Job 21 · Verse 18

Job 21:18

They are as stubble before the wind, and as chaff that the storm carrieth away.
Job 21:18, King James Version

Job 21:18 in other translations

BSBAre they like straw before the wind, like chaff swept away by a storm?
WEBHow often is it that they are as stubble before the wind, as chaff that the storm carries away?
ASVThat they are as stubble before the wind, And as chaff that the storm carrieth away?
YLTThey are as straw before wind, And as chaff a hurricane hath stolen away,
DARBYDo they become as stubble before the wind, and as chaff that the storm carrieth away?
BBEHow frequently are they as dry stems before the wind, or as grass taken away by the storm-wind?
WebsterThey are as stubble before the wind, and as chaff that the storm carrieth away.

What does Job 21:18 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
18. Job alludes to a like sentiment of Bildad (Job 18:18), using his own previous words (Job 13:25).

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 18 They 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 Psa 1:4. The original signifies that they shall be carried away by a furious storm; and borne off as booty is by the swift-riding robbers of the desert, who make a sudden irruption, and then set off at full speed with their prey.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Job 21:17-26

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…

Read the full comment on Job 21:17-26 →

Job 21:18 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

יִהְי֗וּyih.Yuare they?H1961
כְּתֶ֥בֶןke.Te.venlike strawH8401
לִפְנֵי\־lif.nei-<to> beforeH6440
ר֑וּחַRu.acha windH7307
וּ֝כְמֹ֗ץu.khe.Motzand like chaffH4671
גְּנָבַ֥תּוּge.na.Va.tu[which] it has stolen itH1589
סוּפָֽה\׃su.Faha storm-windH5492

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Job 21:18

  • Psalms 1:4

    The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.

  • Psalms 83:13

    O my God, make them like a wheel; as the stubble before the wind.

  • Job 13:25

    Wilt thou break a leaf driven to and fro? and wilt thou pursue the dry stubble?

  • Psalms 35:5

    Let them be as chaff before the wind: and let the angel of the Lord chase them.

  • Isaiah 17:13

    The nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters: but God shall rebuke them, and they shall flee far off, and shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like a rolling thing before the whirlwind.

  • Jeremiah 13:24

    Therefore will I scatter them as the stubble that passeth away by the wind of the wilderness.

  • Isaiah 29:5

    Moreover the multitude of thy strangers shall be like small dust, and the multitude of the terrible ones shall be as chaff that passeth away: yea, it shall be at an instant suddenly.

  • Matthew 3:12

    Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.

  • Isaiah 41:15-16

    Behold, I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth: thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and shalt make the hills as chaff. Thou shalt fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them: and thou shalt rejoice in the Lord, and shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel.

  • Nahum 1:10

    For while they be folden together as thorns, and while they are drunken as drunkards, they shall be devoured as stubble fully dry.

  • Isaiah 40:24

    Yea, they shall not be planted; yea, they shall not be sown: yea, their stock shall not take root in the earth: and he shall also blow upon them, and they shall wither, and the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble.

  • Isaiah 5:24

    Therefore as the fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaff, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust: because they have cast away the law of the Lord of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
as stubble.
13:25; Ex 15:7; Ps 1:4; 35:5; 83:13; Isa 5:24; 17:13; 29:5; 40:24
Isa 41:15,16; Jer 13:24; Ho 13:3; Na 1:10; Mt 3:12
carrieth. Heb. stealeth.

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Job 21:17

    How oft is the candle of the wicked put out! and how oft cometh their destruction upon them! God distributeth sorrows in his anger.

  • Job 21:18

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

  • Job 21:19

    God layeth up his iniquity for his children: he rewardeth him, and he shall know it.

Read all of Job 21

Job 21:18 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Serán como la paja delante del viento, y como el tamo que arrebata el torbellino.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Et sont-ils comme la paille devant le vent, et comme la balle chassée par la tempête?
German
Elberfelder 1871		daß sie wie Stroh werden vor dem Winde, und wie Spreu, die der Sturmwind entführt?
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Erunt sicut paleæ ante faciem venti, et sicut favilla quam turbo dispergit.