And Satan answered the LORD, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life.
Parallel translations
- WEB Satan answered Yahweh, and said, “Skin for skin. Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life.
- BSB “Skin for skin!” Satan replied. “A man will give up all he owns in exchange for his life.
- NKJV So Satan answered the Lord and said, “Skin for skin! Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life.
- NASB Satan answered the Lord and said, “Skin for skin! Yes, all that a man has, he will give for his life.
- NLT Satan replied to the Lord, “Skin for skin! A man will give up everything he has to save his life.
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 retorts that a man will give anything to save his own life. He shifts the accusation to Job's bodily survival.
Overview
The proverb "skin for skin" argues that Job endured loss only because his own person was spared. Satan claims self-preservation, not true devotion, explains Job's faithfulness. The renewed accusation again targets the genuineness of faith, the question Christ would answer by laying down His very life.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Phil 3:8–10Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,
- Matt 6:25Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
- Matt 16:26For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
- Jer 41:8But ten men were found among them that said unto Ishmael, Slay us not: for we have treasures in the field, of wheat, and of barley, and of oil, and of honey. So he forbare, and slew them not among their brethren.
- Esth 7:3–4Then Esther the queen answered and said, If I have found favour in thy sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be given me at my petition, and my people at my request:
- Acts 27:18–19And we being exceedingly tossed with a tempest, the next day they lightened the ship;
- Isa 2:20–21In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they made each one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats;
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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 2:4 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.