Job 2:4 kjv
And Satan answered the LORD, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life.
Job 2:4 nkjv
So Satan answered the LORD and said, "Skin for skin! Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life.
Job 2:4 niv
"Skin for skin!" Satan replied. "A man will give all he has for his own life.
Job 2:4 esv
Then Satan answered the LORD and said, "Skin for skin! All that a man has he will give for his life.
Job 2:4 nlt
Satan replied to the LORD, "Skin for skin! A man will give up everything he has to save his life.
Job 2 4 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Job 1:9-10 | "Does Job fear God for nothing? Have you not put a hedge... blessed..." | Satan's initial charge that Job's fear of God is conditional on prosperity. |
| Job 1:21-22 | "Naked I came... The LORD gave... Blessed be the name... Job did not sin..." | Job's initial steadfastness, defying Satan's first accusation. |
| Mt 16:26 | "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?" | The ultimate value of one's soul/life over worldly possessions. |
| Mk 8:36-37 | "What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in return for his soul?" | Reinforces the incalculable value of life/soul; contrasts with Satan's cheap view. |
| Lk 17:33 | "Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it." | Christ's teaching contrasting worldly self-preservation with spiritual life. |
| Gal 6:17 | "From now on let no one trouble me, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus." | Paul's suffering marks, showing faith endured physical affliction for Christ. |
| 1 Pet 1:6-7 | "Though now for a little while you may have to suffer various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith... may be found to result in praise..." | Purpose of trials: to test and prove the genuineness of faith. |
| Jas 1:2-4 | "Count it all joy... when you meet trials... for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness." | Trials are meant to produce endurance and complete maturity in faith. |
| Phil 3:7-8 | "But whatever gain I had, I count as loss for the sake of Christ... I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord." | Paul renounces all worldly "gains" (including comfort/self-preservation) for Christ. |
| Heb 10:32-34 | "Recall the former days... you endured a hard struggle with sufferings... accepted the plundering of your property with joy, knowing that you had better possession..." | Early believers willingly sacrificed possessions for a heavenly reward. |
| Rev 12:10 | "the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God." | Satan's primary role as accuser, challenging the faithfulness of God's people. |
| Zech 3:1-2 | "And he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him." | Satan acting as accuser against Joshua. |
| Rom 8:35-39 | "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution...? In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us." | Nothing can separate true believers from God's love, implying faith endures all suffering. |
| Dt 30:19-20 | "choose life... by loving the LORD your God, by obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for that means life..." | Emphasizes choosing "life" as more than physical existence, linked to devotion to God. |
| Jn 12:25 | "Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life." | Paradoxical statement echoing Job's theme: letting go of physical life for eternal. |
| Prov 13:8 | "The ransom of a man's life is his wealth..." | Satan's argument plays on the idea that wealth (and self-preservation) is a primary motivator. |
| Prov 19:16 | "Whoever keeps the commandment keeps his life; but whoever despises his ways will die." | Link between obedience and life, but Satan claims the motivation is solely for physical life. |
| 2 Tim 3:12 | "Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted..." | Expectation of suffering for the godly, challenging the premise that piety guarantees ease. |
| 1 Jn 3:16 | "By this we know love, that He laid down His life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers." | True love involves sacrificing one's own "life" for others, directly counter to Satan's claim. |
| Phil 1:21 | "For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." | Ultimate devotion where even death is not feared, because life's meaning is found in Christ. |
| Gen 9:5-6 | "For your lifeblood I will require a reckoning..." | Establishes the divine value of human life itself. |
| Ps 119:109 | "I hold my life in my hand continually, but I do not forget Your law." | Illustrates the constant peril believers face while still remaining faithful to God's word. |
Job 2 verses
Job 2 4 Meaning
Job 2:4 records Satan's cynical challenge to God regarding Job's integrity. It asserts that human righteousness is not genuinely disinterested but is ultimately motivated by self-preservation. Satan posits that a person will willingly sacrifice anything they possess, including material wealth, family, or even the "skin" (metaphorically lesser pains or others' well-being), to protect their own life and well-being. This verse highlights the Adversary's fundamental misunderstanding or outright rejection of true faith that endures suffering for God's glory, not for personal gain.
Job 2 4 Context
Job 2:4 takes place during the second divine council in the Book of Job's prologue, following the first round of calamitous tests Job endured. In Job 1, Satan accuses Job of serving God only because God protects and blesses him, making Job's piety mercenary. God allows Satan to destroy Job's possessions, servants, and all his children, but spares Job himself. Despite this devastating loss, Job responds with worship and integrity, not cursing God (Job 1:20-22). This outcome contradicts Satan's initial prediction.
