Hebrew word (anakah, a cry, “mourning,” the creature which groans) here
used, i.e., the “fan-footed” lizard, the gecko which makes a mournful wail.
The LXX. translate it by a word meaning “shrew-mouse,” of which there
are three species in Palestine. The Rabbinical writers regard it as the
hedgehog. The translation of the Revised Version is to be preferred.
- FERRY BOAT (2 Samuel 19:18), some kind of boat for crossing the river
which the men of Judah placed at the service of the king. Floats or rafts for
this purpose were in use from remote times (Isaiah 18:2). - FESTIVALS, RELIGIOUS There were daily (Leviticus 23), weekly,
monthly, and yearly festivals, and great stress was laid on the regular
observance of them in every particular (Numbers 28:1-8; Exodus 29:38-42;
Leviticus 6:8-23; Exodus 30:7-9; 27:20).
(1.) The septenary festivals were,
(a) The weekly Sabbath (Leviticus 23:1-3; Exodus 19:3-30; 20:8-11; 31:12,
etc.).
(b) The seventh new moon, or the feast of Trumpets (Numbers 28:11-15;
29:1-6).
(c) The Sabbatical year (Exodus 23:10, 11; Leviticus 25:2-7).
(d) The year of jubilee (Leviticus 23-35; 25: 8-16; 27:16-25).
(2.) The great feasts were,
(a) The Passover. (b) The feast of Pentecost, or of weeks. (c) The feast of
Tabernacles, or of ingathering.
On each of these occasions every male Israelite was commanded “to
appear before the Lord” (Deuteronomy 27:7; Nehemiah 8:9-12). The
attendance of women was voluntary. (Comp. Luke 2:41; 1 Samuel 1:7;
2:19.) The promise that God would protect their homes (Exodus 34:23,
24) while all the males were absent in Jerusalem at these feasts was always
fulfilled. “During the whole period between Moses and Christ we never
read of an enemy invading the land at the time of the three festivals. The
first instance on record is thirty-three years after they had withdrawn from
themselves the divine protection by imbruing their hands in the Saviour’s
blood, when Cestius, the Roman general, slew fifty of the people of Lydda
while all the rest had gone up to the feast of Tabernacles, A.D. 66.”