Job 2:4

Job 2:4 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And Satan answered the Lord, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life.
• New International Version (NIV)“Skin for skin!” Satan replied. “A man will give all he has for his own life.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Then Satan answered the Lord and said, "Skin for skin! All that a man has he will give for his life.
• New King James Version (NKJV)So Satan answered the Lord and said, “Skin for skin! Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life.

Context of Job 2:4

2“Where have you come from?” said the LORD to Satan. “From roaming through the earth,” he replied, “and walking back and forth in it.” 3Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one on earth like him, a man who is blameless and upright, who fears God and shuns evil. He still retains his integrity, even though you incited Me against him to ruin him without cause.” “Skin for skin!” Satan replied. “A man will give up all he owns in exchange for his life. 5But stretch out Your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse You to Your face.” 6“Very well,” said the LORD to Satan. “He is in your hands, but you must spare his life.”

Job 2:4 word by word

וַיַּ֧עַן הַשָּׂטָ֛ן אֶת־יְהוָ֖ה וַיֹּאמַ֑ר ע֣וֹר בְּעַד־ע֗וֹר וְכֹל֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר לָאִ֔ישׁ יִתֵּ֖ן בְּעַ֥ד נַפְשֽׁוֹ׃Read the interlinear

• Skinעוֹר‛ôr · skinH5785
• forבַּ֫עַדbe‛ad · about/through/forH1157
• ·יְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
• Satanשָׂטָןώâţân · SatanH7854
• ·אֵת'êth · [Obj.]H853
• repliedעָנָה‛ânâh · to answerH6030
• repliedאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
• A manאִישׁ'îysh · manH376
• will give upנָתַןnâthan · to give: giveH5414
• allכֹּלkôl kôl · allH3605
• he ownsאֲשֶׁר'ăsher · whichH834
• his lifeנֶ֫פֶשׁnephesh · soul: lifeH5315

Cross-references for Job 2:4

• Esther 7:3Queen Esther replied, “If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it pleases the king, grant me my life as my petition, and the lives of my people as my request.
• Isaiah 2:20In that day men will cast away to the moles and bats their idols of silver and gold— the idols they made to worship.
• Jeremiah 41:8But ten of the men among them said to Ishmael, “Do not kill us, for we have hidden treasure in the field—wheat, barley, oil, and honey!” So he refrained from killing them with the others.
• Matthew 6:25Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?
• Matthew 16:26What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?
• Acts 27:18We were tossed so violently that the next day the men began to jettison the cargo.
• Philippians 3:8More than that, I count all things as loss compared to the surpassing excellence of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ

Commentaries on Job 2:4

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 4Skin for skin - That is, A man will part with all he has in the world to save his life; and he will part with all by piecemeal, till he has nothing left on earth, and even be thankful, provided his life be spared. Thou hast only destroyed his property; thou hast left him his life and his health. Thou hast not touched his flesh nor his bone; therefore he is patient and resigned. Man, through the love of life, will go much farther: he will give up one…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 4Skin for skin - This is a proverbial expression, whose origin is unknown, nor is its meaning as “a proverb” entirely clear. The general sense of the passage here is plain, for it is immediately explained that a man would give everything which he had to save his life; and the idea here is, that if Job was so afflicted in his body that he was likely to die, he would give up all his religion in order to purchase life. His religion, which had berne the…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1-13God and Satan agree to test Job, which causes his troubles and confirms his integrity (1:20–21; 2:10). None of the book's characters ever learn of this council in heaven.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 44. Skin for skin--a proverb. Supply, "He will give." The "skin" is figurative for any outward good. Nothing outward is so dear that a man will not exchange it for some other outward good; "but" (not "yea") "life," the inward good, cannot be replaced; a man will sacrifice everything else for its sake. Satan sneers bitterly at man's egotism and says that Job bears the loss of property and children because these are mere outward and exchangeable goods, but…Read the comment

Topics related to Job 2:4

• Accusation, False
• Falsehood
• Motive
• Persecution
• Satan
• Temptation

In the dictionaries

• Satan
• Satan, devil, evil one
• Comfort
• Lip
• Potsherd
• Receive
• Scrape
• Speak
• Games
• Job, Book of

Commentaries on Job 2

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings