holy to Jehovah. Then, in the fifth year, the owner could gather in its fruit for himself.—Lev. 19:23-25.

Contributions of firstfruits to Jehovah by the twelve non-Levitical tribes of Israel were used by the priests and Levites, since they received no inheritance in the land. (Num. 18:8-13) The faithful offering of the firstfruits brought pleasure to Jehovah and a blessing to all parties involved. (Ezek. 44:30) A failure to bring them would be counted by God as robbing him of his due and would bring his displeasure. (Mal. 3:8) In Israel’s history at times this practice was neglected, being restored in certain periods by rulers zealous for true worship. In King Hezekiah’s reformation work, he held an extended celebration of the Festival of the Unfermented Cakes, and on this occasion Hezekiah instructed the people to fulfill their duty with respect to the contribution of firstfruits and tithes. Cheerfully the people responded by bringing in great quantities of the firstfruits of the grain, new wine, oil and honey and all the produce of the field, from the third month to the seventh. (2 Chron. 30:21, 23; 31:4-7) After the restoration from Babylon, Nehemiah led the people in taking an oath to walk in Jehovah’s law, including the bringing to him of firstfruits of every sort.—Neh. 10:29, 34-37.

FIGURATIVE AND SYMBOLIC USE

Jesus Christ was spiritually begotten at the time of his baptism, and resurrected from the dead to life in the spirit on Nisan 16, 33 C.E., the day of the year on which the firstfruits of the first grain crop were presented before Jehovah at the sanctuary. He is, therefore, called the firstfruits, being actually the first firstfruits to God. (1 Cor. 15:20, 23; 1 Pet. 3:18) The faithful followers of Jesus Christ, his spiritual brothers, are also a firstfruits to God, but not the primary firstfruits, being similar to the second grain crop, the wheat, which was presented to Jehovah on the day of Pentecost. They are numbered as 144,000 and are called the ones “bought from among mankind as a first fruits to God and to the Lamb” and “a certain first fruits of his creatures.”—Rev. 14:1-4; Jas. 1:18.

The apostle Paul also speaks of the faithful Jewish remnant who became the first Christians as being “first fruits.” (Rom. 11:16) The Christian Epaenetus is called the “first fruits of Asia for Christ” (Rom. 16:5), and the household of Stephanus “the first fruits of Achaia.”—1 Cor. 16:15.

Since the anointed Christians are begotten by the spirit as sons of God with the hope of resurrection to immortality in the heavens, they are said during their lifetime on earth to “have the first fruits, namely, the spirit . . . while we are earnestly waiting for adoption as sons, the release from our bodies by ransom.” (Rom. 8:23, 24) Paul says that he and fellow Christians with hopes of life in the spirit have “the token of what is to come, that is, the spirit,” which he also says is “a token in advance of our inheritance.”—2 Cor. 5:5; Eph. 1:13, 14; see FESTIVAL; OFFERINGS.

FISH

These and other water animals were brought into existence by God on the fifth creative day. (Gen. 1:20-23) Although not authorized to use fish for food until after the Flood, man was from the beginning to have these creatures in subjection. (Gen. 1:28; 9:2, 3) But instead of exercising proper dominion over the animals, some men became “empty-headed” in their reasonings and came to venerate the creation. (Rom. 1:20-23) For example, the Babylonian Ea, a god of the waters, was depicted as a man covered with the body of a fish; the Syrian Atargatis was a fish goddess; and in Egypt not only were certain kinds of fish viewed as sacred but even mummified fish have been found there. Such fish worship was, of course, prohibited in God’s law to Israel.—Deut. 4:15-18.

It was most appropriate that Jesus Christ, the “Son of man” (Matt. 17:22), who was to have even the fish in subjection, on two occasions demonstrated his power by filling the nets of his apostles with miraculous catches of fish. (Ps. 8:4-8; Heb. 2:5-9; Luke 5:4-7; John 21:6) Jesus also exercised his dominion when, faced with the paying of the temple tax, he instructed Peter: “Go to the sea, cast a fishhook, and take the first fish coming up and, when you open its mouth, you will find a stater coin. Take that and give it to them for me and you.”—Matt. 17:24-27.

FISH AS FOOD

Fish, a highly nutritious and easily digestible food, evidently was an important item in the diet of the Egyptians as well as of the enslaved Hebrews, for in the wilderness the mixed crowd and the sons of Israel longed for the fish they used to eat in Egypt. (Num. 11:5) The Egyptian economy therefore suffered heavily when the fish in the Nile died as a result of Jehovah’s turning Egypt’s waters into blood.—Ex. 7:20, 21.

