Job 21:18

He does not blow them away like wind blows away straw; they are never carried off by a whirlwind.

Translation for Translators

In The King James Version

They are as stubble before the wind, and as chaff that the storm carrieth away.

In Context

17◄“How often does it happen that wicked people die [MET] before they are old?/Very seldom do wicked people die [MET] before they are old.► [RHQ] ◄Do they ever experience disasters?/They seldom experience disasters.► [RHQ] ◄Does God ever punish them because of being very angry with them?/God never punishes them because of being very angry with them.► [RHQ]

19You say, ‘When people have committed sins, God waits and punishes their children because of those sins;’ but I say that God should punish those who sin, not their children, in order that the sinners will know that it is because of their own sins that they are being punished.

Read all of Job 21

Cross References

Exodus 15:7You have gloriously defeated your enemies. Because you were angry with them, you have destroyed them like a fire burns up straw [SIM].

Job 27:21It is as though the wind from the east picks them up and carries them away from their homes, and they disappear.

Psalms 35:5Send your angel to pursue them, and as a result cause them to disappear like chaff/straw blown away by the wind!

Psalms 83:14Like a fire completely burns a forest and like flames burn in the mountains,

Isaiah 17:13But even though their loud roaring will be like the sound of crashing waves, when Yahweh rebukes them, they will run far away. They will flee like [SIM] chaff on the hills scatters when the wind blows, like tumbleweeds scatter when a windstorm blows.

Isaiah 40:24They start to rule, like small plants start to grow and form roots; but then he gets rid of them as though [MET] they withered when he blew on them, like [SIM] chaff that is blown away by the wind.

Matthew Henry on Job 21:18-27

Certain Punishments of the Wicked; Divine Sovereignty. ( b. c. 1520.) 17 How oft is the candle of the wicked put out! and how oft cometh their destruction upon them! God distributeth sorrows in his anger. 18 They are as stubble before the wind, and as chaff that the storm carrieth away. 19 God layeth up his iniquity for his children: he rewardeth him, and he shall know it. 20 His eyes shall see his destruction, and he shall drink of the wrath of the Almighty. 21 For what pleasure hath he in his house after him,… Read the whole commentary →

This Verse In Other Editions

Study Job 21:18