Job 21:17

“How often ¹  is the lamp of the wicked extinguished? How often does their ²  misfortune come upon them? How often does God apportion pain ³  to them ⁴  in his anger?

"Yet how often is the lamp of the wicked snuffed out? How often does calamity come upon them, the fate God allots in his anger?

"How often is the lamp of the wicked put out, Or does their calamity fall on them? Does God apportion destruction in His anger?

"Yet the wicked get away with it time and time again. They rarely have trouble, and God skips them when he distributes sorrows in his anger.

"Still, how often does it happen that the wicked fail, or disaster strikes, or they get their just deserts?

How frequently is the light of the evil-doers put out, or does trouble come on them? how frequently does his wrath take them with cords?

"How often is the lamp of the wicked put out? How often does calamity come upon them? How often does God distribute pains in his anger?

"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?

“How often ¹  is the lamp of the wicked extinguished? How often does their ²  misfortune come upon them? How often does God apportion pain ³  to them ⁴  in his anger?

¹ tn The interrogative “How often” occurs only with the first colon; it is supplied for smoother reading in the next two.

² tn The pronominal suffix is objective; it re-enforces the object of the preposition, “upon them.” The verb in the clause is בּוֹא (bo’) followed by עַל (’al), “come upon [or against],” may be interpreted as meaning attack or strike.

³ tn חֲבָלִים (khavalim) can mean “ropes” or “cords,” but that would not go with the verb “apportion” in this line. The meaning of “pangs (as in “birth-pangs”) seems to fit best here. The wider meaning would be “physical agony.”

⁴ tn The phrase “to them” is understood and thus is supplied in the translation for clarification.