Matthew 3:12 (WEB)
His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will thoroughly cleanse his threshing floor. He will gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn up with unquenchable fire.”
Catechism · 1
“Following in the steps of the prophets and John the Baptist, Jesus announced the judgement of the Last Day in his preaching.” — Catechism footnote: Cf. Dan 7:10; Joel 3-4; Mal 3: 19; Mt 3:7-12.
Fathers and councils · 54
Irenaeus of Lyons
“…His lips, and having a fan in His hands, and cleansing His floor, and gathering the wheat indeed into His barn, but burning the chaff with unquenchable fire.” — editor's note: Matt. iii. 12; Luke iii. 17.
Read the whole comment
Tertullian
“This is that fan which even now cleanses the Lord’s threshing-floor—the Church, I mean—winnowing the mixed heap of believers, and separating the grain of the martyrs from the chaff of the deniers; and this is also the ladder of which Jacob dreams, on which are seen, some mounting up to higher places, and…” — editor's note: Matt. iii. 12.
Read the whole comment“In fact, the doctors of the law and the Pharisees, who were unwilling to “believe,” did not “repent” either.” — editor's note: Matt. iii. 7–12; xxi. 23, 31, 32.
Read the whole comment“Seize the opportunity of unexpected felicity: that you, who sometime were in God’s sight nothing but “a drop of a bucket,” and “dust of the threshing-floor,” and “a potter’s vessel,” may thenceforward become that “tree which is sown beside the waters, is perennial in leaves, bears fruit at its own time,” and shall…” — editor's note: Dan. ii. 35; Matt. iii. 12.
Read the whole comment““The Lord (beholdeth and) knoweth them that are His;” and “the plant which (my heavenly Father) hath not planted, He rooteth up;” and “the first shall,” as He shows, “be last;” and He carries “His fan in His hand to purge His threshing-floor.”” — editor's note: Matt. iii. 12.
Read the whole comment“At Rome, for instance, they who have to do with the type of that “inextinguishable fire,” keeping watch over the omens of their own (future) penalty, in company with the (old) dragon himself, are appointed on the ground of virginity.” — editor's note: Matt. iii. 12.
Read the whole comment
Justin Martyr
“…fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly purge His floor, and will gather the wheat into the barn; but the chaff He will burn up with unquenchable fire.’” — editor's note: Matt. iii. 11, 12.
Read the whole comment
Augustine of Hippo
“…containing chaff and corn; and the nets, in which were enclosed good fish and bad; and the ark of Noah, in which were both unclean and clean animals: and you will see that the Churches for a while, now in this time, unto the last time of judgment, contain not only sheep and oxen, that is, holy laymen and…” — editor's note: See on title. Matt. iii. 12, xiii. 47; Gen. vii. 8.
Read the whole comment“He shall winnow with such art, carrying in His hand a fan, that not one grain of wheat shall fall into the heap of chaff prepared to be burned, nor one beard of chaff pass to the heap to be laid up in the garner.” — editor's note: Matt. iii. 12.
Read the whole comment“Now together let rich and poor hear, let goats and sheep feed in the same pasture, until He come who shall separate the one on His right hand, the other on His left.” — editor's note: Matt. iii. 12.
Read the whole comment“But there will come time of winnowing, when both are to be severed with greatest diligence, in order that no grain may pass over unto the heap of chaff that is to be burned, that not one single straw may pass over to the mass that is to be stored in the barn.” — editor's note: Matt. iii. 12.
Read the whole comment“…God that is chaste, sound, quiet, but ascribing to themselves much; ready for dissension, but not finding opportunity; are the very chaff of the Lord’s floor.” — editor's note: Matt. iii. 12.
Read the whole comment“Upon the right keep good men, on the left keep evil men, until there come the fan: occupy nevertheless all nations; bidden to the marriage be good men and evil men, filled be the marriage with guests; it is the office of servants to bid, of the Lord to sever.” — editor's note: Matt. iii. 12.
Read the whole comment“Therefore at that time when without any intermixture of evil men His people shall be, like a heap purged by the fan, like Israel in whom guile is not, then most pre-eminent “above Israel” shall be “the magnificence” of “Him: and the virtue of Him in the clouds.”” — editor's note: Matt. iii. 12.
Read the whole comment“For so long as the Church is here, so long as grain groaneth amid chaff, so long as wheat groaneth amid tares, so long as vessels of mercy groan amid vessels of wrath made for dishonour, so long as lily groaneth amid thorns, there will not be wanting enemies to say, “When shall he die, and his name perish?”” — editor's note: Matt. iii. 12, xiii. 30.
Read the whole comment“For they are not of the chaff, but perchance of the grain; not of the broken branches, but perchance of those that are strengthened.” — editor's note: Matt. iii. 12.
Read the whole comment“Nevertheless, Christ shall not be destitute of an inheritance on their account: not for the chaff’s sake shall the wheat also perish: nor on account of bad fish shall nothing be cast into the vessels from that net.” — editor's note: Matt. iii. 12.
