◄ Job 2:2 ►
"Where have you come from?" said the LORD to Satan. "From roaming through the earth," he replied, "and walking back and forth in it."
Study Bible
And the LORD said to Satan
This phrase introduces a divine dialogue, emphasizing the sovereignty of God. The Hebrew word for "LORD" here is "Yahweh," the covenant name of God, highlighting His eternal and unchanging nature. This conversation occurs in the heavenly court, a setting that underscores the spiritual realities beyond human perception. The presence of "Satan," whose name means "adversary" or "accuser" in Hebrew, indicates a cosmic conflict where Satan challenges the integrity of God's creation. This interaction sets the stage for the testing of Job's faith, illustrating the theme of divine permission and control over evil.

Where have you come from?
This question from God is not due to a lack of knowledge but serves to initiate a dialogue that reveals Satan's activities. It reflects God's omniscience and His role as the ultimate judge who holds all beings accountable. The question also implies a challenge to Satan's roaming and intentions, suggesting that nothing escapes God's notice. This rhetorical question invites readers to consider the nature of evil and its place within God's sovereign plan.

From roaming through the earth
Satan's response indicates his restless and aimless nature, as he "roams" the earth. The Hebrew verb "shut" conveys a sense of wandering without purpose, highlighting Satan's role as a disruptor. This roaming suggests a search for opportunities to accuse and destroy, aligning with the New Testament depiction of Satan as a prowling adversary (1 Peter 5:8). It serves as a reminder of the spiritual warfare that believers face and the vigilance required to stand firm in faith.

he replied
Satan's reply is terse and evasive, reflecting his cunning and deceitful character. The brevity of his response contrasts with the gravity of his intentions, underscoring the subtlety with which evil operates. This interaction between God and Satan reveals the latter's limited power, as he must answer to God and operate within the boundaries set by divine authority. It reassures believers of God's ultimate control over all creation, including the forces of evil.

and walking back and forth in it
This phrase further emphasizes Satan's restlessness and his persistent search for targets to accuse. The imagery of "walking back and forth" suggests a thorough and relentless pursuit, akin to a predator seeking prey. It highlights the pervasive presence of evil in the world and the need for spiritual vigilance. However, it also reassures believers that despite Satan's activity, he remains under God's sovereign oversight, unable to act without divine permission. This assurance encourages trust in God's protective power and His ultimate plan for redemption.

Persons / Places / Events
1. The LORD
The sovereign God who is in control of all things. In this passage, He is depicted as the one who questions Satan, demonstrating His authority over all creation, including spiritual beings.

2. Satan
The adversary and accuser, who roams the earth seeking to challenge and test the faithfulness of God's people. His name in Hebrew, "Satan", means "adversary" or "accuser."

3. The Earth
The realm where human life unfolds and where Satan claims to roam. It is the stage for the spiritual and moral challenges faced by humanity.

4. Heavenly Court
The setting of this dialogue, where spiritual beings present themselves before God. This reflects the belief in a divine council where God interacts with His creation.

5. Job
Although not directly mentioned in this verse, Job is the central human figure in the account, whose faith and righteousness are being tested by the events set in motion by this dialogue.
Teaching Points
God's Sovereignty
God is in control of all things, including the actions of Satan. Believers can find comfort in knowing that nothing happens outside of God's sovereign will.

The Reality of Spiritual Warfare
Satan's roaming the earth is a reminder of the spiritual battle that believers face. Christians must remain vigilant and rely on God's strength to resist the devil.

The Testing of Faith
Just as Job's faith was tested, believers today may face trials that test their faith. These trials can strengthen our reliance on God and deepen our spiritual maturity.

God's Protection and Purpose
Even when Satan seeks to harm, God can use these situations for His purposes and our ultimate good, as seen in the life of Job.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does understanding God's sovereignty in Job 2:2 provide comfort in times of trial?

2. In what ways can believers remain vigilant against the schemes of Satan, as he roams the earth?

3. How does the concept of spiritual warfare in Job 2:2 relate to the New Testament teachings on resisting the devil?

4. What can we learn from Job's experience about the purpose and outcome of trials in a believer's life?

5. How can the assurance of God's ultimate authority over Satan influence our daily walk with Christ?
Connections to Other Scriptures
1 Peter 5:8
This verse warns believers to be sober-minded and watchful because the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. This connects to Satan's roaming in Job 2:2, highlighting the ongoing spiritual battle.

