But the great importance of this book lies in its ethical teaching, wherein it often reveals a spirit thoroughly akin to that of the Gospels; it will be best to illustrate this by giving two of the most notable examples. In the Testament of Gad vi. 3-7 it is said: “Love ye, therefore, one another from the heart; and if a man sin against thee, cast forth the poison of hate and speak peaceably to him, and in thy soul hold not guile; and if he confess and repent, forgive him. But if he deny it, do not get into a passion with him, lest catching the poison from thee he take to swearing and so thou sin doubly.... But if he be shameless, and perisheth in his wrong-doing, even so forgive him from the heart, and leave to God the avenging” (with this compare Matt. xviii. 15, Luke xvii. 3). The command to love God and one’s neighbour finds expression in the Testament of Gad v. 3: “Love the Lord through all your life, and one another with a true heart” (cp. Matt. xxii. 37-39). These and many other examples of a similar character are all the more striking when it is seen how close the linguistic parallels are (amounting frequently to verbal identity) between the Greek text of our book and that of the Gospels. While these and similar passages read like genuine parts of the original work the _possibility_ that they may be Christian is not excluded. The “Testaments” can scarcely be reckoned as belonging to the Apocalyptic Literature proper, but there are apocalyptic elements in the testaments of Levi and of Naphthali. (_d_) THE PSALMS OF SOLOMON [LITERATURE.—Ryle and James, _The Psalms of Solomon_ (1891); Kittel, in Kautzsch, II, pp. 127-148; Schürer, II, iii. pp. 17-23, German ed., III, pp. 205-212; Viteau, _Les Psaumes de Salomon_ (1911); Rendel Harris, _The Odes and Psalms of Solomon_ (1911); Leszynsky, _Op. cit._, pp. 274-279; Buchanan Gray in Charles, II, pp. 631-652. See also Charles’ art. in the _Encycl. Bibl._, i. 241-245.] Although the eighteen psalms comprised in this book are not apocalyptic in character, a brief mention of them here is not out of place, for they offer us a true picture of the Pharisaic standpoint, and are therefore useful for purposes of comparison when seeking to decide the Pharisaic authorship, or otherwise, of other books.