Job 2:5-6

2:5 But extend your hand and strike his bone and his flesh, ¹  and he will no doubt ²  curse you to your face!”

2:6 So the Lord said to Satan, “All right, ³  he is ⁴  in your power; ⁵  only preserve ⁶  his life.”

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

[2:6]  ³ 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]  ⁴ tn The LXX has “I deliver him up to you.”

[2:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “hand.”

[2:6]  ⁶ 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.