Job 27:20

27:20 Terrors overwhelm him like a flood; ¹ 

at night a whirlwind carries him off.

Job 21:18

21:18 How often ²  are they like straw before the wind,

and like chaff swept away ³  by a whirlwind?

[27:20]  ¹ tn Many commentators want a word parallel to “in the night.” And so we are offered בַּיּוֹם (bayyom, “in the day”) for כַמַּיִם (khammayim, “like waters”) as well as a number of others. But “waters” sometimes stand for major calamities, and so may be retained here. Besides, not all parallel structures are synonymous.

[21:18]  ² 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]  ³ tn The verb used actually means “rob.” It is appropriate to the image of a whirlwind suddenly taking away the wisp of straw.