Why did Satan not kill Job's wife as he killed his children?

[TonyChanYT]

Satan bet against Job in front of God in Job 1:

11 "stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.”

God accepted the bet:

12 And the LORD said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand.” So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD.

Then Satan took Job’s property and killed his children, but he spared Job's wife. Why?

Because Satan wanted to use his wife to accomplish his bet:

Job 2:

9 Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die.”

That was the pivotal moment that Satan was waiting for. Would Job do what his wife said and accomplish Satan's win? The answer was a resounding "no":

10 But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women would speak.

Job rebuked his wife for saying such nonsense.

Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.

Why did Satan spare Job's wife?

Satan thought he could use his wife to get Job to curse God. Satan's plan failed.

 

[Lambano]

Why did Satan not kill Job's wife as he killed his children?​

9 Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold firm your integrity? Curse God and die!”

Why should Satan eliminate an asset that was doing such a great job for him?

 

[Bob Estey]

Satan bet against Job in front of God in Job 1:


God accepted the bet:


Then Satan took Job’s property and killed his children, but he spared Job's wife. Why?

Because Satan wanted to use his wife to accomplish his bet:

Job 2:


That was the pivotal moment that Satan was waiting for. Would Job do what his wife said and accomplish Satan's win? The answer was a resounding "no":


Job rebuked his wife for saying such nonsense.


Why did Satan spare Job's wife?

Satan thought he could use his wife to get Job to curse God. Satan's plan failed.

Job was the object of Satan's "works." If you are trying to win a football game, you don't kill your opponent.

 

[O'Darby]

A short, interesting Jewish commentary: Who Was Job's Wife? | My Jewish Learning

What he says about the "curse" line seems to me equally applicable to the entire book of Job: "There are so many possible readings of this line that how it is interpreted strikes me as saying more about the reader than about her."

 

[TonyChanYT]

What he says about the "curse" line

Check out The Hebrew verb to curse God

 

[Lambano]

Many commentaries, including a great many Christian commentaries, see Job’s wife as evil. They understand that she was spared by Satan to assist him in his work, to prod Job to transgression, much like Eve handing the forbidden fruit to Adam. I find that interpretation flat-footed, and callous with regard to the grief that Job’s wife is feeling.

Ouch. Guilty as charged.

But that's an interesting take on the passage.

 

[Bob Carabbio]

Satan bet against Job in front of God in Job 1:

Here we go with the "Wager foolishness" again.

The whole thing was choreographed BY GOD using satan as a "tool" to accomplish a purification of job's life. Job has TWO PROBLEMS that God was after correcting: LEVIATHAN (Personal pride), and BEHEMOTH (a tendency to do thing IN HIS OWN STRENGTH instead of relying on God).

The Book of Job illustrated the LENGTHS that God will go to in order to make us better.

The effort was successful, as recorded in Job 42:6

Why did Job's wife survive??? Who knows? It's just one of those meaningless questions of no value to the message of the book..

 

[Jay Ross]

God had told Satan that he could not touch Job and because Job and his wife are one before God, Satan could not also touch Job's wife.

Satan had to comply with the "Law" concerning marriage. If he had touched or killed Job's wife he would have gone outside of the rules that God had set for him in Satan's testing of Job.

Shalom

 

[TonyChanYT]

Why did Job's wife survive??? Who knows? It's just one of those meaningless questions of no value to the message of the book..

reference?

 

[Cassandra]

reference?

Probably his personal experience here

 

[TonyChanYT]

Probably his personal experience here

You mean personal opinion?

 

[Bob Carabbio]

reference?

Read the Book of Job.

 

[TonyChanYT]

Read the Book of Job.

Thanks for the reference. This is how to do referencing in a scholarly manner:

1. Display and indent the quoted text.
2. Selectively bold the relevant keywords that are important to your point. There is no need to bold the entire sentence. Have a laser-sharp focus.
3. Be concise and precise to the point. No need to quote the whole paragraph.

I do this for others who read my posts. It is a standard high-school scholarship. If you practice this, I guarantee it will sharpen your analytical thinking. In any case, no one is required to do it.

 

[Bob Carabbio]

Thanks for the reference. This is how to do referencing in a scholarly manner:

1. Display and indent the quoted text.
2. Selectively bold the relevant keywords that are important to your point. There is no need to bold the entire sentence. Have a laser-sharp focus.
3. Be concise and precise to the point. No need to quote the whole paragraph.

I do this for others who read my posts. It is a standard high-school scholarship. If you practice this, I guarantee it will sharpen your analytical thinking. In any case, no one is required to do it.

And so I didn't, since the question was unimportant, and only subject to interpretation.