Job 2:4

And Satan answered the Lord, and said,.... Satan would not as yet own that Job was the man the Lord had described; but still would suggest, that he was a selfish and mercenary man, and that what had

And Satan answered the LORD, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life. Skin for skin - a proverb. Supply "He will give". The skin is figurative for any outward good.

The design of these words is plain, which is to detract from Job, and to diminish that honour and praise which God gave to Job, by pretending that he had done no more than the meanest men commonly do by the law of self-reservation. And it is as clear that this was a proverbial speech then in use, wherein if there be some difficulty to understand it at this distance of time, it is no more than the common lot of many other proverbs, the sense, and especially the grounds, whereof are frequently unknown to persons of other nations and after-times. Moreover, it is known that in those ancient times, though they had some money, yet the main of their estate lay in cattle, of which the skins were a considerable part, and their chief traffic lay in the exchange of one commodity for another; and, among other things, it cannot be questioned but that they did commonly exchange skins of one kind for skins of another sort, according to their several inclinations or occasions. So the meaning may be this, As men willingly and commonly give one skin in exchange for another skin, and one commodity for another. So (the Hebrew particle vau being oft so used as a note of comparison, as it Isaiah 25:3,23,25,27) all that a man hath, his house, cattle, children, will he give, and that most willingly, for his life, i.e. to redeem or save his own life. Or rather thus, skin for skin, might then be a proverb, like that of ours, Body for body, when one man is so far obliged for another. And we have some such expressions among us; as when we say of a man who doth some dangerous action, His skin, i.e. his body, will pay for it, i.e. it may cost him his life. And this proverb might be taken, 1. From sacrifices, in which there was skin for skin, i.e. the skin of a beast for, or instead of, the skin or body of the man, which deserved to be used as the beast was, and which was saved or preserved by the suffering of the beast, which was accepted by God instead of the man, and by which the man’ s sins were expiated. Or, 2. From hostages or ransoms, wherein one man was given for or instead of another. So now the sense may be this, Any man will give skin for skin, i.e. the skin, or body, or life of another, whether man or beast, to save his own; yea, all that a man hath, whether goods or persons, such as Job hath lost, will he give for his life. Job is not much hurt nor concerned so long as his own skin is whole and safe. Others thus, Skin upon (for so the Hebrew particle behad is sometimes used, as ; as also the Greek particle anti, which answers to it, is understood , grace for grace, i.e.

Job 2:4 And Satan answered the LORD, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life.Ver. 4. And Satan answered the Lord] This impudent adversary had yet an answer in his mouth, and would not be so set down. Of him and his agents (those false teachers, as the apostle calleth them) it may be truly said, - Nihil est audacius illis Deprensis: iram atque animos ex crimine sumunt (Juvenal). Nothing is more bold to those caught, they are angry but proud from their crime. Skin for skin] Any skin for his own; cattle, servants, children may be easily parted with by him, to save himself in a whole skin, to keep himself whole: others read it, skin after skin, or skin upon skin; both the Cutis skin and the Pellis hide shall go so that life may be preserved; as a man will hold up his arm to save his head, or suffer the loss of a limb to save his life. Ut corpus redimas; ferrum patieris et ignes. So that the body mey be redeemed; endure the sword and the fire. Job is still integra cute, skin whole, saith Satan; and so long there is little trial of him: that man is rich enough who is well. I read of one, who being asked how old he was, answered that he was in health; and to another that asked how rich he was, answered that he was not in debt: q.d. he is young enough that is in health, and rich enough that is not in debt. Now all this Job was yet, and therefore Satan ill paid and unsatisfied. And all that he hath will a man give for his life] Life is sweet, we say; and man is a life loving creature, saith the heathen, ζωονφιλοζωον (Aesop), fond of life, and afraid of death, which is Nature’ s slaughterman, and therefore the most terrible of terribles, as Aristotle styleth it, τωνφοβερωνφοβερωτατον. The Gibeonites refused not to be perpetual slaves, so they might but live. Those that are overcome in battle are content to be stripped of all, so they may have quarter for their lives. Mariners in a tempest cast their lading into the sea, though never so precious, in hope of life. If Job may escape with the skin of his teeth, it is some favour; he may not think much to sacrifice all that he hath to the service of his life, his conscience only excepted.

(4) Skin for skin.—This is a more extreme form of the insinuation of Job 1:9. He means Job takes care to have his quid pro quo; and if the worst come to the worst, a man will give up everything to save his life. If, therefore, Job can save his life at the price of subservience to God, he will willingly pay that price rather than die; but his service is worth no more than that selfish object implies.

Verse 4. Skin 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 member to save the rest; yea, limb after limb as long as there is hope that, by such sacrifices, life may be spared or prolonged. This is the meaning given to the passage by the Targum; and, I believe, the true one; hence, Job 2:6, the Lord says, Save his life.

4. The Satan’s reply is that the trial was not sufficiently close, it left the man himself untouched. Skin for skin, yea, all] Rather, skin for skin, and all that a man hath will he give for himself. The second half of the sentence is an application to the subject in hand of the general truth expressed in the words, Skin for skin. These words seem proverbial, though the origin of the proverb is obscure. The meaning seems to be, Like for like, so all &c. Others take the expression in a less general sense. The Targum translates, Member for member, one member of the body in behalf of, or to cover another member, as the arm the head. The word skin is used in our Book once or twice for the body, Job 18:13, Job 19:26. If this sense could be adopted here the meaning would be, Skin or body of others for one’s own, all that a man has &c., in which case the second clause would merely repeat the first. This is prosaic, though adopted by Jerome, pro corio suo coria obtulit filiorum. The verse would then run: Others for oneself, all that a man hath will he give for himself. See the different interpretations discussed at length in Conant’s Job, p. 8 seq.

Skin for skin - This is a proverbial expression, whose origin is unknown, nor is its meaning as “a proverb” entirely clear.

4. Skin for skin — Among the conflicting interpretations of this difficult verse are, first, that a man will readily give the skin, that is, the life of others for his own skin or life.