FAN . The fan of Scripture ( Isaiah 30:24 , Matthew 3:12 , Luke 3:17 ) is the five- or six-pronged wooden winnowing-fork , for which see Agriculture, § 3 . The corresponding verb is rendered ‘ winnow ,’ Isaiah 30:24 , Ruth 3:2 , but ‘fan’ elsewhere (Amer. RV [Note: Revised Version.] has ‘winnow’ throughout); the fanners of Jeremiah 51:2 (AV [Note: Authorized Version.] , RVm [Note: Revised Version margin.] and Versions) are the ‘winnowers,’ as Amer. RVm [Note: Revised Version margin.] . Fanning or winnowing is a frequent figure for the Divine sifting and chastisement, Jeremiah 4:11; Jeremiah 15:7 etc.
A. R. S. Kennedy.