Fox

See Foxes

שועל , Jdg 15:4; Neh 4:3; Neh 11:27; Psa 63:10; Son 2:15; Lam 5:11; Eze 13:4; Mat 8:20; Luk 9:58; Luk 13:32. Parkhurst observes that this is the name of an animal, probably so called from its burrowing, or making holes in the earth to hide himself or dwell in. The LXX render it by αλωπηξ, the Vulgate, vulpes, and our English version, fox. It is recorded, in Jdg 15:4-5, that “Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took firebrands, and turned tail to tail, and put a firebrand in the midst between two tails; and when he had set the brands on fire, he let them go into the standing corn of the Philistines, and burnt up both the shocks, and also the standing corn, with the vineyards and olives.” Dr. Shaw thinks jackals to be the animals here intended; observing, that “as these are creatures by far the most common and familiar, as well as the most numerous of any in the eastern countries, we may well perceive the great possibility there was for Samson to take, or cause to be taken, three hundred of them. The fox, properly so called,” he adds, “is rarely to be met with, neither is it gregarious.” So Hasselquist remarks: “Jackals are found in great numbers about Gaza; and, from their gregarious nature, it is much more probable that Samson should have caught three hundred of them, than of the solitary quadruped, the fox.”

2. At the feast of Ceres, the goddess of corn, celebrated annually at Rome about the middle of April, there was the observance of this custom, to fix burning torches to the tails of a number of foxes, and to let them run through the circus till they were burnt to death. This was done in revenge upon that species of animals, for having once burnt up the fields of corn. The reason, indeed, assigned by Ovid, is too frivolous an origin for so solemn a rite; and the time of its celebration, the seventeenth of April, it seems, was not harvest time, when the fields were covered with corn, vestilos messibus agros; for the middle of April was seed time in Italy, as appears from Virgil’s Georgics. Hence we must infer that this rite must have taken its rise from some other event than that by which Ovid accounted for it; and Samson’s foxes are a probable origin of it. The time agrees exactly, as may be collected from several passages of Scripture. For instance from the book of Exodus we learn, that before the passover, that is, before the fourteenth day of the month Abib, or March, barley in Egypt was in the ear, Exo 12:18; Exo 13:4. And in Exo 9:31-32, it is said, that the wheat at that time was not grown up. Barley harvest, then, in Egypt, and so in the country of the Philistines, which bordered upon it, must have fallen about the middle of March. Wheat harvest, according to Pliny, was a month later: “In Egypto hordeum sexto a satu mense, fragmenta septimo metuntur.” [In Egypt barley is reaped in the sixth month from the time of its being sown, wheat in the seventh.] Therefore wheat harvest happened about the middle of April; the very time in which the burning of foxes was observed at Rome. It is certain that the Romans borrowed many of their rites and ceremonies, both serious and ludicrous, from foreign nations; and Egypt and Phenicia furnished them with more perhaps than any other country. From one of these the Romans might either receive this rite immediately, or through the hands of their neighbours, the Carthaginians, who were a colony of Phenicians; and so its true origin may be referred back to the story which we have been considering.

Bochart has made it probable that the אוים spoken of in Isa 13:22; Isa 34:14; and Jer 50:39, rendered by our translators “the beasts of the islands,” an appellation very vague and indeterminate, are jackals; and that the θωες of the Greeks, and the beni ani of the Arabians are the same animal; and though he takes that to have been their specific name, yet he thinks, that, from their great resemblance to a fox, they might be comprehended under the Hebrew name of a fox, shual; which is indeed almost the same with sciagal sciugal, the Persian names of the jackal. Scaliger and Olearius, quoted by Bochart, expressly call the jackal a fox; and Mr. Sandys speaks of it in the same manner: “The jackals, in my opinion, are no other than foxes, whereof an infinite number,” &c. Hasselquist calls it the little eastern fox; and Kaempfer says that it might not be improperly called the wolf-fox. It is therefore very conceivable that the ancients might comprehend this animal under the general name of fox.

