EDUCATION JDEPT.
C
EDUCATION
IN ANCIENT ISRAEL
FROM EARLIEST TIMES TO 70 A.D.
BY
FLETCHER H. SWIFT
PROFESSOR OF EDUCATION
COLLEGE OF EDUCATION, UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA
CHICAGO LONDON
THE OPEN COURT PUBLISHING COMPANY
1919
L A 4*7
DEFT-
COPYRIGHT BY
THE OPEN COURT PUBLISHING COMPANY
1919
Reproduced from original edition by the
CARLISLE Lithotone process of printing.
A. CARLISLE & CO.,
UPHAM & RUTLEDGE, INC.
1 35 Post Street
SAN FRANCISCO
1936
EDUCATION DEPT.
AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED TO
MY FATHER
WHO, FROM MY EARLIEST YEARS,
TAUGHT ME TO KNOW, REVERENCE AND LOVE THE LAW.
M56924
PREFACE.
Most treatments of Hebrew education available in Eng-
lish are either out of date or inadequate. The longer one
studies the origins of modern education the more difficult
does he find it to explain the meagerness of the accounts of
Hebrew education thus far presented. Authors of educa-
tional histories who have felt it incumbent upon them to
include in their treatment of Greek education a discussion
of music, dancing, physical and military training, have
omitted these and other equally important topics from their
discussions of Hebrew education. The fact that the infor-
mation concerning these phases of ancient Hebrew educa-
tion is in many cases meager and incomplete is no reason
for failing to present such data as are available.
The following account is, I believe, the first attempt in
English to give education in Ancient Israel any such broad
treatment as has long been accorded to that of other ancient
peoples. There is no people whose history presents more
difficulties, and none which leaves more room for the play
of the personal equation of the writer. It is not to be
expected that all the positions presented in this little volume
will commend themselves to every reader. It is not offered
in any sense as an apologetic of any theory of Hebrew
history. Its aim is set forth in the statement of its problem
(see page 4). It is hoped that whatever may be its defects
it will lead the reader to see that the environment in which
the native genius of the Hebrews ripened was a rich and
varied one, and that the educative influences were many,
not few. If, in addition to this, it stimulates future writers
VI PREFACE.
upon Hebrew education to break away from narrow tradi-
tional limits it will not have been written in vain.
The fact that the present account does not extend beyond
70 A. D. accounts for omitting from the bibliography a
number of standard authorities (e.g., Grassberger) which
deal solely or chiefly with post-Biblical education.
In the spelling of Hebrew words, the Jewish Encyclopedia
has been followed except in cases where some change seemed
necessary in view of the public for whom the present volume
is designed.
An explanation of the use of numerals and letters in the
citation of authorities will be found in the note preceding
the Bibliography at the end of the volume.
The author wishes to acknowledge the valuable assistance
he has received from Rabbi S. N. Deinard of Minneapolis,
formerly professor of Hebrew Literature and History, Uni-
versity of Minnesota, Professor Julius H. Greenstone of
Gratz College, Philadelphia, Professor Theodore G. Soares
of the University of Chicago, and Rabbi C. David Matt of
Minneapolis, each of whom gave the manuscript a most
careful reading and whose criticisms and suggestions have
led to a number of important revisions.
FLETCHER HARPER SWIFT.
UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA,
February 5, 1919.
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
PAGES
THE NATIVE OR PRE- EXILIC PERIOD, GENERAL SURVEY 116
Summary of Chapter 3
Introduction 3 7
Hebraism and Christianity 4
The Problem 4
Periods in Hebrew History 6
Periods in Hebrew Education 6 7
Historical Survey of the Native Period 7 11
The Conquest 7
Period of the Judges 8
Tribal Kings and Monarchy of Saul 8
Reign of David, 1010973 B. C 9
Reign of Solomon, 973933 B. C 10
Division of Kingdom, 933 B. C 10
Fall of Israel, 723 B. C 11
Judah, 933 B. C 70 A. D 11
Determining Factors in Hebrew Life 11 16
Nomadism 12
Environment 12
Contact with Foreign Nations 13
Distinctive Beliefs and Religious Conceptions 13
Book of Instruction and Reforms of King Josiah, 621 B.C.. 14
Primitive Conception of Yahweh IS
Prophetic Conception of Yahweh 1516
CHAPTER II.
EDUCATION DURING THE NATIVE OR PRE-EXILIC PERIOD 17 38
Summary of Chapter 19
General Characteristics, Social and Religious 19 20
The Twofold Ideal of Manhood . 20
Vlll TABLE OF CONTENTS.
PAGES
Educational Characteristics 20 21
Institutions Subjects Method 21
Boys' Education in Tribe and Family 2131
Who Was Taught 22
Teachers 22
Periods in Education 22
What Was Taught 2331
Industrial and Physical Training . 23
Military Training 2324
Athletics and Games 24
Music Dancing 24 25
Oral Literature Traveling Bards as Teachers 25 26
Written Literature Character and Evolution of the
Canon 2627
Reading and Writing 27
Use by Religious and Official Classes 28
Popular Use and Knowledge 28 30
Religion 30
Morals 30
Boys' Education Outside of the Family 31 38
Institutions 31
Temples 31
Teaching Orders 32 38
Levites and Priests 3234
a. Origin 32
b. Functions, Services as Teachers 33
Prophets or Orator-Teachers 34
a. Origin 34
b. Entrance into Public Affairs Characteristics 35
c. Literary Work 36
d. Education in Prophetic Communities . . /. 36
e. Services as Teachers Times and Places of Instruction 37
/. Methods ;.... 37
g. Educational Importance 38
CHAPTER III.
GENERAL SURVEY OF THE PERIOD OF REACTION TO FOREIGN IN-
FLUENCES, 586 B. C. 70 A. D 3946
Summary of Chapter 41
TABLE OF CONTENTS. IX
FACES
Historical Outline 4144
Babylonian Exile, 586-538 B. C 42
Literary Renaissance 42
Persian Period, 539332 B. C 42
Greek Period, 332167 B. C 43
Maccabean Period, 16763 B. C 43
Roman Period, 63 B. C. 70 A. D 44
General Characteristics 44 46
Hierocracy and Democracy 44 45
Hellenism Religious and Moral Decline 45
The Diaspora 46
CHAPTER IV.
EDUCATION IN THE FAMILY AFTER THE EXILE 4772
Summary of Chapter 49
The Family as an Educational Institution 49 53
Desire for Children 49
Parental Responsibility 50
Parental Authority a Divine Right 51
Parents as Teachers 52
Conception of Child Nature Corporal Punishment . . 52 53
Periods in Child Life and Education '. . 54 59
Childhood the Time for Learning 54
Distinguishing Rites 54 59
Rites of Infancy and Circumcision 54
Mothers' Purification Rites 55
Weaning Feast 55
Adolescent Rites 55
Circumcision 56
Zizit 57
Tefillin or Phylacteries 5758
Bar Mizwah 59
Educational Significance of Period Rites 59
Periods in School Life (Table) 5960
What Was Taught 6072
Industrial Education -. , 60
Music 61
Dancing 6162
Religion . . 6266
X TABLE OF CONTENTS.
PAGES
Holiness as the Ideal 62
Earliest Religious Education The Mezuzah 62
Religious Literature 63
Prayer 64
Festivals in the Home 64
The Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread 65
Morals 6667
Religious Basis 66
Virtues Emphasized Obedience 66 67
Manners 6& 72
Religious Basis 68
Simplicity, Meekness and Humility 69
Conversation, Whispering 69
Topics of Conversation 70
Curiosity 71
Table Manners Gluttony , 71
Ecclesiasticus on Table Manners 71
Neighbors 72
Hospitality \ 72
CHAPTER V.
EDUCATION IN SCHOOL AND SOCIETY AFTER THE EXILE 73108
Summary of Chapter 75
Educational Characteristics and Tendencies 76 79
Zeal for Education 76
Place of Religion and Morals in Post-Exilic Life and
Education 77
The Scribe as the Post-Exilic Educational Ideal 78
Physical Education Greek Influence 79
Who Was Taught 79
Teachers 8086
Decline of Priests and Prophets as Teachers 80
The Soferim or Scribes 80
Origin 81
The Ideal Scribe 82-33
Educational Services 84
Defects and Weaknesses 84
Rabbis . 84-85
TABLE OF CONTENTS. XI
PAGES
The Perushim or Pharisees 85
Origin Characteristics 85
Educational Institutions 86102
Rise of Universal Education 86
The Synagogue 8791
Origin and Spread 87
General Character and Purpose 87
Order of Service 8890
Educational Significance 90
Elementary Schools 9199
Origin and Extension . 91
Compulsory Education 92
Rival Claims of Simon ben Shetach and Joshua ben
Gamala 9295
Organization of Elementary Schools 95
a. Teachers : Numbers, Social Standing, Rewards 95
b. Aim of the Elementary School 96
c. Studies 97
d. Texts 98
e. Methods, Reviews, Incentives to Study 98
Results of Elementary Education 99
Schools of the Soferim 100102
Origin 100
Studies 100
a. The Halakah 101
b. The Hagadah : The Talmud 101
Methods . 101
Support 102
Festivals 103^-104
Origin, Number, Character 103
Table of Festivals 103104
Educational Significance 103
The Temple . - 104108
Influence Upon the Synagogue 104
Order of Service 105107
Educational Significance 107 108
Xll TABLE OF CONTENTS.
CHAPTER VI.
WOMAN AND THE EDUCATION OF GIRLS 109 116
Summary of Chapter Ill
Woman in the Home and in Society Ill
Social Status 112
Daughters Less Esteemed than Sons 113
Reverence and Respect for Women 113
Ideal of Womanhood 113115
Educational Institutions 115
Aim and Content of Education 116
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 117 125
INDEX . 127134
CHAPTER I.
THE NATIVE OR PRE-EXILIC PERIOD.
THE NATIVE OR PRE-EXILIC PERIOD.
GENERAL SURVEY.
"For nearly two thousand years conceptions,
standards and ideals. . .originating in the spiri-
tual experience of the ancient Hebrews have in-
spired, rebuked, comforted and guided the na-
tions of an ever-extending Christendom." See
below, p. 4.
Summary of Chapter.
To the ancient Hebrews, Christendom owes the largest portion of
its religious and moral heritage. Our problem is to discover how
thislteritage arose, and what part education played in its development
and transmission.
The Hebrews were originally nomadic tribes. About 1150 B. O. 1
they invaded Palestine which they gradually conquered, meanwhile
advancing from nomadism to agricultural and industrial life. In Pal-
estine the various tribes united for a short time in a single monarchy.
This monarchy became divided about 933 B. C. into two rival king-
doms, Judah and Israel. Israel fell about 723 B. C. Judah continued
as a nation with varying fortunes until 70 A. D.
The history of Judah falls into two great periods, separated by
forty-eight years, 2 586-538 B. C., of enforced sojourn in Babylon,
commonly called the Exile. Prior to the Exile the Hebrews borrowed
much from foreign nations. Nevertheless, what they borrowed they
largely made over in accordance with their own native genius ; hence,
we call this period the Native Period.
INTRODUCTION.
As the Greeks and Romans may be said to have special-
ized unwittingly for the race, the former in intellectual
1 All dates prior to 586 B. C. must be considered approximate, see
below, notes 4 and 5.
2 Seventy years, if the Exile be considered (which it frequently is)
as continuing to the dedication of the second temple, 516 B. C.
4 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT ISRAEL.
culture and the latter in social institutions and law, so the
Hebrews may be described as the people who vicariously
Hebrairtn and created or evolved the major portion of our re-
psriatiarcitjr; %ious and moral heritage. One nation after
another through the channel of Hebrew experience has ap-
proached the Hebrew God of righteousness, and risen to
spiritual conceptions before unknown to it.
The early institutional divorce between Judaism and
Christianity and the continued independent existence of the
two has tended to obscure their original relationship. The
founder of Christianity was reared in a Jewish- home, went
to Jewish schools 8 and frankly based his sublimest teachings
;'pon those of the Hebrew prophets. For nearly two thou-
sand years conceptions, standards and ideals reborn in the
teachings and life of Jesus of Nazareth, but nevertheless
originating in the spiritual experience of the ancient He-
brews, have inspired, rebuked, comforted and guided "the
nations of an ever-extending Christendom.
What are the fundamental characteristics of Hebrew re-
ligion and morals, what part did education play in the devel-
opment of the religious and moral conscious-
The Problem. . .
ness of that race whose conceptions were des-
tined to dominate the spiritual life of a thousand alien
peoples and whose literary monuments have for centuries
served as primer and final text for Christendom? What
were the institutions, who were the teachers, what were the
methods through which this national consciousness and its
heritage of doctrines and ideals were stimulated, fostered,
preserved and transmitted? Before attempting to answer
these questions it may be well to recall the more important
periods in Hebrew history and to survey, however briefly,
a few of the most important events and movements con-
nected with each, as a basis for interpreting the educational
development of the Hebrews.
8 A. Edersheim, In the Days of Christ, Chap. VII, 118a; Martin
Seidel, In the Time of Jesus, pp. 122d-123a.
THE NATIVE OR PRE-EXILIC PERIOD.
TABLE I.
PERIODS IN HEBREW HISTORY.
