FOKTY
FKANKIXCEXSE
my lowly and painful lot. The foxes ha\e holes, and the birds of the heaven nests ; but the Son of man hath not where to lay down his head ' * (Lk 9=--«« = Mt8«'-=°).
Again, when He was travelling through Galilee on His last journey up to Jerusalem, He was followed by an enthusiastic throng. Knowing ■whither He was bound, they concluded that He was going to declare Himself king of Israel, and they were for following Him all the way and sharing in His triumph. Suddenly He wheeled round {aTpa<l>els) and addressed them : ' If any man Cometh after me, and doth not hate his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, moreover, even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.' Then He added two parables, — the Unfinished Tower and the Two Kings, — warning against the folly of embarking upon an enterprise which one is incapable of carrying through. ' So, therefore,' He concluded, ' if ye -would follow me, understand the condition. Count the cost, and determine whether you are prepared to meet it. Every one of you who doth not renounce all that he hath cannot be my disciple' (Lk U^-**). David Smith.
FORTY.— See Numbers.
FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD.— Tlie phrase KaralioXri koitixov occurs in Mt 25^, Lk IP", .Jn 17"^ {Kotr/jiov is doubtful in Jit 13^, see RVm). It is a common expression in the NT, c.t/. Eph 1*, He 4^ 92", 1 P 1=», Rev 138 1-8. In general it denotes a time sense, implying a strong declaration of pri- ority. It always occurs with the prepositions otto or irpd. KaTa§o\ri primarily means the laying down or founding of anything, hence the absolute beginning. k6<t^os is a word of much more varied meaning, into the different phases of which we need not here enter. Its present use as applied to the Universe is well established. The whole ex- pression is equivalent to the phrase found in Mk 10" 13" ' from the beginning of tlie creation ' {aTrb dpxrji KTlirem). 'Old Testament Hebrew has no term which would quite correspond to the Greek 6 KScr/ios ' (Dalman, Words of Jesus, p. 162). j\It 13^ is an unliteral rendering of Ps 78- D'35"3P, which the LXX translates At' apxvs. ' The founda- tion of the world' stands for the definite epoch when this present Universe was originated.
AV. S. Kerr.
FOUR.— See Numbers.
FOWL.— The word 'fowl
now ahuost
stricted to poultry, and especially to tliat familiar bird in a farmyard, the ' barn-door fowl ' ; but it is used in the NT in a wider sense. The Gr. word TeTuvd (lit. ' flying things ') does not indeed signify, as its derivation might imply, all winged creatures — a meaning sometimes attached to ' fowls ' in Old English (Hastings' i3J3, art. 'Fowl'). It denotes ' birds,' of which there are many species in Pale- stine, including some which are only l)irds of pas- sage with us. Quite arbitrarily AV renders Trerei.'d by ' birds ' in Mt 8^ IS^^, Lk 9* ; and by ' fowls ' in ^h e*- 13^ Mk 4^- ^\ Lk 8» 12=» 13". in every case in which TrcTctfi occurs in the Gospels RV gives ' birds.'
Borrowing so much as He did from <ml\var.l nature, our Lord often employed birds t ■ ■ i 1 1 r. - 1 1 , , i , His teaching. Their nests are contr.iM.,1 «iili His o\vn pillowless couch (Mt S**). In tli.- p.u.il.l.- of the Sower they devour the seed that f.dls by the wayside (Mt 13^) ; in that of the Mustard Seed
they lodge under the shadow of the huge plant wliich gi-ew out of such a tiny germ (Mk 4*-). Their free iindistracted lives play an important part in tliat cumulative argument which Christ builds up in the Sermon on the Mount against the tyranny of care. They neither sow, reap, nor gather into barns, yet the heavenly Father feeds them (Mt 6-"), i.e. they are inferior to man in two respects. For (1) they cannot anticipate and influence the future as man can by the exercise of his reason or the labour of his hands ; (2) God is only their Creator, but He is man's Father, and will not forget His child. Though the 'fowls' cannot foresee, or work, or trust, they have no care. Yet they are fed. How foolish of man, who can do all these things, to fall so far beneath the ' fowls,' and worry over food and drink, when his first duty is to seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness !
D. A. MACKINNON. FOX (aXdnrrj^).— Foxes and jackals are referred to indiscriminately in Scripture, although the fo.x is someAvhat smaller in size, and is generally found singly, whereas jackals prowl around villages in small packs. Both animals are of a timid nature, and exhibit similar cunning and stealth in securing their prey, and live in deserted ruins and among the rocks of the mountain gorges. Christ's allusion to them (Mt 8-", Lk 9^) takes its meaning from the fact that while places of refuge and rest were definitely allotted to such outcast creatures, tlie Son of Man had not where to lay His head. His reference to Herod as a fox (Lk 13'-) is not only expressive of contempt, but may allude to the cause of the king's hostility : he was the invader of vineyards who had taken his brother's wife. The verses that follow' also indicate that Christ's death must be otherwise brought about. The petty and furtive intentions of Herod must give way to the grander rapacity of Jerusalem as the historical ilestroyer of tlie prophets. G. M. MaCKIE.