The mixture of wheat and chaff was then moved around, thrown up in the air, etc., such that the wind would pull away the chaff and the grain would fall to the stone floor.
Threshing floors were often at the top of a hill so that, by the Bernoulli effect, the wind would be intensified to make the winnowing easier.

So, in keeping with the topic of winnowing, we might state the following about the chaff that "The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind".

The song "Blowin' in the wind" was a popular song written by Bob Dylan in 1962. It was redone by Peter, Paul and Mary in 1963 (right after the Bob Dylan version was released).

The first verse and chorus to "Blowin' in the wind" is as follows.

The chaff, then, is "Gone with the wind", the name of a 1939 movie from the 1936 book of the same name by Margaret Mitchell.

The context of the this verse is the parable of the bad tenants. The ending of that parable is three verses earlier.

The parable of the wicked husbandmen, sometimes called the parable of the bad tenants, Matthew 21:33-41 and basically repeated in Mark and Luke (both omitted), Jesus relates how the bad tenants did not fulfill their duties and, on return of the owner, were destroyed. This parable also appears in the Gospel of Thomas.

Jesus ends the parable in the above verse.

There are many interpretations of this parable, but there are two groups.

• The tenants or husbandmen are those in charge of the vineyard as in "the house built on sand".
• The vineyard appears to represent the common person as in "the house built on the rock".

The "tenants" were not doing what they were supposed to be doing. One can see this in some modern churches. As such, this parable had (and has) an immediate application to the religious leaders and infrastructure of the time - both first and second coming of Jesus.

Jesus often speaks in terms that have wider meaning and application.

Details are left as a future topic.

Given the preceding context, we are interested in this verse. This verse appears to apply to those of the religious establishment but is stated in a more general way that appears to have wider and more general application.

The main words here are "stone", "broken", and the two words "grind" and "powder" which in the Greek are one word.

The "stone" appears to refer to Jesus but may represent an actual "stone" in a literal context.

The "but" in the KJV (King James Version) is a connective word in the Greek that can mean "but", "and", "also", "or", etc.

The implication in English of "but" is that there are two mutually exclusive cases as in "one or the other happen, but not both". The implication in English of "and" or "also" is that the two cases can be the same or overlap in same way. That is, it may be the case that the two parts are not mutually exclusive.

The word "fall" appears to have connections with the parable of the houses built on rock and sand or the sparrows who sell themselves falling since the are without God.

More: Matthew 10: 28-31 Taking care of the sparrows

It may also be the case, as we shall see, that the two cases are not collectively exhaustive. That is, there appears to be another case into which people might fall.

Details are left as a future topic.

For now, we will be concerned with just the people to which this verse applies.

The Greek connective could/should then be translated as to which sense makes most sense - or provide a footnote or clarification. The following might be a better way - with minimal changes to the KJV.

Matthew 21:44 (adjusted paraphrase) And whosoever shall fall on this stone (stumbling block) shall be broken and/or/but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.

Discuss: Is the "grind to powder" good or bad? Do you want to be "ground to powder"?

The fact that this verse was not translated in this way shows the subtle influence of what one thinks the passage means to how it is translated. The same phenomena happens in areas such as computer science.

The "grind to powder" is one word in the Greek. Addressing this verse first makes it easier to address the preceding word translated as "broken".
The "grind to powder" appears to be an afterthought as if such a meaning made more sense to the translators. However, this word is not translated this way in other passages.

Note how Strong has added the "grind to powder" as an afterthought. This is not the meaning used elsewhere for this word but is used to fit here.

• "λικμάω" ≈ "winnow".
• "λίκνον" ≈ "winnowing fan, basket, cradle".

In the following verses in the LXX (Septuagint), the word has the idea of winnowing, scattering with the wind, sifting (via winnowing), dispersing, etc., but not of grinding.

In parachuting, HALO (High Altitude Low Opening) is where one jumps from a great height but does not open the parachute until very near the ground. One does not want to do HANO (High Altitude No Opening).

The phrase "stay out from under the wheel" might be traced to the above verse.

Notice the Hebrew parallelism in this verse. The repeated semantic meaning using two ways of saying what is essentially the same idea provides fault tolerance. Here are the two ideas involving "flee" and "chased".

• "as the chaff of the mountains before the wind"
• "like a rolling thing before the whirlwind"

The "rolling thing" is translated in the Greek LXX as "wheel".

Again we have a repeated meaning involving a "fan".

• "wind shall carry them away"
• "whirlwind shall scatter them"

Notice that these two verses, according to some, were written by different Isaiah's. One is from chapters 1-39 and the other from chapters 40-66. Chapter divisions were decided in the Middle Ages.

More: The two Isaiahs

More: Chapter and verse divisions

In the GNT (Greek New Testament) , word often translated as "scatter" is the source of the English word "scorpion".

