Winnowing grain by hand, much as it has been done for millennia
Winnowing fork
A wide wooden fork used to toss threshed grain into the air. The wind carries the chaff away; the heavier grain falls back to the floor.
Once grain has been threshed — beaten or trodden out of its husks — it still needs to be separated from the lighter chaff. A worker stands on a flat threshing floor in the late afternoon, when the wind picks up, and tosses the mixed grain and chaff into the air with a wide wooden fork called a winnowing fork. The wind carries the lighter chaff away to one side; the heavier grain falls back to the floor. Several rounds of winnowing produce a clean pile of grain. The image appears across scripture as a metaphor for judgement — the harvester separating wheat from worthless husk.
“Winnowing fork.” Atlas. Accessed 2026. https://fcbh-atlas.vercel.app/en/customs/winnowing-fork
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