Outline of Chapter 2:

Introduction

         vv.     1–6           Angelic Convocation Part II

         vv.     7–8           Satan Strikes Job with a Horrid Disease

         vv.     9–10         The Reaction of Job’s Wife

         vv.    11–13         Job’s 3 Friends Come to Comfort Him

Addendum

Charts, Maps and Short Doctrines:

         Introduction         The Suffering of Job (graphic)

         Introduction         The Principals of Job 2

         Introduction         The Prequel of Job 2

         Introduction         A Synopsis of Job 2

         Introduction         Matthew Henry’s Outline for Job 2

         Introduction         The Pulpit Commentary Outlines Job 2

         v.       3              Ancient Law Codes

         v.       3              The Stages of Spiritual Growth

         v.       4              Interpretations of “Skin for skin; he will give all he has for his life”

         v.       5              Possible reasons why most translators render bârak^e to mean curse

         v.       7              Theories on the Disease Which Afflicted Job

         v.       7              Job’s Afflictions Variously Described

         v.       9              The Greek Text

         v.       9              Job’s Wife and Principles Derived from Their Relationship

         v.      10              Job 2:10 (graphic)

         v.      11              Gerard Seghers’ The Patient Job (graphic)

         v.      11              Dating the Book of Job

         v.      11              Eliphaz

         v.      11              Teman

         v.      11              The Pulpit Commentary Sums up the Characteristics of these Men

         v.      12              USA Today Survey on Youth Values (graph)

         v.      13              McGee on What Satan has Taken from Job

         v.      13              McEwan’s Doctrine of Suffering

         Addendum          What We Learn from Job 2

         Addendum          A Complete Translation of Job 2

         Addendum          Job, a Type of Christ (graphic)

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An Introduction to Job 2

From 4.bp.blogspot.com. Accessed May 25, 2013.

I ntroduction: Job 2 is Act 2 in the book of Job. God convenes the angels and Satan comes forward, and God questions Satan about Job, pointing out that God has caused Job harm without cause. If you will recall the previous chapter, Satan said that Job served God only because God was good to him. “Take away all of his blessings, and he will curse You to Your face,” Satan alleged. That did not happen. So Satan applied a new strategy in this chapter.

 It is very likely that Satan is quite frustrated with Job and angry. To his way of thinking, Job should have cursed God and desired death. However, Satan did not respond as he expected. So, more satanic viewpoint is presented here in Job 2. Satan alleges that if God physically harms, Job, then Job will certainly curse God and desire death. God gives Satan permission to strike Job with disease; however, Job is to be kept alive.

The Suffering of Job, from 4.bp.blogspot.com.

Satan strikes Job with a horribly painful and disgusting skin disease. This is the last straw for Job’s wife, and she suggests to Job to curse God and die.

Then three of Job’s business associates (possibly friends) hear of his troubles and come to commiserate with him at the end of Job 2.

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Angelic Convocation Part II

This chapter opens exactly as we found in Job 1:6–8; God is sovereign, the angels come before Him, there is the interaction between the Adversary (Satan) and God. The Adversary, ignoring that he had been shown wrong before, has a new objection to lodge and God and His relationship with His creatures (in this case, Job). As before, God is wholly and fully in charge, and Satan can do no more than God allows, whatever his objection might be.

Here is how others have translated this verse:

Ancient texts:                       Note: I compare the Hebrew text to English translations of the Latin, Syriac and Greek texts, using the Douay-Rheims translation ; George Lamsa’s translation, and Sir Lancelot Charles Lee Brenton’s translation as revised and edited by Paul W. Esposito, respectively. I often update these texts with non-substantive changes (e.g., you for thou, etc.). I often use the text of the Complete Apostles’ Bible instead of Brenton’s translation, because it updates the English text.

The Septuagint was the earliest known translation of a book (circa 200 b.c.). Since this translation was made before the textual criticism had been developed into a science and because different books appear to be translated by different men, the Greek translation can sometimes be very uneven.

When there are serious disparities between my translation and Brenton’s (or the text of the Complete Apostles’ Bible), I look at the Greek text of the Septuagint (the LXX) to see if a substantive difference actually exists (and I reflect these changes in the English rendering of the Greek text). I use the Greek LXX with Strong’s numbers and morphology available for e-sword. The only problem with this resource (which is a problem for similar resources) is, there is no way to further explore Greek verbs which are not found in the New Testament. Although I usually quote the Complete Apostles’ Bible here, I have begun to make changes in the translation when their translation conflicts with the Greek and note what those changes are.

The Masoretic text is the Hebrew text with all of the vowels (vowel points) inserted (the original Hebrew text lacked vowels). We take the Masoretic text to be the text closest to the original. However, differences between the Masoretic text and the Greek, Latin and Syriac are worth noting and, once in a great while, represent a more accurate text possessed by those other ancient translators.

In general, the Latin text is an outstanding translation from the Hebrew text into Latin and very trustworthy (I say this as a non-Catholic). Unfortunately, I do not read Latin—apart from some very obvious words—so I am dependent upon the English translation of the Latin (principally, the Douay-Rheims translation).

Underlined words indicate differences in the text.

Bracketed portions of the Dead Sea Scrolls are words, letters and phrases lost in the scroll due to various types of damage. Underlined words or phrases are those in the Dead Sea Scrolls but not in the Masoretic text.

Ancient texts:

Chaldee                                 And there was a day of the great judgment, a day of the remission of sins and there came bands of angels...

Latin Vulgate                          And it came to pass, when on a certain day the sons of God came, and stood before the Lord, and Satan came amongst them, and stood in His sight.

Masoretic Text (Hebrew)        And so is the day and so comes sons of the Elohim to take a stand against Y^ehowah. And so comes also the adversary [= the Satan] in their midst to take a stand against Y^ehowah.

Peshitta (Syriac)                    AGAIN there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the LORD.

Charles Thomson (Greek)     Again on the day when the angels of God came to present themselves before the Lord, Satan also came among them to present himself before the Lord.

Septuagint (Greek)                And it came to pass on a certain day, that the angels of God came to stand before the Lord, and the devil came among them to stand before the Lord.

Significant differences:           Again is not found in the Hebrew, and, apparently, not in the Greek either (despite Thomson’s translation).

To present themselves before the Lord does not really match up with the Hebrew (although I don’t think that is what is found in the Greek).

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

Common English Bible           Job's Adversary refuses to give up

One day the divine beings came to present themselves before the Lord. The Adversary also came among them to present himself before the Lord.

Contemporary English V.       When the angels gathered around the LORD again, Satan was there with them,...

Easy English                          Satan opposes Job again

On another day, the angels (servants of God) gathered in heaven to see God. The accuser, called Satan, came with them to see God.

Easy-to-Read Version            On another day, the angels [Literally, "sons of God."] came to meet with the Lord. Even Satan came to meet with the Lord.

The Message                         One day when the angels came to report to GOD, Satan also showed up.

New Berkeley Version           Another day when the sons of God came to stand and present themselves before the Lord, Satan also came among them to present himself before the Lord.

New Living Translation           Job's Second Test

One day the members of the heavenly court [Hebrew the sons of God.] came again to present themselves before the Lord, and the Accuser, Satan [Hebrew and the satan; similarly throughout this chapter.], came with them.

The Voice                               Now one day, it was time for the sons of God, God's heavenly messengers, to present themselves to the Eternal One to give reports and receive instructions. The Accuser [Literally, the Satan] was with them there again, also ready to present himself to Him.

Partially literal and partially paraphrased translations:

American English Bible          Then on another day, God's messengers again came to stand before Jehovah, and the Opposer came among them once more to stand before the Lord.

Christian Community Bible     Once more the heavenly be ings came to present themselves be - fore Yah weh, and again Satan was with them.

New Advent (Knox) Bible       Once again the heavenly powers came to wait upon the Lord's presence; and there, waiting with the rest of them, was the Enemy of man.

New American Bible (R.E.)    The Second Interview.

One day, when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, the satan also came with them. Jb 1:6.

NIRV                                      Job Is Put to the Test Again

On another day angels came to the Lord. Satan also came to him along with them.

New Jerusalem Bible             Another day, the sons of God came to attend on Yahweh and Satan came with them too.

New Simplified Bible              One day when the sons of God came to present themselves in front of Jehovah, Satan the Accuser came along with them.

Revised English Bible            Once again the day came when the members of the court of heaven took their places in the presence of the Lord, and the Adversary was there among them.

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

Ancient Roots Translinear      In a day the sons of God had came to abide by Yahweh, Satan (opposition) also came in their midst to abide by Yahweh.

Bible in Basic English             And there was a day when the sons of the gods came together before the Lord, and the Satan came with them.

The Expanded Bible              Satan Appears Before the Lord Again

·On another day [or One day] the ·angels [^Lthe sons of God] came to ·show themselves [^Lstand] before the Lord, and Satan [1:6] was with them again.

Ferar-Fenton Bible                 Another day arrived when the sons of God reported themselves to the Lord, and the Accuser reported himself amongst them to the Lord;...

NET Bible®                             Satan's Additional Charge

Again the day came when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also arrived among them to present himself before the Lord [This last purpose clause has been omitted in some Greek versions]. When it comes to making an actual material change to the text, the NET Bible® is pretty good about indicating this. Since most of these corrections will be clear in the more literal translations below and within the Hebrew exegesis itself, I will not continue to list every NET Bible® footnote.

NIV – UK                                On another day the angels [Hebrew the sons of God] came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them to present himself before him.

Jewish/Hebrew Names Bibles:

Complete Jewish Bible           Another day came when the sons of God came to serve ADONAI, and among them came the Adversary to serve ADONAI.

exeGeses companion Bible   THE SECOND CHALLENGE OF SATAN

And so be it,

the day the sons of Elohim

come to station themselves by Yah Veh;

and Satan also comes among them

to station himself by Yah Veh.

Judaica Press Complete T.    Now the day came about that the angels of God came to stand beside the Lord, and the Adversary too came among them to stand beside the Lord.

Orthodox Jewish Bible           Again there was a day when the Bnei HaElohim came to present themselves before Hashem, and Hasatan came also among them to present himself before Hashem.

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

The Amplified Bible                Again there was a day when the sons of God [the angels] came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan (the adversary and the accuser) came also among them to present himself before the Lord.

Concordant Literal Version    The day came around again when the sons of Elohim came to station themselves before Yahweh, and Satan came also in their midst to station himself before Yahweh.

Context Group Version          Again on the day when the sons of God came to present themselves before YHWH, the Adversary { trad. "satan" } came also among them to present himself before YHWH.

Emphasized Bible                  And there came a certain day when the sons of God entered in, to present themselves unto Yahweh—so the accuser also entered in their midst, to present himself unto Yahweh.

English Standard Version      Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them to present himself before the LORD.

NASB                                     Job Loses His Health

Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them to present himself before the Lord.

New King James Version       Satan Attacks Job's Health

Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the Lord.

New RSV                               One day the heavenly beings [Heb sons of God] came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan [Or the Accuser; Heb ha-satan] also came among them to present himself before the Lord.

Syndein/Thieme                     {Chapters 1-2: Administration of Evidence Testing}

{Part II -Verses 1-10: Loss of Health, Social life and Human Attractiveness}

On another day, the 'sons of gods/'elohiym {angels} came to present themselves before Jehovah/God, and Satan came also among them to present himself before Jehovah/God.

World English Bible                Again it happened on the day when the sons of God came to present themselves before Yahweh, that Satan came also among them to present himself before Yahweh.

Young’s Updated LT             And the day is, that sons of God come in to station themselves by Jehovah, and there does come also the Adversary in their midst to station himself by Jehovah.

The gist of this verse:          There is another convocation of angels before God. Satan is also there.

Translation: And the day is... Many translators being this verse with the word again; but there is no word again in the original Hebrew. This is a repetition of Job 1:6.

There appears to be a particular day when the angels came in before God. Whether this was daily or weekly or whatever, we do not know.

We have no idea whether angels are on a different sort of time schedule than we are. Can a meeting like this take place in a split second? We have no idea how quickly they communicate; we have no idea as to the time that exists, if any, when it the presence of God.

Nevertheless, time has passed since the last time that Satan came before God—was it a day, a week, a month or even a year later? We know that during this time, Job’s wife has become quite bitter (Job 2:9) and it may be that she has taken up many jobs over this past period of time, which she probably believes are far beneath her (Job 2:9 in the Greek). Also, there will be some time for Job’s friends to find out about his life and his difficulties, although they will come to him after being struck physically by Satan in this chapter. If I was to guess, I would put a time of a week to a month on this.

I would reject this as being an annual convocation, simply based on the idea that Satan would not like Job to have so much breathing room; and Job’s friends would not have waited a year to come to him. In Rev. 12:10, Satan is said to accused believers day and night; however, this schedule may reflect the stepped up Angelic Conflict in the Tribulation. At that time, he will sure be counting down the days.

Translation: ...when the sons of Elohim come to take a stand against Y^ehowah. As was discussed in the previous chapter, the sons of God refer to angels, both fallen and elect angels. Because these angels are taking a stand against God, it is the fallen angels who are in view here, although, no doubt, there is the convocation of elect angels as well.

In the Chaldean, this reads: And there was a day of the great judgment, a day of the remission of sins and ther came bands of angels.

Given all that occurs in Job 1 along with Gen. 6; there is only the reasonable conclusion that sons of God refer to angels.

Translation: The adversary also [= the Satan] came in their midst to take a stand against Y^ehowah. Just as before, Satan comes in and takes a stand in the midst of them all.

This is almost word-for-word the same as Job 1:6, with the added phrase to take a stand against Y^ehowah. Satan got just what he asked for. He wanted to show that Job, when his material possessions were removed from him, that he would curse God to His face. However, that was not the case. All the angelic herald had observed this scene.

The additional final words indicate that Satan is more than simply among the angels; he is there and he is defiant. God has shown him to be dead wrong about Job, but he cannot accept that. He cannot see himself as wrong before God; or he cannot admit to that, so Satan standing in defiance of Y^ehowah.

The wording suggests that this is a reoccurring scene in heaven—Satan comes before his Maker and before all of angelic creation to make his objections known to God. By the end of time, every objection raised by Satan will have been answered and all angels, fallen and elect, will agree that God is righteous in all of his decisions and that Satan is evil and vicious in all of his.

All of v. 1 reads: And the day is when the sons of Elohim come to take a stand against Y^ehowah. The adversary also [= the Satan] came in their midst to take a stand against Y^ehowah.

——————————

Here is how others have translated this verse:

Ancient texts:

Latin Vulgate                          That the Lord said to Satan: From where did you come? And he answered, and said: I have gone round about the earth, and walked through it.

Masoretic Text (Hebrew)        And so says Y^ehowah unto the adversary, “Where from this are you coming?” And so answers the adversary Y^ehowah and so he says, “From going to and fro [in] the earth and from wandering in her.”

Peshitta (Syriac)                    And the LORD said to Satan, Whence have you come? And Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking on it.

Charles Thomson (Greek)     And the Lord said to Satan, Whence comest thou ? And Satan said before the Lord, Having traversed that under heaven, and roved through the whole of it, I am come here.

Septuagint (Greek)                And the Lord said to the devil, From where have you come? Then the devil said before the Lord, I have come from going throughout the world, and walking about the whole earth.

Significant differences:           Most translations do not sufficiently distinguish between Satan’s compound answer. However, the various languages, apart from that, appear to synch up here.

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

Common English Bible           The Lord said to the Adversary, "Where have you come from?"

The Adversary answered the Lord, "From wandering throughout the earth.".

Contemporary English V.       ...and the LORD asked, "Satan, where have you been?" Satan replied, "I have been going all over the earth."

Easy English                          God said to Satan, `Where did you come from?'

Satan replied to God, `I have travelled across the world. I have been to many places.'

The Message                         GOD singled out Satan, saying, "And what have you been up to?" Satan answered GOD, "Oh, going here and there, checking things out."

New Life Bible                        The Lord said to Satan, "Where have you come from?" Satan answered the Lord and said, "From traveling around the earth and walking around on it."

New Living Translation           "Where have you come from?" the Lord asked Satan.

Satan answered the Lord, "I have been patrolling the earth, watching everything that's going on."

The Voice                               Eternal One (to the Accuser): ² Where have you been?

The Accuser: Oh, roaming here and there, running about the earth and observing its inhabitants.

Partially literal and partially paraphrased translations:

American English Bible          And Jehovah asked the Opposer: 'So, from what place have you come?'

And the Opposer again replied: 'I've been on the earth walking around everywhere under the sky.'

Beck’s American Translation “Where to do you come from?” the LORD asked Satan.

“From going through the world,” Satan answered the LORD, “and traveling back and forth in it.”

God’s Word™                         The LORD asked Satan, "Where have you come from?" Satan answered the LORD, "From wandering all over the earth."

New Advent (Knox) Bible       And of his travels he still said the same; he had been roaming about the earth, to and fro about the earth.

NIRV                                      The Lord said to Satan, "Where have you come from?"

Satan answered, "From traveling all around the earth. I've been going from one end of it to the other."

New Jerusalem Bible             So Yahweh said to Satan, 'Where have you been?' 'Prowling about on earth,' he answered, 'roaming around there.'

Revised English Bible            The Lord enquired where he had been. ‘Ranging over the over’, said the Adversary, ‘from end to end.’

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

Ancient Roots Translinear      Yahweh said to Satan, "Where do you come from?" And Satan answered Yahweh, and said, "From exploring the land, and from going in it."

Bible in Basic English             And the Lord said to the Satan, Where do you come from? And the Satan said in answer, From wandering this way and that on the earth, and walking about on it.

The Expanded Bible              The Lord said to Satan, "Where have you come from?"

Satan answered the Lord, "I have been ·wandering around [roaming] the earth, ·going back and forth in [patrolling] it.".

Ferar-Fenton Bible                 ...when the Lord asked the Accuser, “Where do you come from?”

