chaff and is a metaphor of divine judgment (Isa. 40:24; 41:15; Jonah 1:13). In Job 9:17, Job uses the related word seʿarah (beginning with the letter sin rather than samek) to describe his fear that, should he gain an audience with God, “He would crush me with a storm.” Thus Job (and the reader) cannot know at first what God’s intentions are in appearing as he does. The “storm” cannot be taken universally as a sign of judgment, however, since fierce storm imagery describes the presence of God in