EasyEnglish Bible 2018
Matthew 3:12
12He is like a farmer that brings the wheat home from his field. He uses a special tool to throw the wheat up in the air. He does this to make the wheat seeds separate from what remains. Then he cleans his yard. He carefully stores all the seeds to keep them safe. But he burns everything else in a great fire that nobody can put out.’
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
10You are like trees that have bad fruit. God has an axe ready to use. He will cut down every tree that does not make good fruit. He will throw those trees into the fire. 11I baptize you with water. This shows that you want to change the way that you live. But another person will come soon. He is greater than I am. I am not good enough even to carry his shoes for him. This other person will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. He is like a farmer that brings the wheat home from his field. He uses a special tool to throw the wheat up in the air. He does this to make the wheat seeds separate from what remains. Then he cleans his yard. He carefully stores all the seeds to keep them safe. But he burns everything else in a great fire that nobody can put out.’ 13Then Jesus went from Galilee to the Jordan River. He wanted John to baptize him. 14But John tried to stop him. He said to Jesus, ‘I should ask you to baptize me. You should not ask me to baptize you.’
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
Words taken from the KJV.
- ·ὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
- Whoseὅςhos hē ho · whichG3739
- fanπτύονptuon · winnowing forkG4425
- inἐνen · in/on/amongG1722
- hisαὐτόςautos · it/s/heG846
- handχείρcheir · handG5495
- andκαίkai · andG2532
- he will throughly purgeδιακαθαρίζωdiakatharizō · to clear outG1245
- floorἅλωνhalōn · threshing-floorG257
- gatherσυνάγωsunagō · to assembleG4863
- wheatσῖτοςsitos · grainG4621
- intoεἰςeis · towardG1519
- the garnerἀποθήκηapothēkē · storehouseG596
- butδέde · thenG1161
- he will burn upκατακαίωkatakaiō · to burnG2618
- the chaffἄχυρονachuron · chaffG892
- with unquenchableἄσβεστοςasbestos · unquenchableG762
- fireπῦρpur · fireG4442
Cross-references for Matthew 3:12
- Isaiah 30:24The bulls and the donkeys that work on your farms will eat the best food. They will eat the same grain that people eat.
- Isaiah 41:16You will throw them into the air, and the wind will blow them away in all directions! You will be happy with what the Lord has done for you. You will boast that the Holy God of Israel is your God.
- Jeremiah 4:11The Lord will tell the people at that time, ‘A hot wind will blow from the hills in the desert. It will not be a little wind that blows chaff from wheat. It will be a strong storm that blows away the people that I love.
- Jeremiah 15:7I will punish the people of every town in the land. I will blow them away, like wind blows away straw. My people have refused to change the way that they live. So I will destroy them and their children too.
- Jeremiah 51:2I will send foreign soldiers to remove them from their land, like a wind that blows chaff away. They will make the land become empty. On the day of that great trouble, they will attack Babylonia from all directions.
- Luke 3:17He is like a farmer that brings the wheat home from his field. He uses a special tool to throw the wheat up in the air. He does this to make the wheat seeds separate from what remains. Then he cleans his yard. He carefully stores all the seeds to keep them safe. But he burns everything else in a great fire that nobody can put out.’
- Matthew 13:41The Son of Man will send his workers, who are his angels. They will remove from his kingdom everything that causes sin. They will take away everyone who does evil things.
- Malachi 3:2‘But when he comes, he will be like a hot fire that makes metal pure. He will be like strong soap that makes clothes completely clean. Nobody will be able to stand in front of him when he appears. On that day, nobody will remain the same.
- Malachi 4:1‘The great day when I come to judge people will certainly happen. Punishment will come like the great fire of a hot oven. It will destroy all the proud people who do evil things. It will completely destroy them, like a fire that destroys dry grass. Nothing will remain.’ That is what the Lord Almighty says.
- John 15:2Some branches that are part of me may have no fruit on them. My Father completely removes all those branches. But other branches do have fruit. My Father cuts all those branches to make them better. Then they will be good and make more fruit.
- Matthew 13:30Let the good plants and the weeds grow up together. At harvest time, I will tell the workers to cut down the weeds first. Then they will tie them together and burn them. Then they will cut the wheat and bring it into my building. I will store it there.” ’
- Amos 9:9‘Listen to me! I will cause trouble to come to Israel's family, as they live among other nations. It will be like a person who shakes a sieve to remove dirt from grain.
- Job 21:18He does not blow them away, like the wind blows dry grass. They do not disappear like chaff that a storm blows away.
- Psalms 1:4But wicked people are as empty as chaff. The wind blows them away.
- Psalms 35:5Make them become like chaff that the wind blows away. Send the angel of the Lord to chase them away.
- Isaiah 5:24Because of that, they will come to a bad end. It will be for them like a hot fire that destroys dry grass. Their roots will die and their flowers will blow away like dust. They have refused to obey the laws of the Lord Almighty. They have not listened to the message that the holy God of Israel has taught them.
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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