Greek word · G1245
διακαθαρίζω
diakatharizō
to clear out
To clean out completely or clear thoroughly. It is the root 'make clean' (kathairō/katharizō) with dia- added, meaning 'through, all the way'. On a threshing floor it means clearing the whole floor so that no grain is mixed with chaff.
Appears once in the Greek New Testament. ·
What it means
From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).
In depth
From the study of Matthew 3:12
- Range of meaning
To clean out completely or clear thoroughly. It is the root 'make clean' (kathairō/katharizō) with dia- added, meaning 'through, all the way'. On a threshing floor it means clearing the whole floor so that no grain is mixed with chaff.
- Against the English
KJV: 'throughly purge' ('throughly' is an older spelling of 'thoroughly'). WEB and YLT: 'thoroughly cleanse'. ESV/NIV: 'clear'. BSB: 'to clear', a purpose phrase. 'Purge' now suggests a political purge or getting rid of people by force, which goes beyond the farm picture.
- How it drifted
'Purge' used to mean simply 'clean out'. Its modern sense of violent elimination came later.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Found only here in the New Testament. Luke 3:17 uses the closely related verb diakathairō. Writers on farming in the papyri and elsewhere use kathairō for cleaning grain.
Similar words
Where it appears
Matthew · 1
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Matthew 3:12 διακαθαριεῖ He will clear
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.”
Here: A future verb, 'he will clean out'. The prefix dia- means 'right through', so the floor is cleared from one side to the other and nothing stays mixed.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.