Original Word: אָדַשׁ
Part of Speech: Verb
Transliteration: adash
Pronunciation: ah-dash
Phonetic Spelling: (aw-dash')
KJV: thresh
Word Origin: [a primitive root]

1. to tread out (grain)

thresh

A primitive root; to tread out (grain) -- thresh.

Word Origin
the same as dush, q.v.

אדשׁ only Infinitive absolute אָדוֺשׁ see דושׁ.

Agricultural Background and Imagery

Threshing was the essential step that separated edible kernels from their husks after reaping. In the Ancient Near Eastern setting of Israel, farmers spread grain on a hard floor, then dragged sledges or drove carts over it while animals trod it. The process was vigorous, yet it had limits: excessive pounding would damage the grain and waste the harvest. With only one canonical appearance, אָדַשׁ highlights this balanced practice—forceful enough to free the grain, restrained enough to preserve it.

Prophetic Context in Isaiah 28:28

Isaiah addresses leaders of the Northern Kingdom and, by extension, Judah. Their proud self-reliance had invited divine discipline pictured as threshing. Isaiah 28:28: “Grain for bread must be ground, but he will not thresh it forever. And though he drives the wheel of his cart over it, his horses do not crush it.” The single verb carries the weight of the prophet’s assurance: God’s corrective action is measured. He does not pulverize His people beyond recovery. Just as a wise farmer stops when the kernels are freed, the LORD moderates judgment so that the covenant community can still become “bread”—nourishment for the world (Genesis 12:3; John 6:35).

Divine Discipline: Firm Yet Merciful

1. Measured severity. God’s threshing is purposeful (Hebrews 12:10). Affliction is not arbitrary; it aims at holiness.
2. Preservation of worth. The grain remains intact, a reminder that God remembers His covenant (Leviticus 26:44).
3. Limited duration. He “will not thresh it forever,” echoing themes of a remnant and restoration (Isaiah 10:22; Romans 11:5).

Links to the Broader Threshing Motif

• Covenant blessing and curse: Deuteronomy 25:4 protects the ox during threshing, illustrating God’s concern for humane limits.
• Judgment and salvation imagery: Hosea 10:11; Micah 4:12-13 portray nations or peoples on the threshing floor.
• Messianic fulfillment: John the Baptist says of Christ, “His winnowing fork is in His hand to clear His threshing floor” (Matthew 3:12; Luke 3:17).
• Final eschaton: Revelation 14:15 pictures angelic reapers gathering the earth’s harvest, showing the consummation of Isaiah’s principle—decisive yet controlled.

Historical and Cultural Significance

Archaeological discoveries confirm stone-paved threshing floors and threshing carts with iron studs in Iron Age Palestine. Isaiah’s rural audience easily grasped the metaphor; urban readers in Jerusalem still understood it through proximity to surrounding farms and annual festival rituals involving firstfruits (Leviticus 23:10-14).

Theological Reflections

• God’s sovereignty and wisdom: Like the farmer who knows the right moment to halt, God possesses omniscient timing (Ecclesiastes 3:1-5).
• The redemptive goal of suffering: “Though He causes grief, yet He will show compassion according to the abundance of His loving devotion” (Lamentations 3:32).
• The church’s sanctification: Christ “gave Himself up for her to sanctify her” (Ephesians 5:25-26). Threshing imagery informs pastoral care that is corrective but restorative (Galatians 6:1).

Ministry Applications

1. Preaching: Use Isaiah 28:28 to encourage believers undergoing trials—God presses but does not crush (2 Corinthians 4:8-9).
2. Counseling: Help sufferers interpret affliction within God’s controlled process that aims at maturity (James 1:2-4).
3. Leadership: Exercise church discipline with the same restraint, remembering the grain’s value (2 Corinthians 2:6-8).
4. Discipleship: Teach believers to cooperate with sanctifying pressure, trusting the Master of the threshing floor (Philippians 1:6).

Christological Fulfillment

Jesus, the Bread of Life, underwent the ultimate “threshing” in His passion. Yet, in resurrection He emerged unbroken, providing true sustenance (John 6:51). The solitary verb אָדַשׁ therefore whispers the gospel: suffering serviced salvation, affliction was bounded by love, and divine purpose preserved the grain for eternal nourishment.

אָד֣וֹשׁ אדוש ’ā·ḏō·wōš ’āḏōwōš aDooshInterlinear Greek • Interlinear Hebrew • Strong's Numbers • Englishman's Greek Concordance • Englishman's Hebrew Concordance • Parallel Texts