10
FIKEBRAXD
FIRST-FRUITS
and provision was made in the law (Ex 22") for making good the damage done by fire accidentally raised, l-'irc was a convenient method of destroy- ing obnoxious writings (Jer 36^, 1 Mac l'^). The disposal of human bodies by burning was quite exceptional among the Hebrews (1 S 31", Am 0'"), but the refuse oi the bodies of animals used in sacrifice wiis destroyed by fire (Lv 4" 6** 16", H« 13"). Garments infected by 'leprosy' were to 1)0 burnt (Lv 13""-'"), and it was also common to burn rubbish of various kinds, as stubble (Is 5*'), chalf (Mt 3", Lk 3"), and tares (Mt 13'"). Topheth (2 e, above) is said to have become in later times a receptacle and burning-place of rubbish. (This is doubted by Robinson; see BliP^ i. 274.) Fire is contemplated as the means by which the visible uni\erse is to be destroyed (2 1 3'""). 7. Fire as a purifying agent. This use arises from the previous one in cases where impurities are of a comuustible nature while the material to be purified is not so (Nu31^).
II. Metaphorical Usage.— Many of the fore- going properties and uses of fire have suggested fig. apjjlications of the word. Thus wo hud it em- ployed as a symbol — 1. Of God Himself, (a) Of His glory, in such visions as those described in Ezk I-"-" 10»-', Dn 7" lO". (6) Of His protecting presence (2 K 6", Zee 2»). (c) Of His holiness (Dt 4=^, He 12-='). 2. Of God's righteous judgment, which tests the deeds of men (Zee 13", Mai 3'^ 1 Co 3"). 3. Of God's wrath against sin (Is 66">- '», Jer 4-' 21", La ^■■', Ezk 213' 22-', Am 5" V etc.), i. Of the punishment of the wicked (Ps 68' 97', Is 47", Ezk 28", Mt 13«« 2 Th P). Topheth or Gehenna (I. 6 above) suggests the language in Is CO-'S .Jth 16", Sir 7", Mt 18», Mk 9^-«. Fire is the embloro of the danger which the saved escape (Zee 3'-, Jude ^). 'Eternal lire' and 'the lake of tire' are images of the punisliment of the lost (Mt 25", Jude ', Kev 19=" 2U'»- "■ '» 21»). S. Of sin (Is 9"* 65'), and particularly of lust (Hos 7', Sir '23'"), and of the miscliief of the tongue (Pr le", Ja 3"). 6. Of trouble and affliction (Ps GO'-, Is 43S Jer 51**, Hab 2"). 7. Of religious emotion (Ps 39^), and especially of prophetic inspiration, as ' the word of the Lord '"(Jer 5" 20" 23-'»). 8. Of the law (2 Es 13**). 9. Of the Holy Spirit (Mt 3", Lk 3'», Ac 2^).
Ueference is apparently made in 2 Mac 10^ to the method of procuring fire by striking steel against flint. W ith regard to fuel, the material used for the sacrificial fire, both in primitive and in later times, was wood (Gn 22^', Lv 6'-'). Special arrangements were made for supplying the altar fire. The Gibeonites were made ' hewers of wood ' for the house of the Lord (Jos 9^), and after the Exile a special wood-offering was appointed for the temple (Neh 10** 13^'). It is called by Josephus the festival of Xylophoria ( )Vars, li. xvil. 6). For ordinary purposes the staple fuel was charcoal (see Coal), but other materials were also used, such as thorns (Ps 58» US", Ec 7«, Is 33") and grass (Mt e**, Lk 122*). xhe asphaltum found near the Dead Sea is combustible, as is also the 'stink-stone' found in the same neighbourhood, wliich is burnt along with camel's dung (Burck- hardt. Travels in S^ria, p. 394). The last men- tioned, as well as other kinds of dung (Ezk 4'=), is also used alone as fuel (Niebuhr, Travels in Arabia, iL 232 ; Wright, Palmyra and Zenobia, p. 369).
Jame.s Patrick.
FIREBRAND. — See Brand. FIREPAN. — See Censlr.
FIRKIN.— See Weiohts and Measures.
FIRMAMENT.— See CosMOGONy.
FIRSTBORN.— See Family.
FIRST-FRUITS (oni:;, in Lv 23» c-ip, LXX wpuToffvi'iiijuTa ; n's'xi dirapx^}. — The custom ot oifering first-fruits was shared by the Isr. with many other ancient nations, and it is also found in many savage religions. Frazer (Golden Boii(jh, ii. 68-90) cites many examples to show that the new corn was eaten sacramentally in order that the worshippers might share in the divine life of the corn-spirit, with which it was assumed that the grain was instinct. The eating of the first- fruits is, then, similar to the earliest form of animal sacrifice, in which the victim was regarded aa divine, and the essence of the sacrifice lies in tlie communal feast and the participation of all the worshippers in the diWne life. The two still remain separated by an important diU'erence. The divine animal probably belonged to the kin of the worshippers, and the sacrificial meal strengthened the bond of kinship by a distribution of tiie com- mon life. There is no reason for assuming this in the case of the corn-spirit. He gives, further, several instances of the oll'ering of the first-fruits to the deity, in which the sacramental idea is absent {Golden Bough, ii. 373-384). The oll'ering is in these cases of the nature of tribute or thank- oUering. It is considered unsafe to eat of the new crops till the god has recoiveil his share, and the rite thus falls into the same category as numerous others familiar to the student of ritual and custom. The offering of the first-fruits does not sanctify the rest of the crop, but it makes it lawful food (W. R. Smith, RS;^-2\\).