3. To give an idea of his own extreme poverty, the Lord Jesus says, Luk 9:58, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.” And he calls Herod, the tetrarch of Galilee, a fox, Luk 13:32; thereby signifying his craft, and the refinements of his policy. In illustration of the pertinency of this allusion, we may quote a remark of Busbequius: “I heard a mighty noise, as if it had been of men who jeered and mocked us. I asked what was the matter; and was answered, ‘Only the howlings of certain beasts which the Turks call, ciagals, or jackals.’ They are a sort of wolves, somewhat bigger than foxes, but less than common wolves, yet as greedy and devouring. They go in flocks, and seldom hurt man or beast; but get their food more by craft and stealth than by open force. Thence it is that the Turks call subtle and crafty persons by the metaphorical name of ciagals.”

Fig. 188—Syrian Fox

Two distinct terms are in our version rendered by the word ’fox,’ although that denomination is not uniformly employed in different texts (Jdg 15:4; Neh 4:3; Psa 63:10; Son 2:15; Lam 5:18; Eze 13:4). Fox is thus applied to two or more species, though only strictly applicable in a systematic view to Taaleb, which is the Arabic name of a wild canine, probably the Syrian fox, Vulpes Thaleb or Taaleb of modern zoologists, and the only genuine species indigenous in Palestine. There is in the language of the ancients, however, a vague and often an indiscriminating use of zoological names: the name may therefore be employed as a general denomination; for, of vulpine animals, though the taaleb alone is considered indigenous, there is the so-called Turkish fox of Asia Minor, not unknown to the south as far as the Orontes, and therefore likely to be an occasional visitant at least of the woods of Libanus. There is, besides, one of a third group, namely, Thous anthus, or deeb of the Arabs, occasionally held to be the wolf of Scripture, because it resembles the species in general appearance, though so far inferior in weight, size, and powers, as not to be in the least dangerous, or likely to be the wolf of the Bible. The two first do not howl, and the third is solitary and howls seldom; but there is a fourth (Canis Syriacus) which howls, is lower and smaller than a fox, has a long ill-furnished tail, small ears, and a rufous-grey livery. This may be the jackal of Palestine. The German naturalists seem not to have considered it identical with the common jackal, which is sufficiently common along the coast, is eminently gregarious, offensive in smell; howls intolerably in complete concert with all others within hearing: burrows; is crepuscular and nocturnal, impudent, thievish; penetrates into outhouses; ravages poultry-yards more ruinously than the fox; feeds on game, lizards, locusts, insects, garbage, grapes; and leaves not even the graves of man himself undisturbed. It may ultimately turn out that Canis Syriacus is not a jackal, but a chryseus, or wild-dog, belonging to the group of Dholes, well known in India, and, though closely allied to, distinct from the jackal.

Vulpes Taaleb, or Taleb, the Syrian fox, is of the size of an English cur fox, and similarly formed; but the ears are wider and longer, the fur in general ochry-rufous above, and whitish beneath; there is a faint black ring towards the tip of the tail, and the back of the ears are sooty, with bright fulvous edges. The species burrows, is silent and solitary, extends eastward into Southern Persia, and is said to be found in Natolia. It is reputed to be very destructive in the vineyards, or rather a plunderer of ripe grapes; but he is certainly less so than the jackal, whose ravages are carried on in troops and with less fear of man.

None of the explanations which we have seen of the controverted passage in Jdg 15:4-5, relative to the foxes, jackals, or other canines, which Samson employed to set fire to the corn of the Philistines, is altogether satisfactory to our mind.

Commentators, following the reading of the Septuagint, have with common consent adopted the interpretation, that two foxes were tied together by their tails with a firebrand between them. We consider this highly improbable, and therefore understand the text to mean that each fox had a separate brand; and most naturally so, for it may be questioned whether two united would run in the same direction. They would assuredly pull counter to each other, and ultimately fight most fiercely; whereas there can be no doubt that every canine would run, with fire attached to its tail, not from choice but necessity, through standing corn, if the field lay in the direction of the animal’s burrow; for foxes and jackals, when chased, run direct to their holes, and sportsmen well know the necessity of stopping up those of the fox while the animal is abroad, or there is no chance of a chase. We therefore submit that by the words rendered ’tail to tail’ we should understand the end of the firebrand attached to the extremity of the tail. Finally, as the operation of tying 300 brands to as many fierce and irascible animals could not be effected in one day by a single man, nor produce the result intended if done in one place, it seems more probable that the name of Samson, as the chief director of the act, is employed to represent the whole party who effected his intentions in different places at the same time, and thereby insured that general conflagration of the harvest which was the signal of open resistance on the part of Israel to the long-endured oppression of the Philistine people.

