Berean Standard Bible
Matthew 3:12
12His winnowing fork is in His hand to clear His threshing floor and to gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
Matthew 3:12 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.
- New International Version (NIV)His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
- English Standard Version (ESV)His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire."
- New King James Version (NKJV)His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
Context of Matthew 3:12
10The axe lies ready at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. 11I baptize you with water for repentance, but after me will come One more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. His winnowing fork is in His hand to clear His threshing floor and to gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” 13At that time Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. 14But John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?”
Read all of Matthew 3Matthew 3:12 word by word
οὗ τὸ πτύον ἐν τῇ χειρὶ αὐτοῦ, καὶ διακαθαριεῖ τὴν ἅλωνα αὐτοῦ καὶ συνάξει τὸν σῖτον αὐτοῦ εἰς τὴν ἀποθήκην τὸ δὲ ἄχυρον κατακαύσει πυρὶ ἀσβέστῳ.¶Read the interlinear
- Hisὅςhos hē ho · whichG3739
- ·ὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
- winnowing forkπτύονptuon · winnowing forkG4425
- inἐνen · in/on/amongG1722
- Hisαὐτόςautos · it/s/heG846
- handχείρcheir · handG5495
- ·καίkai · andG2532
- to clearδιακαθαρίζωdiakatharizō · to clear outG1245
- threshing floorἅλωνhalōn · threshing-floorG257
- to gatherσυνάγωsunagō · to assembleG4863
- wheatσῖτοςsitos · grainG4621
- intoεἰςeis · towardG1519
- barnἀποθήκηapothēkē · storehouseG596
- butδέde · thenG1161
- He will burn upκατακαίωkatakaiō · to burnG2618
- chaffἄχυρονachuron · chaffG892
- with unquenchableἄσβεστοςasbestos · unquenchableG762
- fireπῦρpur · fireG4442
Cross-references for Matthew 3:12
- Isaiah 30:24The oxen and donkeys that work the ground will eat salted fodder, winnowed with shovel and pitchfork.
- Isaiah 41:16You will winnow them, and a wind will carry them away; a gale will scatter them. But you will rejoice in the LORD; you will glory in the Holy One of Israel.
- Jeremiah 4:11At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem, “A searing wind from the barren heights in the desert blows toward the daughter of My people, but not to winnow or to sift;
- Jeremiah 15:7I will scatter them with a winnowing fork at the gates of the land. I will bereave and destroy My people who have not turned from their ways.
- Jeremiah 51:2I will send strangers to Babylon to winnow her and empty her land; for they will come against her from every side in her day of disaster.
- Luke 3:17His winnowing fork is in His hand to clear His threshing floor and to gather the wheat into His barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
- Matthew 13:41The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will weed out of His kingdom every cause of sin and all who practice lawlessness.
- Malachi 3:2But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He will be like a refiner’s fire, like a launderer’s soap.
- Malachi 4:1“For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace, when all the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble; the day is coming when I will set them ablaze,” says the LORD of Hosts. “Not a root or branch will be left to them.”
- John 15:2He cuts off every branch in Me that bears no fruit, and every branch that does bear fruit, He prunes to make it even more fruitful.
- Matthew 13:30Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat into my barn.’”
- Amos 9:9“For surely I will give the command, and I will shake the house of Israel among all the nations as grain is sifted in a sieve; but not a pebble will reach the ground.
- Job 21:18Are they like straw before the wind, like chaff swept away by a storm?
- Psalms 1:4Not so the wicked! For they are like chaff driven off by the wind.
- Psalms 35:5May they be like chaff in the wind, as the angel of the LORD drives them away.
- Isaiah 5:24Therefore, as a tongue of fire consumes the straw, and as dry grass shrivels in the flame, so their roots will decay and their blossoms will blow away like dust; for they have rejected the instruction of the LORD of Hosts and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.
Commentaries on Matthew 3:12
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 12Whose fan is in his hand - The Romans are here termed God's fan, as, in Matthew 3:10, they were called his axe, and, in Matthew 22:7, they are termed his troops or armies. The winnowing fan of the Hindoos is square, made of split bamboo; and the corn is winnowed by waving the fan backwards with both hands - "Whose fan is in his hand." His floor - Does not this mean the land of Judea, which had been long, as it were, the threshing-floor of the Lord? God…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 12His fan - The word used here and rendered “fan” means a winnowing shovel instead. It was used for throwing the grain, after it was threshed, into the air, so that the chaff might be driven away by the wind. This mode of separating the grain from the chaff is still practiced in the East. It is not probable that the fan, as the term is now used, was known to the Orientals as an instrument for cleaning grain. See the notes at Isaiah 30:24. His floor - The…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 7-12Verses 7-12 To make application to the souls of the hearers, is the life of preaching; so it was of John's preaching. The Pharisees laid their chief stress on outward observances, neglecting the weightier matters of the moral law, and the spiritual meaning of their legal ceremonies. Others of them were detestable hypocrites, making their pretences to holiness a cloak for iniquity. The Sadducees ran into the opposite extreme, denying the existence of…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 12Farmers used a winnowing fork to throw harvested grain into the air, letting the useless husks (chaff) blow away. The Messiah's work separates humanity into two groups: the wheat, those who respond and become God's new people; and the chaff, those who refuse to repent (see Matthew 3:8).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1212. Whose fan--winnowing fan. is in his hand--ready for use. This is no other than the preaching of the Gospel, even now beginning, the effect of which would be to separate the solid from the spiritually worthless, as wheat, by the winnowing fan, from the chaff. (Compare the similar representation in Mal 3:1-3). and he will throughly purge his floor--threshing-floor; that is, the visible Church. and gather his wheat--His true-hearted saints; so called for…Read the comment
Topics related to Matthew 3:12
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Matthew 3
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Catena Aurea
- Illustrated New Testament
- Burkitt’s Expository Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Family Bible Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- John Lightfoot Commentary
- Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- The People’s New Testament
- Robertson’s Word Pictures
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- The Fourfold Gospel and Commentary on Acts
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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