ix. 13, "It (the rainbow) shall be a token of a covenant between me

and the earth."

The idea of a creative deity requiring, as in Proverbs viii., the assistance of another personal being, is foreign to Jahvism, but it is of the very substance of Zoroastrianism, and it reappears in the Elohism of Genesis. Another important and fundamental fact is, that we find in the prologue to Proverbs a deity contending against something, circumscribing forces that need control, not of his creation. It is plain that the conception of monotheistic omnipotence had not yet been formed. There are higher and lower parts of the earth.

Although there is no evidence that any such compilation as our "Genesis" existed at the time when the prologue (viii., ix.) to the "Proverbs of Solomon" was composed, the Elohistic opening of Genesis, especially in its original form, harmonises with the Parsi conflict between Light and Darkness.

"When of old Elohim separated heaven and earth--when the earth was desolation and emptiness--darkness on the face of the deep, and the spirit of Elohim brooding on the face of the waters,--Elohim said, Be Light; Light was." [15]

The spirit of God "brooding" over the waters (Genesis i. 1) may be identified with the Wisdom of Proverbs ix. 1, who "builds her house" as the Elohim built the universe, and "hath hewn out her seven pillars" like a true Armaîti, "Queen of the Seven." She is the Spirit of Light. And perhaps the darkness that was on the face of the abyss suggested the antagonistic personification in the next chapter (ix.) named by Professor Cheyne "Dame Folly." Wisdom, having builded her house, spread her table, mingled her wine, sends forth her maidens to invite the simple to forsake Folly, enjoy her feast, and "live." Dame Folly,--who though she has "a seat in high places" is "silly,"--clamours to every wayfarer that even the bread and water of her table, being surreptitious, are sweeter than the luxuries and wine offered by Wisdom. This appears to be the meaning of Dame Folly's somewhat obscure invitation.

"'Waters stolen are sweet! Forbidden bread is pleasant!' He knoweth not her phantoms are there, That her guests are in the underworld."

In this contrast between Wisdom inviting all to enter her house, drink her wine, and "live," and Folly inviting them to her "Sheol," we have nearly a quatrain of Omar Khayyám: "Since from the beginning of life to its end there is for thee only this earth, at least live as one who is on it and not under it."

In the Avesta the good and wise Mother Earth (Armaîti) is opposed by a malign female "Drug" (demoness), whose paramours are described in Fargard xviii. (Vendîdâd). These two are fairly represented by Wisdom and Folly as personified in Proverbs viii. and ix.

The Jahvist who in Proverbs i. 1-7 (excepting the first six verses) undertakes to edit the original and ancient editor as well as Solomon, presents the curious case of one of Dame Folly's phantoms interpreting the words of Wisdom's guests. Unable to comprehend their portraiture of Dame Folly, he imagines that the allusion must be to harlotry, admonishes his "son" that "Jahveh giveth wisdom," which among other things will "deliver thee from the strange woman," whose "house sinketh down to the underworld and her paths unto phantoms." Which recalls the pious lady who on hearing her ritualistic pastor accused by a dissenter of leanings toward the Scarlet Woman, anxiously inquired of a friend whether she had ever heard any scandal connected with their vicar's name!

Our Jahvist editor seems to be one who would often say of laughter "it is mad"; and naturally could not imagine how Wisdom could "sport" before the Lord (viii. 30) unless she were in some sense mad. The sport before Jahveh could only be in mockery of some sinner's torment, like the derision ascribed to Jahveh (Psalm ii. 4); consequently our editor represents Wisdom crying abroad in the streets:

"Because I have called and ye refused.... I also will laugh in the day of your calamity, I will mock when your fear cometh."

But Pliny mentions the Mazdean belief, confirmed by Parsi tradition, that Zoroaster was born laughing. To him Ahura Mazda says: "Do thou proclaim, O pure Zoroaster, the vigor, the glory, the help and the joy that are in the Fravashis (souls) of the faithful."

