And the Lord said to the Adversary, “From where have
you come?”
Then the Adversary answered the Lord, saying, “From roaming on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.”
Job 1:7, Modern English Version (MEV)
The image we should have of Satan is even scarier than the guy with horns, tail, hooves and red skin. Instead, picture a shrewd lawyer in a three-piece suit.
From Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible:
And
the Lord said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? - This inquiry does not appear to have been made
as if it was improper that Satan should have appeared there, for no blame seems
to have been attached to him for this. He came as a spirit that was subject to
the control of yahweh; he came with others, not to mingle in their society, and
partake of their happiness, but to give an account of what he had done, and of
what he had observed. The poetic idea is, that this was done periodically, and
that “all” the spirits employed by yahweh to dispense blessings to mortals, to
inflict punishment, or to observe their conduct, came and stood before him. Why
the inquiry is directed particularly to “Satan,” is not specified. Perhaps it
is not meant that there was any “special” inquiry made of him, but that, as he
was to have so important an agency in the transactions which follow, the
inquiry that was made of him only is recorded In respect to the others, nothing
occurred pertaining to Job, and their examination is not adverted to. Or it may
be, that, as Satan was known to be malignant, suspicious, and disposed to think
evil of the servants of God, the design was to direct his attention
particularly to Job as an illustrious and indisputable example of virtue and
piety.
From
going to and fro in the earth - Dr. Good renders this, “from roaming round.” Noyes, “from wandering
over.” The word which is here used (שׁוּט shûṭ) means properly,
(1.)
to whip, to scourge, to lash;
(2.) to row, that is, to lash the sea with oars;
(3.) to run up and down, to go here and there, or to and fro, so as to lash the air with one’s arms as with oars, and hence, to travel over a land, or to go through it in order to see it, 2Sa_24:2, 2Sa_24:8.
Dr.
Good, in conformity with the interpretation proposed by Schultens, says that
“the word imports, not so much the act of going forward and backward, as of
making a circuit or circumference; of going round about. The Hebrew verb is
still in use among the Arabic writers, and in every instance implies the same
idea of gyration or circumambulation.” In Arabic, according to Castell, the
word means “to heat, to burn, to cause to boil, to consume:” then to propel to
weariness, as e. g. a horse, and then to make a circuit, to go about at full
speed, to go with diligence and activity. Thus, in Carnuso, as quoted by
Schultens, “a course made at one impulse to the goal is called שׁוט
shôṭ. In 2Sa_24:2, the word is
used in the sense of passing around through different places for the purpose of
taking a census. “Go now (Margin, “compass”) through all the tribes of Israel.”
In Num_11:8, it is applied to the Israelites going about to collect
manna, passing rapidly and busily in the places where it fell for the purpose of
gathering it.
In Zec_4:10,
it is applied to “the eyes of Yahweh,” which are said to “run to and fro
through the earth,” that is, he surveys all things as one does whose eye passes
rapidly from object to object. The same phrase occurs in 2Ch_16:9. In Jer_5:1,
it is applied to the action of a man passing rapidly through the streets of a
city. “Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem “compare Jer_49:3.
From these passages it is clear that the idea is not that of going “in a
circuit” or circle, but it is that of passing rapidly; of moving with alacrity
and in a hurry; and it is not improbable that the “original” idea is that
suggested in the Arabic of “heat” - and thence applied to a whip or scourge
because it produces a sensation like burning, and also to a rapid journey or
motion, because it produces heat or a glow. It means that Satan had been active
and diligent in passing from place to place in the earth to survey it. The
Chaldee adds to this, “to examine into the works of the sons of men.”
And
from walking - That
is, to investigate human affairs. On this verse it is observed by Rosenmullcr,
that in the life of Zoroaster (see Zendavesta by John G. Kleukner, vol. 3: p.
11,) the prince of the evil demons, the angel of death, whose name is
“Engremeniosch,” is said to go far and near through the world for the purpose
of injuring and opposing good people.
Then the Adversary answered the Lord, saying, “From roaming on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.”
Job 1:7, Modern English Version (MEV)
The image we should have of Satan is even scarier than the guy with horns, tail, hooves and red skin. Instead, picture a shrewd lawyer in a three-piece suit.
(2.) to row, that is, to lash the sea with oars;
(3.) to run up and down, to go here and there, or to and fro, so as to lash the air with one’s arms as with oars, and hence, to travel over a land, or to go through it in order to see it, 2Sa_24:2, 2Sa_24:8.
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