Lexical Summary
zarah: To scatter, to winnow, to disperse
Original Word:זָרָה
Part of Speech:Verb
Transliteration:zarah
Pronunciation:zah-RAH
Phonetic Spelling:(zaw-raw')
KJV: cast away, compass, disperse, fan, scatter (away), spread, strew, winnow
NASB:scatter, scattered, disperse, spread, winnow, winnows, dispersed
Word Origin:[a primitive root]
1. to toss about
2. (by implication) to diffuse, winnow
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
cast away, compass, disperse, fan, scatter away, spread, strew, winnow
A primitive root (comparezuwr); to toss about; by implication, to diffuse, winnow -- cast away, compass, disperse, fan, scatter (away), spread, strew, winnow.
see HEBREWzuwr
NAS Exhaustive Concordance
Word Origina prim. root
Definitionto scatter, fan, winnow
NASB Translationdisperse (5), dispersed (1), disperses (1), north (1), scatter (13), scattered (7), scrutinize (1), spread (4), winnow (3), winnow them with a winnowing (1), winnowed (1), winnows (2).
Brown-Driver-Briggs
[] (Arabic
cause to fly, scatter (of wind),
winnow; Aramaic ,
; Ethiopic
—
ImperfectExodus 32:20; 2masculine singularEzekiel 5:2; suffixIsaiah 30:22;Isaiah 41:16;Jeremiah 15:7;ImperativeNumbers 17:2;InfinitiveJeremiah 4:11;ParticipleRuth 3:2;Isaiah 30:24; —
scatter, the powder into which golden calf was groundExodus 32:20 (E, object not expressed); with accusative (strange) fire from censersNumbers 17:2 (P); hair (symbolic act)Ezekiel 5:2;Isaiah 30:22.
fan, winnow, objectRuth 3:2;Isaiah 30:24 (whereparticiple has indefinite subject),Isaiah 41:16 metaphor, object mountains and hills, figurative of winnowing; figurative fan, winnow, in purificationJeremiah 4:11 ("" ); in chastisementJeremiah 15:7( ).
ImperfectEzekiel 36:19be scattered, dispersed, of Israel;InfinitiveEzekiel 6:8when ye shall be dispersed (on plural suffix Ew§ 259 b, but Co strike out ).
Perfect suffix1 Kings 14:15;Psalm 139:3, suffixPsalm 44:12;Ezekiel 5:10 etc.;InfinitiveEzekiel 20:23 etc.; —
(intensive of Qal)scatter, disperse, especially of peoples, with accusative (Israel and Judah)1 Kings 14:15;Leviticus 26:33 (H),Psalm 44:12;Jeremiah 31:10;Ezekiel 5:10,12;Ezekiel 12:14,15;Ezekiel 20:23;Ezekiel 22:15 compareZechariah 2:2;Zechariah 2:4 (twice in verse);Psalm 106:27; bones of IsraelEzekiel 6:5; people of HazorJeremiah 49:32; of ElamJeremiah 49:36; of BabylonJeremiah 51:2 ( = strangers ?); EgyptiansEzekiel 29:12;Ezekiel 30:26 +Ezekiel 30:23 (strike out Co, internal grounds); in General the wickedProverbs 20:26; evilProverbs 20:8; participle = substantivescatterers, epithet of windsJob 37:9 (compare Qor 51:1);Malachi 2:3scatter dung on your faces (token of shame and curse); figurativedisperse knowledge (of lips)Proverbs 15:7.
winnow, sift (compare ) only figurativePsalm 139:3my path and my couch thou siftest (Che; BaZMG 1887, 607measurest, determinest, whence q. v.)
be scattered,ImperfectJob 18:15, subject followed by ;Participle feminine (agreeing withnet)Proverbs 1:17.
Topical Lexicon
Overview and Key MotifsThe verb זָרָה (zaráh) paints the vivid picture of scattering or winnowing—an action that separates, disperses, and disposes. Across roughly thirty-nine Old Testament occurrences the word moves from the humble threshing floor to the throne room of divine judgment, carrying three dominant motifs: (1) everyday agricultural labor, (2) God’s sovereign judgment on sin, and (3) redemptive purification that preserves a faithful remnant.
