Job 2

Job 2:1-8.

SATAN

FURTHER

TEMPTS

JOB.

1. a day--appointed for the angels giving an account of their

ministry to God. The words "to present himself before the Lord" occur

here, though not in

Job 1:6,

as Satan has now a special report to make as to Job.

3. integrity--literally, "completeness"; so "perfect," another

form of the same Hebrew word,

Job 11:7.

movedst . . . against--So

1Sa 26:19;

compare

1Ch 21:1

with 2Sa 24:1.

4. Skin for skin--a proverb. Supply, "He will give." The "skin" is

figurative for any outward good. Nothing outward is so dear that a man

will not exchange it for some other outward good; "but" (not "yea")

"life," the inward good, cannot be replaced; a man will sacrifice

everything else for its sake. Satan sneers bitterly at man's egotism

and says that Job bears the loss of property and children because these

are mere outward and exchangeable goods, but he will give up all

things, even his religion, in order to save his life, if you touch his

bones and flesh. "Skin" and "life" are in antithesis

[UMBREIT]. The

martyrs prove Satan's sneer false. ROSENMULLER explains it not so

well. A man willingly gives up another's skin (life) for his own skin (life). So Job might bear the loss of his children, &c., with

equanimity, so long as he remained unhurt himself; but when touched in

his own person, he would renounce God. Thus the first "skin" means the

other's skin, that is, body; the second "skin," one's own, as in

Ex 21:28.

6. but save--rather, "only spare his life." Satan shows his ingenuity

in inflicting pain, and also his knowledge of what man's body can bear

without vital injury.

7. sore boils--malignant boils; rather, as it is singular in the

Hebrew, a "burning sore." Job was covered with one universal

inflammation. The use of the potsherd

[Job 2:8]

agrees with this view. It was that form of leprosy called black

(to distinguish it from the white), or elephantiasis,

because the feet swell like those of the elephant. The Arabic

judham

(De 28:35),

where "sore botch" is rather the black burning boil

(Isa 1:6).

8. a potsherd--not a piece of a broken earthen vessel, but an

instrument made for scratching (the root of the Hebrew word is

"scratch"); the sore was too disgusting to touch. "To sit in the ashes"

marks the deepest mourning

(Jon 3:6);

also humility, as if the mourner were nothing but dust and ashes; so

Abraham

(Ge 18:27).

Job 2:9-13.

JOB

REPROVES

HIS

WIFE.

9. curse God--rather, "renounce" God.

(See on

Job 1:5)

[UMBREIT]. However, it was usual among the

heathens, when disappointed in their prayers accompanied with offerings

to their gods, to reproach and curse them.

and die--that is, take thy farewell of God and so die. For no good

is to be got out of religion, either here or hereafter; or, at least,

not in this life

[GILL]; Nothing makes the ungodly so angry as to see

the godly under trial not angry.

10. the foolish women--Sin and folly are allied in Scripture

(1Sa 25:25;

2Sa 13:13;

Ps 14:1).

receive evil--bear willingly

(La 3:39).

11. Eliphaz--The view of RAWLINSON that

"the names of Job's three friends represent the Chaldean times, about

700 B.C.," cannot be accepted. Eliphaz is an

Idumean name, Esau's oldest son

(Ge 36:4);

and Teman, son of Eliphaz

(Ge 36:15),

called "duke." EUSEBIUS places Teman in

Arabia-Petræa (but see on

Job 6:19).

Teman means "at the right hand"; and then the south, namely, part of

Idumea; capital of Edom

(Am 1:12).

Hebrew geographers faced the east, not the north as we do; hence with

them "the right hand" was the south. Temanites were famed for wisdom

(Jer 49:7).

BARUCH mentions them as "authors of fables"

(namely, proverbs embodying the results of observation), and "searchers

out of understanding."

Bildad the Shuhite--Shuah ("a pit"), son of Abraham and Keturah

(Ge 25:2).

PTOLEMY mentions the region Syccea, in

Arabia-Deserta, east of Batanea.

Zophar the Naamathite--not of the Naamans in Judah

(Jos 15:41),

which was too distant; but some region in Arabia-Deserta. FRETELIUS says there was a Naamath in Uz.

12. toward heaven--They threw ashes violently upwards, that they

might fall on their heads and cover them--the deepest mourning

(Jos 7:6;

Ac 22:23).

13. seven days . . . nights--They did not remain in the same posture

and without food, &c., all this time, but for most of this period daily

and nightly. Sitting on the earth marked mourning

(La 2:10).

Seven days was the usual length of it

(Ge 50:10;

1Sa 31:13).

This silence may have been due to a rising suspicion of evil in Job;

but chiefly because it is only ordinary griefs that find vent in

language; extraordinary griefs are too great for utterance.