Charles Ellicott Commentary Job 21:17

"How oft is it that the lamp of the wicked is put out? That their calamity cometh upon them? That [God] distributeth sorrows in his anger?" — Job 21:17 (ASV)

How oft is the candle of the wicked put out? —This and the following verse are either a concession on the part of Job, as if to say, “I admit that it is as you say with the wicked;” or else they should be read interrogatively, “How often is it that we see this?”