Job 16:10

gaped--not in order to devour, but to mock him. To fill his cup of misery, the mockery of his friends (Job 16:10) is added to the hostile treatment from God (Job 16:9).

smitten . . . cheek--figurative for contemptuous abuse (Lam 3:30; Mat 5:39).

gathered themselves--"conspired unanimously" [SCHUTTENS].

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Job 16:10 They have gaped upon me with their mouth; they have smitten me upon the cheek reproachfully; they have gathered themselves together against me.

Ver. 10. They have gaped upon me with their mouth] They? who? Non solum Deus, nec solum amici mei, sed tota rerum machina mihi adversatur, Not God only, nor these friends of mine, but all the creatures are up in arms against me, and threateneth to devour me at one morsel.

They have smitten me upon the cheek reproachfully] i.e. They have done me all the disgrace that may be. See Lam 3:30 2Co 11:20-21 Mic 5:1 Act 23:1-2; Joh 18:22. Our Saviour was so served according to the letter; they gaped upon him, mowed at him, buffeted him on the face, gathered themselves together against him, as here. Hence some of the ancients call Job a figure and type of Christ, who was thus dealt with both literally and also figuratively.

They have gathered themselves together against me] Or, They have filled themselves upon me, as Exo 15:7. They have taken their fill of pleasure at my miseries, as Tigurius rendereth it; or, They come upon me by full troops, so Broughton. Men are apt to agree for mischief Psa 35:15; Psa 83:5-7.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Job 16:10. They — My friends, the instruments of God’s anger; have gaped upon me with their mouth — Have opened their mouths wide against me; either, 1st, To devour and destroy me, as a lion which falls upon its pray with open mouth: see Psa 22:13-14, where these very expressions are used in the prediction of Christ’s sufferings, of whom, in all this, Job was an eminent type. Or, 2d, To scoff and deride me, as it follows, and as this phrase is most commonly used: see Psa 22:8; Psa 35:21. They have smitten me upon the cheek reproachfully — Hebrew, בחרפה, becherpeh, by reproach; or in a way of scorn and contempt, of which smiting on the cheek was a sign: see Lam 3:30; Mic 5:1. The meaning is, they have despised and derided me, the sign being put for the thing signified. They have gathered themselves together against me — They are come from several places, and have met together here, not for me, or to comfort me, as they pretended; but really against me, and to grieve and torment me.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

That is, hath handled me most contemptuously: for so smiting on the cheek signified, 1 Kings 22:24; Mark 14:65.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

10. Picture of the hostility of men—the pack of petty foes that howl at the heels of his greater enemy.

have gaped] Rather, they gape. Similarly, they smite. The figure of wild beasts is not strictly maintained, but passes in the second clause into the reality. The gestures described are those of contempt and destructive hatred, see Psa_22:13, Isa_57:4, Mic_5:1, Lam_3:30; cf. Joh_18:22; Joh_19:3, Act_23:2.

they have gathered themselves] they gather. The phrase means probably that they fling themselves in one body upon him, they combine in their attack against him.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

God hath delivered me up to the ungodly,.... The evil or wicked one, for it is in the singular number; and designs either Satan, into whose hands God had not only delivered his substance, but his person, excepting his life; though it may be, and which is an objection to this sense, Job as yet knew it not; or else Eliphaz, or, the singular number being put for the plural, as the next clause explains it, all his friends, whom he in turn calls evil and wicked men, because of their treatment of him; or else the Sabeans and Chaldeans are intended, who were suffered to plunder him of his substance; the words are very applicable to Christ, who was delivered to the Gentiles, and into the hands of sinners and wicked men, and that by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, who with wicked hands took him, and crucified him, Mat 20:19; or God "shut him up", or "delivered him bound" (d), as the word signifies; which was literally true of Christ, who was bound by the Jews, and delivered first to the high priest, and then to the Roman governor, in such circumstances, Joh 18:12;

and turned me over into the hands of the wicked; signifying the same as before, unless it should be rendered, "and caused me to decline", or "come down by the hands of the wicked" (e) that is, from his former state of prosperity and happiness, into the low circumstances in which he was, and which he was brought into by the means of wicked men, God suffering it so to be.

(d) "vinctum me tradidit", Grotius, Michaelis, Schultens. (e) "divertere fecit a vita", Pagninus; "declinare me facit", Beza, Drusius, Mercerus.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

They have gaped upon me - Changing the form from the singular to the plural, and including “all” his pretended friends. Such a change in the number is not uncommon. His mind seems to have passed from the particular instance which he was contemplating, to “all” his friends, and he suddenly felt that “all” had treated him alike. The meaning is, that, like wild beasts, they open their mouth to devour me.

They have gathered themselves together - They have entered into a conspiracy, and have “agreed” to oppose me. They are united in this thing, and all feel and act alike.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

They; the instruments of God’s anger, my friends, as they are falsely called.

Gaped upon me with their mouth; opened their mouths wide against me; either,

1. To devour and destroy me; as a lion which falls upon his prey with open mouth, as this phrase is used, Psa 22:13,14. And this they did aggravating and increasing his sorrows, whereby he was well-nigh overwhelmed. Or,

2. To scoff and deride me, as it follows, and as this phrase is most commonly used, as Psa 22:8; 35:21.

Reproachfully; or, by reproach; or in way of scorn and contempt; whereof such smiting was a sign, as 1Ki 22:24; Lam 3:30; Mic 5:1. The sign is here put for the thing signified; they despised and derided me.

