Job 21:17

_HOW OFT IS THE CANDLE OF THE WICKED PUT OUT! AND HOW OFT COMETH THEIR DESTRUCTION UPON THEM! GOD DISTRIBUTETH SORROWS IN HIS ANGER._ Job in this whole passage, down to verse 21, quotes the assertion of the friends as to the short continuance of the sinner's prosperity, not his own sentiments. In Job 21:22 he proceeds to refute them. "How oft is the candle" (lamp), etc., quoting Bildad's sentiment (Job 18:5; Job 18:12), in order to question its truth (cf. Matthew 25:8). HOW OFT - "God distributeth," etc., alluding to Job 20:23;...

17-26 Job had described the prosperity of wicked people; in these verses he opposes this to what his friends had maintained about their certain ruin in this life. He reconciles this to the holiness and justice of God. Even while they prosper thus, they are light and worthless, of no account with God, or with wise men. In the height of their pomp and power, there is but a step between them and ruin. Job refers the difference Providence makes between one wicked man and another, into the wisdom of God. He is Judge of all the earth, and he will do right. So vast is the disproportion between time and eternity, that if hell be the lot of every sinner at last, it makes little difference if one goes singing thither, and another sighing. If one wicked man die in a palace, and another in a dungeon, the worm that dies not, and the fire that is not quenched, will be the same to them. Thus difference...

Verse Job 21:17. _HOW OFT IS THE CANDLE OF THE WICKED PUT OUT?_] The _candle_ or _lamp_ is often used, both as the emblem of _prosperity_ and of _posterity_. Oftentimes the rejoicing of the wicked is short; and, not unfrequently, his _seed_ is cut off from the earth. The _root_ is dried up, and the _branch_ is withered. _GOD DISTRIBUTETH SORROWS IN HIS ANGER._] He must be incensed against those who refuse to _know, serve_, and _pray_ unto him. In his anger, therefore, he portions out to each his due share of misery, vexation, and wo....

HOW OFT IS THE CANDLE OF THE WICKED PUT OUT? - Margin, “lamp.” A light, or a lamp, was an image of prosperity. There is, probably, an allusion here to what had been maintained by Bildad, Job 18:5, that the light of the wicked would be extinguished, and their dwellings made dark; see the notes at those verses. Job replies to this by asking how often it occurred. He inquires whether it was a frequent thing. By this, he implies that it was not universal; that it was a less frequent occurrence than they supposed. The meaning is, “How often does it, in fact, happen that the light of the wicked is extinguished, and that God distributes sorrows among them in his anger? Much less frequently than you suppose, for he bestows upon many of them tokens of abundant prosperity.” In this manner, by an appeal to “fact” and “observation,” Job aims to convince them that their position wa

EXPOSITION JOB 21:1 Job answers Zophar, as he had answered Bildad, in a single not very lengthy chapter. After a few caustic introductory remarks (verses 2-4), he takes up the challenge which Zophar had thrown out, respecting the certain punishment, in this life, of the wicked (Job 20:4), and maintains, "in language of unparalleled boldness'' (Cook), the converse of the proposition. The wicked, he says, live, grow old, attain to great power, have a numerous and flourishing offspring, prosper, grow rich, spend their time in feasting and jollity—nay, openly renounce God and decline to pray to him—yet suffer no harm, and when they die, go down to the grave without suffering, "in a moment" (verses 5-15). To the suggestion that from time to time they are cut off suddenly in a signal wa

HOW OFT IS THE CANDLE OF THE WICKED PUT OUT?.... Job here returns, as Jarchi observes, to his former account of the constant and continued prosperity of wicked men; and puts questions tending to prove the same. Bildad had said, that the light and candle of the wicked would be put out, Job 18:5. Job, referring to this, asks how often this is the case; meaning, by the candle of the wicked, not his soul or spirit, which cannot be put out, or become extinct, as to be no more; nor the light of nature in his soul, though that may be put out in a great measure, and he be given up to judicial blindness and hardness of heart; but either his natural life, which, like a candle, burns for a while, and then becomes extinct, or rather his outward prosperity and happiness: if the question relates to the former, to the natural life of wicked men, it is not whether they die, that is no question; all die,...

CHAPTER 21 JOB'S REPLY _ 1. Hear my solemn words--then mock on (Job 21:1)_ 2. His testimony concerning the experiences of the wicked (Job 21:7) 3. Your answers are nothing but falsehoods (Job 21:27) Job 21:1. This answer shows that Job gets the upper hand over his accusing friends in this controversy. In a masterly way he meets their arguments. He wants them to hear diligently, and if they choose, after he has spoken, they may mock on. He is not complaining to man, or making his appeal to these human friends. He begins to look for another helper, even to God....

JOB 21. JOB'S REPLY. Zophar was graphic and vigorous, but had nothing to say. Nevertheless his speech suggests to Job his next argument. The facts are quite the opposite of what Zophar has said: the wicked do not die prematurely. Is the doctrine of Providence true? JOB 21:1. Job invites the friends to listen in silence (Job 21:5) at the terrible truths he has to disclose (Job 21:6). In Job 21:4 read of man (_mg.) :_ the meaning is that Job complains of God. JOB 21:7. The prosperity of the godless. In...

HOW OFT. ? Figure of speech _Erotesis._ App-6. These words must be repeated to supply the _Ellipsis_ at the beginning of Job 21:18 and Job 21:19, as in middle of Job 21:17. CANDLE. lamp. WICKED. lawless. Hebrew. _rasha._ App-44. GOD. Supply "How oft He", &c, instead of _"God"._...

This great mystery of the prosperity of the wicked in God's providence Job now unfolds on both its sides: first, they and all belonging to them prosper, and they die in peace, although in conscious godlessness they bade the Almighty depart from them, Job 21:7; and second, negatively, examples of calamity befalling them are few, Job 21:17....