[Gabbatha]
Flour
[Bread]
Flute
(1 Kings 1:40) (marg., Pipe), A musical instrument mentioned amongst others, (Daniel
3:5,7,10,15) as used at the worship of the golden image which Nebuchadnezzar had set up. It bore
a close resemblance to the modern flute, and was made of reeds, of copper, and other material. It
was the principal wind-instrument.
Flux, Bloody
(Acts 28:8) the same as our dysentery, which in the East is, though sometimes sporadic, generally
epidemic and infectious, and then assumes its worst form.
Fly, Flies
The two following Hebrew terms denote flies of some kind:
•Zebub, which occurs only in (Ecclesiastes 10:1) and in Isai 7:18 And is probably a generic name
for an insect.
•’Arob (“swarms of flies,” “divers sorts of flies,” Authorized Version), the name of the insect or
insects which God sent to punish Pharaoh; see (Exodus 8:21-31; Psalms 78:45; 105:31) The
question as to what particular species is denoted, or whether any one species is to be understood,
has long been a matter of dispute. As the arob are said to have filled the houses of the Egyptians,
it seems not improbable that common flies (Muscidae) are more especially intended. The arob
may include various species of Culicidae (gnats), such as the mosquito; but the common flies are
to this day in Egypt regarded as a “plague,” and are the great instrument of spreading the
well-known ophthalmia, which is conveyed from one individual to another by these dreadful pests.
“It is now generally supposed that the dog-fly is meant, which at certain seasons is described as
a far worse plague than mosquitos. The bite is exceedingly sharp and painful, causing severe
inflammation, especially in the eyelids. Coming in immense swarms, they cover all objects in
black and loathsome masses, and attack every exposed part of a traveller’s person with incredible
pertinacity.”—Cook.
Food
The diet of eastern nations has been in all ages light and simple. Vegetable food was more used
than animal. The Hebrews used a great variety of articles, (John 21:5) to give a relish to bread.
Milk and its preparations hold a conspicuous place in eastern diet, as affording substantial
nourishment; generally int he form of the modern leben, i.e. sour milk. Authorized Version “butter;”
(Genesis 18:8; Judges 5:25; 2 Samuel 17:29) Fruit was another source of subsistence: figs stood
first in point of importance; they were generally dried and pressed into cakes. Grapes were generally
eaten in a dried state as raisins. Of vegetables we have most frequent notice of lentils, beans, leeks,
onions and garlic, which were and still are of a superior quality in Egypt. (Numbers 11:5) Honey
is extensively used, as is also olive oil. The Orientals have been at all times sparing in the use of
animal food; not only does the extensive head of the climate render it both unwholesome to eat
much meat and expensive from the necessity of immediately consuming a whole animal, but beyond
this the ritual regulations of the Mosaic law in ancient, as of the Koran in modern, times have tended
to the same result. The prohibition expressed against consuming the blood of any animal, (Genesis
9:4) was more fully developed in the Levitical law, and enforced by the penalty of death. (Leviticus
3:17; 7:26; 19:26; 12:16) Certain portions of the fat of sacrifices were also forbidden, (Leviticus
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(Frankie)
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