Job 1

1 A man there hath been in the land of Uz -- Job his name -- and that man hath been perfect and upright -- both fearing God, and turning aside from evil.

^2 ^And there are borne to him seven sons and three daughters,

^3 ^and his substance is seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred pairs of oxen, and five hundred she-asses, and a service very abundant; and that man is greater than any of the sons of the east.

^4 ^And his sons have gone and made a banquet -- the house of each [in] his day -- and have sent and called to their three sisters to eat and to drink with them;

^5 ^and it cometh to pass, when they have gone round the days of the banquet, that Job doth send and sanctify them, and hath risen early in the morning, and caused to ascend burnt-offerings -- the number of them all -- for Job said, `Perhaps my sons have sinned, yet blessed God in their heart.' Thus doth Job all the days.

^6 ^And the day is, that [sons of God](https://app.thebrain.com/brain/9d9e6e01-35d1-431b-8520-6e7ad360f8ce/7756e509-14fe-4791-b13b-830aa168727a) //“sons of Elohim” (אלהיםבני)// come in to station themselves by Jehovah, and there doth come also the Adversary in their midst.

^7 ^And Jehovah saith unto the Adversary, Whence comest thou?' And the Adversary answereth Jehovah and saith, From going to and fro in the land, and from walking up and down on it.'

^8 ^And Jehovah saith unto the Adversary, `Hast thou set thy heart against My servant Job because there is none like him in the land, a man perfect and upright, fearing God, and turning aside from evil?'

^9 ^And the Adversary answereth Jehovah and saith, `For nought is Job fearing God?

^10 ^Hast not Thou made a hedge for him, and for his house, and for all that he hath -- round about?

^11 ^The work of his hands Thou hast blessed, and his substance hath spread in the land, and yet, put forth, I pray Thee, Thy hand, and strike against anything that he hath -- if not: to Thy face he doth bless Thee!'

^12 ^And Jehovah saith unto the Adversary, `Lo, all that he hath [is] in thy hand, only unto him put not forth thy hand.' And the Adversary goeth out from the presence of Jehovah.

^13 ^And the day is, that his sons and his daughters are eating, and drinking wine, in the house of their brother, the first-born.

^14 ^And a messenger hath come in unto Job and saith, `The oxen have been plowing, and the she-asses feeding by their sides,

^15 ^and Sheba doth fall, and take them, and the young men they have smitten by the mouth of the sword, and I am escaped -- only I alone -- to declare [it] to thee.'

^16 ^While this [one] is speaking another also hath come and saith, `Fire of God hath fallen from the heavens, and burneth among the flock, and among the young men, and consumeth them, and I am escaped -- only I alone -- to declare [it] to thee.'

^17 ^While this [one] is speaking another also hath come and saith, `Chaldeans made three heads, and rush on the camels, and take them, and the young men they have smitten by the mouth of the sword, and I am escaped -- only I alone -- to declare [it] to thee.'

^18 ^While this [one] is speaking another also hath come and saith, `Thy sons and thy daughters are eating, and drinking wine, in the house of their brother, the first-born.

^19 ^And lo, a great wind hath come from over the wilderness, and striketh against the four corners of the house, and it falleth on the young men, and they are dead, and I am escaped -- only I alone -- to declare [it] to thee.'

^20 ^And Job riseth, and rendeth his robe, and shaveth his head, and falleth to the earth, and doth obeisance,

^21 ^and he saith, `Naked came I forth from the womb of my mother, and naked I turn back thither: Jehovah hath given and Jehovah hath taken: let the name of Jehovah be blessed.'

^22 ^In all this Job hath not sinned, nor given folly to God.

NOTES:

Heiser, Michael S.. The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible. Lexham Press. Kindle Edition.

During the council meeting the satan shows up. His rank is not clear. The language is ambiguous with respect to whether he is of the same level as the sons of God or is on the scene as a servant official to the council. The lower status is more likely, given what we learn about his job. (Job 1:6).

The Hebrew (satan) means something like “adversary,” “prosecutor,” or “challenger.” It speaks of an official legal function within a ruling body—

When Yahweh asks the satan where he has been, we learn that his job involves investigating what is happening on earth (Job 1:7). He is, so to speak, Yahweh’s eyes and ears on the ground, reporting what he has seen and heard. The satan in Job 1–2 is not a villain. He’s doing the job assigned to him by God. The book of Job does not identify the satan in this scene as the serpent of Genesis 3, the figure known in the New Testament as the devil. The Old Testament never uses the word saṭan of the serpent figure from Genesis 3. In fact, the word saṭan is not a proper personal noun in the Old Testament.

Most of the twenty-seven occurrences of saṭan in the Hebrew Bible, however, do indeed have the definite article—including all the places English readers presume the devil is present (Job 1:6–9, 12; 2:1–4, 6–7; Zech 3:1–2). The satan described in these passages is not the devil. Rather, he’s an anonymous prosecutor, as it were, fulfilling a role in Yahweh’s council—bringing an accusatory report. The instances of saṭan in the Old Testament that lack the definite article also don’t refer to the devil or the serpent figure. Those occurrences describe either humans or the Angel of Yahweh, who is occasionally sent by God to “oppose” someone or execute judgment (e.g., Numbers 22:22–23).