I. Nomadism. From earliest beginnings to the conquest and
settlement of Palestine.
1. From earliest beginnings to invasion of Palestine, 1150
B.C.*
2. Period of the Judges: From 1150 B.C. or earlier to 1030
B.C.
II. Period of Monarchy.
1. Reign of Saul (at first over the tribe of Benjamin only)
1030-1010 B. C.
2. Reign of David, 1010-973 B. C.
3. Reign of Solomon, 973-933 B. C.
Monarchy divided 933 B. C.
III. Period of the Rival Monarchies Judah and Israel : From divi-
sion of the monarchy 933 B. C. to fall of the kingdom
of Israel, 723 B. C.
TABLE II.
PERIODS IN THE HISTORY OF JUDAH.
I. First Period of Home Rule: From the division of the mon-
archy, 933 B. C., to the beginning of the Babylonian Exile,
586 B. C.
II. Under Foreign Masters, 586-175 B. C.
1. Under Babylon, 586-538 B. C.
2. Under Persia, 538-333 B. C.
3. Under Greece, Egypt and Syria (Greek influence con-
tinuous), 332-175 B. C.
III. Home Rule Restored (Maccabean Period), 175-63 B.C.
IV. Under Rome : From Roman conquest, 63^B. C., to the fall of
Jerusalem, 70 A. D.
4 1230 B. C. is the approximate date given by many writers, see F.
Hommel, The Civilisation of the East, p. 80; James Frederick Mc-
Curdy, History, Prophecy and the Monuments, I, 225, sec. 183, gives
1160 B. C
5 See above, note 1. How widely historians differ will be seen by
comparing the dates in tables of H. P. Smith, Old Testament History,
pp. 499ff, with those of H. Graetz, History of the Jews, VI, 90ff.
6 722 is the date commonly given. 723 seems to be well substan-
tiated by the arguments of A. T. Olmstead, Western Asia in the Days
of S argon of Assyria, p. 45 and note 9.
6 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT ISRAEL.
The history of the Hebrews is the history of the rise,
development and final organization of a number of Semitic
Periods in tribes into a short-lived monarchy, the division
Hebrew History. Qf this monarc hy mto two states, Judah and
Israel, and the subsequent histories of these two separate
kingdoms. Tables I and II indicate the main periods in this
history.
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The periods in the history of Hebrew education neces-
sarily follow closely the .periods of political history, as
THE NATIVE OR PRE-EXILIC PERIOD. 7
changes in education are always closely related to political
and social changes. However, the uncertainty of our knowl-
Periods in edge concerning the time and origin of many
Hebrew Educa- educational changes forces us to be satisfied
with a somewhat loose division. The type
of dominant educational institution offers a concrete basis
for such a division. (Table III.)
HISTORICAL SURVEY OF THE NATIVE PERIOD.
It is, perhaps, between three and four thousand years
ago that a number of nomadic Semitic tribes, to be known
collectively to future generations as Israelites,
The Conquest. . . . ....
began making their way with their families,
flocks and herds into Palestine, that region of southwestern
Asia which lies between the eastern end of the Mediter-
ranean Sea and the northwestern border of the Arabian
desert. The fair and fertile country which they were enter-
ing and which they were destined to conquer was already in
the possession of a kindred people, the Canaanites, who
lived in walled cities and were much in advance of the in-
vading nomads in industries, social institutions and modes
of warfare.
The days of invasion and conquest are wrapt in ob-
scurity. It appears, however, that the process was long and
gradual, extending over several centuries. 8 Bloody conquest,
land purchase and intermarriage, all played a part. In the
end the Israelites were victorious and largely absorbed or
amalgamated their vanquished kinsmen. Meanwhile the
invaders had passed from the nomadism of the Arabian
deserts to a semi-nomadic, semi-agricultural life. Walled
cities became their homes. The tents of the desert were
given up for fixed abodes. 9
The new life and contact with the more advanced Cana-
8 See H. P. Smith, Old Testament History, pp. 73-86, for a critical
account of the Conquest.
P Chas. F. Kent, Biblical Geography and History, pp. 87-146, gives
a brief but clear historical survey of the invasion and settlement.
8 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT ISRAEL.
anites brought many changes, industrial, social, political,
intellectual and religious. "While hitherto not ignorant of
field-labor, they became now agriculturists with settled
abodes, houses, lands, vineyards and olive yards. Plowing,
in simple fashion, sowing and reaping, threshing and win-
nowing, gathering in grain and fruits. . .were added to (their
former occupation of) raising cattle." 10 "It is probable that
.... (the Israelites) learned from. . . . (the Canaanites) not
only agriculture and the simple arts, but also their system
of weights and measures and the mode of writing." 11
During the earlier centuries of the Conquest the various
tribes continued to maintain, independent of one another,
Period of the much of the tribal organization brought from
judges. the desert. "The sheiks have a certain in-
fluence due to the purity of their blood, but the influence
is never sufficient to coerce the freeman of the tribe." 12
Nevertheless, "as well defined communities arose, under the
influence of tfre example of Canaanite cities, municipal or-
ganizations were effected ; and we read of 'elders of the
city' (Judges viii. 16) ." 11 This condition of affairs led to a
period known as the Period of the Judges, characterized
by the leadership of tribal heroes in the still independent
and ununited tribes. "Out of the need of concerted action
in time of war grew the tribal champion whose leadership
extended beyond that of his own tribe ; and out of the
champion grew the 'judge' or arbiter in time of peace." 11
It was only a step for a tribe which had been accus-
tomed to follow tribal heroes as leaders in time of war and
Tribal Kings and to turn to them to settle disputes in times of
Monarchy of Saul p ea ce, to elect such a hero as Gideon, Jeph-
thah or Abimelech to a permanent position of leadership
and bestow upon him the title of king. This was probably
the manner in which the first step toward establishing a
10 Ismar J. Peritz, Old Testament History, p. 114.
11 Ibid., p. 118, p. 117.
12 H. P. Smith, Old Testament History, p. 88.
THE NATIVE OR PRE-EXILIC PERIOD.
monarchy was^taken through the election of Saul as the
king of the tribe of Benjamin. 13 Saul's sway apparently
came in time to include several tribes, but accurate knowl-
edge as to the extent of his domain is lacking. 14 What he
did for its organization is also left untold. 15
The next Israelite to gain an intertribal kingship of
importance was David of the tribe of Judah. Brought to
Reign of David the court of Saul in the capacity of court
1010-973 B. c. minstrel, he rose so rapidly in public favor
that he aroused the jealousy of the king and was obliged
to flee from court. He now placed himself at the head of
a band of outlaws (1 Samuel xxii. 2). 16 Recognition of
his courage, prowess and ability as a leader eventually led
to his election as king by the tribal sheikhs assembled at
Hebron, "the capital of Caleb or possibly of an alliance of
clans afterward merged into Judah." 17
At the beginning of David's kingship, Israel was an
aggregation of tribes "only feebly conscious of their com-
mon blood. Some of them were largely made up of Cana-
anite elements. Their jealousies of each other were noto-
rious." 18 David conquered the Jebusite city of Jerusalem
and made it the capital of his kingdom. His ambition fell
short of nothing less than the union of all the tribes of
Israel into a single kingdom with himself as king. 19 He
succeeded in laying the foundations of such a monarchy.
His position as king of Israel appears to have received defi-
nite recognition by outside powers as well as by the electing
tribes. The royal court was much more thoroughly organ-
ized than under Saul. Not the least important of his acts
13 Ibid., p. 116. 14 Ibid., p. 121.
15 For an excellent brief summary of the conclusions of scholars
concerning Hebrew history down to the establishment of the mon-
archy consult George Aaron Barton, A Sketch of Semitic Origins, pp.
270d-275b.
16 H. P. Smith, Old Testament History, pp. 129-130.
Ibid., p. 133. i 8 Ibid., pp. 142-143. Ibid., p. 137.
10 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT ISRAEL.
was the establishment at Jerusalem of the royal sanctuary
or king's chapel, destined to develop some three hundred
years later into the national temple and sole lawful place
of sacrifice.
In the year 973 B.C., shortly before his death, David
proclaimed his son Solomon king. The new monarch as-
Reign of Solo- sumed toward his subjects the attitude, not
mon 973-933 B.C. o f an electoral king of free tribesmen, but of
an oriental despot. Ignoring the traditional division into
consanguineous tribes, Solomon divided his territory into
geographical districts, each ruled over by a pasha. 20 Solo-
mon was the victim of the building mania "that possesses
all 'grand monarchs.' " He not only rebuilt the capital but
fortified various other cities. 21 He gloried in wealth, costly
buildings and luxury. His resplendent palace and temple
were of a beauty and costliness so unprecedented as soon to
become symbols of regal grandeur. He entered the world of
commerce and built his own ships and sent his own servants
under Phoenician masters to trade with Arabia. In order
to carry out his worldly ambitions Solomon oppressed his
subjects in a manner scarcely to be endured by the descend-
ants of the free-born sons of the desert. He levied heavy
taxes upon them, compelled them to serve without pay in
the erection of public works and forced them to labor in
alien states.
To Solomon is ascribed a reign of forty years. The
dissatisfaction and unrest created by his policies found ex-
Division of the P res sion in an appeal addressed to his son
Kingdom Rehoboam, upon his accession to the throne.
The appeal was in vain. Rehoboam was deaf
to all entreaties (1 Kings xii). Revolt broke out. Only
two tribes, Judah and Benjamin, remained loyal to the reign-
ing house. These two formed the kingdom of Judah with
Jerusalem as its capital. The remaining tribes set up the
20 Ibid., p. 157. 21 Ibid., p. 158.
THE NATIVE OR PRE-EXILIC PERIOD. 11
kingdom of Israel in the north with Shechem 22 as its capital
and Jeroboam as its king.
Israel, after a checkered history covering about two
hundred years (933-723 B.C.), fell under the onslaught of
Fail of Israel the Assyrian kings, Shalmaneser IV (d. 727
723 B.C. B.C.) and Sargon (reigned 727-705 B.C.).
Many of its inhabitants were scattered throughout the prov-
inces of Assyria and were absorbed by the surrounding pop-
ulation. A similar fate appears to have attended those whom
Sargon allowed to remain in Palestine. The kingdom of
Israel had fallen to rise no more.
The history of Judah extends from its establishment
following the division of the kingdom 933 B. C, to the
judah 933 B. c.- final destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans,
70 A. D. 70 A. D., and the subsequent dispersion of
the Jews. This long history falls into two main divisions,
separated by a period of enforced sojourn in Babylonia
586-538 B. C., commonly known as the Babylonian Exile.
From the division of the kingdom up to the time of the Exile
the little kingdom of Judah, though much of the time paying
tribute to Egypt, Assyria or some other foreign power*
nevertheless maintained a separate political existence. In
the year 586 B. C. this existence came to an end. From 586
B. C. to 70 A. D., with the exception of the century of Mac-
cabean leadership (175-63 B.C.), Judah passed from one
foreign master to another Babylonia, Persia, Greece, Rome.
DETERMINING FACTORS IN HEBREW LIFE.
The history of the Hebrews and of their social insti-
tutions was largely determined by the following seven im-
portant factors : ( 1 ) their early nomadism ; (2) their environ-
ment, including the location, size and physical characteristics
of Palestine; (3) their contact with foreign nations; (4)
their own political weakness; (5) their prolonged subjection
22 Samaria was, of course, the capital of Israel throughout the
greater portion of its history.
12 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT ISRAEL.
to foreign masters ; (6) the supreme place ultimately given
to religion; (7) the character of their religious conceptions,
particularly their final monotheistic conception of God as a
righteous, loving and universal father. 23
The records we possess tell little of the centuries of
Bedawin life that preceded the migration into Palestine.
But what the written accounts failed or re-
Nomadism. ... , .,,.,,. ,
fused to relate, was indelibly impressed upon
the racial consciousness and imbedded in the products of
racial experience. Myths, legends and stories of the patri-
archs handed down from early times betray unmistakable
evidences of nomadic life. Likewise, certain social institu-
tions and religious conceptions bear for centuries uncon-
scious witness to the nomadic character of the period of
their genesis.
What the Hebrews became after settling in Palestine,
the customs and ideas they acquired and their final fate
were to no small degree determined by the
Environment. . . . _L
location and physical characteristics of Pales-
tine. A small strip of land covering about 8500 square miles,
approximately the size of Massachusetts, 24 extremely fertile
in parts and lying in the direct 'path from Egypt to Baby-
lonia and Assyria, was by its location, fertility and natural
resources inevitably destined to be the perpetual battlefield
of the great nations of antiquity. The division of this small
country into distinct districts by natural barriers tended to
keep the different tribes settling it from forming any strong or
23 Some writers question whether the Hebrews ever developed a
conception of God as a universal father; a gracious universal sov-
ereign, such writers maintain, represents the climax of ancient He-
brew thought. To me such passages as 1 Kings viii. 41-43 ; Jonah
iii. 10-11 and many teachings of the prophets are sufficient basis for
the position taken here.
24 Approximately: the area of Massachusetts (8315 square miles) ;
eight times as large as Rhode Island (1250 square miles), the smallest
of the United States; one sixth the area of New York (49,170
square miles) ; and one tenth of that of Minnesota (83,365 square
miles). (Areas taken from the Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia,
Vol. IX.)