Fish continued to be an important food to the Israelites once they were established in the Promised Land. One of the gates of Jerusalem was called the “Fish Gate,” suggesting that a fish market was located there or nearby, (2 Chron. 33:14) In a later period, as mentioned by Nehemiah, the Tyrians sold fish at Jerusalem even on the sabbath.—Neh. 13:16.

Commonly prepared by broiling or salting and drying, fish were often eaten along with bread. Likely the fish used by Jesus in miraculously feeding 5,000 men and later 4,000 men, besides women and children, were dried and salted. (Matt. 14:17-21; 15:34-38) After his resurrection Jesus ate some broiled fish to prove to his apostles that they were not seeing a spirit, and on another occasion he prepared a breakfast of bread and fish cooked over a charcoal fire.—Luke 24:36-43; John 21:9-12.

FISH OF PALESTINE

With the exception of the Dead Sea, fish are plentiful in the inland waters of Palestine. Among the varieties encountered there are bream, carp, perch and the unusual mouth-breeding fishes, such as Chromis simonis. The male of Chromis simonis takes the eggs, about 200 in number, into his mouth, the young remaining there for several weeks after being hatched.

Certain kinds of fish live even in the salt springs near the Dead Sea, but these soon die if placed in water from the sea itself. The reason for this has been ascribed to the presence of a large percentage of magnesium chloride in the Dead Sea. The swift current of the Jordan, particularly at flood stage, sweeps many fish into the Dead Sea, where stupefied fish become food for birds of prey or where their dead bodies are washed up on the shore and eaten by carrion birds. In sharp contrast with this, the prophet Ezekiel, in vision, saw a stream issuing forth from Jehovah’s temple that healed the waters of the Dead Sea, giving rise to a flourishing fishing industry.—Ezek. 47:1, 8-10.

CLEAN AND UNCLEAN

Although King Solomon’s wisdom embraced the field of natural history, including a knowledge of the fishes (1 Ki. 4:33), not once is a specific kind of fish named in the Scriptures. However, the Law did make a distinction between clean and unclean water animals. Only water animals having fins and scales were ceremonially clean for food, this ruling out such creatures as catfish, eels, lampreys, rays, sharks and the Crustacea, many of which live on sewage and decaying matter, and are often the cause of typhoid and paratyphoid fevers. (Lev. 11:9-12) Israelite fishermen therefore had to separate the fine fish from those unsuitable for food, a point highlighted in Jesus’ illustration of the dragnet.—Matt. 13:47, 48.

THE FISH THAT SWALLOWED JONAH

In spite of the fact that the Son of God himself testified to the truthfulness of the account about Jonah’s being swallowed by a “great fish,” this incident is frequently cited with a view to discrediting the reliability of the Scriptural record. (Matt. 12:40) Of course, it should be remembered that the Bible simply states that “Jehovah appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah,” the kind of fish not being named. (Jonah 1:17) There definitely are sea creatures capable of swallowing a man, among them being the white shark, the whale shark and the sperm whale.

FIGURATIVE USAGE

In the Scriptures men are at times likened to fish. The congregator compared men to fish from the standpoint of their “being ensnared at a calamitous time” like fish in a net. (Eccl. 9:12) Jesus Christ constituted his followers as fishers of men, and likened righteous persons to fine fish, and the wicked to unsuitable fish that are thrown away.—Mark 1:17; Matt. 13:47-50; see HUNTING AND FISHING.

FISH GATE

See GATE, GATEWAY.

FISHING

See HUNTING AND FISHING.

FLATTERY

The act of pleasing by artful commendation; adulation; false, insincere, or excessive praise. It is usually done to gratify the self-love or vanity of the one flattered, and is therefore damaging to him. Its motive is to gain favor or material benefits from another, to create a feeling of obligation toward the flatterer or to bring glory to him. Often it is designed to lead the other person into a trap. (Prov. 29:5) The use of flattery is not evidence of the wisdom from above, but is of this world, being characterized by selfishness, the making of partial distinctions and hypocrisy. (Jas. 3:17) Insincerity, lying, adulating or glorifying men and playing on the vanity of others are all displeasing to God.—2 Cor. 1:12; Gal. 1:10; Eph. 4:25; Col. 3:9; Rev. 21:8.

