Glossary entry (derived from question below)
English term or phrase:
concession
English answer:
a concession from Satan to God
Added to glossary by
Charles Davis
Sep 24, 2015 13:11
8 yrs ago
English term
concession
English
Art/Literary
Religion
About the book of Job
Job 2:6 "only spare his life" [said God to Satan, referring to Job]. The sparing of Job’s life is not a mercy, and not merely a ***concession*** necessary to the test, but is integral to the test. The most difficult of life’s sorrows are sometimes found when even the mercy of death is denied (cf. 3:20–23; 6:9). This was the ultimate test of faith.
In what sense can the sparing of Job's life be a "concession"? I think that if you "concede" or grant something, it would be something the receiver wanted. But Satan would have liked to make Job die.
In what sense can the sparing of Job's life be a "concession"? I think that if you "concede" or grant something, it would be something the receiver wanted. But Satan would have liked to make Job die.
Responses
| 4 +2 | a concession from Satan to God |
Charles Davis
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Change log
Sep 28, 2015 10:14: Charles Davis Created KOG entry
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Selected
a concession from Satan to God
The concession here is being made by Satan. It is not voluntary; Satan has no choice. God requires that Satan test Job by making him suffer but without making him die. That is a concession, a limitation that God imposes on what Satan can do to Job and that Satan has to concede. The concession is necessary to the test, because what is being tested is Job's capacity to endure suffering without repudiating God, and his death would bring that suffering to an end. God does not want Job to die. So not being killed is not a concession to Job, it is a concession to God.
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