THE NATIVE OR PRE-EXILIC PERIOD. 13
lasting union and made them ready prey to internal misunder-
standings and jealousies and to conquest by outside foes.
From the time of their settlement in Palestine to their
final dispersion, the Hebrews were almost continuously in
Contact with contact with foreign civilizations. The effect
Foreign Nations. o f t his contact was many-sided and often ad-
vantageous. On the other hand, contact with pagan nations
carried with it the dangers of absorption, of loss of nation-
alism and of the adoption of moral and religious ideas and
practices of a, lower level than their own. In time, these
dangers were clearly recognized, and a studied effort was
made to devise a system able to withstand them. It was this
effort that gave rise to Judaism, uninviting in comparison
with the broad teaching of the prophets, but which, through
its very narrowness and exclusiveness, saved the national-
ity of a people scattered to the four ends of the world.
The four supreme conceptions 25 contributed by the He-
brews to the religious heritage of the race were (1) mono-
Distinctive Be- tne ^ sm ' the belief in one god and only one ;
liefs and Reiig- (2} the universal fatherhood of God; (3)
um. conceptions. the universal brotherhood of man; (4) the
union, or rather the identity, of religion and morality.
Hebrew religion was a gradual evolution. The long process
of growth by which the above conceptions were gradually
evolved can be merely suggested here. The extent to which
totemism and ancestor-worship 26 entered into primitive He-
brew religion, whether Hebrew monotheism evolved from
polytheism 27 or from henotheism 28 are still largely matters
25 It should be noted that the discussion of religion and morals in
the following paragraphs includes the post-Exilic as well as the
native period.
26 Owen C. Whitehouse, "Hebrew Religion," Enc. Brit., llth ed.,
XIII, 177 c-d.
27 F. B. Jevons, Introduction to the History of Religion, pp. 382ff,
gives an excellent summary for the arguments in favor of the poly-
theistic origin which he then proceeds to controvert.
28 Whitehouse accepts both henotheism and polytheism (for ref-
erence see above, note 26).
14 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT ISRAEL.
of conjecture and debate. Whitehouse considers it prob-
able that during nomadism "some, at least, of the Hebrew
clans had patron deities of their own." 29 Through the union
of the tribes Yahweh, formerly a tribal deity, became the
national god. 30 At the time of the Conquest, Palestine was
dotted with shrines of Baalim (singular Baal), Canaanite
local gods of agriculture and fertility. Where the Hebrews
conquered, they deposed the Baalim and set up shrines to
Yahweh. Thus local shrines to Yahweh gradually sup-
planted local Baalim. 31 The change appears to have been
frequently a change in name only, for to Yahweh at these
newly established shrines were transferred many of the
traits and the sensual and degrading rites 31 of the deposed
Baalim. 32 Yahweh was not regarded as the only god but
merely as a greater god than the gods of other nations. 33
The reality of the gods of Egypt, Phoenicia and Canaan,
far from being denied, was so thoroughly believed in that
they together with the many Yahwehs were openly wor-
shiped until the reforms of Josiah, 621 B. C.
According to Biblical record, it was in the eighteenth
year of the reign of King Josiah (621 B.C.) that the high
priest found in the royal temple in Jerusalem,
Book of Instruc- V / _ r J
tion and Reforms 3- scroll spoken of as the Book of Instruction. 84
of King Josiah The Book of Instruction forbade the worship
of any god other tharQQikiKfib, declared Jeru-
salem the sole place where sacrifices might be offered, and
29 Owen C. Whitehouse, "Hebrew Religion," Enc. Brit., llth ed.,
XIII, 177a.
30 It should be borne in mind that this view of Whitehouse, as
well as all other views, of the process of how Yahweh became the
national god of the Hebrews is distinctly hypothetical. An entirely
contrary view has long been maintained, namely, that the political
union grew out of the fact that Yahweh was the common tribal god.
Such a view, of course, reverses the process as stated by Whitehouse.
31 Owen C. \Vhitehouse, "Hebrew Religion," Enc. Brit., llth ed.,
XIII, 179d.
32 Ibid., p. 180a; cf. Jeremiah ii. 19-20; Hosea iv. 13-14.
33 Exodus xv. 11.
34 Identified with Deuteronomy xii-xix, and xxvi-xxviii.
THE NATIVE OR PRE-EXILIC PERIOD. 15
gave specific directions as to the manner of worship ac-
ceptable to Yahweh. King Josiah sought to put the new-
found regulations into effect at once. The Book of In-
struction was read publicly, and the king, speaking for
himself and as representative of the people, bound himself
and the nation to fulfil its laws. The adoption of the Book
of Instruction was an act of supreme importance. 35 It
marked the triumph of monotheism and of the prophetic
conception of Yahweh. By centering worship at Jerusalem
it made possible its control.
In early Hebrew thought Yahweh is represented as hav-
ing human characteristics and performing human activities.
Primitive Con- I ma g es are employed in worshiping him, 36 and
ception of Yah- he makes known his will through the sacred
lot. 37 He seeks to kill Moses. 38 He is des-
potic, merciless toward all who offend, beasts 39 as well as
men. He is concerned with the minute details of ceremony
and rite. His wrath is averted or his favor won and kept
by elaborate ceremonies, lavish and costly offerings not
excluding human sacrifices. 40 It is remarkable that nowhere
amid the traces of this early stage is Yahweh associated with
any of the gross immoralities which stain the biographies
of the gods of Greece, Rome and other nations. 41 Out of
this primitive non-ethical conception of Yahweh gradually
developed the prophetic conception.
Yahweh of the prophets is a god of mercy and kindness,
the protector of beasts 42 as well as of men. He is the lov-
Prophetic Con- in g> forgiving, never despairing father of all
ception of Yah- mankind. 43 Through his universal fatherhood
all men are brothers and as such are obligated
to fulfil toward one another the duties of brotherhood. He
35 H. Graetz, History of the Jeivs, I, 292-293.
36 Judges xvii and xviii. 37 Ibid.
38 Exodus iv. 24. 3 Ibid., xix. 12-13.
40 C. G. Montefiore, "Origin and Growth of the Religion of the
Ancient Hebrews," Hibbert Lectures, 1892, p. 40.
41 Ibid., pp. 37-40. 42 Jonah iv. 11. 43 Cf. above, note 23.
16 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT ISRAEL.
is the only god: all other gods have no existence. He is
the god of all nations, of Assyria as well as of Israel: to
Him shall all nations ultimately come. He is the moral ruler
of the universe. He is a god perfect and absolute in his
own righteousness (Amos). His favor depends upon right-
eousness. He demands of his worshipers not rites and
material gifts, but righteousness, lives pure and holy, con-
secrated to Yahweh and acceptable to him because reflecting
his moral characteristics.
The forces which gave rise to this later conception were
many. It arose partly as the reaction against the sensual
worship of surrounding nations, partly through borrowing
the better elements of religions with which the Hebrews
came in contact, largely as the result of the deepening of
their own spiritual life. National weakness and prolonged
subjection to foreign masters played an important part.
Between the relentless Yahweh of early times, whose anger
is appeased by the hanging of Saul's 'seven sons, 44 and the
Yahweh pictured by the Second Isaiah 45 are centuries of
subjection, persecution and suffering, and the ripening of
the religious genius of the prophets.
44 2 Samuel xxi. 1-11.
45 Isaiah xl-lxvi is commonly called the Second Isaiah. See espe-
cially Isaiah xli. 1-4; xliii. 4; xlv. 21.
CHAPTER II.
EDUCATION DURING THE NATIVE OR
PRE-EXILIC PERIOD.
EDUCATION DURING THE NATIVE OR
PRE-EXILIC PERIOD.
"And Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of
the field ; and Jacob was a quiet man, dwelling
in tents." Genesis xxv. 27.
"Young men and maidens vied with one
another in learning beautiful songs Shep-
herds and hunters at their evening rests
sang songs to the accompaniment of the flute."
Herzog, Encyclop'ddie, 2d ed., V. Extracts,
pp. 672 ff .
Summary of Chapter.
For the mass of people the Native Period was a period without
schools. The tribe and the family were the chief educational institu-
tions. Parents and relatives were the child's almost sole teachers in
private life.
During this period arose two orders, the^ priests and the gropjiets.
which fulfilled most important functions as public teachers and under
whose guidance arose a rich heritage of national literature, both oral
and written.
Toward the close of the period a national "Book of Instruction"
was adopted. This was the most conspicuous step in the beginning
of the movement which was to make of the Hebrews in the post-
Exilic Period a people of books and schools.
GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS, SOCIAL AND RELIGIOUS.
It is impossible to estimate even approximately the dura-
tion of the Native or pre-Exilic Period. From the Conquest
to the Exile is something over five centuries, but back of
the Conquest stretch unknown unrecorded centuries of
nomadism. The Native Period is marked by all those
changes, industrial, political, social, moral, religious, intel-
lectual and educational, involved in passing from the life
20 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT ISRAEL.
of wandering tribes to that of a people living in walled
cities, ruled over by a king, and pursuing as occupations,
agriculture, trades and commerce. It was a period of re-
markable religious, moral and intellectual progress. 1 It be-
gins with a bookless people who erect heaps of stones to
record events. It closes with the public adoption of a
written code, 2 destined henceforth to be a national text-
book. The foundations of Judaism had been laid. Already
the forces which were to make the Jews a "people of the
book" were at work.
Throughout the Native Period the popular i'deal of man-
hood was twofold, the man of craft and shrewdness and
The Twofold ^ e man ^ strength and courage. The man
ideal of Man- of shrewdness is represented by the thrifty
herdsman and farmer, the shrewd rrerchant,
the discerning and just judge, the crafty warrior. The man
of strength and courage is represented by the stalwart and
daring hunter and soldier. Although patriarchal life as
pictured in the Scriptures is undoubtedly much idealized,
the . character of Jacob may be accepted as a clear and
forceful embodiment of one aspect of this popular ideal: a
man of shrewdness and cunning, if need be tricky and dis-
honest, prizing highly his religious inheritance, winning by
craft against all odds. Representatives of the physical ideal
are to be met with on every hand in early narrative and
legend: Jephthah and other tribal heroes or "judges"; Saul,
who stood higher from the shoulders and upward than any
one else ; David, who slew his ten thousand.
EDUCATIONAL CHARACTERISTICS.
The educational characteristics of the Native Period
appear in sections to follow which consider the subject-matter
and institutions of education. The present section will be
1 See Chapter I, paragraphs on the Primitive and the Prophetic
Conceptions of Yahweh.
2 The so-called "Book of Instruction," identified with Deuteron-
omy xii-xix and xxvi-xxviii, see above, pp. 14-15.
EDUCATION DURING THE NATIVE PERIOD. 21
limited, therefore, to a brief statement of a few general
characteristics.
The Native Period_^ras-a_^eriod without schools. At
first the tribe, then~the~f amily, were the chief social organi-
. . zations through which education was received.
Institutions, . N
Subjects, The rise of orders of priests (Heb. kohanim)
Method. and of communities of prophets (Heb. nebiim)
undoubtedley^ed to some sort of provision for giving
special training to the members of these orders, but for
the masses of the people there were no schools. Education
was chiefly a training according to sex in the practical duties
of every-day life. This training was given, as among primi-
tive people, chiefly through actual participation, instruction
playing only a minor part. In certain respects education
was broader than in later times owing to the fact that phys-
ical sports, dancing 3 and music were more universally culti-
vated. The camp, public assemblies, temples, religious and
secular festivals supplemented the training given through
tribal and family customs and occupations.
For convenience in treatment, education will be con-
sidered under two main heads : ( 1 ) Education in the Tribe
and Family; (2) Education Outside the Family. The con-
sideration of the family as an educational institution will
be reserved, for the most part, for the post-Exilic Period,
owing to the meagerness and uncertainty of our knowledge
concerning conditions during the Native Period. With re-
spect to tribal and family education, the present chapter
will attempt to answer simply the questions, who was
taught, who did the teaching and what was taught.
BOYS' EDUCATION IN TRIBE AND FAMILY.*
In the earlier part of the Native Period all members
of the tribe of the same sex received practically the same
3 Dancing, originally a religious and patriotic exercise, came in
later times to be limited to the field of secular festive activities. See
below, paragraphs on Music Dancing.
4 For a discussion of girls' education see Chapter VI.
22 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT ISRAEL.
training. It may be that the eldest son as the prospective
successor to the position of tribe chief received some special
Who was training in religious rites, tribal ceremonies,
Taught. institutions and laws. This view is supported
by Graetz who writes: "Collaterally (with the priesthood)
there existed a custom, dating from remote patriarchal ages,
which demanded that the first-born of every family should
attend to the performance of sacrificial rites. This pre-
rogative could not be abruptly abolished, and continued for
some time alongside of the Levitical priesthood." 5
The rise of the priesthood and the prophets as distinct
classes brought into existence two orders demanding special
training.
In tribal days -the education of the child was in the hands
of the parents and adult members of the tribe. Upon
settlement in Canaan the family became the
fundamental social unit and the training and
instruction of the children became almost entirely a matter
of parental responsibility. In some cases, however, the
parents delegated the rearing of their children to others.
The Scriptures contain references to "nursing fathers," 6
and "nursing mothers," 7 male and female nurses. Ruth's
child was nursed by Naomi. 8 Jonathan's four-year old son
was in charge of a nurse, 9 and Ahab's seventy sons were
reared by the great men of Samaria. 10
Undoubtedly the Hebrews from earliest times in com-
mon with other primitive peoples, consciously or uncon-
Periods in Edu- sciously, recognized distinct periods in child
cation. ijf e anc [ modified training and instruction ac-
cordingly. Definite recognition of such periods is found
in the post-Exilic Period, and will be described in the next
chapter. In the present chapter no attempt will be made to
present the activities, occupations and training of the child
8 H. Graetz, History of the Jews, I, 25. Numbers xi. 12.
7 Isaiah xlix. 23. Ruth iv. 16.
9 2 Samuel iv. 4. 10 2 Kings x. 1-7.
EDUCATION DURING THE NATIVE PERIOD. 23
upon the basis of stages; owing to lack of data, a general
treatment must suffice.
What Was Taught.
In early childhood, play, in later childhood and youth,
work, industrial occupations and training in the use of
industrial and weapons were the activities through which
Physical Train- physical development and training were se-
cured. During the period of nomadism and
for a considerable time after settlement in Canaan every
tribesman looked forward to the life of a herdsman, warrior
and hunter. To these occupations were added upon settle-
ment in Canaan agriculture, building, and other trades and
crafts.
Following the establishment of the monarchy and the
rise of cities, trades and crafts of a considerable variety
developed. The most important crafts and industrial occu-
pations came now to be: (1) agriculture, (2) cattle- raising
and grazing, (3) fishing, (4) mining, (5) building, (6) car-
pentry and wood- working, (7) metal- work, (8) spinning,
(9) weaving, (10) dyeing, (11) tanning, (12) tent-making,
(13) pottery-making, (14) making of tools to be used in
trades and crafts.
Implements and processes were simple; nevertheless, all
occupations put a value upon strength and physical dex-
terity. In the camp, on the march, in pasture land, in shop
or in market place, the boy under the direction of his father
or elder kinsmen learned to perform the tasks of his gene-
ration. 11
Just as the social conditions made it necessary for every
boy to be given industrial training, so the troublous political
Military Train- conditions made it necessary that every adult
in &- male be ready at a moment's notice to answer
the call tojarms. Consequently every boy would learn the
use~of~weapons. Preparation for war consisted chiefly in
11 Compare these statements with Chapter IV, paragraphs on In-
dustrial Education.
24 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT ISRAEL.
training in the use of the sling, the bow and arrow, the
sword, shield, spear. Later in some cases, riding and chariot-
driving would be taught. Many passages in the Scriptures
chronicle a display of skill which could not have been
gained except through long and persistent practice and train-
ing. David's skill in the use of the sling 12 is known to every
one. An illuminating passage in Judges reads : "Among all
this people there were seven hundred chosen men left-
handed ; every one could sling stones at an hair-breadth and
not miss." 13
That athletics and physical sports such as ball games,
jumping, running races and contests in archery had a place
Athletics and * n tne ^^ f tms period is indicated by a
Games. number of passages: "He will toss thee like
a ball ;" 14 "I will shoot as though I shot at a mark ;" 16 "He
hath set me a mark for the arrow ;" 16 "And rejoiceth as a
strong man to run his course." 17
"Young men and maidens vied with one another in
learning beautiful songs, and cheered with them the festival
Music. gatherings of the villages, and the still higher
Dancing. assemblies at the sanctuaries of the tribes.
THe maidens at Shilo went yearly with songs and dances into
the vineyards ; 18 and those of Gilead repeated the sad story
of Jephthah's daughter. 19 The boys learned David's lament
over Jonathan, 20 shepherds and hunters at their evening rests
by the springs of the wilderness sang songs to the accom-
paniment of the flute." 21
From the fact that David "danced before Yahweh" 22
and from other instances, it is evident that dancing was
12 1 Samuel xvii. 50. 13 Judges xx. 16. 14 Isaiah xxii. 18.
15 1 Samuel xx. 20. 16 Lamentations Hi. 12. 17 Psalms xix. 5.
18 Judges xxi. 21. 19 Ibid., xi. 40. 2 2 Sam. i. 19-27.
21 Judges v. 11. Cf. Herzog, Encyclopedic, 2d ed., V, pp. 672 et
sea. (Quotation and reference from C. A. Briggs, Introduction to
the Study of Holy Scripture, p. 356.)
22 2 Samuel vi. 14.
EDUCATION DURING THE NATIVE PERIOD. 25
originally a religious as well as a patriotic and festive exer-
cise. 23 It was probably combined with song and dramatic
gesture. Often the Hebrew youth accompanied his song
with the kinnor 24 or played the flute while others sang. In
certain families and in preparation for certain public festi-
vals there may have been some provision for systematic
instruction in dancing, singing, playing the kinnor or the
flute. But probably music and dancing were learned with-
out any formal instruction, i. e., children picked them up
by watching, imitating, and now and then joining in the
performance. It was for the most part in the same in-
formal manner that the children of each generation learned
from their elders ballads, lyrics, funeral dirges, patriotic
songs, chants and prayers.
The history of literature during the Native Period falls
into two minor periods : _(lX~rtJ e age of oral transmission
Oral Literature- OI ~ the a e f SOn S and St r y ' ( 2 ) the a S C f
Traveling Bards written literature. Such passages as Genesis
xxxi. 44-52 and Joshua iv seem to indicate
that prior to a widespread knowledge of reading and writ-
ing it was customary to erect heaps of stones to indicate
the site of important events, and then to transmit orally
from generation to generation the narrative connected there-
with. Laws, traditions, myths, songs, riddles, fables, pro-
verbs and prayers were handed down orally for many cen-
turies before they were committed to writing.
"Many of Israel's traditions undoubtedly continued for
centuries to be recorded simply in the minds of the people.
As among the nomadic Arabs to-day they were recounted
during the long evenings beside the campfires, or as the
shepherds watched their slow moving flocks, or in the secret
of the harem, or at the wells as the maidens went out to
draw water, or at marriage feasts and religious festivals.
23 Later times came to look with disapproval upon dancing as a
form of worship and relegated its use more and more to secular
festive occasions.
24 An eight-stringed lyre.
26 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT ISRAEL.
Possibly, as throughout all the towns of modern Palestine,
there were found professional story-tellers who, whenever
men gathered together for recreation, recited with gesture
and action their bundle of tales. The stones appealed
strongly to the imagination of the people, for they told of
courtship, of marriage, of intrigue, and of the achievements
of: their ancestors, or else answered the questions which
were uppermost in their minds [i. e., questions regarding
the origin of man and the world in which he lives, differ-
ences in races and languages]. Other traditions, embodying
the experiences of the tribe, were transmitted as sacred
from father to son. Another large group was treasured at
the many local sanctuaries scattered throughout the land.
Each time that the worshipers made a pilgrimage to the
shrine, its especial cycle of traditions relating to its history
and ceremonies would be recounted or recalled and thus
kept fresh in the popular memory." 25 "In the picturesque,
concrete form of popular traditions were transmitted the
thoughts, the beliefs, the fancies and the experiences of
preceding generations. The variety of the motives and in-
fluences which gave rise to these is astonishing. Some were
at first intended simply to entertain, others to enlighten, to
kindle patriotism, to instruct in ritual, and to inspire true
faith and action. They touch almost every side of human
experience, and meet in a remarkable manner man's varied
needs." 26
Gradually through the offices of priest, prophet and scribe
a body of written literature began to appear. Each period
produced its own group of written works or
Written Litera- - ~ ,. , , . f * . .
ture Character scrolls. Out of this mass of writings there
the canon' 011 "* rac * ua Ny emerged a group accepted as canon-
ical, i. e., as bearing the stamp of divine author-
ity. Every work so produced gave one more text to be
studied by the rising generation. As finally established the
25 C. F. Kent, Beginnings of Hebrew History, p. 13.
29 Ibid. p. 12.
EDUCATION DURING THE NATIVE PERIOD.
canQn included three chief divisions, (1) the-JLaw ; (2)
the Pcopfeets; (3) the Writings. It is agreed among schol-
ars that the first division of the canon, the Law, 27 was
constituted and officially adopted through the influence of
Ezra and Nehemiah 28 in the fifth century B. C. The sec-
ond division, the Prophets, 29 was probably not completed
before the third century B. C. 30 The third division, the
Writings, 31 was closed in the year 118 A. D. when the
Council of Rabbis meeting at Jamnia decided in favor of the
canonicity of Ecclesiastes and the Song of Songs which
up to that time had been in dispute. 32 From the above data
it is evident, ( 1 ) that the canon was not finally determined
until the second century A. D. ; (2) that there was in exist-
ence among the Hebrews, at least three hundred years be-
fore the Exile, a considerable body of written literature.
When did the three R's come to be of such general use
as to be considered essentials in education? It is generally
Reading and agreed that the Hebrews adopted, during their
Writing. conquest and settlement of Palestine, the Cana-
anite systems of writing and of weights and measures. 33
However, this does not prove that a knowledge of reading,
writing and reckoning became general at this time, nor does
it preclude the existence and use of earlier systems. 34 "The
27 The Law includes Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deu-
teronomy.
28 C. A. Briggs, Introduction to the Study of Holy Scripture, p. 120.
29 Included in the Prophets are: (1) earlier prophets: Joshua,
Judges, 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings; (2) the later prophets:
Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and the twelve "minor" prophets.
30 C. A. Briggs, Introduction to the Study of Holy Scripture, p. 123.
31 Included in the Writings are: (1) Psalms, Proverbs, Job; (2)
The Five Rolls: Song of Solomon, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes,
Esther; (3) Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, Chronicles.
32 C. A. Briggs, Introduction to the Study of Holy Scripture, p. 130
33 Ismar J. Peritz, Old Testament History, p. 118.
34 "The cuneiform script was perhaps still in use in Palestine in the
tenth and eleventh centuries B. C., meanwhile the north-Semitic al-
phabet appears (about 850 B.C.)." S. A. Cook, "Pakstine," Enc.
Brit., llth ed., XX, 608-609a.
28 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT ISRAEL.
Mesa stone of Dibon erected by a contemporary of
Elijah, exhibits so clearly and perfectly the characteristics
of cursive script as to demonstrate the existence in Israel
of a long practised art of writing." 35
Probably the classes first to make an extensive use of
writing were the priests, the prophets, scribes and court
UsebyReiig- officials. The priests as the oldest of these
iou* and official f our classes were undoubtedly the first to use
it and may have employed it in certain tribes
prior to the Conquest. The establishment of the monarchy
resulted in the rise of the last three classes named above,
each of which found a knowledge of the three R's a most
valuable asset. The later prophets wrote extensively. 38 The
establishment of the monarchy brought with it the demand
for written records of court transactions. Alliances, treaties,
royal proclamations, messages of the king to chieftains ab-
sent on the field of battle, chronicles of the king's exploits,
all afforded abundant opportunity for the royal secretary
or scribe. "From the days of David recorders and scribes
figure among the court officials." 37 That some members
of the nobility were able to read and write is suggested by
the statement that David wrote to his captain Joab, and that
Jezebel wrote letters in Ahab's name. 38
It is impossible to estimate how widespread was the
knowledge of the three R's during the Native Period. The
Popular Use Scriptures contain many passages which sug-
and Knowledge. g est> though they do not prove conclusively,
a widespread knowledge of reading and writing. 39 It is
related that a young man of Succoth captured by Gideon
described or wrote down a list of elders and princes of
35 Carl H. Cornill, Culture of Ancient Israel, p. 90.
36 See below, paragraphs on Literary Work (of prophets) and
note 62.
3T C. F. Kent, Israel's Historical and Biographical Narratives, p. 3.
38 2 Samuel xi. 14; 1 Kings xxi. 8.
39 See Deuteronomy vi. 9 ; xxvii. 8 ; Joshua xviii. 9.
EDUCATION DURING THE NATIVE PERIOD. 29
Succoth. 40 The instances of David and Jezebel just re-
ferred to are frequently cited as arguments of a consider-
able popular knowledge of reading and writing among the
masses upon the basis that both David and Jezebel took it
for granted that those to whom they were writing could
read. The evidence of such passages is not conclusive.
David and Jezebel both may have employed scribes ; more-
over Jezebel was a foreigner.
In 1880 was discovered chiseled into the rocky wall of
one of the aqueducts leading into the Siloam reservoir in
Jerusalem an inscription as old at least as the time of Isaiah,
perhaps as old as the reign of Solomon. 41 However it is not
safe to conclude from this inscription, as has sometimes
been done, that the three R's were in common use among
the laboring classes. The inscription is in a cursive hand
which suggests that it may have been traced by a scribe
and then cut by a workman. Moreover, even if the hand
that traced and the hand that cut were the same, the work
may have been that of a highly educated prisoner of war,
taken captive and enslaved. Nevertheless such an inscrip-
tion scarcely would have been made unless there had existed
at the time a considerable reading public.