Two words in Hebrew are translated "fox" in the Bible; and it is not easy in every case to determine what animal is referred to. There were several varieties of fox in Palestine, all like the common fox in form and habits. The fox is cunning, voracious, and mischievous, Eze 13:4 Luk 13:32 . He is fond of grapes, and does much harm in vineyards, Son 2:15 . The fable of the fox and the sour grapes is well known. He is solitary in his habits, and burrows a home for himself in the ground, Luk 9:58 . The jackal, at the present day, is much more numerous in Palestine, and is probably referred to in many texts where the word "foxes" occurs. It is like a medium-sized dog, with a head like the wolves, and a tail like the fox’s; of a bright yellow color. To the fierceness of the wolf it joins the impudent familiarity of the dog. It differs from the fox in its habit of hunting its prey in large packs, and in its cry-a mournful howl, mixed with barking, which they keep up all night, to the annoyance of all within hearing. They live in holes; prowl around villages; ravage poultry yards; feed upon game, lizards, insects, grapes, garbage; and when they can find nothing else, old leather and any thing that has once had animal life. They follow after caravans and armies, and devour the bodies of the dead, and even dig them up from their graves, Psa 63:10 Lam 5:18 . The incident in the life of Samson, where foxes, or perhaps jackals, are referred to, Jdg 15:4-5, has a parallel in the ancient Roman feast of Ceres, goddess of corn; when torches were bound to the tails of numbers of foxes, and they ran round the circus till the fire stopped and consumed them. This was in revenge for their once burning up some fields of corn.\par

Fox. (Hebrew, shu’al). Probably the jackal is the animal signified in almost all the passages in the Old Testament where the Hebrew term occurs.

Though both foxes and jackals abound in Palestine, the shu’alim (foxes) of Jdg 15:4 are evidently jackals and not foxes, for the former animal is gregarious, whereas the latter is solitary in its habits; and Samson could not, for that reason, have easily caught three hundred foxes, but it was easy to catch that number of jackals, which are concealed by hundreds in caves and ruins of Syria. It is not probable, however, that Samson sent out the whole three hundred at once.

With respect to the jackals and foxes of Palestine, there is no doubt that the common jackal of the country is the Canis aureus, which may be heard every night in the villages. It is like a medium-sized dog, with a head like a wolf, and is of a bright-yellow color. These beasts devour the bodies of the dead, and even dig them up from their graves.

shuw’al, from sha’al "to burrow" (Neh 4:3; Lam 5:18; Mat 8:20). In Hebrew including also the jackal which preys on unburied carcasses; "they shall be a portion for jackals" (Psa 63:9-10), fulfilled on "the seekers after David’s soul" (2Sa 18:7-17). So Samson’s 300 jackals (Judges 15); for jackals are gregarious, the fox is solitary. The Arab shikal, "jackal", is related to the Hebrew shu’al. That jackals were common in Palestine appears from the names of places compounded with shual, as Hagar-shual, Shaalbim; (compare Foxhayes, etc., in our own land;) being gregarious they would naturally run in couples, tied together by a cord of two or three yards length; Samson probably had men to help him, and caught and let them loose from different places to consume the greater quantity of the Philistines’ grain.

Fond of grapes; (Son 2:15) "take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines." The bride after awaking from her past unwatchfulness is the more jealous of subtle (fox-like) sins (Psa 139:23). In spiritual winter evil weeds as well as good plants are frozen up; in the spring of revivals these start up unperceived, crafty false teachers spiritual pride, uncharitableness (Psa 19:12; Mat 13:26; Heb 12:15). Little sins beget the greatest (Ecc 10:1; 1Co 5:6). Eze 13:4; "thy prophets are like the foxes in the deserts," where the foxes from having nothing to eat become doubly ravenous and crafty to get food. So, in Israel, once a vineyard now a moral desert, the prophets whose duty was to guard the church from being spoiled themselves spoil it, through crafty greed of gain.

