And there came a day when the Sons of God once again stood before the Lord; and Satan (or ha’Satan) also.

 The Lord again queried: From whence comest though?

Satan answered: From roaming the earth and walking up and down in it.  This repetition highlights how Satan shares and asserts some dominion over our space.  Satan’s level of access to God is eye-opening and this meeting is more of a curt conversation than epic clash in the sky.  Although brief, this is one of their most substantial interactions in the Biblical corpus.  

The Lord inquires: Has thou considered my servant Job? That there are not like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man?   One that feareth God and eschews evil.  Although though movest me to destroy him without  cause, he still holdeth fast to his integrity.

Satan answers cryptically, “Skin for Skin!”  We have some sense of the meaning of this cryptic proverb from Satan’s next missive… “All that a man has he will give for his life.”   Satan believes man’s essence is not sacrificial, so the message is – God has affected all around Job, now let’s turn the heat on him and see how much longer he keeps faith. 

God was content after Job responded to the initial series of terrible events, so it is worth asking, Was Satan tempting God? And why is the Lord so open to maltreatment of a favorite son? Further, Is Satan’s dialogue the posture of a subordinate, or reflective of being on more level terms? Or is God testing both Job and Satan? The relationship fascinates and perplexes.  It has been argued that this Book reveals as much as we, with our limited abilities, can understand of the divine. 

 As to poor Job, reap & sow doesn’t apply; and while that may be a general rule, there are boundless instances of undeserved suffering.  Many tribulations are more than punishment. Some experiences put us through fire to forge us into steel.  In what proportion harsh results are reprimands, we are left to wonder.  

 Satan continues:  Put forth thine hand now and touch his Bone and flesh and he will curse thee to thy face.  Another question this book spurs: What would it take for you to curse God? And how much less would it be than what Job went through?

 The Lord responds: Behold, He is in thine hand, but spare his life.   Once again, Satan gets what he wants, leaves and gets to work.  He smote Job with sores and boils from the sole of his feet unto the crown of his head. 

Job was relegated to sitting among those ashes, with a broken piece of pottery -- scraping himself for some comfort. This is a test of physical suffering to weaken Job’s resolve.

Here, Job’s unnamed wife makes her lone appearance.  In most translations her words are few. She tells Job: Dost though still retain thy integrity? Curse curse God and Die.  There is greater exposition in the  Greek Translation, the Septuagint, which explores her plight and how she has become a wanderer waiting for death.  After discussing their devastation, she questions how long Job will hold out expecting deliverance.   

 Job responds: Thou speakest as one of the foolish women…shall we receive good at the hand of God and shall not we receive evil?  The text implies that while she may have cursed God for the loss of their children and household, Job has not.

 With his wife turning on him, Job is closer to breaking down. However:  In all this Job did not sin with his lips.  There comes relief in terms of human bonding. When three of Job’s friends heard of his plight, they came to comfort and grieve with Job. They were Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite.  The horror of Job’s presentation shocked the three. They wept, tore their clothes, and sprinkled dust ashes over their heads, then turned their eyes upward.   They sat down with him for seven days. None spoke a word  for they saw the greatness of Job’s grief.  This is a wonderful lesson of how to comfort when words will not do.