He hath also broken my teeth with gravel stones,.... With gritty bread, such as is made of corn ground with new millstones, the grit of which mixes with the flour; or with stony bread, as Seneca calls a benefit troublesome to others; with bread that has little stones mixed with it, by eating of which the teeth are broken, as Jarchi observes: the phrase signifies afflictions and troubles, which are very grievous and disagreeable, like gravel in the mouth, as sin in its effects often proves, Pr 20:17;he hath covered me with ashes; as mourners used to be; the word rendered "covered" is only used in this place.
Aben Ezra renders it, "he hath defiled me"; and Jarchi and Ben Melech, from the Misnah, "he hath pressed me", without measure; see Lu 6:38; and so the Targum,"he hath humbled me:''but the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and Arabic versions, render it, "he hath fed me with ashes"; which version is defended by Castel and Noldius , and best agrees with the preceding clause; the sense is the same with Ps 102:9.
"Pane lapidoso", Seneca De Beneficiis, l. 7. Lexic. Polyglott, col. 1791. Concordant. Ebr. Part. p. 168. No.