Fountain

Fountain the rendering in the A.V. of the following Hebrew terms:

1. Properly and usually עִיַן, a'yin (lit. the eye), so called from flowing (Gesenius, Thes. Heb. p. 1017), a natural source of living water. See EN-.

2. Likewise מִעיָן, mayan' (from the same root), a well-watered place (Ps 84:6, "well"); also a single spring (as rendered in Ps 87:7; Ps 104:10) of running water (Le 11:36; Jos 15:9; 1Ki 18:5; 2Ch 32:4; Ps 74:15; Ps 114:8; Pr 5:16; Pr 8:24; Pr 25:26; Song 4:12,15; Isa 12:6; Ho 13:15; Joe 3:18); spoken of the tide or influx of the sea (Ge 7:11; Ge 8:2). Its force and meaning are unfortunately sometimes obscured by the rendering in the A.V., "well," as in Ex 15:27; in Elim "were twelve wells of water;" that is, not artificial wells, but natural fountains, as still seen in wady Ghurundel (Bartlett's Forty Days in the Desert, page 43). — These two words, on the contrary, like the corresponding Greek πηγή, always denote a stream of "living" or constantly running water, in opposition to standing or stagnant pools, whether it issues immediately from the ground or from thee bottom of a well. See AIN.