Definition and Process:
Threshing is an agricultural process mentioned frequently in the Bible, involving the separation of grain from the husks and straw. This was traditionally done by spreading the harvested stalks on a threshing floor and then using tools or animals to break the grain free. The process symbolizes judgment and purification, as the valuable grain is separated from the worthless chaff.

Biblical References:

1. Old Testament Context:
· Ruth 3:2 : "Now is not Boaz, with whose servant girls you have been working, a relative of ours? In fact, he is winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor." This passage highlights the threshing floor as a place of significant activity and social interaction, as well as a setting for key events in the narrative of Ruth.
· Isaiah 41:15 : "Behold, I will make you into a threshing sledge, new and sharp, with many teeth. You will thresh the mountains and crush them, and reduce the hills to chaff." Here, threshing is used metaphorically to describe the power and effectiveness of God's people in overcoming obstacles.

2. Symbolism and Imagery:
· Judgment and Purification: Threshing is often used as a metaphor for divine judgment. In the process, the grain (representing the righteous) is separated from the chaff (representing the wicked). This imagery is prevalent in prophetic literature, where God is depicted as the one who will thresh the nations.
· Micah 4:12-13 : "But they do not know the thoughts of the LORD; they do not understand His plan, who gathers them like sheaves to the threshing floor. Arise and thresh, O Daughter of Zion, for I will give you horns of iron and hooves of bronze, to break to pieces many peoples." This passage illustrates the empowerment of God's people to execute His judgment.

3. New Testament Context:
· Matthew 3:12 : "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." John the Baptist uses the imagery of threshing to describe the coming judgment by Jesus, emphasizing the separation of the righteous from the wicked.

Cultural and Historical Significance:
Threshing was a critical part of the agricultural cycle in ancient Israel, essential for food production and survival. The threshing floor was not only a place of labor but also a communal space where social and economic transactions occurred. It was often located on elevated ground to take advantage of the wind for winnowing, the process of removing chaff from the grain.

Spiritual Lessons:
The concept of being "threshed" in a spiritual sense can be understood as undergoing trials and tribulations that refine and purify one's faith. Just as the grain is separated from the chaff, believers are called to be set apart from sin and worldly influences, becoming pure and useful for God's purposes.(imp. & p. p.) of Thresh.257. halon -- a threshing floor
... floor. Probably from the base of heilisso; a threshing-floor (as rolled hard), ie
(figuratively) the grain (and chaff, as just threshed) -- floor. ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/257.htm - 6k4098. medushshah -- that which is threshed
... 4097, 4098. medushshah. 4099 . that which is threshed. Transliteration: medushshah
Phonetic Spelling: (med-oosh-shaw') Short Definition: threshed. ...
/hebrew/4098.htm - 6k

4671. mots -- squeezer, extortioner
... chaff Or mowts (Zephaniah 2:2) {motes}; from muwts; chaff (as pressed out, ie Winnowed
or (rather) threshed loose) -- chaff. see HEBREW muwts. 4670, 4671. ...
/hebrew/4671.htm - 5k

1758. dush -- to tread, thresh
... root Definition to tread, thresh NASB Word Usage continue to thresh (1), thrash
(1), thresh (3), threshed (2), threshing (4), trample (1), trampled (1 ...
/hebrew/1758.htm - 6k

The Husbandman and his Operations
... For the fitches are not threshed with a threshing instrument, neither is a cart
wheel turned about upon the cummin; but the fitches are beaten out with a staff ...
/.../maclaren/expositions of holy scripture h/the husbandman and his operations.htm

A Sermon for the Time Present
... What would you say of a man who had wheat upon his barn floor, and threshed it until
he had beaten out the last golden grain; but the next day he went and ...
/.../spurgeon/spurgeons sermons volume 33 1887/a sermon for the time.htm

The Child Moses.
... and down like cattle, to dig with small wooden spades, and to clear the land of
stones; and when the harvest came, they cut down the crops and threshed out the ...
/.../anonymous/children of the old testament/the child moses.htm