And the Accuser answered the Lord and said, “From flying over the earth, and up and down in it.”

NET Bible®                             And the Lord said to Satan, "Where do you come from?" Satan answered the Lord [Heb "answered the LORD and said" (also in Job_2:4). The words "and said" here and in Job_2:9 have not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons], "From roving about on the earth, and from walking back and forth across it [See the note on this phrase in Job_1:7.]."

New Heart English Bible        The LORD said to Satan, "Where have you come from?" Satan answered the LORD, and said, "From going back and forth in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.".

Jewish/Hebrew Names Bibles:

Complete Jewish Bible           ADONAI asked the Adversary, "Where are you coming from?" The Adversary answered ADONAI, "From roaming through the earth, wandering here and there."

exeGeses companion Bible   And Yah Veh says to Satan,

Whence come you?

And Satan answers Yah Veh and says,

From flitting to and fro in the earth

and from walking forth and back in it.

Orthodox Jewish Bible           And Hashem said unto Hasatan, From where comest thou? And Hasatan answered Hashem, and said, From going to and fro through ha'aretz, and from walking up and down in it.

The Scriptures 1998              And יהוה said to Satan, “From where do you come?” And Satan answered יהוה and said, “From diligently searching in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.”

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

The Amplified Bible                And the Lord said to Satan, From where do you come? And Satan (the adversary and the accuser) answered the Lord, From going to and fro on the earth and from walking up and down on it.

Concordant Literal Version    Yahweh said to Satan, From where are you coming? Then Satan answered Yahweh and said, From going to and fro in the earth and from walking about in it.

Context Group Version          And YHWH said to the Adversary { trad. "satan" }, Where do you come from? And the Adversary { trad. "satan" } answered YHWH, and said, From going to and fro in the land { or earth }, and from walking up and down in it.

NASB                                     The Lord said to Satan, "Where have you come from?" Then Satan answered the Lord and said, "From roaming about on the earth and walking around on it."

Syndein/Thieme                     {Ritual of the Court Procedure is Repeated}

And Jehovah/God said unto Satan, "From where do you come?" Then Satan answered Jehovah/God, and said, "From roaming on the earth . . . going back and forth on it."

World English Bible                Yahweh said to Satan, "Where have you come from?" Satan answered Yahweh, and said, "From going back and forth in the earth, and from walking up and down in it."

Young’s Updated LT             And Jehovah says unto the Adversary, “From where did you come?” And the Adversary answers Jehovah and says, “From going to and fro in the land, and from walking up and down in it.”

The gist of this verse:          God asks Satan where he has come from, and he has gone around the earth and has walked around on it.

Translation: Y^ehowah said to the adversary, “From where have you come?” There is one portion of a verse which is different from Job 1:7. This could represent a possible error; a different way of saying from where. If there is some hidden meaning in this slight change, I am unable to decipher it.

As before, God asks a question that He, as God, already knows the answer to. He knows everywhere that Satan has been. God is omniscient. However, this is done for the benefit of all the angels who are in court; and this is put on the court record (I would assume). Angels are not omnipresent. Not all of the angels there know exactly where Satan has been or what he has been doing. He may an allegation in the previous court session which has been shown to be false. This will be put into the court record, much as we do in our courts today.

As before, Y^ehowah affords the adversary respect, using the preposition of respect.

When one is out of fellowship, it appears that God must initiate the conversation. Satan is in the angelic equivalent of a perpetual state of carnality. This conversation contains a bit of protocol which is expected in court.

Up until this time, we have seen several attacks by Satan upon mankind. He tempted Adam through his wife in Gen. 3; he tempted Cain to slay Abel out of jealousy (Gen. 4); Satan corrupted almost all of mankind in Gen. 6. Human history is filled with events inspired and partially choreographed by Satan.

When God asks a question, a creature must respond.

It is interesting that God asks Satan almost the exact same question that He did before, and that Satan answers in exactly the same way.

We do not know who recorded the book of Job originally; it is reasonable to suppose that it was Job. This would have been recorded probably verbally first and passed along by word of mouth. When we get into the subsequent chapters of Job, it will be clear that Job knows nothing about the events of these first two chapters taking place. However, since they are the logical beginning of this book, it is reasonable that, at some point in time, this information was revealed to Job (or the one who recorded this book).

Translation: And the adversary answered Y^ehowah,... Just as was found in the previous chapter, this matches word-for-word v. 7 (with one exception). Satan answers Y^ehowah, but no respect is shown.

Translation: ...saying, “From going around the earth... As mentioned in the previous chapter, this can be understood to go around the earth, implying that the earth is round. There are all kinds of weird accusations made against people who believe in the Bible or in early Christians, and one of them is that the Bible teaches that the earth is flat. This is silly, and, even though the Bible makes mention of the 4 compass points now and again (as in the 4 corners of the earth), that does not mean that the earth is flat or square or anything like that. Scientists speak of north, south, east and west, but that does not mean that they believe in a flat or a square earth.

In Job 26:7, Job says that God suspends the earth out in space (He hangs/suspend the earth over nothing). God is said to sit above the circle (sphere) of the earth in Isa. 40:22. Here, Satan is said to go around the earth, which makes sense if the earth is round; it makes little sense if the earth is flat.

This suggests several things about Satan (and other angels)—he is not confined to the same time and space continuum as we are. We could not, at a moment’s notice, fly about the earth. If we could, we could not look down and decide to drop in here or there, as we would not be able to see what is going on. Satan can apparently observe us as he goes around the earth, and he can choose to stop in that Charley Brown’s house or Lucy’s house, as his mood strikes him. My point is, angels are subject to a whole different set of laws of time and space than we are.

Satan does not mention Job. Satan does not say, “You were right, God; Job still praises you, despite his ruined life.”

Translation: ...and from wandering [about] on it.” Satan has not just gone around the earth; Satan has stepped foot on the earth and he has walked around on the earth.

McGee: In other words, Satan again reports that he has been down in his bailiwick. He was running this place down here. I believe his still runs it, friends. Just look around you and see who runs this world.

V. 2 reads: Y^ehowah said to the adversary, “From where have you come?” And the adversary answered Y^ehowah, saying, “From going around the earth and from wandering [about] on it.”

——————————

Here is how others have translated this verse:

Ancient texts:

Latin Vulgate                          And the Lord said to Satan: Hast thou considered my servant, Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a man simple and upright, and fearing God, and avoiding evil, and still keeping his innocence? But thou hast moved me against him, that I should afflict him without cause.

Masoretic Text (Hebrew)        And so says Y^ehowah unto the adversary: “Have you set your heart upon My servant Job? For [there is] none like him on the earth—a man blameless and upright, and a fearing of Elohim and a departing from evil. And his continuing holding fast in his integrity. And so you move Me in him, to engulf him for nothing.”

Peshitta (Syriac)                    And the LORD said to Satan, Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, an innocent and upright man, one who reveres God, and turns away from evil? He still holds fast to his integrity, although you provoked me against him, to destroy him without cause.

Charles Thomson (Greek)     And the Lord said to Satan, Thou hast therefore attended to my servant Job; that there is not of those on the earth a man like him, guiltless, true, unblameable, abstaining from all evil. Still he retaineth his innocence; so that thou hast ordered the destruction of his property, without accomplishing thy purpose.

Septuagint (Greek)                And the Lord said to the devil, Have you then observed My servant Job, that there is none like him upon the earth, a harmless, true, blameless, and godly man; abstaining from all evil? And yet he cleaves to innocence, although you have incited Me to destroy his substance without cause?

Significant differences:           The Greek appears to leave out that Job fears God. Thomson lists 3 adjectives to describe Job; the Complete Apostles’ Bible 4 (which translation tends to be more accurate).

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

Common English Bible           The Lord said to the Adversary, "Have you thought about my servant Job, for there is no one like him on earth, a man who is honest, who is of absolute integrity, who reveres God and avoids evil? He still holds on to his integrity, even though you incited me to ruin him for no reason."

Contemporary English V.       Then the LORD asked, "What do you think of my servant Job? No one on earth is like him--he is a truly good person, who respects me and refuses to do evil. And he hasn't changed, even though you persuaded me to destroy him for no reason."

Easy English                          God said to Satan, `I have a servant called Job. Nobody else in the world is like Job! Job is good and honest. He respects God. And Job refuses to do evil deeds. And he is still a good man, although you opposed him. He is still good, although you tried to destroy him without any reason.'

Easy-to-Read Version            Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you seen my servant Job? There is no person on earth like Job. Job is a good and faithful man. He worships God and refuses to do evil things. He still is faithful, even though you asked me to let you destroy everything he has for no reason.”

Good News Bible (TEV)         "Did you notice my servant Job?" the LORD asked. "There is no one on earth as faithful and good as he is. He worships me and is careful not to do anything evil. You persuaded me to let you attack him for no reason at all, but Job is still as faithful as ever."

The Message                         Then GOD said to Satan, "Have you noticed my friend Job? There's no one quite like him, is there--honest and true to his word, totally devoted to God and hating evil? He still has a firm grip on his integrity! You tried to trick me into destroying him, but it didn't work."

New Century Version             Then the Lord said to Satan, "Have you noticed my servant Job? No one else on earth is like him. He is an honest and innocent man, honoring God and staying away from evil. You caused me to ruin him for no good reason, but he continues to be without blame."

New Life Bible                        The Lord said to Satan, "Have you thought about My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth. He is without blame, a man who is right and good. He fears God and turns away from sin. He still holds to his good ways, even when I allowed you to go against him, and to destroy him for no reason."

New Living Translation           Then the Lord asked Satan, "Have you noticed my servant Job? He is the finest man in all the earth. He is blameless-a man of complete integrity. He fears God and stays away from evil. And he has maintained his integrity, even though you urged me to harm him without cause."

The Voice                               Eternal One: ³ Well, have you looked into the man, Job, My servant? He is unlike any other person on the whole earth-a very good man-his character spotless, his integrity unquestioned. In fact, he so believes in Me that he seeks, in all things, to honor Me and deliberately avoids evil in all of his affairs. And I have found him to be unswervingly committed, despite the fact that you provoked Me to wreck him for no particular reason, to take away My protection and his prosperity.

Partially literal and partially paraphrased translations:

American English Bible          So, Jehovah asked him: 'Have you been paying attention to my child Job? For, there are none others like him on the earth. He's not a wicked man; he's true, blameless, God fearing. he stays away from all that is evil and he's still innocent. Yet, you said [that he wouldn't remain faithful] if everything he had was destroyed without a reason.'

Beck’s American Translation “Have you thought of My servant Job?” the LORD asked Satan. “There’s nobody in the world like him—a blameless man: He lives right, fears God, and keeps away from evil. He still lives blamelessly, and you’re trying to stir Me up against him to ruin him without a reason.”

Christian Community Bible     Yahweh asked again, “Have you noticed my servant Job? No one on earth is as blameless and upright as he, a man who fears God and avoids evil. He still holds fast to his integrity even if you provoked me to ruin him without cause.”

God’s Word™                         The LORD asked Satan, "Have you thought about my servant Job? No one in the world is like him! He is a man of integrity: He is decent, he fears God, and he stays away from evil. And he still holds on to his principles. You're trying to provoke me into ruining him for no reason."

New Advent (Knox) Bible       Why then, the Lord said, thou hast seen for thyself that this servant of mine, Job, has not his like on earth; a man so true and honest, ever fearing his God, and keeping far from wrong-doing. And still he maintains his innocence [This may mean that he continued to shew correct behaviour (cf. 1.22), but more probably that he would not admit he had done anything to deserve his sufferings (cf. 27.6, where the same words are used, and the argument of the book generally).]. Shame it is that thou hast set me on to do him a mischief, and all to no purpose.

New American Bible (R.E.)    The LORD said to the satan, "Have you noticed my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him, blameless and upright, fearing God and avoiding evil [Jb 1:1.]. He still holds fast to his innocence although you incited me against him to ruin him for nothing."

NIRV                                      Then the Lord said to Satan, "Have you thought about my servant Job? There isn't anyone on earth like him. He is honest. He does what is right. He has respect for me and avoids evil. You tried to turn me against him. You wanted me to destroy him without any reason. But he still continues to be faithful."

New Jerusalem Bible             So Yahweh asked him, 'Did you pay any attention to my servant Job? There is no one like him on the earth: a sound and honest man who fears God and shuns evil. He persists in his integrity still; you achieved nothing by provoking me to ruin him.'

New Simplified Bible              Jehovah asked Satan: »Have you thought about my servant Job? No one in the world is like him! He is a man of integrity! He is decent and he respects God. He stays away from evil. And he still holds on to his principles. You are trying to provoke me into ruining him for no reason.«

Revised English Bible            The Lord asked, ‘Have you considered my servant Job? You will find no one like him on earth, a man of blameless and upright life, who fears God and sets his face against wrongdoing. You incited me to ruin him without cawuse, but he still holds fast to his integrity.’

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

Ancient Roots Translinear      Yahweh said to Satan, "You set your heart on my servant Job? None fears God and turns from evil similar to him in the land: a faultless and an upright man. His integrity still fortified when you persuaded me to devour him casually."

Bible in Basic English             And the Lord said to the Satan, Have you taken note of my servant Job, for there is no one like him on the earth, a man without sin and upright, fearing God and keeping himself far from evil? and he still keeps his righteousness, though you have been moving me to send destruction on him without cause.

The Expanded Bible              Then the Lord said to Satan, "Have you noticed my servant Job [1:8]? No one else on earth is like him. He is an honest and innocent man, honoring God and staying away from evil [1:1]. You ·caused [or enticed] me to ·ruin [injure] him for no good reason, but he ·continues to be without blame [or maintains his innocence]."

Ferar-Fenton Bible                 The Lord then asked the Accuser, “Have you fixed your attention on My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, an honest and upright man, who fears God and turns from wrong; yet who retains his virtues, although you induced Me to causelessly afflict him?”

HCSB                                     Then the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered My servant Job? No one else on earth is like him, a man of perfect integrity, who fears God and turns away from evil. He still retains his integrity, even though you incited Me against him, to destroy him without just cause."

NET Bible®                             Then the Lord said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a pure and upright man, one who fears God and turns away from evil. And he still holds firmly [The form is the Hiphil participle, "make strong, seize, hold fast." It is the verbal use here; joined with עֹדֶנּוּ ('odennu, "yet he") it emphasizes that "he is still holding firmly." The testing has simply strengthened Job in his integrity.] to his integrity [This is the same word used to describe Job as "blameless, pure." Here it carries the idea of "integrity"; Job remained blameless, perfect.], so that [The vav (ו) with the preterite is used here to express the logical conclusion or consequence of what was stated previously. God is saying that Job has maintained his integrity, so that now it is clear that Satan moved against him groundlessly (GKC 328 §111.l).] you stirred me up to destroy him [The verb literally means "to swallow"; it forms an implied comparison in the line, indicating the desire of Satan to ruin him completely. See A Guillaume, "A Note on the Root bala'," JTS 13 (1962): 320-23; and N. M. Sarna, "Epic Substratum in the Prose of Job,"JBL 76 (1957): 13-25, for a discussion of the Ugaritic deity Mot swallowing up the enemy.] without reason [Once again the adverb חִנָּם (khinnam, "gratis") is used. It means "graciously, gratis, free, without cause, for no reason." Here the sense has to be gratuitously, for no reason." The point of the verb חָנַן (khanan, "to be gracious") and its derivatives is that the action is undeserved. In fact, they would deserve the opposite. Sinners seeking grace deserve punishment. Here, Job deserves reward, not suffering.]."

Jewish/Hebrew Names Bibles:

Complete Jewish Bible           ADONAI asked the Adversary, "Did you notice my servant Iyov, that there's no one like him on earth, a blameless and upright man who fears God and shuns evil, and that he still holds on to his integrity, even though you provoked me against him to destroy him for no reason?"

exeGeses companion Bible   And Yah Veh says to Satan,

Have you set your heart on my servant Iyob

- that there is no one like him in the earth;

an integrious and straight man;

one who awes Elohim and turns aside from evil?

And still he upholds his integrity

although you goad me to swallow him gratuitously.

Judaica Press Complete T.    And the Lord said to the Adversary, "Have you paid attention to My servant Job? For there is none like him in the earth, a sincere and upright man, God-fearing and shunning evil, and he still maintains his sincerity. Yet you enticed Me against him."

Orthodox Jewish Bible           And Hashem said unto Hasatan, Hast thou considered in your meditation Avdi (My Servant) Iyov, that there is none like him in ha'aretz, ish tam and yashar, yire Elohim, and shunning rah? And still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou inciteth Me against him, to ruin him for no reason.

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

The Amplified Bible                And the Lord said to Satan, Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who [reverently] fears God and abstains from and shuns all evil [because it is wrong]? And still he holds fast his integrity, although you moved Me against him to destroy him without cause.

Concordant Literal Version    So Yahweh said to Satan, Have you set your heart against my servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a man flawless and upright, fearing Elohim and withdrawing from evil. And he still is holding fast to his integrity, though you would incite Me against him to swallow him up gratuitously.

Context Group Version          And YHWH said to the Adversary {trad. "satan"}, Have you considered my slave Job? For there is none like him in the land {or earth}, a whole {or fully-developed} and an upright man, one that fears God, and turns away from evil: and he still holds fast his integrity, although you moved me against him, to destroy him without cause.

Updated Emphasized Bible    And Yahweh said unto the accuser, Have you applied your heart unto My servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a man blameless and upright, one who reveres God, and avoids evil; and still he is holding fast his integrity, although you moved me against him, to swallow him up without cause.

The updated Geneva Bible    And the LORD said unto Satan, Have you considered my servant Job, that [there is] none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that fears God, and eschews evil? and still he holds fast his integrity [He proves Jobs integrity by this that he ceased not to fear God when his plagues were grievously upon him.], although you moved Me against [That is, when you had nothing against him, or when you were not able to bring your purpose to pass.] him, to destroy him without cause.

