Job 1:7

And the Lord said unto Satan, whence comest thou?.... This question is put, not as ignorant of the place from whence he came; for the omniscient God knows all persons and things, men and angels, and

And the LORD said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it. Going to and fro - rather, hurrying rapidly to and fro.

God being here represented as Judge, rightly begins with an inquiry, as the ground of his further proceedings, as he did 4:9. From going to and fro in the earth; where by thy permission I range about, observing with great diligence all the dispositions and actions of men, and working in them and among them as far as I have liberty and opportunity.

Job 1:7 And the LORD said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.Ver. 7. And the Lord said unto Satan] Either by forming and creating a voice in the air, as Matthew 3:17 Job 12:25, or by an inward word, after an unspeakable manner; manifesting his will, as he willed, to Satan. The schoolmen have great disputes about the speech of spirits, but this they agree in, that the intention of one spirit is as plain an expression of his mind by another spirit (when he hath a will that the other should understand it) as the voice of one man is to another. Whence comest thou?] This the Lord asketh not as if he were ignorant; for he knows all things, and that from eternity, neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight, but all things are naked and open before his eyes, Hebrews 4:13; yea, in him all things subsist, Colossians 1:17, so that there can be no motion of the creature without his privity: God, therefore, thus interrogateth Satan, that he might show himself to be his judge, and that he might exact a confession out of his own mouth. Then Satan answered the Lord] The word signifieth to speak in witness bearing, Exodus 20:16. From going to and fro in the earth] He saith not, from instigating men to all manner of wickedness, from ranging up and down as a roaring lion, to devour souls, from sinning that sin against the Holy Ghost every moment, &c. All this he cunningly dissembleth, and saith, in effect, as once Gehazi did, Thy servant was nowhere, or for no hurt to any, when as he is never but doing mischief; as Pliny saith of the scorpion, that there is not one minute wherein it doth not put forth the sting. Is not the hand of Joab in this business? So, is not Satan in all the sins of the wicked, and in most of the troubles of the godly? Heu quam furit Satan, et impellit securos homines ad horrenda flagitia! &c., saith Luther. Oh how doth Satan range and rage, that he may glut himself with the blood of souls! In prosperity he makes men lay their hearts too near it, in adversity to lay it too near their hearts. Upon Job he tried both these stratagems. And from walking up and down in it] A great peripatetic he is, and he walks the rounds; for he is yet a prisoner at large, only he hath his fetters upon his heels, Judges 1:6, and in them he frisketh up and down, and fetcheth a circuit to spy faults, and to take advantages. Mr Broughton rendereth it, from searching to and fro in the earth, &c.

(7) From going to and fro . . .—Compare our Lord’s words in Matthew 13:25 : “and went his way.” St. Peter evidently had this passage in mind (1 Peter 5:8, “walketh about”).

Verse 7. From going to and fro in the earth] The translation of the Septuagint is curious: Περιελθωντηνγηνκαιεμπεριπατησαςτηνὑπ' ουρανον, παρειμι; "Having gone round the earth, and walked over all that is under heaven, I am come hither." The Chaldee says, "I am come from going round the earth to examine the works of the children of men; and from walking through it." Coverdale, who generally hits the sense, translates thus: I have gone aboute the londe ond walked thorow it. Mr. Good has it, from roaming round the earth, and walking about it. St. Peter, as has been already stated, 1 Peter 5:8, refers to this: Be sober, be vigilant; for your ADVERSARY the DEVIL GOETH ABOUT, as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. I rather think, with Coverdale, that ארץ arets here signifies rather that land, than the habitable globe. The words are exceedingly emphatic; and the latter verb התהלך hithhallech being in the hithpael conjugation shows how earnest and determined the devil is in his work: he sets himself to walk; he is busily employed in it; he is seeking the destruction of men; and while they sleep, he wakes-while they are careless, he is alert. The spirit of this saying is often expressed by the simple inhabitants of the country: when they perceive a man plotting mischief, and frequent in transgression, they say, The devil is BUSY with him.

7. From going to and fro] As the word is used by the Satan of himself there is, naturally, no shade of self-condemnation in it: rather the reverse, he speaks with a certain consciousness of his assiduous faithfulness. The term is used of “the eyes of the Lord, that go to and fro,” 2 Chronicles 16:9. What is suggested is the swiftness and ubiquity of his survey of men. Similarly walking up and down is said of those benevolent emissaries sent forth from heaven in the interest of the suffering righteous of the earth, Zechariah 1:10-11; Zechariah 6:7. The growing light of revelation cast the figure of Satan into deeper shade, and his restless activity receives a corresponding deepness of tint, “Your adversary, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour,” 1 Peter 5:8.

And the Lord said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? - This inquiry does not appear to have been made as if it was improper that Satan should have appeared there, for no blame seems to have been attached to him for this.

7. Whence comest thou — According to the tenor of the Scriptures it is not unworthy of God to hold converse with any of his intelligent creatures, even though they be fallen; as is illustrated in the