Matthew 3 · Verse 12

Matthew 3:12

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.

Matthew 3:12, King James Version

Matthew 3:12 in other translations

BSB	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.”
WEB	His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will thoroughly cleanse his threshing floor. He will gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn up with unquenchable fire.”
ASV	whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly cleanse his threshing-floor; and he will gather his wheat into the garner, but the chaff he will burn up with unquenchable fire.
YLT	whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly cleanse his floor, and will gather his wheat to the storehouse, but the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable.'
DARBY	whose winnowing fan is in his hand, and he shall thoroughly purge his threshing-floor, and shall gather his wheat into the garner, but the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable.
BBE	In whose hand is the instrument with which he will make clean his grain; he will put the good grain in his store, but the waste will be burned up in the fire which will never be put out.
Webster	Whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly cleanse his floor, and gather his wheat into the granary; but he will burn the chaff with unquenchable fire.

What does Matthew 3:12 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown

12. 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 their solid worth (compare Am 9:9; Lu 22:31). into the garner--"the kingdom of their Father," as this "garner" or "barn" is beautifully explained by our Lord in the parable of the wheat and the tares (Mt 13:30, 43). but he will burn up the chaff--empty, worthless professors of religion, void of all solid religious principle and character (see Psa 1:4). with unquenchable fire--Singular is the strength of this apparent contradiction of figures:--to be burnt up, but with a fire that is unquenchable; the one expressing the utter destruction of all that constitutes one's true life, the other the continued consciousness of existence in that awful condition. Luke adds the following important particulars (Lu 3:18-20): Lu 3:18: And many other things in his exhortation preached he unto the people--showing that we have here but an abstract of his teaching. Besides what we read in Joh 1:29, 33, 34; 3:27-36, the incidental allusion to his having taught his disciples to pray (Lu 11:1)--of which not a word is said elsewhere--shows how varied his teaching was. Lu 3:19: But Herod the tetrarch, being reproved by him for Herodias his brother Philip's wife, and for all the evils which Herod had done--In this last clause we have an important fact, here only mentioned, showing how thoroughgoing was the fidelity of the Baptist to his royal hearer, and how strong must have been the workings of conscience in that slave of passion when, notwithstanding such plainness, he "did many things, and heard John gladly" (Mr 6:20). Lu 3:20: Added yet this above all, that he shut up John in prison--This imprisonment of John, however, did not take place for some time after this; and it is here recorded merely because the Evangelist did not intend to recur to his history till he had occasion to relate the message which he sent to Christ from his prison at Machærus (Lu 7:18, &c.).

Mt 3:13-17. Baptism of Christ and Descent of the Spirit upon Him Immediately Thereafter. ( = Mr 1:9-11; Lu 3:21, 22; Joh 1:31-34).

Baptism of Christ (Mt 3:13-15).

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Barnes' Notes

Verse 12. His fan. It seems probable that this was some portable instrument, made light, so that it might be easily carried about. The fan is a well-known agricultural instrument which was used by the Jews, as it is at the present day, to separate grain from the chaff. The usual custom was to throw the grain in the air by means of a large shovel, and suffer the wind to drive the chaff away; but it is probable that the fan was often employed. Isa 30:24.

His floor. The threshing-floor was an open space, or area, in the field, usually on an elevated part of the land, Gen 1:10. It had no covering or walls. It was a space of ground thirty or forty paces in diameter, and made smooth by rolling it, or treading it hard. A high place was selected for rite purpose of keeping it dry, and for the convenience of winnowing the grain by the wind. The grain was usually trodden out by oxen. Sometimes it was beaten with flails, as with us; and sometimes with a sharp threshing instrument, made to roll over the grain, and to cut the straw at the same time, Isa 41:15. After being threshed it was winnowed. The grain was then separated from the dirt and coarse chaff by a sieve, and then still farther cleansed by a fan, an instrument to produce an artificial wind. This method is still practised in eastern nations.

Shall purge. Shall cleanse, or purify. Shall remove the chaff, etc.

The garner. The granary or place to deposit the wheat.

Unquenchable fire. Fire that shall not be extinguished, that will utterly consume it. By the floor, here, is represented the Jewish people. By the wheat, the righteous, or the people of God. By the chaff, the wicked. They are often represented as being driven away like chaff before the wind, Job 21:18, Ps 1:4, Isa 17:13, Hos 13:13. They are also represented as chaff which the fire consumes, Isa 5:24. This image is often used to express judgments. Isa 41:15, "Thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and shalt make the hills as chaff." By the unquenchable fire is meant the eternal suffering of the wicked in hell, 2Thes 1:8,9, Mk 9:48 Mt 25:41.