Green’s Literal Translation    And Jehovah said to Satan, Have you set your heart on My servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and upright man, fearing God, and turning away from evil? And he is still holding to his integrity, although you incited Me against him, to swallow him for nothing.

NASB                                     The Lord said to Satan, "Have you considered [Lit set your heart to] My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man fearing [Or revering] God and turning away from evil. And he still holds fast his integrity, although you incited Me against him to ruin him [Lit swallow him up] without cause."

New RSV                               The Lord said to Satan,* `Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man who fears God and turns away from evil. He still persists in his integrity, although you incited me against him, to destroy him for no reason.'

Syndein/Thieme                     And Jehovah/God said unto Satan, "Have you considered my servant/slave {`ebed} Job, that there is none like him on the earth . . . he is 'blameless'/'with integrity' {tam} {spiritually mature believer} and righteous/upright {yashar} one . . . one that has 'total respect for the authority of'/ fears/'loves 'Elohim/Godhead, and shuns evil? And he still maintains his integrity, though you incited Me against him . . . to ruin him without reason/cause. {Note: This is important to understand regarding evidence testing. Job did nothing to deserve this suffering. He was being tested for spiritual advancement. But, soon we will see his 'friends' will think he is a 'secret sinner' and is being disciplined by God! That is a difficult test to pass.}.

Webster”s Updated Bible       And the LORD said to Satan, Have you considered my servant Job, that [there is] none like him on the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that fears God, and shuns evil? and still he holds fast his integrity, although you moved Me against him, to destroy him without cause.

World English Bible                Yahweh said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job? For there is none like him in the earth, a blameless and an upright man, one who fears God, and turns away from evil. He still maintains his integrity, although you incited me against him, to ruin him without cause."

Young’s Updated LT             And Jehovah says unto the Adversary, “Have you set your heart unto My servant Job because there is none like him in the land, a man perfect and upright, fearing God and turning aside from evil? And still he is keeping hold on his integrity, and you will move Me against him to swallow him up for nought!”

The gist of this verse:          God asks Satan if he has observed Job, a man of great personal integrity, who concentrates upon God and turns away from evil. He continues in this manner, even though Satan incited God to ruin his life.

Translation: Y^ehowah said to the adversary, “Have you considered [lit., set your heart upon] My servant Job? We continue with the same text as was used from Job 1:8, word-for-word, for the first half of this verse. God brings up Job and Job’s character once again.

In the previous chapter, Satan persuaded God to give him more leeway on dealing with Job, so that Satan could prove that Job would desert God, if life turned against him. However, Job did not. Job, in all of his pain and sorrow, held fast to God, saying, “The Lord gives and the Lord takes away; blessed is the name of the Lord.”

Therefore, God calls Satan attention again to Job. Have you thought about Job?

Translation: For [there is] no one like him on earth—... Again—and we all need to note this—Job is not the run-of-the-mill believer. He isn’t just a great believer. God can point to him as being unlike any other man on the earth.

Application: You may think, well, no doubt about it; I’m not Job. Apart from the fact that, there is no man like Job, God has given us greater divine operating assets. We can be greater than Job, or greater than any person you can name from Scripture. God the Holy Spirit has given us that ability. Now, it is not a matter of you making a big decision or coming forward or dedicating your life for reals this time; because, even though salvation is a one-shot decision, spiritual maturity is not. This is something which comes day-by-day, making dozens and sometimes hundreds of decisions each day which give us greater flexibility and greater freedom to grow spiritually.

Application: You are not going to lay your head on your pillow tonight and wake up the next day to be the greatest believer ever; but this is a process. Any believer in this dispensation can be greater than Paul or Moses. But it is a day-by-day process, learning a little more doctrine, each day, allowing God to renovate your thinking (Rom. 12:1–2). Jesus Christ has given us the same divine operating assets which He used.

Application: Now, let’s say that you want great riches, or you want some great fame—we get this as believers. We can get this forever. For exploiting the resources which God has given you, you can wake up in eternity with wealth that will last for all eternity.

Application: You may be thinking, yeah, but I don’t want to be a missionary; I don’t want to evangelize. God has given us a spiritual gift (or several) which are designed for us, and all we have to do is exploit the spiritual assets which God has given us, kick the gift into high gear, and our lives are wonderful both here and in eternity. Let me put this in words even you can understand. When you pursue spiritual excellence, when you begin to understand the plan of God and your place in it, you will at no time say, “This really sucks.” In fact, you will agree that the life that you have entered into will be just the exact opposite of really sucking.

So far we have Y^ehowah said to the adversary, “Have you considered [lit., set your heart upon] My servant Job? For [there is] no one like him on earth... At the end of this chapter, Job will be joined by 3 friends, and these men will remain with Job for a period of time, discussing Job’s situation—which discussions will comprise the lion’s share of this book. God does not ask Satan, “What about Bildad? Have you looked at him?”

God is not done with Job. God is not going to simply restore Job to greater prosperity, and forever have an invisible plaque about him, “God was right; Satan was wrong.” God is still going to use Job in many ways, before he is restored to great prosperity.

Although Satan has lodged many objections to his being sentenced to the Lake of Fire, here Satan has gone after God’s integrity and His relationship with His creatures. Job belongs to God, and Satan alleged that Job served God only because God greatly blessed him. However, Job fears God because of God’s character—because God is righteous and truthful and exhibits perfect love. These are things which Satan is not and can never be.

At this point in human history, we do not know just how far God would go for mankind. Job, despite his wonderful character, has sinned (probably a lot fewer times than you or I), and God cannot have fellowship with sin. God cannot tolerate sin. So that still has to be dealt with.

In many places in the book of Job, Job will speak of Jesus Christ, even though he may not realize fully what he is saying, because it is by means of Jesus that Job is redeemed (and by Jesus we are redeemed as well). Job, in the great pain that he is in, cries out, “I know my Redeemer lives!” Our Redeemer is the basis for all of us being forgiven.

I don’t believe that God had yet revealed what He would do for mankind. In the Old Testament, God’s righteousness and justice are prominent; but His love will come into greater focus in the New Testament. God never sets aside any of these attributes at any time, but there is a greater focus on them at various times.

In any case, God is not through with Job yet; nor is God through with allowing Job to bring out important truths. Satan has complete mischaracterized Job and God.

Translation: ...a man [who is] perfected and accurate [in his knowledge of doctrine]; [and one] who fears [respects] Elohim and [one who] avoids evil. God again ticks off what makes Job a spiritual giant on earth in his time. He has reached spiritual maturity. He has Bible doctrine in his soul, so that he has a clear, straight measure in his life of good and bad, right and wrong, truth and error. He is occupied with the Person of Jesus Christ and he avoids cosmic thinking. He does not think like Satan thinks. His life is not about quid pro quo (Latin for "something for something," to identify what each party to an agreement expects from the other, sometimes called mutual consideration. Example of its use: "What is the quid pro quo for my entering into this deal?" ).

Being perfected does not mean that Job is a sinless man, perfect in all things. It means that he is spiritually mature; that he has reached that stage of growth in his life. In his soul, Job has a perfect set of norms and standards by which he conducts his life. This is what yâshâr (יָשָר) [pronounced yaw-SHAWR] means (right, correct, accurate, lacking in contradictions, upright, straight, uniform, having internal integrity, even). This is having the straight-edge of the soul; that is Bible doctrine.

How does Job reach this stage of spiritual maturity? There is no Bible at this time; there is no book of Job. From where did Job get this? Originally, it came from Adam. Adam sinned by eating from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, which suggests that he became a moral being, understanding the difference between right and wrong.

Those who have children understand this. There is a point where they go from innocence (no child is perfectly innocent) to having a concept of right and wrong. Adam did that in an instant. All of a sudden, he is faced with a myriad of moral choices. He passes this information on to his sons. However, bear in mind, he has a sin nature and his sons have sin natures. So right and wrong suffered some distortion. However, just as the man of the house became the family priest, offering up sacrifices for his family; he also passed along knowledge, and this was the basis of his son’s understanding of right and wrong.

This passing along an understanding of right and wrong continued, and suffered some distortion; but man, at one time, had very nearly a perfect memory. So all of this is retained. Job was in that realm. He could still hear something and remember it pretty much for the rest of his life.

Let me suggest that huge numbers of children in this era were brought up with very close to perfect divine norms and standards. As has been discussed in the book of Genesis, there was also a time period of various kings trying to recapture this perfect standard, which they knew existed, portions of which they had learned from their fathers in their youth, and which norms and standards they attempted to codify.

Application: This is so dramatically different from most United States politicians today, many of whom will say anything and do anything in order to be elected; and who will allow for anything which has gotten them elected. I was a young person during the time of Nixon and Watergate. What we never heard from Nixon was, “I will do everything I can to find the perpetrators of this wrong and bring them to justice.” Whether he was involved in Watergate is still unclear, even after all of these years; but he did apparently knew—perhaps based upon his own brilliance—that men very close to him were involved. We have a very similar scandal today with Barack Obama (I write this in 2013). People in the IRS had gone out of their way to make certain that the TEA party could not organize for the 2012 election; and that heavy donors to Romney would be punished for donating to him. Although we have certainly heard outrage expressed by the President, what we have not heard is, “I will find these people and they will be finished working for the government. I will throw them in jail.” None of this means that President Obama is directly involved; but the head of the IRS when much of this was going on has received bonuses and what appears to be a promotion. These men are not looking for a set of just and equitable laws by which a society ought to be run; they want power. They don’t care how they get there. There is no concept of right and wrong here; there is no understanding that using the IRS to go after one’s enemies is an improper use of power, and that people who are guilty of these misdeeds should spend time in jail.