In conclusion it may be said that it seems safe to as-
sume that putting into writing laws designed to be known
by all the people 42 would be the beginning of a widespread
demand for instruction in reading and writing. As soon as
commerce became an important element in general life 43 a
demand would arise for a knowledge of the elements of
reckoning, moneys, weights and measures. As there were
no schools whatever for the masses, any instruction chil-
40 Judges viii. 14.
4 * A ; ' ? a y ce - Light from Ancient Monuments, p. 5 ; p. 82 gives
V^e inscription. Sayce relates in detail the story of the find-
JI1 6J PP-
42 Deuteronomy xxvii. 2-3 ; Joshua xxiv. 25-27.
13 This occurred as early at least as the days of the monarchy.
30 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT ISRAEL.
dren received in the threeJR's must have been given in the
home by the parents or by private teachers.
The impossibility of treating religious and moral edu-
cation 44 apart from training and instruction in other fields
of activity is already evident from the pre-
ceding paragraphs. 45 It has been pointed out
/ that dancing was originally a religious as well as a festive
exercise. Much of that large body of literature which for
centuries existed only in oral form was religious and rnoral_
in character. Although religion did not^ dominate life in
this early period to the extent that it did in the centuries
following the Exile yjt_ there was no phase of life and no
field of activity into which it did not enter. Meetings of
family or tribe, the shearing of the sheep, the gathering
of the harvest, the birth of a child, departure for war,
victory or defeat, changes in the seasons and in the moon
were all occasions for religious observance. Through be-
holding such observances, through assisting in preparing
for them, and through listening to such explanations as
parents and elders saw fit to give, the child received his re-
ligious training and instruction.
The Hebrews were no exception to' the general rule
that the moral qualities emphasized by any people depend
largely upon industrial, social and political
conditions. Surrounded by powerful enemies
and forced to live in a state of continuous military prepared-
ness, the virtues they most esteemed were courage, loyalty
to kindred and to the nation's god, absolute unquestioning
obedience to those in authority and to the laws of the fam-
ily, of the tribe and of the nation ; kindness toward kinsmen,
hospitality toward the defenseless wayfarer, mercilessness
44 The meagerness and uncertainty of our information regarding
many family religious rites and customs necessitates postponing to
the Period of Reaction to Foreign Influences any attempt to describe
in detail family education, in religion and morals.
45 See especially Chapter I, concluding paragraphs, and Chapter
II, What Was Taught.
EDUCATION DURING THE NATIVE PERIOD. 31
toward foes. Although the antiquity of many Hebrew pro-
verbs suggests that from very early times precepts were
used to inculcate virtues, most moral education was a matter fci
of training rather than of instruction : boys and girls learned
to be industrious by working within the dwelling or in the
field ; to be courageous and loyal by facing concrete situations
demanding courage and loyalty ; to be obedient by obeying.
Such training was enforced further by tales, legends and
traditions setting forth the deeds and virtues of ancestors
and of tribal and national heroes.
BOYS' EDUCATION OUTSIDE OF THE FAMILY.
Institutions.
Very early in life the child began to be made conscious
of, and later on began to come into contact with, many
communal, tribal or national institutions, customs, festivals
and activities which stimulated and guided his thought and
conduct. 46 Among the most important of these were public
festivals, 47 war, hunting, expeditions, courts or places of
judgment and temples.
Throughout the greater part of the J\ T ative- Period the ^
domain of the Israelites was dotted with a multitude of
Tem les shrines and temples presided over by bodies
of priests. Every such temple fulfilled a vari-
ety of functions. In addition to being a place of worship,
it was a place of instruction in religious rites and law. 48
Every symbol and rite was a stimulus to religious feeling
and a potent teacher of some belief, law, tradition or con-
ception. The epecliDJiJiL^oJpjmpn's temple (dedicated 963 "
B. C.) was an event of great educationafas well as of great
religious importance. Its services and its priesthood must
46 See above, paragraph on Religion.
47 Reserved for discussion in The Period of Reaction to Foreign
Influence, see above, note 44; cf. below, Chapter V, "Festivals."
48 See below, paragraph on Functions Teaching.
32 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT ISRAEL.
have exerted a widespread educative influence. From the
story of Baruch 49 we learn that in the time of Jeremiah
the temple court was used as a place of public instruction.
This custom, undoubtedly far older than the time of Jere-
miah, was still followed in the time of Jesus.
Teaching Orders.
The rise in post-Exilic times of the order^pf scribes may
be regarded as the beginning of a distinct teaching profes-
sion among the Hebrews. Nevertheless the Native Period
was by no means destitute of orders certain aspects of
whose work may well be described as educational. It would
be misleading as well as confusing to designate either the
priests or the prophets as teachers. The former were essen-
tially ministers at and guardians of the shrines of Yahweh,
and the latter were essentially preachers. Aside from the
training and instruction they gave to novices or to members
of their own orders they probably seldom if ever acted as
teachers in the ordinary acceptation of the term. Certainly
they organized neither schools nor classes for the masses.
Yet in fulfilling the very work to which theyhad been con-
secrated, they were in a very real sense stimulating and
guiding the religious and moral consciousness, furnishing it
with content and with forms of expression and, in a word,
Levites and were educating it. It is therefore impossible
priests. j- o exclude from even a brief account of an-
cient Hebrew education some consideration of the teach-
ing or educational services of these two orders.
The origin of the Hebrew priesthood is wrapt in ob-
scurity. During the nomadic period and for some time after
. . the settlement in Canaan the head of every
family acted as its priest. 50 Judges xvii seems
to indicate clearly that as early as the time of the "judges"
the LeiE&es were recognized as an order or tribe of priests
whose ministrations were peculiarly efficacious in gaining
49 Jeremiah xxxvi. 4. 60 Cf . above, paragr. on Who Was Taught.
EDUCATION DURING THE NATIVE PERIOD. 33
the favor of Yahweh, 51 but how long before Micah's time
a distinct priestly order existed cannot be stated. Early
times knew no distinction between priests and Levites but
called the ministers of all Yahweh sanctuaries Levites. 52
It is probable that the reforms of Josiah (621 B.C.) were
responsible to a large extent for the distinction which
arose in later times. These reforms specifically provided
that the Levites in charge of the many shrines outside
Jerusalem should be brought to the capital city and attached
to the national temple. It is easy to understand how the
order of priests already in charge of the royal sanctuary
would assign to the newcomers the more humble temple
duties and a humbler rank in the now national order of
priests, claiming for themselves a superior rank and the
more important offices.
Among the most important functions of the_early_priest-
hooiLaiere divination, guarding and ministering at the shrines
b Functions ^ Yahweh, and teaching. Kent on the basis
Services as of Deuteronomy xxxiii. 10 ("They shall teach
Jacob thy judgments") and certain other pas-
sages asserts not only that the early priests acted as judges
but that it was through the exercise of this function that
much of their most important educational influence was
exerted. 53 In 1 Samuel iv. 18 we read that Eli had acted
as a_4ndge for forty years. There are, however, serious
objections to ascribing this function of acting as judges to
the priests except in cases where some matter of ritual was
involved as where a tabu had been broken. But even if
we deny that the priests acted as judges in any general
sense and if we exclude from our conception of their work
the forceful though indirect presentation through the chan-
61 Judges xvii. 13.
52 Emil Schiirer, A History of the Jewish People in the Time of
Jesus Christ, Div. II, Vol. I, pp. 223-229, gives an excellent brief ac-
count of the rise and development of the order of Levites.
53 C. F. Kent, The Great Teachers of Judaism and Christianity.
pp. 44ff.
34 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT ISRAEL.
nel of their judgments, of civic, political, moral .and relig-
ious lessons, there nevertheless remain many activities in
which they appear discharging a teaching function. ' Through
their declaration of the will of Yahweh, discovered by the
use of the sacred lot or by some other means of divination,
they created and disseminated conceptions of Yahweh. They
organized and directed public festivals many of which were
little less than dramatized lessons in religion and history.
They taught to the individual resorting to them in private
and to the multitude publicly assembled in the temple or
in the open, forms of worship. They collected and trans-
mitted (at first orally, later by writing) laws, rites, cere-
monies, myths, legends and history (cf. Malachi ii. 7).
compiled, edited and transmitted this literature. They
put much of it into forms easy to grasp and remember and
taught it to the people. Through their literary efforts they
began the compilation of that great body of literature which
still remains the world's unsurpassed text for religious and
moral instruction. Their communities were the first organ-
ized groups in ancient Israel providing definite and special
instruction for a class (the priesthood) definitely, though
by no means solely, devoted to teaching. 54
Saul, unable to find his father's asses, resorted to Samuel,
the seer, much as some to-day resort to fortune-tellers or
Prophets or Ora- clairvoyants. 55 Undoubtedly long before Sam-
tor-Teachers. uel's time many a seer (Heb. roeh) and diviner
(Heb. kosem) was to be found living in the
various tribes. Such individuals were believed to possess un-
usual means of ascertaining the divine will or of communi-
cating with divine powers. The soothsaying priest and the
kosem, and probably also the roeh, based their declarations
largely upon the observation of objective physical phenom-
ena. It is probable that the prophet (Heb. sing, nabi, pi. ne-
54 For a discussion of the priests as teachers see Chapter V, De-
cline of Priests and Prophets as Teachers.
55 1 Samuel ix. Iff.
EDUCATION DURING THE NATIVE PERIOD. 35
bum) emerged by a process of continual development from
the earlier roeh. 56 It is possible also that "The signs or sym-
bolic acts of the prophets originated in actions of sympathetic
magic." 57 However that may be, "the prophet's function
became in an increasing degree a function of mind and not
merely of traditional routine or mechanical technique." 58 In
other words the nabi himself became the subjective channel
through which Yahweh spoke.
The Hebrew prophets were not primarily nor chiefly
foretellers of the future. Their importance is due to the
^Entrance into P art the y P la y ed in P ublic affairs and to their
Public Affairs service as public teachers. Their rise to the
Characteristics. posit j on of public leaders in Israel is contem-
poraneous with the rise of the monarchy. Among the causes
which explain their entrance into the arena of public affairs
three may be mentioned: (1) the need of seers at the royal
court to declare the will of Yahweh when important under-
takings were being contemplated and upon other occasions ;
(2) the need of religious reform; (3) the need of social
reform.
Religious and social abuses (e. g., idolatry and the in-
creasing oppression of the poor), combined with a constant
fear of outside foes, resulted in bringing together devout
men, endowed with a greater vision, yearning for reform
and moved by religious and patriotic zeal mounting fre-
quently to frenzy. Such bands went by the name of prophets
or "sons of prophets." They appear to have lived in com-
munities frequently in the vicinity of some famous sanc-
tuary as Beth-El and Gilgal. Some prophets, such as Sam-
uel and Elisha, were intimately associated with such com-
munities ; others, like Elijah, generally worked independently.
56 1 Samuel ix. 9.
57 Wm. Robertson Smith and Owen C. Whitehouse, 'The Prophets
of the Old Testament," Enc. Brit., llth ed., XXII, 442b.
58 O. C. Whitehouse, "Hebrew Religion," Enc. Brit., llth ed.,
XIII, 182a.
36 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT ISRAEL.
In contrast to the priestly order the prophets were a lay
qnler. They were also an open order,~T e., the spirit of
prophecy might come upon any one, whereupon he would
begin to prophesy and would be numbered among the proph-
ets. 59 Women as well as men were included in the ranks. 60
"The seer appears individually With the prophets it is
quite otherwise; they appear in bands; their prophesying
is a united exercise accompanied by music, and seemingly
dance music ; it is marked by strong excitement which some-
times acts contagiously." 61
Such prophets as Amos, Hosea and Isaiah were public
poets and orators. Like Jeremiah they probably spoke their
c. Literary prophecies first and then later committed them
Work, to writing. 62 Their literary products included
orations delivered in public, tracts intended for public dis-
tribution but not oral recitation, codes, 63 history 64 and sum-
maries of their own actions. They cast their utterances into
poetic form, choosing the meter best adapted to the mes-
sage. These works, oral or written, served as texts for
iXtheir own disciples and for future generations.
It is futile to attempt to state how extensive was the
provision made by prophet communities for training and
d. Education in instructing their members. It is impossible
Prophet Commu- to accept the view presented by some writers
that the prophets established colleges presided
over by a senior member, in which music, oratory, poetry,
law and other advanced studies were taught. However, in
view of the general state of culture in the monarchical
59 1 Samuel x. 11-12; xix. 20-24.
60 E. g., Deborah, Judges iv. 5 ; Huldah, 2 Kings xxii. 14.
61 Wm. Robertson Smith and Owen C. Whitehouse, "The Prophets
of the Old Testament," Enc. Brit., llth ed., XXII, 441c.
62 Jeremiah xxxvi relates how Jeremiah dictated an epitome of
his prophecy.
63 E. g.jl'he Book of Instruction.
64 Charles F. Kent, Beginnings of Hebrew History, p. 36. The
Judean prophets began writing a comprehensive history of Israel
about 825 B. C.
EDUCATION DURING THE NATIVE PERIOD. 37
period and of the need the prophets would have of a knowl-
edge of reading, writing, literature, oratory and composi-
tion, there is no valid reason against the assumption that
some provision was made for instruction in some or all of
these branches. Isaiah evidently had a group of disciples
who wrote down his utterances and recorded his work. 65
The prophets were wandering teachers. In their own
eyes and in the eyes of the people, they were Yahweh's
divinely commissioned messengers. Wherever
e. Services as , . 111*
Teachers Times there was an opportunity to make known his
and Places of w ju wherever there was need of protest against
Instruction. ., . . t
evils or of encouragement in righteousness,
thither they betook themselves. "Sometimes he (the prophet)
appeared in the court before the king and princes, some-
times he appealed from the rulers to the people. Often the
temple court. . . .was the scene of the prophet's teaching." 68
Many examples might be given from the work of Hosea,
Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and other prophets, showing the j,
extensive use the prophets made of symbol-
f. Methods. . , . . . Z-
ism, the object lesson and the dramatic method.
