CHAPTER IV. 



FISHES. 



THERE are but few references to the subject of Ichthyology in 

 the inspired writings. The reasons are obvious : the Jews being an 

 agricultural people, fish formed no considerable part of their food ; 

 nor could they furnish any striking objects of comparison or illustra- 

 tion to the sacred writers, as in the case of quadrupeds and birds. 



The well-known biblical appellations are two words expressive 

 of their amazing fecundity:* and the latter of their rapid motion. 

 In Gen. i. 21, the word taninin, rendered in our English Bibles, 

 * great whales,' seems used to describe fish of the largest description, 

 without being restricted to any particular species. 



There seems to be four divisions of the aquatic tribes, strongly 

 marked in nature, which are usually called the spinous or bony kind ; 

 the cartilaginous, or those which have gristles instead of bones ; 

 the cetaceous tribe, or those of the whale kind; and the crustace- 

 ous, or shell fish. 



Fish was the common food of the Egyptians. Hence we may 

 see how distressing was the infliction which turned the waters of 

 the river into blood, and occasioned the death of the fish, Exod. vii. 

 18 21. Their sacred stream became so polluted as to be unfit for 

 drink, for bathing, and for other uses of water to which they were 

 superstitiously devoted, (ch. ii. 5 ; vii. 15 ; viii. 20 ;) and themselves 

 obliged to nauseate what was the usual food of the common peo- 

 ple, and held sacred by the priests. 



From Neh. xiii. 16, we learn, that in the time of Nehemiab, the 

 Tyrians brought fish in considerable quantities to Jerusalem, for 

 purchasing which on the Sabbath-day, that zealous patriot reprov- 

 ed the elders of the Jews. As the people of Tyre were remarka- 

 ble for their skill in maritime affairs, it is impossible to say how far 

 their fisheries might extend ; but from Le Bruyn we ascertain, that 

 fish in large numbers, and of excellent quality, were to be procured 

 in the neighborhood of their own city. Nor should we omit to no- 

 tice, in justification of John xxi. 11, that the sea of Tiberias was 

 well stocked with fish of a very large size. 



The narrative of Jonah's extraordinary preservation from death, 

 when thrown overboard by the terrified mariners, has furnished 



* The Abbe Pluche shows, from Leuwenboek, that a single cod, though not of the larg- 

 est size, contained 9,334,000 eggs ; and observes, that though a common carp is far from 

 having such a number of eggs, yet the quantity of them' is so amazing, even at the first 

 fiance, that'jt contributes very much to justify the above calculation. Nature Displayed, 

 vol. i. p. 230, 231, 



