Ayub 18:6

18:6 The light in his tent grows dark;

his lamp above him is extinguished. ¹ 

Ayub 21:17

How Often Do the Wicked Suffer?

21:17 “How often ²  is the lamp of the wicked extinguished?

How often does their ³  misfortune come upon them?

How often does God apportion pain ⁴  to them ⁵  in his anger?

Ayub 29:3

29:3 when ⁶  he caused ⁷  his lamp ⁸ 

to shine upon my head,

and by his light

I walked ⁹  through darkness; ¹⁰ 

[18:6]  ¹ tn The LXX interprets a little more precisely: “his lamp shall be put out with him.”

[18:6]  sn This thesis of Bildad will be questioned by Job in 21:17 – how often is the lamp of the wicked snuffed out?

[21:17]  ² tn The interrogative “How often” occurs only with the first colon; it is supplied for smoother reading in the next two.

[21:17]  ³ 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.

[21:17]  ⁴ 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.”

[21:17]  ⁵ tn The phrase “to them” is understood and thus is supplied in the translation for clarification.

[29:3]  ⁶ tn This clause is in apposition to the preceding (see GKC 426 §131.o). It offers a clarification.

[29:3]  ⁷ tn The form בְּהִלּוֹ (bÿhillo) is unusual; it should be parsed as a Hiphil infinitive construct with the elision of the ה (he). The proper spelling would have been with a ַ (patakh) under the preposition, reflecting הַהִלּוֹ (hahillo). If it were Qal, it would just mean “when his light shone.”

[29:3]  ⁸ sn Lamp and light are symbols of God’s blessings of life and all the prosperous and good things it includes.

[29:3]  ⁹ tn Here too the imperfect verb is customary – it describes action that was continuous, but in a past time.

[29:3]  ¹⁰ tn The accusative (“darkness”) is here an adverbial accusative of place, namely, “in the darkness,” or because he was successfully led by God’s light, “through the darkness” (see GKC 374 §118.h).