But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.
Job has already lost his children, his wealth and his health, and now the one person left to him urges him to give up on God. His reply traces both the good and the trouble back to God's hand, and the verse ends with a careful note: he did not sin with his lips.
The Words of the Nearest Person
Job answers the person closest to him, and he answers with restraint. One writer notes how carefully Job words the rebuke, and what "foolish" means in the Bible.
William KellyIt made his suffering much worse that she should fall, though Job did not. She should have been his helper, but the strain wore her out... He does not say, "You speak as a foolish woman." He goes no further than, "You speak as one of the foolish ones." In Scripture, as is well known, the word "foolish" carries a morally bad sense. This is not about a weak mind. It is about the worst kind of moral corruption, which blots out God and so makes nothing of His word.
The Same Hand Gives Both
Job's question exposes an inconsistency. A person glad to take pleasant things from God cannot then refuse what God sends next.
Samuel RidoutShe was associating herself with those who despise God. She had been quite willing to enjoy good things from the hand of God. Now that He sees fit to send trial, shall we refuse to take it as meant for good? It was God who was the giver in each case.
Past the Instruments to God
Fire, wind, violent men and Satan all had a hand in Job's ruin. His words look past every one of them to God.
F. B. HoleWe can see three causes. The third causes were fire from heaven, whirlwind and evil men in Job's case. Behind these lay the power and hostility of Satan. But behind him, as the first cause, there was the hand of God. Job's safety and blessing lay in turning away from the third causes, and even from the second cause. Then he could accept everything from the hand of God.
The Doubt That Was Aimed at Him
The suggestion "curse God and die" aimed at Job's confidence in God's goodness. The same attack still comes through hard circumstances.
Hamilton SmithA fiery dart is not a sudden desire to satisfy some craving that rises from within. It is a suggestion from outside that would raise a doubt about the goodness of God... Job quenched this fiery dart with the shield of faith. He said, "Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?" The devil still uses the hard circumstances of life to shake our confidence in God and drive us away from Him. Faith uses those very circumstances to draw nearer to God, and so triumphs over the devil.
What Job Refused to Give Up
His answer weighs what cursing God would cost him. Everything else had already gone.
J T MawsonCurse God! That would have meant giving up his God. Could he do that? Never. He could lose everything, but not his God. Many things may have seemed essential to him in earlier days. But he had now reached this point: he could do without everything but God.
"With His Lips" — A Careful Limit
The words "with his lips" appear here and not earlier. One writer weighs what that limit means.
William KellyNotice, however, that here, and not before, Scripture says, "In all this Job did not sin with his lips." This was much, but it was not all. No flesh shall glory before God.
Another writer names what God was after in the whole trial.
C. H. MackintoshGod's aim was to show Job the depths of his own heart. Then he would learn to delight in the grace and mercy of God, and not in his own goodness... God will not allow Satan to accuse us. But He will show us to ourselves, so that we may judge ourselves. Then we learn to mistrust our own hearts and rest in the eternal stability of His grace.
Satan Silenced
With this reply the accuser has nothing left to try.
Arno Clemens GaebeleinIt was the power of God that produced such wonderful submission. His grace enabled him to pass through it all without sinning. What a record — "in all this Job did not sin with his lips!" Satan's defeat is complete. His mouth is stopped. If he appears before the LORD again he must stand in silence. The last word does not belong to him, but to God.
Summary
- One hand. Job had gladly taken good from God. The same hand now sends trial, and he takes that too.
- One target. The suggestion aimed at his confidence in God's goodness. Faith quenches that dart by drawing nearer to God, not by pulling away.
- One look. He looked past fire, wind, violent men and Satan to the first cause, and took everything from God.
- One treasure. Stripped of all else, he could do without everything but God.
- One limit. He did not sin with his lips — much, but not all. God's aim went deeper: to reach the heart and settle him in grace, not in his own goodness.