Jamics Coopkr.
FLOOD. — The Flood is referred to only in Mt 2438. 39 and its parallel Lk IT". Jesus is speaking of the concealment of the day and hour of tlie coming of the Son of Man, and He uses the Flood .as an illustration wliich would be well known to His hearers. Men and women were eating and
drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark ; and did not know until the Flood came and took them all a«ay. So it would be at the time of the coming of tiie Son of Man. Jesus was, at the time of .speaking, warning men of His coming, and the warning was intended, doubtless, to be sufhcient to turn them, if they would be turned, fi'om tlieir evil. The emphasis in the use of the illustration is upon the indifference and wickedness of the ante- diluvians, as paralleled by that of men in the future who would not receive and act upon the warnings now given. The Gospel use, then, of the Flood is, like the meaning of the word used ()caTa/(Xi/ff/i(5s), neutral as to the important questions raised by the OT story of the Deluge. See art. ' Flood ' in Hastings' DB, vol. ii. O. H. Gates.
FLOWERS.— Palestine has a flora of wonderful wealth and varietj'. The known species exceed three thousand, and even this large list Ls pro- bably far from complete. But numbers alone
the most remarkable diversities of soil, surface, and climate. As is the land so is its flora, which at the one e.Ktreme, amid the heights of Lebanon, is Alpine in its character, and at the other ex- treme, in the gorge of the Dead Sea, tropical.
In the NT there are very few references to flowers, and these are of the most general char- acter (Ja l'"- ", I P 1-'). In the Gospels the only mention of them is in the words of our Lord, ' Con- sider the lilies of the field ' (Mt G-'J, Lk 1'2'^). It is noteworthy that it is to theii' beauty that Christ appeals ; elsewhere in the NT flowers are the emblem of frailty and evanescence. But in spite of the comparative infrequency of Scripture allusions to them or praise of tlieir beauty, the Jews were lovers of flow.K. Tin- is attested by the floral
ornanientati u tin' woDdwork of the oracle
(lK6i«), the tniaiiiu .IooimC'^), and the pillars of the temple i7-. th- l.nia (,f the molten sea (7"'^), and the gol.l.u . .unll. -tnk (Ex 25^1-^). From the Mishna we 1 irii tli;it at the Feast of Harvest (Ex 23") the liiM ' i,,ii ,,t fruit offered at the altar was decked with I1..«,ts il'/ikkiiriiii, ii. 3).
Among the Ijeautitul ll.iweis of Palestine may be mentioned auenii>iie>. eioeuses, cyclamens, ^l„f.l-".i, hyacinths, iri-es, poi tulips.
FLUTE - PLAYERS.— Flute-playing is referred to twice in the Gospels : once in tlie narrative as an expression of sorrow (Mt 9^ auXijrds, AV ' min- strels,' RV ' flute-players ') ; and once in tlie Lord's teaching as an expression of gladness (rii\i]aati.ev Mt 11" with the parallel passage Lk 7"'- ' we [have] piped '). The latter use, which is referred to several times in the OT and the Apocrypha ( 1 K 1**, Is o'-' 30=9, .Sir 40=1, 1 Mac 3«), is attested for the later Jews by the mention in the Mishna of ' flutes for a bride' (Baba Mczia vi. 1). The other use, the employment of flutes for mourning, seems to Iiave been widely dittused and of great antiquity, for it is clearly alluded to by Jeremiah (48**) ; and can be traced over a large part of the Gentile world — Phoenicians, Carians, Greeks, Romans, and pro- bably Assyrians. In Greek society (or at least some sections of it) the custom was so general that the flute-player at funerals was described by a special term (T-uw/Sat-XTjs .-Elian. Var. Hist. xii. 43). For tlie Jewish life of the 1st and 2nd cents. A.D. there is aiiiple evidence in the Mishna and else- where. •Flutes for a cor])se' are mentioned in Il"h., M.y,f, vi. 1, and in Kethuboth iv. 4 is the often eiteil rule that a man who had lost his wife must engage, no matter how poor he might be,
FOAmNG
FOLLOWING
GO,-?
not fewer than two Hute-players and one wailing woman. A remarkable liistorical illustration is supplied by Josephus (liJ III. ix. .')). When the news of the capture of .jotapata liy tlie Romans in the summer of 67 A.u. reached Jerusalem, ' most people engaged flute-players to lead their lamenta- tions.' Another illustration comes from Koman histoiy. At the funeral of the Emperor Claudius in 54 A.D. there were flute-players in the proces- sion. These funeral musicians seem to have been generally, if not always, professionals, and to have been held in very low esteem. The class seem.s to be unknown to modern Syrian society. The wail- ing woman remains, but the funeral flautist has gone (Bauer, VoUcslebcn hn Lande der Bibel, 1903, p. 213).
LiTBRATUBE.— Note of Wetstcui on yv •": " ! \ .. Beitrdge zur Erlduteruiig der Hvantii/ Midrasch, p. 12S ; Levy, Chalddischcs II ii
• Music 'in Hastings' Z)B iii. 4fil. \V. '1' \ i Iwi; S\|I1I1.
FOAMING.— See Epilepsy.
FOLD.— See Elock.
FOLLOWING.—' Eollow ' represents several Gr. words which it is desirable to distinguish as far as possible.