JEWS NO HUNTERS 413 



nation help the Hebrews, for apart from the fact of the indis- 

 putable and immeasurable superiority of the Assyrian civilisa- 

 tion we discover no sign of angling in Israel. 



As in their fishing, they were " out for " the meat, not for 

 the sport, so was it, I fear, in their hunting. If they found 

 no pleasure in the chase, they assuredly delighted in the eating 

 of game and were dexterous trappers of animals. Their 

 methods were : — 



{a) By digging a pitfall for the larger animals, e.g. for a 



lion in 2 Sam. xxiii. 20 ; 

 {b) By traps, which were set in the runs of the animals 



(Prov. xxii. 5) and caught them by the leg (Job 



xviii. 9), or were set underground {ibid. 10) ; and 

 (c) By nets of various kinds — for an antelope in Isaiah 



(li. 20, R.V.). 



