Flies (Hastings' Dictionary)

See Fly and Plaoub. FLINT (in OT ci'P^n, a.Kp6TO/j.ot, arepea irirpa ; -i'l, dKpdro/.'QS, TT^Tpa, \prj(pos ; is, (mpea. iriTpa ; in Apocr. aKpoTOfxoi, Ko'x^al) is the term by which the fore- going Heb. words are rendered, in AV generally, and in RV uniformly. The reference in every case is to a rock or stone whose characteristic quality is hardness or sharpness. The Gr.

equiva- lents have a general rather than a definite mean- ing, cLKplrrofiot being elsewhere (Sir 40>° 48") tr" ' hard (RV sheer) rock,' while in Is 2^' 51' (Trepca iriTpa stands in LXX for us (rock) ; though, on the other hand, in Job 22* tvi is represented in Vulg. by silex. On the whole, flint is the substance which best fulfils the conditions stated, and in the passages where small stones rather than masses of rock are referred to it is probably the true rendering.

r'oVn corresponds to Assyr. elmifu (ZDMQ xl. 728), which ■eems to mean any hard stone nsed for striking fire, even rock crystal or diamond. According to Ilommel {PSBA, xv. 291), ehn^ht is abbreviated from algami^L (Heb. c'55jX Kzk IS"- '3 8822). toth beinj; variants of gilpami^h or gibiliamUh, which is ft synonym of Gx&dubar, an ancient Bab. Are deity. Flint is the name given to the rock from which Moses brought water in the wilderness (Dt 8", Ps 114", Wis II).

Flints were the jirimitive instruments of circumcision (Ex 4" KV, .los 5, ' RV). In the latter pa.s.sage LXX expands ni:-;n D'lj' into fiaxaipa^ irerpivas iK irirpai dKpor6fj.ov. The LXX additions to Joshua relate how these knives of flint were preserved as a memorial in Timnath-serah, and were buried with Joshua there (2i«u 2430.), In 1 yi^^ ,q73 the absence of flints in a plain Is given as a reason why cavalry should not be encountered there, as slingers would thus he at a disadvantage.

The word used is (r6xXaf , and it is found in a similar connexion in the LXX of 1 S H'-*, which, however, does not correspond with the MT (Wellhausen, Text cler BB. Sam. 87, 88 ; Driver, Heb. Text of Sam. 82, 83). In the Song of Moses 'oil from the rocky flint' (Dt 32"") is a poetical way of describing olives growing on rocky soil (see Job 29"). In Job 28", to illustrate man's Eower and skill, it is said that the miner puts forth is hand upon the flinty rock, and overturns the mountains.

The hoofs of the Assyrian horses are compared to flint (Is 5^), which is also an emblem of prophetic resoluteness (Is 50', Ezk 3'). I' lint is a form of silica, a mineral which occurs in its purest condition as quartz. Flint is found in bands and nodules in certain calcareous rocks, notably in chalk, in various parts of the world. It is exceedingly hard, and breaks with a glassy fracture and sharp edges.

When pieces of it are struck together, or against steel, sparks are emitted, and this method of obtaining fire has been used from the earliest times. It is probably alluded to in 2 Mac 10^. Flints are often darl; coloured owing to impurities.

Their origin is one of the problems of geology not yet completely solved, but it is supposed that the siliceous frame- work of certain marine organisms was dissolved, and afterwards deposited in cavities, or actuallj' substituted for the material of other organic remains. A great part of Palestine and the Sinaitic penin- sula is composed of Cretaceous strata, which pass on the W. into Nunimulitic (Eocene) limestone.

In both of these formations flints are found ; and in some of the strata, especially those which line the Jordan Valley, they are particularly abundant (Green, Physical Geology, 231-33 ; Hull, SWPGl). James Patrick.