In various important particulars the writer of the Book of Tobit and Ben-Sira occupy the same religious standpoint; in others a certain divergence is to be noticed which points to a development of doctrine. A brief examination of the religious standpoint of the two writers is, therefore, both interesting and instructive. (_a_) We will refer first to those points in which the teaching is identical. With regard to the Temple cultus at Jerusalem it will suffice to quote one passage from each book to show the identity of view; in Tobit i. 6-8 occur these words: “I used to go to Jerusalem with the firstfruits and the firstlings and the tenths of the cattle and the first shearings of the sheep, and give them to the priests, the sons of Aaron, for the altar, and the tenth of the corn and the wine and oil and pomegranates and the rest of the fruits to the sons of Levi, who ministered at Jerusalem ...” (cp. ii. 1-9). Quite in accordance with this are Ben-Sira’s words in vii. 29-31: Fear God with all thy heart, And reverence His priests. With all thy strength love Him that made thee, And forsake not His ministers. Glorify God and honour the priest, And give them their portion as it is commanded thee; The food of the trespass-offering, and the heave-offering of the hand, The sacrifices of righteousness, and the offerings of holy things (xxxv. 1-11, xlv. 14-16). Both writers lay much stress on other legal ordinances, above all on Prayer and Almsgiving; these do not need illustrating, as they are so often spoken of in either book; but two points, the _spirit_ and the _efficacy_ of almsgiving, are worth special mention: in Tobit iv. 16 it is said: “Let not thine eye be grudging when thou givest alms,” and a similar spirit of whole-heartedness is enjoined in Ecclesiasticus xviii. 15-18: My son, bring no blemish on thy good deeds, Nor in giving any gift cause grief through words.... The gift of an envious man consumeth the eyes. In like manner the efficacy of alms is spoken of by both writers in an identical sense; in Tobit iv. 10 it is said: “Alms delivereth from death, and suffereth not to come into darkness”; and Ben-Sira says: A flaming fire doth water quench, So doth almsgiving atone for sin. Both writers, moreover, use the word as almost synonymous with righteousness. Fasting, strange to say, receives practically no notice in Tobit,[386] though Ben-Sira insists upon its right use (xxxiv. 26). On one other point of legal observance, however, both writers lay similar emphasis; in Tobit ii. 8, 10 Tobit says: “And when the sun was set, I went and digged a grave and buried him.... And the same night I washed myself and came into my courtyard and lay down to sleep ...”; the observance of this legal precept is referred to by Ben-Sira in these words: