his archers surround me. He slashes open my kidneys and does not spare; he pours out my gall on the ground.
Job's complaint is here as bitter as any where in all his discourses, and he is at a stand whether to smother it or to give it vent. Sometimes the one and sometimes the other is a relief to the afflicted, according as the temper or the circumstances are; but Job found help by neither, Job 16:6. 1.
Commenting on Job 16:6-16
He breaketh me with breach upon breach,.... Upon his substance, his family, and the health of his body, which came thick and fast, one after another; referring to the report of those things brought by one messenger upon the back of another, see Eze 7:26; he runneth upon me like a giant; with great fury and fierceness, with great strength and courage, with great speed...
his archers--The image of Job 16:12 is continued. God, in making me His "mark," is accompanied by the three friends, whose words wound like sharp arrows. gall--put for a vital part; so the liver (Lam 2:11).