Agricultural Setting: Winnowing Grain
The most concrete scene for זָרָה is the threshing floor, where grain is thrown into the air so that the breeze blows the worthless chaff away while the kernels fall back to the ground.Ruth 3:2 offers the quintessential snapshot: “Tonight he will be winnowing barley on the threshing floor.” Winnowing demanded a deliberate act—lifting, tossing, waiting for the wind, and repeating until only the useful grain remained. This imagery becomes the interpretive key for the word’s later prophetic use: a purposeful process that distinguishes what deserves to stay from what must depart.
Divine Judgment and Sovereignty
Prophets seized the agricultural metaphor to describe the Lord’s active rule over nations and individuals.
•Jeremiah 15:7: “I will winnow them with a winnowing fork at the gates of the land.” Judah’s rebellion would be sifted, and the chaff of unrepentant hearts carried away.
•Jeremiah 51:2: “I will send strangers to Babylon to winnow her and to empty her land.” Even the world’s superpower could be reduced to blowing chaff when weighed on God’s scales.
•Isaiah 41:16 to the faithful remnant: “You will winnow them, and a wind will carry them away.” The Lord not only scatters the oppressor but allows His people to participate in the verdict.
•Habakkuk 1:17 (context): the invaders “mercilessly” scatter nations, yet God later scatters the very scourge He once employed.
Each passage affirms that judgment is neither random nor impersonal. God Himself wields the winnowing fork; the wind obeys His command; the result is exactly what He intends—evil is exposed, the righteous are refined, and His justice is vindicated.
Idolatry Overthrown
Exodus 32:20 connects זָרָה with the destruction of false worship: “He… burned it in the fire, ground it to powder, scattered it on the water, and made the Israelites drink it.” The scattering of the golden calf’s dust dramatizes that idols, however prized, end as worthless residue. Later prophets echo the theme by coupling זָרָה with the pulverizing of pagan altars and images (for example,2 Kings 23:6, although a different verb is used there, the theological idea parallelsExodus 32:20). The lesson carries into ministry today: every substitute for God is destined for dissolution, and faithful shepherds must call modern idolatries what they are—soon-to-be dust on the waters.
Purification and Preservation
Although scattering sounds purely destructive, Scripture presents it as a means of purification. Winnowing does not annihilate the harvest; it protects it. David sings in2 Samuel 22:43, “I ground them as the dust of the earth; I crushed and trampled them like mud in the streets.” The Lord’s anointed removes the wicked so that covenant community may flourish. Likewise,Job 21:18 asks whether the wicked “are like straw before the wind, like chaff swept away by a storm,” implying that God’s justice cannot be escaped. Purification through scattering foreshadows the eschatological separation Jesus describes—“His winnowing fork is in His hand” (Matthew 3:12), an echo of זָרָה’s theology.
Hope for the Remnant
Scattering judgments often close with promises of regathering.Isaiah 30–32 juxtaposes winnowing imagery with assurances of agricultural bounty once repentance comes. After Babylon is winnowed (Jeremiah 51), Israel’s exile likewise ends in restoration (Jeremiah 50:19–20). The pattern safeguards the doctrine of the remnant: God may sift His people severely, yet the kernel remains secure in His sovereign hand.
Distribution in Scripture
Narratives:Exodus 32:20;Ruth 3:2;2 Samuel 22:43 /Psalm 18:42 (parallel).
Wisdom Literature:Job 21:18;Psalm 44:11;Proverbs 15:7 (Hebrew text nuance).
Major Prophets:Isaiah 30:24;Isaiah 41:16;Jeremiah 4:11–12;Jeremiah 15:7;Jeremiah 46:28;Jeremiah 51:2.
Minor Prophets:Hosea 13:3;Habakkuk 1:17;Zechariah 2:6.
The clustering in Isaiah and Jeremiah underscores how the Exile era spotlighted זָרָה as both warning and comfort: warning to the unrepentant, comfort that God’s sifted people would ultimately shine.
New Testament Echoes
While the Greek New Testament uses different vocabulary, the conceptual bridge is unmistakable. John the Baptist preaches, “He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor, and will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire” (Matthew 3:12). This is agricultural judgment language rooted in זָרָה. The final scattering of the ungodly and gathering of the saints finds consummation at Christ’s return (Revelation 14:14–16).
