Job2
New International Version
1On another day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them to present himself before him.
2And the Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?” Satan answered the Lord, “From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it.”
3Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. And he still maintains his integrity, though you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason.”
4“Skin for skin!” Satan replied. “A man will give all he has for his own life.
5But now stretch out your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse you to your face.”
6The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, then, he is in your hands; but you must spare his life.”
7So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and afflicted Job with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head.
8Then Job took a piece of broken pottery and scraped himself with it as he sat among the ashes.
9His wife said to him, “Are you still maintaining your integrity? Curse God and die!”
10He replied, “You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?” In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.
11When Job’s three friends, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite, heard about all the troubles that had come upon him, they set out from their homes and met together by agreement to go and sympathize with him and comfort him.
12When they saw him from a distance, they could hardly recognize him; they began to weep aloud, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads.
13Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights. No one said a word to him, because they saw how great his suffering was.
Study Guide
Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Job 2.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: Satan obtains leave to try Job. (1–6). Job's sufferings. (7–10). His friends come to comfort him. (11–13).
vv1-6
How well is it for us, that neither men nor devils are to be our judges! but all our judgment comes from the Lord, who never errs. Job holds fast his integrity still, as his weapon. God speaks with pleasure of the power of his own grace. Self-love and self-preservation are powerful in the hearts of men. But Satan accuses Job, representing him as wholly selfish, and minding nothing but his own ease and safety. Thus are the ways and people of God often falsely blamed by the devil and his agents. Permission is granted to Satan to make trial, but with a limit. If God did not chain up the roaring lion, how soon would he devour us! Job, thus slandered by Satan, was a type of Christ, the first prophecy of whom was, that Satan should bruise his heel, and be foiled.
vv7-10
The devil tempts his own children, and draws them to sin, and afterwards torments, when he has brought them to ruin; but this child of God he tormented with affliction, and then tempted to make a bad use of his affliction. He provoked Job to curse God. The disease was very grievous. If at any time we are tried with sore and grievous distempers, let us not think ourselves dealt with otherwise than as God sometimes deals with the best of his saints and servants. Job humbled himself under the mighty hand of God, and brought his mind to his condition. His wife was spared to him, to be a troubler and tempter to him. Satan still endeavours to draw men from God, as he did our first parents, by suggesting hard thoughts of Him, than which nothing is more false. But Job resisted and overcame the temptation. Shall we, guilty, polluted, worthless creatures, receive so many unmerited blessings from a just and holy God, and shall we refuse to accept the punishment of our sins, when we suffer so much less than we deserve? Let murmuring, as well as boasting, be for ever done away. Thus far Job stood the trial, and appeared brightest in the furnace of affliction. There might be risings of corruption in his heart, but grace had the upper hand.
vv11-13
The friends of Job seem noted for their rank, as well as for wisdom and piety. Much of the comfort of this life lies in friendship with the prudent and virtuous. Coming to mourn with him, they vented grief which they really felt. Coming to comfort him, they sat down with him. It would appear that they suspected his unexampled troubles were judgments for some crimes, which he had vailed under his professions of godliness. Many look upon it only as a compliment to visit their friends in sorrow; we must look life. And if the example of Job's friends is not enough to lead us to pity the afflicted, let us seek the mind that was in Christ.
Key Words
יוֹם: a day (as the warm hours), whether literal (from sunrise to sunset, or from one sunset to the next), or figurative (a space of time defined by an associated term), (often used adverb)
בֵּן: a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etc., (like father or brother), etc.)
אֱלֹהִים: gods in the ordinary sense; but specifically used (in the plural thus, especially with the article) of the supreme God; occasionally applied by way of deference to magistrates; and sometimes as a superlative
בּוֹא: to go or come (in a wide variety of applications)
יָצַב: to place (any thing so as to stay); reflexively, to station, offer, continue
שָׂטָן: an opponent; especially (with the article prefixed) Satan, the arch-enemy of good
תָּוֶךְ: a bisection, i.e. (by implication) the centre
אָמַר: to say (used with great latitude)
אֵל: near, with or among; often in general, to
אַי: where? hence how?
Cross References
Job 2Direct parallel structure depicting the sons of God and Satan presenting themselves before the Lord.
Supported by Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole, JFB
Repeats the Lord's question and Satan's response about walking up and down in the earth.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Parallel commendation of Job's perfect and upright character, adding his continued integrity.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Uses identical Hebrew phrasing for malignant boils from sole of foot to crown of head.
Supported by JFB
New Testament parallel of Satan walking about as a roaring lion seeking whom to devour.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Job later vindicates God's assessment, declaring he will not remove his integrity from him.
Supported by Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole
Sitting in ashes as a profound sign of deep mourning, distress, and self-abasement.
Supported by JFB
A wife used as an instrument of temptation, urging her husband to turn from God.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Illustrates the scriptural connection between moral folly, sin, and spiritual blindness.
Supported by JFB
Identifies Teman as a descendant of Esau, establishing Eliphaz's Idumean lineage.
Supported by JFB
Parallels sitting in silence on the ground as the ultimate expression of overwhelming grief.
Supported by JFB
Satan demanding to sift a believer, obtaining limited divine permission for testing.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Paul's thorn in the flesh, described as a messenger of Satan sent to buffet him.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Sprinkling dust upon their heads toward heaven as a visible token of intense lamentation.
Supported by JFB