The Meaning of Job 16:10 Explained

Job 16:10

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

YLT: They have gaped on me with their mouth, In reproach they have smitten my cheeks, Together against me they set themselves.

Darby: They gape upon me with their mouth; they smite my cheeks reproachfully; they range themselves together against me.

ASV: They have gaped upon me with their mouth; They have smitten me upon the cheek reproachfully: They gather themselves together against me.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

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

What does Job 16:10 Mean?

Context Summary

Job 16:1-22 - Turning From "miserable Comforters" Unto God
With bitterness the sufferer turns from his comforters to God. As the r.v. makes clear, he says that if he were in their place and they in his, instead of joining words together and evincing the pride of the immaculate, he would set himself to speak strengthening words and to assuage their grief by tender sympathy.
He compares his pains to the attack of a wild beast, Job 16:7-14; and from this he proceeds to describe the anguish of his grief, Job 16:15-20. But toward the end of the chapter a new thought begins to shape itself; and from his lowest despair he catches sight of a Vindicator and a vindication that must someday be his. Job 16:21 should be read as in the r.v., margin. Job wanted a son of man to plead for him; and his prayer has been more than answered in the Son of man, who pleads for us "not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an indissoluble life," Hebrews 7:16. "O Lord, thou hast pleaded the causes of my soul," Lamentations 3:58. [source]

Chapter Summary: Job 16

1  Job reproves his friends for unmercifulness
17  He maintains his innocence

What do the individual words in Job 16:10 mean?

They gape at me with their mouth reproachfully they strike me on the cheek together against me they gather
פָּעֲר֬וּ עָלַ֨י ׀ בְּפִיהֶ֗ם בְּ֭חֶרְפָּה הִכּ֣וּ לְחָיָ֑י יַ֝֗חַד עָלַ֥י יִתְמַלָּאֽוּן

פָּעֲר֬וּ  They  gape 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person common plural
Root: פָּעַר  
Sense: to open wide, gape.
עָלַ֨י ׀  at  me 
Parse: Preposition, first person common singular
Root: עַל 
Sense: upon, on the ground of, according to, on account of, on behalf of, concerning, beside, in addition to, together with, beyond, above, over, by, on to, towards, to, against.
בְּפִיהֶ֗ם  with  their  mouth 
Parse: Preposition-b, Noun, masculine singular construct, third person masculine plural
Root: פֶּה  
Sense: mouth.
בְּ֭חֶרְפָּה  reproachfully 
Parse: Preposition-b, Noun, feminine singular
Root: חֶרְפָּה  
Sense: reproach, scorn.
הִכּ֣וּ  they  strike 
Parse: Verb, Hifil, Perfect, third person common plural
Root: נָכָה  
Sense: to strike, smite, hit, beat, slay, kill.
לְחָיָ֑י  me  on  the  cheek 
Parse: Noun, fdc, first person common singular
Root: לְחִי  
Sense: jaw, cheek.
יַ֝֗חַד  together 
Parse: Adverb
Root: יַחַד 
Sense: union, unitedness adv.
עָלַ֥י  against  me 
Parse: Preposition, first person common singular
Root: עַל 
Sense: upon, on the ground of, according to, on account of, on behalf of, concerning, beside, in addition to, together with, beyond, above, over, by, on to, towards, to, against.
יִתְמַלָּאֽוּן  they  gather 
Parse: Verb, Hitpael, Imperfect, third person masculine plural, Paragogic nun
Root: מָלֵא 
Sense: to fill, be full.