Zechariah 3:1-2
In this passage, Satan stands to accuse Joshua the high priest, similar to his role in Job. The LORD rebukes Satan, showing God's authority over him.

Revelation 12:10
Describes Satan as the accuser of the brethren, who accuses them day and night before God. This aligns with his role in Job as the accuser.
Sermons
Renewed Assaults and Temptations of the AdversaryE. Johnson Job 2:1-10
Spiritual Agencies, Good and Evil, in SicknessJ. C. Boyce, M. A.Job 2:1-10
The Afflictions of JobD. J. Burrell, D. D.Job 2:1-10
The Afflictions of JobT. J. Holmes.Job 2:1-10
The Severer Tests of FaithR. Green Job 2:1-10
People
Bildad, Eliphaz, Job, Zophar
Places
Uz
Topics
Adversary, Answereth, Camest, Comest, Forth, Fro, Roaming, Satan, Walking, Wandering, Whence
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Job 2:1-6

     5828   danger

Job 2:1-7

     4121   Satan, enemy of God

Library
February 24 Evening
Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?--JOB 2:10. I know, O Lord, that thy judgments are right, and that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me.--O Lord, thou art our father, we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.--It is the Lord: let him do what seemeth him good. Righteous art thou, O Lord, when I plead with thee: yet let me talk with thee of thy judgments. He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver.--Whom the Lord loveth …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

Resignation.
"What! shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?"--Job 2:10. "Ich hab' in guten Stunden." [50]Christian Furchtegott Gellert. transl., Sarah Findlater, 1855 I have had my days of blessing, All the joys of life possessing, Unnumber'd they appear! Then let faith and patience cheer me, Now that trials gather near me: Where is life without a tear? Yes, O Lord, a sinner looking O'er the sins Thou art rebuking, Must own Thy judgments light. Surely I, so oft offending, Must …
Jane Borthwick—Hymns from the Land of Luther

It is Indeed a Greater Fight of Patience...
9. It is indeed a greater fight of patience, when it is not a visible enemy that by persecution and rage would urge us into crime which enemy may openly and in broad day be by not consenting overcome; but the devil himself, (he who doth likewise by means of the children of infidelity, as by his vessels, persecute the children of light) doth by himself hiddenly attack us, by his rage putting us on to do or say something against God. As such had holy Job experience of him, by both temptations vexed, …
St. Augustine—On Patience

Whether Death is Essential to Martyrdom?
Objection 1: It seems that death is not essential to martyrdom. For Jerome says in a sermon on the Assumption (Epist. ad Paul. et Eustoch.): "I should say rightly that the Mother of God was both virgin and martyr, although she ended her days in peace": and Gregory says (Hom. iii in Evang.): "Although persecution has ceased to offer the opportunity, yet the peace we enjoy is not without its martyrdom, since even if we no longer yield the life of the body to the sword, yet do we slay fleshly desires …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

Jesus, My Rock.
When the storm and the tempest are raging around me, Oh! where shall I flee to be safe from their shock? There are walls which no mortal hands built to surround me, A Refuge Eternal,--'Tis JESUS MY ROCK! When my heart is all sorrow, and trials aggrieve me, To whom can I safely my secrets unlock? No bosom (save one) has the power to relieve me, The bosom which bled for me, JESUS MY ROCK! When Life's gloomy curtain, at last, shall close o'er me, And the chill hand of death unexpectedly knock, I will …
John Ross Macduff—The Cities of Refuge: or, The Name of Jesus

Illness and Patience of the Saint. The Story of a Priest whom She Rescued from a Life of Sin.
1. I forgot to say how, in the year of my novitiate, I suffered much uneasiness about things in themselves of no importance; but I was found fault with very often when I was blameless. I bore it painfully and with imperfection; however, I went through it all, because of the joy I had in being a nun. When they saw me seeking to be alone, and even weeping over my sins at times, they thought I was discontented, and said so. 2. All religious observances had an attraction for me, but I could not endure …
Teresa of Avila—The Life of St. Teresa of Jesus

The Christian Described
HAPPINESS OF THE CHRISTIAN O HOW happy is he who is not only a visible, but also an invisible saint! He shall not be blotted out the book of God's eternal grace and mercy. DIGNITY OF THE CHRISTIAN There are a generation of men in the world, that count themselves men of the largest capacities, when yet the greatest of their desires lift themselves no higher than to things below. If they can with their net of craft and policy encompass a bulky lump of earth, Oh, what a treasure have they engrossed …
John Bunyan—The Riches of Bunyan

