The Meaning of Luke 3:17 Explained

Luke 3:17

KJV: Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and will gather the wheat into his garner; but the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable.

YLT: whose winnowing shovel is in his hand, and he will thoroughly cleanse his floor, and will gather the wheat to his storehouse, and the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable.'

Darby: whose winnowing-fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his threshing-floor, and will gather the wheat into his garner, but the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable.

ASV: whose fan is in his hand, thoroughly to cleanse his threshing-floor, and to gather the wheat into his garner; but the chaff he will burn up with unquenchable fire.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Whose  fan  [is] in  his  hand,  and  he will throughly purge  his  floor,  and  will gather  the wheat  into  his  garner;  but  the chaff  he will burn  with fire  unquenchable. 

What does Luke 3:17 Mean?

Context Summary

Luke 3:15-23 - The Herald Silenced The Messiah Appears
We are told that the time of John's appearance was the Sabbatic year, when field-work was suspended, and the people had comparative leisure. In his passion for God, reality and truth, John asked for nothing of men; but men were willing to give him anything. The impression he made on his age was due to his selfless devotion to the coming Kingdom and its King. The great cities emptied themselves into the Jordan valley. The youth of Gennesaret left their fishing boats to sit at his feet. The "spirit and power of Elijah" rested on him. All classes felt that he could speak to their needs, and submitted to his direction.
But how abashed his bearing before Jesus! The voice that had swept the crowds like a whirlwind sank to whispers. Our Lord took him into fellowship-"it becometh us." The porter opened the door and recognized that it was the true Shepherd who passed in, John 1:32-34. [source]

Chapter Summary: Luke 3

1  The preaching and baptism of John;
15  his testimony of Jesus;
19  Herod imprisons John;
21  Jesus, baptized, receives testimony from heaven
23  The age and genealogy of Jesus from Joseph upwards

Greek Commentary for Luke 3:17

Fan - floor - purge []
See on Matthew 3:12. [source]

Reverse Greek Commentary Search for Luke 3:17

Luke 12:18 My barns [μου τας αποτηκας]
From αποτιτημι — apotithēmi to lay by, to treasure. So a granary or storehouse, an old word, six times in the N.T. (Matthew 3:12; Matthew 6:26; Matthew 13:30; Luke 3:17; Luke 12:18, Luke 12:24).All my corn (παντα τον σιτον — panta ton siton). Better grain (wheat, barley), not maize or Indian corn.My goods Like the English, my good things. So the English speak of goods (freight) train. [source]
Luke 3:16 He that is mightier than I [ο ισχυροτερος μου]
Like Mark 1:7, “the one mightier than I.” Ablative case Compare Luke 3:16 with Mark 1:7. and Matthew 3:11. for discussion of details. Luke has “fire” here after “baptize with the Holy Ghost” as Matthew 3:11, which see note. This bold Messianic picture in the Synoptic Gospels shows that John saw the Messiah‘s coming as a judgment upon the world like fire and the fan of the thrashing-floor, and with unquenchable fire for the chaff (Luke 3:17; Matthew 3:12). But he had the spiritual conception also, the baptism in the Holy Spirit which will characterize the Messiah‘s Mission and so will far transcend the water baptism which marked the ministry of John. [source]
1 Timothy 5:18 That treadeth out [ἀλοῶντα]
More correctly, while he is treading out. The verb only here and 1 Corinthians 9:9, 1 Corinthians 9:10. Comp. ἅλων a threshing-floor, Matthew 3:12; Luke 3:17. An analogy to the O.T. injunction may be found in the laws giving to the Athenians by the mythical Triptolemus, one of which was, “Hurt not the laboring beast.” Some one having violated this command by slaying a steer which was eating the sacred cake that lay upon the altar, - an expiation-feast, Bouphonia or Diipolta was instituted for the purpose of atoning for this offense, and continued to be celebrated in Athens. Aristophanes refers to it (Clouds, 985). A laboring ox was led to the altar of Zeus on the Acropolis, which was strewn with wheat and barley. As soon as the ox touched the grain, he was killed by a blow from an axe. The priest who struck the blow threw away the axe and fled. The flesh of the ox was then eaten, and the hide was stuffed and set before the plough. Then began the steer-trial before a judicial assembly in the Prytaneum, by which the axe was formally condemned to be thrown into the sea. [source]

What do the individual words in Luke 3:17 mean?

of whom the winnowing fork [is] in the hand of Him to clear the threshing floor and to gather the wheat into barn - But the chaff He will burn up with fire unquenchable
οὗ τὸ πτύον ἐν τῇ χειρὶ αὐτοῦ διακαθᾶραι τὴν ἅλωνα καὶ συναγαγεῖν τὸν σῖτον εἰς ἀποθήκην τὸ δὲ ἄχυρον κατακαύσει πυρὶ ἀσβέστῳ

οὗ  of  whom 
Parse: Personal / Relative Pronoun, Genitive Masculine Singular
Root: ὅς 
Sense: who, which, what, that.
πτύον  winnowing  fork  [is] 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Neuter Singular
Root: πτύον  
Sense: a winnowing shovel.
χειρὶ  hand 
Parse: Noun, Dative Feminine Singular
Root: χείρ  
Sense: by the help or agency of any one, by means of any one.
αὐτοῦ  of  Him 
Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Genitive Masculine 3rd Person Singular
Root: αὐτός  
Sense: himself, herself, themselves, itself.
διακαθᾶραι  to  clear 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Infinitive Active
Root: διακαθαίρω 
Sense: to cleanse thoroughly.
ἅλωνα  threshing  floor 
Parse: Noun, Accusative Feminine Singular
Root: ἅλων  
Sense: a ground plot or threshing floor, i.
συναγαγεῖν  to  gather 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Infinitive Active
Root: συνάγω  
Sense: to gather together, to gather.
σῖτον  wheat 
Parse: Noun, Accusative Masculine Singular
Root: σιτίον 
Sense: wheat, grain.
εἰς  into 
Parse: Preposition
Root: εἰς  
Sense: into, unto, to, towards, for, among.
ἀποθήκην  barn 
Parse: Noun, Accusative Feminine Singular
Root: ἀποθήκη  
Sense: a place in which anything is laid by or up.
τὸ  - 
Parse: Article, Accusative Neuter Singular
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
ἄχυρον  the  chaff 
Parse: Noun, Accusative Neuter Singular
Root: ἄχυρον  
Sense: a stalk of grain from which the kernels have been beaten out.
κατακαύσει  He  will  burn  up 
Parse: Verb, Future Indicative Active, 3rd Person Singular
Root: κατακαίω  
Sense: to burn up, consume by fire.
πυρὶ  with  fire 
Parse: Noun, Dative Neuter Singular
Root: πῦρ  
Sense: fire.
ἀσβέστῳ  unquenchable 
Parse: Adjective, Dative Neuter Singular
Root: ἄσβεστος  
Sense: unquenched, unquenchable.