(12) On the language of the _Mishnah_, see Mielziner, _Introduction to the Talmud_, pp. 15-16, and Lauterbach in _Jewish Encyclopedia_, vol II, p. 614. On the use of Aramaic in the _Mishnah_, see Schurer, _History_, I, ii, p. 8 _et seq._, and Bacher, in _Jewish Encyclopedia_, art. _Aramaic Language Among the Jews_. Several centuries before the common era, Aramaic was the vernacular of the Jews. Hebrew, however, remained in use as the sacred language ([lashon ha-kodesh]), it being the language of the learned, and was employed for literary, liturgical, and legal purposes. This accounts for the Mishnah being written almost entirely in Hebrew, though Aramaic was spoken on the streets. It is related of Judah ha-Nasi that he disliked the Aramaic jargon to such an extent that he forbade its use in his home, where even the servants spoke Hebrew with elegance (_Rosh ha-Shanah_, 26b). When scholars used Aramaic in his presence, he chided them for not speaking in Hebrew or in Greek (_Baba Kamma_, 82b). DEVELOPMENT OF ABOT (13) (13) On the subject-matter of this section, consult Hoffmann, _Die erste Mischna_, pp. 26-37; idem, _Mischnaiot Seder Nesikin_, _Introd._, pp. XX-XXI; Brull, _Enstehung und ursprunglicher Inhalt des Traktates Abot;_ Loeb, _La Chaine_, etc.; Ginzburg, _Spruche der Vater, erstes Capitel historisch beleuchtet_ (Liepzig, 1889); Strack, _Die Spruche der Vater_, _Introd._, pp. 7-8; idem, _Einleitung_, p. 52, and Rawicz, _Commentar des Maimonides_, p. 105, n. 3. It is apparent from the literary construction of _Abot_ that it has been edited several times, and that, in its earliest form, the _Abot_ collection was much smaller than we have it to-day. Originally, probably shortly after the time of Hillel, it may have been merely a sort of appendix to the _Tractate Sanhedrin_, with typical sayings of each of the heads of the _Sanhedrin_. These dicta are contained in what is designated as section A. Later, presumably by Rabbi Akiba, there were added to this original kernel of _Abot_ the sayings of Rabbi Jochanan ben Zakkai and his most illustrious pupils, which comprise section C. This resulted in the grouping together of the sayings of ten generations of traditional authorities, as follows: (1) the men of the Great Synagogue, (2) Simon, the Just, (3) Antigonus of Soko, (4) Jose ben Joezer and Jose ben Jochanan, (5) Joshua ben Perachiah and Nittai, the Arbelite, (6) Judah ben Tabbai and Simeon ben Shatach, (7) Shemaiah and Abtalion, (8) Hillel and Shammai, (9) Jochanan ben Zakkai, and (10) the latter's disciples. By association of idea with this number ten, there were added to this collection numerical sayings of ten, and, then, others of seven and four, found in chapter V, 1-9 and 10-13.