Job 21:18

21:18 How often ¹  are they like straw before the wind,

and like chaff swept away ²  by a whirlwind?

Psalms 1:4

1:4 Not so with the wicked!

Instead ³  they are like wind-driven chaff. ⁴ 

Isaiah 17:13

17:13 Though these people make an uproar as loud as the roaring of powerful waves, ⁵ 

when he shouts at ⁶  them, they will flee to a distant land,

driven before the wind like dead weeds on the hills,

or like dead thistles ⁷  before a strong gale.

Isaiah 41:15-16

41:15 “Look, I am making you like ⁸  a sharp threshing sledge,

new and double-edged. ⁹ 

You will thresh the mountains and crush them;

you will make the hills like straw. ¹⁰ 

41:16 You will winnow them and the wind will blow them away;

the wind will scatter them.

You will rejoice in the Lord;

you will boast in the Holy One of Israel.

Hosea 13:3

13:3 Therefore they will disappear like ¹¹  the morning mist, ¹² 

like early morning dew that evaporates, ¹³ 

like chaff that is blown away ¹⁴  from a threshing floor,

like smoke that disappears through an open window.

[21:18]  ¹ tn To retain the sense that the wicked do not suffer as others, this verse must either be taken as a question or a continuation of the question in v. 17.

[21:18]  ² tn The verb used actually means “rob.” It is appropriate to the image of a whirlwind suddenly taking away the wisp of straw.

[1:4]  ³ tn Here the Hebrew expression כִּי־אִם (ki-’im, “instead,” cf. v. 2) introduces a contrast between the prosperity of the godly depicted in v. 3 and the destiny of the wicked described in v. 4.

[1:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “[they are] like the chaff which [the] wind blows about.” The Hebrew imperfect verbal form draws attention to the typical nature of the action described.

[17:13]  ⁵ tn Heb “the peoples are in an uproar like the uproar of mighty waters.”

[17:13]  ⁶ tn Or “rebukes.” The verb and related noun are used in theophanies of God’s battle cry which terrifies his enemies. See, for example, Pss 18:15; 76:7; 106:9; Isa 50:2; Nah 1:4, and A. Caquot, TDOT 3:49-53.

[17:13]  ⁷ tn Or perhaps “tumbleweed” (NAB, NIV, CEV); KJV “like a rolling thing.”

[41:15]  ⁸ tn Heb “into” (so NIV); ASV “have made thee to be.”

[41:15]  ⁹ tn Heb “owner of two-mouths,” i.e., double-edged.

[41:15]  ¹⁰ sn The mountains and hills symbolize hostile nations that are obstacles to Israel’s restoration.

[13:3]  ¹¹ tn Heb “they will be like” (so NASB, NIV).

[13:3]  ¹² tn The phrase כְּעֲנַן־בֹּקֶר (kÿ’anan-boqer, “like a cloud of the morning”) occurs also in Hos 6:4 in a similar simile. The Hebrew poets and prophets refer to morning clouds as a simile for transitoriness (Job 7:9; Isa 44:22; Hos 6:4; 13:3; HALOT 858 s.v. עָנָן 1.b; BDB 778 s.v. עָנָן 1.c).

[13:3]  ¹³ tn Heb “like the early rising dew that goes away”; TEV “like the dew that vanishes early in the day.”

[13:3]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “storm-driven away”; KJV, ASV “driven with the whirlwind out.” The verb יְסֹעֵר (yÿso’er, Poel imperfect 3rd person masculine singular from סָעַר, sa’ar, “to storm”) often refers to the intense action of strong, raging storm winds (e.g., Jonah 1:11, 13). The related nouns refer to “heavy gale,” “storm wind,” and “high wind” (BDB 704 s.v. סָעַר; HALOT 762 s.v. סער). The verb is used figuratively to describe the intensity of God’s destruction of the wicked whom he will “blow away” (Isa 54:11; Hos 13:3; Hab 3:14; Zech 7:14; BDB 704 s.v.; HALOT 762 s.v.).