English Standard Version
Job 2:4
4Then Satan answered the Lord and said, "Skin for skin! All that a man has he will give 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.
- 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.
- New Living Translation (NLT)Satan replied to the Lord, “Skin for skin! A man will give up everything he has to save his life.
Context of Job 2:4
2And the Lord said to Satan, "From where have you come?" Satan answered the Lord and said, "From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it." 3And 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, who fears God and turns away from evil? He still holds fast his integrity, although you incited me against him to destroy him without reason." Then Satan answered the Lord and said, "Skin for skin! All that a man has he will give for his life. 5But stretch out your hand and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse you to your face." 6And the Lord said to Satan, "Behold, he is in your hand; 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 7:3Then Queen Esther answered, "If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be granted me for my wish, and my people for my request.
- Isaiah 2:20In that day mankind will cast away their idols of silver and their idols of gold, which they made for themselves to worship, to the moles and to the bats,
- Jeremiah 41:8But there were ten men among them who said to Ishmael, "Do not put us to death, for we have stores of wheat, barley, oil, and honey hidden in the fields." So he refrained and did not put them to death with their companions.
- Matthew 6:25"Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?
- Matthew 16:26For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?
- Acts 27:18Since we were violently storm-tossed, they began the next day to jettison the cargo.
- Philippians 3:8Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order 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
English Standard Version — © 2001 Crossway Bibles
Commentaries