So, Jesus calls Herod "that fox." The Lord had withdrawn from His plotting foes in Judea to the retired region beyond Jordan, Peraea. The Pharisees came to expedite His departure by pretending "Herod was seeking to kill Him." Herod was wishing Him to depart, feeling embarrassed how to treat Him whether to honor or persecute Him (Luk 9:7-9; Luk 13:32). It was the Pharisees themselves who wished to kill Him. But Herod lent himself to their design and so played the "fox." Tell that fox that "today and tomorrow" I remain doing works of mercy in the borders of his province, "on the third day" I begin that journey which ends in My about to be consummated sacrifice. The common jackal of Palestine is the Canis aureus which may be heard nightly; also the Vulpes vulgaris.

is the rendering in the A.V. of שׁוּעָל (shual’ Sept. ἀλόπηξ, as in Mat 8:20; Luk 9:58; Luk 13:32; Jdg 15:4; Neh 4:3; Psa 63:10; Son 2:15; Lam 5:18; Eze 13:4), a name derived, according to Bochart (Hieroz. 2:190), from the coughing or yelping of that animal, but, according to Gesenius (Thes. Heb. page 1457), from its digging or burrowing under the ground. The latter remarks that jackals must be meant in Jdg 15:4, since the fox is with great difficulty taken alive; and also in Psa 63:11, inasmuch as foxes do not feed on dead bodies, which are a favorite repast for the jackal. There is also another word, אַיִּים (iyim’, literally howlers, occurs only in Isaiah 13:32; 34:14; Jeremiah 1: 39, where it is rendered “wild beasts of the islands”), which seems to refer to the jackal, or some other species of the fox family. Fox is again the translation of ἀλώπηξ in Mat 8:20; Luk 9:5-8; Luk 13:32; but here also the word in the original texts may apply generically to several species rather than to one only. SEE ANIMAL.

Fox is thus applied to two or more species of the Canidae, though only strictly applicable in a systematic view to Taaleb, which is the Arabic name of a wild canine, probably the Syrian fox, Vulpes Thaleb or Taaleb of modern zoologists — and the only genuine species indigenous in Palestine. This animal is of the size of an English cur fox, and similarly formed; but thee ears are wider and longer, the fur in general ochry-rufous above, and whitish beneath: there is a faint black ring towards the tip of the tail, and the back of the ears are sooty, with bright fulvous edges. The species burrows, is silent sand solitary, extends eastward into Southern Persia, and is said to be found. in Natolia. The Syrian Taaleb is reputed to be very destructive in the vineyards, or, rather, a plunderer of ripe grapes; but he is certainly less so than the. jackal, whose ravages are carried on in troops, and with less fear of man. Ehrenberg’s two species of Taalab (one of which he takes to be the Anubis of ancient Egypt, and Geoffroy’s Canis Niloticus, the Abu Hossein of the Arabs) are nearly allied to, or varieties of the species, but residing in Egypt, and further to the south, where it seems they do not burrow. The Egyptian Vulpes Niloticus, and doubtless the common fox (V. vulgaris), are Palestine species. There is also the so-called Turkish fox (Cynalopex Turcicus) of Asia Minor, not unknown to the south as far as the Orontes,. and therefore likely to be an occasional visitant at least of the woods of Libanus.

This animal is one of an osculant group, with the general character of vulpes, but having the pupils of the e yes less contractile in a vertical direction, and a gland on the base of the tail marked by a dark spot. There is, besides, one of a third group, namely, Thous anthus, or deeb of the Arabs, occasionally held to be the wolf of Scripture, because it resembles the species in general appearance, though so far inferior in weight, size, and powers as not to be in the least dangerous, or likely to be the wolf of the Bible. The first two do not howl, and the third is solitary and, howls seldom; but there is a fourth (Canis Syriacus, Ehrenb. Mammal. 2) which bowls, is lower and smaller than a fox, has a long, ill-furnished tail, small ears, and a rufous-gray livery. This can hardly be the Canis aurenus, or jackal of Palestine, and certainly not the χρύσεος of AElian.

