What is the Bible talking about when it mentions a threshing floor?

from the old testament

• A threshing floor is a smooth, flat surface that was used in the process of harvesting grain. Before there was machinery, farmers used a threshing floor to separate the grain from the chaff. The harvested produce would be spread over the threshing floor and then animals (cattle or oxen) would be led over it, to crush and break the sheaves apart with their hooves. At times, people used sticks to beat the sheaves apart (Ruth 2:17; Isaiah 28:27). The grain would be separated from the husks, or chaff (Deuteronomy 25:4; Isaiah 28:28) and then tossed into the air so that the wind could blow the chaff away, leaving only the good, edible grain. This was called "winnowing."
• In Judges 6, Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress, hiding it from the Midianites who were oppressing Israel (Judges 6:11). Normally, threshing was done on open threshing floors, but Gideon’s concealment showed the desperate circumstances of the Israelites. In this moment, God met Gideon and called him to deliver Israel despite his doubts and fear.
• A threshing floor is important in the biblical story of Ruth and Boaz. In those times, if a woman's husband died, it was very difficult for her to survive on her own, and very often, the woman would be "redeemed" by her husband's nearest kinsmen (Leviticus 25:25; Ruth 2:20). Ruth was encouraged by her mother-in-law, Naomi, to go to the threshing floor where Boaz was winnowing barley, wait until he had finished eating and drinking and was lying down for the night, uncover his feet, and lay down at his feet. This was a symbol of her desire to be redeemed by him (Ruth 3:1–18). The connection between the kinsmen redeemer and the threshing floor in this story is likely not incidental. The fact that her petition takes place at the threshing floor, among the grain and the chaff, is a beautiful symbol of man's need for redemption and God's identity as Redeemer (Job 19:25; Psalm 19:14; 78:35).
• In 2 Samuel 24:18–25 and 1 Chronicles 21:18–28, David purchases Araunah’s threshing floor. This foreshadowed the establishment of the temple in Jerusalem as the central place of worship, emphasizing the principles of sacrifice, atonement, and devotion to God. The temple was where God met with His people. The building of the temple on the site of this former threshing floor (2 Chronicles 3:1) also reveals that our response to God will determine the judgment we will receive. It causes us to reflect on the severity of sin and the holiness of God.
• The threshing floor is also symbolic of judgment in the Bible. Hosea prophesied that Israel would be "like the morning mist or like the dew that goes early away, like the chaff that swirls from the threshing floor or like smoke from a window" (Hosea 13:3). Of the nations who will come against God during the end times, the prophet Micah says "they do not know the thoughts of the LORD; they do not understand his plan, that he has gathered them as sheaves to the threshing floor" (Micah 4:12). The idea is that Israel will demolish their enemies like oxen trampling grain on the threshing floor" (Micah 4:11–13). Chaff is referred to in the Psalms as a symbol of the destruction of the wicked (Psalm 1:4).

from the new testament

• John the Baptist referred to Jesus as the one who would separate the good grain from the chaff with a winnowing fork, gathering the grain into his barn and burning the chaff with "unquenchable fire" (Matthew 3:12). This is a symbol of heaven and hell.
• The difference between the grain and the chaff, between good and evil people, is not their good or evil works. The grain is gathered into the barn by faith, by the gift of God, who provides righteousness and spiritual safety through Jesus Christ, our kinsmen Redeemer (Romans 1:17; 3:22–24; Hebrews 2:11–15).

implications for today

Just as the threshing floor was a place of separation, where grain was purified from chaff through the beating and winnowing process, so, too, will God sift believers from unbelievers. Those who, like Ruth, seek redemption at the threshing floor will find their redemption through our Kinsman-Redeemer, Jesus Christ, who offers us spiritual safety and righteousness through His death and resurrection. These people will be separated from those who follow their own selfish desires and continue in their sin instead of turning to Christ. Ultimately, John the Baptist's metaphor of Jesus as the one who separates the grain from the chaff reveals the importance of faith in Christ, through whom we find salvation and eternal life, while those who reject Him will face judgment. The threshing floor is a powerful reminder of God's redemptive plan and our call to respond to His grace.