Job 2, A Second Disaster Strikes Job

Job, shown as an example of a righteous man, has had his property destroyed and his children killed. Yet he does not curse God or accuse God of evil. We now listen in on a second conversation before God.

Job 2:1-5, The Accuser speaks again

On another day the angels came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them to present himself before him. And the LORD said to Satan, "Where have you come from?" 

Satan answered the LORD, "From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it."

Then the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. And he still maintains his integrity, though you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason."

"Skin for skin!" Satan replied. "A man will give all he has for his own life. But stretch out your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse you to your face."

A second meeting occurs, with the angels (supernatural messengers) presenting themselves before God. Huntley emphasizes that the messengers, including The Accuser, present themselves to God, as subordinates. Despite Job's righteous response to the earlier catastrophes, The Accuser doubles down on his accusation.  Job has just not been afflicted enough. Job must be made to suffer physically.

Job 2:6, Permission granted

The LORD said to Satan, "Very well, then, he is in your hands; but you must spare his life."

Once again, God gives The Accuser permission to strike Job. This time Job can be damaged physically but not killed.

Job 2:7, Painful sores

So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD and afflicted Job with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.

This time the affliction is physical, painful sores throughout the body. The identification of the disease is not clear but we will have hints later of its painfulness. The Hebrew word translated here "painful sores" is shechin, elsewhere translated "boils".  It is identical with the description of one of the plagues in Exodus (see Exodus 9: 9 for an example.)

Job 2:8, Pottery and ashes

Then Job took a piece of broken pottery and scraped himself with it as he sat among the ashes.

Job, sitting among the ashes, scrapes his skin, presumably because it hurts and itches.

Job 2:9-10, A wife responds

His wife said to him, "Are you still holding on to your integrity? Curse God and die!"

He replied, "You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?" In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.

Job has not, however, cursed God.  His wife suggests that Job give up his integrity and curse God but Job refuses, arguing that God can give both good and trouble.

Hartley says that the Septuagint gives the wife a lengthier speech. Regardless of the manuscript, Job's wife is speaking the words of The Accuser.

Job 2:11-13, Three friends

When Job's three friends, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite, heard about all the troubles that had come upon him, they set out from their homes and met together by agreement to go and sympathize with him and comfort him.

When they saw him from a distance, they could hardly recognize him; they began to weep aloud, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads. Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights. No one said a word to him, because they saw how great his suffering was.

Now three of Job's friends join him and sit with him, grieving and weeping. The Hebrew word nud, translated "sympathize" in verse 12, is used elsewhere to mean "wander" or "shake". Huntley argues that the friends are sitting with Job, rocking back and forth. The friends moan, weep, grieve with Job. These are obviously good friends, friends who care for Job and are willing to share his grief. 

We are given little information about Job's friends, other than some vague tribal information. Elsewhere in the Old Testament, there is an Eliphaz who is was the oldest son of Esau and a Teman who is Eliphaz's son. (See Genesis 36: 15, for example.) The name Teman then shows up elsewhere such as in Jeremiah 49: 7. In one of those places, Obadiah 1: 8-9, the people of Edom and Teman are identified with wisdom.  As for the other two, the identifications are not clear. Solomon had a wife named Naamah (see 1 Kings 21: 14) and the same name was given to the sister of Tubal-Cain in Genesis 4: 22.

The scene in the throne room of heaven now fades away. We have been privy to the true cause of Job's suffering, but Job and the people around him are not aware. The rest of the book involves these humans trying to figure out why Job has been so badly treated by God.