Charles Ellicott Commentary Matthew 3:12

"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." — Matthew 3:12 (ASV)

Whose fan is in his hand — The scene brought before us is that of the large, hardened surface which was the "threshing floor" of the East. Sheaves of grain are thrown onto it, oxen tread on them, and a large winnowing fan drives a strong current of air across them. This process leaves the wheat in the middle, while the chaff is driven to the outskirts of the field to be swept up and burned later.

The metaphor was a familiar one (Psalms 1:4; Psalms 35:5; Isaiah 17:13; Isaiah 29:5; Hosea 13:3). The new features here are:

1. The "coming One," the expected Christ, is the agent in this process.
2. The Old Testament imagery focuses on the "scattering" of the chaff, but this passage moves on to its "burning."
3. The fire is said to be "unquenched," or perhaps "unquenchable."

The interpretation of the parable lies on the surface. The chaff represents the ungodly and evildoers. The unquenched fire is the wrath of God against evil, which is by its very nature eternal and can only end with the cessation or transformation of that evil. It should be noted that the word translated "chaff" also includes straw—everything but the actual grain.

It seems right to briefly direct the reader’s thoughts here to what is recorded of the Baptist’s ministry in the other Gospels. This includes the questions from the priests and Levites (John 1:19–25), the counsel given to tax collectors, soldiers, and others (Luke 3:10–14), and the presence of Galileans in the crowd, some of whom were later apostles (John 1:35–42).

A curious legendary addition from the apocryphal Gospel according to the Hebrews is worth noting, as it prepares the way for what follows: "Behold, the mother of the Lord and his brothers said to Him, 'John the Baptist baptizes for the remission of sins; let us go and be baptized by him.' But He said to them, 'How have I sinned that I should go and be baptized by him? Unless, perhaps, what I have just said is a sin of ignorance.'"

This was obviously an attempt to explain the difficulty of the Sinless One seeking a baptism of repentance. It was, of course, quite probable that the household of Nazareth, cherishing hopes of the kingdom of heaven as they did, would be drawn with other Galileans to the Baptist's preaching.