Job 12:18

He loosens ¹  the bonds ²  of kings and binds a loincloth ³  around their waist.

He takes off the shackles put on by kings and ties a loincloth round their waist.

"He loosens the bond of kings And binds their loins with a girdle.

He removes the royal robe of kings. With ropes around their waist, they are led away.

He divests kings of their royal garments, then ties a rag around their waists.

He undoes the chains of kings, and puts his band on them;

He looses the sash of kings, and binds a waistcloth on their loins.

He loosens the bonds of kings, And binds their waist with a belt.

He loosens ¹  the bonds ²  of kings and binds a loincloth ³  around their waist.

¹ tn The verb may be classified as a gnomic perfect, or possibly a potential perfect – “he can loosen.” The Piel means “to untie; to unbind” (Job 30:11; 38:31; 39:5).

² tc There is a potential textual difficulty here. The MT has מוּסַר (musar, “discipline”), which might have replaced מוֹסֵר (moser, “bond, chain”) from אָסַר (’asar, “to bind”). Or מוּסַר might be an unusual form of אָסַר (an option noted in HALOT 557 s.v. *מוֹסֵר). The line is saying that if the kings are bound, God can set them free, and in the second half, if they are free, he can bind them. Others take the view that this word “bond” refers to the power kings have over others, meaning that God can reduce kings to slavery.

³ tn Some commentators want to change אֵזוֹר (’ezor, “girdle”) to אֵסוּר (’esur, “bond”) because binding the loins with a girdle was an expression for strength. But H. H. Rowley notes that binding the king’s loins this way would mean so that he would do servitude, menial tasks. Such a reference would certainly indicate troubled times.