Job 13:25 · Bible study
Job 13:25 Commentary: The Meaning of Leaf and Stubble
Hebrew · 10 what the commentators say
Meaning in one sentence
Why does Job compare himself to a windblown leaf and dry stubble? Explore the lament, theological tension, and pastoral significance of Job 13:25.
Research Summary
- Meaning: Job compares himself to a fragile leaf and dry stubble to express his helplessness and the disproportionate intensity of God's pursuit.
- Key words: 'Terrify' (עָרַץ, ta'arots) suggests causing trembling; 'pursue' (רָדַף, tirdof) often carries hostile intent.
- Main debate: Whether Job is accusing God of unrighteousness or simply lamenting his condition; commentators differ on the degree of accusation.
- Theological theme: Human frailty and the mystery of divine suffering; the tension between God's sovereignty and human pain.
- Best use: As a model of honest prayer in suffering, acknowledging weakness without resolving the tension.
Translation Comparison
BSB Berean Standard Bible 2020
Would You frighten a windblown leaf? Would You chase after dry chaff?
WEB World English Bible 2000
Will you harass a driven leaf? Will you pursue the dry stubble?
KJV King James Version 1769
Wilt thou break a leaf driven to and fro? and wilt thou pursue the dry stubble?
ASV American Standard Version 1901
Wilt thou harass a driven leaf? And wilt thou pursue the dry stubble?
YLT Young's Literal Translation 1898
A leaf driven away dost Thou terrify? And the dry stubble dost Thou pursue?
Darby Darby Bible 1890
Wilt thou terrify a driven leaf? and wilt thou pursue dry stubble?
Douay-Rheims Douay-Rheims Bible 1899
Against a leaf, that is carried away with the wind, thou shewest thy power, and thou pursuest a dry straw.
Translations in other languages (10 available)
¿ A la hoja arrebatada has de quebrantar? ¿ y á una arista seca has de perseguir?
Por acaso quebrarás a folha arrebatada pelo vento ? E perseguirás a palha seca?
Veux-tu frapper une feuille agitée?
Willst du wider ein fliegend Blatt so ernst sein und einen dürren Halm verfolgen?
Zult Gij een gedreven blad verbrijzelen, en zult Gij een drogen stoppel vervolgen?
Vuoi tu atterrire una foglia portata via dal vento? Vuoi tu perseguitare una pagliuzza inaridita?
Izali skruszysz liść chwiejący się? a źdźbło suche gonić będziesz?
Не сорванный ли листок Ты сокрушаешь и не сухую ли соломинку преследуешь?
你要驚動 被風吹的 葉子嗎？要追趕 枯乾的 碎秸嗎？
Will you be hard on a leaf in flight before the wind? will you make a dry stem go more quickly on its way?
Verse in Context
Original Language (Biblical Hebrew)
Old Testament · Biblical Hebrew · Job 13:25
Source: STEPBible TAGNT/TEHB (CC-BY 4.0). Click or tap a morphology code to see the full parsing.
Scholars' Consensus
Commentators across traditions agree that Job's metaphor of the driven leaf and dry stubble underscores human fragility and the seeming disproportion of God's pursuit. Barnes notes that Job likens himself to an 'insignificant, unsettled, and worthless' thing, asking whether it is worthy of God to contend with driven straw. Clarke sharpens the question: 'Is it becoming thy dignity to concern thyself with a creature so contemptible?' Gill, careful to distinguish Job's outward condition from his spiritual state, says the images depict a 'weak and feeble creature' unable to resist the wind. The Cambridge Bible describes the leaf and stubble as 'the sport of every wind of circumstance.' The Hebrew verbs reinforce this: ta'arots (תַּעֲרוֹץ) means 'will you terrify', a strong word for causing trembling, against something passive, a leaf 'driven about' (nidaf, Niphal participle) and stubble 'dry' (yavesh), brittle and combustible. Keil and Delitzsch see astonishment: Job is startled that God continues to pursue him as an enemy despite his complete powerlessness. The shared reading is clear: Job's question is not a theological proposition but a cry from within his frailty, asking whether such treatment fits a creature already undone.
How settled is the interpretation?
Interpretive difficulty: Low
What is clear: Job uses the imagery of a driven leaf and dry stubble to express human powerlessness and to question why God would pursue someone already broken.
