And these things hast thou hid in thine heart - This may either refer to the arrangements by which God had made him, or to the calamities which he had brought upon him. Most expositors suppose that the latter is intended. Such is the opinion of Rosenmuller, Good, Noyes, and Scott. According to this the idea is, that God had purposed in his heart to bring these calamities upon him. They were a part of his counsel and design. To hide in the heart, or to lay up in the heart, is a phrase expressive of a secret purpose. I see no reason to confine it, however, to the calamities which Job had experienced. It may refer to all the plans and doings of the Most High, to which Job had just referred. All his acts in the creation and preservation of man, were a part of his secret counsel, He had formed the plan in his heart, and was now executing it in the various dispensations of his providence.
I know that this is with thee - That all this is a part of thy purpose. It has its origin in thee, and is according to thy counsel. This is the language of piety, recognizing the great truth that all things are in accordance with the purposes of God, or that his plans embrace all events - a doctrine which Job most assuredly held.

And these things hast thou hid in thine heart - Thou hast had many gracious purposes concerning me which thou hast not made known; but thy visitations and mercy are sufficient proofs of kindness towards me; though for purposes unknown to me thou hast sorely afflicted me, and continuest to treat me as an enemy.

And these [things] hast thou hid in thine heart: I know (o) that this [is] with thee.
(o) Though I am not fully able to comprehend these things, yet I must confess that it is so.

And these things thou hast hid in thine heart,.... Meaning, either the mercies and favours he had indulged him with; these he seemed to conceal and suppress the memory of, as if they had never been, by a different conduct and behaviour; or rather, these he had laid up in his mind and memory, and had full knowledge and remembrance of; though he dealt with him in the manner he did, he could not forget his former favours to him, which, when compared with his present dealings, were very unlike: or, it may be best to understand these things of his afflictions and troubles, which, notwithstanding his being the work of his hand so curiously formed, and notwithstanding all his temporal and spiritual mercies, he had in his heart purposed, and decreed in his mind, and laid up in his treasures, in order to be brought forth in due time, and to exercise him with; these were the things he had appointed for him, and many such things were with him, as it follows:
I know that this is with thee; either that he was not ignorant and forgetful of what he had done in a kind way; or rather, that he had this in his mind, and it was an eternal purpose of his to afflict him in the manner he had done: some connect these words with Job 10:14, as if the sense was, these are what thou hast hid in thine heart, and this is what I know is with thee, "if I sin", &c. (s).
(s) So Coceeius, Schmidt.

is with thee--was Thy purpose. All God's dealings with Job in his creation, preservation, and present afflictions were part of His secret counsel (Psalm 139:16; Acts 15:18; Ecclesiastes 3:11).

13 And such Thou hast hidden in Thy heart,
I perceive that this was in Thy mind:
14 If I should sin, Thou wouldst take note of it,
And not acquit me of my iniquity.
15 If I should act wickedly, woe unto me!
And were I righteous, I should not lift up my head,
Being full of shame and conscious of my misery.
16 And were I to raise it, Thou wouldst hunt me as a lion,
And ever display on me Thy wondrous power,
17 Thou wouldst ever bring fresh witnesses against me,
And increase Thy wrath against me,
I should be compelled to withstand continuously advancing troops and a host.
This manifestation of divine goodness which Job has experienced from the earliest existence seems to him, as he compares his present lot of suffering with it, to have served as a veil to a hidden purpose of a totally opposite character. That purpose - to make this life, which has been so graciously called into existence and guarded thus far, the object of the severest and most condemning visitation - is now manifest. Both אלּה and זאת refer to what is to follow: עמּך זאת used of the thought conceived, the purpose cherished, as Job 23:14; Job 27:11. All that follows receives a future colouring from this principal clause, "This is what Thou hadst designed to do," which rules the strophe. Thus Job 10:14 is to be rendered: If I had sinned, Thou wouldst have kept me in remembrance, properly custodies me, which is here equivalent to custoditurus eras me. שׁמר, with the acc. of the person, according to Psalm 130:3 (where it is followed by the acc. of the sin), is to be understood: to keep any one in remembrance, i.e., to mark him as sinful (Hirzel). This appears more appropriate than rigide observaturus eras me (Schlottm.). ושׁמרתני, according to Ges. 121, 4, might be taken for לי ושׁמרת (viz., חטּאתי); but this is unnecessary, and we have merely translated it thus for the sake of clearness. His infirmities must not be passed by unpunished; and if he should act wickedly (רשׁע, of malignant sin, in distinction from חטא), woe unto him (comp. οἰαί μοι, 1-Corinthians 9:16). According to the construction referred to above, וצדקתי is praet. hypotheticum (Ges. 155, 4, a); and the conclusion follows without waw apodosis: If I had acted rightly, I should not have raised my head, being full of shame and conscious of my misery. The adjectives are not in apposition to ראשׁי (Bttcher), but describe the condition into which he would be brought, instead of being able (according to the ethical principle, Genesis 4:7) to raise his head cheerfully. ראה constr. of ראה, as שׂבע or שׂבע. It is needless, with Pisc., Hirz., Bttch., and Ewald, to alter it to ראה, since ראה is verbal adjective like יפה, נכה, קשׁה. Moreover, וּראה cannot be imperative (Rosenm., De Wette); for although imperatives, joined by waw to sentences of a different construction, do occur (Psalm 77:2; 2-Samuel 21:3), such an exclamation would destroy the connection and tone of the strophe in the present case.

Hid - Both thy former favours and thy present frowns. Both are according to thy own will, and therefore undoubtedly consistent, however they seem. When God does what we cannot account for, we are bound to believe, there are good reasons for it hid in his heart. It is not with us, or in our reach to assign the cause; but I know this is with thee.