God’s Word Translation
Job 2:4
4Satan answered the Lord, “Skin for skin! Certainly, a man will give everything he has 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?” Satan answered the Lord, “From wandering all over the earth.” 3The Lord asked Satan, “Have you thought about my servant Job? No one in the world is like him! He is a man of integrity: He is decent, he fears God, and he stays away from evil. And he still holds on to his principles. You’re trying to provoke me into ruining him for no reason.” Satan answered the Lord, “Skin for skin! Certainly, a man will give everything he has for his life. 5But stretch out your hand, and strike his flesh and bones. I bet he’ll curse you to your face.” 6The Lord told Satan, “He is in your power, but you must 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 with you, Your Majesty, and if it pleases you, Your Majesty, spare my life. That is my request. And spare the life of my people. That is what I ask for.
- Isaiah 2:20On that day people will throw to the moles and the bats the silver and gold idols that they made for themselves to worship.
- Jeremiah 41:8However, ten men from the group had said to Ishmael, “Don’t kill us! We have wheat, barley, olive oil, and honey hidden in the country.” So he left them alone and didn’t kill them along with the others.
- Matthew 6:25“So I tell you to stop worrying about what you will eat, drink, or wear. Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothes?
- Matthew 16:26What good will it do for people to win the whole world and lose their lives? Or what will a person give in exchange for life?
- Acts 27:18We continued to be tossed so violently by the storm that the next day the men began to throw the cargo overboard.
- Philippians 3:8It’s far more than that! I consider everything else worthless because I’m much better off knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. It’s because of him that I think of everything as worthless. I threw it all away in order to 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
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
Commentaries