However, we may see in these first seven chapters of Proverbs that Wisdom had become detached from the sons of men, in whom she had once found delight, was no longer in the human heart, but had finally ascended to wield the heavenly thunderbolts. And yet it is probable that we owe to this vindictive and menacing attitude of deified Wisdom the preservation of so many witty and sceptical things in books traditionally ascribed to Solomon. The orthodox legend being that the Lord had put supernatural wisdom into Solomon's heart, and never revoked it despite his "idolatry" and secularism, it followed that the naughty man could not help continuing to be a medium of this divine person, Wisdom, and that it might be a dangerous thing to suppress any utterance of hers through Solomon,--unwitting blasphemy. However profane or worldly the writings might appear to the Jahvist mind, there was no knowing what occult inspiration there might be in them, and the only thing editors could venture was to sprinkle through them plenteous disinfectants in the way of "Fear-of-the-Lord" wisdom.

The proverbs in which the name Jahveh appears are not, of course, to be indiscriminately rejected as entirely Jahvist interpolations. It seems probable that little more than the word Jahveh has been supplied in some of these,--e. g., xix. 3, xx. 27, xxi. 1, 3, xxviii. 5, xxix. 26. But in a majority of cases the proverbs containing the name Jahveh are ethically and radically inharmonious with the substance and spirit of the book as a whole, which is founded on the supremacy of human "merits" as fully as Zoroastrianism, in which salvation depends absolutely on Good Thought, Good Word, Good Deed. In dynamic monotheism (as distinguished from ethical) of which Jahvism is the ancient and Islam the modern type, the doctrine of human "merits" is inadmissible: a man's virtues are not his own, and in Jahveh's sight they are but "filthy rags," except so far as they are given by Jahveh. But in the Solomonic proverbs the highest virtues, and the supreme blessings of the universe, are obtained by a man's own wisdom, character, and deeds. And in some cases the claims for Jahveh appear to have been inserted as if in answer or retort to proverbs ignoring the participation of any deity in such high matters. I quote a few instances, in which the antithesis turns to antagonism:

Solomon--By kindness and truth iniquity is atoned for.

Jahvist--By the fear of Jahveh men turn away from evil. (xvi. 6.)

Solomon--He who is skilful in a matter findeth good.

Jahvist--Whoso trusteth in Jahveh, happy is he! (xvi. 20.)

In several other cases entire proverbs seem to be inserted for the correction of preceding ones,--these being not always understood by the interpolator:

Solomon--Treasures of evil profit not, But virtue delivereth from death.

Jahvist--Jahveh will not suffer the righteous man to be famished, But the desires of the unrighteous he thrusteth away. (x. 2, 3.)

Solomon--The tongue of the just is choice silver; The heart of the evil is little worth: The lips of the just feed many, But fools die through heartlessness.

Jahvist--The blessing of Jahveh, that maketh rich, And work addeth nothing thereto. (x. 20-22.)

Solomon--The virtuous man hath an everlasting foundation. (x. 25.)

Jahvist--The fear of Jahveh prolongeth days. (x. 27.)

Solomon--Hear counsel, receive correction, That thou mayst be wise in thy future.

Jahvist--Many are the purposes in a man's heart, But the counsel of Jahveh, that shall stand. (xix. 20-1.)

Solomon--The acceptableness of a man is his kindness: Better off the poor than the treacherous man.

Jahvist--The fear of Jahveh addeth to life; Whoso is filled therewith shall abide, he shall not be visited by evil. (xix. 22-3.)

Solomon--The upright man considereth his way.

Jahvist--Wisdom is nothing, heart nothing, Counsel nothing, against Jahveh. (xxi. 29, 30.)

In one instance the Jahvist has made a slip by which his hand is confessed. In xvii. 3 we find:

The fining-pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold, But Jahveh trieth hearts.

But he omitted to notice the repetition in xxvii. 21, where we find the profound sentence which the Jahvist had reduced to commonplace:

The fining-pot for silver and the furnace for gold, And a man is proved by that which he praiseth.

The Jahvist spirit is also discoverable in xx. 22:

Solomon--Say not "I will retaliate evil";

Jahvist--Wait for Jahveh and he will save thee.