The Service Common to the Holy Angels and Other Bodiless Ones.
... And there came an angel of the Lord, and sat under an oak which was in Ophrah, that
pertained unto Joash the Abi-ezrite ; and his son Gideon threshed wheat by ...
/.../anonymous/the general menaion/chapter iv the service common.htm

Chapter xlii
... that we may live and not die." Sh??bher, "grain," derives its meaning from the root
shabhar, "to break," either as that which is broken or threshed, or as that ...
/...//christianbookshelf.org/leupold/exposition of genesis volume 1/chapter xlii.htm

A Liberal Church
... poor. The first fruits of the wool when the sheep were shorn, of the grain
when the wheat was threshed, were set apart for God. ...
/.../white/the acts of the apostles/lesson 32 a liberal church.htm

Suffering the Birth-Pains of a New Life.
... The Tragic Break in the Plan Suffering the Birth-pains of a New Life. Why did Jesus
die? It's a pretty old question. It's been threshed out no end of times. ...
/.../gordon/quiet talks about jesus/suffering the birth-pains of a.htm

Ruth.
... wheat harvest. When all the reaping was done, the grain was threshed on
a piece of ground made very smooth and level. The sheaves ...
/...//christianbookshelf.org/lathbury/childs story of the bible/chapter xvi ruth.htm

On the Words of the Gospel, Luke xiii. 21 and 23, Where the ...
... I see the floor, I look for the corn. And hardly is the corn seen, when the floor
is being threshed; but the time is coming, that it shall be winnowed. ...
/.../sermons on selected lessons of the new testament/sermon lxi on the words.htm

Vain Toil
... a friend telling me that when he was a boy he went out reaping with his father in
one of our years of great drought; and after a day's work threshed out all ...
//christianbookshelf.org/maclaren/expositions of holy scripture a/vain toil.htm

Threshed (7 Occurrences)
... Noah Webster's Dictionary (imp. & pp) of Thresh. Multi-Version Concordance
Threshed (7 Occurrences). Judges 6:11 And there came an ...
/t/threshed.htm - 8k

Thresh (7 Occurrences)
... Habakkuk 3:12 You marched through the land in wrath. You threshed the nations
in anger. (Root in WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NIV). ...
/t/thresh.htm - 9k

Agriculture
... When the grain was threshed, it was winnowed by being thrown up against the wind
(Jeremiah 4:11), and afterwards tossed with wooden scoops (Isaiah 30:24). ...
/a/agriculture.htm - 27k

Threshing (57 Occurrences)
... Judges 8:7 And Gideon saith, 'Therefore -- in Jehovah's giving Zebah and Zalmunna
into my hand -- I have threshed your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness ...
/t/threshing.htm - 28k

Implements (7 Occurrences)
... Amos 1:3 Thus says Yahweh: "For three transgressions of Damascus, yes, for four,
I will not turn away its punishment; because they have threshed Gilead with ...
/i/implements.htm - 8k

Fitches (3 Occurrences)
... Isaiah 28:27 For the fitches are not threshed with a threshing instrument, neither
is a cart wheel turned about upon the cummin; but the fitches are beaten out ...
/f/fitches.htm - 9k

Thrash (1 Occurrence)
... Judges 8:7 And Gideon saith, 'Therefore -- in Jehovah's giving Zebah and Zalmunna
into my hand -- I have threshed your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness ...
/t/thrash.htm - 6k

Thresher (1 Occurrence)

/t/thresher.htm - 7k

Revoke (10 Occurrences)
... Amos 1:3 Thus saith Jehovah: For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four,
I will not revoke my sentence, because they have threshed Gilead with ...
/r/revoke.htm - 10k

Reverse (12 Occurrences)
... 3 Thus saith Jehovah: For three transgressions of Damascus, yea, for four, I will
not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have threshed Gilead with ...
/r/reverse.htm - 11k

What is the meaning of chaff in the Bible? | GotQuestions.org

Threshed: Dictionary and Thesaurus | Clyx.com

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