The German naturalists seem not to have considered it identical with the common Jackal (Sacalius aureus), which is sufficiently common along the coast, is eminently gregarious, offensive in smell; howls intolerably in complete concert with all others within hearing; burrows; is crepuscular and nocturnal, impudent, thievish; penetrates into outhouses; ravages poultry-yards more ruinously than the fox; feeds on game, lizards, locusts, insects, garbage, grapes; and leaves not even the graves of man himself undisturbed. It is probable that Canis Syriacus is but a chryseus, or wild dog, belonging to the group of Dholes, well known in India, and, though closely allied to, distinct from, the jackal. Russell heard of four species of Canidae at Aleppo, Emprich and Ehrenberg of four in Libanus, not identical with each other; nor are any of these clearly included in the thirteen species which the last-named writers recognize in Egypt. They still omit, or are not cognizant of, wild dogs, SEE DOG, and likewise other wild species in Arabia and Persia; all, including foxes, having migratory habits, and therefore not unlikely to visit Palestine. Some of these may have accompanied the movements of the great invasions of antiquity, or the caravans, and become acclimated; and, again, may have departed, or have been gradually extinguished by local circumstances, such as the destruction of the forests or of the inhabitants, and the consequent reduction of the means of subsistence; or, finally, they may have been extirpated since the introduction of gunpowder. Hasselquist (Travels, page 184) says foxes are common in the stony country about Bethlehem, and near the Convent of St. John, where, about vintage time, they destroy all the vines unless they are strictly watched. Thomson started up and chased one when passing over that part of the plain where Timnath is believed to have been situated (Land and Book, 2:340). That jackals and foxes were formerly very common in some parts of Palestine is evident from the names of places derived from these animals, as Hazar-Shual (Jos 15:28), Shaal-bim (Jdg 1:35). SEE JACKAL.

The fox is proverbially fond of grapes (Aristoph. Equit. 1076 sq.; Theocr. 5:112 sq.; Nicand. Alexipharm. 185; Phaedr. 4:2; Galen, Alim. Facult. 3:2), and a very destructive visitor to vineyards (Son 2:15). The proverbially cunning character of the fox is alluded to in Eze 13:4, where the prophets of Israel are said to be like foxes in the desert, and in Luk 13:22, where our Savior calls Herod “that fox.” The fox’s habit of burrowing among ruins is referred to in Neh 4:3, and Lam 5:18 (see also Mat 8:20). (On Psa 63:11, see Pausan. 4:18, 4.) The Rabbinical writers make frequent mention of the fox and his habits. In the Talmud it is said, “The fox does not die from being under the earth; he is used to it, and it does not hurt him.” And again, “He has gained as much as a fox in a ploughed field,” i.e., nothing. Another proverb relating to him is this:

“If the fox be at the rudder, Speak him fairly, My dear brother.”

Foxes are figured in hunting-scenes on the Egyptian monuments (Wilkinson, Anc. Egypt, 1:224, abridgm.). SEE CHASE.

None of the usual explanations of the controverted passage in Jdg 15:4-5, relative to the foxes, jackals, or other canines which Samson employed to set fire to the corn of the Philistines is altogether satisfactory. First, taking Dr. Kennicott’s proposed explanation of the case (Remarks on Select Passages in the O.T., Oxf. 1787, page 100), on the authority of seven Heb. MSS., by changing שׁוּעָלַיםto שְׁעָלַים, thus reading handfuls (comp. the Sept. at 1Ki 20:10), i.e., “sheaves” instead of “foxes,” and translating זָנָב, “ end” instead of “tail, the meaning then would be, that Samson merely connected three hundred shocks of corn, already reaped, by bands or ends, and thus burned the whole. We admit that this, at first view, appears a rational explanation (see Hopkins, Plumb-line Papers, Auburn, 1862, page 20 sq.); but it should be observed that three hundred shocks of corn would not make two stacks, and therefore the result would be quite inadequate, considered as a punishment or act of vengeance upon the Philistine population, then predominant over the greater part of Palestine; and if we take shocks to mean corn-stacks, then it may be asked how, and for what object, were three hundred corn-stacks brought together in one place from so large a surface of country. The task, in that hilly region, would have occupied all the cattle and vehicles for several months; and then the corn could not have been thrashed out without making the whole population travel repeatedly, in order finally to reload the grain and take it to their threshing-floors. Nor will the verb לָקִח(“ caught”) bear the rendering thus required, for it properly means to ensnare, to take captive, and is specially applied to. the act of catching animals (e.g., Amo 3:5). (See, also, what an anonymous French author has written under the title of de Samson, and his arguments refuted in a treatise, “ De Vulpibus Simsonaeis,” by Gebhard, in Thes. Nov. Theol. Philippians 1:553 sq.; and comp. Gasser, Comment. ad loc. [Hal. 1751]; Pfaff; Von dem Fuchsen Simsons [Tub. 1753]; Schroder, De vulpibus Simsonis [Marb. 1713]; Tage, De vulpibus Simsonaeis [Griefsw. 1707]). The proposed reading of Kennicott has deservedly found little favor with commentators. Not to mention the authority of the important old versions which are opposed to this view, it is pretty certain that שְׁעָלַיםcannot mean “sheaves.” The word, which occurs only three times, denotes in Isa 40:12 “the hollow of the hand,” and in 1Ki 20:10; Eze 13:19, “handfuls.” Reverting, therefore, to the interpretation of foxes burning the harvest by means of firebrands attached to their tails, the case is borne out by Ovid (Fasti, 4:681)

