_She is like the merchant ships, She bringeth her food from afar_ (Pr. 31^{14}). Of a prosperous dwelling-place: _Through Wisdom is an house builded And by understanding it is established, And by knowledge are the chambers furnished, With all precious and pleasant riches_ (Pr. 24^{3, 4}). Curiously enough, no reference to sun, moon or stars occurs in _Proverbs_[107], but there are several allusions in _Ecclesiasticus_, especially in one remarkable chapter of really poetic appreciation, which tells first of the wonder and the blazing intolerable heat of the sun (E. 43^{1-5}), and then celebrates the glories of moon and stars and rainbow--_the moon increasing wonderfully in her changing, a beacon for the hosts on high, shineth forth in the firmament of heaven. The beauty of heaven is the glory of the stars, an array giving light in the highest heights of the Lord: at the word of the Holy One they stand in due order and sleep not in their watches. Look upon the rainbow and praise him that made it; exceeding beautiful in the brightness thereof. It compasseth the heaven round about with a circle of glory; the hands of the Most High have constructed it_ (E. 43^{8-12}). Again in a panegyric on the virtues of Simon, the son of Onias, the high-priest “great among his brethren, and the glory of his people,”[108] Ben Sirach says that, when the people gathered round him as he came forth out of the sanctuary, he was glorious _As the morning star from between the clouds; As the moon at the full; As the sun shining forth upon the Temple of the Most High; And as the rainbow giving light in clouds of glory_ (E. 50^{6, 7}). The elements and seasons, in one way or another, are referred to not infrequently. For instance, Pr. 25^{13}, _As the coolness of snow in time of harvest, so is a faithful messenger to them that send him_[109]: a proverb we might appreciate more fully if either we had to go harvesting under an eastern sun or if His Majesty’s postal system were suddenly abolished. _As clouds and wind without rain, So is he that boasts of gifts ungiven_ (Pr. 25^{14}). --how tantalising to see the precious moisture far overhead and drifting hopelessly out of reach, in a land where rain was desperately needed! One passage from the poetical chapter of _Ecclesiasticus_ mentioned above has something of the Grecian charm, combining as it does grace of expression with precise observation of Nature. Save in the spring-song of _Canticles_, in one or two _Psalms_ and in some exquisite chapters (_e.g._, chapters 28 and 38) of _Job_, it has few, if any, rivals in ancient Jewish literature. Mark the skilful transition from the raging of the tempest to the stillness of the snows:--