Christian Standard Bible
Job 2:4
4“Skin for skin!” Satan answered the Lord. “A man will give up everything he owns in exchange for his life.
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
2The Lord asked Satan, “Where have you come from?” “From roaming through the earth,” Satan answered him, “and walking around on it.” 3Then 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 for no good reason.” “Skin for skin!” Satan answered the Lord. “A man will give up everything 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,” the Lord told Satan, “he is in your power; only spare his life.”
Read all of Job 2Job 2:4 word by word
וַיַּ֧עַן הַשָּׂטָ֛ן אֶת־יְהוָ֖ה וַיֹּאמַ֑ר ע֣וֹר בְּעַד־ע֗וֹר וְכֹל֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר לָאִ֔ישׁ יִתֵּ֖ן בְּעַ֥ד נַפְשֽׁוֹ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Job 2:4
- Esther 7:3Queen Esther answered, “If I have found favor with you, Your Majesty, and if the king is pleased, spare my life; this is my request. And spare my people; this is my desire.
- Isaiah 2:20On that day people will throw their worthless idols of silver and gold, which they made to worship, to the moles and the bats.
- Jeremiah 41:8However, there were ten men among them who said to Ishmael, “Don’t kill us, for we have hidden treasure in the field — wheat, barley, oil, and honey!” So he stopped and did not kill them along with their companions.
- Matthew 6:25“Therefore I tell you: Don’t worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothing?
- Matthew 16:26For what will it benefit someone if he gains the whole world yet loses his life? Or what will anyone give in exchange for his life?
- Acts 27:18Because we were being severely battered by the storm, they began to jettison the cargo the next day.
- Philippians 3:8More than that, I also consider everything to be a loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. Because of him I have suffered the loss of all things and consider them as dung, so 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
In the dictionaries
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
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