2:6 So the Lord said to Satan, “All right,16 he is17 in your power;18 only preserve19 his life.”
Job’s Integrity in Suffering
2:7 So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord, and he afflicted20 Job with a malignant ulcer21 from the sole of his feet to the top of his head.22
sn The irony of the passage comes through with this choice of words. The verb שָׁמַר (shamar) means “to keep; to guard; to preserve.” The exceptive clause casts Satan in the role of a savior—he cannot destroy this life but must protect it.
20
tn The verb is נָכָה (nakhah, “struck, smote”); it can be rendered in this context as “afflicted.”
21
sn The general consensus is that Job was afflicted with a leprosy known as elephantiasis, named because the rough skin and the swollen limbs are animal-like. The Hebrew word שְׁחִין (shékhin, “boil”) can indicate an ulcer as well. Leprosy begins with such, but so do other diseases. Leprosy normally begins in the limbs and spreads, but Job was afflicted everywhere at once. It may be some other disease also characterized by such a malignant ulcer. D. J. A. Clines has a thorough bibliography on all the possible diseases linked to this description (Job [WBC], 48). See also HALOT1460s.v.שְׁחִין.