They have gathered themselves together against me, i.e. they are come from several places, and met together here, not for me, or to comfort me, as they pretended, but really against me, or to torment and grieve me. Heb. they have filled themselves, &c. Either,

1. They have filled up their numbers, they are all come against me. Or,

2. They have filled their minds with evil opinions of me, and their hearts with courage and resolution to assault me, and their mouths with words and arguments against me. Compare Ecc 8:11; Act 5:3.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

10. They have gaped upon me — As in many other instances, the subject of the sentence is left unexpressed. The thought is thus rendered more solemn and emphatic. See note on Psa_22:13; also Luk_6:38 — “Shall they give.” The text speaks of a company of fiends, whether human or diabolic, who crowd around the sufferer jeering and maltreating him.

The description bears a striking resemblance to that given of Christ, who in many respects was the antitype of Job. (Psalms 22.)

Smitten me upon the cheek — “To smite the cheek is the deepest insult that can be offered to an Asiatic.” — Lord Valentia.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

They have gaped upon me with their mouth. The "man of sorrows" of the Old Testament is, in many respects, a type of the "Man of sorrows" of the New; and, in the Messianic psalms, David constantly applies to Christ expressions which Job had used in reference to himself. (Psa_22:13) They have smitten me upon the cheek reproachfully. (Mic_5:1 Mat_27:30 Luk_22:64 Joh_18:22) They have gathered themselves together against me. (see Psa_35:15, and compare, in illustration of the literal and historical sense, Job_30:1, Job_30:10-14)

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

They - My friends. Gaped - Opened their mouths wide against me. In all this Job was a type of Christ. These very expressions are used in the predictions of his sufferings, Psalm xxii, 13. They gaped upon me with their mouths, and Micah v, 1. They shall smite the judge of Israel upon the check.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

10 They have gaped against me with their mouth,

In contempt they smite my cheeks;

They conspire together against me.

11 God left me to the mercy of the ungodly,

And cast me into the hands of the evil-doer.

He does not mean the friends by those who mock and vex him with their contemptuous words, but the men around him who envied his prosperity and now rejoice at his misfortune; those to whom his uprightness was a burden, and who now consider themselves disencumbered of their liege lord, the over-righteous, censorious, godly man. The perfects here also have not a present signification; he depicts his suffering according to the change it has wrought since it came upon him. The verb פּער is used with the instrumental Beth instead of with the acc., as Job 29:23 (comp. on במלים, Job 16:4): they make an opening with their mouth (similar to Psa 22:8, they make an opening with the lips, for diducunt labia). Smiting on the cheeks is in itself an insult (Lam 3:30); the additional בּחרפּה will therefore refer to insulting words which accompany the act. The Hithpa. התמלּא, which occurs only here, signifies not only to gather together a מלא in general, Isa 31:4, but (after the Arab. tamâla'a ‛ala, to conspire against any one)

(Note: Wetzstein thinks the signification conspirare for יתמלאון poor in this connection, and prefers to translate: All together they eat themselves full upon me, התמלּא as reflexive of מלּא, Job 38:39, synon. of נשׂבע, as in "the Lovers of Amsi," Ferhht, after the death of his beloved, cries out: We are not separated! To-morrow (i.e., soon) the All-kind One will unite us in paradise, and we shall satisfy ourselves one with another (Arab. w-ntmll' mn b-'dn 'l-b'd). One would, however, expect ממּנּי instead of עלי; but perhaps we may refer to the interchange of התענג על, Job 22:26; Job 27:10, with התענג מן, Isa 66:11.)

to complete one's self, to strengthen one's self (for a like hostile purpose): Reiske correctly: sibi invicem mutuam et auxiliatricem operam contra me simul omnes ferunt.

(Note: The signification to help, which belongs to the I. form Arab. mala'a, proceeds from malâ'un, to have abundance, to be well off; prop. to be able to furnish any one with the means (opes, copias) for anything, and thereby to place him in a position to accomplish it. Comp. the Lat. ops, opem ferre, opitulari, opes, opulentus (Arab. mal'un). - Fl.)

The meaning of עויל is manifest from Job 21:11; from עוּל, to suckle, alere (Arab. ‛âl med. Wau, whence the inf. ‛aul, ‛uwûl, and ‛ijâle), it signifies boys, knaves; and it is as unnecessary to suppose two forms, עויל and עויל, as two meanings, puer and pravus, since the language and particularly the book of Job has coined עוּל for the latter signification: it signifies in all three passages (here and Job 19:18; Job 21:11) boys, or the boyish, childish, knavish. The Arabic warratta leaves no doubt as to the derivation and meaning of ירטני; it signifies to cast down to destruction (warttah, a precipice, ruin, danger), and so here the fut. Kal ירטני for יירטני (Ges. 69, rem. 3), praecipitem me dabat (lxx ἔῤῥιψε, Symm. ἐνέβαλε), as the praet. Kal, Num 22:32 : praeceps = exitiosa est via. The preformative Jod has Metheg in correct texts, so that we need not suppose, with Ralbag, a רטה, similar in meaning to ירט.

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

They open their mouth at me Heb. פערו, they open, like (Isa. 5:14), “and opened (ופערה) its mouth.”

they assemble Heb. יתמלאון, they gather, and there are many similar words in Scripture, e.g. (Jer. 12:6), “have called a gang (מלא) after you”; (Isa. 31:4), “although a band (מלא) of shepherds gather against him,” but it does not deviate from its original meaning because every filling (מלוי) is a gathering together.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.