(w) "burn up the chaff" Ps 1:4, Mal 4:1, Mk 9:44

Albert Barnes, 1834 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 12 Whose fan is in his hand - The Romans are here termed God's fan, as, in Mat 3:10, they were called his axe, and, in Mat 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 says, he will now, by the winnowing fan (viz. the Romans) thoroughly cleanse this floor - the wheat, those who believe in the Lord Jesus, he will gather into his garner, either take to heaven from the evil to come, or put in a place of safety, as he did the Christians, by sending them to Pella, in Coelosyria, previously to the destruction of Jerusalem. But he will burn up the chaff - the disobedient and rebellions Jews, who would not come unto Christ, that they might have life. Unquenchable fire - That cannot be extinguished by man.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Matthew 3:7-12

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…

Read the full comment on Matthew 3:7-12 →

Matthew 3:12 in the original Greek

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

οὗhouwhoseG3739

τὸto<the>G3588

πτύονptuonwinnowing fork [is]G4425

ἐνeninG1722

τῇtēatheG3588

χειρὶcheirihandG5495

αὐτοῦ,autouof Him,G846

καὶkaiandG2532

διακαθαριεῖdiakatharieiHe will clearG1245

τὴνtēntheG3588

ἅλωναhalōnathreshing floorG257

αὐτοῦautouof HimG846

καὶkaiandG2532

συνάξειsunaxeiwill gatherG4863

τὸνtontheG3588

σῖτονsitonwheatG4621

αὐτοῦautouof HimG846

εἰςeisintoG1519

τὴνtēntheG3588

ἀποθήκηνapothēkēnbarnG596

τὸtotheG3588

δὲdebutG1161

ἄχυρονachuronchaffG892

κατακαύσειkatakauseiHe will burn upG2618

πυρὶpuriwith fireG4442

ἀσβέστῳ.¶asbestōunquenchable.G762

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Matthew 3:12

Malachi 4:1
For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
Matthew 13:30
Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.
Luke 3:17
Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and will gather the wheat into his garner; but the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable.
Isaiah 41:16
Thou shalt fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them: and thou shalt rejoice in the Lord, and shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel.
Jeremiah 51:2
And will send unto Babylon fanners, that shall fan her, and shall empty her land: for in the day of trouble they shall be against her round about.
Matthew 13:41
The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity;
Psalms 1:4
The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.
John 15:2
Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.
Jeremiah 7:20
Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Behold, mine anger and my fury shall be poured out upon this place, upon man, and upon beast, and upon the trees of the field, and upon the fruit of the ground; and it shall burn, and shall not be quenched.
Malachi 3:2-3
But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap: And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness.
Jeremiah 15:7
And I will fan them with a fan in the gates of the land; I will bereave them of children, I will destroy my people, since they return not from their ways.
Mark 9:43-48
And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. …

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

fan.
Isa 30:24; 41:16; Jer 4:11; 15:7; 51:2; Lu 3:17
he will throughly.
13:41,49,50; Mal 3:2,3; 4:1; Joh 15:2
and gather.
13:30,43; Am 9:9
but.
Job 21:18; Ps 1:4; 35:5; Isa 5:24; 17:13; Ho 13:3; Mal 4:1; Lu 3:17
with.
Isa 1:31; 66:24; Jer 7:20; 17:27; Eze 20:47,48; Mr 9:43-48

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

Matthew 3:11
I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:
Matthew 3:12
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.
Matthew 3:13
Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him.

Read all of Matthew 3

Matthew 3:12 in other languages

Spanish Reina-Valera 1909	Su aventador en su mano está, y aventará su era: y allegará su trigo en el alfolí, y quemará la paja en fuego que nunca se apagará.
French Bible J.N. Darby 1885	Il a son van dans sa main, et il nettoiera entièrement son aire et assemblera son froment dans le grenier; mais il brûlera la balle au feu inextinguible.
German Elberfelder 1871	dessen Worfschaufel in seiner Hand ist, und er wird seine Tenne durch und durch reinigen und seinen Weizen in die Scheune sammeln, die Spreu aber wird er verbrennen mit unauslöschlichem Feuer.
Latin Clementine Vulgate	Cujus ventilabrum in manu sua: et permundabit aream suam: et congregabit triticum suum in horreum, paleas autem comburet igni inextinguibili.