So Job learned divine norms and standards, not from God, not from the Bible, but from his father (or grandfather or whomever) and he carried these norms and standards with him in his soul. This was the perfect rule by which he measured his life. As he became older, he could recognize how the norms and standards which he learned were correct; or he determined, apart from societal norms, which standards needed to be adjusted.

A part of this was being occupied with the Person of Jesus Christ. Job did not know the Revealed God as Jesus Christ at this time; he knew Him as Y^ehowah. There is no indication that Job has ever met Y^ehowah face to face (prior to this time), but he is, nevertheless, occupied with Him. This describes some of us, whose only understanding of the Revealed God is from the Word of God.

Application: Ideally speaking, you have never met Jesus face to face; and yet your are occupied with Him. Though you have not seen Him, you love Him; and even though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy (1Peter 1:8; NIV, capitalized). This is because you have Bible doctrine in your soul. You think with the mind of Christ (1Cor. 2:16). Your thinking has become renovated (Rom. 12:1–2).

In our time, we learn a great deal from our parents and from influential sources (e.g., schools and television); but not even half of it lines up with divine norms and standards. This changes as we learn Bible doctrine. But in the time of Job, there were much more accurate norms and standards passed along from generation to generation.

Many of the leaders in the era were concerned with developing systems of right and wrong which could be applied to large groups of people (first in city-states).

These law codes did not just pop out of nowhere; they came from the souls of these men who developed them, and those souls were taught by their parents, who learned from their parents. All of these norms and standards can be traced back first to Noah and then eventually to Adam. Just as these men served as priests for their families, they also carried with them the knowledge of right and wrong.

Now today, thanks in part to television, many of our norms and standards have been distorted by cosmic thinking and very often a false record of historical events; or distorted records of historical events. One area where this has changed dramatically is with respect to homosexuality. Harris Interactive did surveys and discovered that Most tweens and teens (59%) now feel that "gay or lesbian relations are OK, if that is the person's choice." This is a huge increase since 1989, when only 31% believed that "homosexual relations are OK if that is the person's choice" (a slightly different question). I can guarantee that much of this was learned on television. On the Disney Channel, a channel that most parents would allow their young people to watch, acceptance of homosexual behavior is found in several of their shows; and people who believe that homosexuality is a sin are portrayed is ignorant and bigoted. The good guys on their shows are portrayed as tolerant, reasonable and normal—and completely accepting of homosexuality.

This is one reason that we need the Word of God, to define absolute standards.

Many distorted standards are taught in school, and these standards are often based upon falsified history. I have a limited recollection of American history, as that was not much of an interest of mine. But what I retained was the idea that our founding fathers were mostly deists who believed that God wound up the world, and then walked away from it. I did not remember very much, but I did remember that “fact.” I do not recall whether this was found in the history books themselves, but this is something I did learn from high school. About 40 years later, I found out that our founding fathers, for the most part, were Bible-believing Christians who believed that the development of the constitution of the United States was, in part, the work of God.

Just as our network news discovered that, if you ignore certain news events, that limits their importance to society; some history books, by what they say and don’t say also affect the thinking of today’s youth. There was a discussion of this on the Straight Dope discussion page, where the overemphasis of Marilyn Monroe over George Washington was first doubted, and then finally discovered. However, the book in question appears to have been rarely used, if at all.

There are groups out there who are quite concerned about the history books which end up in our schools, and rate them, giving clear and concise reasons for their ratings.

Translation: And yet he holds fast [to his integrity] by means of [or, through, within the sphere of] his integrity. At this point, we no longer have the exact same words as are found in Job 1. The Hebrew is somewhat difficult to translate at this point. The idea is easy enough to grasp, but difficult to express in English so that it matches up with the Hebrew, word-for-word.

Holding fast or persists is really the Hiphil participle of châzaq (חָזַק) [pronounced khaw-ZAHK] which means to be strong, firm, to strengthen. It has been used in the Qal imperative to mean be of good courage be strong (Deut. 31:6 2Sam. 10:12). In the Hiphil, this can mean to seize, to hold fast to; however, it still means to make strong, to strengthen and that is how it should be rendered. Strong’s #2388 BDB #304. This is because this is followed by the bêyth preposition (in, at, by) and the word tûmmâh (תֻּמָּה) [pronounced toom-MAW], which means integrity; innocence. Strong’s #8538 BDB #1070. Job is not merely holding fast to his integrity; he is strengthening in his integrity; Job is growing stronger by means of his integrity.

God describes what Job still does; God tells Satan what Job continues to do. He continues to display spiritual strength; he continues to hold fast to his personal integrity. We might say that he does this by means of his spiritual maturity.

Despite having his world destroyed, Job is still occupied with the Person of the Revealed God. “The Lord gives and the Lord takes away; praise to the name of the Lord.” Job is speaking from his spiritual integrity.

R. B. Thieme, Jr. calls this momentum testing through disaster testing. Job has personal integrity and now this is being mixed with disaster testing, and this will accelerate and/or vindicate Job’s spiritual growth. The disaster testing faced by Job was far, far more than the average believer will ever have to face. James 1:2-4 “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance [endurance]. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” Isaiah also mentions this sort of testing. Isaiah 48:10 “See, I have refined [washed, polished] you, though not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction [pain, suffering].” And the verse we are studying reads: And yet he [Job] holds fast by means of [or, through, within the sphere of] his integrity.

We observe at the end of Job 1 and near the end of this chapter that disaster testing does not result in the spiritual growth of all believers involved. Job responds with great personal integrity: “The Lord gives and the Lord takes away; praise to the name of the Lord.” His wife, on the other hand, will tell Job to “Curse God and die.” Therefore, disaster testing does not take everyone to the same place. If there is little of no doctrine in the soul, then disaster testing takes you nowhere.

Translation: You moved Me against him,... Satan incited God against Job; Satan instigated God to allow Satan to destroy Job’s life.

The next phrase is begun by the wâw consecutive and the 2^nd person masculine singular (with a 1^st person suffix), Hiphil imperfect of çûth (סוּת) [pronounced sooth] and BDB gives its meanings as incite, allure, instigate. However, the meaning seems to be somewhat different in Job 36:16, 18; so we will re-examine this verb at that time. Strong’s #5496 BDB #694. Of course, God cannot be caused to do anything which falls outside His perfect plan.

This is followed by the adversative use of the bêyth preposition and a 3^rd person masculine singular suffix (against him).

So there is no misunderstanding, Satan did not trick God; he did not confuse God or cause God to do something that He did not want to do. As a part of the appeals process, Satan lodged an objection which needed to be answered. His objection was, “Look, sure Job likes You, God; you have made his life great. Take away all of his stuff and he will curse You to Your face.” In court are fallen and elect angels. When they were created, all of a sudden, there is God, telling them who they were, how He created them, and what it was all about.

Satan rebelled against that. He also took a third of the angels with him. So now he challenges God, and at stake are the other angels, who listen to Satan, and who listen to God. They have not sinned. They have not turned against God. However, they do have free will. We all have free will. Of course, what Satan says seems to make sense—if someone does good things for you, you like him; if they stop doing good things for you, but allow your life to go to crap, you will turn against them. This does have a ring of logic to it. After all, Satan’s thinking is not completely without logic; but he is still wrong.

What is the key here? God’s integrity. Job holds fast to God, not because God has given him a great life, but because of Who and What God is. We can trust God; we can depend upon God. We know that God acts toward us out of love, and righteousness and justice. Satan is capricious, vicious and evil. Now, who ought we to hold fast to?

Translation: ...to destroy him for no reason.” God has allowed Satan to destroy Job’s life. All of his wealth is gone; his children, whom he loves, are all dead. God has left Job nothing but his own personal health and, as we will see, a nagging wife.

Here we have the lâmed prefixed preposition and the 3^rd masculine singular suffixed, Piel infinitive of bâlaʿ (בָּלַע) [pronounced baw-LAHĢ] which means engulf, swallow up (Gen. 41:7, 24 Ex. 15:12). In the Piel, this is often used figuratively for destruction or ruin (Lam. 2:8 Isa. 3:12); but not always (Num. 4:20 Prov. 19:28 Ec. 10:12). Therefore, we will go with the rendering devour. Strong's #1104 BDB #230.

The last word in this verse is chinnâm (חִנָּם) [pronounced khin-NAHM], which means gratuitous, freely, for nothing. By application, it can mean without cause, undeservedly particularly in connection to groundless hostility or attack (1Sam. 19:5 25:31 Psalm 35:7 109:3 119:161). Strong’s #2600 BDB #336.

