Job 16:10

16:6-16 Here is a doleful representation of Job's grievances. What reason we have to bless God, that we are not making such complaints! Even good men, when in great troubles, have much ado not to entertain hard thoughts of God. Eliphaz had represented Job as unhumbled under his affliction: No, says Job, I know better things; the dust is now the fittest place for me. In this he reminds us of Christ, who was a man of sorrows, and pronounced those blessed that mourn, for they shall be comforted.

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, Lamentations 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", Psalm 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", Luke 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 2 Corinthians 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, Jeremiah 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.

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 Psalm 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 Psalm 22:8 ; Psalm 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 Lamentations 3:30 ; Micah 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.

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 Psalm 22:13 , Isaiah 57:4 , Micah 5:1 , Lamentations 3:30 ; cf. John 18:22 ; John 19:3 , Acts 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.

Verse 10. - 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 (see Psalm 22:13 ). They have smitten me upon the cheek reproachfully (comp. Micah 5:1 ; Matthew 27:30 ; Luke 22:64 ; John 18:22 ). They have gathered themselves together against me (see Psalm 35:15 , and compare, in illustration of the literal and historical sense, Job 30:1, 10-14 ). Job 16:10

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 (La 3:30; Mt 5:39). gathered themselves—"conspired unanimously" [Schuttens].

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, Psalm 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 Psalm 22:8 35:21 . Reproachfully; or, by reproach ; or in way of scorn and contempt; whereof such smiting was a sign, as 1 Kings 22:24 Lamentations 3:30 Micah 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 Ecclesiastes 8:11 Acts 5:3 .

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.