Also in xxv. 21-2:

Solomon--If he that hateth thee be hungry, give him bread to eat, If he be athirst give him water to drink.

Jahvist--For thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head, And Jahveh shall reward thee.

A similar mean and vindictive spirit is shown in xxiv. 18, following a magnanimous proverb; but in verse 29, probably more ancient than 18, we find the unqualified rebuke of retaliation:

Say not "As he hath done to me, so will I do to him, I will render to the man according to his work."

It was this generosity that Buddha exercised, [16] and Jesus; and it was left to Paul to recover the Jahvist modifications of Solomon's wisdom in order to adulterate for hard Romans the humane spirit of Jesus (Romans xii. 19, 20). The Solomonic sentences are normally so magnanimous as to throw suspicion on any clause tainted with smallness or vulgarity. The pervading spirit is, "The benevolent heart shall be enriched, and he who watereth shall himself be watered."

There is one proverb (xiv. 32) which suggests a belief in immortality, or possibly in the Angel of Death:

By his evil deeds the evil man is thrust downward, But the virtuous man hath confidence in his death.

According to the Avesta every man is born with an invisible noose around his neck. When a good man dies the noose falls, and he passes to a beautiful region where he is met by a maid, to whom he says, "Who art thou, who art the fairest I have ever seen?" She answers, "O thou of good thoughts, good words, good deeds, I am thy actions." The evil man meets a leprous hag, embodiment of his actions, who by his noose drags him down through the evil-thought hell, the evil-word hell, the evil-deed hell, to the region of "Endless Darkness" (Yast xxii.). This darkness may be metaphorically spoken of in Proverbs xx. 20:

He that curseth his father and mother, His lamp shall be put out in the blackest darkness.

But generally the allusions to death in the Solomonic proverbs do not seem to allude to physical death. In x. 2 "virtue delivereth from death" is in antithesis to the unprofitableness of evil treasures, and in 16:

The reward of a virtuous man is life; The gain of the wicked is sin.

Here "life" and "sin" are in opposition. Other sentences to be compared are:

The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life, To avoid the snares of death. (xiii. 14, cf. the Jahvist xiv. 27.) Understanding is a fountain of life to those who possess it, But the snare of fools is Folly. (xvi. 22.) He that hateth reproof shall die. (xv. 10.) The way of life is upward to the wise, So as to turn away from the grave (sheol) beneath. (xv. 24.) Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And they who love it shall eat its fruit. (xviii. 21.)

(In the last clause "it" probably refers to "life," unless the pronoun be cancelled altogether.)

The getting of treasures by a tongue of falsehood Is getting a fleeting vapour, delusions of death. (xxi. 6.) In the way of virtue is life, But the way of the by-path leadeth to death. (xii. 28.) The man who wandereth from the way of instruction Shall rest in the congregation of the phantoms. (xxi. 16.)

The two proverbs last quoted may be usefully compared with the ancient Prologue (viii. ix.) already referred to in this chapter, as they are there reproduced pictorially in Wisdom and Dame Folly sitting at their respective doors. Wisdom offers long life and happiness:

But he who wandereth from me doeth violence to his own life, All who hate me love death. (viii. 36.)

Dame Folly tries to turn into her by-path those who are "proceeding straight in their course" (ix. 15), but her victim--

He knoweth not her phantoms are there, That her guests are in the underworld. (ix. 18.)

The same Hebrew word Rephaim (phantoms or shades) is used here and in xxi. 16.

All of these references to death and the underworld (sheol), except perhaps xiv. 32, refer to the living death, moral and spiritual, which is of such vast and fundamental significance in Zoroastrian religion. In this religion the evil power is "all death." The universe is divided by and into "the living and the not living." [17] "When these two Spirits came together they made first Life and Death,"--words sometimes used as synonymous with the "Good and the Evil Mind." Ahura Mazda representing all the forces that work for health and life, Angromainyu (Ahriman) all that work for disease and destruction, have ranged with them all animals and plants, on one side or the other, in this great conflict. The life of an Ahrimanian creature is "incarnate death." (Darmesteter's Introduction to the Vendîdâd, v. 11.) His destructiveness is equally against virtue, wisdom, peace, health, happiness, life, and all of these, not merely physical dissolution, are included in his Avestan title, "The Fiend who is all death." He is the Abaddon of Revelation ix. 11, also he "that had the power of death" in Hebrews ii. 14, and probably came into both of these from Proverbs xxvii. 20:

Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied, And the eyes of man are never satisfied.

