Job 16:10

They open their mouths against me and strike my cheeks with contempt; they join together against me.

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — Job speaks to his three friends and to God after describing how divine opposition has left him physically and emotionally exposed. He addresses them from a moment of acute isolation where former allies have turned into coordinated accusers.

The words — The Hebrew פָּעֲרוּ (pa'aru) literally means "they open wide," describing how adversaries gape at him in scorn. The term חֶרְפָּה (cherpah) denotes "contempt," marking the verbal and physical humiliation Job endures.

The thread — This pattern of assembled mockery appears in Psalms 35:15, where enemies gather in glee at the psalmist's stumble. Similar imagery of open jaws and struck cheeks echoes in Psalms 22:13 and Isaiah 50:6.

Why it lands — The text demands recognition that suffering often arrives through coordinated human hostility, not merely divine silence. It asks the reader to observe how contempt operates as a physical and social weapon before attributing meaning to the pain.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

פָּעֲר֬וּpa.'a.Rupeople have opened wide עָלַ֨י׀'a.La/ion/ me בְּפִיהֶ֗םbe./fi./Hem<in>/ mouth/ their בְּ֭חֶרְפָּהBe./cher.pahin/ scorn הִכּ֣וּhi.Kuthey have struck לְחָיָ֑יle.cha.Ya/icheeks/ my יַ֝֗חַדYa.chadtogether עָלַ֥י'a.La/ion/ me יִתְמַלָּאֽוּן׃yit.ma.la.'U/nthey mass themselves/ !

King James Version

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

Cross-references

Psalms 35:15 But when I stumbled, they assembled in glee; they gathered together against me. Assailants I did not know slandered me without ceasing.
Psalms 22:13 They open their jaws against me like lions that roar and maul.
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.
Lamentations 3:30 Let him offer his cheek to the one who would strike him; let him be filled with reproach.
Psalms 22:16 For dogs surround me; a band of evil men encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet.
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.
Acts 23:2 At this, the high priest Ananias ordered those standing near Paul to strike him on the mouth.
1 Kings 22:24 Then Zedekiah son of Chenaanah went up, struck Micaiah in the face, and demanded, “Which way did the Spirit of the LORD go when He departed from me to speak with you?”
Psalms 94:21 They band together against the righteous and condemn the innocent to death.
2 Corinthians 11:20 In fact, you even put up with anyone who enslaves you or exploits you or takes advantage of you or exalts himself or strikes you in the face.