The big picture
Job, the upright man who has lost his wealth and children, has not cursed God. Satan, the accuser, now claims that bodily pain will break his loyalty. Another heavenly exchange takes place beyond Job's knowledge. Soon he is covered in painful sores. His wife speaks from within the same ruined household, and friends arrive to share his grief. Before any long argument begins, they sit with suffering they can hardly recognise.
In this chapter
- A Further Test Is Allowed Job 2:1-6
Satan again appears among the heavenly beings before God.
- Sores Cover Job's Body Job 2:7-10
Satan strikes Job with painful sores from head to foot.
- Three Friends Sit Without Words Job 2:11-13
News of Job's losses brings three friends together to arrange a visit.
Central truth
Job's bodily suffering deepens without proving him guilty, and his friends first meet his pain with tears and silence.
Scripture beside the summary
Job · King James Version · 13Job 2:1-6
A Further Test Is Allowed
Satan again appears among the heavenly beings before God. God says Job still holds his integrity despite losses inflicted without cause in his conduct. Satan replies that a person will give up anything to keep life safe. He claims that pain in Job's own body will make him curse God. God permits this further attack but sets a limit: Job's life must be spared. The challenge has shifted from possessions to flesh. Job remains unaware that his suffering is being discussed in this way.
In everyday life
A dance partner watches a colleague stay with the troupe after losing the lead role, then changes his accusation. He now says that extra unpaid rehearsals will reveal whether she is loyal. He sets a new test instead of accepting what she has shown. Satan receives permission to inflict bodily harm within God's stated limit.
Notice
Job 2:3 God says the earlier destruction had no cause in Job's wrongdoing. That statement is vital when later speakers try to explain suffering by assuming guilt.
Job 2:1-6
King James Version1Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the LORD.
2And the LORD said unto Satan, From whence comest thou? And Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.
3And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? and still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause.
4And Satan answered the LORD, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life.
5But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face.
6And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life.
Job 2:7-10
Sores Cover Job's Body
Satan strikes Job with painful sores from head to foot. Job sits among ashes and scrapes his skin with broken pottery. His wife asks why he still holds his integrity and tells him to curse God and die. He rejects her advice as foolish speech. He asks whether receiving good from God means refusing to receive trouble. The account says he does not sin with his lips. His answer stands within raw bodily misery and a household already emptied by loss.
In everyday life
A patient with severe pain sits at the edge of his bed while a grieving relative urges him to abandon the beliefs that once sustained them. He answers quietly without denying what his body feels. They share loss but respond differently. Job's sores are tied to the heavenly challenge the couple cannot see.
Notice
Job 2:10 The account judges Job's spoken response without claiming that he feels no distress. Refusing to curse God is not the same as finding the pain small.
Job 2:7-10
King James Version7So went Satan forth from the presence of the LORD, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown.
8And he took him a potsherd to scrape himself withal; and he sat down among the ashes.
9Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse God, and die.
10But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips.
Job 2:11-13
Three Friends Sit Without Words
News of Job's losses brings three friends together to arrange a visit. Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar each leave home to offer comfort. They see him from far off and can barely tell who he is. Tears follow that first sight. They rip their outer clothes and toss dust above their heads as signs of grief. A full week passes with all three seated beside Job on the bare earth. They remain silent in the face of such pain. Their first response is to stay close, before the speeches that will divide them.
In everyday life
Three neighbours bring chairs into a bereaved friend's yard and sit beside him after seeing how much he has changed. They stop searching for reassuring phrases and let the silence remain. Their presence carries what words cannot yet hold. Job's friends sit on the ground for seven days before the debate begins.
Notice
Job 2:13 Their silence responds to the size of Job's grief. At first they offer company rather than an explanation, which differs from the arguments they later make.
Job 2:11-13
King James Version11Now when Job’s three friends heard of all this evil that was come upon him, they came every one from his own place; Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite: for they had made an appointment together to come to mourn with him and to comfort him.
12And when they lifted up their eyes afar off, and knew him not, they lifted up their voice, and wept; and they rent every one his mantle, and sprinkled dust upon their heads toward heaven.
13So they sat down with him upon the ground seven days and seven nights, and none spake a word unto him: for they saw that his grief was very great.
Details worth noticing
The opening image
Job 2:1 begins with “Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the LORD.”
Where the chapter turns
Job 2:5 forms a natural hinge: “But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face.”
The final note
Job 2:13 leaves the reader with “So they sat down with him upon the ground seven days and seven nights, and none spake a word unto him: for they saw that his grief was very great.”
A word trail through the chapter
The words LORD, Satan, evil, hand, curse, earth help reveal the chapter’s repeated concerns.
KJV words made clear
- potsherd
- A broken piece of pottery, used here to scrape painful skin.
Music and video connected to the passage
Related media appears when its Scripture reference overlaps this study. Music and video can illuminate a theme while the biblical text remains the foundation.
