English Standard Version
Matthew 3:12
12His 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."
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.”
- 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.”
- New Living Translation (NLT)He is ready to separate the chaff from the wheat with his winnowing fork. Then he will clean up the threshing area, gathering the wheat into his barn but burning the chaff with never-ending fire.”
Context of Matthew 3:12
10Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 11"I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 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." 13Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. 14John would have prevented 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
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 30:24and the oxen and the donkeys that work the ground will eat seasoned fodder, which has been winnowed with shovel and fork.
- Isaiah 41:16you shall winnow them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the tempest shall scatter them. And you shall rejoice in the Lord; in the Holy One of Israel you shall glory.
- Jeremiah 4:11At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem, "A hot wind from the bare heights in the desert toward the daughter of my people, not to winnow or cleanse,
- Jeremiah 15:7I have winnowed them with a winnowing fork in the gates of the land; I have bereaved them; I have destroyed my people; they did not turn from their ways.
- Jeremiah 51:2and I will send to Babylon winnowers, and they shall winnow her, and they shall empty her land, when they come against her from every side on the day of trouble.
- Luke 3:17His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire."
- Matthew 13:41The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers,
- Malachi 3:2But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap.
- Malachi 4:1"For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.
- John 15:2Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.
- Matthew 13:30Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, "Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn."'"
- Amos 9:9"For behold, I will command, and shake the house of Israel among all the nations as one shakes with a sieve, but no pebble shall fall to the earth.
- Job 21:18That they are like straw before the wind, and like chaff that the storm carries away?
- Psalms 1:4The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away.
- Psalms 35:5Let them be like chaff before the wind, with the angel of the Lord driving them away!
- Isaiah 5:24Therefore, as the tongue of fire devours the stubble, and as dry grass sinks down in the flame, so their root will be as rottenness, and their blossom go up like dust; for they have rejected the law of the Lord of hosts, and have 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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