Chaff
the refuse of winnowed corn. It was usually burned (
Ex. 15:7;
Isa. 5:24;
Matt. 3:12). This word sometimes, however, means dried grass or hay (
Isa. 5:24;
33:11). Chaff is used as a figure of abortive wickedness (
Ps. 1:4;
Matt. 3:12). False doctrines are also called chaff (
Jer. 23:28), or more correctly rendered "chopped straw." The destruction of the wicked, and their powerlessness, are likened to the carrying away of chaff by the wind (
Isa. 17:13;
Hos. 13:3;
Zeph. 2:2)
