FAT

2. In the NT.— We hear that frequent additional fasts were imposed by tradition, and that strict observers kept two weekly fasts (Lk 18'2) — on Thursday and Monday — commemorating, as it seems, the days on which Moses ascended and came down from the Mount. After the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus, a huge system of fasts was instituted, and the present Jewish calendar prescribes 22, besides the Day of Atonement, the Fast of Esther, and the four fasts of Zee 8".

3 . Christianity and fasting.— Jesus refused to lay down any speciSc injunctions to fast. To prescribe forms was not His purpose: all outward observance was to be dic-tated by an inward principle. He Himself probably kept the usual fasts, and individual ones, as during the Temptation. But He laid emphasis in His teaching on the inutility of fasting except as a part of personal godU-ness, and gave plain warnings of its possible abuse by hypocrisy (Mt e's-'s 9"-", Mk 2i«-«, Lk 5^-"). The early Church used to fast before solemn appointments (Ac 13^ 14!a); and St. Paul alludes to his fastings, whether voluntary or compulsory, in 2 Co 6' 11^'. In time a greater stress was put on the value of fasting, as is shown by the probable insertion of an allusion to it In Mt 1721, Mk 9", Ac 10™, 1 Co 7'.

A. W. F. Bldnt.

FAT. — See Food, § 10, Saceifice and Offehinq.

FAT. — The same word as vat, a large vessel for hold-ing liquids, but in OT and NT only in connexion with the making of wine. See Wine and Stkong Drink, § 2.

FATHER.— See Family, Genealogy, 1.

FATHERHOOD OF GOD.— See God, § 7.

FATHOM. — See Weights and Measures.

FAtJCHION (Jth 13« AV; RV 'scimitar').— The Eng. word denoted originally a broad sword more or less curved on the convex side'; but in later use and in poetry it signified a sword of any kind.

FAVOUR. — The Eng. word favour' is used in AV in the mod. sense of •goodwill'; but in 'well-favoured' and 'ill-favoured' we see the older meaning of personal appearance. In Jos 11^° the word seems to be used in the old sense of ' mercy ' — ' that he might destroy them, and they might have no favour' — as in Elyot, The Govemour, ii. 298: 'And they, which by that lawe were condemned, were put to dethe without any fauour.' For the theology of the word see Grace.

FAWN.— See Roe. § 3.

FEAR. — In the OT the fear of the Lord' is fre-quently a definition of piety. The purpose of the giving of the Law is the implanting of this fear in Ithe hearts of men {Dt 4'"); it is the sum of reUgious duty (6'S) and prompts to obedient and loving service (lO'^). 'Fear cannot be appraised without reference to the worth of the objects feared ' (Martineau, Types of Ethical Theory, ii. 184); hence it is on the revelation of the Divine nature as holy and to be feared' (Ps 111') that this fundamental principle of religion rests: those who know His name have learnt that to fear Him is true wisdom Cv.'K) and true blessedness (Ps 112'). In the NT mention is made of a fear which has high moral quality and religious value. 'The fear of the Lord' was the rule by which the early Christians walked (Ac 93'). and when an uncircumcised foreigner became a devout worshipper of the God of Israel he was known as 'one that feareth God' (10^: cf. 2 Co 7', Ph 2", 1 P II' 2". Rev 14' 15« 19^). Although the usual Gr. word for 'fear' is not used in He 5', the reference to the 'godly fear' of the perfect Son emphasizes the contrast between reverent awe and slavish terror.

The fear which 'hath punishment' (1 Jn 4") is the result of sin (Gn 3'"). The sinner, under condemnation of the Law, is in 'bondage unto fear' (Ro 8"), and. inasmuch as 'the sting of death is sin' (1 Co 15"), he is also ' through fear of death . . . subject to bondage'

FEASTS

(He 2's). Transgression may so completely deceive him that he has 'no terror of God' (Ps 38'); the climax of human wickedness is the loss of any dread of God's judgments, though the Gr. and Eng. translations of the Heb. word for 'terror' {pachadh, cf. Is 2>»- "• 21RV) fall to bring out this thought in St. Paul's quotation of this verse (Ro 3"). To rouse men from this callous indifference to God's threatenings is the purpose of the appeal to fear, which is a primary and self-regarding emotion and a powerful spring of human action. This appeal is warranted by our Lord's words (Mt lO^s) as well as by Apostolic example (He 4^ 10", 1 Ti 5™, Jude =2). The spirit in which this appeal should be made is that which inspired St. Paul, when he declares that, 'knowing the fear of the Lord,' before whose judgment-seat all must be made manifest, he is con-strained by the love of Christ to persuade men to be 'reconciled to God' (2 Co 5"«). J. G. Taskeb.

FEARPULNESS.— The adj. 'fearful' Is often used in AV in the sense, not of causing fear, but of feeUng it: and ' fearf ulness ' always denotes the emotion of fear. Thus Mt 82« 'Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?'; Ps 55' 'Fearf ulness and trembling are come upon me.' In the RV of the NT the only meaning of 'fearful' is full of fear, the Revisers, Westcott tells us, having purposely retained this use in order that 'fear,' 'fearful,' and ' fearfulness ' might all agree in meaning. They have accordingly changed 'fearful sights' in Lk 21" into 'terrors.' The Revisers of the OT, however, had no such thought, and they have left the word unchanged.

FEASTS. — Introductory. — The sacred festivals of the Jews were primarily occasions of rejoicing, treated as a part of religion. To ' rejoice before God ' was synony-mous with ■ to celebrate a festival.' In process of time this characteristic was modified, and a probably late institution, like the Day of Atonement, could be regarded as a feast, though its prevalent note was not one of joy. But the most primitive feasts were marked by religious merriment; they were accompanied with dances (Jg 21"), and, as it seems, led to serious excesses in many cases (1 S 1'=, Am 2', 2 K 23', Dt 23'8). Most of the feasts were only local assemblies for acts and purposes of sacred worship; but the three great national festivals were the occasions for general assem-blies of the people, at which all males were supposed to appear (Ex 23"- " 342', Dt 16«).

I. Feasts connected with the Sabbath. — These were calculated on the basis of the sacred number 7, which regulated all the great dates of the Jewish sacred year. Thus the 7th was the sacred month, the feasts of Unleavened Bread and Tabernacles each lasted for 7 days, Pentecost was 49 days after the Feast of Un-leavened Bread, Passover and Tabernacles each began on the 14th day of their respective months, and there were 7 days of holy convocation in the year.

1. The Sabbath and the observances akin to it were lunar in character (cf. Am 8=, Hos 2", Is 1", 2 K ^). The Sabbath ordinances are treated in Ex 20" 31" as designed to commemorate the completion of creation, but Dt 5"- " connects them with the redemption from Egypt, and Ex 23'^ ascribes them to humanitarian motives. On this day work of all sorts was forbidden, and the daily morning and evening sacrifices were doubled. Sabbath-breaking was punishable with death (Nu IS^^-m, Ex 31"- «). No evidence of Sabbath observance is traced in the accounts of the patriarchal age, and very little in pre-exilic records (Is 562- ' 58", Jer 172''-M, Ezk 2(y^- 's- "■ z"). But after the Captivity the rules were more strictly enforced (Neh 13''- ^), and in later times the Rabbinical prohibitions multiplied to an inordinate extent. See art. Sabbath.

2. At the New Moon special sacrifices were offered (Nu 28"-"), and the silver trumpets were blown over them (Nu 10'»). All trade and business were discon-

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