Job 42 · a question people ask
The book says "the LORD had brought" the evil on Job (42:11). But didn't Satan do it?
The book says both, each in its place, and doesn't explain how they fit. At the start the LORD said to Satan, "Behold, all that he has is in your power. Only on himself don’t stretch out your hand" (1:12). Later the LORD said, "you incited me against him, to ruin him without cause" (2:3), and "Behold, he is in your hand. Only spare his life" (2:6). Then Satan "struck Job with painful sores from the sole of his foot to his head" (2:7), and after 2:7 he isn't named again in the book. At the end, Job's family "comforted him, and consoled him concerning all the evil that the LORD had brought on him" (42:11); these are the book's own words, not a speaker's. The book sets these side by side and adds no theory, and these notes don't either.
The verses
“The LORD said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your power. Only on himself don’t stretch out your hand.” So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD.”
“The LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and an upright man, one who fears God, and turns away from evil. He still maintains his integrity, although you incited me against him, to ruin him without cause.””
“The LORD said to Satan, “Behold, he is in your hand. Only spare his life.” So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD, and struck Job with painful sores from the sole of his foot to his head.”
“Then all his brothers, all his sisters, and all those who had been of his acquaintance before, came to him and ate bread with him in his house. They comforted him, and consoled him concerning all the evil that the LORD had brought on him. Everyone also gave him a piece of money, and everyone a ring of gold.”