Read the whole comment“…whose fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly purge His floor, and gather His wheat into the garner; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” — editor's note: Matt. iii. 4–12.
Read the whole comment
John Chrysostom
“Wherefore he again adduces his terrors, saying, “Whose fan is in His hand.”” — editor's note: Matt. iii. 12.
Read the whole comment“For after having said, “Pray ye the Lord of the harvest;” when they had not made any entreaty nor prayer, He Himself at once ordains them, reminding them also of the sayings of John,of the threshing floor, and of the Person winnowing, and of the chaff, and of the wheat.” — editor's note: Matt. iii. 12.
Read the whole comment“He again reminds them of John’s words,introducing Him as judge; and He saith, So long as they stand by the wheat, we must spare them, for it is possible for them even to become wheat but when they have departed, having profited nothing, then of necessity the inexorable punishment will overtake them.” — editor's note: Matt. iii. 12.
Read the whole comment“For of Him John had said, “I am not worthy to loose the latchet of His shoe;” and, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of the world;” and, “This is the Son of God;”and, “He that cometh from above is above all;”and, “His fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly purge His floor.”” — editor's note: Matt. iii. 12.
Read the whole comment
Jerome
“For one shall come whose fan is in His hand, and shall purge His floor, and shall gather His wheat into the garner, and shall burn the chaff in the fire of hell.” — editor's note: Matt. iii. 12.
Read the whole comment
Gregory of Nazianzus
“…and a chief corner stone, knitting us to itself and to one another, was laid in due season, or a fire to purify our base and evil matter, or a farmer’s fan to winnow the light from the weighty in doctrine, or a sword to cut out the roots of wickedness; and so the Word finds him as his own ally, and the Spirit…” — editor's note: S. Matt. iii. 12.
Read the whole comment
Clement of Alexandria
““For the fan is in the Lord’s hand, by which the chaff due to the fire is separated from the wheat.”” — editor's note: Matt. iii. 12; Luke iii. 17.
Read the whole comment
Hippolytus of Rome
“For, he says, the fruit has been produced for the purpose of being laid in the storehouse, whereas the chaff that it may be delivered over to the fire.” — editor's note: Matt. iii. 12; Luke iii. 17.
Read the whole comment
Catena Aurea on Matthew
- Glossa OrdinariaCatena Aurea on Matthew
As in the preceding words John had explained more at length what he had shortly preached in the words, “Repent ye,” so now follows a more full enlargement of the words, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
Read the whole comment - Gregory the GreatCatena Aurea on Matthew
John baptizes not with the Spirit but with water, because he had no power to forgive sins; he washes the body with water, but not at the same time the soul with pardon of sin.
Read the whole comment - John ChrysostomCatena Aurea on Matthew
For while as yet the sacrifice had not been offered, nor remission of sin sent, nor the Spirit had descended on the water, how could sin be forgiven? But since the Jews never perceived their own sin, and this was the…
Read the whole comment - Gregory the GreatCatena Aurea on Matthew
Why then does he baptize who could not remit sin, but that he may preserve in all things the office of forerunner? As his birth had preceded Christ’s birth, so his baptism should precede the Lord’s baptism.
Read the whole comment - Pseudo-ChrysostomCatena Aurea on Matthew
Or, John was sent to baptize, that to such as came to his baptism he might announce the presence among them of the Lord in the flesh, as himself testifies in another place, “That He might be manifested to Israel,…
Read the whole comment - Augustine of HippoCatena Aurea on Matthew
Or, he baptizes, because it behoved Christ to be baptized. But if indeed John was sent only to baptize Christ, why was not He alone baptized by John? Because had the Lord alone been baptized by John, there would not…
Read the whole comment - Rabanus MaurusCatena Aurea on Matthew
Or, by this sign of baptism he separates the penitent from the impenitent, and directs them to the baptism of Christ.
Read the whole comment - Pseudo-ChrysostomCatena Aurea on Matthew
Because then he baptized on account of Christ, therefore to them who came to him for baptism he preached that Christ should come, signifying the eminence of His power in the words, “He who cometh after me is mightier…
Read the whole comment - Remigius of AuxerreCatena Aurea on Matthew
There are five points in which Christ comes after John, His birth, preaching, baptism, death, and descent into hell. A beautiful expression is that, “mightier than I,” because he is mere man, the other is God and man.
Read the whole comment - Rabanus MaurusCatena Aurea on Matthew
As though he had said, I indeed am mighty to invite to repentance, He to forgive sins; I to preach the kingdom of heaven, He to bestow it; I to baptize with water, He with the Spirit.
Read the whole comment - John ChrysostomCatena Aurea on Matthew
When you hear “for He is mightier than I,” do not suppose this to be said by way of comparison, for I am not worthy to be numbered among his servants, that I might undertake the lowest office.
Read the whole comment - Hilary of PoitiersCatena Aurea on Matthew
Leaving to the Apostles the glory of bearing about the Gospel, to whose beautiful feet was due the carrying the tidings of God’s peace.
