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Job 21:17
New English Translation
Job 21:17
New English Translation
How Often Do the Wicked Suffer?
17 “How often[a] is the lamp of the wicked extinguished?
How often does their[b] misfortune come upon them?
How often does God apportion pain[c] to them[d] in his anger?
Footnotes
- Job 21:17 tn The interrogative “How often” occurs only with the first colon; it is supplied for smoother reading in the next two.
- Job 21:17 tn The pronominal suffix is objective; it re-enforces the object of the preposition, “upon them.” The verb in the clause is בּוֹא (boʾ) followed by עַל (ʿal), “come upon [or against],” may be interpreted as meaning attack or strike.
- Job 21:17 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.”
- Job 21:17 tn The phrase “to them” is understood and thus is supplied in the translation for clarification.
New English Translation (NET)
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