God is saying here, “I told you who and what Job was. I told you that he is a man of integrity who will avoid evil. He does not think evil, as you do, Satan. And you insisted that you have the power to destroy his life, and for what? So that Job still praises Me? You persuaded Me to destroy his life for no reason.”

Dunagan: “Without cause”: What a rebuke! Satan claimed he had a cause for attacking Job, but Job's integrity proved that Satan was the liar, and that all this energy had been in vain. Notice how God throws this matter back in the devil's face. Satan had argued that Job did not serve God for nothing, now God accuses Satan of bringing harm on Job for nothing.

God’s Word needs to be accepted and believed. There is no scenario that Satan can devise in which God’s Word fails. There is no promise that God delivers which is false or doesn’t quite meet perfect standards. In this devil-filled world, where every man save one has a sin nature, God’s will overcomes and overshadows all else.

And this is who Satan is. He desires to destroy the lives of believers. He wants to inflict maximum pain upon the believer in Jesus Christ. He looks at you and wants to destroy you in every way possible. He looked at Peter and desired to sift him life wheat. He has no purpose for mankind. His focus is himself, and the impending judgment that God has put upon him.

Application: We see this in politics all of the time. Charley Brown is running for office, and he claims to be a man of the people; he claims to be for the little guy; he says he will stand up for you and he will be your advocate, but that is a load of crap. He wants power. He wants money. He wants recognition. Now will he do some good things? Now and again, if it gets him power, money and recognition. However, if doing evil gets him the same thing, he will do evil.

Application: We often see what politicians do, when they seize wealth and redistribute it, but what we rarely see is what the politician did in order to seize that wealth. This wealth represents investment, business, and commerce. This wealth taken by the politician can represent jobs, raises, innovation, medicines, advancement which extends the lives and quality of life for others. We cannot see what is not created; we cannot see the raise which is not give; we cannot see the scientific developments which are not made. We see this politician with someone else’s money giving it to whatever, so that he, the politician is glorified. The people who were taxed are not glorified. How many times have you heard a politician say, “God bless those rich people; it is because of them, we have filled the potholes on your street; it is because of them we have a new civic center; it is because of those rich people that we have a great school system.” Instead, you hear politicians rail against the rich, using the microphone and bully pulpit paid for by the rich—many times against their will—in order to promote the politician and to denigrate those whose money is used against them.

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Let’s combine vv. 4–5 to see all the Satan says together.

Here is how others have translated this verse:

Ancient texts:

Latin Vulgate                          And Satan answered, and said: Skin for skin; and all that a man hath, he will give for his life: But put forth your hand, and touch his bone and his flesh, and then you will see that he will bless you to your face.

Masoretic Text (Hebrew)        And so answers the adversary Y^ehowah and so he says, “Skin for skin and all which is to the man he will give for his soul. Indeed, send forth now Your hand and touch unto his bone and unto his flesh; if not against Your faces he will curse [or, bless].”

Peshitta (Syriac)                    And Satan answered the LORD, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man has will he give for his life, to save it. But put forth thy hand now, and touch his flesh or his bone, and he will curse thee to thy face.

Charles Thomson (Greek)     In reply to which Satan said to ' the Lord, Skin for skin. All that a man hath he will give for his life. Only put forth thy hand, and touch his bones and his flesh, he will indeed openly renounce thee.

Septuagint (Greek)                And the devil answered and said to the Lord, Skin for skin! All that a man has he will give as a ransom for his life. Ah, but put forth Your hand, and touch his bones and his flesh — surely he will curse You to Your face!

Significant differences:           The only problem we have is translating the word to bless; most render it as to curse; which could have been a result of this being a primer, where they do not want to write the words curse God, even though that was what was being said.

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

Contemporary English V.       Satan answered, "There's no pain like your own. People will do anything to stay alive. Try striking Job's own body with pain, and he will curse you to your face."

Easy English                          Satan replied to God, `But you did not allow me to hurt the man. A man will do anything to save his life. If you hurt Job's body, that man will really insult you.'

Easy-to-Read Version            Satan answered, “Skin for skin [This means that a person will do anything he can do to avoid pain.]! A person will give everything he has to save his life. If you use your power to hurt his body, then he will curse [To ask for bad things to happen to someone.] you to your face!”

Good News Bible (TEV)         Satan replied, "A person will give up everything in order to stay alive. But now suppose you hurt his body---he will curse you to your face!"

The Message                         Satan answered, "A human would do anything to save his life. But what do you think would happen if you reached down and took away his health? He'd curse you to your face, that's what."

New Living Translation           Satan replied to the Lord, "Skin for skin! A man will give up everything he has to save his life. But reach out and take away his health, and he will surely curse you to your face!"

The Voice                               The Accuser: ⁴ Well, as they say, "Skin for skin!" It is easy to be so pious in the face of such health. Surely a man will give what he has for the sake of his own life, ⁵ so now extend Your hand! Afflict him, both bone and body, and he will curse You, right to Your face.

Partially literal and partially paraphrased translations:

American English Bible          Then the Opposer said to Jehovah: 'Skin for skin. a man will give everything he has for his life. For a fact; if You send Your hand to touch his flesh and bones, he will surely rave at You to Your face!'

God’s Word™                         Satan answered the LORD, "Skin for skin! Certainly, a man will give everything he has for his life. But stretch out your hand, and strike his flesh and bones. I bet he'll curse you to your face."

New Advent (Knox) Bible       Nay, answered the Enemy, skin must suffer before skin grieves. [Literally, `Skin on behalf of skin'. The rendering given assumes that a proverb, couched in elliptical language, is best interpreted by reference to the context.] Nothing a man owns, but he will part with it to keep his skin whole. That hand of thine, let it fall on bone of his, flesh of his; see if he does not turn and blaspheme thee.

New American Bible              And Satan answered the LORD and said, "Skin for skin [Skin for skin: an expression which, as applied to Job, means that he has borne his suffering patiently thus far only because he seeks to avoid greater suffering and to receive greater favors from God.]! All that a man has will he give for his life. But now put forth your hand and touch his bone and his flesh, and surely he will blaspheme you to your face."

New American Bible (R.E.)    The satan answered the LORD and said, "Skin for skin [a proverbial expression derived perhaps from bartering; the precise meaning is unclear.]! All that a man has he will give for his life. But put forth your hand and touch his bone and his flesh. Then surely he will curse you to your face." Jb 1:11

NIRV                                      Satan replied, "A man will give everything he has to save himself. So Job is willing to give up the lives of his family to save his own life. But reach out your hand and strike his flesh and bones. Then I'm sure he will speak evil things against you. In fact, he'll do it right in front of you."

New Jerusalem Bible             'Skin after skin!' Satan replied. 'Someone will give away all he has to save his life. But stretch out your hand and lay a finger on his bone and flesh; I warrant you, he will curse you to your face.'

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

Ancient Roots Translinear      Satan answered Yahweh and said, "Any man will give his soul skin for skin. Although please send your hand, and when you touch into his bone and into his flesh, he will not bless your face."

The Expanded Bible              "One skin for another [^LSkin for skin; ^Ca proverb meaning that people only react if they are affected directly]!" Satan [1:6] answered. "A man will give all he has to save his own life. ⁵ But reach out your hand and ·destroy [afflict; ^Ltouch] his bones and flesh, and he will ·curse [^Lbless; ^Ca euphemism for "curse"; 1:5] you to your face."

Ferar-Fenton Bible                 The Accuser, however, replied to the Lord and said, “Skin for skin! A man will give all he has for his life! Perhaps if You were to extend Your hand now, and torture his bones and his flesh, he would curse You to Your face?”

HCSB                                     "Skin for skin!" Satan answered the LORD. "A man will give up everything he owns in exchange for his life. But stretch out Your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse You to Your face."

NET Bible®                             But [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.] Satan answered the Lord, "Skin for [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.] skin [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.]! Indeed, a man will give up [The LXX has “make full payment, pay a full price” (LSJ 522 s.v. ἐκτίνω).] all that he has to save his life [Heb "Indeed, all that a man has he will give for his life."]! But extend your hand and strike his bone and his flesh [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).], and he will no doubt [This is the same oath formula found in 1:11; see the note there.] curse you to your face!"

Jewish/Hebrew Names Bibles:

Complete Jewish Bible           The Adversary answered ADONAI, "Skin for skin! A person will give up everything he has to save his life. But if you reach out your hand and touch his flesh and bone, without doubt he'll curse you to your face!"

exeGeses companion Bible   And Satan answers Yah Veh and says,

Skin for skin;

yes, all a man has he gives for his soul;

but spread your hand, I beseech

and touch his bone and his flesh,

whether he blesses you to your face.

JPS (Tanakh—1985)               The Adversary answered the Lord, “Skin for skin [Apparently a proverb whose meaning is uncertain.]—all that a man has he will give up for his life. But lay a hand on his bones and his flesh, and he will surely blaspheme You to Your face.”

