Job 16:9

Job 16:9 He teareth [me] in his wrath, who hateth me: he gnasheth upon me with his teeth; mine enemy sharpeneth his eyes upon me.

Ver. 9. He teareth me in his wrath, &c.] Who did all this to Job? The devil, say some; his disease, say others that was a most uncharitable censure passed by Luther upon Oecolampadius, that he died suddenly, ignitis Satanae telis confossus, slain by Satan’s fiery darts, because he died of a carbuncle (Lib. de Missa. prin., A.D. 1533). But Job surely meaneth it of God, upon whom his heart was still, though he speak here somewhat unhappily of him, out of the sense of the flesh, and greatness of his grief.

Who hateth me] Heb. He Satanically hateth me. What strange language is this from him who elsewhere calleth God his salvation, his redeemer, Job 13:15-16; Job 13:18; Job 19:25, and will eventually call him his witness in heaven, to whom his eye poureth out tears! Job 16:19-20. How shall we reconcile these so contrary passions and passages, otherwise than by saying, that every good man is two men? &c.; neither can it possibly be expressed how deeply sensible the saints are of God’s displeasure when they are more than ordinarily afflicted by him, and especially when he seemeth to fight against them with his own hand. Hereby, saith Ferus, we may easily see in what a perplexed estate wicked reprobates shall be at the last day, when God shall declare himself to be such an enemy to them indeed; for so much as one of his elect, and a most rare man, but, conceiving him to be against him, because he had no present sense of his favour, was thus extremely troubled.

He gnasheth upon me with his teeth] As extremely angry, Act 7:54, and by sharpening his teeth threatening destruction, Psa 37:12.

Mine enemy sharpeneth his eyes upon me] Which cast forth, as it were, sparkles of fire. An elegant hypotyposis, or description of his sad condition to the life, Ut non tam gesta res quam nunc geri videatur, saith Brentius, as if we saw it even acted before our faces.

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 16:9. He teareth me in his wrath — Hebrew, אפו שׂר, appo tarap, His wrath teareth me in pieces, properly, as a lion or other savage beast tears his prey, of which the word tarap is peculiarly used; who hateth me — וישׂשׂמני, vajistemeni, rather, and hateth me; that is, pursues me with hatred, or as if he hated me. Some render it, adversatus est mihi, is hostile to me; or, acts as mine enemy. He gnasheth upon me with his teeth — A strong figurative expression, denoting extreme anger; mine enemy sharpeneth his eyes upon me — That is, looks upon me with a fierce and sparkling eye, as enraged persons are wont to look on those who have provoked them. It is a great question among commentators what enemy Job meant. Sol. Jarchi writes, Hasatan hu hatzar: Satan, he is the enemy. Certainly Satan was Job’s greatest enemy, and, by the divine permission, had brought all his sufferings upon him, and perhaps now frequently terrified him with apparitions. “It is not improbable,” says Henry, “that this is the enemy he means.” Many think that Eliphaz, who spoke last, and to whose speech Job is now replying, is intended. He had showed himself very much exasperated against Job; and might express himself with such marks of indignation as are here mentioned, rending Job’s good name, as Bishop Patrick expresses himself, and preaching nothing but terror against him. His eyes might be said to be sharpened to spy out matter of reproach against him, and very unkindly, yea, cruelly, both he and his friends had used him. Others, however, think that the expressions, though harsh, and apparently unbecoming to be applied to God, were, nevertheless, intended of him by Job, and are capable of being so interpreted as not to imply any reflection on the divine perfections. “The expressions,” says Chappelow, “are really not stronger than those which we read in other places, particularly in the eleventh and four following verses; as also 19:11, 30, 31.” The reader must observe, that the melancholy state of Job’s mind, and his dreadful sufferings under the chastising hand of God, which his friends never ceased to represent as the effects of divine wrath, had caused him to entertain distressing ideas of God’s terrors, and to view him, if not as an enemy, yet as a severe and inexorable judge, who was extreme to mark all his iniquities and failings.

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

9. He teareth — His anger teareth me and warreth against me. If Job ascribe his treatment to God, (Job_16:9-14,) his language transcends all bounds of reason; but if, on the contrary, he speaks of the malice of evil spirits to whose power he has been for a time delivered, it is nothing more than what might be expected from their diabolical nature, which is best imaged in the wildness and cruelty of the brute creation. Raschi, Cocceius, Adam Clarke, Tayler Lewis, and others, think that Job speaks here of Satan with his mocking fiends.

Gnasheth… with his teeth — Such expressions appear often in the classics.

Sharpeneth his eyes — An expression still in use in the East. The eye is here compared to a sword, or, as others suppose, to the fierce, fascinating gaze of the lion as he is about to pounce upon his prey.

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

16:9-10 jeer and laugh at me: Job was the subject of mockery (cp. Ps 35:21; Isa 57:4; Lam 2:16; 3:46). • To slap the cheek was less an act of violence (Ps 3:7; Mic 5:1) than an insult (1 Kgs 22:24; Isa 50:6; Lam 3:30; Matt 26:67).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

That is, God by his wrath: and in this diversity of words and high style, he expresseth how grievous the hand of God was upon him.

