Job 2:5

Job 2:5 But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face.

Ver 5. But put forth thine hand now] {See Trapp on "Job 1:11"} This God did at Satan’s motion, yet non ad exitium Iobi, sed ad exercitium; not for the destruction of Job but his training, Job’s temptation is of Satan, but his trial and invincible constancy is of God. God in a sense tempted Job. Satan also; even as the dog may be said to bait the beast, and the owner of the beast too, that suffered him to be baited.

And touch his bone and his flesh] Pinch him to the quick, that not his flesh only may feel it, but the marrow also in his bones, Psa 6:2; Psa 32:3; Psa 51:8. The bone and flesh are the chief materials of man’s body, which is fitly compared to a fabric, wherein the bones are the timber work, the head the upper lodging, the eyes as windows, the eyelids as casements, the brows as pent-houses, the ears as watch towers, the mouth as a door, to take in that which shall uphold the building, and keep it in reparations, the stomach as a kitchen, to dress that which is conveyed into it, the guts and baser parts as sinks belonging to the house, &c., as one maketh the comparison. Now in all these and the rest of his parts of body Satan would have Job to be smitten; and then he made no question of a conquest. Pain is a piercing shaft in Satan’s quiver of temptations; hence he stirred up his agents to tympanize and torment the martyrs with as much cruelty as the wit of malice could devise; but all in vain, Heb 11:35-36. Apollonia had all her teeth pulled out of her head (hence Papists make her the saint for toothaches). Blandina tired those that tortured her. Theodorus was cruelly whipped, racked, and scraped with sharp shells, by the command of Julian, but yielded not (Socrat. Theodor.). Rose Allen had her hand wrist burnt by Justice Tyrrell, who held a candle under it till the sinews brake that all the house heard them; and then thrusting her from him violently, said, Ah, strong whore, wilt thou not cry? thou shameless whore, thou beastly whore, &c. But she quietly suffered his rage for a time, at the last said, Sir, have you done what you will do? and he said, Yea; and if thou think it not well, then mend it. Mend it? said she; nay, the Lord mend you, and give you repentance, if it be his will. And now, if you think it fit, begin at the feet, and burn the head also; for he that set you awork shall pay your wages one day, I warrant you. As little got the devil by these worthies, as he did by Job’s boils and carbuncles. We are ashamed (said one of Julian’s nobles to him), we are ashamed, O Emperor, the Christians laugh at your cruelty, and grow the more resolute.

And he will curse thee to thy face] Heb. If he curse thee not to thy face, q.d. then damn me, send me to hell presently. This Satan holds in by an Aposiopesis,{a rhetorical device, in which the speaker comes to a sudden halt, as if unable or unwilling to proceed.} being therein more modest than our desperate and detestable God-damnmes: let them see how they gratify the devil who curse and blaspheme, or protest openly what they know to be false. This the devil did not.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Job 2:5. But touch his bone and his flesh — That is, smite him, not slightly, but to the quick, to the bones and marrow, so that he may feel pain and anguish indeed: and he will curse thee to thy face — Will openly and daringly blaspheme thy perfections, and reproach the dispensations of thy providence, and so will let go his integrity. Satan knew, and we find by experience, that nothing has a greater tendency to ruffle the mind, and put its passions into disorder, than acute pain and distemper of body.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2:5 take away his health (literally strike his flesh and bones): Bones were thought to be the seat of health.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Meaning, his own person.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 5. He will curse thee to thy face.] Literally, If he will not bless thee to thy face or appearances. His piety to thee will be always regulated by thy bounty to him. See Clarke on Job 1:11.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

And the Lord said unto Satan, behold, he is in thine hand,.... Well may a behold be prefixed to this, it being matter of wonder and astonishment that a saint and servant of God should be permitted to be in the hand of Satan; which yet must not be so understood; as if he was off of, and no more upon the heart of God; or as if he was out of the hands of God, and out of the hands of Christ; or as if he was become Satan's property, and a child of his; for neither of these can be true of a good man: nothing can separate him from the love of God; not Satan and all his principalities and powers; nor can men or devils pluck them out of his hands, nor out of the hands of his son; nor can those who are the children of God be any more the servants of sin, or the vassals of Satan; or in other words, nor can any of them be a child of God one day, and a child of the devil the next, which is the divinity of some men: nor is the sense of this passage, that Satan had leave to do with Job as he pleased, for then he would have utterly destroyed him; but the power granted him was a limited one, as follows:

but save his life: or "soul" (y); which some understand of his rational soul, that which remains after death, and which, Maimonides (z) observes, Satan has no power over; and according to some the meaning is, do not disturb his mind to distraction, so as to deprive him of his senses, and of the exercise of his rational powers, which through the influence of Satan men have sometimes lost; see Mar 5:4; this is barred against in the permission granted; for otherwise it would not have been a proper trial of Job's integrity; for, should he have been deprived of his reason, and uttered ever such bad things, it would have been no proof of his insincerity; as may be observed in good men in a delirium, they will utter bad words, and do or attempt to do bad things, which is not to be ascribed to their want of grace, but to their want of reason: but rather "life" is meant; not Job's spiritual life, for that was in no danger of being lost; all the devils in hell cannot deprive a truly good man of his spiritual life; grace in him is a well of living water, springing: up to eternal life; he can never die the second death; his life is hid with Christ in God, and is bound up in the bundle of life with the Lord his God, who so is out of the reach of Satan; but corporeal life, which the devil by permission may take away, and is said to have the power of death, which by leave he exercised over men, but here he is restrained from it: Job's life must be spared, that it might fully appear he got the victory over Satan, and stood in his integrity; and that he might still glorify God in a course of afflictions he was yet to endure, in the exercise of his faith, hope, love, patience, humility, submission, and resignation of his will to God; and besides, his appointed time was not come, he had many more days, months, and years, the number of which were with God, to live in the world, as he accordingly did.

(y) "animum ejus", Pagninus, Montanus, Cocccius, Schmidt, Schultens. (z) Moreh Nevochim, par. 3. c. 22. p. 398.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

But put forth thine hand now - Satan felt that he had no power to afflict Job without permission. Malignant as he was, he knew that God only could subject the holy man to this trial - another proof that Satan is under the control of the Almighty, and acts only as he is “permitted” to act in tempting and trying the good.

And touch his bone - See the note at Job 1:11. Afflict his body so as to endanger his life. The words “bone” and “flesh” denote the whole body. The idea was, that the whole body should be subjected to severe pain.

And he will curse thee to thy face - Notes at Job 1:11.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Touch, i.e. smite him, not slightly, but to the quick, and to the bones and marrow, so as he may feel pain and anguish indeed, which is oft expressed by reaching to the bones, as Psa 6:2; 32:3; 51:8.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

5. Touch his bone — Among the most painful diseases are those that have their seat in the bone. Job touchingly refers to this feature of his disease. (Job_30:17; Job_30:30.) The association of נגע, touch, with אל, (into or even to,) rather than ב, as in Job_1:11, Delitzsch has well remarked, “expresses increased malignity.”

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh; i.e. "his person any part of his body. And he will curse thee to thy face. (see the comment on Job_11:11)

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

But Heb. אולם, but.

will he not Will You not see immediately that he will blaspheme You to Your face?

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.