26
FOLDEX
FOLLOW, FOLLOWER
FOLDEN.— This earlier ptcp. of tlie verb to fold is found in Nali 1" ' while they be foldcn together as thorns ' (RV ' like tan^ded [Amer. UV entangled] thorns'). The meaning is that the thorns are intertwined so as to form an impenetrable hedge. The tr° comes from the Geneva Bible, ' For he shall come as unto tliorncs folden one in another,' with the marginal gloss, 'Tho^h the Assyrians thinke tlieni selves like thomes tliat pricke on all sides, yet the Lord wil set fyre on them.' For this sense of the verb to fold cf. Mt 27^ Wye. ' thei foldynge a crowne of thornis,' and Ca 7° Gov. ' Tlie ha5-re of thy heade is like the kynges purple folden up in plates.' The Heb. (d>;2?) is used in Job 8" of roots entwined round a lieap of stones, EV ' His roots are wrapped about the heap. '
J. Hastings.
FOLK was at one time used as equivalent to ' nation'(Ger. Volk). Thus Ac IC Wye. 'in eche folk he that dredith God and worchith rightwisnesse is accepte to hym ' ; Ps 33" Gov. ' Blessed are the people that holde the Lorde for their God, and blessed are the folke whom he hath chosen to be his heritage ' (a tr" preferred by ' Four Friends ' : see Psnlnut Chron. Arranged, 1891, p. 387) ; 2Es6-' Gov. ' Amongeall ye multitudes of tolkes thou hast gotten the one people.' So in AV Jer 51°* 'the
Eeople shall labour in vain, and the folk in the re (o'DN^ ; RV ' the nations for the fire '). So in Pr soothe meaning is ' nation,' thou"li tlie applica- tion is to tlie ' comes,' after Gov. 'the conyes are but a feeble folk' (Heb. oy). But in Gn 33" (Dj) the word is used of a chieftain's followers or re- tainers, a special sense which is now only Scottish.* Cf. G. Pettie (1581), Tr° of Guazzo's Civ. Conv. iii. 170, 'Tlie m.aister of the house . . . ought . . . to shewe himselfe more seuere towards his owne folke, then towards others.' In NT the word is thrice used for people or persons indefinitely (Mk 6', Jn 5', Ac 5'*), and there is no corresponding Greek word. In the last passage a plural form is employed ('sicke folkes ' m 1611), which is now used only of relatives, esp. in the phrase ' young fnlL-a ' tho wnr;) ' fnlL- ' being itself Collective. See
J. Hastings.
folks,' the word Kinsfolk.
FOLLOW, FOLLOWER.— In the OT 'follow' is sometimes the tr° of the adv. vin ahar (often in plur. constr. "inN), after, with some verb meaning to go or walk, thrice with r^l!^ to be (Ex 23^ 2S 2'", 1 K 16-'). This verb is often omitted, however, a pregnant Heb. idiom being the result, as 1 S 13' ' all the people followed him trembling ' (v-jnN nin, literally, as AVm ' trembled after him ') ; Am 7'° ' the Lord took me as I followed the flock ' ('nfiXD [Nvn, lit. as AVm ' from behind the flock,' RV ' from following '). Still more idiomatically, the verb 'to fill' is used with this adv., and then the Eng. is ' follow fully ' or 'wholly,' as Dt 1»« 'he hath wholly followed the Lord ' (m.T '-inn kVc, lit. ■ he hath filled up after the LORD,' or as AVm ' fulfilled [to go] after').
Occasionally, the meaning is to follow so as to overtake, to pursue, when the Heb. is <\Ti, as Ps 38" 'I follow the thing that good is.' Then the Eng. is most often ' follow after,' as Gn ii* ' Up, follow after the men ; and when thou dost over- take them, say unto them.' The force of these passages is probably lost to the modem Eng. reader. "Thus in Is 5" ' Woe unto them tliat rise np early in the morning, that they may follow
• Cf. Kethe'8 version of Ps lOfM (as it first appeared in Dare's Psalter, 1660-61 >- ^ ^
• The_ Lord ye know is God in dede
with out our aide, he did us malce ; We are his folck, he doth us tede, and for his shepe, he doth us take.' Modern editors have altered ' folck,' which represents ' people ' In the prose veisii~08, into ' flock," which represents nothing.
strong drink,' though RV retains ' follow,' the word conveys the sense of determined pursuit (LXX SiiJKetp, Vulg. scctari, Luther siih bcJlcUvigen). Cf. Shaks. Uuriol. IV. v. 104 —
'Since I have ever followed thee with hate.*
In Ps 23° 'Surely goodness and mercy shall foUow me all the days of my life,' the Heb. is the same (•jiD-;-;:), but the Eng. is probably rather 'accom- pany me,' as 1 Co 10'^ Tind. ' 'riiere hath none other temptacion taken you, but soche as foloueth the nature of men.'
To the Ilcb. text IS-jl, i.e. ' pursue ' of Jg S^s (EV ' FoUow after me'), Moore prefers IT), i.e. 'follow down,' after LXX Kat»«- ^tjTi ««■->» (tMw, and the Heb. of the next clause.
Another Heb. phrase tr* ' follow ' is lit. ' at the
;")3,
feet of,' as Jg 8' ' the people that follow me ' (• lit. 'at my feet'); so Ex ll*, 1 S '25-'', 1 K '2U'^ 2 K 3". Finally, the Heb. verb ps'j to cleave to ia occasionally translated 'foUow close after,' Jer 42'", or ' f. hard" after,' Ps 63" (and in Hipli. 1 S 14--, 2 S 1», 1 Ch 10=); or • f . hard upon,' 1 S 31= (lliph.) ' And the Philistines followed hard upon Saul and upon his sons.' Cf. Job 13== Gov. 'Wilt thou be so cruell and extreme unto a flyenge leaf, .and folowe upon drye stubble?' and Bingham (16'23), Xcnophon, 115, 'They dare and will be readie to follow upon us if we retire.' RV adds .Jg 20''' 'the battle followed hard after them ' (AV 'over- took them ').