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

Image from a wild beast. So God is represented (Job 10:16).

who hateth me--rather, "and pursues me hard." Job would not ascribe "hatred" to God (Psa 50:22).

mine enemy--rather, "he sharpens, &c., as an enemy" (Psa 7:12). Darts wrathful glances at me, like a foe (Job 13:24).

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

Verse 9. He teareth me in his wrath] Who the person is that is spoken of in this verse, and onward to the end of the fourteenth, has been a question on which commentators have greatly differed. Some think God, others Eliphaz, is intended: I think neither. Probably God permitted Satan to show himself to Job, and the horrible form which he and his demons assumed increased the misery under which Job had already suffered so much. All the expressions, from this to the end of the fourteenth verse, may be easily understood on this principle; e.g., Job 16:9: "He (Satan) gnasheth upon me with his teeth; mine enemy sharpeneth his eyes upon me." Job 16:10: "They (demons) have gaped on me with their mouth;-they have gathered themselves together against me." Job 16:11: "God hath delivered me to the ungodly, (עויל avil, to the EVIL ONE,) and turned me over into the hands of the wicked." He hath abandoned me to be tortured by the tempter and his host.

If we consider all these expressions as referring to Job's three friends, we must, in that case, acknowledge that the figures are all strained to an insufferable height, so as not to be justified by any figure of speech.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(9) He teareth me in his wrath.—Terrible as the language is that Job has used against God, he seems here almost to exceed it, for he calls Him his adversary. It is hardly possible not to understand the expression of God, for though he immediately speaks of his friends, yet just afterwards he openly mentions God.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

9. Picture of God’s hostility to him. The figure is that of a beast of prey.

who hateth me] lit. and hateth me, or, and is hostile to me, i. e. assaileth me. The picture of the lion-like assailant, his rending fury, and gnashing teeth, and flashing eyes, is graphic.

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.

They have gaped upon me with their mouth,.... Here Job speaks of the instruments which God suffered to use him ill; and he has respect to his friends who came with open mouth against him, loading him with calumnies and reproaches, laying charges to him he was not conscious of, and treating him with scorn and contempt, which such a gesture is sometimes a token of, Lam 3:46; and in which manner also Christ was used by men, on whom the reproach of them that reproached God and his people fell, and who exhibited false charges against him of various sorts; and he was the reproach of men and the contempt of the people, who laughed him to scorn, opened their mouths in derision; they shot out the lip and shook the head, and mocked and scoffed at him; yea, "they gaped upon him with their mouth as a ravening and a roaring lion", Psa 22:6; to which the allusion is here, when they cried out themselves and called upon others to join them, saying, "Crucify him, crucify him", Luk 23:21,

they have smitten me on the cheek reproachfully; to be smitten on the cheek is a reproach itself, and is a suffering not very patiently endured. Hence Christ, to teach his followers patience, advised when they were smitten on the one cheek to turn the other, that is, to take the blow patiently; and it is not the smart of the stroke that is so much regarded as the shame of it, the affront given, and the indignity offered; see Co2 11:20; so that the phrase may be taken for reproaching him; and indeed it may be rendered, "they have smitten on the cheek with reproach" (a); they reproached him, which was the same as if they had smitten him on the cheek; they smote him with their tongues, as Jeremiah's enemies smote him, Jer 18:18; they threw the dirt of scandal and calumny at him, and which is the common lot of God's people; and though since they are reproached for Christ's sake, for the Gospel's sake, and for righteousness sake, they should not be disturbed at that; but rather reckon themselves happy, as they are said to be, and bind these reproaches about their necks as chains of gold, and esteem them greater riches than all the treasures of Egypt. This was literally true of Job's antitype, the Messiah, for as it was foretold of him that he should give his cheek to those that plucked off the hair, and they should smite the Judge of Israel with a rod upon his cheek, Isa 50:6, so this was done unto him by the servants of the high priest in his hall, and by others, Mat 26:67;

they have gathered themselves together against me; Job's friends got together in order to visit him and comfort him, but it proved otherwise, and he viewed it in no other light than as a combination against him: the words may be rendered, "they filled themselves against me" (b); their hearts with wrath and anger, as the Targum; their mouths with reproaches and calumnies, and their eyes with pleasure and delight, and satisfaction at his miseries and afflictions; and so the Vulgate Latin version,

"they are satiated with my punishments;''

though rather this may respect the high spirits they were in, the boldness and even impudence, as Job interpreted it, they showed in their conduct towards him, their hearts being swelled with pride and haughtiness and passion (c); see Est 7:5; or else their numbers that came against him; so Mr. Broughton renders the words, "they came by full troops upon me"; Job's three friends, being great personages, very probably brought a large retinue and train of servants with them; who, observing their master's conduct, behaved in an indecent manner towards him themselves, to whom he may have respect, Job 30:1; this was verified in Christ his antitype, whom Judas, with a multitude of men, with swords and staves, even with a band of soldiers, came to apprehend in the garden; and when Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and people of Israel, were gathered against him to do what God had determined should be done, Mat 26:46.

