occurred A.D. 45. Helena, queen of Adiabene, being at Jerusalem at that
time, procured corn from Alexandria and figs from Cyprus for its poor
inhabitants.
- FAN a winnowing shovel by which grain was thrown up against the wind
that it might be cleansed from broken straw and chaff (Isaiah 30:24;
Jeremiah 15:7; Matthew 3:12). (See AGRICULTURE.) - FARM (Matthew 22:5). Every Hebrew had a certain portion of land
assigned to him as a possession (Numbers 26:33-56). In Egypt the lands
all belonged to the king, and the husbandmen were obliged to give him a
fifth part of the produce; so in Palestine Jehovah was the sole possessor of
the soil, and the people held it by direct tenure from him. By the
enactment of Moses, the Hebrews paid a tithe of the produce to Jehovah,
which was assigned to the priesthood. Military service when required was
also to be rendered by every Hebrew at his own expense. The occuptaion
of a husbandman was held in high honour (1 Samuel 11:5-7; 1 Kings 19:19;
2 Chronicles 26:10). (See LAND LAWS Ø(n/a); TITHE.) - FARTHING (1.) Matthew 10:29; Luke 12:6. Greek assarion, i.e., a small
as, which was a Roman coin equal to a tenth of a denarius or drachma,
nearly equal to a halfpenny of our money.
(2.) Matthew 5:26; Mark 12:42 (Gr. kodrantes), the quadrant, the fourth
of an as, equal to two lepta, mites. The lepton (mite) was the very
smallest copper coin.
- FAST The sole fast required by the law of Moses was that of the great
Day of Atonement (q.v.), Leviticus 23:26-32. It is called “the fast” (Acts
27:9).
The only other mention of a periodical fast in the Old Testament is in
Zechariah 7:1-7; 8:19, from which it appears that during their captivity the
Jews observed four annual fasts.
(1.) The fast of the fourth month, kept on the seventeenth day of
Tammuz, the anniversary of the capture of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans; to
commemorate also the incident recorded Exodus 32:19. (Comp. Jeremiah
52:6, 7.)