Job 21:18

Job 21:18 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)They are as stubble before the wind, and as chaff that the storm carrieth away.
• New International Version (NIV)How often are they like straw before the wind, like chaff swept away by a gale?
• English Standard Version (ESV)That they are like straw before the wind, and like chaff that the storm carries away?
• New King James Version (NKJV)They are like straw before the wind, And like chaff that a storm carries away.

Context of Job 21:18

16Behold, their prosperity is not in their hand. The counsel of the wicked be far from me! 17How often is the lamp of the wicked put out, and cometh their calamity upon them? Doth he distribute sorrows [to them] in his anger? Do they become as stubble before the wind, and as chaff that the storm carrieth away? 19God layeth up [the punishment of] his iniquity for his children; he rewardeth him, and he shall know [it]: 20His eyes shall see his destruction, and he shall drink of the fury of the Almighty.

Job 21:18 word by word

יִהְי֗וּ כְּתֶ֥בֶן לִפְנֵי־ר֑וּחַ וּ֝כְמֹ֗ץ גְּנָבַ֥תּוּ סוּפָֽה׃Read the interlinear

• becomeהָיָהhâyâh · to beH1961
• windרוּחַrûach · spirit: breathH7307
• chaffמוֹץmôts môts · chaffH4671

Cross-references for Job 21:18

• Job 13:25Wilt thou terrify a driven leaf? and wilt thou pursue dry stubble?
• Exodus 15:7And by the greatness of thine excellency thou hast overthrown thine adversaries: Thou sentest forth thy burning wrath, it consumed them as stubble.
• Psalms 1:4The wicked are not so; but are as the chaff which the wind driveth away.
• Psalms 35:5Let them be as chaff before the wind, and let the angel of Jehovah drive [them] away;
• Psalms 83:13O my God, make them like a whirling thing, like stubble before the wind.
• Isaiah 5:24Therefore as a tongue of fire devoureth the stubble, and dry grass sinketh down in the flame, their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust; for they have rejected the law of Jehovah of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.
• Isaiah 17:13The nations rush as the rushing of many waters; but he will rebuke them, and they shall flee far away, and shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like a whirling [of dust] before the whirlwind:
• Isaiah 29:5And the multitude of thine enemies shall be like small dust, and the multitude of the terrible ones as chaff that passeth away; and it shall be in an instant, suddenly.
• Isaiah 40:24Scarcely are they planted, scarcely are they sown, scarcely hath their stock taken root in the earth, but he also bloweth upon them and they wither, and the whirlwind taketh them away as stubble.
• Isaiah 41:15Behold, I have made of thee a new sharp threshing instrument having double teeth: thou shalt thresh and beat small the mountains, and shalt make the hills as chaff;
• Jeremiah 13:24And I will scatter them as stubble that passeth away by the wind of the wilderness.
• Hosea 13:3Therefore they shall be as the morning cloud, and as the early dew that passeth away, as the chaff driven with the whirlwind out of the threshing-floor, and as the smoke out of the lattice.
• Nahum 1:10Though they be tangled together [as] thorns, and be as drenched from their drink, they shall be devoured as dry stubble, completely.
• Matthew 3:12whose winnowing fan [is] in his hand, and he shall thoroughly purge his threshing-floor, and shall gather his wheat into the garner, but the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable.

Commentaries on Job 21:18

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 18They are as stubble before the wind - "His fan is in his hand; he will thoroughly cleanse his floor, and the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire. Therefore the wicked shall not stand in the judgment, but shall be like the chaff which the wind driveth away." Were not this a common thought, I should have supposed that the author of this book borrowed it from Psalm 1:4. The original signifies that they shall be carried away by a furious storm; and…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 18They are as stubble before the wind - According to the interpretation proposed of the previous verse, this may be read as a question, “How often is it that the wicked are made like stubble? You say that God deals with people exactly according to their characters, and that the wicked are certainly subjected to calamities; but how often does this, in fact, occur? Is it a uniform law? Do they not, in fact, live in prosperity, and arrive at a good old age?”…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 17-26Verses 17-26 Job had described the prosperity of wicked people; in these verses he opposes this to what his friends had maintained about their certain ruin in this life. He reconciles this to the holiness and justice of God. Even while they prosper thus, they are light and worthless, of no account with God, or with wise men. In the height of their pomp and power, there is but a step between them and ruin. Job refers the difference Providence makes between…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1818. Job alludes to a like sentiment of Bildad (Job 18:18), using his own previous words (Job 13:25).Read the comment

Topics related to Job 21:18

• Chaff
• Death
• Stubble
• Wicked (People)

In the dictionaries

• Agriculture
• Chaff
• Stubble
• Tempest

Commentaries on Job 21

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings