Fan, fanner (Hastings' Dictionary)
Fan is used both as verb and as substantive. 1. As verb (Heb. t;; in Qal) Is 41'* 'Thou shalt fan them [the mountains and hills], and the wind shall carry thern away ' ; Jer 4" for purifying ; 15' for chastisement ; and (same Heb. in Piel) Jer 51'. Amer. RV has ' winnow ' throughout. 2. As subst. 'a winnowing-machine,' Is 30-^, Jer 15' (.tjip) ; Mt 3i«, Lk 3" (jrriio^). Faniier occurs only in Jer 51' 'I will send unto Babylon fanners, that shall fan her, and shall empty her land.' The Heb.
of the Massoretic ointing (Dij) mea.ns 'strangers,' and so RV after iwald and others. But the VSS (LXX. Pesh. Targ. Vulg.) point the Heb. differently (oni), and gain the word-play. Cheyne thinks the prophet possibly intended to suggest both meanings. The Eng. tr. may be traced from theVxHg. ventilatores, through Cov. ' fanners,' whom Geneva, Bishops', Douay, and AV all follow. So also Lutlier { Wor'fler), and Rothstein in Kautzsch ; and the French translators Ostervald and Segond (van- neurs).
See AGRICULTURE. J. Hastings. FANCY is used as a verb absolutely in Sir 34» • And the heart fancieth, as a woman's heart in travail' {^xLyrdj^erai ; a verb which occurs elsewliere in LXX only Wis 6", 'showeth herself,' and in NT only He 12-' tA (fmyTa^iiiei'oy, AV 'the si-'ht,' RV ' the amiearance '). The previous Eng. Versions from \Vyc. have 'fantasie' as a subst. (Douay ' phantasie '), AV is the first to use the verb, and to spell 'fancy.'* The Ox/. Eng.
Diet, gives only one example of ' fancy ' used absolutely, Locke (1698) 'we rather fancie than know.' J. HAS'HNGS.
This topic also has an entry in the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Both articles offer independent scholarly perspectives.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia on Fan, fanner
Fan, Fanner fan'-er: The word "fan" occurs 3 times only in the American Standard Revised Version (Jer 15:7; Mt 3:12; Lu 3:17). In Isa 30:24 mizreh is translated "fork," which is a much better translation if the instrument referred to was shaped like the winnowing fork used by the Syrian farmer today and still so called. In Isa 41:16; Jer 4:11; 15:7, the verb zarah is rendered "winnow" in the American Standard Revised Version. In Jer 51:2, the Revised Version (British and American) substitutes "strangers" for "fanners."
References
- Orr, J. (ed.) (1915) The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Chicago: Howard-Severance Company. [Public Domain]
- Easton, M.G. (1893) Easton's Bible Dictionary. 3rd edn. Thomas Nelson. [Public Domain]
- Nave, O.J. (1897) Nave's Topical Bible. Topical Bible Publishing Co.. [Public Domain]
- Hastings, J. (ed.) (1909) A Dictionary of the Bible. Edinburgh: T&T Clark. [Public Domain]
- Smith, W. (ed.) (1884) Smith's Bible Dictionary. London: John Murray. [Public Domain]
- Fausset, A.R. (1878) Fausset's Bible Dictionary. [Public Domain]A Critical and Expository Bible Cyclopaedia