Read the whole comment - Pseudo-ChrysostomCatena Aurea on Matthew
Or, by the feet of Christ we may understand Christians, especially the Apostles, and other preachers, among whom was John Baptist; and the shoes are the infirmities with which he loads the preachers. These shoes all…
Read the whole comment - JeromeCatena Aurea on Matthew
In the other Gospels it is, “whose shoe latchet I am not worthy to loose.” Here his humility, there his ministry is intended; Christ is the Bridegroom, and John is not worthy to loose the Bridegroom’s shoe, that his…
Read the whole comment - Pseudo-ChrysostomCatena Aurea on Matthew
But since no one can give a benefit more worthy than he himself is, nor to make another what himself is not, he adds, “He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire.” John who is carnal cannot give spiritual…
Read the whole comment - JeromeCatena Aurea on Matthew
Either the Holy Ghost Himself is a fire, as we learn from the Acts, when there sat as it were fire on the tongues of the believers; and thus the word of the Lord was fulfilled who said, “I am come to send fire on the…
Read the whole comment - John ChrysostomCatena Aurea on Matthew
He does not say, shall give you the Holy Ghost, but “shall baptize you in the Holy Ghost,” shewing in metaphor the abundance of the grace. This further shews, that even under the faith there is need of the will alone…
Read the whole comment - Pseudo-ChrysostomCatena Aurea on Matthew
It is plain then that the baptism [ed. note: Two sentences about rebaptizing, wanting in some copies of the original, are omitted by Aquinas. This comment on St. Matthew has apparently passed successively through the…
Read the whole comment - Hilary of PoitiersCatena Aurea on Matthew
He marks the time of our salvation and judgment in the Lord; those who are baptized in the Holy Ghost it remains that they be consummated by the fire of judgment.
Read the whole comment - Rabanus MaurusCatena Aurea on Matthew
By the fan is signified the separation of a just trial; that it is in the Lord’s hand, means, ‘in His power,’ as it is written, “The Father hath committed all judgment to the Son.”
Read the whole comment - Pseudo-ChrysostomCatena Aurea on Matthew
“The floor,” is the Church, “the barn,” is the kingdom of heaven, “the field,” is the world. The Lord sends forth His Apostles and other teachers, as reapers to reap all nations of the earth, and gather them into the…
Read the whole comment - Remigius of AuxerreCatena Aurea on Matthew
This His floor, to wit, the Church, the Lord cleanses in this life, both when by the sentence of the Priests the bad are put out of the Church, and when they are cut off by death.
Read the whole comment - Rabanus MaurusCatena Aurea on Matthew
The cleansing of the floor will then be finally accomplished, when the Son of Man shall send His Angels, and shall gather all offences out of His kingdom.
Read the whole comment - Gregory the GreatCatena Aurea on Matthew
After the threshing is finished in this life, in which the grain now groans under the burden of the chaff, the fan of the last judgment shall so separate between them, that neither shall any chaff pass into the…
Read the whole comment - Hilary of PoitiersCatena Aurea on Matthew
The wheat, i.e. the full and perfect fruit of the believer, he declares, shall be laid up in heavenly barns; by the chaff he means the emptiness of the unfruitful.
Read the whole comment - Rabanus MaurusCatena Aurea on Matthew
There is this difference between the chaff and the tares, in that the chaff is produced of the same seed as the wheat, but the tares from one of another kind. The chaff therefore are those who enjoy the sacraments of…
Read the whole comment - Remigius of AuxerreCatena Aurea on Matthew
The unquenchable fire is the punishment of eternal damnation; either because it never totally destroys or consumes those it has once seized on, but torments them eternally; or to distinguish it from purgatorial fire…
Read the whole comment - Augustine of HippoCatena Aurea on Matthew
If any asks which were the actual words spoken by John, whether those reported by Matthew, or by Luke, or by Mark, it may be shewn, that there is no difficulty here to him who rightly understands that the sense is…
Read the whole comment
Cross-references · 22
Parallel passages
Matthew 3:12 and Luke 3:17 share the same wording (16 words).
Cited together with
Cited together in Dialogue with Trypho Chapter 49.
Cited together in The Refutation of All Heresies VI.4.
Cited together in On Repentance Chapter 4.
Cited together in Pseudo-Chrysostom on Matthew 3:11–12 (Catena Aurea).
Cited together in On Repentance Chapter 4.
Cited together in On Repentance Chapter 4.
Cited together in To His Wife I.6.
Cited together in Dialogue with Trypho Chapter 49.
Cited together in Dialogue with Trypho Chapter 49.
Cited together in The Refutation of All Heresies VI.4.
Cited together in Jerome on Matthew 3:11–12 (Catena Aurea).
Cited together in Dialogue with Trypho Chapter 49.
Cited together in On Repentance Chapter 4.
Cited together in On Repentance Chapter 4.
Cited together in On Repentance Chapter 4.
Cited together in On Repentance Chapter 4.
Cited together in On Repentance Chapter 4.
Cited together in The Refutation of All Heresies VI.4.
Cited together in The Refutation of All Heresies VI.4.
Cited together in The Refutation of All Heresies VI.4.
Cited together in Dialogue with Trypho Chapter 49.