Fox

The fox (Hebrew shu'al, derived from the animal's habit of digging or burrowing) is the common fox of Palestine, Vulpes tabulae, though the biblical term may sometimes indicate the jackal, which is more gregarious and was more commonly found in large numbers. Samson's famous exploit of catching three hundred foxes (or jackals), tying them in pairs by their tails with torches, and releasing them into the Philistine grain fields (Judges 15:4–5) more likely involved jackals, which could be caught more easily in numbers.

The fox appears metaphorically in several significant passages: the "little foxes that spoil the vines" in Song of Solomon 2:15 represent small, subtle threats to the flourishing relationship. Jesus called Herod Antipas "that fox" (Luke 13:32) — a term of contempt for a cunning but ultimately insignificant schemer. Ezekiel 13:4 compares false prophets to foxes in the ruins, scavenging without building or restoring. Lamentations 5:18 mourns that Mount Zion, desolate after the Babylonian destruction, has become the haunt of foxes. The Psalmist uses "those who are for the fox" as a figure for the slain who are abandoned (Psalm 63:10).