- FOWLER the arts of, referred to Psalm 91:3; 124:7; Proverbs 6:5;
Jeremiah 5:26; Hos. 9:8; Ezekiel 17:20; Ecclesiastes 9:12. Birds of all kinds
abound in Palestine, and the capture of these for the table and for other
uses formed the employment of many persons. The traps and snares used
for this purpose are mentioned Hos. 5:1; Proverbs 7:23; 22:5; Amos 3:5;
Psalm 69:22; comp. Deuteronomy 22:6, 7. - FOX (Hebrews shu’al, a name derived from its digging or burrowing under
ground), the Vulpes thaleb, or Syrian fox, the only species of this animal
indigenous to Palestine. It burrows, is silent and solitary in its habits, is
destructive to vineyards, being a plunderer of ripe grapes (Cant. 2:15). The
Vulpes Niloticus, or Egyptian dog-fox, and the Vulpes vulgaris, or
common fox, are also found in Palestine.
The proverbial cunning of the fox is alluded to in Ezekiel 13:4, and in Luke
13:32, where our Lord calls Herod “that fox.” In Judges 15:4, 5, the
reference is in all probability to the jackal. The Hebrew word shu’al
through the Persian schagal becomes our jackal (Canis aureus), so that the
word may bear that signification here. The reasons for preferring the
rendering “jackal” are (1) that it is more easily caught than the fox; (2) that
the fox is shy and suspicious, and flies mankind, while the jackal does not;
and (3) that foxes are difficult, jackals comparatively easy, to treat in the
way here described. Jackals hunt in large numbers, and are still very
numerous in Southern Palestine.
- FRANKINCENSE (Hebrews lebonah; Gr. libanos, i.e., “white”), an
odorous resin imported from Arabia (Isaiah 60:6; Jeremiah 6:20), yet also
growing in Palestine (Cant. 4:14). It was one of the ingredients in the
perfume of the sanctuary (Exodus 30:34), and was used as an
accompaniment of the meat-offering (Leviticus 2:1, 16; 6:15; 24:7). When
burnt it emitted a fragrant odour, and hence the incense became a symbol
of the Divine name (Malachi 1:11; Cant. 1:3) and an emblem of prayer
(Psalm 141:2; Luke 1:10; Revelation 5:8; 8:3).
This frankincense, or olibanum, used by the Jews in the temple services is
not to be confounded with the frankincense of modern commerce, which is
an exudation of the Norway spruce fir, the Pinus abies. It was probably a
resin from the Indian tree known to botanists by the name of Boswellia
serrata or thurifera, which grows to the height of forty feet.