Jeremiah, wishing to dissuade the Judeans from joining
Egypt and the surrounding tribes in a revolt against Baby-
lonia, made a number of wooden yokes. One he wore him-
self, the others he carried for the foreign ambassadors. 67
Isaiah, to give force to his message to king Hezekiah not
to join with Egypt against Assyria, for three years dressed
like a captive and went barefoot through the streets of
Jerusalem to picture the captivity such rashness would
bring. 68
65 Isaiah viii. 16.
66 C. F. Kent, The Great Teachers of Judaism and Christianity
p. 25.
67 Jeremiah xxvii and xxviii. "The account is not from Jeremiah
himself but seems to rest upon good information."
68 Isaiah xx. 3.
38 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT ISRAEL.
It may be seriously doubted whether any nation has ever
produced a group of religious and moral teachers com-
parable with the prophets of ancient Israel. Through their
spoken public addresses and writings they became creators
g. Educational of national religious and social ideals, critics
importance. an( j inspirers of public policies, denunciators
of social wrongs, preachers of individual and social right-
eousness, and the source and channel of an ever loftier con-
ception of Yahweh and of the mission of Israel. 69 In ful-
filling each of these capacities they were acting as public
teachers. In every national crisis they were at hand to
denounce, to encourage, to comfort and always to instruct.
They were the public conscience of Israel, the soul of its
religion, the creators of public opinion, its most conspicuous,
its most revered, its most convincing teachers.
69 See Chapter I, paragraph on the Prophetic Conception of Yah-
weh.
CHAPTER III.
GENERAL SURVEY OF THE PERIOD OF
REACTION TO FOREIGN INFLUENCES.
GENERAL SURVEY OF THE PERIOD OF
REACTION TO FOREIGN INFLUENCES.
FROM 586 B. C. TO 70 A. D.
"Comfort ye, comfort ye, my people, saith
your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem,
and cry unto her, that her time of service is
accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned;
that she hath received of Yahweh's hand double
for all her sins." Isaiah xl. 1-2.
Summary of Chapter.
In 586 B. C. Jerusalem with its temple was destroyed by the
Babylonians. Thousands of Jews were transported to Babylonia. The
Exile had begun. The Jews in Babylon found themselves in the
midst of a civilization far in advance of their own. A literary re-
naissance ensued, one of whose most important products was a code
of laws known as the Eriestl^oCode, governing every phase of life and
destined to become the basis of education.
From the Babylonian Exile, 586 B. C., to the fall of Jerusalem,
70 A. D., with the exception of the Maccabean century, 167-63 B. C.,
the Jews were always in subjection to some powerful foreign nation,
Babylonia, Persia, Greece, Syria, Egypt, Rome. During this time
thousands of Jewish communities, collectively called the diaspora, be-
came established throughout the world.
HISTORICAL OUTLINE.
In the year 597 B. C. Nebuchadnezzar captured Jerusa-
lem and carried as captives to Babylon King Jehoiachin, his
royal household, a large number of nobles and many artisans.
42 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT ISRAEL.
Not many years had passed before Nebuchadnezzar was
forced to send an army to quell rebellious Judah. After
Babylonian Exile a year and a half's siege Jerusalem fell, 586
586-538 B. c. B. C. The city and temple which had been
spared in 597 were sacked and burned. Thousands of Jews
were deported to Babylon, and Judea was made a part of
the Babylonian province ; the Exile had begun. 1
The Jews in Babylon found themselves in the midst of a
civilization far in advance of their own. Schools and li-
Literary Re- braries, some of them possessing thousands of
naissance. works, were widely spread. A considerable
knowledge of medicine, astronomy, mathematics, architec-
ture, engineering, and an elaborate code of laws dealing
with every phase of life, bore witness to Babylonian intel-
lectual development. Such an environment was bound to
stimulate literary activity. Further stimulus arose from the
i/jews' passionate desire to preserve their national laws, his-
tory, traditions and temple rites. Prior to the Exile, Jeru-
salem had been declared the sole lawful place of sacrifice.
The priests now freed from their customary duties turned
to instruction and writing, as did also the prophets. The
result was a literary renaissance out of which came forth
such original works as the prophecies of Ezekiel and the
Second Isaiah ; new editions of such already existing works
as Amos, Hosea, Deuteronomy and Joshua; compilations
of codes and detailed records of rites, customs and cere-
monies.
The Exile lasted only forty-eight years: 2 in 538 B.C.
Cyrus of Persia conquered Babylon. The * Persian rulers
Persian Period permitted the restoration of the Jewish com-
539-332 B. c. mim ity at Jerusalem. The rebuilding of the
temple followed (520-516 B.C.), an event of supreme im-
portance to religion and religious education.
1 H. P. Smith, Old Testament History, p. 297.
2 By Jewish writers frequently considered to have lasted until the
dedication of the second temple, 516 B. C, i. e., a total of seventy years.
THE PERIOD OF REACTION TO FOREIGN INFLUENCES. 43
In 332 B.C. Alexander the Great of Greece defeated
Darius, King of Persia, and then pushed his conquests south
Greek Period 332- through Palestine and Egypt. Following Alex-
167 B. c. ander's death in 323 B. C. Palestine became
a bone of contention between the rival kingdoms of Egypt
and Syria. For over a hundred and twenty years from 320
B. C. when Ptolemy I captured Jerusalem, Judah was in the
possession now of Egypt, now of Syria. Finally in 198 B.
C. the Seleucids of Syria secured the supremacy, which they
retained until the Maccabean revolt 167 B. C. 3
A part of Alexander's ambition had been to Hellenize the
East. Wherever he had conquered he had planted colonies
of Greeks and had introduced the Greek language, Greek
religion, Greek political institutions and Greek schools. His
efforts to Hellenize Judah were continued by his successors,
the Ptolemies of Egypt and the Seleucids of Syria, who alike
endeavored to wean or force the Jews away from their native
religion, culture, institutions and education. The Seleucids,
not satisfied with the rapidity with which the Jews were be-
coming Hellenized, resorted to violent measures. A Greek
altar was erected on the altar of burnt-offering in the temple
at Jerusalem. Possession of the books of the Law and
Sabbath observance were punished by death. Altars to
Greek gods were erected everywhere and the heads of fam-
ilies were called upon to worship at them under penalty of
death. 4
As a result of these oppressive measures the Jews rose
in revolt in 167 B. C. under the leadership of an aged priest
Maccabean PC- Mattathias and his five sons, the Hasmoneans.
riod 167-63 B. c. Within two years religious liberty was re-
stored. Successive Jewish leaders, by political intrigue and
by playing off one aspirant to the Syrian throne against
another, succeeded in gaining concessions which ultimately
8 Judas Maccabeus victorious in his first battle with the Syrians.
The period is commonly dated 175-63 B. C.
* H. P. Smith, Old Testament History, pp. 444-445. George Adam
Smith, Jerusalem : to 70 A. D. t II, pp. 367-436.
44 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT ISRAEL.
restored to Judah a national independence that continued
until the Romans took Jerusalem in .63 B. C.
The rule of the Romans was attended by disastrous con-
sequences. Roman conquerors on their way through Pal-
Roman Period 63 estine plundered the temple, levied extortionate
B. C.-70 A. D. tribute and carried thousands of Jews away
as slaves. Local aspirants for power kept alive internal
jealousies and strife. One of these, Herod, with the aid
of Rome, captured Jerusalem in 37 B. C. and began his
reign which continued till 4 B. C. His son, Archelaus, who
succeeded to the throne of Samaria, Judea and Idumea,
ruled in such outrageous fashion that after ten years the
oppressed Jews appealed to Rome (6 A. D.). Augustus de-
posed Archelaus and placed Judea under the rule of a
Roman procurator. Roman oppression and mismanagement
resulted in continual efforts at revolt. These efforts cul-
minated in the insurrection which began 66 A. D. and ended
'in 70 A. D. with the destruction of Jerusalem by the Roman
Titus. 5 Later came the dispersion throughout the Roman
world of the remnant of miserable survivors. All hope
of a national political existence was now at an end. The
story of how, in the centuries which followed, this wonder-
ful people managed through their system of religious edu-
cation to preserve their nationality belongs to medieval and
modern history, and consequently has no place in the present
account.
GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS.
The six and a half centuries of contact with foreign
powers outlined above were marked by many important
Hierocracy and changes. During this time the priesthood
Democracy. arose to a position of political power second
only to that of the foreign rulers. Carefully organized,
5 The destruction of Jerusalem is one of the most thrilling as well
as one of the most horrifying events in ancient history. An excellent
description will be found in Carl H. Cornill, History of the People
of Israel, pp. 272-301.
THE PERIOD OF REACTION TO FOREIGN INFLUENCES. 45
protected and assured a generous competence by laws re-
garded as 'coming from Yahweh, the priests grew in in-
fluence and numbers. Following vain post-Exilic efforts to
perpetuate the kingship, the high priest became the head
of the Jewish state, recognized as such, not only by the
Jews themselves, but by their foreign masters. With the
Jewish state a hierocracy, patriotism and piety were one.
To be law-abiding was to be religious, and to be religious
one must be law-abiding. The importance of this to the
history of Jewish education cannot be overestimated.
In contrast with the tendency fostered by the priesthood
toward the creation of a caste-bound society, there were
certain marked tendencies toward democracy, in part the
outgrowth of the ideals and teachings of the prophet* and
in part the outgrowth of Greek influence. These :1 hide
a growing autonomy for individual cities, and the reorgani-
zation of the senate or Sanhedrin. 6
Prior to the Exile, the Hebrews as an independent
people, often as conquerors, had borrowed freely such ele-
Heiienism Re- men ^ s as they chose from foreign nations.
and The Hellenized peoples with whom they came
Moral Decline. Jn contact frQm the t j me Q f the xile onwar( |
were for the most part their conquerors. The effects of
Greek influence were twofold: the intellectual and esthetic.,
aspects of life were extended and enriched, but this intel-
lectual enrichment was accompanied by religious and moral
decadence. "The rich Judeans soon copied the Greek cus-
toms, and callous to the promptings of shame and honor,
they introduced singers, dancers and dissolute women at
these festivals." 7 Greek religious cults, including the orgi-
astic rites of Dionysus were adopted by t many faithless
Jews. Skepticism, repudiation of Judaism and licentiousness
followed. 8 Amid these conditions there arose among the
6 H. P. Smith, Old Testament History, pp. 417-418.
7 H. Graetz, History of the Jews, I, 428d.
8 Ibid., 426-428.
46 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT ISRAEL.
Jews distinct parties: one, eager for political preferment
who sought to curry favor with their foreign masters by
adopting Greek culture, institutions and religion ; 9 a second,
endeavoring to exlude foreign innovations and to preserve
unsullied the customs and institutions of the fathers ; a
third, representing a somewhat middle ground. It was the
second of these three groups which fostered that attitude
toward life commonly known as Judaism, which emphasized,
often unduly, all rites and customs that marked the Jews as
a peculiar and distinct people consecrated to the worship
and service of Yahweh.
From the time of the Babylonian Exile onward, various
foreign conquerors deported as slaves large numbers of
Jews. Other Jews left Palestine voluntarily
The Diaspora.
to escape oppression, to avoid conflict or to
avail themselves of opportunities in foreign lands. Thus
there gradually arose outside of Palestine throughout the
entire civilized world a vast multitude .of Jewish coHmmuni-
ties. 10 This movement, which began with the Exilc-m-tfae
sixth century, reached its climax in the Roman period. 11
Strabo writes, even in Sulla's time, "there is hardly a place
in the world which has not admitted this people and is not
possessed by it." 12 Through the diaspora, 13 then, as well as
through the settlement of aliens in Judea, Jewish customs,
beliefs and institutions were constantly threatened by for-
eign innovations.
9 Joseph, grandson of Simeon the Just (d. 208 B. C), is a notorious
representative of this type. See H. Graetz, History of the Jews, I,
There is evidence that flourishing Jewish communities existed
S? J? gypt at Da ? nn e and Elephantine as early as the sixth century
B. C.
" A recent English work of much interest is D. Askowith, The
1 oleration and Persecution of the Jews in the Roman Empire.
12 Strabo, frag. 6, cited by Josephus, Antiq., XIV, 7. 2.
13 t)iaspora is the term collectively applied to the body of Jews
living in communities scattered throughout the world.
CHAPTER IV.
EDUCATION IN THE FAMILY AFTER THE
EXILE.
EDUCATION IN THE FAMILY AFTER THE
EXILE.
"Lo, children are a heritage of Jehovah:
And the fruit of the womb is his reward."
Psalm cxxvii. 3.
"And thou shalt teach them diligently unto
thy children." Deuteronomy vi. 7.
Summary of Chapter.