Touching Jacob, However, that which He did at his Mother's Bidding...
24. Touching Jacob, however, that which he did at his mother's bidding, so as to seem to deceive his father, if with diligence and in faith it be attended to, is no lie, but a mystery. The which if we shall call lies, all parables also, and figures designed for the signifying of any things soever, which are not to be taken according to their proper meaning, but in them is one thing to be understood from another, shall be said to be lies: which be far from us altogether. For he who thinks this, may …
St. Augustine—Against Lying

Of his Cross what Shall I Speak, what Say? this Extremest Kind of Death...
9. Of His cross what shall I speak, what say? This extremest kind of death He chose, that not any kind of death might make His Martyrs afraid. The doctrine He shewed in His life as Man, the example of patience He demonstrated in His Cross. There, you have the work, that He was crucified; example of the work, the Cross; reward of the work, Resurrection. He shewed us in the Cross what we ought to endure, He shewed in the Resurrection what we have to hope. Just like a consummate task-master in the matches …
St. Augustine—On the Creeds

Jesus Defends Disciples who Pluck Grain on the Sabbath.
(Probably While on the Way from Jerusalem to Galilee.) ^A Matt. XII. 1-8; ^B Mark II. 23-28; ^C Luke VI. 1-5. ^b 23 And ^c 1 Now it came to pass ^a 1 At that season ^b that he ^a Jesus went { ^b was going} on the { ^c a} ^b sabbath day through the grainfields; ^a and his disciples were hungry and began ^b as they went, to pluck the ears. ^a and to eat, ^c and his disciples plucked the ears, and did eat, rubbing them in their hands. [This lesson fits in chronological order with the last, if the Bethesda …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Elucidations.
I. (The Shepherd of Hermas, p. 85.) Here, and in chap. xx. below, Tertullian's rabid utterances against the Shepherd may be balanced by what he had said, less unreasonably, in his better mood. [999] Now he refers to the Shepherd's (ii. 1) [1000] view of pardon, even to adulterers. But surely it might be objected even more plausibly against "the Shepherd," whom he prefers, in common with all Christians, as see John viii. 1-11, which I take to be canonical Scripture. A curious question is suggested …
Tertullian—On Modesty

Meditations for one that is Like to Die.
If thy sickness be like to increase unto death, then meditate on three things:--First, How graciously God dealeth with thee. Secondly, From what evils death will free thee. Thirdly, What good death will bring unto thee. The first sort of Meditations are, to consider God's favourable dealing with thee. 1. Meditate that God uses this chastisement of thy body but as a medicine to cure thy soul, by drawing thee, who art sick in sin, to come by repentance unto Christ, thy physician, to have thy soul healed …
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety

Adam's Sin
Q-15: WHAT WAS THE SIN WHEREBY OUR FIRST PARENTS FELL FROM THE ESTATE WHEREIN THEY WERE CREATED? A: That sin was eating the forbidden fruit. 'She took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also to her husband.' Gen 3:3. Here is implied, 1. That our first parents fell from their estate of innocence. 2. The sin by which they fell, was eating the forbidden fruit. I. Our first parents fell from their glorious state of innocence. God made man upright, but they have sought out many inventions.' Eccl …
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

Consolations against Impatience in Sickness.
If in thy sickness by extremity of pain thou be driven to impatience, meditate-- 1. That thy sins have deserved the pains of hell; therefore thou mayest with greater patience endure these fatherly corrections. 2. That these are the scourges of thy heavenly Father, and the rod is in his hand. If thou didst suffer with reverence, being a child, the corrections of thy earthly parents, how much rather shouldst thou now subject thyself, being the child of God, to the chastisement of thy heavenly Father, …
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety

Job
The book of Job is one of the great masterpieces of the world's literature, if not indeed the greatest. The author was a man of superb literary genius, and of rich, daring, and original mind. The problem with which he deals is one of inexhaustible interest, and his treatment of it is everywhere characterized by a psychological insight, an intellectual courage, and a fertility and brilliance of resource which are nothing less than astonishing. Opinion has been divided as to how the book should be …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

Links
Job 2:2 NIV
Job 2:2 NLT
Job 2:2 ESV
Job 2:2 NASB
Job 2:2 KJV

Job 2:2 Commentaries

Bible Hub
Job 2:1
Top of Page
Top of Page