The theme of judgment binds together verses 10-12, and in each of these three verses the word “fire” is explicitly mentioned. Although Jeremiah 46.22 speaks of men who go into the forest to chop down trees, the figure of the axe that is laid to the root of the trees is best understood as drawn from the experience of either a gardener or a person who takes care of grapevines. The trees referred to here are useful trees or grapevines from which one could expect to gather good fruit. The background for the words of John the Baptist may be found in Ezekiel 15.1-8, where the prophet compares the people of Jerusalem to the wood of the grapevine. Once the vine has ceased bearing fruit it is useless, and there is nothing that can be done with its wood, except to burn it. John the Baptist does not speak of someone who comes to prune the vine with a knife, but of one who comes to “cut down the trees at the roots” (Good News Translation), after which they will be thrown into the fire.

Even now can be “Already,” or the meaning can be included in a phrase such as “God is ready” or “The ax is ready.”

For the ax to be laid to the root of the trees does not make sense in many languages, and the idea that everything is prepared to cut down the trees needs to be made explicit. Further, in many languages one cannot say that the ax is ready. The person who is going to use the ax must be mentioned. Thus one can say “God has the ax ready to cut down the trees at the roots.” If “ax” is difficult to translate, one can even say “God is ready to cut down….”

Cut down and thrown is a passive construction, but it is God who does this. Translations can have “God will cut it down and throw it into the fire.”

Every tree may be “any tree that does not…” or “If a tree does not….”

Bear good fruit may be translated “bear fruit that is edible (or, sweet)” or “bear fruit like it should.” In some cases it will be enough to say “produce fruit.”

The fire is a symbol of hell, the place of punishment. It is not normally advisable to say “hell” in the translation, but many translations make “fire” definite (that is, “the fire”) and not indefinite (“a fire”).

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on the Gospel of Matthew. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1988. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .