Job 16:10

“They have gaped upon me with their mouth, etc.] 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, (<250346>Lamentations 3:46 2:15); 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…”

“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].”

“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. return to 'Top of Page'”

“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, Psa 22:13. They gaped upon me with their mouths, and Mic 5:1. They shall smite the judge of Israel upon the check. Job 16:11”

“gaped: Psa 22:13, Psa 22:16, Psa 22:17, Psa 35:21; Luk 23:35, Luk 23:36 they have smitten: Kg1 22:24; Ch2 18:23; Isa 50:6; Lam 3:30; Mic 5:1; Mat 26:67; Joh 18:22; Act 23:2; Co2 11:20 gathered: Psa 35:15, Psa 94:21; Act 4:27 Job 16:11”

“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…”