Job 2:4

2:4 But ¹  Satan answered the Lord, “Skin for ²  skin! ³  Indeed, a man will give up ⁴  all that he has to save his life! ⁵ 

Jeremiah 45:5

45:5 Are you looking for great things for yourself? Do not look for such things. For I, the Lord, affirm ⁶  that I am about to bring disaster on all humanity. ⁷  But I will allow you to escape with your life ⁸  wherever you go.”’”

Matthew 6:25

Do Not Worry

6:25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry ⁹  about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Isn’t there more to life than food and more to the body than clothing?

Matthew 16:26

16:26 For what does it benefit a person ¹⁰  if he gains the whole world but forfeits his life? Or what can a person give in exchange for his life?

Matthew 24:17-21

24:17 The one on the roof ¹¹  must not come down ¹²  to take anything out of his house, 24:18 and the one in the field must not turn back to get his cloak. 24:19 Woe ¹³  to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing their babies in those days! 24:20 Pray ¹⁴  that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath. 24:21 For then there will be great suffering ¹⁵  unlike anything that has happened ¹⁶  from the beginning of the world until now, or ever will happen.

Mark 13:14-16

The Abomination of Desolation

13:14 “But when you see the abomination of desolation ¹⁷  standing where it should not be (let the reader understand), then those in Judea must flee ¹⁸  to the mountains. 13:15 The one on the roof ¹⁹  must not come down or go inside to take anything out of his house. ²⁰  13:16 The one in the field must not turn back to get his cloak.

Philippians 3:7-8

3:7 But these assets I have come to regard as liabilities because of Christ. 3:8 More than that, I now regard all things as liabilities compared to the far greater value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things – indeed, I regard them as dung! ²¹  – that I may gain Christ,

[2:4]  ¹ 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]  ² 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]  ³ 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]  ⁴ tc The LXX has “make full payment, pay a full price” (LSJ 522 s.v. ἐκτίνω).

[2:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “Indeed, all that a man has he will give for his life.”

[45:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “oracle of the Lord.”

[45:5]  ⁷ sn Compare Jer 25:31, 33. The reference here to universal judgment also forms a nice transition to the judgments on the nations that follow in Jer 46-51 which may be another reason for the placement of this chapter here, out of its normal chronological order (see also the study note on v. 1).

[45:5]  ⁸ tn Heb “I will give you your life for a spoil.” For this idiom see the translator’s note on 21:9 and compare the usage in 21:9; 38:2; 39:18.

[6:25]  ⁹ tn Or “do not be anxious,” and so throughout the rest of this paragraph.

[16:26]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “a man,” but ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used in a generic sense here to refer to both men and women.

[24:17]  ¹¹ sn On the roof. Most of the roofs in the NT were flat roofs made of pounded dirt, sometimes mixed with lime or stones, supported by heavy wooden beams. They generally had an easy means of access, either a sturdy wooden ladder or stone stairway, sometimes on the outside of the house.

[24:17]  ¹² sn The swiftness and devastation of the judgment will require a swift escape. There will be no time to come down from the roof and pick up anything from inside one’s home.

[24:19]  ¹³ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[24:20]  ¹⁴ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[24:21]  ¹⁵ tn Traditionally, “great tribulation.”

[24:21]  ¹⁶ sn Suffering unlike anything that has happened. Some refer this event to the destruction of Jerusalem in a.d. 70. While the events of a.d. 70 may reflect somewhat the comments Jesus makes here, the reference to the scope and severity of this judgment strongly suggest that much more is in view. Most likely Jesus is referring to the great end-time judgment on Jerusalem in the great tribulation.

[13:14]  ¹⁷ sn The reference to the abomination of desolation is an allusion to Dan 9:27. Though some have seen the fulfillment of Daniel’s prophecy in the actions of Antiochus IV (or a representative of his) in 167 b.c., the words of Jesus seem to indicate that Antiochus was not the final fulfillment, but that there was (from Jesus’ perspective) still another fulfillment yet to come. Some argue that this was realized in a.d. 70, while others claim that it refers specifically to Antichrist and will not be fully realized until the period of the great tribulation at the end of the age (cf. Mark 13:19, 24; Matt 24:21; Rev 3:10).

[13:14]  ¹⁸ sn Fleeing to the mountains is a key OT image: Gen 19:17; Judg 6:2; Isa 15:5; Jer 16:16; Zech 14:5.

[13:15]  ¹⁹ sn Most of the roofs in the NT were flat roofs made of pounded dirt, sometimes mixed with lime or stones, supported by heavy wooden beams. They generally had an easy means of access, either a sturdy wooden ladder or stone stairway, sometimes on the outside of the house.

[13:15]  ²⁰ sn The nature of the judgment coming upon them will be so quick and devastating that one will not have time to come down or go inside to take anything out of his house. It is best just to escape as quickly as possible.

[3:8]  ²¹ tn The word here translated “dung” was often used in Greek as a vulgar term for fecal matter. As such it would most likely have had a certain shock value for the readers. This may well be Paul’s meaning here, especially since the context is about what the flesh produces.