Job 21:17-21
17. Job in this whole passage down to Job 21:21 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), &c., quoting Bildad's sentiment (Job 18:5, 6), in order to question its truth (compare Mt 25:8).
how oft—"God distributeth," &c. (alluding to Job 20:23, 29). sorrows—UMBREIT translates "snares," literally, "cords," which lightning in its twining motion resembles (Ps 11:6).18. Job alludes to a like sentiment of Bildad (Job 18:18), using his own previous words (Job 13:25).
19. Equally questionable is the friends' assertion that if the godless himself is not punished, the children are (Job 18:19; 20:10); and that God rewardeth him here for his iniquity, and that he shall know it to his cost. So "know" (Ho 9:7).
20. Another questionable assertion of the friends, that the sinner sees his own and his children's destruction in his lifetime.
drink— (Ps 11:6; Isa 51:17; La 4:21).21. The argument of the friends, in proof of Job 21:20, What pleasure can he have from his house (children) when he is dead—("after him," Ec 3:22).
when the number, &c.—Or, rather, "What hath he to do with his children?" &c. (so the Hebrew in Ec 3:1; 8:6). It is therefore necessary that "his eyes should see his and their destruction" (see Job 14:21). cut off—rather, when the number of his allotted months is fulfilled (Job 14:5). From an Arabic word, "arrow," which was used to draw lots with. Hence "arrow"—inevitable destiny [UMBREIT].Job 24:18-21
18-21. In these verses Job quotes the opinions of his adversaries ironically; he quoted them so before (Job 21:7-21). In Job 24:22-24, he states his own observation as the opposite. You say, "The sinner is swift, that is, swiftly passes away (as a thing floating) on the surface of the waters" (Ec 11:1; Ho 10:7).
is cursed—by those who witness their "swift" destruction. beholdeth not—"turneth not to"; figuratively, for He cannot enjoy his pleasant possessions (Job 20:17; 15:33). the way of the vineyards—including his fields, fertile as vineyards; opposite to "the way of the desert."19. Arabian image; melted snow, as contrasted with the living fountain, quickly dries up in the sunburnt sand, not leaving a trace behind (Job 6:16-18). The Hebrew is terse and elliptical to express the swift and utter destruction of the godless; (so) "the grave—they have sinned!"
20. The womb—The very mother that bare him, and who is the last to "forget" the child that sucked her (Isa 49:15), shall dismiss him from her memory (Job 18:17; Pr 10:7). The worm shall suck, that is, "feed sweetly" on him as a delicate morsel (Job 21:33).
wickedness—that is, the wicked; abstract for concrete (as Job 5:16). as a tree—utterly (Job 19:10); UMBREIT better, "as a staff." A broken staff is the emblem of irreparable ruin (Isa 14:5; Ho 4:12).21. The reason given by the friends why the sinner deserves such a fate.
barren—without sons, who might have protected her. widow—without a husband to support her.