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STUDIES IN LIFE
FROM JEWISH PROVERBS

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STUDIES IN LIFE

FROM

JEWISH PROVERBS

BY

W. A. L. ELMSLIE, M.A.,

Fellow of Christ’s College, Cambridge

LONDON

JAMES CLARKE & CO., 13 & 14 FLEET STREET, E.C.

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To

MY WIFE

“Forsan et hæc olim meminisse juvabit”

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PREFACE

A writer of many books once said to me that he regretted every prefacehe had written. Seeing that I have the highest respect for his talents,I am constrained to take to heart the moral, which (particularly in abook on proverbs) would seem to be “least said, soonest mended.” Butwhatever else he may choose to leave unsaid, an author is expected togive away his secret in the preface, making known his intentions asdiscreetly as he can but still explicitly. That duty accomplished, he isat liberty to give thanks, and so conclude.

The greater part of this volume (Chapters V. to XII.) is occupied with astudy of the teaching of “Wisdom” among the Jews in Palestine during theHellenistic Age, so far as the subject is represented in the two greatcollections of Jewish sayings, the Book of Proverbs andEcclesiasticus. It would be too much to claim that in these chaptersthe book breaks new ground, for the importance of the Hellenistic periodis recognised by students of history, and there have been manycommentaries on the Book of Proverbs, nor has Ecclesiasticus beenwithout its expositors. But the historian devotes himself to therelation of events, and the commentator is busy with the thoughts of theseveral proverbs or with the textual difficulties they present, ratherthan with their precise historical setting. Here an endeavour has beenmade to bring the proverbs into{8} close connection with the history, andit is hoped that not only do the proverbs thereby acquire freshinterest, but also that there emerges a picture of the men who made themand used them in the furtherance of morality and faith. Even toprofessed students of Jewish history the makers of the “Wisdom” proverbsare apt to remain distant and shadowy figures; but we cannot afford toneglect any of the makers of the Bible, and I venture to think that themethod followed in this volume makes it possible to appreciate theoutlook of these men, to realise their difficulties, and if not tosympathise wholly with their views, at least to feel that they were veryhuman. Whether this brief sketch is successful in attaining its objector not, it is certain that the subject deserves more attention than ithas hitherto received.

Besides the numerous maxims in Proverbs and Ecclesiasticus, thereare some interesting popular proverbs in the historical and propheticalbooks of the Old Testament. To these a part of ...