Job 16:10
in Job 16They open their mouths against me and strike my cheeks with contempt; they join together against me.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
They have gaped upon me with their mouth; They have smitten me upon the cheek reproachfully: They gather themselves together against me.
KJV
They have gaped upon me with their mouth; they have smitten me upon the cheek reproachfully; they have gathered themselves together against me.
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This verse in Job 16
Commentary
10 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
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.
This site's exposition
His anger has torn me and opposed me
on Job 16:9-11
Job pictures God as a beast of prey who "gnashes His teeth at me", and "My adversary pierces me with His eyes" like a hunter. Delitzsch reads this as honest but partial sight, since the court of chapters 1 and 2 is hidden from Job.
This site's exposition
strike my cheeks with contempt
The friends open their mouths against Job just as God opposed him in verse 9, as Jamieson, Fausset and Brown observe. Barnes notes the shift to all the friends together. Henry, with many ancient writers, sees Christ here, struck on the cheek.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church3 voices
A commentator
Gregory the DialogistMorals on the Book of Job, Book XIII · Written before 604.
proposed
Ver. 10. My wrinkles speak a testimony against me. What is denoted by 'wrinkles,' but doubledealing? and so all they are wrinkles of Holy Church, who therein live in doubledealing, who avouch the faith with their voices, disown it by their works. These persons doubtless in time of peace, because they see that with the powers of this world that faith is an honour, falsely feign themselves of the number of believers; but when a sudden storm of adversity disquiets Holy Church, they thereupon shew what they are going after in their heart of unbelief. Now these 'wrinkles' Holy Church has not in her Elect, in that they have not the art to shew one thing in themselves on the outside, and to hold another withinside. Whence the great Preacher says truly, That He might present it to Himself a glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle. For she 'has not spot or wrinkle,' in that she is without both foulness of practice, and doubleness of tongue; but because now she holds within the bosom of the faith numbers even of the children of perdition, when the time of persecution blazes out, she bears those very persons for her enemies, whom she seemed before to be nourishing with words of preaching. Therefore let her say, My wrinkles speak a testimony against me; i.e. those very persons, while they persecute, inveigh against me, who now, being fixed in my body, do not mind in themselves the wickedness of their doubledealing. Whence it is rightly added yet further; And the liar is lifted up against my face, gainsaying me. Even in her time of peace Holy Church is subject to the 'liar,' in that there are numbers in her, who disbelieve in the promise of eternal life, and yet falsely feign themselves to be of the faithful. […]
So he continues, "They spread their jaws about me," i.e. my friends instigated by my enemy. He interprets this saying, "they struck my jaw with their reproaches." For one is said to strike one in the face when he utters a reproach to his face. …
A commentator
Gregory the DialogistMorals on the Book of Job, Book XIII · Written before 604.
proposed
Ver. 10. They have gaped upon me with their mouth, reproaching me.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Herein Job was a type of Christ, as many of the ancients make him: these very expressions are used in the predictions of his sufferings, Ps. xxii. 13 , They gaped upon me with their mouths; and ( Mic. v. 1 ), They shall smite the Judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek, which was literally fulfilled, Matt. xxvi.
They have gaped upon me with their mouth,....
2 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
He still holds fast his integrity, concerning which he appeals to God's righteous judgment from the unrighteous censures of his friends,
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
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].
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
God delivers me to a fool The Holy One, blessed be He, delivered me to a fool, a scorner, a mocker, to be scornful of me.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 7 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
9 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| פָּעֲר֬וּ | paaru | people have opened wide | H6473 → | |
| עָלַ֨י׀ | ʾalai | on me | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| בְּפִיהֶ֗ם | befihem | <in> mouth their | H6310 → | 498 times |
| בְּ֭חֶרְפָּה | becherpah | in scorn | H2781 → | |
| הִכּ֣וּ | hiku | they have struck | H5221 → | 499 times |
| לְחָיָ֑י | lechayai | cheeks my | H3895 → | |
| יַ֝֗חַד | yachad | together | H3162 → | 141 times |
| עָלַ֥י | ʾalai | on me | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| יִתְמַלָּאֽוּן׃ | yitmalaun | they mass themselves ! | H4390 → | 249 times |
פָּעֲר֬וּpeople have opened wide
paaruH6473 →
עָלַ֨י׀on me
ʾalaiH5921 →5755 times
בְּפִיהֶ֗ם<in> mouth their
befihemH6310 →498 times
בְּ֭חֶרְפָּהin scorn
becherpahH2781 →
הִכּ֣וּthey have struck
hikuH5221 →499 times
לְחָיָ֑יcheeks my
lechayaiH3895 →
יַ֝֗חַדtogether
yachadH3162 →141 times
עָלַ֥יon me
ʾalaiH5921 →5755 times
יִתְמַלָּאֽוּן׃they mass themselves !
yitmalaunH4390 →249 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Isaiah 50:6I offered My back to those who struck Me, and My cheeks to those who tore out My beard. I did not hide My face from scorn and spittle.
it leads to
- Matthew 26:67
Then they spit in His face and struck Him. Others slapped Him
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- Mark 14:65
Then some of them began to spit on Him. They blindfolded Him, struck Him with their fists, and said to Him, “Prophesy!” And the officers received Him with slaps in His face.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Mark 15:19
They kept striking His head with a staff and spitting on Him. And they knelt down and bowed before Him.
- Luke 22:63–64
The men who were holding Jesus began to mock Him and beat Him.
- Matthew 27:30
Then they spit on Him and took the staff and struck Him on the head repeatedly.
- Matthew 26:67
Through
Lamentations 3:30Let him offer his cheek to the one who would strike him; let him be filled with reproach.
it leads to
- Isaiah 50:6
I offered My back to those who struck Me, and My cheeks to those who tore out My beard. I did not hide My face from scorn and spittle.
- Micah 5:1
Now, O daughter of troops, mobilize your troops; for a siege is laid against us! With a rod they will strike the cheek of the judge of Israel.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 50:6
Through
Acts 23:2At this, the high priest Ananias ordered those standing near Paul to strike him on the mouth.
it leads to
- John 18:22
When Jesus had said this, one of the officers standing nearby slapped Him in the face and said, “Is this how You answer the high priest?”
- John 18:22
About Job
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Book of Job; Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book XIII; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.