Chapter 27

OUTDOOR TEACHERS AMONG THE JEWS[5]

All children among all races receive as they grow up some kind of an education. Isaac learned from his father Abraham and from the other older people about him how to set up a tent, how to milk a goat, how to recognize the tracks of bears and other wild beasts, and all the other bits of knowledge so necessary to wandering shepherds. Not till many centuries after Abraham in Hebrew history were there any special schools apart from the everyday experiences of life, or any man whose special work was that of teaching. But in the centuries following the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians and its gradual restoration, the people came more and more to see the importance of education. And in the course of these three or four centuries before the coming of Christ there grew up two kinds of schools and two kinds of teachers, first, an _open air_ school where life itself was studied, and then later, in the second place, an _indoor_ school, where the chief study was that of books.

SCHOOLS IN THE OPEN AIR

These open-air schools were most often to be seen in the "city gate." The Jews meant by the "gate" of the city the broad open space in front of the actual opening in the city wall. It was like the public square in our modern towns.

=Scenes in the "Gate."=--Suppose we visit one of the "gates." It is early morning. Everything is noise and confusion. Here are merchants peddling their wheat, or dates, or honey, their wool or their flax. Customers are haggling over prices. Each one is shouting with a shrill voice and with many gestures that the price asked is an outrage. Besides the merchants there are judges. Here sits one of the city elders with a long white beard. Before him are two farmers disputing over a boundary line--also witnesses and spectators.

Out in the middle of the area children are playing. Every now and then a mangy yellow dog noses his way through the crowd looking for scraps of food. And everywhere are the folks who came out just to see their neighbors and to hear the news.

In one corner of the open space by the "gate" we notice a dignified figure, an old man with a circle of friends and listeners. He is watching the varied scenes around him and occasionally talking with those about him.

"Who is that old man?" we ask.

"That is one of the wise men," we are told.

These "wise men" among the Hebrews studied human nature, and gave to young men and to any less-experienced people who cared to listen, the benefit of their practical good sense. They loved to teach through "proverbs," that is, short and witty sentences. A large number of the "proverbs" of these teachers are preserved in the Book of Proverbs in our Old Testament.

THE TEACHING OF THE WISE MEN

One of the most important keys to success in life is a knowledge of people. This the wise men helped their students to obtain. Let us sit for a while beside one of them and look through his eyes at the people who pass by. Here comes young Mr. Know-it-all. He wears a very fine garment, and walks with a swagger. His father and mother and all his aunts and uncles have always told him that he is the most clever person in the world. And, of course, he agrees with them. He will listen to advice from nobody. The wise man watches him pass, then says to his hearers:

="Seest thou a wise man in his own conceit? There is more hope of a fool than of him."= (=Proverbs 26. 12.=)

The wise man has a sense of humor. He loves to smile at the little inconsistencies of life. He has been listening to the talk between a merchant and his customer. And this is his comment on it.

="It is naught, it is naught, saith the buyer: But when he is gone his way, then he boasteth."= (=Proverbs 20. 14.=)

But though he is so quick to laugh at human follies the wise man has a tender heart. He helps his hearers to sympathize with those who are anxious and discouraged. And he knows the value of friendly encouragement.

="Heaviness in the heart of a man maketh it stoop; But a good word maketh it glad."= (=Proverbs 12. 25.=)

=A practical advice of the wise men.=--With this knowledge of human nature these teachers were able to give much good counsel in matters of business. For example, there were tricksters in those days just as now. One of their favorite tricks was to persuade some "greenhorn" to act as surety for a loan. "Just shake hands with me before witnesses," the smooth tongued one would say, "and the banker will lend me money; there is a caravan of silks coming from Damascus which I can buy for a song. We will both be rich." So the poor fool would shake hands before witnesses, which was like our modern custom of signing one's name on a note. The man would then take the money and disappear, leaving his victim to repay the loan or be sold into slavery. "Be on your guard against these sharpers," the wise men were constantly saying.

HELPING PEOPLE TO LIVE LOVINGLY TOGETHER

The best part of the teaching of the wise men had to do with even more important matters than how to keep from being cheated. They helped people live together. They had many sensible things to say about good manners. For example, Joshua the son of Sirach, a wise man whose sayings are found in the book of Ecclesiasticus in the Apocrypha, gives much wise counsel about table manners:

="Consider thy neighbor's liking by thine own, And be discreet in every point. Eat as becometh a man, those things which are set before thee; And eat not greedily, lest thou be hated. Be first to leave off, for manner's sake, And be not insatiable, lest thou offend."=

Surely courtesy at the table is one of the things which make life happy and noble. Truly civilized people do not eat like pigs in a trough.

As they looked out upon the lives of men what made the wise men most sorry was the hatred and bitterness which they so often saw between those who should have been friends. One of their most frequent teachings was the need for the control of one's anger and for charity and forgiveness.

="A fool uttereth all his anger, But a wise man keepeth it back."= (=Proverbs 29. 11.=)

="He that covereth a transgression seeketh love: But he that harpeth on a matter separateth chief friends."= (=Proverbs 17. 9.=)

=Their condemnation of tale-bearing.=--Since the wise men felt so strongly on this point, it is not surprising that they kept their most scathing denunciations for tale-bearers and troublemakers. Too often they saw men who were formerly dear friends passing by each other with dark looks. Some liar had been sowing his evil seed. If you have anything to say against a man, the wise men urged, say it to his face. Don't talk against him behind his back.

="A froward man scattereth abroad strife: And a whisperer separateth chief friends."= (=Proverbs 16. 28.=)

THE RELIGIOUS TEACHING OF THE WISE MEN

There came a time, perhaps a century or two after Nehemiah, when the wise men were the chief moral and religious leaders of the Jewish nation. The people had lost faith in the prophets, for there were no more prophets like Amos or Isaiah. And these practical teachers with their warm sympathy and kind hearts had many true words to speak about the God of wisdom and of love. The book of Job in the Bible, one of the greatest books of history, was written by one of these wise men. It is a story of a man who found God although both his own misfortunes and also the false ideas of his friends had made him think that God was his enemy. He found God at last because he was brave enough to think for himself.

So these teachers gave their pupils the best kind of education. They too, like the prophets and all the leaders about whom we have studied, helped to prepare their pupils for the life of loving brotherhood with God as their common Father, which was the goal toward which all this history we have studied was slowly but surely moving.

STUDY TOPICS

1. Browse through the book of Proverbs, especially chapters 10 and following, looking for teachings on the following subjects; enter the references opposite (_a_), (_b_), etc., below.

(_a_) Diligence in work. (_b_) Temperance in use of wine. (_c_) Honesty in business. (_d_) Compassion toward the poor. (_e_) Self-control in anger.

2. Read Ecclesiastes 11, for a taste of another "wisdom" book.

3. Find if you can a Bible with the Apocrypha between the Old and New Testaments, and read a chapter or two in Ecclesiasticus, or the wisdom of the Son of Sira.

FOOTNOTES:

[5] Part of these pages taken from the author's earlier book, The Story of Our Bible. Copyright, 1914, 1915, by Charles Scribner's Sons. Used by permission.