Job 1:6-10

2. Satan's insinuation (Job 1:6-10)

TEXT 1:6-10

(6) Now it came to pass on the day when the sons of God came to present themselves before Jehovah, that Satan also came among them. (7) And Jehovah said onto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered Jehovah, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it my servant Job? for there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and upright man, one that feareth God, and turneth away from evil. (9) Then Satan answered Jehovah, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought? (10) Hast not thou made a hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath, on every side: thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land.

COMMENT 1:6-10

Job 1:6Here we encounter the first scene in heavenJob 1:6-12: Yahweh is represented as an oriental king seated on His throne. Here Satan is challenged to find a single flaw in Job's character. Satan first responds by impugning the motives of Job. The name of the game is that every man has his price! The Hebrew text means there came a day when with the succeeding phrase introduced by waw consecutive and the imperfect verb form.[32] The sons of Elohim are identified in the LXX as angels or messengers (compare Genesis 6:1-4; Genesis 11:5 ff; Job 38:7; and 1 Kings 22:19 ff). The phrase to station themselves (Heb. lehityasseb) implies the attitude of the servant before his master (see also Zechariah 6:5). The same term describes how David stood before Saul in 1 Samuel 16:21 and Jeremiah 52:12. The definite article stands before the word Satan, i.e., The Satan. Satan is the adversary at law, the accuser (see Psalms 109:6; and compare 1 Chronicles 21:1 with its parallel passage 2 Samuel 24:1). The character of Satan is clearly defined: He will challenge the uprightness of Job, and inflict calamities on Job.[33]

[32] For the evidence regarding the specific day which the text might have in mind, see R. de Vaux, Ancient Israel (New York: McGraw Hill, 1961), pp. 502-4. The day clearly depicts two councils in which Job's fate is at stake. Compare Job's vindication with Kafka's The Trial in which cosmic justice is unavailable.

[33] The origin and nature of most technical discussions of Satan contain naturalistic comparative religion assumptions. In our age when people have difficulty believing in God, surely we should not be surprised regarding their hesitancy to accept the ontological existence of Satan. See appropriate Kittel articles and especially R. S. Kluger, Satan in the Old Testament (Evanston: Northwestern University Press, 1967); H. Torczyner suggests the idea that the origin of Satan is to be found in the concept of Persian secret police. See his commentary on Job.

Job 1:7Yahweh asks Satan to give an account of his doings. God's question does not imply ignorance, rather it becomes a point of encounter (see Exodus 4:2). Satan responds that he has been roaming throughout the earth (see 1 Peter 5:8). The Hebrew is the common verbto walk or stroll (Numbers 11:8; 2 Samuel 24:2; and Zechariah 1:10-11). The image does not suggest that of vigilantes but rather of prosecutors. We are now at the boundary of the action of the drama.

Job 1:8Job is God's paradigm of a righteous man. Yahweh asks Satan, Have you turned your attention to my servant Job? The Hebrew grammar presents a marvelous imageto give one's heart or focus strong attention on an object of vital concern. The locution of my servant Job[34] is a characteristic of both the Prologue (Job 2:3) and Epilogue (Job 42:7-8). But why all the concern for Job's integrity? Yahweh sets forth Job as an example of perfect human loyalty to Himself. Satan skeptically interprets Job's characteristics as mere self-interest. Satan vows Job is a kind of Machiavellian prince. At the heart of this confrontation between Yahweh and Satan iswho is the organizing center for life and all realityman or God? The issue is a central factor in our twentieth century malaise. What is the value of such a victorythat is of locating a single righteous man in all the earth? (Ezekiel 14:14; Ezekiel 14:20 appeals to the examples of Noah, Daniel, and Job; see also Jeremiah 31:29; Job 22:27-30; Isaiah 52:13, Isaiah 53:12).

[34] See C. Lindhagen's exhaustive study, The Servant Motif in the Old Testament, 1950; also Jeremias-' excellent study.

Job 1:9Is it for nothing (Heb. Hinnamwithout justification, irrationally, or arbitrarily) that Job fears Elohim? Satan's irony is expressed in this rhetorical question. Here we meet Job our contemporary. The question is addressed to every man. Do God's good gifts come to those whose motives are self-interest? If we do good, good fortune follows as a reward; if we do evil, punishment follows. The American Dream syndrome runs dangerously parallel to the assumption that success implies the blessings of God; and failure entails God's disfavor. What is the relationship of piety to prosperity? Are there no poor righteous? (Note the poor in America and the Third and Fourth Worlds). The Bible consistently warns about the snares of riches (Deuteronomy 32:15; Proverbs 30:8 ff; Psalms 73:3-9; Mark 10:23).

Job 1:10Satan now declaresNo wonder Job is loyal. You (Hebrew is emphatic) have built a protective hedge (Hebrewsurround with thorns for purposes of protection) about him. The thorn hedge is Job's prosperity! Everything Job does, he prospers. Little wonder that he is God's man. Job's possessions are literally breaking out (Hebrew verb means to overflowGenesis 38:29; Micah 2:13) in uncontrolled prosperity. While his prosperity is a barrier against attack, it is without barrier against its own increase (Rowley, Job, p. 32).