Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Job 1:12
And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath [is] in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD.
12. Satan receives permission to try Job, but the length he can go is rigidly bounded by the will of the Most High. Having received his commission he immediately “goes forth,” glad to appearance in the opportunity of doing mischief and confident in the result.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
All that he hath is in thy power – Margin, as in Hebrew hand. That is, all this is now committed to thee, for it is manifest that hitherto Satan had no power to injure even his property. He complained that God had made a hedge around all that Job possessed. Now it was all entrusted to him in order that he might make full trim of the faith of Job. The grant extended to his sons and daughters as well as to his property.
Only upon himself put not forth thine hand – Job himself was not to be visited with sickness nor was his life to be taken. The main accusation of Satan was, that Job was virtuous only because God encompassed him with so many blessings, and especially because he had endowed him with so much property. The trial, therefore, only required that it should be seen whether his piety was the mere result of these blessings.
So Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord – That is from the council which had been convened; see the notes at Job 1:6.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Job 1:12-22
So Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord
The foe of foes
I.
The enthusiasm of his malignity. No sooner does he receive permission than he begins in terrible earnestness. He does not seem to have lost a moment. Like a hungry vulture in a carrioned atmosphere, he pounces down upon his victim. Now he strikes at the cattle that were ploughing the field, and the she asses that were beside them. Then he slays the servants, then with a shaft of fire from heaven he burns up the sheep and servants, and then he breathes a hurricane through the wilderness, and levels to the dust the house which his children are revelling in the festive pleasures of family love, and destroys them all. Then he goes to the utmost point of the liberty which his great Master granted him. He could do no more with Jobs circumstances. He deprived him as in a moment of all his property and his children. He had no authority to go beyond this point at present. He had to wait for another Divine communication before he could touch the body of Job. He did his utmost, and did it with an infernal delight.
II. The variety of his agents.
1. Wicked men. He breathed his malign spirit into the men of Sheba, and they rushed to the work of violence and destruction. He inflamed the Chaldeans with the same murderous passions, and then three bands fell upon the camels, carried them away, and slew the servants, etc. Alas! this arch-fiend has access to human souls. He worketh in the children of disobedience. He leadeth them captive at his will.
2. Maternal nature. The great God gave him power over the elements of nature. He kindled the lightning, and made it consume the sheep and the servants. He raised the atmosphere into a tempest, levelled its fury against the house, and brought it down to the destruction of all within. With heavens permission this mighty spirit of evil can cause earthquakes to engulph cities, breathe pestilences to depopulate countries, create storms that will spread devastation over sea and land. He is the prince of the power of the air.
III. The celerity of his movements. How rapidly his fell strokes followed each other. Before the first messenger of evil had told the patriarch his terrible tale, another appeared. Whilst the first was yet speaking, another came; and whilst the second was yet speaking, came the third. The carriers of misery trod on the heels of each other. Why this hurry? Was it because this work of violence was agreeable to the passions of this foul fiend? Or was it because the rapidity would be likely so to shock Jobs moral nature as to produce a religious revulsion, and cause him to do what he desired him to do–curse the Almighty to His face? Perhaps both. Perhaps the celerity was both his pleasure and his policy. Trials seldom come alone.
IV. The folly of his calculations. What was the result of all this on Job? The very reverse of what Sarah had calculated. He worshipped. He did not curse. In his worship we discover three things:–
1. His profound sensibility.
2. His exalted philosophy.
3. His religious magnanimity.
How disappointed this arch-fiend must have been with the result. The result was the very opposite to what he had expected–to what he had wrought for. Thus it has ever been, and thus it will ever be. God may permit Satan to blast our worldly prospects, to wreck our fortunes, and destroy our friendships. But if we trust in Him He will not allow him to touch our souls to their injury. He only uses the fiend to try His servants. An old Welsh minister, in preaching on this text, is reported to have said that God permitted Satan to try Job as the tradesman tries the coin that his customer has tendered in payment for the purchased wares. He strikes it on the counter and hears it ring as rings the true metal, before he accepts it and places it in his drawer. The great Merchantman employed Satan to ring Job on the counter of trial. He did so–did so with all the force of his mighty arm, and in the Divine ear the moral heart of the patriarch vibrated as the music of Divine metal fit for the treasury in the heavens. (Homilist.)
