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1.3 KiB
Will you cause a driven leaf to tremble?
Job is rebuking God because God is attacking Job when Job has no defense against God. This rhetorical question can be translated as a statement. Alternate translation: "You should not cause this driven leaf to tremble" (See: rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-rquestion)
cause a driven leaf to tremble
The word "tremble" here refers to trembling with fear. The phrase "driven leaf," which refers to a leaf that has died and dried up and is blown by the wind, is a metaphor for a man who has no strength and is harmless. Alternate translation: "terrify a weak, harmless man" (See: rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-metaphor)
Will you pursue dry stubble?
Job uses this question to tell God that since Job is so insignificant and weak, it is useless to pursue him. "Leaf" and "stubble" are metaphors describing Job's weakness, insignificance, and frailty. Alternate translation: "It is useless for you to pursue dry stubble" or "You pursue me, but I am weak like a leaf blown by the wind and insignificant like dry stubble" (See: rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-rquestion and rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-parallelism and rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-metaphor)
pursue
You may need to make explicit that the purpose of pursuing Job is to persecute him. Alternate translation: "persecute" (See: rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-explicit)