The Hebrews regarded children as a gift from God. The sacred
Law placed upon parents the responsibility of acting as the child's
first teachers of religion. The mother as a teacher occupied a place
subordinate to that of the father but nevertheless an exceedingly
important one. Generally speaking, the education of the 'child was
marked by severity, corporal punishment being highly commended
and freely used. Nevertheless Hebrew literature furnishes abundant *
evidence of the deeply tender affection of parents for their children
and children for their parents. Perjods, more or less distinct, were c^
recognized in the life and education of the child, the dividing line
being generally marked by some religious rite. Education within the
family consisted chiefly of training and instruction in rejigkm, morals,
manners and industrial occupations. The aim of all religious instruc-
tion was to develop in the child a c&nsciousness of his personal
responsibility to Yahweh.
THE FAMILY AS AN EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS
The intensity of the Hebrew desire for children is
revealed in such Old Testament narratives as those of
Desire for Chii- the childless Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel and Han-
dren. nan . The racial attitude is beautifully ex-
pressed in the well-known lines:
1 A number of topics, such as Education in the Family, Festivals
and the Education of Girls, treated in this and succeeding chapters,
50 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT ISRAEL.
"Lo, children are a heritage of Jehovah :
And the fruit of the womb is his reward.
As arrows in the hand of a mighty man,
So are the children of youth, ^
Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of themr 2
Throughout thpj^ntirfi bisrnry nf rVig H^hrpwg the fam-
ily was regarded as the fundamental educational institution.
Parental Parents were held responsible not only for
Responsibility, { ne instruction of their children but for their
conduct. In time the laws fixed thirteen as the age at which
the boy became personally responsible for the Law, 3 up to
this age his father was held responsible not only for the
boy's education but for his conduct. Even the rise of a
system of elementary schools devoted to the task of daily
religious instruction did not free the home of this its most
important responsibility. It could not, for to parents direct
from Yahweh came the command:
"And thou shalt teach them (the laws of Yahweh) diligently
unto thy children,
And shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thy house,
And when thou walkest by the way,
And when thou risest up.
"And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thy hand,
And they shall be for frontlets between thine eyes,
And thou shalt write them upon the door-posts of thy house,
And upon thy gates." (Deuteronomy vi. 7-9.)
The zizit tefillin 4 and mezuzah 5 show with what degree
of exactness the Hebrews sought to carry out these com-
mands.
belong quite as much to the Native Period. Discussion of these
topics has been reserved until the post-Exilic Period, owing to the
vagueness and uncertainty of the data available with respect to them
in the earlier period. Consequently much of the data given in this
chapter refers also to the Native Period.
2 Psalm cxxvii. 3-5.
8 Babylonian Talmud, "Tract Aboth," V, near end. (In Rodkin-
son's translation, p. 133.)
* See below, Distinguishing Rites, paragraphs on Zizit and Tefillin.
6 See below, Religion, paragraph on Mezuzah.
EDUCATION IN THE FAMILY AFTER THE EXILE. 51
The ancient Hebrew family, writes Cornill, "was an
absolute monarchy, with the father as absolute monarch
at the head." 6 The evidences of this authority
Parental Author-
ity a rflfcne are many. The wife and children were upon
Right. the same k as i s as s i aves A father could sell
his daughters into marriage or slavery, though not to for-
eigners. 7 Infanticide was not permitted, as far as our rec-
ords show, but it is probable that in early times upon certain
occasions fathers offered up their sons and daughters as
living sacrifices. 8 In historic times the modern Rousseauian
theory that parents must win their authority over their chil-
dren by convincing their offspring of the superiority of
parental wisdom and goodness found no place in Hebrew
thought. On the contrary, parents ruled by divine right:
"For the Lord hath given the father honor over the children
And hath confirmed the authority of the mother over the sons." 9
The Deuteronomic law provided that if punishment
failed to beget obedience in a wayward intemperate son,
the father and mother should bring him before the elders
of the city and say, "This our son is stubborn and rebellious,
he will not obey our voice ; he is a riotous liver and a drunk-
ard." 10 No provision was made in this law for any investi-
gation nor for any defense by the accused child. The parents
acted both as accusers and prosecutors, the elders were the
judges. 11 If the parents' accusation was accepted by the
elders of the city, thereupon "All the men of the city shall
stone him (the guilty son) with stones that he die." 12
6 Carl H. Cornill, The Culture of Ancient Israel, p. 87.
7 Exodus xxi. 7-11.
8 This inference seems justified from the story of Abraham and
Isaac, from that of Jephthah's daughter and from the evidence of the
continuance of Moloch worship down to the reforms of Josiah, 621
B. C.
9 Ecclesiasticus iii. 2. 10 Deuteronomy xxi. 20.
11 Carl H. Cornill, The Culture of Ancient Israel, p. 79.
12 Deuteronomy xxi. 21.
52 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT ISRAEL.
It should be noted, however, that the Deuteronomic law,
severe as it is and significant as it is for the light it throws
upon the degree of authority granted parents, is even more
significant as a sign of the attempt to put certairt^checks
upon this authority. In earlier times there had been no check
upon the parents' authority. The Deuteronomic law made it
impossible for the parents to do with their child as they
pleased. Their act must be reviewed by elders of the city
as a court : thus a higher authority, not the parents, imposed
the death penalty.
Many passages similar to Deuteronomy vi. 7-9 might
be quoted in which the father is enjoined to instruct his
c Parents as son or his children in the divine laws, 13 in
Teachers. particular rites such as Passover, 14 or in the
significance of sacred monuments or landmarks. 15 Both
parents were held responsible for the religious education
of the children, but the chief responsibility fell upon the
5- father as head of the household. The mother is frequently 1 '
mentioned in the Scriptures as a teacher, but generally in
conjunction with and subordinate to the father. 16 There
is only one passage in which the mother is represented as
acting independently in this capacity: 17 the first division
of Proverbs is introduced with the title: "The Words of
Lemuel, King of Massa, 18 which his mother taught him."
Proverbs and the apocryphal book Ecclesiasticus, both
designed as manuals for religious and moral instruction,
represent child nature as irresponsible, way- .
Conception of , . ,. , . J /
Child Nature ward, foolish and rebellious. Fathers are
Corporal Punish- warn ed against playing with their children
ment. t i <
and are advised to preserve an austere coun-
tenance toward both sons and daughters:
13 Deuteronomy iv.'9-10. 1* Exodus xii. 26-27.
15 Joshua iv. 21-22. ie Proverbs i. 8.
17 Carl H. Cornill, The Culture of Ancient Israel, p. 92.
18 Massa located beyond the limits of the Holy Land, near to Du-
mah, one of the original seats of the Ishmaelites. See Genesis xxv
14 and 1 Chronicles i. 30.
EDUCATION IN THE FAMILY AFTER THE EXILE. 53
"Cocker thy child and he shall make thee afraid,
Play with him and he will bring thee to heaviness." 19
* "Laugh not with him, lest thou have sorrow with him
And lest thou gnash thy teeth in the end." 20
"Hast thou daughters? Have a care to their body
And show not thyself cheerful toward them." 21
A child's will must be broken : "A horse not broken be-
cometh headstrong; a child left to himself becometh wil-
ful." 22 "Bow down his neck while he is young, and beat
him on the sides while he is a child, lest he wax stubborn and
be disobedient unto thee." 23
Commendations of corporal punishment abound:
"He that spareth his rod hateth his son.
But he that loveth him chasteneth him diligently." 24
"Chasten thy son, seeing there is hope. . . ," 25
"Withhold not correction from the child,
For if thou beat him with the rod he shall not die." 26
That all Hebrew fathers were not of the austere type
pictured in these passages is evident from the necessity felt
by the authors for repeated admonitions to parents to be
severe, and from passages in other books. Jacob's love for
Joseph and the paternal love depicted by Jesus in the parable
of the Lost Son undoubtedly were typical of many fathers.
Hebrew poets wishing to picture the pity of Yahweh for
Israel do so by a reference to earthly fathers : "Like as a
father pitieth his children, so Jehovah pitieth them that fear
him."
19 Ecclesiasticus xxx. 9. 20 Ibid., xxx. 10.
21 Ibid., vii. 24. 22 Ibid., xxx. 8.
23 Ibid., xxx. 12. 24 Proverbs xiii. 24.
25 Ibid., xix. 18. 2 Ibid., xxiii. 13.
54 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT ISRAEL.
PERIODS IN CHILD LIFE AND EDUCATION.
The early age at which the boy assumed adult responsi-
bility made childhood distinctly a period for learning and
Childhood the training. This was recognized not only in
Time for Learn- practice but in pedagogical literature: "Hast
mgp thou children? Instruct them and bow their
neck from their youth." 27 "Train up a child in the way he
should go, and even when he is old he will not depart
from it." 28
Distinguishing Rites.
The Talmud distinguished five periods 29 in child life and
education, 30 but though frequently quoted this division does
not apply to the pre-Talmudic period. Edersheim discovers
in the Scriptures eight "ages of man," seven of which are
distinct periods irj childhood. 31 The Priestly Code provided
rites to mark the opening and close of periods in child life.
Probably many of these rites were in existence long before
they were embodied in the Law. Some arose perhaps in
nomadism, but their antiquity cannot be determined. It
must suffice to describe them.
Upon birth the new-born infant was bathed in water,
rubbed in salt and wrapped in swaddling clothes. 32 If the
Rites of infancy child was the first-born son he belonged to
and circumcision Yahweh and must be redeemed by an offering
of five, shekels. 33 On the eighth day after birth every boy
27 Ecclesiasticus vii. 23. 28 Proverbs xxir. 6.
29 Strictly speaking only four, as the fifth is that of adultness.
30 "Tract Aboth," V, near end. (In Rodkinson's transl, p. 133.)
31 Alfred Edersheim, In the Days of Christ, pp. 104-105, makes
the following divisions: (1) new-born infant, m. jeled, f. jaldah; (2)
suckling, joneh', (3) an eating suckling, olel; (4) a weaned infant,
gamut; (5) "one who clings," taph; (6) "one who has become firm
and strong," m. elem, f. almah; (7) youth, naar; (8) "ripened one,"
bachur.
32 Ezekiel xvi. 4 ; Luke ii. 7.
83 Exodus xiii. 12ff ; Numbers xviii. 15.
EDUCATION IN THE FAMILY AFTER THE EXILE. 55
was circumcised 34 and named, receiving his name from his
father 35 or from his mother. 38 Peritz found that out of
forty-four cases of naming children mentioned in the Old
Testament, four were ascribed to God, fourteen to men and
twenty-six to women. 87
A mother after the birth of a son was regarded as un-
clean for a period of seven plus thirty-three days ; in the
Mothers' Purifi- case of a daughter the numbers were doubled,
cation Rites. making the period fourteen plus sixty-six days.
During this period the mother was not allowed to touch
any sacred thing or to enter any sacred place. She regained
her ceremonial cleanness at the end of this time by making
two offerings: (1) a burnt-offering, a first-year lamb (in
case the mother was poor, a pigeon or dove) ; (2) a sin
offering, a pigeon or a turtle-dove. 38
Mothers generally suckled their own children, 39 although
nurses are sometimes mentioned. 40 Children were ordin-
arily weaned at the end of two or three years, 41
Weaning Feast. ' . J '
, the completion of the weaning was sometimes
celebrated with a feast. 42
The Talmud states that at thirteen one should assume
the responsibility of the commandments,. i. e.,.become respon- '
Adolescent sible for the Law. 43 The Scriptures give no
Rites - positive information concerning any special
system of education provided for adolescence ; nevertheless
in legends, traditions, customs and rites of later times there
are many indications that even from tribal days adolescence
34 Genesis xvii. 12-14.
35 Ibid., xvi. 15; xvii. 19; Luke i. 59; ii. 21.
36 Genesis xxix. 32 ; 1 Samuel i. 20.
87 I. J. Peritz, "Women in the Ancient Hebrew Cult," Journal of
Biblical Lit., XVII, 13Q-131, note 36.
38 Leviticus xii. 1-8.
39 Genesis xxi. 7.
Ibid., xxiv. 59; 2 Kings xii 2.
"2 Maccabees vii. 27; cf. 1 Samuel i. 22-24.
42 H. A. White, "Birth," Hastings' Bible Dictionary, I, 301a.
43 "Tract Aboth," V, near end. (In Rodkinson's transl, p. 133.)
56 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT ISRAEL.
was recognized as a period of peculiar social and religious
significance, and that it was set aside as a time for definitely
^assuming political and religious obligations and was intro-
duced with special ceremonies. It was when Jesus had
reached the age of twelve that his parents felt the time had
arrived for taking him to the temple in Jerusalem. 44 Many
a Jewish tradition and legend represents the hero as having
made his first great decision in life at the opening of adoles-
cence. According to legend, it was at twelve that Moses
left Pharaoh's daughter's house, and that the boy Samuel
heard the voice of God in the night. 45
The rite of circumcision offers perhaps further evidence
of immemorial recognition of the social and educational
significance of adolescence. The earliest Bib-
circumcision. . ft,
heal account of this rite 46 cannot be accepted
as an explanation of its origin but only as an attempt to
explain its origin s an infancy rite. 47 If, as is believed by
some, circumcision was originally a tribal, not a family rite
and formed part of the ceremonies by which youths were
initiated into the tribe, 48 then the inference seems justified
that in the earlier stages of development, the Hebrews in
common with other primitive peoples provided special rites
for adolescence, and, in conjunction with these special rites,
^ special training. Assumption of responsibility for the Law
is to-day accompanied by changes in costume whereby the
significance of adolescence is recognized. Two of these
changes, the zizit and the phylacteries, will now be con-
sidered.
