“Very well,” said the LORD to Satan. “He is in your hands, but you must spare his life.”
Parallel translations
- WEB Yahweh said to Satan, “Behold, he is in your hand. Only spare his life.”
- KJV And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life.
- NKJV And the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, he is in your hand, but spare his life.”
- NASB So the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, he is in your power, only spare his life.”
- NLT “All right, do with him as you please,” the Lord said to Satan. “But spare 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
God permits Satan to afflict Job's body but commands he spare his life. Again suffering is allowed only within strict limits.
Overview
The LORD hands Job over to severe affliction yet sets an absolute boundary at his life. This reaffirms that even intense suffering is bounded and purposeful under God's hand. Believers are reminded that nothing touches them apart from the Father's permission and care, a care fully secured in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- 1 Cor 10:13No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide an escape, so that you can stand up under it.
- Luke 22:31–32Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift each of you like wheat.
- Job 1:12“Very well,” said the LORD to Satan. “Everything he has is in your hands, but you must not lay a hand on the man himself.” Then Satan went out from the presence of the LORD.
- Rev 2:10Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Look, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison to test you, and you will suffer tribulation for ten days. Be faithful even unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.
- Job 38:10–11when I fixed its boundaries and set in place its bars and doors,
- Luke 8:29–33For Jesus had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. Many times it had seized him, and though he was bound with chains and shackles, he had broken the chains and been driven by the demon into solitary places.
- Ps 65:7You stilled the roaring of the seas, the pounding of their waves, and the tumult of the nations.
- Rev 20:1–2Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven with the key to the Abyss, holding in his hand a great chain.
- Rev 20:7When the thousand years are complete, Satan will be released from his prison,
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 2:6 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.