3. Owner of many herds (1:3; 42:12)
3. Owner of many herds (1:3; 42:12) 4. A wealthy and influential man (1:3b) 5. A priest to his family (1:5) 6. A loving, wise husband (2:9) 7. A man of prominence in community affairs (29:7–11) 8. A man of benevolence (29:12–17; 31:32) 9. A wise leader (29:21–24) 10. Grower of crops (31:38–40) ©1997 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
JOB—NOTE ON 2:1–3a The scene changes again to the heavenly court, where the angels came before the Lord and Satan was also present, having been again searching the earth for victims to assault. See notes on 1:6–8.
JOB—NOTE ON 2:3 He still holds fast his integrity. God affirmed that Job had won round one. without reason. God uses the same expression the adversary used in Job 1: "for no reason" (1:9) and "without reason" (2:3). The message behind God's turn of words is that the adversary is the guilty party in this case, not Job who had suffered all the disaster without any personal cause. He had done nothing to incur the pain and loss, though it was massive. The issue was purely a matter of conflict between God and Satan. This is a crucial statement, because when Job's friends tried to explain why all the disasters had befallen him, they always put the blame on Job. Grasping this assessment from God— that Job had not been punished for something, but suffered for nothing related to him personally—is a crucial key to the story. Sometimes suffering is caused by divine purposes unknowable to us (see Introduction: Historical and Theological Themes).
JOB—NOTE ON 2:4–5 Skin for skin! Satan contended that what he had done to Job so far was just touching the skin, scratching the surface. Job endured the loss of all that he had, even the lives of his children, but would not endure the loss of his own well-being. If God allowed Satan to make the disaster a personal matter of his own physical body, the Adversary contended, Job's faith would fail.
JOB—NOTE ON 2:6 spare his life. The Lord sovereignly limited the Adversary, although death seemed preferable. Job believed that to be the case (cf. 7:15), as did his wife (2:9).
JOB—NOTE ON 2:7 Satan . . . struck Job. This appears to be an exceptional case