Fellow

fel'-o (chabher, rea`; hetairos): Meant originally a "partner," from fe, "property," and lag, "to lay," then "a companion," "an equal," "a person or individual," "a worthless person."

(1) As "companion" it is the translation of chabher, "associate," "companion," "friend" (also chabbar, Job 41:6), where we have the original sense of partnership, translated "bands" the Revised Version (British and American), the King James Version "companions"); Ps 45:7, "God hath anointed thee .... above thy fellows"; of habhrah (Ec 4:10; Da 7:20); of rea`, "companion," "friend," "another" (Ex 2:13; Jud 7:13,14,22); re`ah (or ra`yah), "a female friend" (Jud 11:37, "I and my fellows," the Revised Version (British and American) "companions"; here the King James Version applies "fellow" to a female; compare Baruch 6:43, "She reproacheth her fellow," he plesion); in Jud 11:38, "companions" is the translation of `amith, "fellowship"; `amith (Zec 13:7, "the man that is my fellow," literally, "the man of my fellowship"); hetairos, "companion" (Mt 11:16); metochos, "partner"; (compare Lu 5:7; Heb 1:9, quoted from Ps 45:7, Septuagint for chabher).

(2) As an individual or person "fellow" is the translation of 'ish, "a man," "an individual": "make this fellow return" (1Sa 29:4 the King James Version, the Revised Version (British and American) "the man"); in the same verse "fellow" is supplied instead of "he"; "fellow" in 1611 meant simply "a man," and it is difficult to say in what passages the ideas of "worthless," etc., are meant to be implied; probably, however, in Jud 18:25, where the Hebrew is simply 'enosh, "man," and the text is almost the only deviation from the rendering "man," "men," "lest angry (margin, Revised Version "bitter of soul") fellows fall upon you"; also Ac 17:5, aner, "a man," "certain lewd fellows of the baser sort," the Revised Version (British and American) "vile fellows"; compare 2Sa 6:20, "vain (req) fellows" (supplied); /APC 1Macc 10:61, "contain pestilent fellows" (aner); Ecclesiasticus 8:15, "a bold fellow" (tolmeros), the Revised Version (British and American) "a rash man"; in several places of the Old Testament "fellow" represents zeh, "this," and in these instances there seems to be something of worthlessness or contempt implied (1Sa 21:15; 25:21; 1Ki 22:27; 2Ki 9:11, and, as before, 1Sa 29:4 the Revised Version (British and American)); in the New Testament also "fellow" often represents houtos, "this," and in most of these cases the King James Version seems to intend something depreciatory to be understood; the Revised Version (British and American) gives simply "man" (Mt 12:24; 26:61,71; Lu 22:59; 23:2; Joh 9:29; Ac 18:13); so Ecclesiasticus 13:23, "If the poor man speaks, they say, What fellow is this?" the Revised Version (British and American) "who is this?" /APC 1Macc 4:5, "These fellows flee from us," the Revised Version (British and American) "these men." the Revised Version (British and American) has "fellows" for "persons" (Jud 9:4), for "men" (Jud 11:3); "base fellows" for "men the children of Belial" (De 13:13), margin, "sons of worthlessness"; the American Standard Revised Version "worthless fellow" for "son of Belial" (1Sa 25:17,25), "base fellows" for "sons of Belial" (Jud 19:22; 20:13, etc.); the Revised Version (British and American) has also "companions" for "fellows" (Jud 11:37; Eze 37:19; Da 2:13), "each man his fellow" for "one another" (2Ki 3:23); "fellow by" for "neighbor in" (1Ki 20:35).

Fellow-citizen, Fellow-disciple, Fellow-heirs, Yokefellow, etc. In composition, "fellow" always means partner or companion.

W. L. Walker