Job 1:7

1:7 The Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?” ¹  And Satan answered the Lord, ²  “From roving about ³  on the earth, and from walking back and forth across it.” ⁴ 

Job 1:10

1:10 Have you ⁵  not made a hedge ⁶  around him and his household and all that he has on every side? You have blessed ⁷  the work of his hands, and his livestock ⁸  have increased ⁹  in the land.

Job 2:2

2:2 And the Lord said to Satan, “Where do you come from?” Satan answered the Lord, ¹⁰  “From roving about on the earth, and from walking back and forth across it.” ¹¹ 

Job 2:4

2:4 But ¹²  Satan answered the Lord, “Skin for ¹³  skin! ¹⁴  Indeed, a man will give up ¹⁵  all that he has to save his life! ¹⁶ 

Job 2:7

Job’s Integrity in Suffering

2:7 So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord, and he afflicted ¹⁷  Job with a malignant ulcer ¹⁸  from the sole of his feet to the top of his head. ¹⁹ 

Job 2:12

2:12 But when they gazed intently ²⁰  from a distance but did not recognize ²¹  him, they began to weep loudly. Each of them tore his robes, and they threw dust into the air over their heads. ²² 

Job 7:21

7:21 And why do you not pardon my transgression,

and take away my iniquity?

For now I will lie down in the dust, ²³ 

and you will seek me diligently, ²⁴ 

but I will be gone.”

Job 42:9

42:9 So they went, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite, and did just as the Lord had told them; and the Lord had respect for Job. ²⁵ 

Job 42:16

42:16 After this Job lived 140 years; he saw his children and their children to the fourth generation.

[1:7]  ¹ tn The imperfect may be classified as progressive imperfect; it indicates action that although just completed is regarded as still lasting into the present (GKC 316 §107.h).

[1:7]  ² tn Heb “answered the Lord and said” (also in v. 9). The words “and said” here and in v. 9 have not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[1:7]  ³ tn The verb שׁוּט (shut) means “to go or rove about” (BDB 1001-2 s.v.). Here the infinitive construct serves as the object of the preposition.

[1:7]  ⁴ tn The Hitpael (here also an infinitive construct after the preposition) of the verb הָלַךְ (halakh) means “to walk to and fro, back and forth, with the sense of investigating or reconnoitering (see e.g. Gen 13:17).

[1:10]  ⁵ tn The use of the independent personal pronoun here emphasizes the subject of the verb: “Have you not put up a hedge.”

[1:10]  ⁶ tn The verb שׂוּךְ (sukh) means “to hedge or fence up, about” something (BDB 962 s.v. I שׂוּךְ). The original idea seems to have been to surround with a wall of thorns for the purpose of protection (E. Dhorme, Job, 7). The verb is an implied comparison between making a hedge and protecting someone.

[1:10]  ⁷ sn Here the verb “bless” is used in one of its very common meanings. The verb means “to enrich,” often with the sense of enabling or empowering things for growth or fruitfulness. See further C. Westermann, Blessing in the Bible and the Life of the Church (OBT).

[1:10]  ⁸ tn Or “substance.” The herds of livestock may be taken by metonymy of part for whole to represent possessions or prosperity in general.

[1:10]  ⁹ tn The verb פָּרַץ (parats) means “to break through.” It has the sense of abundant increase, as in breaking out, overflowing (see also Gen 30:30 and Exod 1:12).

[2:2]  ⁹ tn Heb “answered the Lord and said” (also in v. 4). The words “and said” here and in v. 9 have not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[2:2]  ¹⁰ tn See the note on this phrase in 1:7.

[2:4]  ¹³ tn The form is the simply preterite with the vav (ו) consecutive. However, the speech of Satan is in contrast to what God said, even though in narrative sequence.

[2:4]  ¹⁴ tn The preposition בְּעַד (bÿ’ad) designates interest or advantage arising from the idea of protection for (“for the benefit of”); see IBHS 201-2 §11.2.7a.

[2:4]  ¹⁵ sn The meaning of the expression is obscure. It may come from the idea of sacrificing an animal or another person in order to go free, suggesting the expression that one type of skin that was worth less was surrendered to save the more important life. Satan would then be saying that Job was willing for others to die for him to go free, but not himself. “Skin” would be a synecdoche of the part for the whole (like the idiomatic use of skin today for a person in a narrow escape). The second clause indicates that God has not even scratched the surface because Job has been protected. His “skin” might have been scratched, but not his flesh and bone! But if his life had been put in danger, he would have responded differently.

[2:4]  ¹⁶ tc The LXX has “make full payment, pay a full price” (LSJ 522 s.v. ἐκτίνω).

[2:4]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “Indeed, all that a man has he will give for his life.”

[2:7]  ¹⁷ tn The verb is נָכָה (nakhah, “struck, smote”); it can be rendered in this context as “afflicted.”

[2:7]  ¹⁸ sn The general consensus is that Job was afflicted with a leprosy known as elephantiasis, named because the rough skin and the swollen limbs are animal-like. The Hebrew word שְׁחִין (shÿkhin, “boil”) can indicate an ulcer as well. Leprosy begins with such, but so do other diseases. Leprosy normally begins in the limbs and spreads, but Job was afflicted everywhere at once. It may be some other disease also characterized by such a malignant ulcer. D. J. A. Clines has a thorough bibliography on all the possible diseases linked to this description (Job [WBC], 48). See also HALOT 1460 s.v. שְׁחִין.

[2:7]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “crown.”

[2:12]  ²¹ tn Heb “they lifted up their eyes.” The idiom “to lift up the eyes” (or “to lift up the voice”) is intended to show a special intensity in the effort. Here it would indicate that they were trying to see Job from a great distance away.

[2:12]  ²² tn The Hiphil perfect here should take the nuance of potential perfect – they were not able to recognize him. In other words, this does not mean that they did not know it was Job, only that he did not look anything like the Job they knew.

[2:12]  ²³ tn Heb “they tossed dust skyward over their heads.”

[7:21]  ²⁵ tn The LXX has, “for now I will depart to the earth.”

[7:21]  ²⁶ tn The verb שָׁחַר (shakhar) in the Piel has been translated “to seek early in the morning” because of the possible link with the word “dawn.” But the verb more properly means “to seek diligently” (by implication).

[42:9]  ²⁹ tn The expression “had respect for Job” means God answered his prayer.