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FUEL.—The principal ‘fuel [lit. ‘food’] of fire’ (Isa_9:5; Isa_9:19) in use among the Hebrews was undoubtedly wood, either in its natural state or, among the wealthier classes, as charcoal (see Coal). The trees which furnished the main supply (cf. Isa_44:14 ff.) probably differed little from those so employed in Syria at the present day, for which see PEFSt [Note: Quarterly Statement of the same.] ., 1891, 118 ff. Among other sources of supply were shrubs and undergrowth of all kinds, including the broom (Psa_120:4 RVm [Note: Revised Version margin.] ) and the buck-thorn (Psa_58:9); also chaff and other refuse of the threshing-floor (Mat_3:12); and withered herbage, the ‘grass’ of Mat_6:30. The use of dried animal dung as fuel, which is universal in the modern East, was apparently not unknown to the Hebrews (cf. Eze_4:12-15). See further, House, § 7.