The origin of Wisdom is thus to be sought partly in Israel itself, and partly in certain ideas which were adopted from extraneous sources. But the way in which the Jewish sages of post-exilic times developed both the indigenous as well as the foreign elements is extremely instructive; to this we must now devote some attention. III. THE JEWISH CONCEPTION OF WISDOM Our chief concern is the conception of Wisdom as portrayed in the Wisdom Literature; but it will be well to say just a word as to how Wisdom was conceived of in the earlier literature, if only to show the immense development of thought on the subject which took place after the Exile. Wisdom (in Hebrew, _Chokmah_), and wise men (in Hebrew, _Chakāmîm_) are fairly frequently mentioned in the Pentateuch, and in the prophetical as well as in the historical books; the words connote in general skill in doing anything, whether in reference to artisans, or goldsmiths, or sailors, or mourning women, or of the shrewdness of the astrologer or the magician. In a higher sense it is used of wisdom in the administration of affairs; in a few instances, as in Hosea xiv. 10, a man is called wise who is far-seeing in religious things (cp. also Deut. iv. 6, Isa. xi. 2). That the prophets rarely refer to the subject of Wisdom is natural enough; it was not their function; they were called forth to rebuke and exhort in the words and after the manner of preachers; they appealed rather to the heart, to the emotions, to the conscience, than to the intellect. Sometimes, it is true, we find that “wise men” are spoken of as a class; thus Jeremiah witnesses to the fact that already in his day the _Chakam_ (“wise man”) occupied a recognized position side by side with the priest and the prophet: “For the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet” (Jer. xviii. 18). Turning now to consider the various conceptions of Wisdom as portrayed in the Wisdom Literature, we may begin with the well-known words: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom.” This saying was to the Jewish sages probably the most important of any that was uttered on the subject; it occurs in Job xxviii. 28 in the form: “Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom.” In its more familiar form it appears in Psalms cxi. 6, Proverbs i. 7, ix. 10 (cp. xv. 33), Ecclesiasticus i. 14 (cp. i. 15, 20, 27), and the sense of the words occurs very often besides. But it is worth pointing out that the meaning of the phrase is not that the fear of the Lord is the commencement of Wisdom, but rather the “end” of it; it is true that the Hebrew word used, _rôsh_ (lit. “head”), has also the sense of “beginning”; but here it is “zenith” that is meant; the highest and most perfect form of Wisdom is the fear of the Lord; so that one might quite correctly render: “The fear of the Lord is the end of Wisdom.”