Job 2:4-6

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  2:5 But extend your hand and strike his bone and his flesh, ⁶  and he will no doubt ⁷  curse you to your face!”

2:6 So the Lord said to Satan, “All right, ⁸  he is ⁹  in your power; ¹⁰  only preserve ¹¹  his life.”

Psalms 76:10

76:10 Certainly ¹²  your angry judgment upon men will bring you praise; ¹³ 

you reveal your anger in full measure. ¹⁴ 

Isaiah 27:8

27:8 When you summon her for divorce, you prosecute her; ¹⁵ 

he drives her away ¹⁶  with his strong wind in the day of the east wind. ¹⁷ 

Isaiah 27:1

27:1 At that time ¹⁸  the Lord will punish

with his destructive, ¹⁹  great, and powerful sword

Leviathan the fast-moving ²⁰  serpent,

Leviathan the squirming serpent;

he will kill the sea monster. ²¹ 

Colossians 1:13

1:13 He delivered us from the power of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of the Son he loves, ²² 

[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.”

[2:5]  ⁶ sn The “bones and flesh” are idiomatic for the whole person, his physical and his psychical/spiritual being (see further H. W. Wolff, Anthropology of the Old Testament, 26-28).

[2:5]  ⁷ sn This is the same oath formula found in 1:11; see the note there.

[2:6]  ⁸ tn The particle הִנּוֹ (hinno) is literally, “here he is!” God presents Job to Satan, with the restriction on preserving Job’s life.

[2:6]  ⁹ tn The LXX has “I deliver him up to you.”

[2:6]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “hand.”

[2:6]  ¹¹ sn The irony of the passage comes through with this choice of words. The verb שָׁמַר (shamar) means “to keep; to guard; to preserve.” The exceptive clause casts Satan in the role of a savior – he cannot destroy this life but must protect it.

[76:10]  ¹² tn Or “for.”

[76:10]  ¹³ tn Heb “the anger of men will praise you.” This could mean that men’s anger (subjective genitive), when punished by God, will bring him praise, but this interpretation does not harmonize well with the next line. The translation assumes that God’s anger is in view here (see v. 7) and that “men” is an objective genitive. God’s angry judgment against men brings him praise because it reveals his power and majesty (see vv. 1-4).

[76:10]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the rest of anger you put on.” The meaning of the statement is not entirely clear. Perhaps the idea is that God, as he prepares for battle, girds himself with every last ounce of his anger, as if it were a weapon.

[27:8]  ¹⁵ tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “in [?], in sending her away, you oppose her.” The meaning of this line is uncertain. The form בְּסַאסְּאָה (bÿsa’ssÿ’ah) is taken as an infinitive from סַאסְּאָה (sa’ssÿ’ah) with a prepositional prefix and a third feminine singular suffix. (The MT does not have a mappiq in the final he [ה], however). According to HALOT 738 s.v. סַאסְּאָה the verb is a Palpel form from an otherwise unattested root cognate with an Arabic verb meaning “to gather beasts with a call.” Perhaps it means “to call, summon” here, but this is a very tentative proposal. בְּשַׁלְחָהּ (bÿshalkhah, “in sending her away”) appears to be a Piel infinitive with a prepositional prefix and a third feminine singular suffix. Since the Piel of שָׁלָח (shalakh) can sometimes mean “divorce” (HALOT 1514-15 s.v.) and the following verb רִיב (riv, “oppose”) can be used in legal contexts, it is possible that divorce proceedings are alluded to here. This may explain why Israel is referred to as feminine in this verse, in contrast to the masculine forms used in vv. 6-7 and 9.

[27:8]  ¹⁶ tn The Hebrew text has no object expressed, but one can understand a third feminine singular pronominal object and place a mappiq in the final he (ה) of the form to indicate the suffix.

[27:8]  ¹⁷ sn The “east wind” here symbolizes violent divine judgment.

[27:1]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “in that day” (so KJV).

[27:1]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “hard, severe”; cf. NAB, NRSV “cruel”; KJV “sore”; NLT “terrible.”

[27:1]  ²⁰ tn Heb “fleeing” (so NAB, NASB, NRSV). Some translate “slippery” or “slithering.”

[27:1]  ²¹ tn The description of Leviathan should be compared with the following excerpts from Ugaritic mythological texts: (1) “Was not the dragon (Ugaritic tnn, cognate with Hebrew תַנִּין [tannin, translated “sea monster” here]) vanquished and captured? I did destroy the wriggling (Ugaritic ’qltn, cognate to Hebrew עֲקַלָּתוֹן [’aqallaton, translated “squirming” here]) serpent, the tyrant with seven heads (cf. Ps 74:14).” (See CTA 3 iii 38-39.) (2) “for all that you smote Leviathan the slippery (Ugaritic brh, cognate to Hebrew בָּרִחַ [bariakh, translated “fast-moving” here]) serpent, [and] made an end of the wriggling serpent, the tyrant with seven heads” (See CTA 5 i 1-3.)

[1:13]  ²² tn Here αὐτοῦ (autou) has been translated as a subjective genitive (“he loves”).