Job Chapter 2
From The Open Bible Project
2:1 Again it happened on the day when the God's sons came to present themselves before Yahweh, that Satan came also among them to present himself before Yahweh.
2:2 Yahweh said to Satan, "Where have you come from?" Satan answered Yahweh, and said, "From going back and forth in the earth, and from walking up and down in it."
2:3 Yahweh said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job? For there is none like him in the earth, a blameless and an upright man, one who fears God, and turns away from evil. He still maintains his integrity, although you incited me against him, to ruin him without cause."
- (c) He proves Job’s integrity by this that he ceased not to fear God when his plagues were grievously upon him.
- (d) That is, when you had nothing against him, or when you were not able to bring your purpose to pass.
2:4 Satan answered Yahweh, and said, "Skin for skin. Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life.
- (e) By this he means that a man’s own skin is dearer to him than another man’s.
2:5 But put forth your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will renounce you to your face."
- (f) Meaning, his own person.
2:6 Yahweh said to Satan, "Behold, he is in your hand. Only spare his life."
- (g) Thus Satan can go no further in punishing than God has limited him.
2:7 So Satan went forth from the presence of Yahweh, and struck Job with painful sores from the sole of his foot to his head.
- (h) This sore was most vehement, with which God also plagued the Egyptians, (Exodus 9:9) and threatened to punish rebellious people, (Deuteronomy 28:27) so that this temptation was most grievous: for if Job had measured God’s favour by the vehemency of his disease, he might have thought that God had cast him off.
2:8 He took for himself a potsherd to scrape himself with, and he sat among the ashes.
- (i) As destitute of all other help and means and wonderfully afflicted with the sorrow of his disease.
2:9 Then his wife said to him, "Do you still maintain your integrity? Renounce God, and die."
- (k) Satan uses the same instrument against Job, as he did against Adam.
- (l) Meaning, what do you gain from serving God, seeing he thus plagues you, as though he were your enemy? This is the most grievous temptation for the faithful, when their faith is assailed, and when Satan goes about to persuade them that they trust in God in vain.
- (m) For death was appointed to the blasphemer and so she meant that he would quickly be rid of his pain.
2:10 But he said to her, "You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. What? Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?" In all this Job didn't sin with his lips.
- (n) That is, to be patient in adversity as we rejoice when he sends prosperity, and so to acknowledge him to be both merciful and just.
- (o) He so bridled his desires that his tongue through impatience did not murmur against God.
2:11 Now when Job's three friends heard of all this evil that had come on him, they each came from his own place: Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite, and they made an appointment together to come to sympathize with him and to comfort him.
- (p) Who were men of authority, wise and learned, and as the Septuagint writes, kings, and came to comfort him, but when they saw how he was visited, they conceived an evil opinion of him, as though he was a hypocrite and so justly plagued by God for his sins.
2:12 When they lifted up their eyes from a distance, and didn't recognize him, they raised their voices, and wept; and they each tore his robe, and sprinkled dust on their heads toward the sky.
- (q) This was also a ceremony which they used in those countries as the renting of their clothes in sign of sorrow etc.
2:13 So they sat down with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and none spoke a word to him, for they saw that his grief was very great.
- (r) And therefore thought that he would not have listened to their counsel.
