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Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible (1898–1904) · Public Domain

Farthing (Hastings' Dictionary)

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible (1898–1904)· Public Domain

See Money. FASHION (faeire, to make, faction-e.m, a mak- ing, It. /nzione, Old VT./agon, Old Knn. facioun). There are some old uses in AV, and tliey are all retained in RV. 1. The make or shape of a thing : Ex 26' ' thou ehalt rear up the tabernacle according to the fashion thereof which was showed thee in the mount.' The Heb. (t!j;'p mishp/it) is the ordinary word for the decision of a judge, hence due or right measure, even in ca.'es not decided by judging, right proportion ( 1 K 4'* [ Heb.

5"] ' charge ' ; .Jer SO'" of a city, ' manner,' rather weak ; Is 40', in creation — f'ving each part its due place and function). In X 26" it seems to be used as synonymous with n'j:n(from nj; to build, so ' building,' 'make'), which is employed in the parallel pii.ssages Ex 25- *", and is there tr'' 'pattern.' This Heb. word mhhpdt de- Teloped much as the Eng. word ' fashion ' has done. In Gn 40" and elsewhere it signifies manner or cus- tom, and in 2 K 1' outward appearance.

It is tr'' ' fashion ' also in 1 K 6", Ezk 4'2" (in both of parts of a building). Wyclif's word in Ex 26" is ' sauinpler.' In 2 K 16'° ' king Ahaz sent to Urijah the iniest the fashion of the alt4ir,' the Heb. is nio-i rlhnuth (from .157 ^ be like), a common word in Ezk for the external appearance. Here it is probably a drawing or moael. Cf. 2 Ch 4' ' the similitude (i.e. images) of oxen.' Tne remaining Heb. word is nj^n tl'khiinAh (from p3, I'j'T to set up), Ezk 4.

3" 'show them the form of the house and the fashion thereof.' The Heb. is |i!c)l)ably here the arrangement or fittings. Wvdif has ' the figure of the hous, and makyng (1388 'bildvng') thereof.' 'Forme and fashion^ come from Coverdale. In Wis 16" 'even then was it altered into all fashions,' the meaning seems to be (as Peane), that the manna changed its taste acconling to tlio palate of the entir, and fire nuxliliud it.t nature acconling to its Maker's will (Gr. <i! vivra.

, ItV 'into all forms'!. In NT we find ' fashion ' with this meaning only Ac 7" ' Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, as he had appointed, speaking unto Moses, that he should make it according to 1 he fashion that he had seen ' (riros, as LXX in Ex•25^ KV 'figure'). 2. The appearance of a thing, as Ja 1" Tind. ' I'or assone as he hath loked on him silfe, he goetli his waye, and forgetteth immediatlie what his fassion was.'

So in AV, Lk 9* 'as he prayed, the fashion of his countenance was altered' (Gr. Tb e?5o5 Tov vpoawTou ai>Tou). Especially outward visible appearance in contrast with inner reality, as Shaks. Merch. of Venice, IV. i. 18 — ' Shylock, the world thinks, and I think so too, That thou but leadst this fashion of thy malice To the last hour of act ; and then 'tis thought Thou'lt show thy mercy and remorse more strangv Than is thy strange apparent cruelty.' 1 Co 7" ' the fashion of this world p.a.

s3eth away, and Ph 2* ' being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself.' The Gr. isa^W". whose meaning is fully discussed in the Commentaries. See also TiencU, NT Sijn. pp. 252-258 ; GiH'ord, Incarna- tion, p. 22 if. ; Expos. Tiinen, viii. 391 f. The Eng- lish is perhaps more enii)hatic (in expressing mere outward appearance) than tlie Greek. In 1 Co 7" Wye. and the Rliemish have ' figure ' after Vulg. fqura ; Tind. introduced ' f.tshion ' (' fassion '), and the other VSS followed him.

In Ph '2* ' fashion ' is not found before AV. Wye. translates Vulg. (habitus) literally, 'habyt' (1386 'abite'); Tind. Cov. and Cran. give ' ajiparel ' ; Gen. 1557 ' appear- ance,' 1560 ' shape,' as Tomson and Rhem. NT ; Bish. ' figure.' 3. In Ja 1" AV has retained from Tind. 'the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth,' where the Gr. is irpbauiwov, 'face.' So in Old Eng. 'fashion' was u.sed literally for the face, as Pilgr. Lyf Manhode (1430), III. xxxviii.

155, ' She sliadwue hire visage and hire facioun vnder hire hoo<l.' Cf. Lk I'i" Tind. 'Ypocrites yo can skyll of tlie fa.ssion of the erth, and of the skye ' (irpiauTToi' ; Wye, Rhem., AV, RV, 'face'). 4. Manner : 2 Es 4" ' How long shall I hope on this fashion ? ' (sic, RV after the Syriac, ' How long are we here?')

