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FISH would appear to have always been a favourite article of diet among the Hebrews (Num_11:5 and references in the Gospels), as it is to-day. Fish are found in enormous numbers in all the inland waters of Palestine, and especially in the Lake of Galilee, Lake Huleh, and the ‘meadow lakes’ of Damascus. The extraordinary feature of these fish is the number of species peculiar to the Jordan valley. Out of a total of 43 species found in the region, no fewer than 14 are peculiar to this district. Many of these are quite small. The chief edible fish are members of the Chromides and of the Cyprinidæ (carps). The cat-fish, Clarias macracanthus, not being a scaly fish, cannot be eaten by the Jews (Deu_14:9), though considered a delicacy by the Christians of Damascus. It is thought by some to be the ‘bad fish’ of Mat_13:47-48. In NT times fish-curing was extensively carried on at Taricheæ on the Lake of Tiberias. Some of the native fish is still salted to-day. The ‘fish-pools’ of Son_7:4 and the ‘ponds for fish’ in Isa_19:10 are both mistranslations. See also Food, § 6.
E. W. G. Masterman.