mots is the light threshing residue used in Scripture for what wind drives away, what passes quickly, or what is crushed.

The term denotes light threshing residue, chiefly in comparisons for people or things driven away by wind or swiftly passing; it also pictures material reduced beneath a threshing sled. The same imagery is applied to the wicked, fleeing peoples, hostile crowds, and a day that passes.

1. Light material driven away or passing · dominant

   The masculine singular noun is used in comparisons for what wind or a whirlwind carries off: in Psalm 1:4 the APB renders the wicked as like material that “the spirit drives away,” and in Job 21:18 it is like material that “a whirlwind steals.” In Hosea 13:3 it is driven from a threshing floor, while Isaiah 29:5 and Zephaniah 2:2 use the comparison for something passing swiftly.

   Hosea 13:3Isaiah 17:13Isaiah 29:5Job 21:18Psalm 1:4Psalm 35:5
2. Material reduced by threshing · rare

   In Isaiah 41:15 the masculine singular absolute form stands at the end of the comparison after mountains are trodden and crushed; the APB renders the resulting hills as “like chaff.” This retains the image of residue under force rather than an explicitly wind-driven scene.

   Isaiah 41:15

In the Anselm Project Bible: The APB regularly presents the image as “chaff,” especially material driven by wind or a whirlwind, and once as “passing chaff.” Because the APB is a whole-verse translation, these renderings confirm the verse imagery without defining each occurrence independently.