The process by which the seed coverings of ripe cereals such as wheat and barley are removed. After the harvest, the cut grain was spread to dry on flat, open surfaces, or threshing floors (1Chr 21:20-23). The dried stalks were then either beaten with flails or crushed by a heavy board in which sharp stones had been embedded. The board was dragged across the threshing floor by an ox or a donkey (Deut 25:4; 1Cor 9:9). The husks were also loosened from the grain by slow heating, or parching, in an oven. The loosened husks, or chaff, were then separated from the grain by winnowing before the grain was ground into flour or stored in jars or granaries (Matt 3:12).
