How often is the lamp of the wicked put out? Does disaster come upon them? Does God, in His anger, apportion destruction?
Parallel translations
- WEB “How often is it that the lamp of the wicked is put out, that their calamity comes on them, that God distributes sorrows in his anger?
- KJV How oft is the candle of the wicked put out! and how oft cometh their destruction upon them! God distributeth sorrows in his anger.
- NKJV “How often is the lamp of the wicked put out? How often does their destruction come upon them, The sorrows God distributes in His anger?
- NASB ¶“How often is the lamp of the wicked put out, Or does their disaster fall on them? Does God apportion destruction in His anger?
- NLT “Yet the light of the wicked never seems to be extinguished. Do they ever have trouble? Does God distribute sorrows to them in anger?
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Job asks how often the wicked's 'lamp' is really snuffed out, challenging the friends' claim that disaster regularly strikes them. The implied answer is: far less often than they assert.
Overview
Using the proverbial image of the lamp going out (cf. Prov 13:9), Job questions the frequency of the judgments his friends describe. He does not deny that God judges sin, but disputes the claim that it happens predictably in this life. This honest reckoning with reality keeps believers from offering false comfort built on oversimplified formulas.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Job 18:5–6Indeed, the lamp of the wicked is extinguished; the flame of his fire does not glow.
- Prov 20:20Whoever curses his father or mother, his lamp will be extinguished in deepest darkness.
- Prov 13:9The light of the righteous shines brightly, but the lamp of the wicked is extinguished.
- Rom 2:8–9But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow wickedness, there will be wrath and anger.
- Ps 32:10Many are the sorrows of the wicked, but loving devotion surrounds him who trusts in the LORD.
- Prov 24:20For the evil man has no future; the lamp of the wicked will be extinguished.
- Luke 12:46The master of that servant will come on a day he does not expect and at an hour he does not anticipate. Then he will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the unbelievers.
- Matt 25:8The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’
- Ps 90:7–9For we are consumed by Your anger and terrified by Your wrath.
- Job 18:18He is driven from light into darkness and is chased from the inhabited world.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Job's cry for a mediator who can lay his hand on both God and man, and his confidence that 'my Redeemer lives' and will stand on the earth, reaches forward to Jesus the living Redeemer.
How Job 21:17 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.