There is a great difference between the conception of Wisdom which is presented in the literature of Israel prior to the captivity and that which meets us in the Wisdom Literature proper; yet there is no sort of doubt that the latter represents the full growth of a plant whose seed can be clearly seen in the early writings of the Old Testament. This is, however, only part of the truth; for while it is true to say that the religious-intellectual _spirit_ to which the Wisdom Literature of the Jews owed its existence was of indigenous growth, it is no less true to say that the elements which contributed to the production of that Literature were not exclusively Jewish. We shall try to show presently that Babylonian influence was, in part, at work in helping the sages of Israel both before the captivity, as well as in post-exilic times, to frame their ideas on Wisdom as these appear in the Wisdom Literature, while still later the influence of the Greek spirit is to be clearly discerned. But our first task must be to seek the first beginnings of Wisdom in the earlier books of the Old Testament. When precisely ideas about Wisdom began to manifest themselves in Israel it would be impossible to say, but the germs from which, centuries after, the Wisdom Literature grew were already in existence during the early days of the Monarchy, for the tradition of Solomon’s wisdom is undoubtedly based upon fact. In 1 Kings iv. 30-34 (verses 10-14 in the Hebrew) it is said: “And Solomon’s wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the children of the east, and all the wisdom of Egypt. For he was wiser than all men.... And he spake three thousand proverbs; and his songs were a thousand and five. And he spake of trees.... And there came of all peoples to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all the kings of the earth, which had heard of his wisdom.”[303] Even allowing for some exaggeration, which is so natural to an oriental writer, there can be little doubt that this passage is based upon actual fact, though what is meant by Wisdom in this and similar passages was very different from what would now be understood by that term, as we shall see. But Solomon was not the first example of a “wise man” in Israel. The earliest form of Wisdom is represented by what the Hebrews called a _māshāl_; this is usually translated by “proverb,” but it has, in addition to this, a much wider signification, for it is used of a prophetic figurative discourse, such as those uttered by Balaam; in later times it was also used to describe a parable and an allegory; in this sense it occurs in Ezekiel. In its earlier simple sense a _māshāl_ meant a “proverb,” not necessarily of a religious, or even ethical, content; it expressed some general truth brought home to men by the observance of the ordinary experiences of life. One of the very simplest of these found in the Old Testament is: “Out of the wicked cometh forth wickedness” (1 Sam. xxiv. 13); this is said to be “a proverb of the