(a) "cum opprobrio", Beza, Vatablus, Drusius; so Schmidt, Michaelis, Schultens; "with reproaches", Broughton. (b) "impleverunt sese", De Dieu. (c) Vid. De Dieu in loc.

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

He teareth me in his wrath - The language here is all taken from the ferocity of wild beasts; and the idea is, that his enemy had come upon him as a lion seizes upon its prey. Rosenmuller, Reiske, and some others suppose that this refers to God. Cocceius refers it to Satan. Schultens, Dr. Good, and some others, to Eliphaz, as the leading man among his adversaries. I have no doubt that this is the true reference. The connection seems to demand this; and we ought not to suppose that Job would charge this upon God, unless there is the clearest evidence. The whole passage is a description of the manner in which Job supposed his friends had come upon him. He says they had attacked him like wild beasts. Yet it must be admitted that he sometimes attributes these feelings to God, and says that he came upon him like a roaring lion see Job 10:16-17.

Who hateth me - Or rather, “and persecutes me, or is become my adversary,” for so the word used here (שׂטם śâṭam) means; see the notes at Job 30:21.

He gnasheth upon me with his teeth - As an enraged wild animal does when about to seize upon its prey. A similar figure occurs in Otway, in his “Orphan:”

- For my Castalio’s false;

False as the wind, the water, or the weather:

Cruel as tigers o’er their trembling prey:

I feel him in my breast, he tears my heart,

And at each sigh he drinks the gushing blood.

And so Homer, when he describes the wrath of Achilles as he armed himself to avenge the death of Patroclus, mentions among other signs of wrath his gnashing his teeth:

Τοῦ καὶ ὀδόντων μὲν καναχὴ πέλε.

Tou kai odontōn men kanachē pele.

Iliad xix. 364.

So Virgil describes his hero as

furens animis, dentibus infrendens.

Aeneid viii. 228.

Mine enemy sharpeneth his eyes upon me - Looks fiercely; watches me narrowly - as an animal does his victim when about to seize upon it. The image is probably drawn from the intense gaze of the lion when about to pounce upon his prey. “He darts piercing looks at me; or looks at me with a fierce and penetrating eye.”

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

Against me, in your opinion, as if I were guilty of lies. Hebrew, "my leanness bears witness, my falsehood has risen up against me and answered me to my face;" which may be understood in the same sense as the argument of Eliphaz. He is designated by the false speaker; (Calmet) unless we explain it of the wrinkles, which falsely indicated that Job was advanced in years, or of the malady; whence it was gathered that he must be a criminal. (Menochius) --- Protestants, "my leanness riseth up." (Haydock)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

He teareth me in his wrath, Heb. his wrath teareth me in pieces, as a lion doth his prey.

Who hateth me, Heb. and he hateth me, i.e. he pursueth me with a deadly hatred and rage. Or, and he is become mine enemy; or, he sets himself against me with all his might; or, he treats me like an implacable enemy. He gnasheth upon me with his teeth; which is a gesture and sign of extreme anger and fury, as Psa 35:16; 37:12; Lam 2:16; as elsewhere of grievous pain, as Luk 13:28.

Mine enemy; either,

1. God, who of a friend is now become my implacable enemy. Or,

2. Eliphaz, who deals with me more like an enemy than a friend.

Sharpeneth his eyes upon me, i.e. looks upon me with a fierce and sparkling eye, as enraged persons uso to do.

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

He teareth me in his wrath, who hateth me; literally, his wrath teareth" and he hateth me. God treats Job as severely as if he hated him. That he is actually hated of God Job does not believe; otherwise he would long since have ceased to call upon him, and pour out his heart before him. He gnasheth upon me with his teeth. (comp. Psa_35:16 Psa_37:12) Mine enemy (or rather, adversary) sharpeneth his eyes upon me; i.e. makes me a whetstone on which he sharpens his angry glances.

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

Eyes - Looks upon me with a fierce, and sparkling eye, as enraged persons use to do.

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

God has torn me in his wrath and persecuted me ... as he tears me apart

This speaks of God causing Job pain as if God were a wild animal and Job were his prey that he was killing. AT: "Because God is very angry with me, it is as though he were a wild animal that tore my body apart with his teeth because he was my enemy" (See: Metaphor)

my enemy

Job refers to God as his "enemy" as he describes how he has caused him great pain.

fastens his eyes on me

This is an idiom. AT: "glares at me" (See: Idiom)

People have gaped with open mouth

To "gape" means to stare in amazement with open mouth.

translationWords

wrath

persecute

people group

reproach

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

My Adversary Satan is the adversary.

sharpens Heb. ילטוש, sharpens, like (Gen. 4:22), “who sharpened (לטש) every instrument etc.”

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.