What is the meaning of Job 1:11?

But stretch out Your hand

• Satan’s opening word “But” counters God’s own testimony about Job (Job 1:8) and exposes Satan as the accuser of the brethren (Revelation 12:10).

• By asking God to “stretch out Your hand,” Satan acknowledges that only the Lord holds sovereign power over human lives (Isaiah 14:26-27; Exodus 7:5).

• The request underscores that nothing touches God’s people without His permission (Psalm 91:1-2; Luke 22:31-32).

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and strike all that he has

• The target is “all that he has”—family, possessions, security (Job 1:3, 10). Satan insists Job’s piety is prosperity-driven (compare with John 10:10).

• Trials that strip earthly props reveal whether faith rests on gifts or on the Giver (James 1:2-3; 1 Timothy 6:7).

• Scripture consistently shows God using loss as a refining fire, never as random cruelty (Psalm 34:19; Romans 8:28).

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and he will surely curse You

• Satan stakes his claim: remove blessings and Job will “surely curse” God. He questions the very possibility of selfless love for the Lord (Genesis 3:5-6 echoes the same suspicion).

• The enemy underestimates grace that enables true worship in pain (Habakkuk 3:17-18; 2 Corinthians 12:9).

• God permits the test to vindicate authentic faith and silence accusation (1 Peter 1:6-7; Romans 5:3-5).

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to Your face

• “To Your face” pictures blatant, public renunciation, not mere private doubt (Numbers 14:11; Isaiah 65:3).

• Satan longs to parade a believer’s collapse before heaven, but Christ intercedes so faith will not fail (Hebrews 7:25; Jude 24).

• The phrase also reminds us that worship is ultimately face-to-face before God’s omniscience; hypocrisy cannot hide (Hebrews 4:13).

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summary

Job 1:11 captures Satan’s bold challenge: “But stretch out Your hand and strike all that he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face”. The verse exposes Satan’s accusation that human devotion depends on prosperity, while affirming God’s absolute control over trials. By allowing the test, God answers the slander, proving that genuine faith—sustained by grace—can worship even in loss, bringing glory to His name and silencing the accuser forever.