Genesis 25:27 - "When the boys grew up, Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field, while Jacob was a quiet man, dwelling in tents."

Proverbs 6:5 - "save yourself like a gazelle from the hunter, like a bird from the hand of the fowler."

The hunter or fowler was one of the earliest of occupations. Although the strictly hunting phase of man’s cultural development had been long gone before the biblical period began, still the hunt provided supplementary food for the diet, and as such, it was important. Hunting with dogs is known for the immediately pre-Israelite period in Palestine; we find this in the Egyptian story The Tale of Sinuhe. However, dogs don’t seem to have been used much in Israel itself.

Two hunters from the early time are mentioned by name in the Old Testament: Nimrod and Esau. There are few references to the hunting of four-footed beasts, but the fowler, with his nets and snares, is frequently mentioned, probably because Palestine lies on the main flight routes of the migratory birds. But a low opinion of hunting in general seemed to be the vogue in Israel, perhaps because Esau was a hunter, and uncivilized, and Jacob was a herdsman and quiet, and of course, a patriarch.

Three principal methods of hunting are mentioned in the Bible: 1. shooting with the bow and arrows; 2. snaring by the spring net and cage, especially for birds, such as quail, duck, and partridge; and 3. pits covered with a net and brushwood to catch deer, foxes, wolves, bears, lions, etc.

In hunting wild animals for protection or to destroy a scavenger, the spear, sword and club were used. Eventually, hunting came to be regarded as a sport, although the people in general were strongly opposed to this. It was a sport reserved for royalty, and Josephus tells us that Herod enjoyed hunting on horseback, a sport introduced by the Persians.

Only two regulations existed in regard to hunting:

1. A female bird was not to be taken while sitting on fledglings or eggs.

2. The hunter was to bleed his animal immediately and cover up the blood with earth.

Today the most obvious comparison comes to the guide or leader of a safari. Many people hunt for sport, but hunting to provide food for the family table is almost a thing of the past, even though it does come in handy for some mountain-hemmed peoples at times. But the profession of game hunter is limited almost exclusively to those who guide greenhorns through forests and swamps in search of thrills and adventure. Rather a far cry from the ancient concept!