“How oft is the candle of the wicked put out! and how oft cometh their destruction upon them! God distributeth sorrows in his anger.”
"How often is the lamp of the wicked put out? How often comes their calamity upon them? How often does God distribute pains in his anger?" Job poses rhetorical questions. The lamp of the wicked is not put out—they enjoy light. Calamity is rare. God's anger does not distribute pain as the friends claim. The verse directly contradicts the friends' theology through rhetorical questioning.
Church Fathers on Job 21:17
How often shall their candle be put out? and how oft shall a flood come over them, and shall He divide sorrows in His fury? It often happens that the wicked man reckons the life of his children as a ‘candle,’ but when the son, that is loved overmuch, is taken away, what seemed the ‘light’ of the wicked is ‘put out.’ Often the wicked man reckons the credit of present honour his ‘candle,’ but, whilst, his dignity gone, he is cast down from his height, his candle is…
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
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