“Cur igitur missae junctis ardentia telis Terga ferunt vulpes” —

in allusion to the fact that the Romans, at the feast in honor of Ceres, the goddess of corn, to whom they offered animals injurious to cornfields, were accustomed to turn into the circus foxes with torches so fastened to them as to burn them to death, in retaliation of the injuries done to the corn by foxes so furnished. Again, in the fable of Apthonius, quoted by Merrick, but not, as is alleged, by the brick with a bas-relief representing a man driving two foxes with fire fastened to their tails, which was found twenty- eight feet below the present surface of London (Leland, Collectanea); because tiles of similar character and execution have been dug up in other parts of England, some representing the history of Susanna and the elders, and others the four Evangelists, and therefore all derived from Biblical, not pagan sources. Commentators, following the rendering of the Sept. (κέρκος, cauda), have, with common consent, adopted the interpretation that two foxes were tied together by their tails with a firebrand between them. Now this does not appear to have been the practice of the Romans, nor does it occur in the fable of Apthonius. Hence some have understood the text to mean that each fox had a separate brand; for it may be questioned whether two united would run in the same direction. They would be apt to pull counter to each other, and perhaps fight most fiercely; whereas there can be no doubt that every canine would run, with fire attached to its tail, not from choice, but necessity, through standing corn, if the field lay in the direction of the animal’s burrow; for foxes and jackals, when chased, run direct to their holes, and sportsmen well know the necessity of stopping up those of the fox while the animal is abroad, or there is no chance of a chase. But this explanation requires that by the words rendered “tail to tail” we should understand the end of the firebrand attached to the extremity of the tail, i.e., one apiece; this would be using the word in a double sense in the same passage, an equivoque not in accordance with the direct style of the narrative. It is also probable that after a few fruitless efforts at trying to pursue each his own course, the animals would soon agree sufficiently to give the firebrand its fullest effect. Again, we know nothing as to the length of the cord which attached the animals, a consideration which is obviously of much importance in the question at issue, for, as jackals are gregarious, the couples would naturally run together if we allow a length of cord of two or three yards, especially when we reflect that the terrified animals would endeavor to escape as far as possible out of the reach of their captor, and make the best of their way out of his sight. Finally, as the operation of tying 150 brands to so many fierce and irascible animals could not be effected in one day by a single man, nor produce the result intended if done in one place, it seems more probable that the name of Samson, as the chief director of the act, is employed to represent the whole party who effected his intentions in different places at the same time, and thereby insured that general conflagration of the harvest which was the signal of open resistance on the part of Israel to the long-endured oppression of the Philistine people. (See Clarke’s Comment. ad loc.; Kitto’s Daily Bible Illustrations, ad loc.; Thomson, Land and Book, 2:341). SEE SAMSON.

Fox. The jackal is probably meant in several passages where "fox" now occurs in Scripture. Both animals are cunning, voracious, and mischievous, Eze 13:4; Luk 13:32, are fond of grapes. Son 2:15. Both burrow in the ground or among ruins. Luk 9:58. The jackal hunts its prey in large packs. It follows after caravans and armies, and devours the bodies of the dead, and even digs them up from their graves. Psa 63:10; Lam 5:18. See 2Sa 18:17. Samson used foxes or jackals, Jdg 15:4-5, to destroy the grain of the Philistines by binding torches to the tails of the animals, and they ran round setting fire to fields of corn.

