Fare

Fare - (Webster's 1828 Dictionary)

FARE, v.i. [This word may be connected in origin with the Heb. to go, to pass.]

1. To go; to pass; to move forward; to travel.

So on he fares, and to the border comes of Eden.

[In this literal sense the word is not in common use.]

2. To be in any state, good or bad; to be attended with any circumstances or train of events, fortunate or unfortunate.

So fares the stag among th' enraged hounds.

So fared the knight between two foes.

He fared very well; he fared very ill.

Go further and fare worse. The sense is taken from going, having a certain course; hence, being subjected to a certain train of incidents. The rich man fared sumptuously every day. He enjoyed all the pleasure which wealth and luxury could afford. Luke 16.

3. To feed; to be entertained. We fared well; we had a good table, and courteous treatment.

4. To proceed in a train of consequences, good or bad.

So fares it when with truth falsehood contends.

5. To happen well or ill; with it impersonally. We shall see how it will fare with him.

FARE, n.

1. The price of passage or going; the sum paid or due, for conveying a person by land or water; as the fare for crossing a river, called also ferriage; the fare for conveyance in a coach; stage-fare. The price of conveyance over the ocean is now usually called the passage, or passage money. Fare is never used for the price of conveying goods; this is called freight or transportation.

2. Food; provisions of the table. We lived on coarse fare, or we had delicious fare.

3. The person conveyed in a vehicle. [Not in use in United States.]

far: Occurs twice in the Old Testament as the translation of two Hebrew words, shalom, "peace," "prosperity," "completeness" (1Sa 17:18), found in the section on David's family history omitted by the Septuagint translators, and sakhar, "hire," "reward," Septuagint naulon, "passage-money," "fare" (Jon 1:3). In Hebrew both words are substantives; in English the former is a verb meaning "to go," or "get on as to circumstances" (Century Dict.), the latter, a substantive meaning the price which Jonah paid for a sea-voyage to Tarshish.

In Apocrypha the English verb "fare" helps in the translation of three Greek words, kakoo, "fare evil" (the Revised Version (British and American) "fare ill"), Sirach 3:26; elattoo, "fare worse" (the Revised Version (British and American) "suffer loss"), 32:24; rhonnumi, "be strong," "prosper," in 2 pers. (singular) imperat. (err(h)oso) or plural (err(h)osthe) as a farewell salutation, or at the close of a letter, or to describe the welfare (usually physical or social) of a friend (2 Macc 9:20; 11:21,28, etc.). Compare Ac 15:29; 23:30 margin.

In the New Testament the English verb "fare," in addition to its occurrence in the word "farewell" (which see), occurs only once (Lu 16:19), where it is said that the rich man "fared sumptuously every day" (the Revised Version, margin "living in mirth and splendor every day").

The Greek is euphrainomai, "be merry," and occurs 14 times in the New Testament, 10 in a good sense (Lu 15:23,14,29,32, all referring to the merry-making over the return of the lost son; Ac 2:26, translation of Hebrew samach, "be glad"; Ro 15:10, translation of Hebrew ranah, "to sing"; 2Co 2:2; Ga 4:27, translation of Hebrew ranah, "to sing"; Re 12:12; 18:20); 4 in a bad, or less favorable, sense (Lu 12:19; 16:19; Ac 7:41; Re 11:10). The Greek word is variously translated in the New Testament, "be merry," "make merry," "be glad," "rejoice," "make glad," and only once "fare" (Lu 16:19). In the last passage it means the general physical and material welfare of the rich man (so the Geneva (1560), the Bishops' and Rhemish Bibles, the Revised Version (British and American) (1881), and not simply partaking of rich food so Vulgate, Wyclif, Coverdale, Cranmer, Geneva (1557) and the King James Version). Luther translates Lu 16:19, "lebte alle Tage herrlich und in Freuden"; Weizsacker, "genoss sein Leben alle Tage in Glanze"; Ostervald, "se traitoit bien et magnifiquement"; Oltremare, "faisait brillante chere"; Segond, "menait joyeuse et brillante vie"; Weymouth, "enjoyed a splendid banquet every day," all of which virtually agree with the view taken by us as to meaning of "fare." The lampros, "sumptuously," shows that the rich man's manner of living was "brilliant," "magnificent." the Revised Version (British and American) has "fare" for "do" (Ac 15:36), "fared" for "did" (2Sa 11:7), "hath fared" for "was" (Ge 30:29).

Charles B. Williams