Job 2:4 then opens the second scene in heaven. When God again commends Job's integrity, Satan, undeterred, intensifies his accusation. His "skin for skin" assertion implies that Job's righteousness remains superficial because his own physical body and life have not been directly harmed. He shifts the target of the test from external possessions and loved ones to Job's personal health, well-being, and very life, betting that the instinct for self-preservation is the ultimate driver for all human behavior, even for one as righteous as Job. The underlying cultural context involves the ancient Near Eastern belief in "retribution theology"—that righteousness is always rewarded with prosperity and unrighteousness with suffering. Satan uses this popular worldview to argue that Job's righteousness is simply a calculated response to ensure his personal comfort and longevity.
Job 2 4 Word analysis
- Satan: Hebrew: Ha-Satan (הַשָּׂטָן). The definite article "the" indicates this is a title, "the adversary" or "the accuser," rather than a proper name, though it eventually became one. It reflects his functional role as the divine prosecutor or opposer, challenging humanity's loyalty and God's judgment.
- answered: Hebrew: wa-yaʿan (וַיַּעַן). Implies a direct retort, a rebuttal to the LORD's commendation of Job. It indicates an ongoing legal-theological dispute or argument in the divine court.
- LORD: Hebrew: YHWH (יְהוָה). The covenant name of God, indicating His sovereignty and relational commitment. Satan is addressing the supreme authority.
- Skin for skin!: Hebrew: ʿōr bāʿad ʿōr (עוֹר בְּעַד עוֹר). This is a crucial, idiomatic phrase.
- ʿōr means "skin" or "hide."
- bāʿad means "in exchange for," "in place of," "on behalf of."
- One interpretation is that a person would give one "skin" (perhaps an animal's hide, or an outer layer, representing a possession or even another person's well-being) in exchange for their own more vital "skin" (i.e., their personal physical safety).
- It most commonly conveys the idea of self-preservation: "A person will give anything superficial or external (like material goods, or even the skin/life of others, as Job's children were taken in chapter 1) to protect his own deepest vital essence – his life."
- It's a cynical statement suggesting an economic-like calculus for human loyalty, valuing self-preservation above all else.
- A man will give: Satan makes a universal claim, speaking for all humanity. This broad assertion is what Job's trial aims to refute.
- all he has: Hebrew: kol-ʾăsher-lô (כֹּל אֲשֶׁר לוֹ). Encompasses absolutely everything a person possesses, including property, wealth, servants, and metaphorically, even family, which were taken in the first test. It extends beyond the literal "skin" of the idiom.
- for his own life: Hebrew: bəʿad nafšô (בְּעַד נַפְשׁוֹ).
- Nefesh (נֶפֶשׁ) literally means "breath," but commonly refers to the "soul," "life," "person," or "self." It denotes the vital essence of being, personal well-being, and the core of one's existence.
- Satan contends that this "life" (his own individual existence and comfort) is the ultimate prize for which anyone would sacrifice anything.
Job 2 4 Bonus section
The phrase "skin for skin" has also been interpreted in less common ways. Some early interpretations connected it to literal skin-wounds—that a man would give one injury to save himself from a worse one. Another view suggests it means 'one man's skin for another man's skin', implying that Job would sacrifice his children (whose skins are an extension of his own through genetic link or affection) if it meant saving his own life, a sinister twist that parallels the loss of his children in chapter 1. However, the most robust understanding focuses on the idiom's meaning in contexts of exchange or valuation, emphasizing self-preservation above all else.
This statement by Satan is polemical against any notion of true altruism or selfless worship. It is an indictment not only of Job but of all humanity, implying that human loyalty to God is always rooted in quid pro quo. Job's subsequent endurance is designed to serve as God's answer to this universal charge. The integrity demonstrated by Job, despite the removal of his "hedge" of protection, provides a biblical framework for understanding suffering not as a sign of divine abandonment or personal sin, but potentially as a means of revealing genuine, unconditional faith.
Job 2 4 Commentary
Job 2:4 encapsulates Satan's fundamental misjudgment of true, God-honoring righteousness. He reduces Job's piety, and by extension all human piety, to a mercenary transaction: an exchange of external acts of obedience for divine protection and blessing. The "skin for skin" idiom asserts that humans are inherently selfish, willing to barter anything less essential—possessions, family, even slight discomfort—to secure their supreme "skin," which is their own physical life and comfort. Satan believes Job's integrity is conditional, merely a cost-benefit calculation to maintain his easy life.
This verse sets the stage for the intense physical suffering Job is about to endure, escalating the trial to its most personal and severe level. It transforms Job's story into a cosmic drama about the nature of disinterested devotion and God's just character, challenging the accuser's worldview. Job becomes a test case, not merely for his own faith, but for the possibility of true human love for God that is not predicated on external rewards or the avoidance of pain.