Threshing and Winnowing

"...It was one thing to grow the grain in the field, but it also took a lot of work after the grain was grown to get it ready to grind into flour. For thousands of years farmers used a basic three-part system of threshing, winnowing, and using a sieve to get the grain to the point where it could be ground into flour. After harvesting, the first stage in making grain suitable for grinding into flour was the process called threshing.

Threshing

Threshing is the process of removing the grain of wheat or barley from the stalk and husk. The threshing was done in different ways, depending on how much grain there was and the tools the farmer had available to him. Essential to threshing was a “threshing floor,” a flat area of hard dirt or rock on which freshly harvested wheat could be piled. Quite a few verses, from Genesis to the New Testament, mention threshing floors, which makes sense because grain was so essential to life.[2]

When there was only a little wheat, the kernels of grain could be knocked off the stalk with a stick, which is what Gideon was doing when he was trying to hide the fact he had harvested some wheat (Judges 6:11). A much more common way of threshing was to pile it on the threshing floor where cows or oxen were driven back and forth over it. Their feet “threshed” the grain from the stalk. God wanted to make sure the animals that did that work were well kept, and so He commanded, “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain” (Deut. 25:4). In other words, the ox got to benefit from his labor by eating some of the grain he was threshing. Many farmers owned a “threshing sled,” a piece of equipment that looked rather like a wide toboggan, with pieces of metal or stone set in the bottom so the wheat could be cut off the stalk faster:

Isaiah 41:15
See, 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.

As the oxen or threshing sled went over and over the large pile of harvested wheat, the stalks would be cut up into pieces, and the heads of grain knocked off the stalk and often even separated from the husk. Then the grain was ready to be winnowed.

Winnowing
Winnowing was the process that separated the mixed up pile of grain, stalk, and husk so that the edible grain could be sifted and eaten. To winnow the grain, the farmer scooped up the pieces of the crop he had just threshed and threw it all up into the air. The wind blew the light pieces of stalk to the side, while the grain, which was both heavier and roundish, fell almost straight back down. Thus, over time, the threshing floor was covered with three quite distinct piles of material. The kernels of grain fell almost straight down or were not blown far at all. The larger pieces of stalk, or “straw,” had blown a little ways off to the side, and the small pieces of stalk, called the “chaff,” had blown even further away.

The farmer used a “winnowing fork,” or a “winnowing shovel” to throw the threshed grain into the air. The winnowing fork and shovel were used in a similar way as people today move loose hay with a pitchfork or broad shovel. The winnowing fork was usually about the size of a pitchfork, but with flat wooden tines to catch more of the grain. Isaiah 30:24 (ESV), mentions animal fodder “which has been winnowed with shovel and fork.”

Since the grain crops ripened in April, May, and June, it was not unusual that during the daytime there was too little wind to winnow. That meant the farmer had to wait until there was a slight wind, which often came in the evening. That is why when Naomi was looking for a husband for Ruth, she told her to go see Boaz, saying, “This evening he will be winnowing barley on the threshing floor” (Ruth 3:2 HCSB).

After winnowing, the valuable grain was gathered and stored, while the straw and chaff were handled in different ways. Sometimes it was ignored and left to blow away. Thus, Jeremiah 13:24 says, “I will scatter you like chaff driven by the desert wind.” Sometimes the straw and chaff were used in making mud bricks because it helped bind the mud together. That was why Pharaoh forced the Israelites to make bricks with “straw” (Ex. 5:7-18). Sometimes the straw and chaff were used as fuel for household ovens, because it burned fast and hot, and got the ovens hot quickly. “For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble” (Mal. 4:1 ESV).[3]

The process of winnowing provided a clear picture of how God will treat people on Judgment Day. The people who have believed in Him and have lived obedient lives will be treated like wheat—they will be gathered together and be safely kept. In contrast, the unbelievers and disobedient will be treated like chaff—they will be burned up in the lake of fire just like chaff is burned up in an oven. Matthew says: “His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire” (Matt. 3:12).[4]

The Sieve

Just before the grain was ground into flour, it was sieved. This was necessary for a number of reasons. For one thing, it was common in the harvesting that weed seeds got mixed in with the wheat, and threshing and winnowing did not separate the different seeds (cp. The Parable of the Seeds in the Field: Matt. 13:24-30). Furthermore, the winnowing process did not get all the chaff from the grain. Also, in picking the grain off the threshing floor, dust and pebbles were mixed in with the grain.

In the biblical culture, a grain sieve was round and fairly large, usually two to three feet in diameter. The sides were wood, often 3-5 inches high with a bottom that was often made of woven reeds, grasses, or thin interwoven pieces of wood. Sieving was one of those parts of life that was so common that people felt no need to describe it. ...

Threshing, winnowing, and sieving grain was a part of daily life from Genesis until the early 1900’s. The fact that there are dozens of allusions to it in the Bible reflects both the daily life of the people, and the fact that God expects us to learn spiritual lessons from our daily lives.

Endnotes

[1] Isaiah and Ezekiel use different Hebrew words for “staff,” but they both can refer to walking staffs.
[2] Some include: Gen. 50:10; Num. 15:20; Deut. 15:14; Judges 6:37; Ruth 3:2; 2 Sam. 6:6; 1 Kings 22:10; 2 Kings 6:27; Job 39:12; Jer. 51:33; Hos. 13:3; Micah 4:12; Matt. 3:12.
[3] The ESV does a good job in Malachi 4:1 in using the word “oven.” Some modern versions use the word “furnace,” which is misleading. There are words in Hebrew for different types of furnaces (though none were used to heat homes). A kibshan (#03536 כִּבְשָׁן) was a smelting furnace or lime-kiln (Gen. 19:28); a kur (#03564 כּוּר) was a refining furnace (Prov. 17:3); an attun (#0861 אַתּוּן) was a large furnace that was used in extracting ore. The word in Malachi is tanur (#08574 תַּנּוּר; pronounced tan-noor), a household oven.

-https://spiritandtruthonline.org/threshing-winnowing-sieving-separating-the-good-from-the-bad/#:~:text=Then%20the%20grain%20was%20ready%20to%20be%20winnowed.&text=Winnowing%20was%20the%20process%20that,all%20up%20into%20the%20air.