; 5°^ 'They that be born in the strength of youth are of one fashion ' (alii sunt) ; Wis 2" ' his ways are of another fashion ' (i^riWay- lUvai, RV ' of strange fashion ') ; 14'" he . . forced all his skill to make the resemblance of the best fashion ' (^iri ri KdWiov, RV ' toward a greater beauty'); Mk 2'' 'We never saw it on this fashion ' (oijrut). So in Pref.

to AV ' they did not cast the streets, nor proportion the houses in such comely fashion, as had been most sightly and con- venient' ; and Shaks. Hamlet, I. iii. lU — ' My lord, ho hath importuned mo with love, In honourable fashion. Ay, faHhion you may call it ; go to, go to.' 8. Manners and custom.i : 2 Mac 4* 'a place for exercise, and for the training up of youth in the fashions of the heathen ' (the Gr. is simply iiprjjUai', i.e.

youth, hence RV ' and form a body of youths to he trained therein'); 4"* 'the height of Greek fa.shions' (dtM'? rov 'V,\\riviafiov, RV 'an extreme of Greek fashions') ; 6' ' that they should observe the same fashions' (iyuryiip, RV ' conduct'). The verb to fashion is of frequent occurrence. In OT and Apocr. it has always the sense of give shape to, form. Hut the word was formerly used in the sense of ' transform,' i.e. change the form or fashion into something el.so. Thus Tin<lali!, Ohe.

di- ence of a Christian Man, 'Jlh, 'When n man fealeth . . him selfe . . altered and fa.scioued lyke vuto In Ho 8^ the same quotation is niade, and adheres stl.l more closely to the L.\X of Ex 25', liut tho Kiig. (AV and ItV) Is ' pattern," as it hae lieen since Timlale. 854 FAST FASTING ChriBte' ; H. Smith, Sermons (1592), 'Fashion thy- self to Paul.'

In NT there are two examples of this meaning : Ph 3^' ' Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body ' {<niiifiop<pos ; RV ' that it may be conformed to the body of his glory ') ; 1 P 1" ' not fashioning yourselves according to the former 'usts ' (cru<rx';/iaTii'6/iei'0i). J. HASTINGS.

Also in the Encyclopedia
Farthing — ISBE (1915) article

This topic also has an entry in the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Both articles offer independent scholarly perspectives.

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International Standard Bible Encyclopedia on Farthing

Farthing far'-thing: The rendering of two words in the Greek of the New Testament, assarion, and kodrantes, Latin quadrans. The assarion was the tenth part of the denarius, and hence in value about one penny or two centuries The quadrans was the fourth part of the Roman as, and worth only about three mills, or less than the English farthing, and is the only term rendered farthing by the American Standard Revised Version. It occurs in Mt 5:26 and Mr 12:42, while assarion, which occurs in Mt 10:29 and Lu 12:6, is rendered "penny" by the American Standard Revised Version. ⇒See a list of verses on FARTHING in the Bible. ⇒See the definition of farthing in the KJV Dictionary ⇒See also the McClintock and Strong Biblical Cyclopedia.

Smith's Bible Dictionary on Farthing

Two names of coins in the New Testament are rendered in the Authorized Version by this word: Quadrans, (Matthew 5:26; Mark 12:42) a coin current in the time of our Lord, equivalent to three-eights of a cent; The assarion, equal to one cent and a half, (Matthew 10:29; Luke 12:6)

Fausset's Bible Dictionary on Farthing

Representing two Greek words: kodrantes (Latin: quadrans, Mat 5:26; Mar 12:42), and assarion (Latin: as, Mat 10:29; Luk 12:6; the "two assaria" constituted probably one coin). The quadrans was originally the fourth of an as, i.e. three ounces. In Christ's time the quadrans equaled two Greek lepta, "mites." Among the Roman copper coins current then in Palestine there was none smaller than the as or assarich; among the Greek imperial coins there was the quadrans (quarter of the as) and lepton, "mite," one-eighth of an as and half of a quadrans. The as was one and three-fourths of a farthing; the quadrans thus less than half a farthing. But either the as the lowest Roman coin, or the quadrans, the lowest Greek imperial coin, is sufficiently expressed by the term "farthing," as being our lowest coin.

References

  1. Orr, J. (ed.) (1915) The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Chicago: Howard-Severance Company. [Public Domain]
  2. Easton, M.G. (1893) Easton's Bible Dictionary. 3rd edn. Thomas Nelson. [Public Domain]
  3. Nave, O.J. (1897) Nave's Topical Bible. Topical Bible Publishing Co.. [Public Domain]
  4. Hastings, J. (ed.) (1909) A Dictionary of the Bible. Edinburgh: T&T Clark. [Public Domain]
  5. Smith, W. (ed.) (1884) Smith's Bible Dictionary. London: John Murray. [Public Domain]
  6. Fausset, A.R. (1878) Fausset's Bible Dictionary. [Public Domain]A Critical and Expository Bible Cyclopaedia

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