New American Standard Bible 2020
Matthew 3:12
12His 1winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will 2gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the 3chaff with 4unquenchable 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
10And the axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore, every tree that does not bear good fruit is being cut down and thrown into the fire. 11“As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” 13Then Jesus arrived from Galilee at the Jordan, coming to John to be baptized by him. 14But John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I have the need to be baptized by You, and yet You are coming 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
- winnowingπτύονptuon · winnowing forkG4425
- is in His handχείρcheir · handG5495
- His threshingἅλωνhalōn · threshing-floorG257
- gatherσυνάγωsunagō · to assembleG4863
- His wheatσῖτοςsitos · grainG4621
- into the barnἀποθήκηapothēkē · storehouseG596
- but He will burnκατακαίωkatakaiō · to burnG2618
- chaffἄχυρονachuron · chaffG892
- unquenchableἄσβεστοςasbestos · unquenchableG762
- fireπῦρpur · fireG4442
Cross-references for Matthew 3:12
- Isaiah 30:24Also the oxen and the donkeys that work the ground will eat seasoned feed, which has been winnowed with shovel and pitchfork.
- Isaiah 41:16You will winnow them, and the wind will carry them away, And the storm will scatter them; But you will rejoice in the Lord, You will boast in the Holy One of Israel.
- Jeremiah 4:11At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem, “A scorching wind from the bare heights in the wilderness, in the direction of the daughter of My people--not to winnow and not to cleanse,
- Jeremiah 15:7I will winnow them with a winnowing fork At the gates of the land; I will bereave them of children, I will destroy My people; They did not repent of their ways.
- Jeremiah 51:2I will send foreigners to Babylon so that they may winnow her And devastate her land; For they will be opposed to her on every side On the day of her disaster.
- Luke 3:17His winnowing fork is in His hand to thoroughly 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 forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness,
- Malachi 3:2“But 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 launderer’s soap.
- Malachi 4:1“For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace; and all the arrogant and every evildoer will be chaff; and the day that is coming will set them ablaze,” says the Lord of armies, “so that it will leave them neither root nor branches.
- John 15:2Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.
- Matthew 13:30Allow both to grow together until the harvest; and at the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather up the weeds and bind them in bundles to burn them; but gather the wheat into my barn.”’”
- Amos 9:9“For behold, I am commanding, And I will shake the house of Israel among all nations As grain is shaken in a sieve, But not a pebble will fall to the ground.
- Job 21:18Are they as straw before the wind, And like chaff which the storm carries away?
- Psalms 1:4The wicked are not so, But they are like chaff which the wind blows away.
- Psalms 35:5Let them be like chaff before the wind, With the angel of the Lord driving them on.
- Isaiah 5:24Therefore, as a tongue of fire consumes stubble, And dry grass collapses in the flame, So their root will become like rot, and their blossom blow away like dust; For they have rejected the Law of the Lord of armies, And discarded 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
Notes
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
New American Standard Bible 2020 — © 1960–2020 The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
Commentaries