Ministry Application
1. Preaching: Proclaim both the kindness and severity of God (Romans 11:22). Winnowing imagery balances comfort for the repentant with urgency for the complacent.
2. Pastoral Care: Encourage believers that trials may feel like scattering, yet they are Father-guided purification meant to leave faith “more precious than gold” (1 Peter 1:7).
3. Mission: Just as wind drives chaff away, the Spirit propels the gospel beyond old boundaries (Acts 8:4—a “scattered” church becomes a missionary people).
4. Personal Holiness: Invite self-examination; allow the Spirit to fan away the chaff of sin before public discipline becomes necessary (1 Corinthians 11:31).
Conclusion
זָרָה gathers into a single verb the farmer’s pledge to his grain, the prophet’s oracle to nations, and the Father’s loving discipline of His people. It reminds the church that every soul will someday be lifted before the divine breeze. Chaff will vanish; kernels will remain. Therefore, “rejoice in the LORD; glory in the Holy One of Israel” (Isaiah 41:16), for His winnowing is both just and merciful, perfectly securing the harvest He has chosen.
Forms and Transliterations
אֱזָרֶ֔ה אֱזָרֶ֣ה אזרה בְּהִזָּרֽוֹתֵיכֶ֖ם בהזרותיכם וְֽזֵרִיתִ֖ים וְזֵ֣רִתִ֔ים וְזֵר֔וּהָ וְזֵרִ֤יתִי וְזֵרִיתִ֖יךְ וְזֵרִיתִ֖ם וְזֵרִיתִ֥י וְזֵרִיתִי֙ וְזֵרִתִ֥ים וְזֵרָ֖ם וַיִּ֙זֶר֙ וַיִּזָּר֖וּ וָאֶזְרֵ֥ם וּ֝לְזָרוֹתָ֗ם וּלְזָר֥וֹת ואזרם וזרוה וזריתי וזריתיך וזריתים וזריתם וזרם וזרתים ויזר ויזרו ולזרות ולזרותם זְרֵה־ זֵ֣רוּ זֵר֣וּ זֵרִ֑יתָ זֵרִיתָֽנוּ׃ זֹרֶ֛ה זֹרֶ֥ה זרה זרה־ זרו זרית זריתנו׃ יְזָ֣רוּ יְזֹרֶ֖ה יזרה יזרו לְזָרוֹתָֽהּ׃ לִזְר֖וֹת לזרות לזרותה׃ מְזָרֵ֤ה מְזָרֶ֖ה מְזָרֶ֣ה מְזֹרָ֣ה מזרה תִּזְרֵם֙ תִּזְרֶ֣ה תזרה תזרם ’ĕ·zā·reh ’ĕzāreh bə·hiz·zā·rō·w·ṯê·ḵem behizzaroteiChem bəhizzārōwṯêḵem ezaReh lə·zā·rō·w·ṯāh lezaroTah ləzārōwṯāh liz·rō·wṯ lizRot lizrōwṯ mə·zā·reh mə·zā·rêh mə·zō·rāh mezaReh məzāreh məzārêh mezoRah məzōrāh tiz·reh tiz·rêm tizreh tizRem tizrêm ū·lə·zā·rō·w·ṯām ū·lə·zā·rō·wṯ ulezaRot ulezaroTam ūləzārōwṯ ūləzārōwṯām vaezRem vaiYizer vaiyizzaRu vezeRam vezeriTi vezeriTich vezeriTim vezeRuha wā’ezrêm wā·’ez·rêm way·yi·zer way·yiz·zā·rū wayyizer wayyizzārū wə·zê·rām wə·zê·rî·ṯî wə·zê·rî·ṯîḵ wə·zê·ri·ṯîm wə·zê·rî·ṯim wə·zê·rî·ṯîm wə·zê·rū·hā wəzêrām wəzêrîṯî wəzêrîṯîḵ wəzêriṯîm wəzêrîṯim wəzêrîṯîm wəzêrūhā yə·zā·rū yə·zō·reh yeZaru yəzārū yezoReh yəzōreh zə·rêh- zê·rî·ṯā zê·rî·ṯā·nū zê·rū zereh zərêh- zeRita zêrîṯā zeriTanu zêrîṯānū zeRu zêrū zō·reh zoReh zōreh
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