Fox

(Heb. 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 Ezek. 13:4, and in Luke 13:32, where our Lord calls Herod “that fox.” In Judg. 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.

(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.

FOX. Neh 4:3. Under this term the jackal is included — indeed, most of the references seem to be to that animal. The Orientals at the present time do not distinguish in common language between the two creatures. Both are common in Palestine. The fox (Vulpes vulgaris) is smaller than the jackal (Cam's aureus), and is of a reddish hue, while the latter is yellowish; hence its scientific name, meaning "the golden dog." It is the latter also, and not the fox, which devours the dead and follows armies that he may feed on human bodies left behind. Ps 63:10. Both animals are omnivorous, but the jackal, which goes in packs, is even more destructive to the vineyards than the other. Song 2:15. The crafty, artful nature of the fox is proverbial. Eze 13:4; Luke 13:32. He prowls singly for his prey of birds or small quadrupeds, which he takes by stratagem. Jackals are concealed by hundreds among the ruins, caves, and gardens of Syria. Lam 5:18. At sunset they come forth, and both then and at intervals through the night the traveller hears their cry, resembling the confused wailing of many infants. Evidently, the "foxes" which Samson The Syrian Fox. caught (Jud 15:4) were jackals. On this Tristram judiciously remarks: while Samson could not have caught so many foxes, "he might easily have 'snared,' as the Hebrew expresses it, 300 jackals, which hunt in large packs, and which are still most numerous in southern Palestine. It is not necessary to assume that the whole 300 were caught at once or turned loose in the same place, but rather that Samson, having taken them, turned them loose in many different places, so as to make 150 incendiary fires, and to cause the widest possible injury to the standing crops of the Philistines. The brands would be attached at some distance from the tails of the animals, and jackals, accustomed to run together, would not, unless very tightly fastened, pull in opposite directions, as foxes or dogs would; but the terrified animals would, so soon as ever they were let go, rush as fast as possible from their captor, and carry the devastation far and wide before the brand was extinguished." FRANKIN'CENSE (white), a dry, resinous, aromatic substance of a white or yellowish color, bitter and acrid to the taste, burning for a long time with a clear, steady, and very odoriferous flame. Several trees (of the genus Boswellia) which grow in India, Arabia, and Africa yield this gum from incisions in the bark. Along the coast of Hadramaut, a district of Arabia, as Carter has shown, frankincense (the olibanum of commerce) is produced, as was affirmed by Herodotus, Celsius, other ancient writers, and the Bible. Isa 60:6; Jer 6:20, The Arabian species (B. Carterii) somewhat resembles, especially in its Boswellia Thurifera. (Colehrooke. Supposed Frankincense. After Dr. Birdwood.) pinnate leaves when young, the mountain-ash. This gum, in the above and other passages, is mentioned simply as "incense." It is called frank because of the freeness with which it burns and gives forth its odors; and the pure incense is that which is first obtained, and is freest from foreign admixture. "Sweet incense," Ex 30:7, might as well be rendered "incense of spices," and is the composition mentioned in Ex 30:34. The use of incense in the Jewish worship may be learned from Ex 30:7 and Lev 16:12-13, and it is figuratively employed to represent lovely and agreeable qualities. Song 3:6; Song 4:6, Song 4:14, and devotional fervor. Ps 141:2; Mal 1:11;Rev 8:3.

FOX. Neh 4:3. Under this term the jackal is included — indeed, most of the references seem to be to that animal. The Orientals at the present time do not distinguish in common language between the two creatures. Both are common in Palestine. The fox (Vulpes vulgaris) is smaller than the jackal (Cam's aureus), and is of a reddish hue, while the latter is yellowish; hence its scientific name, meaning "the golden dog." It is the latter also, and not the fox, which devours the dead and follows armies that he may feed on human bodies left behind. Ps 63:10. Both animals are omnivorous, but the jackal, which goes in packs, is even more destructive to the vineyards than the other. Song 2:15. The crafty, artful nature of the fox is proverbial. Eze 13:4; Luke 13:32. He prowls singly for his prey of birds or small quadrupeds, which he takes by stratagem. Jackals are concealed by hundreds among the ruins, caves, and gardens of Syria. Lam 5:18. At sunset they come forth, and both then and at intervals through the night the traveller hears their cry, resembling the confused wailing of many infants. Evidently, the "foxes" which Samson The Syrian Fox. caught (Jud 15:4) were jackals. On this Tristram judiciously remarks: while Samson could not have caught so many foxes, "he might easily have 'snared,' as the Hebrew expresses it, 300 jackals, which hunt in large packs, and which are still most numerous in southern Palestine. It is not necessary to assume that the whole 300 were caught at once or turned loose in the same place, but rather that Samson, having taken them, turned them loose in many different places, so as to make 150 incendiary fires, and to cause the widest possible injury to the standing crops of the Philistines. The brands would be attached at some distance from the tails of the animals, and jackals, accustomed to run together, would not, unless very tightly fastened, pull in opposite directions, as foxes or dogs would; but the terrified animals would, so soon as ever they were let go, rush as fast as possible from their captor, and carry the devastation far and wide before the brand was extinguished."

