(48) _Massorah_, from root _masar_, "to deliver," "hand over," "transmit," means a "chain of tradition." It is used to designate tradition in general, and is thus correlative with _kabbalah_. The _Massorah_ contains information for the correct transcription of the Scripture. As used here, it means the traditional interpretation of the _Torah_. Cf. chapter I, 1, "Moses received the _Torah_ on Sinai, and handed it down (_umsarah_) to Joshua," and "make a fence around the _Torah_." Consult Driver, _Notes on Samuel_, _Intro._, p. 37 _et seq._; Schurer, _ibid._, II, i, 328; Taylor, _Sayings_, p. 55, n. 33; Friedlander _ibid._, p. 55, 203, 266; _Jewish Encyclopedia s.v.;_ and _The Companion Bible_ (London, Oxford University Press), Pt. I, _Appendix_, 30. (49) On tithes, see chapter I, n. 37. Cf. _Shabbat_, 119a, and _Taanit_, 9a (play on [ayin-shin-resh tof-ayin-shin resh], Deut. XXIV, 22),* [ayin-sh-resh bet-shin-bet-yud-lamed shin-tof-tof-ayin-shin-resh] "give tithes in order that thou mayest become rich." [* transcriber's note: this text does not appear to be Deuteronomy XXIV, 22.] (50) Lit., "separation," _i.e._ from defilement, hence "sanctity" (Taylor). (51) Cf. chapter I, 17. (52) Gen. IX, 6. (53) Deut. XIV, 1. (54) _I.e._, the _Torah_. (55) Prov. IV, 2. (56) The omniscience and prescience of God do not deprive men of free will. Maimonides explains this in the last chapter of the _Shemonah Perakim_ (ed. Gorfinkle, p. 85 _et seq._). (57) Maimonides interprets the last phrase as meaning to do many small deeds of charity rather than one great deed of goodness. For instance, it is better to distribute one hundred coins among one hundred people than to give them all to one person. (58) The world is compared to the office of a merchant. (59) Ecc. IX, 12: "for man also knoweth not his time, like the fishes that are caught in an evil net." (60) The shop stands for the world and its enjoyments. (61) Man has free will, and is therefore responsible for all his acts. (62) For everything is recorded. (63) This world is merely a preparation for the next. The enjoyment of the world to come is likened by the Rabbis to a banquet, which is shared in by the good and the bad, after they have paid off their moral debts.