Job 12:18, Psa 2:9, Dan 2:21 | JFB | STEP | 18. He looseth the bond of kings-- He looseth the authority of kings--the "bond" with which they bind their subjects ( ; ; ). a girdle-- the cord, with which they are bound as captives, instead of the royal "girdle" they once wore ( ), and the bond they once bound others with. So "gird"--put on one the bonds of a prisoner instead of the ordinary girdle ( ).

‏ Job 12:18

18. He looseth the bond of kings--He looseth the authority of kings--the "bond" with which they bind their subjects (Is 45:1; Ge 14:4; Da 2:21).

a girdle--the cord, with which they are bound as captives, instead of the royal "girdle" they once wore (Is 22:21), and the bond they once bound others with. So "gird"--put on one the bonds of a prisoner instead of the ordinary girdle (Joh 21:18).

‏ Psalms 2:9

9. His enemies shall be subject to His terrible power (Job 4:9; 2Th 2:8), as His people to His grace (Psa 110:2, 3).

rod of iron--denotes severity (Re 2:27).

a potter's vessel--when shivered cannot be mended, which will describe utter destruction.

‏ Daniel 2:21

21. changeth ... times ... seasons--"He herein gives a general preparatory intimation, that the dream of Nebuchadnezzar is concerning the changes and successions of kingdoms" [Jerome]. The "times" are the phases and periods of duration of empires (compare Da 7:25; 1Ch 12:32; 29:30); the "seasons" the fitting times for their culmination, decline, and fall (Ec 3:1; Ac 1:7; 1Th 5:1). The vicissitudes of states, with their times and seasons, are not regulated by chance or fate, as the heathen thought, but by God.

removed kings--(Job 12:18; Psa 75:6, 7; Jr 27:5; compare 1Sa 2:7, 8).

giveth wisdom--(1Ki 3:9-12; Jas 1:5).