Job 2:1-10 · Job’s Second Test

1 On another day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord , and Satan also came with them to present himself before him. 2 And the Lord said to Satan, "Where have you come from?" Satan answered the Lord , "From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it."

3 Then the Lord said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. And he still maintains his integrity, though you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason."

4 "Skin for skin!" Satan replied. "A man will give all he has for his own life. 5 But stretch out your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse you to your face."

6 The Lord said to Satan, "Very well, then, he is in your hands; but you must spare his life."

7 So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and afflicted Job with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the top of his head. 8 Then Job took a piece of broken pottery and scraped himself with it as he sat among the ashes.

9 His wife said to him, "Are you still holding on to your integrity? Curse God and die!"

10 He replied, "You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?" In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.

Job's Second Test
Job 2:1-10
Understanding Series
by Gerald H. Wilson
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Return to the Presence of Yahweh: 2:1–3  With only a few variations—and only one of real significance—these verses exactly repeat 1:6–8. Repetition and variation are part of the literary toolbox of ancient narrators and storytellers and may owe much to the oral tradition of telling and retelling these stories over the centuries. The similarity of language carries the hearer into the second conversation between the Satan and God and leads us to ponder what is to come. Will the Satan acknowledge the integrity of Job’s righteousness? How will God respond to the battered innocent sufferer now that his righteousness has been tried and proven? The variations introduce unexpected complications and suggest that final resolution still remains in the future.

The first significant variation comes towa…

Baker Publishing Group, Understanding the Bible Commentary Series, by Gerald H. Wilson