A contrast of the Christian course with that of flattery is found in the apostle’s words at 1 Thessalonians 2:3-6: “For the exhortation we give does not arise from error or from uncleanness or with deceit, but, just as we have been proved by God as fit to be entrusted with the good news, so we speak, as pleasing, not men, but God, who makes proof of our hearts. In fact, at no time have we turned up either with flattering speech, (just as you know) or with a false front for covetousness, God is witness! Neither have we been seeking glory from men, no, either from you or from others, though we could be an expensive burden as apostles of Christ.”

While the use of flattery may appear to be the gainful course, the Bible points out that “he that is reproving a man will afterward find more favor than he will that is flattering with his tongue.” (Prov. 28:23) When a person employs flattery to gain advantage over another person, it is the opposite of love. A hater may resort to flattery but will eventually have his deceptiveness roll back on him like a stone.—Prov. 26:24-28.

Flattery employs smooth talk in order to beguile its victim. The expressions “flattery,” “smooth” (tongue, lip, or words) (Ps. 5:9; 12:2, 3; Dan. 11:32), “smoothness” (Prov. 7:21; Dan. 11:34) and “doublefaced” (Ezek. 12:24) are English translations drawn from forms of the Hebrew root word hha·laqʹ. In every Bible instance cited the motive of the smooth talker is bad.

An example of the disastrous result of accepting flattery and the praise of men is Herod Agrippa I, who was flatteringly praised by the crowd as speaking with “a god’s voice.” Because he accepted the flattery, and did not give the glory to God, he was struck by God’s angel and died. (Acts 12:21-23) On the other hand, Barnabas and Paul quickly prevented a crowd from deifying them. (Acts 14:11-15) Also, when a Jewish ruler attempted application of the flattering title “Good Teacher” to Jesus Christ, Jesus instantly corrected him, saying: “Why do you call me good? Nobody is good, except one, God.”—Luke 18:18, 19; compare Job 32:21, 22.

FLAX

A plant that has been cultivated from ancient times, the fibers of which were, as now, commonly made into linen. The plant itself may grow from one to four feet (.3 to 1.2 meters) in height. The slender stalk of the plant, with its pale-green linear leaves, branches out only at the top. Each branch or branchlet terminates in a deep- or pale-blue (rarely white) five-petal flower.

When the flax was “bolled” or had “flower buds” it was ready for harvesting (Ex. 9:31), which was done by pulling or hoeing it up. The flax was then dried. Likely the stalks of flax on the roof of Rahab’s house at Jericho had been laid there for this purpose.—Josh. 2:6.

The method employed by the Hebrews in processing flax probably corresponded to the description given by Pliny the Elder of the first century C.E. in his Natural History, and to the ancient pictorial representation preserved at Beni Hasan in Egypt. After the seedpods had been removed, the stalks of flax were completely submerged in water and weighted down with stones to prevent them from floating. As the flax soaked in water, the woody part rotted, freeing the fibers. After the exterior part or rind of the stalks became loose the stalks were taken out of the water and were repeatedly turned over in the sun until completely dry. The flax was thereafter beaten with mallets on stone slabs, and the fibers separated and cleansed by combing them. The inferior fibers next to the rind were used for lampwicks (see Isaiah 42:3; 43:17; Matthew 12:20), whereas the interior fibers, of a whiter and finer quality, were made into yarn that was polished by striking it again and again on a hard stone.

Low ground and alluvial soil, so characteristic of Egypt, are said to be especially suited for the cultivation of flax. Even today Egypt ranks as the greatest producer of flax in Africa. In the ancient world this country was famous for its fine linen. Thus the divinely sent plague of hail, which ruined the flax and the barley, was a severe blow to the economy of Egypt. (Ex. 9:23, 31) Later, the pronouncement against Egypt, recorded by Isaiah (19:9), included the “workers in carded flax” among those who would become ashamed.—See LINEN.

[Picture on page 586]

Flax, from which linen is made

FLEA

A very small wingless parasitic insect that feeds on blood; a dangerous pest in that it can transmit bubonic plague and typhus. Fleas are common in Palestine. There is even a saying: “The king of the fleas holds his court at Tiberias.” But with the advent of hot weather the number of fleas gradually decreases. In the larval stage the flea is not parasitic nor are the eggs laid on a host. They are merely dropped on floors of dwellings or where infected animals sleep, and the maggotlike larvae live on decaying matter.

Fleas are usually reddish brown and have short front and middle legs but long hind legs. The flea’s strong and spiny legs as well as its flat sides enable it to move with ease and rapidity through the hairs or feathers of its host. The short rearward-pointing