Then Satan answered the Lord, “Does Job fear God for nothing?
Parallel translations
- WEB Then Satan answered Yahweh, and said, “Does Job fear God for nothing?
- KJV Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought?
- BSB Satan answered the LORD, “Does Job fear God for nothing?
- NKJV So Satan answered the Lord and said, “Does Job fear God for nothing?
- NLT Satan replied to the Lord, “Yes, but Job has good reason to fear God.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Satan accuses Job of serving God only for the benefits he receives. The central question of the book is now posed: is faith ever disinterested?
Overview
Satan's challenge, "Does Job fear God for nothing?" alleges that worship is merely a transaction for blessing. This strikes at the heart of true religion, suggesting no one truly loves God for His own sake. The book answers by showing faith that endures even when every reward is removed, a faith ultimately grounded and perfected in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Matt 16:26For what will it profit a man, if he gains the whole world, and forfeits his life? Or what will a man give in exchange for his life?
- Job 1:21He said, “Naked I came out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there. Yahweh gave, and Yahweh has taken away. Blessed be Yahweh’s name.”
- 1 Tim 4:8For bodily exercise has some value, but godliness has value in all things, having the promise of the life which is now, and of that which is to come.
- 1 Tim 6:6But godliness with contentment is great gain.
- Job 21:14–15They tell God, ‘Depart from us, for we don’t want to know about your ways.
- Mal 1:10“Oh that there were one among you who would shut the doors, that you might not kindle fire on my altar in vain! I have no pleasure in you,” says Yahweh of Armies, “neither will I accept an offering at your hand.
- Job 2:10But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. What? Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?” In all this Job didn’t sin with his lips.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Job's cry for a mediator who can lay his hand on both God and man, and his confidence that 'my Redeemer lives' and will stand on the earth, reaches forward to Jesus the living Redeemer.
How Job 1:9 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.