The well-known animal, that burrows in the ground. Mat 8:20. They will eat anything, and are especially fond of grapes. Son 2:15. They are very sly, and cunning in catching their prey; which accounts for Herod Antipas being called a fox by the Lord. Luk 13:32. It is supposed that the same Hebrew word, shual, includes the JACKAL, which may be intended in Psa 63:10, and indeed in other passages. The canis aureus is the common Jackal of Palestine.

FOX (ἁλώπηξ).—Foxes and jackals are referred to indiscriminately in Scripture, although the fox is somewhat 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 (Mat 8:20, Luk 9:58) takes its meaning from the fact that while places of refuge and rest were definitely allotted to such outcast creatures, the Son of Man had not where to lay His head. His reference to Herod as a fox (Luk 13:32) 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 destroyer of the prophets.

G. M. Mackie.

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By: Emil G. Hirsch, I. M. Casanowicz

—Biblical Data:

There are at present two species of fox inhabiting Palestine: the Canis flavescens, found in the north, and the C. niloticus, common in the central and southern regions. But most of the passages of the Old Testament in which "shu'al" occurs seem to apply rather to the jackal (Canis aureus), the commonest beast of prey in Palestine. On the other hand, there are two special names for the jackal in the Old Testament, both of which are found only in the plural, "iyyim" and "tannim" (Isa. xiii. 22, xxxiv. 13 et seq., xxxv. 7; Jer. ix. 10, x. 22, xlix. 33, etc.). It may be that "shu'al" in the Old Testament is intended as a general term for the whole family or for several species of the Canidæ, while "iyyim" and "tannim" denote the jackal specifically as the "howler" (comp. the Arabic "wawi," or "ibn awa") and as the animal with the outstretched body. According to Tristram, even at the present day the two animals are commonly confounded in Syria, though the inhabitants are aware of their distinction.

Thus the catching of 300 shu'alim in the story of Samson (Judges xv. 4) seems to refer to jackals rather than to foxes, since the former are gregarious and remain in droves, while the latter prowl singly and are taken alive with difficulty. So also in Ps. lxiii. 11, the word probably applies to the jackal, as it is characteristic of the latter, but not of the fox, to feed on dead bodies. Lam. v. 18 and Neh. iii. 35 are applicable alike to the fox and the jackal, as both are in the habit of burrowing among rocks and ruins; while Ezek. xiii. 4 and Cant. ii. 15 no doubt refer to the proverbial cunning of the fox and its fondness for grapes, though the jackal is equally destructive to vineyards.

That foxes and jackals were formerly, as now, common in Palestine, may be inferred from the names derived from these animals, as "Hazar-shual" (Josh. xv. 28) and "Shalim" (I Sam. ix. 4).

—In Rabbinical Literature:

There is no ascertained reference to the jackal in the rabbinical writings, while the fox is often spoken of. The latter's term of gestation is six months; it prowls among ruins, burrows in the earth, is even found to inhabit a hollow gourd; kills poultry and young lambs and kids, and is noxious to vineyards (Bek. 8a; Mak. 24b; Ned. 81b; Ket. 111b; Ḥul. 53a; B. Ḳ. 92a; Eccl. R. 98a, etc). In proverbial expressions the cunning and treacherous fox is often contrasted with the kingly lion: "Be rather the tail [i.e., the last] among lions than the head of foxes" (Sanh. 37a; Ab. iv. 15). Of one who belied his great reputation it was said: "The lion has become a fox" (B. Ḳ. 117a; comp. also B. M. 84b; Meg. 16b; Ned. 81b; Ab. ii. 15). The "fox fables" ("mishle shu'alim"), of which 300 were known to R. Meïr (Sanh. 38b; Suk. 28a), had no doubt escapades of the fox for their themes (comp. Ber. 61b; Esth. R. iii. 1; Eccl. R. v. 14; L. Levysohn, in "Jüdisches Volksblatt," vol. iii.). See æsop's Fables Among the Jews.

