Attributed commentary excerpt
John Gill's Exposition on Job 1:6
A historical reference excerpt for this verse. Read it alongside the biblical text and other available sources.
Exposition of the Old and New Testament
John Gill (1697–1771) · 18th-century historical commentary
Source: BibleWord.ai's local reference edition of this named work.
Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, etc.] This is generally understood of the angels, as in (<183807>Job 38:7) who may be thought to be so called, because of their creation by the father of spirits, and their likeness to God in holiness, knowledge, and wisdom, and being affectionate and obedient to him; as also on account of the grace of election, and confirmation in Christ bestowed upon them, as well as because, in their embassies and messages to men, they represent God, and so may be called gods, and children of the Most High, for a like reason the civil magistrates are, (<198206>Psalm 82:6) to which may be added, their constituting with the saints the family of God in heaven and earth: these, as they stand before God, and at his right hand and left, as the host of heaven, in which posture Micaiah saw them in vision, (<112219>1 Kings 22:19), so they may be said to go forth from standing before the Lord of all the earth into the several parts of all the world, to do the will and work of God assigned them, (<380605>Zechariah 6:5-8) and then, having done their work, return again, and present themselves before the Lord, to give an account of what they have done, and to receive fresh orders from him, being ready to do his pleasure in everything he shall command them, which is what is here supposed; though some think these were only the company or band of angels which were set as a guard about Job, his person, family, and substance, who now appeared before the Lord, to give an account of him, his affairs, and circumstances, as required of them: and Satan came also among them; which word signifies an “adversary”, as in (<111114>1 Kings 11:14) but does not design here a man adversary, as there, or one that envied Job’s prosperity, as Saadiah Gaon thinks, but an evil spirit, the old serpent, the devil, as in (<661209>Revelation 12:9) who is an implacable and bitter enemy to men, especially to Christ and his people; and so has this name from his hatred of them, and opposition to them: Origen f34 observes, that this word, translated into the Greek language, is antikeimenov, an “adversary”; but R. Levi f35 derives it from hjç, “to decline” or “turn aside”; and so Suidas says f36, Satan, in the Hebrew language, is an apostate; and Theodoret f37 mentions both, that it signifies either an adversary or an apostate; the first derivation is best: knowing the end of the above meeting, that it was with respect to Job, and therefore he came with an intent to contradict what they should say of him, and to accuse him before God; he came among them as one of them, transforming himself into an angel of light, as he sometimes does; or he came, being sent for, and obliged to come to give an account of himself, and of what he had been doing in the world, in order to be reproved and punished: but though the stream of interpreters run this way, I cannot say I am satisfied with it; for, setting aside the passages in this book in question, angels are nowhere called “the sons of God”; for besides, this being denied of them in the sense that Christ is, they are represented as servants, yea, as servants to the sons of God, ministering spirits to the heirs of salvation; they call themselves the fellow servants of the saints, and of their brethren, but do not say that they are sons of the same family, or fellow heirs, or their brethren, (<580105>Hebrews 1:5,14 <661910>Revelation 19:10 22:9), moreover, they always stand…
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