Ou the eflects of the fall on nature, see Nature.
Fallo'W-deer {"■'^tt}'^, yachmur'; Sept. i3oi'i3a\og [but liopicag in 1 Kings], Vulg. luhalus'), mentioned among the beasts that may be eaten in Deut. xiv, 5, and among the provisions for Solomon's table in 1 Kings iv, 23 [Hab. v, 3]. There are three animals of the CervidcB family with which different writers have identified it. See Zoology.
1. ISIost commentators (following Bochart, Hieroz. i, 910 ; ii, 2G0) regard it as properly translated in our version, deriving the word from '^ pH, chamca-' , in the sense of being red, and thus referring it to a species of deer of a reddish color ; probablj^ the Cervus dama of Linnajus, originallj' a native of Barbary, where it is still found wild. It is stated to be found very gener- ally dispersed over Western and Southern Asia, and is said to have been introduced into England from Norway (see Penny Cyclopmdin, s. v. Deer). It is smaller than the stag (Cervus elapihus'), having horns or branches serrated on the inside, which it sheds an- nually. The color in winter is a darkish brown, but in summer bay, spotted with white. The fallow-deer
L'uiiimon F;iUow-deer.
(Cervus dama) is deemed by most aiithorities to be un- doubtedlj- a native of Asia; indeed, Persia seems to be its proper country. Ilasselquist (Trav. p. 211) no- ticed this deer in Mount Tabor. Oedmann (Vernit.
FALLOW GROUND
476
FMIA CLA]VIOSA
Samml. i, 178) likewise believes that fhe ynclimur is best denoted \>y tlie Cervns dama. The female is call- ed in the Talmud X"!!)*::!!;;;, and is identified by Lewj-- sohn with the German Damhirsch. It is, however, difficult to suppose that Jerusalem could have received any appreciable amount of flesh-meat from such a source, remote as it is from a forest country. See Deeu.
2. Kitto {Pict. Blbl. Deut. I. c.) says, " The 7/ach- rrnir of tlie Hebrews is without doubt erroneously identified with the fallow-deer, which does not exist in Asia," and refers tlie name to the Ori/x leucort/x, citing Kicbuhr as authority for stating that this animal is known among the Eastern Arabs bj' the name oi yaz- mur. This is the opinion which we have adopted, from Hamilton Smith, who is the best modern author- ity' on such (juestions. See Antelope.
3. Still otliers, on the authority of the Septuagint rendering in Deuteronomj'-, regard the term as deno- ting '■ the Andlope huhalus (Pallas) ; the jiovfiaXoi; of the Greeks (see Herod, iv, 192 ; Aristotle, Hist. Anim. iii, 6, ed. Schneider, and De Part. Anim. iii, 2, 11, edit. Bekker ; Oppian, Cyn. ii, 300). From the different de- scriptions of the yachmur as given by Arabian A\rit- ers, and cited b}' Bochart (Jlieroz. ii, 284 sq.), it would also seem that this is the animal designated ; though Damir's remarks in some respects are fabulous, and he represents the yachmur as having deciduous horns, which will not ajjply to any antelope. Still Cazui- nus, according to IJosenmiiller, identifies the yachmur
with the belcler el-vash (' wild cow'), which is the mod- ern name in North Africa for the A ntilope huhahis (see Shaw's Trarch, p. 242, and Suppl. p. 75, fol. ; Buffon, Jlist. Xtifur. xii, 204). The term huhalus evidently points to some animal having the general appearance of an ox. Pliny (iV. //. viii, 15) tells us that the com- mon people, in tlieir ignorance, sometimes gave this name to the Bison (^AurocK) and the Urus. He adds, the animal properly so called is produced in Africa, and bears a resemblance to the calf and the stag; a niiddh^ position between the cervine and I)()vine rumi- nants that corresponds to the external apjicarance of the animal in question. The hckkcr cl-irash appears to be dc[)icted in the Egyptian monumi^nts [see Chase], where it is represented as being hunted for the sake of its flesh, which Shaw tells us (Snppl. p. 75) is very sweet and nourishing, nmcli jircferable to that of the rod deer (see Wilkinson's Anc. Egyjd. i, 223, figs. 3, 4, and p. 225, fig. 19). This animal, which is about the size of a statr, is common in North Africa, and lives in herds" (Smith, s. v.). See Wil.i) Ox,
Failo-w ground (T^?, mV, broken up with the
plough), a field (especially of sward) just ploughed (figuratively, Jer. iv, 3; Hos. x, 12; literally, "til- ;e'' Prov. xiii, 23). See Agriculture.
FaHo'w year. Among the Hebrews everj' sev- enth year was a sabbath of rest to the land. The commencement of this j'ear was on the first day of the seventh month, 7V»vi = October. There was neither sowing nor reaping; the vines and the olives were not pruned ; there was no gathering of fruits ; for all spontaneous productions were left to the poor, the traveller, and the wild beast (Lev. xxv, 1-7 ; Deut. XV, 1-10). The sabbatical year was instituted in or- der that the land might be improved, and that the Hebrews might be taught economy and foresight, and also invited to exercise a large degree of trust in the jirovidence of Jehovah their king. During this j-ear they could fish, hunt, take care of their bees and flocks, repair their buildings, manufacture furniture and cloths, and carrj' on commerce. Debts, on account of there being no income from the soil, were not collected (Deut. XV, 9 ; xxxi, 10-13). Nor were servants man- umitted en this year, but at the end of the sixth year of their service (Exod. xxi, 2 ; Deut. xv, 12 ; Jer. xxxiv, 14). The Hebrews remained longer in the tabernacle or temple this year, during which the whole Mosaic law was read, in order to be instructed in religious and moral duties, the history of their na- tion, and the wonderful works and blessings of God (Deut. xxxi, 10-13). When Jehovah gave the He- brews this remarkable institute, in order to guard them against the apprehension of famine, he premised, on the condition of their obedience, so great plenty in every sixth harvest that it alone would sufl!ice for three years (Lev. xxv, 20-22). However, through the avarice of the Hebrews, this seventh year's rest, as Moses had apprehended (Lev. xxvi, 34, 35), was for a. long time utterly neglected (2 Chron. xxxvi, 21); for in all the history of the Hebrew kings there is no men- tion of the sabbatical year, nor of the j-ear of jubilee. The period when this wise and advantageous law fell into disuse may probabh' be understood from the pre- diction of Moses in Lev. xxvi, 33, 34, 43 ; comp. with 2 Chron. xxxvi, 21 ; Jer. xxv, 11. Thus was it fore- told that the Hebrews, for the violation of tliis law, should go into captivitj': "To fulfil the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had paid oft" her sabbaths : for as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten jcars." Here it is taken for granted that seventy sabbatical 3'ears, including the jubilee j'ears which succeeded ev- ery seventh sabbatical year, had been neglected by the unfaithful people. The Hebrews were frequently weary of the law ; and at different periods during the commonwealth they appear to have utterlj- neglected the fallow or sabbjitical j-ears. Hence it appears that the captivitj' of the Hebrews and the desolation of their country was an act of retributive Providence, brought upon them for this verj' reason, that the land might pa_y oft' those sabbatical j'ears of rest, of which the Hebrews had deprived it, in neglecting the statute of Jehovah their king (Lev. xxvi, 43). After the ex- ile the fallow or sabbatical year appears to have been more scru])ulously observed, as we learn from Jose- phus {Ant. xi, 11, 8). See Jubilee.