Albert Barnes Commentary Job 30:10

"They abhor me, they stand aloof from me, And spare not to spit in my face." — Job 30:10 (ASV)

They abhor me — Hebrew, They regard me as abominable.

They flee far from me — Even such an impious and low-born race will now have nothing to do with me. They would consider it no honor to be associated with me but would keep as far from me as possible.

And spare not to spit in my face — Margin, “withhold not spittle from.” Noyes renders this “Before my face;” and so Luther, Wemyss, Umbreit, and Prof. Lee. The Hebrew may mean either to spit in the face or to spit “in the presence” of anyone. It is quite immaterial which interpretation is adopted, since in the view of people in Eastern cultures, the one was considered about the same as the other.

In their notions of courtesy and urbanity, a person who spits in the presence of another commits an insult of the same kind as they would if they spat directly on that person. Are they not right? Should it not be so considered everywhere? Yet how different their views are from the more refined notions of Westerners, who consider themselves civilized! In America, more than in any other land, offences of this kind are frequent and gross.

Foreigners complain about this aspect of our conduct more than any other, and with more justice; and although we boast of our intelligence and refinement, we should gain much if, in this respect, we would sit down at the feet of a Bedouin Arab and incorporate his views into our maxims of politeness.