Fast

1. Fast ia frequently used in AV both fts adj. and adv. in the sense oifirm, secure, as Ps 38' ' thine arrows stick fast in me ' ; Ps 65' ' Which by his strength setteth fast the mountains ' ; Pr 4" ' Take fast hold of instruction ' ; 2 Es 2" ' Mother, embrace thy children, and bring them up with gladness, make their feet as fast as a pillar ' (confirma pedes eormn, RV 'stablish their feet'); Ac 16^ 'Who . . . thrust them down into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks ' (ijo-^aXiffaro). Cf. Chaucer, Anelida and Arcite (Skeat's Student's ed. p. 117)— ' Almighty God, of trouthe sovereyn, Wher is the trouthe of man ? who hath hit sleyn f Who that hem loveth shal hem fynde as fast As in a tempest is a roten mast.' 2. In reference to sleep, sound, as Jg 4'' ' he was fast asleep and weary ' (RV ' in a deep sleep ' ; see RVm and Moore, in loc). 3. Close, near, only Ru 28. 21. a3_ ^g 2' ' abide here fast by my maidens.' Cf. Milton, PL ii. 725— ' the snalty sorceress that sat Fast by Hell-gate, and kept the fatal key.' In every case ' fast' is used to bring out the force of the verb or adj. used in the original ; there is never a separate word for it in the Hebrew or the Greek. J. Hastings.