Fowler
Fowler
(some form of the verb יָקִשׁ, yakash', to lay snares; thus rendered in Ps 91:3; Ps 124:7; Pr 6:5; Jer 5:26; Ho 9:8). The act of taking birds by means of nets, snares, decoys, etc., is frequently alluded to in Scriptures, mostly in a figurative and moral way (Pr 7:23; Ec 9:12; Eze 17:20, etc.). The Egyptian paintings and sculptures exhibit, various scenes of hunting and fowling; there is scarcely any process now followed which was not known in very ancient times. The ancients had not only traps, nets, and springs, but also bird-lime smeared upon the twigs; they used likewise stalking-horses, setting-dogs, bird-calls, etc. The Egyptian paintings exhibit birds shot with arrows while upon the wing by peasants, and in others they are shown as knocked down by amateur sportsmen with sticks thrown at them as they perched or flew in the thickets or marshes., Game of all kinds was a favorite food of the Egyptians, and the capture of birds was a lucrative occupation to some and an amusement to others. Persons engaged in this act are represented as accompanied by their families in the boat, and often by a favorite cat vq.v.). See Wilkinson, Anc. Eg. 1:234 sq. (abridgm.). The Egyptians were also well skilled in preserving and preparing for the table the game thus secured, as well as poultry reared by domestication (ib. 2:183 sq.). SEE FATTED FOWL.
Birds of various kinds abound, and no doubt abounded in ancient times, in Palestine. Stanley speaks of "countless birds of all kinds, aquatic fowls by the lake side, partridges and pigeons hovering, as on the Nile. bank, over the rich plains of Gennesaret" (Sinai and Palestine, page 427). The capture of these for the table or other uses would, we might expect, form the employment of many persons, and lead to the adoption of various methods to effect it. SEE PALESTINE.
We read of the "snare," פִּה, pach (Ps 91:3; Ps 124:7; Ho 9:8), and of the "net," רֶשֶׁת, re'sheth (Pr 1:17; Ho 7:11); "of the fowler," יוֹקֵשַׁ or יוּקִשׁ =snarers. In Ho 5:1, both net and snare are mentioned together. The mokes (מוֹקֵשׁ) is used synonymously with the pach in Am 3:5. This was employed for taking either beasts or birds. It was a trap set in the path (Pr 7:23; Pr 22:5), or hidden on or in the ground. (Ps 140:6; Ps 142:4). The form of this spring, or trap net, appears from two passages (Am 3:5, and Ps 69:23). It was in two parts, which, when set, were spread out upon the ground, and slightly fastened with a stick (trap-stick), so that, as soon as a bird or beast touched the stick, the parts flew up and is closed. the bird in the net, or caught the foot of the animal. SEE SNARE.
By a humane as well as wise regulation, Moses forbade any one finding a bird's nest to take also the dam with the eggs or young (De 22:6-7), lest the species should become exterminated (Kitto, Pictorial Bible, ad loc.). SEE BIRD.
