Discovery BoxJob 21:18 
Context21:18 How often 1 are they like straw before the wind,
and like chaff swept away 2 by a whirlwind?
Job 21:32-33
Context21:32 And when he is carried to the tombs,
and watch is kept 3 over the funeral mound, 4
21:33 The clods of the torrent valley 5 are sweet to him;
behind him everybody follows in procession,
and before him goes a countless throng.
1 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.
2 tn The verb used actually means “rob.” It is appropriate to the image of a whirlwind suddenly taking away the wisp of straw.
3 tn The verb says “he will watch.” The subject is unspecified, so the translation is passive.
4 tn The Hebrew word refers to the tumulus, the burial mound that is erected on the spot where the person is buried.
5 tn The clods are those that are used to make a mound over the body. And, for a burial in the valley, see Deut 34:6. The verse here sees him as participating in his funeral and enjoying it. Nothing seems to go wrong with the wicked.
