The perpetual fire on the altar was to be replenish- ed with wood ever}' morning (Lev. vi, 12; comp. Isa. xxxi, 9). According to the Gemara, it was divided int/) three parts, one for liurning the victims, one for incense, and one for supply of the other portions (Lev. vi, 15; see M.e\a.\\A, Antiq. Hebr. i, 4. 8, p. 2(5; and ix, 10, p. 98). Fire for sacred purposes obtained elsewhere than from the altar was called "strange fire," and for use of such Nadab and Abihu were punished with death by fire from God (Lev. x, 1, 2 ; Numb, iii, 4 ; xxvi, Gl). See .\etar.
2. Parallel with this application of fire is to be noted tlie similar use for sacrificial purposes, and the respect paid to it, or to the heavenly bodies as symbols of dei- ty (see belowl, which prevailed among so many na- tions of antiquity, and of which the traces are not even now extinct : e. g. the Sabrean and Magian systems of worship, and their alleged connection with Abraham (Spencer, Be Leg. Hebr. ii, 1, 2) ; the occasional relapse of the Jews themselves into sun-, or its corrupted form of fire-worship (Isa. xxvii, 9 ; compare Gesenius, s. v. '"an, Tkesaur. p. 489; see Deut. xvii, 3; Jer. viii, 2; Ezek. viii, IG ; Zeph. i, 5 ; 2 Kings xvii, IG ; xxi, 3 ; xxiii, 5, 10, 11, 13 ; comp. Jahn, Bihl. Arch. c. vi, § 405, 408) ; the worship or deification of heavenly bodies or of fire, prevailing to some extent, as among the Per- sians, so also even in Egypt (llerod. iii, IG; see Wil- kinson, Anc. Eg. i, 328, abridgm.); the sacred fire of the Greeks and Romans (Thucyd. i, 24 ; ii, 15 ; Cicero, De Leg. ii, 8, 12 ; Livy, xxviii, 12 ; Dionys. ii, 07 ; Plul tarch, Numa, 9, i, 2G3, ed. Reiske) ; the "ancient forms and usages of worship, differing from each other in some important respects, but to some extent similar in principle, of IMexico and Peru (Prescott, Mexico, i, 60, G4 ; Peru, i, 101) ; and.lastly,the theory of the so-called tiuebres of Persia, and the Parsees of Bomba^•. (Fra- zer, Persi'i, c. iv, p. 141, 1G2, 1G4 ; Sir R. Porter, Trav- ek, ii, 50, 424 ; Chardin, Voyages, ii, 310 ; iv, 258 ; viii, 367 sq.; Niebuhr, Travels, ii, 36, 37; Mandelslo, Trar- ek, b. i, p. 7G; Gibbon, Hist. c. viii, i, 335, ed. Smith ;
Benj. of Tudela, ^ar^'y Trav. p. 114, 116; Burckhardt, Syria, p. 156.) See Idolatry. On the heathen prac- tice of children "passing through the fire," see Mo- loch.
3. In the case of the spoil taken from the Midian- ites, such articles as could bear it were purified by fire as well as in the water appointed for the purpose (Numb, xxxi, 23). The victims slain for sin-offerings were afterwards consumed by fire outside the camp (Lev. iv, 12, 21; vi, 30; xvi, 27 ; Heb. xiii, 11). The Nazarite who had completed his vow, marked its com- pletion by shaving his head and casting the hair into the fire on the altar on which the peace-oflferings were sacrificed (Numb, vi, 18).
II. Domestic. — Besides for cooking, baking, and roasting purposes [see Bread, Food, etc.], fire is often required in Palestine for warmth (.Jer. xxxvi, 22; Mark xiv, 54 ; John xviii, 18 ; see Harnier, Obs. i, 125 ; Raiimer, p. 79). F^or this purpose a hearth witli a chimney is sometimes constructed, on which either lighted wood or pans of charcoal are placed (Harmer, i, 405). In Persia, a hole made in the floor is some- times filled with charcoal, on which a sort of table is set covered with a carpet ; and the company, placing their feet under the carpet, draw it over themselves (Olearius, Travels, p. 294 ; Chardin, Voyages, viii, 190). Rooms in Egypt are warmed, when necessary, with pans of charcoal, as there are no fireplaces except in the kitchens (Lane, Mod. Eg. i, 41 ; Eng. in Eg. ii, 11). See Coal ; Fuel.
On the Sabbath, the law forbade any fire to be kin- dled even for culinary purposes (Exod. xxxv, 3; Numb. XV, 32). As the primaiy design of this law appears to have been to prevent the proper privileges of the Sabbath day from being lost to any one through the care and time required in cooking victuals (Exod. xvi, 23), it is doubted whether the use of fire for warmth on the Sabbath day was included in this in- terdiction. In practice, it would appear that the fire was never lighted or kept up for cooking on the Sab- bath day, and that consequently there were no fires in the houses during the Sabbaths of the greater part of the year ; but it ma}' be collected that in winter fires for warming apartments were kept up from the previous day. Michaelis is very much mistaken with respect to the climate of Palestine in supposing that the inhabitants could, without much discomfort, dis- pense with fires for warmth during winter (Mosdisches Recht, iv, 195). To this general prohibition the Jews added various refinements ; e. g. that on the eve of the Sabbath no one might read with a light, though pas- sages to be read on the Sabbath by children in schools might be looked out by the teacher. If a Gentile lighted a lamp, a Jew might use it, but not if it had been lighted for the use of the Jew. If a festival day fell on the Sabbath eve no cooking was to be done (Mishna, Shnbb. i, 3; xvi, 8, vol. ii, p. 4, 56; ilfoed Kn- tan, ii, vol. ii, p. 287, ed. Surenhus). The modern Jews, although there is no cooking in their houses, have fires on the Sabbath day, wliich are attended to b}' a Chris- tian servant ; or a charwoman is hired to attend to the fires of several houses, which she visits repeatedly during the dav. See Sabbath.