Judaica Press Complete T.    Now the Adversary replied to the Lord and said, "Skin for skin, and whatever a person has he will give for his life. But, stretch forth Your hand now and touch his bones and his flesh, will he not blaspheme You to Your face?"

Orthodox Jewish Bible           And Hasatan answered Hashem, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that an ish hath will he give for his nefesh. But stretch forth Thine yad now, and touch his etzem and his basar, and he will curse Thee to Thy face.

The Scriptures 1998              And Satan answered יהוה and said, “Skin for skin, and all that a man has he would give for his life! “But stretch out Your hand, please, and strike his bone and his flesh – if he would not curse You to Your face!”

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

Concordant Literal Version    Then Satan answered Yahweh and said, Skin in behalf of skin, for all that a man has would he give in behalf of his soul. Howbeit, now put forth your hand and touch his bone and his flesh. He shall assuredly scorn you to your face.

Context Group Version          And the Adversary { trad. "satan" } answered YHWH, and said, Skin for skin, yes, all that a man has he will give for his life { soul }. But put out your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will renounce you to your face.

English Standard V. – UK       Then Satan answered the Lord and said, "Skin for skin! All that a man has he will give for his life. But stretch out your hand and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse you to your face."

The updated Geneva Bible    And Satan answered the LORD, and said, Skin for skin [By this he means that a mans own skin is dearer to him than another mans.], yea, all that a man has will he give for his life. But put forth your hand now, and touch his bone [Meaning, his own person.] and his flesh, and he will curse you to your face.

Green’s Literal Translation    And Satan answered Jehovah and said, Skin for skin. Yea, all that a man has he will give for his life. But indeed put out Your hand now and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse You to Your face.

New RSV                               Then Satan [Or the Accuser; Heb ha-satan] answered the Lord, `Skin for skin! All that people have they will give to save their lives [Or All that the man has he will give for his life]. But stretch out your hand now and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse you to your face.'

Syndein/Thieme                     And Satan answered Jehovah/God, and said, " 'Yes, Job has nothing but his own health' {Ancient Hebrew idiom: literally: 'skin for skin, yes'}. A man will give all that he has for his own life; but stretch out Your hand, and strike/touch his flesh and his bones, and he will curse You to Your face."

Young’s Updated LT             And the Adversary answers Jehovah and says, “A skin for a skin, and all that a man has he does give for his life. Yet, put forth, I pray You, Your hand, and strike unto his bone and unto his flesh—if not: unto Your face he does bless You!”

The gist of this verse:          Satan challenges God to show that Job will not simply curse God because his life is in danger.

Translation: The adversary answered Y^ehowah... We have exactly the same words as found in Job 1:9.

Satan knows that he is going to be asked about Job. He made a demand upon God, in order to prove that Job would certainly support whomever blessed him, and Satan was proven wrong. “Take away all that he has and Job will curse You to Your face.” But, in fact, Job did not do that; therefore, Satan expected God to throw that in his face once again.

Although Chuck Smith is not my favorite theologian, here is what he had to say about the existence of Satan: [Satan’s existence] Brings up a problem. If God does control Satan, then why doesn't God bottle him up and ship him out of the universe? If God one day is going to cast him and his followers into this place scripturally that is known as Gehenna, into outer darkness, then why doesn't God do it now and save us all the miseries? Why does Satan have the liberties that God has granted to him? The power that God has granted to him. Why did God allow him to come into the Garden of Eden? Why does God allow him the freedom to war against us? It's all involved in why did God create you? God created you in order that He might have an object to love and from which He might receive love. Now, in order to receive meaningful love it has to be a free will involved. You cannot be a robot. You've got to have a free will, the capacity and power of choice in order that your love for God might truly be a meaningful love. And thus, God gave us the capacity of choice, the free will. But what value is that unless there's something to choose? To have the power of choice and yet nothing to choose would be totally meaningless. So God not only had to create us with the capacity of choice, but He had to allow the opportunity of an alternate choice. And thus, Satan was allowed to rebel against God. And he was allowed to come to man and to offer man an alternate choice in order that if man chose at that point to love God, God would know that the choice was from the heart and it was meaningful and God could then receive praise and glory from the meaningful love that was expressed to Him. Taking a chance man might make the wrong choice.

Application: This may seem somewhat silly to you, at first glance. We can choose between God and Satan; what a difficult choice (you say with tongue planted firmly in cheek). This is not as nutty as it may appear at first. Saul Alinsky wrote a book called Rules for Radicals, which President Obama has quoted from; and which many of his supporters knowingly or unknowingly use not only in Obama’s campaign, but in his presidency as well. Alinsky dedicated his book to Lucifer, the first rebel. Hitler came to power by popular support. We see him today for the evil murderer that he was; but he had great popular support, particularly among the youth (dictators and socialists often go after youth support, because they are the easiest to brainwash). We have seen, as of late, far more subtle choices (as Satan is quite subtle), such as, choosing socialism over free enterprise. There are a significant number of people in the United States who believe strongly in socialism, despite all the available information out there about actual socialist and communist governments (Mao and Stalin killed far more people in peacetime than anyone has ever killed during a war). So people choose between God and Satan all of the time; sometimes it is dramatic and you cannot believe your eyes; and sometimes, the choice is very subtle.

Submit yourselves, therefore, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you (James 4:7). Obviously, this is a consideration, even for believers today. What we must do, as believers, is know the Word of God; and knowing the Word of God means that we can distinguish between cosmic thinking and divine viewpoint. Rom 12:2 And you people must not be conformed to [the values and standards of] this age, but you should become transformed [i.e., changed in attitude and action] by having your mind renewed [= renovated] [i.e., to think in a totally different way]. Then you will be able to determine [and practice] God’s will, the thing that is good, and acceptable and perfect. (AUV–NT) Eph 6:10–17 Finally, be [spiritually] strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. You people should put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to withstand the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not [actually] against human beings, but against rulers and authorities and leaders of this world’s darkness, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. [Note: “Heavenly realms” here refers to the struggle against Satanic powers which permeates life around us]. Therefore, put on the full armor of God, so that you can withstand [the devil, See verse 11] when the evil day comes. And, after you have done everything you can, still remain standing firm [in the faith]. So, you people should stand firm [in the faith], with the belt of truth firmly buckled around you, and with the “flack jacket” of righteousness on your chest. And put on your shoes, ready to [go and] spread the Gospel of peace. And along with everything else, take up the shield of faith, with which you will be able to extinguish all the fire-tipped arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Holy Spirit, which is God’s word. (AUV–NT)

Also, more important than choosing between God and Satan is the Angelic Conflict, which is why primarily Satan is not cast yet into the Lake of Fire. Satan has lodged objections to God and His plan in open court, and God uses human history in order to answer his many objections. The book of Job simply gives us two objections which Satan has made, and how these objections were answered. There is much more to our lives than what we see with our own two eyes. The Angelic Conflict is significant. A portion of that conflict is simply, Choose this day whom you will serve (Joshua 24:15).

Translation: ...and said,”Skin for skin! What Satan says here is most unusual. I think the idea is, Job will give God his own skin to save his own life.

We have a preposition used twice here: baʿad (בַּעַד) [pronounced BAH-ģad] is one of those rare prepositions which does not take up five pages in BDB. However, its meanings are still multifarious. Here, it is simplest just to render it for (in accordance with most translations) as BDB says that it almost is equivalent to for the sake of, on account of. Strong's #1157 BDB #126.

The phrase skin for skin is obviously a proverbial saying; BDB associates it with bartering, saying that everything has its price. The NIV has a similar opinion, relating it to a willingness to barter one animal skin for another of equal value. Perhaps Satan is saying, “We just did not find Job’s price yet.”

Barnes gives quite a thorough discussion of it—several pages, as a matter of fact; my take on this is that Satan is saying that Job would sacrifice the skins of his animals and the skins of his own relatives before he would sacrifice his own skin. He is accusing God of stacking the deck in His favor by not allowing Satan to personally attack Job. It is one thing to take away Job’s family and his wealth; it is clearly another to take away Job’s health. You strip a millionaire of his wealth and his family, he will just start over again. However, when one is dying of an incurable form of cancer, it does not matter how much wealth that person has—his own wealth is meaningless to him. This is what Satan appears to be alleging. “You have not allowed me to go deep enough into Job.”

We will explore the various meanings of skin for skin when we add in the next portion of this verse.

Dunagan: [Despite being wrong, again and again], Satan does not apologize, he does not repent, and neither does he admit any fault whatever. At no point does Satan say, “Okay, you’re right. I destroyed Job’s life, but to no effect. You told me he would not lose faith in You, and You are right (again).” Then Dunagan quotes McKenna: “Self-centeredness dominates all of Satan's thinking. He cannot believe that the loss of possessions and family really matters if the person himself is untouched. Satan's tactic is to probe and probe until he finds the fatal flaw in a person's character that leads to sin.” 

Barnes: The object of Satan is to say, that a test had not been applied to Job of sufficient severity to show what he really was. What he had lost was a mere trifle compared with what would be if he was subjected to severe bodily sufferings, so that his life would be in peril. it is to be remembered that these are the words of Satan, and that they are not necessarily true.