1 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.
2 And 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.
3 And 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.
4 And Satan answered the Lord, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life.
5 But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face.
6 And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life.
7 So went Satan forth from the presence of the Lord, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown.
8 And he took him a potsherd to scrape himself withal; and he sat down among the ashes.
9 Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse God, and die.
10 But 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.
11 Now 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.
12 And 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.
13 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.
<html><b>“Where are you coming from?”</b> Where is the place about which you may say, “From this place I come”?</html>
<html><b>maintains</b> Heb. מחזיק, holds, as in (Exod. 4:4) “and he held (ויחזק) onto it”; (Prov. 26:17), “One who holds (מחזיק) onto a dog’s ears.” <b>Yet you enticed Me against him</b> You enticed Me to destroy him. Every expression of הֲסָתָה is only an expression of attracting a person to his counsel.</html>
<html><b>Skin for skin</b> One limb for another limb. It is human nature that, when one sees a sword coming toward his head, he protects it with his arm in front of it. Surely a person will give all the money he has. <b>for his life</b> For his life to protect it. Because this person knows that he is liable to lose his life, he does not worry about his money.</html>
<html><b>But</b> Heb. אולם, but. <b>will he not</b> Will You not see immediately that he will blaspheme You to Your face?</html>
<html><b>but preserve his life</b> that it does not go out. From here the Sages said, “The Adversary’s pain was greater than Job’s. This is analogous to one saying to his friend, ‘Break this barrel but preserve its wine.’”</html>
<html><b>to scratch himself with</b> Heb. להתגרד.This word is spelled with a “dalet.” It is a Mishnaic expression (Rosh Hashanah 27b): “If he scraped it (גרדו) and reduced it to its normal size,” but גורר with a “reish” is only an expression of dragging, like (Shabbath 29b), “A person may drag a bed or a bench.”</html>
<html><b>maintain</b> Heb. מחזיק, hold. <b>and die</b> Heb. ומת. This is an imperative expression, as (Deut. 32: 50), “And die on the mountain.”</html>
<html><b>also</b> Is it not enough that He created us? Should we also accept the good, but not accept the evil? This is a wonder. <b>with his lips</b> but in his heart he did sin.</html>
<html><b>Job’s three friends</b> Heb. רעי, those who loved him. <b>to bemoan</b> Heb. לנוד, as in (Isa. 51:19): “who will lament (ינוד) for you?”; (Jer. 22:10), “neither bemoan (תנדו) him.”</html>
<html><b>but they did not recognize him</b> because his face had changed as a result of the agonies. <b>towards heaven</b> i.e., high over their heads. That was their mourning custom.</html>
<html><b>on the ground</b> On the ground, to share his pain.</html>