2. Hence the destructive energies of this element and the torment which it inflicts rendered it a fit sj'm- bol of (1) whatever does damage and consumes (Prov. xvi, 27; Isa. ix, 18); (2) of severe trials, vexations, and misfortunes (Zech. xii, 9; Luke xii, 49 [see the dissertations on this text bv Scharbau {Ob.-;. Sacr. p. 127-14G), Ellrod (Erlang. 1774)] ; 1 Cor. iii, 13, 15 [see the dissertations on this text by Lichtenstein (Helmst. 1771), Georgi (Viteb. 1748)] ; "l Pet. i, 7) ; (3) of the punishments beyond the grave (Matt, v, 22 ; Mark ix, 44; Bev. xiv, 10; xxi, 8). See Hell.
3. Fire or flame is also used in a metaphorical sense to express excited feeling and divine inspiration (Psa. xxxix, 3; Jer. xx, 9). Thus the influences of the Hoh' Ghost are compared to fire (JIatt. iii, 11), and the descent of the Holy Spirit was denoted by the appear- ance of lambent flames, or tontrues of fire (Acts ii, 3). See Tongue. The angels of God also are represented under the emblem of fire (Psa. civ, 4). These are the more benign applications of the figure, in the sense of warmth, activity, and illumination (see Weniyss's Symbol. Diet."). Compare Light.
FIBE-BAPTISM. The expression "baptize with fire" (Matt, iii, 11 ; Luke iii, IG) is understood by most modern interpreters to be synonymous with bfqttismby the Holy Spirit, e. g. on the day of Pentecost (see Ar- j thur. Tongue of Fire, passim, Bond. 185G, N. Y. 1857). Olshausen {Comment, ad loc. Am. ed. i, 269) regards j " fire" here as put in contrast with the opposite ele- i ment "water,"' i. e. the spiritual as distinct from the material baptism. So also Alford {Greek Te.<f. ad loc. Matt.), who remarks that "to separate ofi'IIr. 'Ay. as liclonging to one set of persons, and irvpi as belonging to another, when both are united in vi^tac,is harsh and confused." Yet so Origen early understood the pas- sage, and in this Neander, De Wette, Meyer, and many other expositors coincide. Dr. Bobinson observes that "the wheat are evidently those who receive Christ as the Messiali, and embrace his doctrines ; these he Avill baptize with the Holy Ghost, i. e. he will impart to them spiritual gifts, the teachings and consolations of the Holy Spirit ; while the chaff Ave as evidently those who reject Christ and his doctrines, and live in sin ; these he will baptize with_/(>e unquenchable" (in Cal- met, s. V. Baptism). There are monographs on this subject by Iken {Dissert, p. 300-3]6\ MieffiMisr.Dimb. i, 206 sq., G02 sq.), Osiandcr (Tubingen, 1755), Schmid (Lips, 170G), Bibov (Gott. 1744), Zeibich (Ger. 1781). Compare Baptism with Fire.
FIREBRAND
567
FIRE-WORSHIP
Firebrand (I^X, ud, a poker or burnt end of a etick, Isa. vii, 4; Amos iv, 11; "brand," Zech. iii, 2; Tisb lappid', Judg. XV, 4, a lamp or torch [as often elsewhere], i. e. flambeau ; pT, zek, on\y in the plur., burning darts, i. e. ariovvs [q. v.] fitted with combus- tibles, I'rov. xxvi, 18; comp. Eph. vi, IG). In Judg. XV, 4, it is said, "And Samson went and caught three hundred foxes [jackals], and toolc firel)rands, and turn- ed tail to tail, and put a firebrand in the midst between two tails." A firebrand in such a position, if suffi- ciently ignited to kindle a blaze in the shocks of corn, ■would soon have burnt itself free from the tails of the foxes, or have been extinguished by being drawn over the ground. A torch or flambeau, on the other hand, made of resinous wood or artificial materials, being more tenacious of flame, would have answered a far better purpose, and such is the legitimate import of the original. His "turning them tail to tail" was ap- parently intended to prevent them making too rapid a retreat to their holes, or, indeed, from going to their holes at all. They were probably not so tied that they should pull in dilferent directions, but that thej' might run deviously and slowly, side by side, and so do tlie more eflfectual execution. Had he put a torch to the tail of each, the creature, natural!}' terrified at fire, •would instantlj' have betaken itself to its hole, or some place of retreat, and thus the design of Samson would have been wholly frustrated. But by tying two of them together by the tail tliey would frequently thwart each other in running, and thus cause the greater de- vastation. Similar conflagrations produced by ani- mals, particularly by foxes, were well known to the Greeks and Komans. Thus Lycopliron {Alexandra, 344) makes Cassandra represent Uh'sses as a cunning and mischievous man, the "man for many wiles re- nowned" of Homer, and styles him, very properly, \ai.i7vovpiQ,Jlre-tail, a name for the fox (/Esch. Fragm. 38()). Tiie Komans, also, at their feast in honor of Ceres, the patron goddess of grain, offered in sacrifice animals injurious to corn-fields, and therefore intro- duced into the circus, on this occasion, foxes with fire- brands so fastened to them as to burn them : a retalia- tion, as Ovid seems to explain it, of the injuries done to the corn by foxes so furnished (^Fasli, iv, G81, 707, 711). In Leland's Collectanea, there is an engraving representing a Roman brick found twenty-eight feet below a pavement in London, about the year 1G75, on which is exhibited, in basso-relievo, the figure of a man driving into a field of corn two foxes w ith a fire fastened to their tails, which manj' have supposed to refer to the feat of Samson, or at least to be a memento of the Roman usage just mentioned. Richardson, in his Dissertation on the. Kastem Nations, speaking of the great festival of fire celebrated bj' the ancient Persians on the shortest night of the year, saj^s, " Among other ceremonies common on this occasion, there was one which, whether it originated in superstition or caprice, seems to have been singularlv cruel. The kings and great men used to set fire to large bunches of dry com- bustildes, fastened around wild beasts and birds, which being let loose, the air and earth appeared one great illumination ; and as these terrified creatures natural- ly fled to the woods for shelter, it is easy to conceive that the conflagrations which would often happen must have been peculiarl}' destructive." See Fox.