Greek word · G892
ἄχυρον
achyron
chaff
Chaff: husks, hulls and broken bits of straw separated from the grain in threshing and winnowing. It is light and worthless as food, though people sometimes used it as fuel or mixed it with clay.
Appears 2 times in 2 verses of 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
Chaff: husks, hulls and broken bits of straw separated from the grain in threshing and winnowing. It is light and worthless as food, though people sometimes used it as fuel or mixed it with clay.
- Against the English
'Chaff' is accurate. Modern readers simply have no picture of how light it is or how fast it burns.
- Used elsewhere in the period
In the Old Testament chaff is a standard picture of the wicked or of people with no substance: Psalm 1:4, 'like chaff that the wind drives away'; Psalm 35:5; Isaiah 17:13; Hosea 13:3; Zephaniah 2:2. Malachi 4:1 (3:19 in Hebrew) is the closest to John's picture: on the day that 'burns like a furnace', the arrogant and evildoers will be stubble set on fire.
- Range of meaning
The light waste of threshing: husks, chaff, and chopped or broken straw. People used it for brick-making, animal fodder, and quick fuel for ovens.
- Against the English
All the major versions say "chaff," which is accurate. Many modern readers, though, no longer have a picture of what chaff is or how it behaves.
- Used elsewhere in the period
In the Greek Old Testament of Exodus 5:7 it is the straw the Israelites had to gather for Pharaoh's bricks. The Hebrew Bible regularly uses chaff and stubble for the wicked: weightless, blown away, quickly burnt (Ps 1:4; Isa 5:24; Obad 18; Mal 4:1, "all evildoers will be stubble; the day that is coming will set them ablaze").
Where it appears
Matthew · 1
-
Matthew 3:12 ἄχυρον chaff
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: The light husks and broken straw separated from the grain. It weighs nothing, is worth nothing as food, and burns easily.
Luke · 1
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Luke 3:17 ἄχυρον the chaff
His winnowing fork is in His hand to clear His threshing floor and to gather the wheat into His barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
Here: The light, worthless leftovers of threshing: husks and bits of straw. It looks like part of the crop but has no grain in it.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.