What Scholars Agree and Debate
| Topic | Agreed | Debated |
|---|---|---|
| The meaning of the metaphor | Job compares himself to an insignificant, fragile object, a driven leaf and dry stubble, to highlight his powerlessness. | Whether Job sees himself as a leaf blown by God’s wind (Gill, emphasizing frailty) or as an insignificant object unworthy of God’s attention (Barnes, Clarke, emphasizing God’s dignity). |
| Job's attitude toward God | Job is expressing a strong emotional response, astonishment, hurt, or confusion. | Some see it as a humble plea for mercy (Gill: 'to move the divine pity'), others as a bold, almost accusatory challenge (Keil & Delitzsch: 'bold self-confidence changed to grievous astonishment'). |
| Theological implication | The verse raises the problem of disproportionate suffering. | Does Job’s complaint imply God is acting unjustly (accusation) or does it reflect a lament that remains within the bounds of trust (lament)? Traditional Protestant readings often stress lament, while some modern interpreters see a more confrontational tone. |
| Application for today | The verse models honesty in prayer. | Some caution that Christians under the new covenant should temper their language with Christ’s example; others argue that the psalms and Job give us the words to use when we have no other. |
Historical & Cultural Context
Job 13:25 sits in a section where Job moves from bold demands (v.22) to bewildered complaint (v.24). The surrounding verses depict God hiding his face, setting Job's feet in stocks, and marking all his paths (v.27). Decay metaphors, 'rotten thing,' 'moth-eaten garment' (v.28), amplify vulnerability. In the ancient Near East, a fallen leaf is utterly at the mercy of the wind; stubble left after harvest is worthless, often burned (Job 21:18) or scattered (Isaiah 17:13). When Job asks, 'Will you terrify a driven leaf?' he draws on a cultural image of complete powerlessness. The verb arats (עָרַץ) appears elsewhere in judgment contexts (Psalm 10:18), but here it is turned on its head: the one who should terrify the wicked is instead terrifying a leaf. The question is absurd on the surface, which is precisely Job's point. He is not saying God is unjust; he is saying his situation feels absurd. The cross-reference to Leviticus 26:36 underscores the inversion: there the sound of a driven leaf makes the disobedient flee; Job, however, is not fleeing, he is being chased. Commentators Barnes and Gill both emphasize that Job is not denying God's power but pleading for God to see how small, how spent, his opponent really is. Job's words give language to a common experience: feeling too small for the suffering that has come.
Textual Notes
The consulted sources note no significant textual variants for Job 13:25.
Reception History
From the early church through the Reformation, this verse has been read as a key text for lament. Early Christian writers saw Job as a model of patience, yet preserved his questions as part of authentic faith. The Geneva Bible notes (1599) highlight the contrast between God's majesty and human nothingness. In medieval spiritual writings, the verse comforted those overwhelmed by divine discipline. Later commentators such as Gill and Barnes used the images to explore the nature of human frailty and God's condescension. In recent centuries, Job 13:25 has been cited in pastoral care for those experiencing depression or prolonged illness, giving words to the feeling of being pursued by suffering that seems out of proportion to one's life. It continues to be a touchstone for those who wrestle with the problem of pain, and it is often paired with Matthew 12:20 as a reminder that the God who seems to pursue in the old story is the same God who in Christ does not break the bruised reed.
Preaching This Verse
Three-point outline
- The Frailty We Deny. Job calls himself a driven leaf and dry stubble, images of radical vulnerability with no staying power. Suffering strips the illusion of control; we are more fragile than we admit.
- The Question We Avoid. 'Will you harass a driven leaf?' Job dares to ask whether God's treatment fits a creature already undone. Many feel this question but never speak it aloud.
- The Honesty That Opens the Door. Job does not stop with the question; he stays in conversation with God. This lament is not the end of faith but the beginning of deeper prayer.
Five-point outline
- Context of Accusation. Job's friends charge him with hidden sin; he turns to God directly.
- Microcosm of Lament. These two lines capture the entire book: the sufferer small, the Almighty seemingly too near.
- Vocabulary of Powerlessness. Hebrew verbs: 'terrify' (stronger than 'harass') and 'pursue' (often hostile) against objects without agency.
- The Unasked Answer. The New Testament shows Jesus not breaking the bruised reed (Matthew 12:20), the answer Job could not yet see.
- Permission to Pray This Way. Christians can bring raw questions to God because Christ has entered our frailty.
Illustration hooks
- A strong wind strips a tree of leaves, sending them skittering across pavement. One leaf keeps getting caught in the same corner, as if pursued.
- A farmer after harvest burns the stubble left in the field. It is gone in seconds, no resistance, no weight.
- The feeling of being chased by a problem no one else seems to notice, but that looms large for you.
Questions your congregation is asking
- Is it okay to feel like God is chasing me when I am already worn down?
- Does my smallness mean my suffering does not matter to God?
- How can I tell the difference between conviction and accusation in my trials?
