Job 1:19

1:19 and suddenly ¹  a great wind ²  swept across ³  the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young people, and they died! And I – only I alone – escaped to tell you!”

Luke 13:4-5

13:4 Or those eighteen who were killed ⁴  when the tower in Siloam fell on them, ⁵  do you think they were worse offenders than all the others who live in Jerusalem? ⁶  13:5 No, I tell you! But unless you repent ⁷  you will all perish as well!” ⁸ 

¹ tn The use of the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “behold”) in this sentence is deictic, pointing out with excitement the events that happened as if the listener was there.

² sn Both wind and lightning (v. 16) were employed by Satan as his tools. God can permit him such control over factors of the weather when it suits the divine purpose, but God retains ultimate control (see 28:23-27; Prov 3:4; Luke 8:24-25).

³ tn The word מֵעֵבֶר (me’ever) is simply “from the direction of”; the word עֵבֶר (’ever) indicates the area the whirlwind came across.

⁴ tn Grk “on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them.” This relative clause embedded in a prepositional phrase is complex in English and has been simplified to an adjectival and a temporal clause in the translation.

⁵ sn Unlike the previous event, when the tower in Siloam fell on them, it was an accident of fate. It raised the question, however, “Was this a judgment?”

⁶ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

⁷ sn Jesus’ point repeats v. 3. The circumstances make no difference. All must deal with the reality of what death means.

⁸ tn Grk “similarly.”