Dr. Inman (Ancient Faiths, i., p. 180) connects Abaddon with "Abadan (cuneiform), the lost one, the sun in winter, or darkness," which conforms with the Avestan Ahriman, who is emphatically a winter-demon, his hell being in the north (cf. Jeremiah i. 14 and elsewhere), and is the natural adversary of the Fire-worshipper.

Among the Zoroastrians there were not only Towers of Silence (Dakhma) for the literally dead, but also for the confinement of those tainted by carrying corpses, or by any contact with the death-fiend's empire, such as being struck with temporary death. "The unclean," says Darmesteter, "are confined in a particular place, apart from all clean persons and objects, the Armêst-gâh, which may be described, therefore, as the Dakhma for the living." Here then are the dead-alive guests of Dame Folly (Proverbs ix. 15), who opposes Wisdom, as Ahriman created Akem-Mano (evil thought) to oppose Vohu-Mano (good thought), and here is the assembly that might give the Solomonic proverb its metaphor:

The man who wandereth from the way of instruction Shall rest in the congregation of the phantoms (or shades, Rephaim).

The Zoroastrian books from which I have been quoting contain passages of very unequal date, but it is the opinion of Avestan scholars that most of them are from very ancient sources, pre-Solomonic, and there is no chronological difficulty in supposing that such institutions as the Armêst-gâh, for the separation of the unclean, should not have been well known in ancient Jerusalem before the corresponding levitical laws concerning the unclean and the leprous existed.

The Book of Proverbs was also a growth, and although, as has been stated, there is reason to regard as later additions most of the proverbs containing the word Jahveh, as they are inconsistent with the general ethical tenor of the book, there are several in which that name is evidently out of place. Even in the editorial Prologue we can hardly recognize orthodox Jahvism in the conception of a being, Wisdom, not created by Jahveh yet giving him delight and some kind of assistance at the creation; and nowhere else in the Old Testament do we find such an idea as that of xx. 27, "The spirit of a man is Jahveh's lamp," or in xix. 17:

He who is kind to the poor lendeth to Jahveh, And his good deed shall be recompensed to him.

But in the Zoroastrian religion men and women render assistance and encouragement to the gods, and we find the chief deity, Ahura Mazda, saying to Zoroaster concerning the Fravashis, or souls, of holy men and women: "Do thou proclaim, O pure Zoroaster, the vigor and strength, the glory, the help and the joy, that are in the Fravashis of the faithful ... do thou tell how they came to help me, how they bring assistance unto me.... Through their brightness and glory, O Zoroaster, I maintain that sky there above." Favardîn Yast, 1, 2.) As Frederick the Great said, "a king is the chief of subjects," so with Zoroaster Ahura Mazda is the chief of the faithful; or, as Luther said, "God is strong, but he likes to be helped."

The similitude in Proverbs xx. 27 is especially important in our inquiry:

The spirit of man is the lamp of Jahveh, Searching all the chambers of the body.

The word for "spirit" here is Nishma, which occurs in but one other instance in the Bible, namely, in Job xxvi. 4. Job asks:

To whom hast thou uttered words? And whose spirit came forth from thee?

