vised by a niissionaiy in Syria lo make a tour of Europe, .and answered, ' I must first of all bury my father.' The missionary expressed sur- prise at the news of his death, as he had hitherto been in good health ; but the young in.iii explained th.at lie only meant that one must hetoie all things devote himself to the dniies owed to relatives. Jesus did not recognize such .luties as suflicient to justify delay in preach-
C04
FOOP
FOOLISHXESS
ing the gospel. Clem. Alex, adopted a tradition that this man was Philip (roO Knpiou Xiyovros T<fi *i\Ijr7rif), &<jies roiis pcKpovs, k.t.X., Strom, iii. 4. 50, 51, ^ligne) ; if true, it may be taken as an admoni- tion occasioned hy some slackness or symptom of decadence on the part of the Apostle (Alf.). (3) A third offered to follow, but wished first to say farewell to his relatives : he showed a divided affection ; apparently, therefore, his request in- volved special danger. A saying of farewell (dTro- TaaaeaBm) in quite a different sense was necessary (Lk 14**). Augustine says of these three : 'obtulit se unus ut eum sequeretur et reprobatus est, alius non audebat et excitatus est, tertius differebat et culpatus est.' Edersheim sums up the three vital conditions of following as here illustrated : (a) alj- solute self-denial and homelessness in the world ; (b) immediate and entire self-sunender to Christ and His work ; (c) a heart and affections simple, undivided, and set on Christ and His work, to which there is no other trial of parting like that which would involve parting from Him. no other or higher joy than that of fullowiu'^ Him (Life and Times, ii. 134).
For the result and rewards of following see Jn 8>=, Mt Iff--"- II.
LiTEBATl-RE.— Ciemer. nib.-Tlmd. Lfx. .«.r. Ua^U^iu^; art.
' Fullnw ' ill jhi>iiii-~' /'/.'; 'I'l-. [1. h, .^■..o,^- in the Gospels (N"- ':;",/ ,' ,,. 7U: Liddon, TAe ill!'" ■ / , I I, . , ; : Ii, Life and Times of. I,- i;. ■I..,,,:,,,:,!.- let. Westcott, etc.;
Brilre, Ku:J:!:,n vj Lr,.>, y. l-L, J..- <(../■, IV. iv. [1S91]
-**'ff- W. H. DUNDAS.
FOOD. — While this word does not occur in AV in the Gospels, the Greek words /Spii^a (Alt 14'^, Ilk 7'^ Lk 3" 9'^ and Jn i^) and /3p<S<r.s ( Jn 4« and (J27. 55)^ rendered ' meat,' would be in each case better rendered ' food.' The first word, ^pQ/ia, means any- thing eaten ; while the second, /Spuint, is used else- where in NT for ' the act of eating ' ; but in the Gospels three times (in John) for that which Ls eaten ; t^Wce as a general term for food (Jn 4^ 6^), and once as contrasted with drink (6"). In these jjassages in John's Gospel, Jesus uses the term figuratively, of .spiritual nourishment, which He Himself could give, describing His own body as 'food indeed.'
The ordinary food in Christ's day consisted chiefly of flesh, cereals, fruits, and herbs. Of flesh, that of sheep, oxen, kids, birds (Mt 12'- 25*-, Lk 13'S Mt 10-='), as well a-s lish (Mt 7'°, Lk 24^-, Jn 6^ 21i3) was in common use. Of cereals, fllipat :uid barley were favourite foud-sturts (Mt S>-, Mk 2--^, Lk 3", Jn ti"21'^): of herbs there is mention of mint, anise, and cummin (Mt 23^, Lk 11^^') ; of fruits, we hear of figs (Lk 13', Mt 21'8-''') and grapes (Mt 7'«, Mk 12^). The cereals were prepared by grinding in crude mills, and the Hour was made into loa\ es or cakes baked in ovenv. Food « as seasoned with salt (Mk 9**) ; nmstanl leaver an.l lummin were used as condiments. Sim- ait. Mkai.s.
John the liaptist, like .some others of his day, lived nearer to nature, as a rebuke of prevalent luxury, and chose the native food of the wilder- nes.s, 'locusts and wild-honey" (Mt .3', Mk 1«). Jesus -came 'eating and drinking' the ordinary food of His time, rebuking the artificial abstemi- ousness of the Pharisees (Mt If'"-, Lk 7^'-), as well as the too great anxiety of many as to what they should eat or drink (Mt 6="-, Lk 12--=«).
E. B. Pollard.
FOOL.— This word occurs 6 times in the AX of the Gospels as the translation of dfiTjToj (Lk 24==), &4>pap (II" 122"), and /lupds (Mt 5-- 23«- '»). In the RV it occurs only twice (Mt 5^ 23'"), being in Mt 23'» omitted from the text, and in the three re- maining places the rendering given is 'foolish.' Further, ^wpdi occurs in Mt 7-*25-- '■ ", and in these
places, both in AV and RV, it is translated •foolish.'
These three Greek words, confused more or less by the principal versions, — the Har^lean Syriac and Coptic are exceptions, — are not synonyms. '\v6r)T0! implies a lack of comprehension or under- standing, and so is very fittingly used in Lk 24"-". "Ai^pwy, signifying 'mindless' or 'senseless,' fre- quently carries >\-ith it, in Biblical usage (cf. its constant emplojinent in the LXX of Proverbs), an underlj-ing meaning of moral defect, impiety, or unbelief ; while in mw/»s (cf. fiupalveaeai, Mt 5'" ' to become insipid ') the predominant meaning is ' dull,' 'witless,' 'stupid.'
Tlie meaning of iioipi in Alt 5" has been much discussed. Afford mentions three interpretations : (I) that it is to be understood as the ordinary Greek word for ' fool ' ; (2) that it is a translitera- tion of the Heb. rrib (inoreh), meaning 'rebel' or ' perverse ' (cf. Nu 20'°), a word which is put in II Vm as an alternative to 'fool'; (3) that it bears the sense of iSScos according to the Heb. usage of V?j (nuhal, and cf. 1 S 25'^). However, there seems to be no real reason for supposing the word to be other than the Greek /lu/xJs used in its ordin- ary Biblical sense.