God sets bounds to the afflictions of His people
1. It is not always an argument of Gods goodwill and love to have our motions granted. Many are heard and answered out of anger, not out of love. The children of Israel required meat for their lusts, and God gave it them.
2. That until God gives commission, Satan hath no power over the estates or persons of Gods people, or over anything that belongs unto them.
3. That which Satan and evil men desire sinfully, the Lord grants holily. The will of God and the will of Satan joined both in the same thing; yet they were as different as light and darkness, their ends were as different as their natures.
4. That God Himself sets bounds to the afflictions of His people.
5. That Satan is boundless in his malice toward the people of God. If God did not set him bounds he would set himself no bounds, therefore saith God unto him, only upon himself, etc. (J. Caryl.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 12. All that he hath is in thy power] Satan cannot deprive a man even of an ass, a sheep, or a pig, but by especial permission of God. His power and malice are ever bounded, and under control.
So Satan went forth] The Targum adds, with authority from the presence of the Lord.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
All that he hath is in thy power; I give thee full power and liberty to deal with his wife, children, servants, and all his estate, whatsoever thy wit or malice shall prompt thee to do.
Upon himself; his person, body or soul.
From the presence of the Lord, i.e. from that place where God was represented as specially present, being forward and greedy to do the mischief which he had permission to do.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
12. in thy powerSatan has nopower against man till God gives it. God would not touch Job with Hisown hand, though Satan asks this (Job1:11, “thine”), but He allows the enemy to do so.
Job1:13-22. JOB, INAFFLICTION, BLESSESGOD, &c.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And the Lord said unto Satan, behold, all that he hath is in thy power,…. This he said not as angry and displeased with Job, or as entertaining any ill opinion of him through the suggestions of Satan, nor as gratifying that evil spirit; but in order to convince and confound him, and to try the grace of Job, that he might shine the brighter; and it may be observed, that the Lord alone had the sovereign dispose of all that Job had, and that Satan could have no power over him or his, but what was given him:
only upon himself put not forth thine hand; thus the Lord restrained Satan, who could do nothing without his leave, and limits and bounds the present affliction of his servant to his family and estate; reserving his person and the health of it for another temptation and trial:
so Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord; the Targum adds, “with power”, authority, liberty of acting; not from his general presence, which is everywhere, from whence there is no going; nor from his gracious presence, in which he had not been; and much less his glorious presence in heaven, from whence he had been cast long ago; but from the place where the sons and people of God worshipped, and where he granted his presence to them, and from conversing with God there: as soon as Satan had got leave, he at once went forth to execute what he had permission to do, glad at heart he had so far succeeded; and eager upon doing all the mischief he could to a man that was the butt of his malice, and the object of his envy and hatred; the sad effects and consequences of which follow.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
12 Then Jehovah said to Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy hand; only upon himself put not forth thy hand. And Satan went forth from the presence of Jehovah.
Notice well: The divine permission appears at the same time as a divine command, for in general there is not a permission by which God remains purely passive; wherefore God is even called in Scripture creator mali (the evil act as such only excepted), Isa 45:7. Further, the divine arrangement has not its foundation in the sin which still clings to Job. For in the praise conferred upon Job, it is not said that he is absolutely without sin: universal liability to sin is assumed not only of all the unrighteousness, but even of all the righteousness, of Adam’s race. Thirdly, the permission proceeds, on the contrary, from God’s purpose to maintain, in opposition to Satan, the righteousness which, in spite of the universal liability to sin, is peculiar to Job; and if we place this single instance in historical connection with the development of the plan of redemption, it is a part of the conflict of the woman’s seed with the serpent, and of the gradual degradation of Satan to the lake of fire. After Jehovah’s permission, Satan retires forthwith. The license is welcome to him, for he delights in the work of destruction. And he hopes to conquer. For after he has experienced the unlimited power of evil over himself, he has lost all faith in the power of good, and is indeed become himself the self-deceived father of lies.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
(12) All that he hath is in thy power . . .Mighty as the principle of evil is in the world, it is nevertheless held in check by One who directs it to His own ends. Such is the uniform teaching of Scripture. We are not under the uncontrolled dominion of evil, strong as the temptation may be at times to think so. (See 2Co. 12:7; 2Co. 12:9; 1Th. 2:18, &c.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
12. All that he hath is in thy power As in the margin, hand. Job is now delivered into the hand of Satan. His piety is to be put to the sorest test. All virtue is conditioned upon trial the higher the virtue the severer the ordeal. The stroke is a bold one, even for the empire of the world. For God had declared Job the best man then living. (Job 1:8.) If Satan should succeed in showing Job to be a hypocrite, he will practically demonstrate that there is no substantial virtue in the world.