More: A scatter-brained approach to the sting of a scorpion

Who and where are the "isles" that are "afar"?

Details are left as a future topic.

The LXX uses the Greek word for "spirit" as in a "good wind" from the gods.

The third letter of the Hebrew alphabet is "gimel" which, as pronounced, is the word for "camel".

In this verse, as part of the prophecies of future and end-time kingdoms related to the golden statue and the fiery furnace, Daniel, in the LXX, uses the idea of "bruising together" as "breaking in pieces" and "winnowing" as "consuming".

More: Daniel 2: I have a forgotten dream

More: Daniel: world empires

The Middle English word "riddil" ≈ "sift" and is the source of the English word "riddle" (not the puzzle) as in "riddled with holes".

One does not want to "crush" or "grind" the winnowed grain until it is ready for use. There is a Greek word for grinding, as in grinding winnowed grain to flour for usage. That word is not used here.

The English word "mill" is related to other PIE (Proto Indo-European) words for "mill" and is the source of last names such as "Miller".

• The Middle English word "mille" ≈ "mill"
• The Old English word "mylen" ≈ "mill"
• The Latin word "molo" ≈ "grind, mill".
• The Spanish word "molino" ≈ "mill".
• The German word "Mühle" ≈ "mill".
• The Old Church Slavonic word "мелюще" ≈ "grinding".
• The Russian word "мелющие" ≈ "grinding".
• The modern Greek word "μύλος" (MEE-los) ≈ "mill".
• The ancient Greek word "μυλω" ≈ "mill".

Luke repeats the same idea.

An important part of the word used is the prefix "συν" with a meaning of together. The harvested grain is "together" until broken or bruised or separated into pieces sufficiently to winnow the chaff away with the wind.

English words from the ancient Greek prefix "σύν" ≈ "together" include "synthesis", "synergy", etc.

The "broken" is that of being "broken together". As a group, the phrase "better together" may not be so good if the "together" part is the chaff.

The word translated in the KJV as "broken" has a meaning of being broken into pieces or, in that sense, "bruised".

• The ancient Greek word "θλάσμα" ≈ "bruise, contusion".
• The ancient Greek word "θλάω" ≈ "crush, bruise".

A primary meaning of this word appears to be that of bruising and not that of crushing.

This is the concluding verse. These verses do appear to apply to the religious hierarchy of the time of the coming of Jesus the first time. They also appear to have application to the coming of Jesus the second time.

The word "perceived" is most often translated as "knew". Does that fit here? Is it necessary here to add some doubt as to what the Pharisees actually knew?

[Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek]

• The modern Greek word "άνθος" (AN-thos) ≈ "blossom, bloom".
• The modern Greek word "άκανθος" (A-kan-thos) ≈ "thorn" and con be thought of as the opposite of "flower".

• The German word "die Blume" ≈ "the flower, blossom" which is related to the English word "bloom".
• The Latin word "flos" ≈ "flower" from which comes the Spanish word "flor" ≈ "flower" from which comes the name of the state "Florida" and the word "flower".
• The Russian word "цвет" (tsve-tak) ≈ "blossom, flower, color" as many flowers are colorful.

The "flower" of the "wheat" or as in the Wycliffe version, the "flour" of the "grass" become our "flour" of today.

Egyptians ate bread that was ground with stones to make flour. As they aged, their teeth would be ground down from the bits of stone in the bread from the grinding process.

Since grain could be grown along the Nile, Egypt became an important source of grain during Roman times. Sicily was another important grain producing area. Both areas thus had military and political significance.

Here is an extended paraphrase using the above discussion.

Paraphrase: Those who make it to the (stone) threshing floor from the harvest will be bruised together - in preparation for winnowing. They will then be winnowed by that same stone - either blown away into nothingness by the wind or, with weighty fruit of the grass, remain on the threshing floor for further processing in the sequence of harvest, threshing and ultimate destiny.

One may not have enough fruit to not be blown away by the wind. The wind often has a negative connotation in the GNT and as used by Jesus. Jesus has the power to stop the wind (evil powers) from blowing away even the chaff.

More: An unlawful wind as an air of the spirit

In Matthew 3, John the Baptist appears to foreshadow the above paraphrase. First, John the Baptist talks of the coming one who will baptize with wind (Holy Ghost) and fire.

More: The security of flaming swords

More: No sword no shoes no service on the way

This is the follow-on verse.

The same idea is expressed in Luke 3:17.

The Greek word for "barn" or "store house" is related (different prefix) to the GNT words for "Old Testament" and "New Testament" and the modern Greek word for "book store", etc.

Details are left as a future topic.

The Greek for "unquenchable" is that of "quick lime" and was later mistranslated by Pliny into Latin as "asbestos".

More: Unquenchable fire