Psalms 1:4

1:4 Not so with the wicked!

Instead ¹  they are like wind-driven chaff. ² 

Psalms 68:2

68:2 As smoke is driven away by the wind, so you drive them away. ³ 

As wax melts before fire,

so the wicked are destroyed before God.

Psalms 83:12-17

83:12 who said, ⁴  “Let’s take over ⁵  the pastures of God!”

83:13 O my God, make them like dead thistles, ⁶ 

like dead weeds blown away by ⁷  the wind!

83:14 Like the fire that burns down the forest,

or the flames that consume the mountainsides, ⁸ 

83:15 chase them with your gale winds,

and terrify ⁹  them with your windstorm.

83:16 Cover ¹⁰  their faces with shame,

so they might seek ¹¹  you, ¹²  O Lord.

83:17 May they be humiliated and continually terrified! ¹³ 

May they die in shame! ¹⁴ 

Isaiah 17:13

17:13 Though these people make an uproar as loud as the roaring of powerful waves, ¹⁵ 

when he shouts at ¹⁶  them, they will flee to a distant land,

driven before the wind like dead weeds on the hills,

or like dead thistles ¹⁷  before a strong gale.

Isaiah 41:15-16

41:15 “Look, I am making you like ¹⁸  a sharp threshing sledge,

new and double-edged. ¹⁹ 

You will thresh the mountains and crush them;

you will make the hills like straw. ²⁰ 

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.

Daniel 2:35

2:35 Then the iron, clay, bronze, silver, and gold were broken in pieces without distinction ²¹  and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors that the wind carries away. Not a trace of them could be found. But the stone that struck the statue became a large mountain that filled the entire earth.

[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.

[68:2]  ³ tn Heb “as smoke is scattered, you scatter [them].”

[83:12]  ⁴ tn The translation assumes that “Zebah and Zalmunna” are the antecedents of the relative pronoun (“who [said]”). Another option is to take “their nobles…all their rulers” as the antecedent and to translate, “those who say.”

[83:12]  ⁵ tn Heb “let’s take possession for ourselves.”

[83:13]  ⁶ tn Or “tumbleweed.” The Hebrew noun גַּלְגַּל (galgal) refers to a “wheel” or, metaphorically, to a whirling wind (see Ps 77:18). If taken in the latter sense here, one could understand the term as a metonymical reference to dust blown by a whirlwind (cf. NRSV “like whirling dust”). However, HALOT 190 s.v. II גַּלְגַּל understands the noun as a homonym referring to a “dead thistle” here and in Isa 17:13. The parallel line, which refers to קַשׁ (qash, “chaff”), favors this interpretation.

[83:13]  ⁷ tn Heb “before.”

[83:14]  ⁸ sn The imagery of fire and flames suggests unrelenting, destructive judgment.

[83:15]  ⁹ tn The two imperfect verbal forms in v. 15 express the psalmist’s wish or prayer.

[83:16]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “fill.”

[83:16]  ¹¹ tn After the preceding imperative, the prefixed verbal form with prefixed vav (ו) indicates purpose or result (“then they will seek”).

[83:16]  ¹² tn Heb “your name,” which stands here for God’s person.

[83:17]  ¹³ tn Heb “and may they be terrified to perpetuity.” The Hebrew expression עֲדֵי־עַד (’adey-’ad, “to perpetuity”) can mean “forevermore” (see Pss 92:7; 132:12, 14), but here it may be used hyperbolically, for the psalmist asks that the experience of judgment might lead the nations to recognize (v. 18) and even to seek (v. 16) God.

[83:17]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “may they be ashamed and perish.” The four prefixed verbal forms in this verse are understood as jussives. The psalmist concludes his prayer with an imprecation, calling severe judgment down on his enemies. The strong language of the imprecation seems to run contrary to the positive outcome of divine judgment envisioned in v. 16b. Perhaps the language of v. 17 is overstated for effect. Another option is that v. 16b expresses an ideal, while the strong imprecation of vv. 17-18 anticipates reality. It would be nice if the defeated nations actually pursued a relationship with God, but if judgment does not bring them to that point, the psalmist asks that they be annihilated so that they might at least be forced to acknowledge God’s power.

[17:13]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “the peoples are in an uproar like the uproar of mighty waters.”

[17:13]  ¹⁶ 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]  ¹⁷ tn Or perhaps “tumbleweed” (NAB, NIV, CEV); KJV “like a rolling thing.”

[41:15]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “into” (so NIV); ASV “have made thee to be.”

[41:15]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “owner of two-mouths,” i.e., double-edged.

[41:15]  ²⁰ sn The mountains and hills symbolize hostile nations that are obstacles to Israel’s restoration.

[2:35]  ²¹ tn Aram “as one.” For the meaning “without distinction” see the following: F. Rosenthal, Grammar, 36, §64, and p. 93; E. Vogt, Lexicon linguae aramaicae, 60.