Did Satan or the Lord bring Job’s troubles on him?

The passages

Job 1:12

The Lord tells Satan, “all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand”.

And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord.

Job 2:3–7

God says Satan moved him “against him, to destroy him without cause”; given leave, Satan smites Job with sore boils.

And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? and still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause. And Satan answered the Lord, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life. But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face. And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life. So went Satan forth from the presence of the Lord, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown.

Job 2:10

Job: “shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?”

But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips.

Job 42:11

Job’s family comfort him “over all the evil that the Lord had brought upon him”.

Then came there unto him all his brethren, and all his sisters, and all they that had been of his acquaintance before, and did eat bread with him in his house: and they bemoaned him, and comforted him over all the evil that the Lord had brought upon him: every man also gave him a piece of money, and every one an earring of gold.

Job 2:7 says that Satan smote Job with sore boils, and chapter 1 shows Satan behind the loss of his children and his wealth. But the last chapter speaks of “all the evil that the Lord had brought upon him”. So who brought Job’s troubles: Satan or God?

The answer

The book itself says both, and shows how they fit together. Satan was the one who acted; God was the one who allowed it and set its limits. In chapter 1 Satan may touch all that Job has, but not Job himself (1:12); in chapter 2 he may touch Job’s body, but must spare his life (2:6). Satan could do nothing until God gave leave, and nothing beyond what God allowed. In 2:3 God even speaks of it as his own action: “thou movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause”. Chapter 1 adds a third level: the losses came through raiders, fire, and a great wind (1:15–19), with Satan behind them.

So when Job says, “the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away” (1:21), the narrator adds that in all this Job did not sin, “nor charged God foolishly” (1:22). Job was right to see God’s hand above Satan’s, even though he did not know of the scene in heaven. The words of 42:11 speak in the same way: God was sovereign over all that happened.

The word ‘evil’ here is the Hebrew ra‘ah (H7451), which often means trouble or disaster, not wickedness; the BSB translates it “adversity” in 42:11. The verse does not say that God did wrong to Job; it says that the disasters came under his rule. (See also the entry on whether God creates evil.)

Did Satan or the Lord bring Job’s troubles on him?

The passages

The objection

The answer

From the classic commentators

Sources

Further reading