Psalms 1:4-5

1:4 Not so with the wicked!

Instead ¹  they are like wind-driven chaff. ² 

1:5 For this reason ³  the wicked cannot withstand ⁴  judgment, ⁵ 

nor can sinners join the assembly of the godly. ⁶ 

Isaiah 17:13-14

17:13 Though these people make an uproar as loud as the roaring of powerful waves, ⁷ 

when he shouts at ⁸  them, they will flee to a distant land,

driven before the wind like dead weeds on the hills,

or like dead thistles ⁹  before a strong gale.

17:14 In the evening there is sudden terror; ¹⁰ 

by morning they vanish. ¹¹ 

This is the fate of those who try to plunder us,

the destiny of those who try to loot us! ¹² 

Isaiah 41:15-16

41:15 “Look, I am making you like ¹³  a sharp threshing sledge,

new and double-edged. ¹⁴ 

You will thresh the mountains and crush them;

you will make the hills like straw. ¹⁵ 

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 ¹⁶  the morning mist, ¹⁷ 

like early morning dew that evaporates, ¹⁸ 

like chaff that is blown away ¹⁹  from a threshing floor,

like smoke that disappears through an open window.

Micah 4:13

4:13 “Get up and thresh, Daughter Zion!

For I will give you iron horns; ²⁰ 

I will give you bronze hooves,

and you will crush many nations.” ²¹ 

You will devote to the Lord the spoils you take from them,

and dedicate their wealth to the sovereign Ruler ²²  of the whole earth. ²³ 

[1:4]  ¹ 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]  ² 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.

[1:5]  ³ tn Or “Therefore.”

[1:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “arise in,” but the verb is used metonymically here in the sense of “stand”; “endure,” as in 1 Sam 13:14 and Job 8:15. The negated Hebrew imperfect verbal form is here taken as indicating incapability or lack of potential, though one could understand the verb form as indicating what is typical (“do not withstand”) or what will happen (“will not withstand”).

[1:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “the judgment.” The article indicates a judgment that is definite in the mind of the speaker. In the immediate context this probably does not refer to the “final judgment” described in later biblical revelation, but to a temporal/historical judgment which the author anticipates. Periodically during the OT period, God would come in judgment, removing the wicked from the scene, while preserving a godly remnant (see Gen 6-9; Ps 37; Hab 3).

[1:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “and sinners in the assembly (or “circle”) of [the] godly.” The negative particle and verb from the preceding line are assumed by ellipsis here (“will not arise/stand”).

[17:13]  ⁷ tn Heb “the peoples are in an uproar like the uproar of mighty waters.”

[17:13]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ tn Or perhaps “tumbleweed” (NAB, NIV, CEV); KJV “like a rolling thing.”

[17:14]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “at the time of evening, look, sudden terror.”

[17:14]  ¹¹ tn Heb “before morning he is not.”

[17:14]  ¹² tn Heb “this is the portion of those who plunder us, and the lot of those who loot us.”

[41:15]  ¹³ tn Heb “into” (so NIV); ASV “have made thee to be.”

[41:15]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “owner of two-mouths,” i.e., double-edged.

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

[13:3]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “they will be like” (so NASB, NIV).

[13:3]  ¹⁷ 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]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “like the early rising dew that goes away”; TEV “like the dew that vanishes early in the day.”

[13:3]  ¹⁹ 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.).

[4:13]  ²⁰ tn Heb “I will make your horn iron.”

[4:13]  ²¹ sn Jerusalem (Daughter Zion at the beginning of the verse; cf. 4:8) is here compared to a powerful ox which crushes the grain on the threshing floor with its hooves.

[4:13]  ²² tn Or “the Lord” (so many English versions); Heb “the master.”

[4:13]  ²³ tn Heb “and their wealth to the master of all the earth.” The verb “devote” does double duty in the parallelism and is supplied in the second line for clarification.