Job 1:12-19

1:12 So the Lord said to Satan, “All right then, ¹  everything he has is ²  in your power. ³  Only do not extend your hand against the man himself!” ⁴  So Satan went out ⁵  from the presence of the Lord. ⁶ 

Job’s Integrity in Adversity ⁷ 

1:13 Now the day ⁸  came when Job’s ⁹  sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, 1:14 and a messenger came to Job, saying, “The oxen were plowing ¹⁰  and the donkeys were grazing beside them, 1:15 and the Sabeans ¹¹  swooped down ¹²  and carried them all away, and they killed ¹³  the servants with the sword! ¹⁴  And I – only I alone ¹⁵  – escaped to tell you!”

1:16 While this one was still speaking, ¹⁶  another messenger arrived ¹⁷  and said, “The fire of God ¹⁸  has fallen from heaven ¹⁹  and has burned up the sheep and the servants – it has consumed them! And I – only I alone – escaped to tell you!”

1:17 While this one was still speaking another messenger arrived and said, “The Chaldeans ²⁰  formed three bands and made a raid ²¹  on the camels and carried them all away, and they killed the servants with the sword! ²²  And I – only I alone – escaped to tell you!”

1:18 While this one was still speaking another messenger arrived and said, “Your sons and your daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, 1:19 and suddenly ²³  a great wind ²⁴  swept across ²⁵  the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young people, and they died! And I – only I alone – escaped to tell you!”

[1:12]  ¹ tn The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “behold”) introduces a foundational clause upon which the following volitional clause is based.

[1:12]  ² tn The versions add a verb here: “delivered to” or “abandoned to” the hand of Satan.

[1:12]  ³ tn Heb “in your hand.” The idiom means that it is now Satan’s to do with as he pleases.

[1:12]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew word order emphatically holds out Job’s person as the exception: “only upon him do not stretch forth your hand.”

[1:12]  ⁵ tn The Targum to Job adds “with permission” to show that he was granted leave from God’s presence.

[1:12]  ⁶ sn So Satan, having received his permission to test Job’s sincerity, goes out from the Lord’s presence. But Satan is bound by the will of the Most High not to touch Job himself. The sentence gives the impression that Satan’s departure is with a certain eagerness and confidence.

[1:13]  ⁷ sn The series of catastrophes and the piety of Job is displayed now in comprehensive terms. Everything that can go wrong goes wrong, and yet Job, the pious servant of Yahweh, continues to worship him in the midst of the rubble. This section, and the next, will lay the foundation for the great dialogues in the book.

[1:13]  ⁸ tn The Targum to Job clarifies that it was the first day of the week. The fact that it was in the house of the firstborn is the reason.

[1:13]  ⁹ tn Heb “his”; the referent (Job) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:14]  ¹⁰ tn The use of the verb “to be” with the participle gives emphasis to the continuing of the action in the past (GKC 360 §116.r).

[1:15]  ¹¹ tn The LXX has “the spoilers spoiled them” instead of “the Sabeans swooped down.” The translators might have connected the word to שְָׁבָה (shavah, “to take captive”) rather than שְׁבָא (shÿva’, “Sabeans”), or they may have understood the name as general reference to all types of Bedouin invaders from southern Arabia (HALOT 1381 s.v. שְׁבָא 2.c).

[1:15]  ¹² tn The Hebrew is simply “fell” (from נָפַל, nafal). To “fall upon” something in war means to attack quickly and suddenly.

[1:15]  ¹³ sn Job’s servants were probably armed and gave resistance, which would be the normal case in that time. This was probably why they were “killed with the sword.”

[1:15]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the edge/mouth of the sword”; see T. J. Meek, “Archaeology and a Point of Hebrew Syntax,” BASOR 122 (1951): 31-33.

[1:15]  ¹⁵ tn The pleonasms in the verse emphasize the emotional excitement of the messenger.

[1:16]  ¹⁶ tn The particle עוֹד (’od, “still”) is used with the participle to express the past circumstances when something else happened (IBHS 625-26 §37.6d).

[1:16]  ¹⁷ tn The Hebrew expression is literally “yet/this/speaking/and this/ arrived.” The sentence uses the two demonstratives as a contrasting pair. It means “this one was still speaking when that one arrived” (IBHS 308-9 §17.3c). The word “messenger” has been supplied in the translation in vv. 16, 17, and 18 for clarity and for stylistic reasons.

[1:16]  ¹⁸ sn The “fire of God” would refer to lightning (1 Kgs 18:38; 2 Kgs 1:12; cf. NAB, NCV, TEV). The LXX simply has “fire.” The first blow came from enemies; the second from heaven, which might have confused Job more as to the cause of his troubles. The use of the divine epithet could also be an indication of the superlative degree; see D. W. Thomas, “A Consideration of Some Unusual Ways of Expressing the Superlative in Hebrew,” VT 3 (1953): 209-24.

[1:16]  ¹⁹ tn Or “from the sky.” The Hebrew word שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven[s]” or “sky” depending on the context.

[1:17]  ²⁰ sn The name may have been given to the tribes that roamed between the Euphrates and the lands east of the Jordan. These are possibly the nomadic Kaldu who are part of the ethnic Aramaeans. The LXX simply has “horsemen.”

[1:17]  ²¹ tn The verb פָּשַׁט (pashat) means “to hurl themselves” upon something (see Judg 9:33, 41). It was a quick, plundering raid to carry off the camels.

[1:17]  ²² tn Heb “with the edge/mouth of the sword.”

[1:19]  ²³ tn The use of the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “behold”) in this sentence is deictic, pointing out with excitement the events that happened as if the listener was there.

[1:19]  ²⁴ sn Both wind and lightning (v. 16) were employed by Satan as his tools. God can permit him such control over factors of the weather when it suits the divine purpose, but God retains ultimate control (see 28:23-27; Prov 3:4; Luke 8:24-25).

[1:19]  ²⁵ tn The word מֵעֵבֶר (me’ever) is simply “from the direction of”; the word עֵבֶר (’ever) indicates the area the whirlwind came across.