This chapter of Job (xxvi.) is closely related to Proverbs viii. and ix., both in thought and phraseology: the Rephaim, or phantoms, the "pillars," the ordering of earth and clouds, the boundary on the deep; and there is an allusion to "the confines of Light and Darkness," which point to the domains of Wisdom and Dame Folly. Job and the proverbialist surely got these ideas from the same source, and also the word nishma, translated "spirit," which throughout the Old Testament is ruach, save in the two texts indicated. But there is no text in the Bible where ruach, spirit, or soul, is associated with light like the nishma of the proverb, and in Job nishma evidently means a superhuman spirit. Now there is a Chaldean word, nisma, which in the Persian Bundahis appears as nismô, and is translated by West, "living soul." The ordinary word for soul in the Parsi scriptures seems to be rûbân, and West regards the two words as meaning the same thing, the breath, or soul, basing this on the following passage of the Bundahis, representing the separation of the first mortal into the first human pair, Mâshya and Mâshyoi:

"And the waists of both were brought close, and so connected together that it was not clear which is the male and which the female, and which is the one whose living soul (nismô) of Aûharmazd (God) is not away (lacking). As it is said thus: 'Which is created before, the soul (nismô) or the body? And Aûharmazd said that the soul is created before, and the body after, for him who was created; it is given unto the body to produce activity, and the body is created only for activity; hence the conclusion is this, that the soul (rûbân) is created before and the body after. And both of them changed from the shape of a plant into the shape of man, and the breath (nismô) went spiritually into them, which is the soul (rûbân)." [18]

With all deference to the learned translator, I cannot think his exegesis here quite satisfactory. In the first sentence nismô is the breath of God; and although in the second the same word is used for the human soul, the writer seems to have aimed in the last sentence at a distinction: the divine breath or spirit (nismô) creates a soul (rûbân), to receive which the plant is transformed into a body fitted for the "activity" of an imbreathed soul. West twice translates nismô "living soul," but rûbân only "soul." Does not this indicate Ahura Mazda as the source of divine life, as in Genesis ii. 7, where Jahveh-Elohim breathes into man, who becomes a "living soul,"--a being within the domain of the god of life, not subject to the god of death? Is it not his rûbân that is the image of nismô? (Cf. Genesis ix. 5, 6.)

Turning now to the Avesta, we find the famous Favardin Yast, a collection of litanies and ascriptions to the Fravashis. "The Fravashi," says Darmesteter, "is the inner power in every being that maintains it and makes it grow and subsist. Originally the Fravashis were the same as the Pitris of the Hindus or the Manes of the Latins, that is to say, the everlasting and deified souls of the dead; but in course of time they gained a wider domain, and not only men, but gods and even physical objects, like the sky and the earth, had each a Fravashi." "The Fravashi was independent of the circumstances of life or death, an immortal part of the individual which existed before man and outlived him."

In Yast xxii. 39, 40, it is said: "O Maker, how do the souls of the dead, the Fravashis of the holy Ones, manifest themselves?" Ahura Mazda answered: "They manifest themselves from goodness of spirit and excellence of mind."

Favardin Yast, 9: "Through their brightness and glory, O Zarathrustra, I maintain the wide earth," etc. 12: "Had not the awful Fravashis of the faithful given help unto me, those animals and men of mine, of which there are such excellent kinds, would not subsist; strength would belong to the fiend."

In other verses these Fravashis (the word means "protectors") help the children unborn, nourish health, develop the wise. The imagery relating to them is largely related to the stars, of which many are guardians. These are probably the origin of the Solomonic similitude of reason, "The spirit (nishma) of man is the lamp of----?"

With all of these correspondences between the Solomonic proverbs, nothing is more remarkable than their originality, so far as any ancient scriptures are concerned. While they are totally different from the Psalms, in showing man as a citizen of the world, relying on himself and those around him for happiness, and exalting nothing above human virtue and intelligence, without any religious fervor or wrath, the proverbialist is equally far from the ethical superstitions of Zoroastrian religion, which abounds in fictitious "merits" and anathematises fictitious immoralities. It is as if some sublime Eastern pedlar and banker of ethical and poetic gems, who had come in contact with Oriental literatures, had separated from their liturgies and prophecies the nuggets of gold and the precious stones, polishing, resetting, and exciting others to do the like. At the same time many of the sentences are the expressions of an original mind, a man of letters, neither Eastern nor Oriental, and these may be labelled with the line of the Persian poet Faizi: "Take Faizi's Díwán to bear witness to the wonderful speeches of a freethinker who belongs to a thousand sects."