Psalms 35:5

35:5 May they be ¹  like wind-driven chaff,

as the Lord’s angel ²  attacks them! ³ 

Job 21:18

21:18 How often ⁴  are they like straw before the wind,

and like chaff swept away ⁵  by a whirlwind?

Isaiah 17:13

17:13 Though these people make an uproar as loud as the roaring of powerful waves, ⁶ 

when he shouts at ⁷  them, they will flee to a distant land,

driven before the wind like dead weeds on the hills,

or like dead thistles ⁸  before a strong gale.

Isaiah 29:5

29:5 But the horde of invaders will be like fine dust,

the horde of tyrants ⁹  like chaff that is blown away.

It will happen suddenly, in a flash.

Hosea 13:3

13:3 Therefore they will disappear like ¹⁰  the morning mist, ¹¹ 

like early morning dew that evaporates, ¹² 

like chaff that is blown away ¹³  from a threshing floor,

like smoke that disappears through an open window.

Matthew 3:12

3:12 His winnowing fork ¹⁴  is in his hand, and he will clean out his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the storehouse, ¹⁵  but the chaff he will burn up with inextinguishable fire.” ¹⁶ 

[35:5]  ¹ tn The prefixed verbal form is taken as a jussive. See v. 4.

[35:5]  ² sn See the mention of the Lord’s angel in Ps 34:7.

[35:5]  ³ tn Heb “as the Lord’s angel pushes [them].”

[21:18]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ tn The verb used actually means “rob.” It is appropriate to the image of a whirlwind suddenly taking away the wisp of straw.

[17:13]  ⁶ tn Heb “the peoples are in an uproar like the uproar of mighty waters.”

[17:13]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ tn Or perhaps “tumbleweed” (NAB, NIV, CEV); KJV “like a rolling thing.”

[29:5]  ⁹ tn Or “violent men”; cf. NASB “the ruthless ones.”

[13:3]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “they will be like” (so NASB, NIV).

[13:3]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² tn Heb “like the early rising dew that goes away”; TEV “like the dew that vanishes early in the day.”

[13:3]  ¹³ 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.).

[3:12]  ¹⁴ sn A winnowing fork was a pitchfork-like tool used to toss threshed grain in the air so that the wind blew away the chaff, leaving the grain to fall to the ground. The note of purging is highlighted by the use of imagery involving sifting though threshed grain for the useful kernels.

[3:12]  ¹⁵ tn Or “granary,” “barn” (referring to a building used to store a farm’s produce rather than a building to house livestock).

[3:12]  ¹⁶ sn The image of fire that cannot be extinguished is from the OT: Job 20:26; Isa 34:8-10; 66:24.