Job 12
2
No doubt but ye are the people, and wisdom shall die with you.
3
But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you: yea, who knoweth not such things as these?
4
I am as one mocked of his neighbour, who calleth upon God, and he answereth him: the just upright man is laughed to scorn.
5
He that is ready to slip with his feet is as a lamp despised in the thought of him that is at ease.
6
The tabernacles of robbers prosper, and they that provoke God are secure; into whose hand God bringeth abundantly.
7
But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee:
8
Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee: and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee.
9
Who knoweth not in all these that the hand of the LORD hath wrought this?
10
In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind.
11
Doth not the ear try words? and the mouth taste his meat?
12
With the ancient is wisdom; and in length of days understanding.
13
With him is wisdom and strength, he hath counsel and understanding.
14
Behold, he breaketh down, and it cannot be built again: he shutteth up a man, and there can be no opening.
15
Behold, he withholdeth the waters, and they dry up: also he sendeth them out, and they overturn the earth.
16
With him is strength and wisdom: the deceived and the deceiver are his.
17
He leadeth counsellers away spoiled, and maketh the judges fools.
18
He looseth the bond of kings, and girdeth their loins with a girdle.
19
He leadeth princes away spoiled, and overthroweth the mighty.
20
He removeth away the speech of the trusty, and taketh away the understanding of the aged.
21
He poureth contempt upon princes, and weakeneth the strength of the mighty.
22
He discovereth deep things out of darkness, and bringeth out to light the shadow of death.
23
He increaseth the nations, and destroyeth them: he enlargeth the nations, and straiteneth them again.
24
He taketh away the heart of the chief of the people of the earth, and causeth them to wander in a wilderness where there is no way.
25
They grope in the dark without light, and he maketh them to stagger like a drunken man.
Two
The number "two" has two different meanings in the Bible. In most cases "two" indicates a joining together or unification. This is easy to see if we consider the conflicts we tend to have between our "hearts" and our "heads" -- between what we want and what we know. Our "hearts" tell us that we want pie with ice cream for dinner; our "heads" tell us we should have grilled chicken and salad. If we can bring those two together and actually want what's good for us, we'll be pretty happy. We're built that way -- with our emotions balanced against our intellect -- because the Lord is built that way. His essence is love itself, or Divine Love, the source of all caring, emotion and energy. It is expressed as Divine Wisdom, which gives form to that love and puts it to work, and is the source of all knowledge and reasoning. In His case the two aspects are always in conjunction, always in harmony. It's easy also to see how that duality is reflected throughout creation: plants and animals, food and drink, silver and gold. Most importantly, it's reflected in the two genders, with women representing love and men representing wisdom. That's the underlying reason why conjunction in marriage is such a holy thing. So when "two" is used in the Bible to indicate some sort of pairing or unity, it means a joining together. In rare cases, however, "two" is used more purely as a number. In these cases it stands for a profane or unholy state that comes before a holy one. This is because "three" represents a state of holiness and completion (Jesus, for instance, rose from the tomb on the third day), and "two" represents the state just before it.
