Job 1:6-12·~1 min

Satan’s First Attack

In the heavenly assembly Satan comes before the LORD, who points him toward Job as a uniquely blameless and upright servant. The conversation names Job's integrity before any accusation is raised against it.

O⁶ne day the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them. ⁷“Where have you come from?” said the LORD to Satan. ⁸Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one on earth like him, a man who is blameless and upright, who fears God and shuns evil.”

Satan argues that Job fears God only because he has been protected and blessed on every side, and he predicts that loss will expose Job's devotion as self-interest. The LORD permits Job's possessions to be struck while forbidding any harm to Job himself.

⁹Satan answered the LORD, “Does Job fear God for nothing? ¹⁰Have You not placed a hedge on every side around him and his household and all that he owns? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. ¹¹But stretch out Your hand and strike all that he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face.” ¹²“Very well,” said the LORD to Satan. “Everything he has is in your hands, but you must not lay a hand on the man himself.”

Section summaryThe scene shifts from earth to the heavenly court, where Job's faithfulness becomes the subject of accusation. Satan argues that Job's fear of God is secured by protection and blessing, and permission is given for everything around Job to be struck, though Job himself is spared for now.

Role in the chapterThis middle section reveals what Job does not know and what his friends will never see. It places the coming disaster inside a contest over whether reverence can endure when blessing is removed.