19:1-7 Job's friends blamed him as a wicked man, because he was so afflicted; here he describes their unkindness, showing that what they condemned was capable of excuse. Harsh language from friends, greatly adds to the weight of afflictions: yet it is best not to lay it to heart, lest we harbour resentment. Rather let us look to Him who endured the contradiction of sinners against himself, and was treated with far more cruelty than Job was, or we can be.

3. These—prefixed emphatically to numbers (Ge 27:36).

ten—that is, often (Ge 31:7).

make yourselves strange—rather, "stun me" [Gesenius]. (See Margin for a different meaning [that is, "harden yourselves against me"]).