How oft is the candle of the wicked put out! and how oft cometh their destruction upon them! God distributeth sorrows in his anger.
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?
- BSB How often is the lamp of the wicked put out? Does disaster come upon them? Does God, in His anger, apportion destruction?
- 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 18:5–6Yea, the light of the wicked shall be put out, and the spark of his fire shall not shine.
- Prov 20:20Whoso curseth his father or his mother, his lamp shall be put out in obscure darkness.
- Prov 13:9The light of the righteous rejoiceth: but the lamp of the wicked shall be put out.
- Rom 2:8–9But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath,
- Ps 32:10Many sorrows shall be to the wicked: but he that trusteth in the LORD, mercy shall compass him about.
- Prov 24:20For there shall be no reward to the evil man; the candle of the wicked shall be put out.
- Luke 12:46The lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in sunder, and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers.
- Matt 25:8And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out.
- Ps 90:7–9For we are consumed by thine anger, and by thy wrath are we troubled.
- Job 18:18He shall be driven from light into darkness, and chased out of the 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.