Job 2:4
in Job 2“Skin for skin!” Satan replied. “A man will give up all he owns in exchange for his life.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Satan answered Jehovah, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life.
KJV
And Satan answered the Lord, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life.
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This verse in Job 2
Commentary
9 notes on this verseSkin 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.
This site's exposition
Skin for skin
on Job 2:4-6
The words "Skin for skin" occur only here, a saying of barter in Gill and Clarke, one skin traded to save a more valuable one. "A man will give up all he owns in exchange for his life," so the losses so far had spared Job's own body.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church3 voices
Though repulsed, Satan does not rest, but still provides calumny wanting to show that every good which Job did, even the very fact that he had patiently tolerated his adversity, he had not done for the love of God, but for the health of his …
ALLEGORICAL INTERPRETATION. And Satan answered the Lord, and said, Skin for skin; yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life. But put forth Thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse Thee to Thy face. When the evil spirit sees our Redeemer shine forth by miracles, he cries out, We know Who Thou art, the Holy One of God. And in saying this, he dreads, whilst he owns, the Son of God. Yet being a stranger to the power of heavenly pity, there are seasons when, beholding Him subject to suffering, he supposes Him to be mere man. Now he had learnt that there were many in the pastoral station, cloaked under the guise of sanctity, who, being very far removed from the bowels of charity, held for very little other men's ills. And thus as though judging of Him by other men, because after much had been taken from Him, he did not see him subdued, he so flamed against Him even to His very flesh, in applying the touch of suffering, as to say, Skin for skin; yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life. But put forth Thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse Thee to Thy face. As though he said in plain terms, 'He does not care to be moved by the things that are without Him, but it will then be really known what He is, if He shall experience in Himself what may make Him grieve.' This Satan expressed in his own person not by words, but by wishes, when he desired to have it brought to pass; in his members he brought it on both by words and wishes at once. For it is himself that speaks, when, according to the words of the Prophet, his followers say, Let us put the wood in his bread, and let us raze him out from the land of the living. […]
HISTORICAL INTERPRETATION. And Satan answered the Lord, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life. But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse Thee to Thy face. The old enemy derives from outward things the charge which he urges against the blessed man's soul.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And Satan answered the Lord, and said,....
Something of truth there is in this, that self-love and self-preservation are very powerful commanding principles in the hearts of men. Men love themselves better than their nearest relations, even their children, that are parts of themselves, will not only venture, but give, their estates to save their lives.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Skin for skin--a proverb. Supply, "He will give." The "skin" is figurative for any outward good. Nothing outward is so dear that a man will not exchange it for some other outward good; "but" (not "yea") "life," the inward good, cannot be replaced; a man will sacrifice everything else for its sake.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Skin for skin - This is a proverbial expression, whose origin is unknown, nor is its meaning as “a proverb” entirely clear. The general sense of the passage here is plain, for it is immediately explained that a man would give everything which he had to save his life; and the idea here is, that if Job was so afflicted in his body that he was likely to die, he would give up all his religion in order to purchase life. His religion, which had berne the comparatively trifling test before applied to it, would not bear the severer trial if his life was endangered. In regard to the proverb itself, a great variety of explanations has been given. The ancient versions throw no light on it. The Vulgate renders it, “Pellem pro pelle.” The Septuagint Δέρμα ὑπέρ δέρυατος derma huper dermatos - skin for, or instead of, skin. The Chaldee renders it, “member for member,” אברא אמטול אברא - and the author of that paraphrase seems to have supposed that it means that a man would give the members of his body or his limbs to preserve his life. Parkhurst renders it, “skin after skin,” meaning, as he explains it, that a man may bear to part with all that he has, and even to have his skin, as it were, stripped off again and again, provided only that his life is safe. Noyes supposes that it means that any man will give the skin or life of another, whether animal or man, to save his own; and that: Job gave up all, without complaint, from the selfish fear of exposing his own life to danger. Dr. Good remarks on the passage, that the skins or spoils of beasts, in the rude and early ages of man, were the most valuable property he could acquire, and that for which he most frequently combated. Thus, Lucretius says, Tam igitur “pelles,” nunc aurum et purpura, curis Exercent hominum vitam, belloque fatigant. v. […]
The words behind it
14 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיַּ֧עַן | vaiyaan | and he answered | H6030 → | 331 times |
| הַשָּׂטָ֛ן | hasatan | the adversary | H7854 → | 27 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| יְהוָ֖ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| וַיֹּאמַ֑ר | vaiyomar | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| ע֣וֹר | or | skin | H5785 → | 99 times |
| בְּעַד־ | bead- | for | H1157 → | 105 times |
| ע֗וֹר | or | skin | H5785 → | 99 times |
| וְכֹל֙ | vekhol | and all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֣ר | ʾasher | that | H834 → | 5497 times |
| לָאִ֔ישׁ | laish | [belongs] to the man | H376 → | 1663 times |
| יִתֵּ֖ן | yiten | he will give | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| בְּעַ֥ד | bead | for | H1157 → | 105 times |
| נַפְשֽׁוֹ׃ | nafsho | life his | H5315 → | 754 times |
וַיַּ֧עַןand he answered
vaiyaanH6030 →331 times
הַשָּׂטָ֛ןthe adversary
hasatanH7854 →27 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
יְהוָ֖הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
וַיֹּאמַ֑רand he said
vaiyomarH559 →5305 times
ע֣וֹרskin
orH5785 →99 times
בְּעַד־for
bead-H1157 →105 times
ע֗וֹרskin
orH5785 →99 times
וְכֹל֙and all
vekholH3605 →5413 times
אֲשֶׁ֣רthat
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
לָאִ֔ישׁ[belongs] to the man
laishH376 →1663 times
יִתֵּ֖ןhe will give
yitenH5414 →2011 times
בְּעַ֥דfor
beadH1157 →105 times
נַפְשֽׁוֹ׃life his
nafshoH5315 →754 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Matthew 6:25Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more…
it leads to
- Philippians 4:6
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
- 1 Peter 5:7
Cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.
- Romans 8:32
He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also, along with Him, freely give us all things?
- Psalms 55:22
Cast your burden upon the LORD and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous be shaken.
- Luke 12:22–31
Then Jesus said to His disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear.
- Philippians 4:6
Through
Matthew 16:26What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?
it leads to
- Mark 8:36–37
What does it profit a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Job 27:8
For what is the hope of the godless when he is cut off, when God takes away his life?
- Luke 9:25
What does it profit a man to gain the whole world, yet lose or forfeit his very self?
- Mark 8:36–37
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies4
On this verse
About Job
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book III; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.