“The wicked are not so, but they are like chaff which the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous,” (Psalm 1:4-5).

Psalm 1 is a contrast between the righteous and the wicked.  The righteous are followers of God who delight in the law of God (v. 2) and prosper because of it (v. 3).  The wicked are the sinners, the scoffers (v. 1), who are like chaff that the wind drives away (v. 4).  They will not stand on the day of judgment (v. 5).  They will perish (v. 6).

Chaff is the leftover hulls that are separated from the edible grains by the process of thrashing and winnowing. When the grain was harvested, people would throw the harvest into the air, and the wind would blow away the lighter chaff (husks), and the heavier grain would fall to the ground, thus separating that which is good from that which is not. This imagery is used in the Bible.

• “How often is the lamp of the wicked put out, or does their calamity fall on them? Does God apportion destruction in His anger? 18 “Are they as straw before the wind, and like chaff which the storm carries away?” (Job 21:17–18).
• “The nations rumble on like the rumbling of many waters. But He will rebuke them and they will flee far away, And be chased like chaff in the mountains before the wind, or like whirling dust before a gale,” (Isa. 17:13).
• “His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire,” (Matt. 3:12).
• “His winnowing fork is in His hand to thoroughly clear His threshing floor, and to gather the wheat into His barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire,” (Luke 3:17).

There are four words used in the Hebrew Old Testament that are translated into the English chaff.

1. “מֹץ [mots, mowts /motes/] n m. From 4160; TWOT 1162a; GK 5161; Eight occurrences; AV translates as “chaff” eight times. 1 chaff. 1A always as driven by wind.”¹Strong, James. Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon. Woodside Bible Fellowship, 1995.  The word is used 8 times in the Old Testament: Job 21:18; Psalm 1:4; 35:5; Isaiah 17:13; 29:5; 41:15; Hosea 13:3; Zeph. 2:2.
2. “חֲשַׁשׁ [chashash /khaw·shash/] n m. By variation for 7179; TWOT 775a; GK 3143; Two occurrences; AV translates as “chaff” twice. 1 chaff, dry grass.”²ibid.  The word is used two times in the Old Testament: Isaiah 5:24; 33:11
3. “קַשׁ [qash /kash/] n m. From 7197; TWOT 2091a; GK 7990; 16 occurrences; AV translates as “stubble” 16 times. 1 stubble, chaff.”³ibid. The word is used 16 times in the Old Testament: Exodus 5:12; 15:7; Job 13:25; 41:28, 29; Psalm 83:13; Isaiah 5:24; 33:11; 40:24; 41:2; 47:14; Jeremiah 13:24; Joel 2:5; Obadiah 18; Nahum 1:10; Malachi 4:1.
4. “עוּר [ʿuwr /oor/] n m. Chaff (as the naked husk); TWOT 2904; GK 10534; AV translates as “chaff” once. 1 chaff.”⁴ibid..  The word occurs once in the Old Testament: Daniel 2:35

There is only one word used in the Greek New Testament that is translated into the English chaff.

1. “ἄχυρον [achuron /akh·oo·ron/] n n. Perhaps remotely from cheo (to shed forth); GK 949; Two occurrences; AV translates as “chaff” twice. 1 a stalk of grain from which the kernels have been beaten out. 2 straw broken up by a threshing machine, chaff.”⁵ibid.  The word occurs two times in the New Testament: Matthew 3:12; Luke 3:17

NT Imagery of the Harvest and Separation of Chaff from Grain

Scripture often uses the imagery of the harvest in the context of judgment. In the harvest, grain and of the chaff are separated just as the good and the wicked are also separated (Matthew 25:32; 13:41-42, 49-50). The chaff (wicked) will be removed in judgment.

• “The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, 42 and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth,” (Matthew 13:41–42).
• “So it will be at the end of the age; the angels will come forth and take out the wicked from among the righteous, 50 and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth,” (Matthew 13:49–50).
• “All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats,” (Matthew 25:32).

Jesus uses the imagery to convey a point. There will be a separation of the good and bad with a judgment of the wicked in which there will be “weeping and gnashing of teeth” in that place of fire. He uses the well-known imagery of separating the edible grain from the inedible chaff where the chaff would often be burned up.

How far would you take the imagery?  Is Jesus trying to illustrate the severity of the judgment, or is he saying that the chaff won’t exist anymore?  The conditionalist will affirm the latter out of necessity to support his position. But is it proper to carry the imagery that far? Well, that’s part of the debate.

Conclusion

Psalm 1:4-5 is saying that the wicked will not stand in the judgment to come. It does not say that they will cease to exist. The conditionalist reads too much into the text. They say that as the wicked are burned, they will not exist anymore. But, the chaff is also thrown into the air. Are the wicked thrown into the air and separated from the good? Of course not. It is a figure of speech meant to illustrate the fact that the wicked will be destroyed. Exactly what the destruction is, is not stated. Therefore, to say that the verses mean the wicked will be annihilated is to read into the text that is not there. The conditionalists ought not to use this verse to prove their position because it doesn’t.