issuing by more than one outlet. In Oriental cities generally public fountains are frequent. Traces
of such fountains at Jerusalem may perhaps be found in the names of Enrogel, (2 Samuel 17:17)
the “Dragon well” or fountain, and the “gate of the fountain.” (Nehemiah 2:13,14)
Fowl
Several distinct Hebrew and Greek words are thus rendered in the English Bible. Of these the
most common is ’oph, which is usually a collective term for all kinds of birds. In (1 Kings 4:23)
among the daily provisions for Solomon’s table “fatted fowl” are included. In the New Testament
the word translated “fowls” is most frequently that which comprehends all kinds of birds (including
ravens, (Luke 12:24) [Sparrow]
Fox
(Heb. shu’al). Probably the jackal is the animal signified in almost all the passages in the Old
Testament where the Hebrew term occurs. Though both foxes and jackals abound in Palestine, the
shu’alim (foxes) of (Judges 15:4) are evidently jackals and not foxes, for the former animal is
gregarious, whereas the latter is solitary in its habits; and Samson could not, for that reason, have
easily caught three hundred foxes, but it was easy to catch that number of jackals, which are
concealed by hundreds in caves and ruins of Syria. It is not probable, however, that Samson sent
out the whole three hundred at once. With respect to the jackals and foxes of Palestine, there is no
doubt that the common jackal of the country is the Canis aureus, which may be heard every night
in the villages. It is like a medium-sized dog, with a head like a wolf, and is of a bright-yellow
color. These beasts devour the bodies of the dead, and even dig them up from their graves.
Frankincense
a vegetable resin, brittle, glittering, and of a bitter taste, used for the purpose of sacrificial
fumigation. (Exodus 30:34-36) It was called frank because of the freeness with which, when burned,
it gives forth its odor. It burns for a long time, with a steady flame. It is obtained by successive
incisions in the bark of a tree called Arbor thuris. The first incision yields the purest and whitest
resin, while the product of the after incisions is spotted with yellow, and loses its whiteness altogether
as it becomes old. The Hebrews imported their frankincense from Arabia, (Isaiah 60:6; Jeremiah
6:20) and more particularly from Saba; but it is remarkable that at present the Arabian libanum or
olibanum is a very inferior kind, and that the finest frankincense imported into Turkey comes
through Arabia from the islands of the Indian Archipelago. There can be little doubt that the tree
which produces the Indian frankincense is the Boswellia serrata of Roxburgh, or Boswellia thurifera
of Colebrooke, and bears some resemblance when young to the mountain ash. It grows to be forty
feet high.
Frog
a well-known amphibious animal of the genus Rana. The mention of this reptile in the Old
Testament is confined to the passage in (Exodus 8:2-7) etc., in which the plague of frogs is described,
and to (Psalms 78:45; 105:30) In the New Testament the word occurs once only, in (Revelation
16:13) There is no question as to the animal meant. The only known species of frog which occurs
at present in Egypt is the Rana esculenta, the edible frog of the continent.
Frontlets, Or Phylacteries
(Exodus 13:16; 6:8; 11:18; Matthew 23:5) These “frontlets” or “phylacteries” were strips of
parchment, on which were written four passages of Scripture, (Exodus 13:2-10,11-17; 6:4-9,13-23)
in an ink prepared for the purpose. They were then rolled up in a case of black calfskin, which was
attached to a stiffer piece of leather, having a thong one finger broad and one and a half cubits long.
frankie
(Frankie)
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