Bible Dictionary
FAN, FANNER
A fan or winnowing fork was used to separate grain from chaff by tossing it into the wind. John the Baptist uses this agricultural image to describe the Messiah’s separating judgment.
Definition
A fan, or winnowing fork, is an agricultural instrument used to toss grain so that wind separates the grain from chaff. The related verb means to winnow.
Biblical Usage
John the Baptist uses the image of the Messiah’s fan to describe separating and judging the grain and chaff. The word also occurs in passages describing God’s winnowing of a people.
Historical Background
The instrument may have been shaped like the winnowing fork still used by Syrian farmers. In one passage “fork” is considered a better translation than fan, while related verbs mean winnow.
Related Figures
Historical Bible Dictionaries
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE)
<p>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."</p>