What does the phrase " שְֽׁלַֽח־נָ֣א יָֽדְךָ֔ וְגַ֖ע " from Iyov 1:11 and 2:5 mean?

Question

When reading Iyov 1:11 and 2:5 the phrase " שְֽׁלַֽח־נָ֣א יָֽדְךָ֔ וְגַ֖ע " means what specifically?

• How is the imperative request "please-Send Your-Hand and-Touch" suppose to be understood in a physical world?

Answer 1

Moreh Nevukhim I:18 (emphasis mine):

THE three words karab, "to come near," naga‘, "to touch," and nagash, "to approach," sometimes signify "contact" or "nearness in space," sometimes the approach of man's knowledge to an object, as if it resembled the physical approach of one body to another...

In the passage, "Touch (ga‘) the mountains, and they shall smoke" (Ps. 144:5), the verb "touch" is used in a figurative sense, viz., "Let thy word touch them." So also the words, "Touch thou him himself" (Job 2:5), have the same meaning as "Bring thy infliction upon him." In a similar manner must this verb, in whatever form it may be employed be interpreted in each place, according to the context; for in some cases it denotes contact of two material objects, in others knowledge and comprehension of a thing, as if he who now comprehends anything which he had not comprehended previously had thereby approached a subject which had been distant from him. This point is of considerable importance.

Answer 2

The Malbim on 2:5 writes:

אולם, אך בזה תבחנהו בחינה ברורה, אם תשלח ידך ותגע אל עצמו ואל בשרו לא בעורו לבד רק מכה הנוגע בעצמו ובשרו שיש בה סכנת נפש עד שיתיאש מרפואה, ואז לא יהיה לו במה להתנחם ומה לירא ולקוות אז על פניך יברכך ויגנה הנהגתך:

However, were You to stretch out Your hand and touch his person, his very flesh; not just skin-deep but so severely that he becomes convinced that his condition is terminal, then he would surely curse You to Your face and damn Governance.

So from the Malbim we see that it is written in these human, corporeal terms for us to gain an insight into how Hashem will act.