The fox was also employed in the magic of the time. The tail of a fox was suspended between the eyes of the horse to protect it against the evil eye (Shab. 53a); its tooth was carried to promote or prevent sleep, according as it was taken from a live or a dead animal (Shab. 67a, Rashi); while the passing of a fox on one's left side was considered an evil omen (Sanh. 65b).

Bibliography:

Tristram, The Natural History of the Bible, p. 85;

L. Levysohn, Zoologie des Talmuds, p. 77.

FOX.—(1) shû·âl, see Jackal. (2) alôpçx (Gr.), Mat 8:20, Luk 9:58; Luk 13:32. In the NT there is no doubt that the common fox and not the jackal is intended. It is noted in Rabbinical literature and in Palestinian folklore for its cunning and treachery. It burrows in the ground (Luk 9:58). The small Egyptian fox (Vulpes nilotica) is common in S. Palestine, while the Tawny fox (V. flavescens). a larger animal of lighter colour, occurs farther north.

E. W. G. Masterman.

(שׁועל, shū‛āl; compare Arabic tha‛lab (Jdg 15:4; Neh 4:3; Psa 63:10; Son 2:15; Lam 5:18; Eze 13:4); ἀλώπηξ, alō̇pēx (Mat 8:20; Luk 9:58; Luk 13:32)): The foxes of different parts of Europe and Western Asia differ more or less from each other, and some authors have given the local tyes distinct specific names. Tristram, for instance, distinguishes the Egyptian fox, Vulpes nilotica, of Southern Palestine, and the tawny fox, Vulpes flavescens, of the North and East It is possible that the range of the desert fox, Vulpes leucopus, of Southwestern Asia may also reach Syria. We have, however, the authority of the Royal Natural History for considering all these as merely local races of one species, the common fox, Vulpes alopex or Canis vulpes. The natives of Syria and Palestine do not always distinguish the fox and jackal although the two animals are markedly different. The jackal and wolf also are frequently confounded. See DRAGON; JACKAL.

In Psa 63:9 f we have, “Those that seek my soul, to destroy it,... shall be given over to the power of the sword: they shall be a portion for foxes” (shū‛ālı̄m). It has been thought that the jackal is meant here (Revised Version margin), and that may well be, though it is also true that the fox does not refuse carrion. In the Revised Version, margin, “jackal” is suggested in two other passages, though why is not clear, since the rendering “fox” seems quite appropriate in both. They are Neh 4:3, “.... if a fox go up, he shall break down their stone wall,” and Lam 5:17 f, “.... our eyes are dim; for the mountain of Zion which is desolate: the foxes walk upon it.” the Revised Version, margin also has “jackals” in Jdg 15:4 f, where Samson “caught three hundred foxes ... and put a firebrand in the midst between every two tails ... and let them go into the standing grain of the Philistines, and burnt up both the shocks and the standing grain, and also the oliveyards.” Jackals are probably more numerous than foxes, but the substitution does not appreciably diminish the difficulties in the way of any natural explanation of the story. In Son 2:15 we have a reference to the fondness of the fox for grapes. In Mat 8:20 and Luk 9:58 Jesus says in warning to a would-be follower, “The foxes have holes, and the birds of the heaven have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.” Foxes differ from most of the Canidae in burrowing holes for their lairs, unless indeed they take possession of the burrow of another animal, such as the badger. In Luk 13:32 Jesus compares Herod to a fox.

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Luk 13:32 (a) A type of the crafty, cunning and wicked cruelty which characterized the life of Herod.

Fox. Foxes were common predators in Bible times. Since they fed on small rodents like rats and mice, they helped to protect the grain crops. But their fondness for grapes caused farmers much grief. Sometimes they even tunneled under protective walls to feast on grapevines (Son 2:15). Foxes also settle in holes and burrows, often those abandoned by other animals. Jesus pointed out that foxes have holes, but the Son of Man had nowhere to lay His head (Mat 8:20).

Foxes have a keen sense of sight, smell, and hearing. They are also clever enough to lie in wait for prey. They may even play dead to attract a bird within striking range. When hunted, they are cunning and devious, misleading their pursuers. Jesus compared Herod, the Roman tetrarch of Galilee and Perea, to a fox, because of his crafty, devious nature (Luk 13:32).

"The land of Shual" (1Sa 13:17) may have been fox country, for shual means "fox" or "jackal." Also see Jackal.