EasyEnglish Bible 2018
Job 21:18
18He does not blow them away, like the wind blows dry grass. They do not disappear like chaff that a storm blows away.
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
16They think that they have made themselves rich. But it is not true. So I do not listen to the things that wicked people say. 17It seems that wicked people enjoy a long life. They do not often have many troubles. When God is angry with them, he does not cause them to suffer. He does not blow them away, like the wind blows dry grass. They do not disappear like chaff that a storm blows away. 19You may say, “God will punish a wicked person's children with the punishment that he deserves.” But I say that God should punish the wicked person himself. Then he will realize that he is wicked. 20Wicked people should receive their own punishment. They should see that Almighty God is angry with them.
Read all of Job 21Job 21:18 word by word
יִהְי֗וּ כְּתֶ֥בֶן לִפְנֵי־ר֑וּחַ וּ֝כְמֹ֗ץ גְּנָבַ֥תּוּ סוּפָֽה׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Job 21:18
- Job 13:25I am as weak as a leaf that the wind can blow away. But you still want to frighten me. I am as useless as chaff, but you still attack me.
- Exodus 15:7With your powerful authority, you killed your enemies. You were very angry with them. You killed them, like a fire burns dry grass.
- Psalms 1:4But wicked people are as empty as chaff. The wind blows them away.
- Psalms 35:5Make them become like chaff that the wind blows away. Send the angel of the Lord to chase them away.
- Psalms 83:13God, blow them away like dust, like chaff that blows away in the wind!
- Isaiah 5:24Because of that, they will come to a bad end. It will be for them like a hot fire that destroys dry grass. Their roots will die and their flowers will blow away like dust. They have refused to obey the laws of the Lord Almighty. They have not listened to the message that the holy God of Israel has taught them.
- Isaiah 17:13But it does not matter how much noise they make. Those people may roar like powerful waves, but the Lord will shout at them to stop. Then they will run far away! They will run like the wind as it blows chaff across the hills. It will be like a strong storm that carries away dead weeds!
- Isaiah 29:5Your enemies will be like an army of dust. The wind will blow away that crowd of cruel men as if they are chaff. That will all happen very suddenly!
- Isaiah 40:24They are like plants that soon disappear. Somebody plants them in the ground. But while their roots are still growing into the soil, God blows on them and they become dry. Then the wind carries them away like straw.
- Isaiah 41:15‘Look at this! I will cause you to destroy your enemies, like a heavy weight that threshes grain. You will have new sharp metal points that are like teeth. You will thresh the mountains and you will break them into pieces. You will make the hills become like straw.
- Jeremiah 13:24The Lord says, ‘I will blow you away, as a hot desert wind blows away straw.
- Hosea 13:3So those people will soon disappear! They will quickly disappear like mist or dew in the morning. They will be like chaff that the wind blows away from a threshing floor. They will be like smoke that disappears out of an open window.
- Nahum 1:10He will kill them. And then it will be like when thorn bushes have caught people. Or it will be like when they have drunk too much alcohol. It will be like when someone burns dry straw.
- Matthew 3:12He is like a farmer that brings the wheat home from his field. He uses a special tool to throw the wheat up in the air. He does this to make the wheat seeds separate from what remains. Then he cleans his yard. He carefully stores all the seeds to keep them safe. But he burns everything else in a great fire that nobody can put out.’
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
In the dictionaries
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
EasyEnglish Bible 2018 — Copyright © MissionAssist 2018
Commentaries