FRANKIN'CENSE (white), a dry, resinous, aromatic substance of a white or yellowish color, bitter and acrid to the taste, burning for a long time with a clear, steady, and very odoriferous flame. Several trees (of the genus Boswellia) which grow in India, Arabia, and Africa yield this gum from incisions in the bark. Along the coast of Hadramaut, a district of Arabia, as Carter has shown, frankincense (the olibanum of commerce) is produced, as was affirmed by Herodotus, Celsius, other ancient writers, and the Bible. Isa 60:6; Jer 6:20, The Arabian species (B. Carterii) somewhat resembles, especially in its Boswellia Thurifera. (Colehrooke. Supposed Frankincense. After Dr. Birdwood.) pinnate leaves when young, the mountain-ash. This gum, in the above and other passages, is mentioned simply as "incense." It is called frank because of the freeness with which it burns and gives forth its odors; and the pure incense is that which is first obtained, and is freest from foreign admixture. "Sweet incense," Ex 30:7, might as well be rendered "incense of spices," and is the composition mentioned in Ex 30:34. The use of incense in the Jewish worship may be learned from Ex 30:7 and Lev 16:12-13, and it is figuratively employed to represent lovely and agreeable qualities. Song 3:6; Song 4:6, Song 4:14, and devotional fervor. Ps 141:2; Mal 1:11;Rev 8:3. FRANK'LY is used in Luke 7:42 in the sense of "freely."

Part of speech: noun (n.)

1. A carnivorous animal of the genus Vulpes, family Canidæ, of many species. The European fox (V. vulgaris or V. vulpes), the American red fox (V. fulvus), the American gray fox (V. Virginianus), and the arctic, white, or blue, fox (V. lagopus) are well-known species.

2. The European dragonet.

3. The fox shark or thrasher shark; -- called also sea fox. See Thrasher shark, under Shark.

4. A sly, cunning fellow. [Colloq.] We call a crafty and cruel man a fox. Beattie.

5. Rope yarn twisted together, and rubbed with tar; -- used for seizings or mats.

6. A sword; -- so called from the stamp of a fox on the blade, or perhaps of a wolf taken for a fox. [Obs.] Thou diest on point of fox. Shak.

7. A tribe of Indians which, with the Sacs, formerly occupied the region about Green Bay, Wisconsin; -- called also Outagamies. Fox and geese. (a) A boy's game, in which one boy tries to catch others as they run one goal to another. (b) A game with sixteen checkers, or some substitute for them, one of which is called the fox, and the rest the geese; the fox, whose first position is in the middle of the board, endeavors to break through the line of the geese, and the geese to pen up the fox. -- Fox bat (Zoöl.), a large fruit bat of the genus Pteropus, of many species, inhabiting Asia, Africa, and the East Indies, esp. P. medius of India. Some of the species are more than four feet across the outspread wings. See Fruit bat. -- Fox bolt, a bolt having a split end to receive a fox wedge. -- Fox brush (Zoöl.), the tail of a fox. -- Fox evil, a disease in which the hair falls off; alopecy. -- Fox grape (Bot.), the name of two species of American grapes. The northern fox grape (Vitis Labrusca) is the origin of the varieties called Isabella, Concord, Hartford, etc., and the southern fox grape (Vitis vulpina) has produced the Scuppernong, and probably the Catawba. -- Fox hunter. (a) One who pursues foxes with hounds. (b) A horse ridden in a fox chase. -- Fox shark (Zoöl.), the thrasher shark. See Thrasher shark, under Thrasher. -- Fox sleep, pretended sleep. -- Fox sparrow (Zoöl.), a large American sparrow (Passerella iliaca); -- so called on account of its reddish color. -- Fox squirrel (Zoöl.), a large North American squirrel (Sciurus niger, or S. cinereus). In the Southern States the black variety prevails; farther north the fulvous and gray variety, called the cat squirrel, is more common. -- Fox terrier (Zoöl.), one of a peculiar breed of terriers, used in hunting to drive foxes from their holes, and for other purposes. There are rough- and smooth-haired varieties. -- Fox trot, a pace like that which is adopted for a few steps, by a horse, when passing from a walk into a trot, or a trot into a walk. -- Fox wedge (Mach. & Carpentry), a wedge for expanding the split end of a bolt, cotter, dowel, tenon, or other piece, to fasten the end in a hole or mortise and prevent withdrawal. The wedge abuts on the bottom of the hole and the piece is driven down upon it. Fastening by fox wedges is called foxtail wedging. -- Fox wolf (Zoöl.), one of several South American wild dogs, belonging to the genus Canis. They have long, bushy tails like a fox.

Part of speech: verb (v.)

1. To intoxicate; to stupefy with drink. I drank . . . so much wine that I was almost foxed. Pepys.

2. To make sour, as beer, by causing it to ferment.

3. To repair the feet of, as of boots, with new front upper leather, or to piece the upper fronts of.

Part of speech: verb (v.)

To turn sour; -- said of beer, etc., when it sours in fermenting.