12His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the granary, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”
The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “winnowing fork” or similar in English is translated in Matumbi as “sifter” since that’s the tool that is used to separate chaff from grain. (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext)
In the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) with Schaufel or “shovel,” in other German translations as Worfschaufel , an outdated term for the kind of shovel that is traditionally used in German-speaking areas to separate chaff from wheat.
In Gbaya, the notion of chaff or other items being blown by the wind is emphasized with the ideophone pumyulu.
Ideophones are a class of sound symbolic words expressing human sensation that are used as literary devices in many African languages. (Source: Philip Noss)
The Greek and Hebrew that is translated in English as “grain” (or: “corn”) is translated in Kui as “(unthreshed) rice.” Helen Evans (in The Bible Translator 1954, p. 40ff. ) explains: “Padddy [unthreshed rice] is the main crop of the country and rice the staple diet of the people, besides which [grain] is unknown and there is no word for it, and it seemed to us that paddy and rice in the mind of the Kui people stood for all that corn meant to the Jews.” “Paddy” is also the translation in Pa’o Karen (source: Gordon Luce in The Bible Translator 1950, p. 153f. ).
Other translations include: “wheat” (Teutila Cuicatec), “corn” (Lalana Chinantec), “things to eat” (Morelos Nahuatl), “grass corn” (wheat) (Chichimeca-Jonaz) (source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.), “millet” (Lambya) (source: project-specific notes in Paratext), “food” (Nyamwezi) (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext)or ntimumma lujia / “seeds for food” (Lokạạ — “since Lokạạ does not have specific terms for maize and rice that can be described as grains”) (source: J.A. Naudé, C.L. Miller Naudé, J.O. Obono in Acta Theologica 43/2, 2023, p. 129ff. )
The Greek that is translated as “granary” or “barn” in English is translated in Chichewa as nkhokwe or “storage bin,” “the difference is that the biblical variety was usually found underground, while the Chewa nkhokwe is normally built above ground.” (Source: Wendland 1987, p. 72)
The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “thresh” in English is illustrated for use in Bible translations in East Africa by Pioneer Bible Translators like this:
Image owned by PBT and Jonathan McDaniel and licensed with the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.
The Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, Ge’ez, and Latin that is translated as “threshing floor” in English is translated in Kim with twal or “termite mound” which are used to build threshing floors. (Source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)
Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 3:12:
Uma: “He can be compared to a person who winnows rice. He separates the developed/full rice from the empty-hulls until it is cleaned-off. The developed/full rice he puts into a storage bin, and the empty-hulls he burns in a fire that blazes on forever.'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “He will separate the good people and the bad people. He is figuratively like a person who winnows rice (a specific word for letting grain drop from a height – magpalid) for separating the kernels from the chaff. The kernels he stores in the storage container but the chaff he burns in the fire that cannot be put out.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Because he will separate the righteous and wicked people, he is like one winnowing palay removing the chaff from the palay. The palay will be stored, but the chaff, he will burn with fire which cannot be put out,’ said John.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “He is compared to a person holding a winnowing-basket that he will use-to-winnow the pounded rice. Its grain (lit. fruit), he will go store it in his house, but as for the husks, he will burn (them) in the fire that never-goes-out.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “He will be the one to judge the people. For it’s like he is holding his winnowing-tool(to toss with) with which to winnow/toss-in-the-air the straw. He will put all the grain together to store in the silo. But the straw will be thrown into the fire which never dies down.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “That one will select people like when wheat is cleaned and the chaff is put aside. The wheat is gathered to be stored. The chaff then will be burned in fire which will never go out.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
Following is a 1973 painting of the JESUS MAFA project, a response to New Testament readings from the Lectionary by a Christian community in Cameroon, Africa. Each of the readings was selected and adapted to dramatic interpretation by the community members. Photographs of their interpretations were made, and these were then transcribed to paintings:
John the Baptist dramatically preaches by the water’s edge to his audience that consists of common people as well as religious leaders. He appears to be in the middle of his harsh pronouncement on the Pharisees and Sadducees, calling them a “brood of vipers.” They stand at the right-hand side of the painting, arms folded, seemingly indignant at John’s words. The rest of the crowd watches and listens intently to John, curious and enthralled by the scene before them. In the distance there are some figures approaching the group. Could it be Jesus on the way to his baptism?
From Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. Image retrieved March 23, 2026. Original source: librairie-emmanuel.fr.
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