Job 1:12

1:12 So the Lord said to Satan, “All right then, 1  everything he has is 2  in your power. 3  Only do not extend your hand against the man himself!” 4  So Satan went out 5  from the presence of the Lord. 6 

Job 1:19

1:19 and suddenly 7  a great wind 8  swept across 9  the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young people, and they died! And I – only I alone – escaped to tell you!”

1 tn The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “behold”) introduces a foundational clause upon which the following volitional clause is based.

2 tn The versions add a verb here: “delivered to” or “abandoned to” the hand of Satan.

3 tn Heb “in your hand.” The idiom means that it is now Satan’s to do with as he pleases.

4 tn The Hebrew word order emphatically holds out Job’s person as the exception: “only upon him do not stretch forth your hand.”

5 tn The Targum to Job adds “with permission” to show that he was granted leave from God’s presence.

6 sn So Satan, having received his permission to test Job’s sincerity, goes out from the Lord’s presence. But Satan is bound by the will of the Most High not to touch Job himself. The sentence gives the impression that Satan’s departure is with a certain eagerness and confidence.

7 tn The use of the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “behold”) in this sentence is deictic, pointing out with excitement the events that happened as if the listener was there.

8 sn Both wind and lightning (v. 16) were employed by Satan as his tools. God can permit him such control over factors of the weather when it suits the divine purpose, but God retains ultimate control (see 28:23-27; Prov 3:4; Luke 8:24-25).

9 tn The word מֵעֵבֶר (me’ever) is simply “from the direction of”; the word עֵבֶר (’ever) indicates the area the whirlwind came across.