Counterpunch

Satan answered the Lord and said, “Skin for skin! Yes, all that a man has, he will give for his life. Job 2:4 NASB

Skin for skin – God repeats His evaluation of Job’s righteous character, word for word plus the acknowledgement of Job’s integrity despite the tragedies.  But the accuser isn’t defeated.  haśśāṭān ups the ante.  “Yes, it’s true that Job remained faithful even though everything he had was taken from him.  I’ll grant You that.  But he still counts on his health and stamina.  Perhaps he thinks he can rebuild.  Perhaps those possessions weren’t the real heart of his faithfulness.  If You take away his health, if he has to face mortality, then we’ll see just how faithful he will be.”

That’s the idea behind this Hebraic phrase “skin for skin.”  Schultz comments: “Two interesting uses of skin are found in Job. The expression ‘skin for skin’(Job 2:4) seems to be a barter term, while ‘by the skin of my teeth’ (gums? Job 19:20) may indicate a very narrow escape.”^[1]  haśśāṭān is no fool.  Nor is he easily convinced.  He’s determined to create circumstances so dire that any man, especially a righteous one, will fail.  And God grants it.

Before we address the obvious question “Why?”, we should look at the vocabulary.  The word for “skin” is ʿôr.  Notice the Hebrew spelling: עוֹר.  Now consider the other Hebrew terms with the same spelling:

 1587    עוּר (ʿûr) I, rouse oneself, awake, incite.^[2]

1588    עוּר (ʿûr) II, be exposed, laid bare.^[3]

1588a  מָעוֹר (māʿôr) nakedness (Hab 2:15).

1588b  עֵירֹם (ʿêrōm), עֵרֹם (ʿērōm) naked (adjective), nakedness (noun).

1588c  עָרוֹם (ʿārôm), עָרֹם (ʿārōm) naked.

1588d  מַעֲרֹם (maʿărōm) naked thing (II Chr 28:15).^[4]

1589a  עוֹר (ʿôr) skin, hide. (ASV, RSV similar.) This word is used both of men’s and animals’ skins.^[5]

 There is a clear connection between “skin” and “naked,” but perhaps you weren’t aware of the link to “rouse oneself, incite.”  Remember God’s proclamation, “You incited Me against him” (Job 2:3)?  The verb there is sût, almost always with evil connotation.  Now we find a different kind of incitement—bodily awareness.  Could we suggest that “skin” is the organ of physical sensation, the crucial barrier between self-identity and the outside world?  While all of Job’s possessions, including his children, are external attributes of his identity, “skin” is the covering that makes him who he is, at least who he presents himself to be to the world.  What the accuser is suggesting is that if God allows the destruction of this physical identity, the inner man will also collapse.  “Naked and not ashamed” is the symbolic representation of innocence—tied to skin.  Take away the beauty of that innocence, deform it, destroy it, mutilate it—and Paradise is lost.  Can a man remain faithful if divinity does not protect his covering?  We must wonder if there isn’t a reflection of the enticement offered the woman in haśśāṭān’s projection.

The Greco-Roman world shifted virtue from inner integrity to bodily perfection.  Youth became the symbol of vitality, harmony, and honor.  Oh, wisdom still belonged to the aged, but the ideal person was one with a perfect body.  Craggy aged insight was no match in public estimation.  Plastic surgery today is the epitome of Greco-Roman culture.  The Hebraic world never adopted this idea.  Elders held position in society because of their long experience.  Bodily perfection was as fleeting as any other physical attribute.  What mattered was relationship priority.  haśśāṭān misses this point when he suggests that a man will give up anything to save his nepeš.  Of course, we know that nepeš is much more than “soul.”  It is the summary of all that makes a “person,” and in the Hebraic world, that includes the nexus of every relationship we experience, especially those that enhance our integrity with God.  haśśāṭān’s argument is that the body is life.  If the body is attacked, we will do anything to preserve it.  Job is about to prove otherwise.  The body is no more nor less than God’s gift, and since the life of the body is given by God—what it means to say that God “breathed” the spirit of animation into dust—God owns that too.  Heroic efforts to preserve the body without the recognition that it is also God’s gift misunderstand the Hebraic notion of embodiment.  haśśāṭān’s mistake becomes the basis for the rest of the story.

But we still want to know “Why?”

Topical Index: ʿôr, skin, naked, body, identity, Job 2:4

^[1] Schultz, C. (1999). 1589 עור. In R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer Jr., & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (electronic ed., p. 657). Moody Press.

^[2] Schultz, C. (1999). 1587 עוּר. In R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer Jr., & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (electronic ed., p. 655). Moody Press.

^[3] Schultz, C. (1999). 1588 עוּר. In R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer Jr., & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (electronic ed., p. 656). Moody Press.

^[4] Ibid.

^[5] Schultz, C. op. cit., 1589 עור.