Wilt thou frighten a driven leaf: Job looks on himself as a flimsy object blown about by God. He compares himself to a driven leaf in a and dry chaff in b. The picture is that of a dry leaf that is blown from its tree and whirled away by the wind. The poetic expression suggests that the wind-blown leaf feels frightened. Good News Translation has created a model for languages in which inanimate objects do not have such sensations. Line a is made a question, which is followed by a statement in line b, so that it is Job who is “frightened” and then compared to the leaf. “Are you trying to frighten me? I am nothing but a leaf.”

And pursue dry chaff: pursue translates a verb meaning “chase, hunt down, go after.” When used with a human object it can mean “persecute.” Dry chaff refers to the bits of straw separated from the grain in winnowing. Job is asserting that it is unworthy of someone with God’s power to use it to chase a flimsy bit of straw, such as Job is. Bible en français courant translates verse 25 “Whom are you pursuing?—A flying leaf! Whom do you ceaselessly chase?—A bit of dry straw!” This verse may also be rendered, for example, “Why do you frighten me and make me like a dry leaf blown from a tree, and chase me like straw blown by the wind?”

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, Wiliam. A Handbook on Job. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1992. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .