Anciently, even more than now in the East, flesh food was much less used than among western peoples. In the first place, in Israel and among other Semitic peoples, it was confined by law to the use of such animals and birds as were regarded as "clean" (see CLEAN; UNCLEANNESS), or speaking according to the categories of Le 11:2-3; De 14:4-20, domestic animals and game (see Driver on De 14:4-20). Then the poverty of the peasantry from time immemorial has tended to limit the use of meat to special occasions, such as family festivals (chaggim), the entertainment of an honored guest (Ge 18:7; 2Sa 12:4), and the sacrificial meal at the local sanctuary.
The goat (`ez, etc.), especially the "kid of the goats" (Le 4:23,18 the King James Version), was more prized for food by the ancient Hebrews than by modern Orientals, by whom goats are kept chiefly for their milk--most of which they supply (compare Pr 27:27). For this reason they are still among the most valued possessions of rich and poor (compare Ge 30:33; 32:14 with 1Sa 25:2). A kid, as less valuable than a lamb, was naturally the readier victim when meat was required (compare Lu 15:29).
The sheep of Palestine, as of Egypt, are mainly of the fat-tailed species (Ovis aries), the tail of which was forbidden as ordinary food and had to be offered with certain other portions of the fat (Ex 29:22; Le 3:9). To kill a lamb in honor of a gue st is one of the highest acts of Bedouin hospitality. As a rule only the lambs are killed for meat, and they only in honor of some guest or festive occasion (compare 1Sa 25:18; 1Ki 1:19). Likewise the "calves of the herd" supplied the daintiest food of the kind, though the flesh of the neat cattle, male and female, was eaten. The "fatted calf" of Lu 15:23 will be recalled, as also the "fatlings" and the "stalled" (stall-fed) ox of the Old Testament (Pr 15:17). Asharp contrast suggestive of the growth of luxury in Israel is seen by a comparison of 2Sa 17:28 f with 1Ki 4:22 f. The food furnished David and his hardy followers at Mahanaim was "wheat, and barley, and meal, and parched grain, and beans, and lentils, and parched pulse, and honey, and butter, and sheep, and cheese of the herd," while the daily provision for Solomon's table was "thirty measures of fine flour, and threescore measures of meal, ten fat oxen, and twenty oxen out of the pastures, and a hundred sheep, besides harts, and gazelles, and roebucks, and fatted fowl." Nehemiah's daily portion is given as "one ox and six choice sheep" (Ne 5:18).
Milk of large and small animals was a staple article of food (De 32:14; Pr 27:27). It was usually kept in skins, as among the Syrian peasants it is today (Jg 4:19). We find a generic term often used (chem'ah) which covers also cream, clabber and cheese (Pr 30:33). The proper designation of cheese is gebhinah (Job 10:10), but chalabh also is used both for ordinary milk and for a cheese made directly from sweet milk (compare 1Sa 17:18, charitse hechalabh, and our "cottage cheese").
See MILK.
Honey (debhash, nopheth ha-tsuphim), so often mentioned with milk, is ordinary bees' honey (see HONEY). The expression "honey" in the combination debhash wechalabh, for which Palestine was praised, most likely means debhash temarim, i.e. "date-juice." It was much prized and relished (Ps 19:10; Pr 16:24), and seems to have been a favorite food for children (Isa 7:15).
Of game seven species are mentioned (De 14:5). The gazelle and the hart were the typical animals of the chase, much prized for their flesh (De 12:15), and doubtless supplied the venison of Esau's "savory meat" (Ge 25:28; 27:4).
Of fish as food little is said in the Old Testament (see Nu 11:5; Jer 16:16; Eze 47:10; Ec 9:12). No particular species is named, although thirty-six species are said to be found in the waters of the Jordan valley alone. But we may be sure that the fish which the Hebrews enjoyed in Egypt "for nought" (Nu 11:5) had their successors in Canaan (Kennedy). Trade in cured fish was carried on by Tyrian merchants with Jerusalem in Nehemiah's day (Ne 13:16), and there must have been a fish market at or near the fish gate (Ne 3:3). The Sea of Galilee in later times was the center of a great fish industry, as is made clear by the Gospels and by Josephus In the market of Tiberias today fresh fish are sold in great quantities, and a thriving trade in salt fish is carried on. The "small fishes" of our Lord's two great miracles of feeding were doubtless of this kind, as at all times they have been a favorite form of provision for a journey in hot countries.
As to the exact price of food in ancient times little is known. From 2 Ki 7:1,16 we learn that one ce'ah of fine flour, and two of barley, sold for a shekel (compare Mt 10:29). For birds allowed as food see De 14:11 and articles on CLEAN; UNCLEANNESS.
Pigeons and turtle doves find a place in the ritual of various sacrifices, and so are to be reckoned as "clean" for ordinary uses as well. The species of domestic fowl found there today seem to have been introduced during the Persian period (compare 2 Esdras 1:30; Mt 23:37; 26:34, etc.). It is thought that the fatted fowl of Solomon's table (1Ki 4:23) were geese (see Mish). Fatted goose is a favorite food with Jews today, as it was with the ancient Egyptians.
Of game birds used for food (see Ne 5:18) the partridge and the quail are prominent, and the humble sparrow comes in for his share of mention (Mt 10:29; Lu 12:6). Then, as now, the eggs of domestic fowls and of all "clean" birds were favorite articles of food (De 22:6; Isa 10:14; Lu 11:12).
Edible insects (Le 11:22 f) are usually classed with animal foods. In general they are of the locust family (see LOCUST). They formed part of the food of John the Baptist (Mt 3:4, etc.), were regarded by the Assyrians as delicacies, and are a favorite food of the Arabs today. They are prepared and served in various ways, the one most common being to remove the head, legs and wings, to drop it in meal, and then fry it in oil or butter. It then tastes a little like fried frogs' legs. In the diet of the Baptist, locusts were associated with wild honey (see HONEY).
As to condiments (see separate articles on SALT; CORIANDER, etc.) it needs only to be said here that the caperberry (Ec 12:5 margin) was eaten before meals as an appetizer and, strictly speaking, was not a condiment. Mustard was valued for the leaves, not for the seed (Mt 13:31). Pepper, though not mentioned in Scripture, is mentioned margin the Mishna as among the condiments. Before it came into use, spicy seeds like cummin, the coriander, etc., played a more important role than since.
The abhorrence of the Hebrews for all food prepared or handled by the heathen (see ABOMINATION) is to be attributed primarily to the intimate association in early times between flesh food and sacrifices to the gods. This finds conspicuous illustration in the case of Daniel (Da 1:8), Judas Maccabeus (2 Macc 5:27), Josephus (Vita, III), and their compatriots (see also Ac 15:20,29; 1Co 8:1-10; 10:19,28). As to sources of food supply and traffic in food stuffs, for primitive usages see Ge 18:7; 27:9; 1Ki 21:2. As to articles and customs of commerce adopted when men became dwellers in cities, see Jer 37:21, where bakers were numerous enough in Jerusalem to give their name to a street or bazaar, where doubtless, as today, they baked and sold bread to the public (compare Mishna,passim). Extensive trade in "victuals" in Nehemiah's day is attested by Ne 13:15 f, and by specific mention of the "fish gate" (Ne 3:3) and the "sheep gate" (Ne 3:1), so named evidently because of their nearby markets. In John's Gospel (Joh 4:8; 13:29) we have incidental evidence that the disciples were accustomed to buy food as they journeyed through the land. In Jerusalem, cheese was clearly to be bought in the cheesemakers' valley (Tyropoeon), oil of the oil merchants (Mt 25:9), and so on; and Corinth, we may be sure, was not the only city of Paul's day that had a provision market ("shambles," 1Co 10:25 the Revised Version (British and American)).
LITERATURE.
Mishna B.M. i. 1,2 and passim; Josephus, Vita and BJ; Robinson's Researches, II, 416, etc.; and Biblical Dictionaries, articles on "Food," etc.
George B. Eager