Job 12:19 - Exposition

He leadeth princes away spoiled ; rather, priests ( כהנים ), as in the Revised Version. This is the only mention of "priests" in the Book of Job, and a priest-caste, such as that of Egypt or of Israel, can scarcely be meant. The priests are placed among the mighty, on a par with kings (verse 18), princes (verse 21), and "the strong" (verse 21). This context makes us naturally think of those priest-kings whom we hear of in the olden times, such as were Melchizedek ( Genesis 19:18-20 ) and Jethro ( Exodus 3:1 ; Exodus 18:1-27 ), and the Egyptian kings of the twenty-first dynasty, and Ethbaal of Tyre, and Sethos, and others. Job's allusion is probably to persons of this exalted class, who no doubt were sometimes defeated and dragged into captivity, like other rulers and governors. And overthroweth the mighty. Schultens understands by ethanim ( איחנים ) "great teachers;" but the ordinary meaning of the word is "strong" or "mighty" (see Job 33:19 ; Micah 6:2 ).