III. Ecclesiasticus. On the other hand, the book of _Ecclesiasticus_ or _The Wisdom of Ben Sirach_, is--next to _Proverbs_--the source from which we shall derive most material. Like _Proverbs_ it is a storehouse of sayings about Wisdom, but fortunately, unlike _Proverbs_, it is not anonymous, and can be dated with some exactitude. The author or compiler of the book was one, Jesus ben (_i.e._, Son of) Sirach, who lived in Jerusalem about 250-180 B.C., his volume being finished about 190 B.C. Some fifty years later his grandson, then living in Egypt, translated it into Greek, and until recently the book was known to us only in its Greek form. Now, however, a large part of the original Hebrew text has been recovered, with the happy result that the Greek version can frequently be checked and obscurities be removed by means of the Hebrew. Besides the single, “unit,” proverbs, there are in _Ecclesiasticus_, and in _Proverbs_ also though to a less extent, a number of short sonnets and essays. These longer passages will be freely referred to, but perhaps a word in justification will here be in place. It has been said with truth, that “often a parable is an elaborate proverb, and a proverb is a parable in germ.” That comment excellently indicates the nature of the passages in question; most of them are expansions of some brief gnomic phrase[18]. When, for example, in E. 20^{14^{f}} we read, “=The gift of a fool shall not profit thee, for his eyes are many instead of one=; _he will give little and upbraid much and he will open his mouth like a crier; to-day he will lend and to-morrow he will ask it again: such an one is a hateful man_....” it is obvious that the verse is only an elaboration and explanation of the enigmatic proverb printed in heavy type. IV. THE NEW TESTAMENT. Scattered through the pages of the New Testament are more allusions to popular sayings than one would readily expect. Almost all offer interesting comment on the life and manner of the times; but, unfortunately, they will fall outside the scope of this book, except for occasional references. V. Finally, a great number of Jewish proverbs are mentioned in the post-Biblical RABBINICAL writings--the tractates of the _Mishna_, the _Midrashim_, and _Talmuds_. Embedded in a vast and difficult literature (how difficult only those know who have attempted seriously to study it), these later Jewish sayings have been somewhat inaccessible to Gentile students. They are interesting in many ways, but the development of our subject in this volume will give opportunity for the mention only of a few. Should any reader desire to know more of these Rabbinic sayings, he can now be referred to a small but trustworthy collection recently made by A. Cohen and published under the title _Ancient Jewish Proverbs_.