method, that by which he had determined that since we possess knowledge only by reason of our senses as they apprehend the exterior of things, and we do not perceive the reality of things as they are in themselves, it is conceivable that though a person may appear to be righteous according to our sense perception, he is in truth wicked and is deserving of perdition and torment by reference to his inner spiritual essence. Is there anything more ludicrous, asks Job, than that a person who appears to be virtuous in all his acts and beyond suspicion, should be told that he does not really know his own mind or its intrinsic state, in terms of which he may be both wicked, and a sinner, and deserving of misfortunes? (Job 12:5), Is it conceivable that God created man in such an evil and bitter manner (Jeremiah 2:19) for scorn and for ridicule (Ezekiel 23:32); so that his calm and secure thoughts (Amos 6:1) about his righteousness are as a burning torch inside him (Isaiah 62:1) heaping coals of fire (Proverbs 25:22) and mockery on his head? For not knowing his soul (Proverbs 14:9) nor trusting his life (Job 24:22), he is perhaps a criminal and guilty, but does not know it! (Ch.12:3-4).

A further comment in Mechilta (Shirah, 2): the words כי גאה גאה are a reminder that anyone who dares act arrogantly in the knowledge that there is a G’d who is superior to him will be punished. A number of examples are listed there. 1) The Egyptians expressed their arrogance by boasting of their unfailing water supply, the river Nile. Hence G’d punished them through water. The generation of the deluge boasted that they did not need rain (a symbol of blessing from heaven) as they depended on the mist rising from the earth (compare Genesis 2,6). As a result of this boast G’d punished them by water (40 days unceasing rain, plus the opening of subterranean sources of water gushing forth, Genesis 7,11). The people of Sodom, etc., boasted of their wealth and the gold and silver they had amassed. They were so arrogant that they legislated against anyone staying in their cities overnight so that they should not have to share their wealth with any traveler. As a result of this insufferable behavior G’d wiped out both them and their belongings. This is the meaning of Job 28,4: “they open up a shaft far from where men live, in places forgotten by wayfarers, destitute of men, far removed.” We also read in Job 12,5: ”in the thought of the complacent; there is contempt for calamity; it is ready for those whose foot slips.” Ezekiel 16,49 describes the sin of the people of Sodom in the following words: “only this was the sin of your sister Sodom: arrogance! She and her daughters had plenty of bread and untroubled tranquillity; yet she did not support the poor and the needy.” Pharaoh boasted of the might of his chariots as we read in 13,14: “he took 600 choice chariots.” As a result of his reliance and boast of the invincibility of these chariots, G’d punished him by means of these very chariots as we read in 15,4. Siserah also was proud of his iron chariots (horse-drawn tanks), as reported in Judges 4,13. G’d punished him by means of these chariots as we know from Judges 5,20. Samson who had boasted of getting what was “good in his eyes,” was punished by being deprived of his eyesight (Judges 14,3 and 16,1). He had committed a sin at Azzah by sleeping with a harlot (Judges 16,1). He was taken prisoner at Azzah and humbled (Judges 16,21). Avshalom used to boast of his hair only to be eventually caught by it which led to his violent death (Samuel II 18,9). Sancheriv, King of Assyria used to boast of his chariots (Isaiah 37,24). In the end G’d sent an angel to destroy his entire military encampment (Kings II 19,35). Nebuchadnezzar had also boasted saying that he would ascend to the clouds and match the Most High (Isaiah 14,14). G’d dealt with him by consigning him to the deepest part of gehinom (Isaiah 14,15). He said to him: “you elevated yourself above mankind, I will separate you from mankind by placing you far below” (Compare Daniel 4,22). The Torah wrote in our verse גאה גאה to teach us this lesson.