So Satan went forth Not so much to his roaming “to and fro,” as in a straight and definite line to execute his permitted “mission” of evil. By that mission he would seek to destroy virtue; but God shall so overrule him that he will only furnish the conditions by which hardy and tried virtue is made possible and demonstrated. A like remark is made of Cain, (Gen 5:16,) and of Judas, that “he went immediately out” to his deed of treachery. There is no delay: evil nature recoils from the constrained presence of the pure and good to its own congenial work of ruin. He goes with alacrity and with vast resources, and in high expectation of encompassing the fall of one saint, which better pleaseth him than of many unbelievers.
From this we learn that trials are proportioned to the strength of the soul. The intensity of the kindling flames declares the estimate God puts upon the virtue of Job. On the one hand, all temptation at the hand of Satan sets forth the value of the soul, and its high destiny in another life: on the other, the saying is no less true, that “in every temptation to sin the devil cheapens our immortal souls,” and in every way endeavours to depreciate them before the soul itself. “God tries men, that they may rise: Satan tempts them, that they may fall.”
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Job 1:12 And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath [is] in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD.
Ver. 12. And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power ] Here God in appearance condescendeth to the devil’s desires. But we must know, that God’s end in this large grant was not to gratify the devil, but to glorify himself, by making Satan an instrument of his own shame and infamy, when, by all that he could do, Job would not be drawn to think or speak amiss of God; though Satan left him his wife (who was within his commission) to tempt him to it; and afterwards left him his tongue untouched (when all his body besides was smitten with sore boils), as hoping haply he would have cursed God therewith.
only upon himself put not forth, thy hand
So Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
power. Hebrew “hand”. Put by Figure of speech Metonymy (of Cause), App-6, for power exercised by it.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Behold: 1Ki 22:23, Luk 8:32, Luk 22:31, Luk 22:32, Joh 19:11, 2Co 12:7
power: Heb. hand, Gen 16:6, Jer 38:5, Joh 3:35, Joh 3:36
only: Job 2:4-6, Psa 76:10, Isa 27:8, 1Co 10:13
So Satan: Job 2:7, Luk 8:33
Reciprocal: Gen 4:16 – went 2Ch 18:21 – Thou shalt 2Ch 32:31 – to try him Job 1:11 – But put Job 2:6 – Behold Job 23:10 – he hath Psa 78:49 – by sending Dan 4:24 – come Jon 1:3 – from Mat 4:10 – Satan Mar 4:37 – great storm Mar 5:13 – gave Luk 12:23 – General 2Ti 2:26 – at Heb 11:17 – when Rev 9:4 – that they
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Job 1:12. The Lord said, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power I give thee full power to do with his property, his servants, his children, and his wife, whatsoever thy craft or malice shall prompt thee to do; only upon himself put not forth thy hand Meddle not with his own person, with his body or soul. It seems strange that God should give Satan such a permission as this. But he did it for his own glory, for the honour of Job, for the explanation of providence, and the encouragement of his afflicted people in all ages. So Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord From the place where God is represented as having been especially present, glad of the permission he had obtained to do mischief to a good man; and resolved to lose no time, but immediately to put his project in execution. Schultens observes, that , jatza, to go forth, is used here in a judicial way; comprehending the office of an executer of justice; as Isa 37:36, the angel of the Lord , jatza, went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians. Thus did Satan go forth to execute the judgments wherewith he was permitted to afflict and try Job.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Job 1:12. Yahweh gives permission to try Job, conceding the Satans right to have the matter cleared up, though Himself knowing that the Adversary is wrong. The Satan having obtained this leave, loses no time before he acts upon it.
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
1:12 And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath [is] in {t} thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the {u} presence of the LORD.
(t) God does not give Satan power over man to gratify him, but to declare that he has no power over man, but that which God gives him.
(u) That is, went to execute that which God had permitted him to do for else he can never go out of God’s presence.