This deeply rooted, well watered, leafy tree with abundant fruit is compared to useless straw which the wind blows away after the grain has been sifted (cf. Pss 35:5; 92:12–14; Jer 17:7–8). Chaff portrays the lack of substance and the swift passing of the wicked. In the Hebrew Bible “chaff” is always used as a symbol of inconsistency and impermanence. A life lived apart from God is as empty, sterile, and worthless as chaff. Winnowing is repeatedly employed as a simile for God’s judgment (Hos 13:3;