Ayub 21:18

21:18 How often ¹  are they like straw before the wind,

and like chaff swept away ²  by a whirlwind?

Ayub 21:23

Death Levels Everything

21:23 “One man dies in his full vigor, ³ 

completely secure and prosperous,

[21:18]  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.

[21:18]  ² tn The verb used actually means “rob.” It is appropriate to the image of a whirlwind suddenly taking away the wisp of straw.

[21:23]  ³ tn The line has “in the bone of his perfection.” The word עֶצֶם (’etsem), which means “bone,” is used pronominally to express “the same, very”; here it is “in the very fullness of his strength” (see GKC 449 §139.g). The abstract תֹּם (tom) is used here in the sense of physical perfection and strengths.