Leading a Discussion
Job 13:25 sits at the center of a raw, honest prayer. This verse gives permission to name the feeling of being overwhelmed by circumstances that feel unconnected to any fault. Use these questions to explore the tension between human frailty and God's actions.
Discussion questions
- Look at the verbs in Job 13:25 across several translations. What shades of meaning do 'harass,' 'frighten,' 'terrify,' and 'pursue' reveal?
- Why do you think Job chooses a leaf and stubble, objects of no value or strength, to describe himself? What does this say about how he sees his own situation?
- Read verses 24 and 26-28 alongside verse 25. How do those verses frame Job's question? Is he asking for information, or venting pain?
- In what circumstances have you felt like a 'driven leaf', tossed about by events beyond your control? How did you think about God in those moments?
- The commentators differ on whether Job is accusing God or simply describing his experience. Which reading do you find more persuasive, and why?
- How does Matthew 12:20 ('a bruised reed he will not break') connect to Job's cry? Does it resolve the tension or deepen it?
- What might it look like for your small group to create a space where someone can ask Job's question without fear of correction?
Word Study
The key original-language words in this verse. Select any word for its full lexicon entry — meaning, every occurrence in Scripture, and related words.
Cross-References
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (TSK, public domain)
| Leviticus 26:36 | “‘As for those of you who are left, I will send a faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies. The sound of a driven leaf will put them to flight; and they shall flee, as one flees from the sword. They will fall when no one pursues. |
| I Samuel 24:14 | Against whom has the king of Israel come out? Whom do you pursue? A dead dog? A flea? |
| Job 14:3 | Do you open your eyes on such a one, and bring me into judgment with you? |
| Job 21:18 | How often is it that they are as stubble before the wind, as chaff that the storm carries away? |
| Isaiah 17:13 | The nations will rush like the rushing of many waters, but he will rebuke them, and they will flee far off, and will be chased like the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like the whirling dust before the storm. |
| Matthew 12:20 | He won’t break a bruised reed. He won’t quench a smoking flax, until he leads justice to victory. |
Interlinear and lexical data from STEPBible (CC BY 4.0). Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Commentaries are public domain.
For personal reflection
Read the devotional page — prayer, application, and "for families"
What the Commentators Say
10 public-domain commentaries, condensed into plain language.
Adam Clarke's Commentary Methodist/Wesleyan 1826
Clarke notes that the question asks whether God would actually destroy something as insignificant as a leaf. He holds that such a tiny being has enough worth to demand God’s respect. This gives hope that even the smallest creatures are valued by God.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible Protestant 1832
Barnes notes that Job compares himself to a wind-driven leaf and dry stubble, asking whether God would stoop to pursue something so insignificant and helpless. The question implies that such an unequal contest would be beneath God's dignity, as these objects offer no resistance and are not worthy of his attention.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges Anglican 1880
Job compares himself to light dry material blown about by any wind. He asks if God’s effort to deal with him is the reason for his suffering.
Geneva Bible Notes Reformed 1599
Geneva Bible Notes sees these words as God asking why people keep searching for answers instead of trusting Him. This view holds that focusing on fleeting things misses the true source of peace.
Gill's Exposition of the Bible Baptist 1748
Gill notes that Job compares himself to dry stubble because he feels utterly powerless against God’s punishment. He believes this shows God should not use his weakness as an excuse to add more suffering.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary Protestant 1871
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown notes Job sees himself as a leaf blown about by storm after falling, shaken by God’s terrors. Jesus does not treat the broken reed in the same way.
Keil & Delitzsch OT Commentary Protestant 1876
Keil and Delitzsch draw a careful distinction between the Hebrew words for sin in Job’s question. They explain that חטּאת denotes sins of weakness or unintended error, while עון and פשׁע refer to deliberate, malignant wrongdoing that breaks away from God. This semantic precision frames Job’s shock that God treats him, a helpless sufferer, as a dangerous enemy.
Lange's Commentary Reformed 1857
Lange emphasizes that Job's description of God's power in these chapters is a "night-scene" reflecting his own inner gloom, presenting a one-sided view of divine majesty as arbitrary and destructive. Job's yearning for release from Sheol is a "germ-hope" for
Matthew Henry's Commentary Reformed/Presbyterian 1710
Henry notes Job asks God to show him exactly how many sins he has and what they are. He believes the man wants to know his faults fully so they will seem less serious than his friends think.
Wesley's Explanatory Notes Methodist/Wesleyan 1754
Wesley compares a person's resistance to God's power to a leaf or dry straw facing wind and fire. The point is complete helplessness: we have no more strength to stand against God than these fragile objects have against a force they cannot withstand.