Separated husks of grain. The Bible frequently compares things evanescent to chaff blown away by the wind (Zephaniah 2:2; Psalms 1:4, 35:5; Job 21:18; Hosea 33:3; Isaiah 17:13, 29:5, 41:15). In the process of winnowing, by tossing the cut straw, grain, and chaff into the air, or letting it fall from an inverted fork, the grain falls almost vertically back upon the heap; the straw is blown a short distance away, while the chaff, consisting of the husks and finer particles of the straw, is carried by the wind ten or fifteen feet away. Other uses of the word "chaff" in the Old Testament are not accurate, referring rather to cut straw (Isaiah 5:24; Jeremiah 23:28) than to chaff.