The early Hebrews appear to have worn as an outer
garment a large piece of cloth of the shape of a Scotch plaid
generally called simlah, to the four corners of which -were
44 Luke ii. 42.
45 B. A. Hinsdale, Jesus as a Teacher, p. 16.
46 Exodus iv. 24-26.
47 H. P. Smith, Old Testament History, p. 67.
48 Cheyne and Black, "Circumcision," Biblical Encyclopedia.
EDUCATION IN THE FAMILY AFTER THE EXILE. 57
attached blue and white tassels or twisted threads. The
Deuteronomic law reads: "Twisted threads (Hebr. zizit, in-
correctly translated 'fringes') shalt thou make
thee upon the four corners of thy mantle
wherewith thou coverest thyself." 49 The custom seems to
have been a very ancient one with magical or superstitious
associations. In time it took on a spiritual significance,
and the garment with twisted threads came to be chiefly
a reminder of the obligation of the Jews to walk in the Law
of Yahweh and to keep all his commandments. 50 Dispersion,
persecution and changes in costume resulted in post-Biblical
times in substituting for the simlah two garments, namely,
(1) the tallit or prayer-shawl, an outer garment, and (2)
the arba kanfot 51 or small tallit, an undergarment with
twisted threads, which is still worn throughout the day by
orthodox Jews.
The tefillin (sing, tefillah) or phylacteries, are two ritual-
istic objects worn by males over thirteen years of age when
Tefiiiin or Phy- praying. Each consists of a small parchment
lacteries. case with a loop attached through which a
strap may be passed. By means of these straps the wor-
shiper binds one tefillah on the forehead between his eyes,
the other on the inner side of his left arm. The case of
the head tefillah is divided into four compartments in each
of which is one of the four following passages of Scrip-
ture: (1) Exodus xiii. 1-10; (2) Exodus xiii. 11-16; (3)
Deuteronomy vi. 4-9; (4) Deuteronomy xi. 13-21. The
same passages of Scripture are placed in the case of the
arm tefillah which, however, consists of only one compart-
ment. 52
49 Deuteronomy xxii. 12.
50 A. R. S. Kennedy, "Fringes," Hastings' Bible Dictionary, II,
68-70.
51 J. M. Casanowicz, "Arba Kanfot," Jewish Encyc., II, 75d.
52 William Rosenau, Jewish Ceremonial Institutions and Customs,
pp. 59-60, gives a most excellent account, with illustrations of current
practices.
58 . EDUCATION IN ANCIENT ISRAEL.
The antiquity of the custom of wearing tefillin cannot
be determined. The New Testament contains many ref-
erences to them. 53 Tradition ascribes their origin to the
command given in Exodus xiii. 16: "And it shall be a sign
for thee upon thy hand and for frontlets between thine
eyes." It is possible that the foundation of the custom
may have been laid in tribal days in some custom of brand-
> ing or tattooing members of the tribe to distinguish them
or to protect them against magic. "Originally the 'sign' was
tattooed on the skin, the forehead ('between the eyes') and
the hand naturally being chosen for display. Later some
visible object worn between the eyes or bound on the hand
was substituted for the writing on the skin." 54
From the time when entrance upon adolescence was
first accepted as the period for assuming adult religious,
political and social responsibilites, it is probable that the
youth was ushered into his new rights and duties by some
period of special preparation and by special religious cere-
monies. It was apparently not until the fourteenth cen-
tury 55 that the present ceremonies connected with the bar
miswah became current, but there is every reason for be-
lieving that between the tribal ceremonies and those of the
bar mizwah there was no break, only continuous develop-
ment. In the absence of any description of earlier ado-
lescent rites it may not be amiss to describe here those of
the bar mizwah, remembering, however, that they belong
to a much later time.
- By bar mizwah 56 (tr. "son of command") is meant a
male Jew who has reached the age (thirteen years) when
he himself is responsible for fulfilling the Law. Some time
53 Matthew xxiii. 5.
54 Emil G. Hirsch, "Phylacteries, Critical View," Jewish Encyc.,
X, 28c.
55 K. Kohler, "Bar Mizwah," Jewish Encyc,, II, 509b.
56 W. Rosenau, Jewish Ceremonial Institutions and Customs, Chap.
X, 149-154, contains a most excellent and clear account of present
practice.
EDUCATION IN THE FAMILY AFTER THE EXILE. 59
before his thirteenth birthday the boy enters upon a period !
of special preparation and religious instruction. On the
Sabbath following his birthday he goes to the
Bar Mizwah. -11 1 r i <-ri
synagogue accompanied by his father. There
in the presence of the congregation the father formally
renounces his responsibility for his son's conduct in the fol-
lowing benediction:
"Blessed art thou
Who hast set me free from the responsibility of this child."
The boy is called upon to read portions of the Scrip-
tures. He may also lead in the benedictions and may even
deliver the address following the close of the Scripture les-
sons. A family festival with gifts may be held at home
after the conclusion of the synagogue service. 57
Such ceremonies as those described above gave to each <
period in the child's life a distinctly religious significance.
Every member of the family was impressed
Educational Sig- * f r
nificance of PC- with the fact that the child belonged to Yah-
riod Rites. weh and that ^ parents we re directly re- '
sponsible to Yahweh for insuring to the child his religious
education. Family pride, public opinion, religious beliefs
and observances reinforced this sense of responsibility.
PERIODS IN SCHOOL LIFE.
Prior to the rise of schools festivals, rites, the home
and such religious and social institutions as existed at any
particular period were the means through which recognition
was given to the different periods in child life. After the
rise of schools the transition from home to school marked
a distinct change in the child's environment and occupations.
But school instruction included little else than religion. The
following outline represents approximately the educational
periods in a boy's life after the rise of the elementary
schools.
57 William Rosenau, Jewish Ceremonial Institutions and Customs
X, 149-154. The practices given here are for the most part modern.
60
EDUCATION IN ANCIENT ISRAEL.
Outline of Jewish Boys Education After the Rise of
Elementary Schools.
YEARS PERIODS
i 6 Infancy.
INSTITUTIONS
Family.
TEACHERS
SUBJECTS AND
ACTIVITIES
Parents and Shema or national
other members creed.
of the family. Bible verses and
proverbs.
Prayers, hymns and
Bible stories.
6 12 Childhood.
Elementary
School.
Hazzan
(Elementary
teacher).
12 Adolescence. Scribe's Soferim
School. 5S (Scribes).
Memorized portions
of Old Testament,
especially the
Pentateuch.
Advanced religious
and theological
literature, written
and oral
WHAT WAS TAUGHT.
Industrial Education.
The industrial occupations which had arisen during the
Native Period continued after the Exile. 59 That every boy
learned some handicraft seems evident from the fact that
the most highly educated of all classes, the scribes and
rabbis, supported themselves if necessary by plying a
trade. 00 It was left for the Talmud to direct every father,
regardless of his social position, to teach his son a trade. 61
68 Most boys finished attending school at twelve or thirteen and
took up their trade or vocation. Some few went to higher schools
to prepare to become scribes and rabbis.
59 See Chapter II, What Was Taught, paragraphs on Industrial
and Physical Education."
60 The Talmud mentions more than one hundred rabbis who were
artisans. For a list of trades and crafts and eminent rabbis plying
them see F. J. Delitzsch, Jewish Artisan Life in the Time of Jesus,
pp. 78-79; also J. D. Eisenstein, article on "Rabbi," Jewish Encyc.,
X, 294d-295a.
61 Babylonian Talmud, "Tract Kiddushin," 30b.
EDUCATION IN THE FAMILY AFTER THE EXILE. 61
But here as in many other instances it seems probable that
the Talmud merely formulated as law what had been com-
mon practice for centuries, perhaps from time immemorial.
In absence of definite information, the question of how -
the boy learned his trade must be largely a matter of con-
jecture. It seems reasonable to assume that in most cases
he followed his father's occupation and acquired his earliest
training by assisting his father or elder brothers in shop or
market-place. As he grew older he would assist more and
more until at length he would enter upon a regular appren-
ticeship. After elementary education had been made com- v
pulsory, the major part of this training would necessarily
be postponed until the boy had finished his studies at the
elementary school. Then, unless he continued his studies
at some higher professional school for the sake of prepar-
ing to become a scribe or rabbi, he would take up serious
preparation for some commercial or industrial occupation. 62 '
Music.
The important place occupied by religious music in the
temple service 03 could scarcely have failed to make it a
prominent feature of the religious life of the home. Partly
as the result of direct instruction but largely merely by
hearing his elders chant or sing, the child during infancy
would begin learning the religious songs of his race. Later
on perhaps he would be taught some musical instrument.
Dancing.
Dancing which had occupied a prominent place in early
Hebrew worship, came to be looked upon with increasing
disfavor as a religious act. It continued, however, as a
nr ^" tire P ar agraph should be compared with Chapter II,
Was Taught, paragraphs on Industrial and Physical Education,
6 ! ( J' H '- Corni11 ' The Culture of Ancient Israel, pp. 125-132.
escnptlons see 2 Chronicles xxix. 26-30 and Ecclesiasti
, - , . . For
15-21 escnptlons see 2 Chronicles xxix. 26-30 and Ecclesiasticus i.
62 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT ISRAEL.
festive activity at weddings and other secular festivities.
> There is nothing to show that it found any place in the
schools which apparently devoted all their energies to the
study of the sacred writings. Therefore it was probably
for the most part learned at home.
Religion.
*
No sharp distinction can be made in post-Exilic Jewish
education between the intellectual, moral, religious and civic
Holiness as the elements. Practically all literature studied at
IdeaL home and in school was religious literature,
but this literature contained not only religious teachings but
moral teachings and laws. The most important task of
parents was to teach their children religion and for many
centuries this responsibility rested entirely upon the home.
Even after the rise of the elementary schools the education
of girls remained almost entirely within the family as did
also that of boys up to about their seventh year. The re-
ligious ideal of this period may be summed up in the word
holiness. Holiness meant "set apart unto Yahweh," i. e.,
consecrated. Prior to the prophets the term had been devoid
of any ethical content, but through their teachings it came
to mean set apart, through purity of heart and of conduct.
The religious education of the child really began with
the rites of infancy already described by which he was
Earliest Reiig- mar ^ e d as belonging to a race set apart unto
ious Education Yahweh. As he grew older, this ideal was
e Mezuzah. gradually built up within his consciousness by
the words and actions of those about him. Even before
the child could speak he began unconsciously to receive les-
sons in reverence and love of the Law. Long before he
could understand language his attention was attracted by
members of the family pausing before the doorway, touch-
ing reverently the mesusah, a small shining cylinder of wood
or metal, kissing the hand that touched it and then passing
EDUCATION IN THE FAMILY AFTER THE EXILE. 63
on. 64 Later on he would learn that the mezuzah was placed
upon the doorway in obedience to the divine command:
"Thou shalt write them (the laws) upon the doorposts of
thy house and upon thy gates." 65 Within the cylinder writ-
ten on a small piece of parchment were two passages:
Deuteronomy vi. 4-9 and xi. 13-20. About this time also
the child must have begun to notice the phylacteries and
the bright twisted threads hanging from the four corners
of his father's simlah.
As soon as children began to speak their parents began
teaching them Bible verses. Possibly in the childhood of
Religious Jesus or even earlier it was already the custom
Literature. to begin this teaching with the first verse of
the Shema, 86 the national confession of faith: "Hear, O
Israel, Yahweh is our God, Yahweh alone." 67 Other verses
from the Law, the Prophets, the Psalms and Proverbs would
be learned one by one. Long before he started to school
the boy would be taught the never-to-be-forgotten stories
of the adventures, calamities and glories of his ancestors.
There was scarcely a question childish lips could frame
for which the answer was not waiting in the sacred writings.
The story of Adam and Eve 68 answered the child's question,
"Who made me and what am I made of ?" ; "Why don't all
people speak the same language?" was answered by the story
of the Tower of Babel. 69 And when he asked who made
the sea and the stars his father recited the majestic poem
of creation: "In the beginning God created the heaven and
the earth." 70 No matter what the question, in its last anal-
64 "The antiquity of the mezuzah is attested by Josephus (c. 37-100
A. D.) who speaks of its employment (Ant., IV, p. 8, sec. 13) as an
old and well-established custom." J. M. Casanowicz, "Mezuzah"
Jewish Encyclopedia, VIII, 532a.
65 Deuteronomy vi. 9.
66 Though the definite provision belongs to the Talmudic period it
is possible the custom was much older. Babylonian Talmud "Suc-
cah," 42a.
67 Deuteronomy vi. 4. 8 Genesis ii. 7ff.
69 Ibid., xi. 1-9. TO /&,</., j. 1 H. 3.
64 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT ISRAEL.
/ I jysis and in its final effect upon the child the answer was
/[ always, "God." It was God who formed man out of the
dust of the earth, it was God who confused the tongues
of men, it was God who divided the waters from the land
and placed the sun, moon and stars in the sky, it was God
who wrote the laws with his finger upon the tables of stone,
and who had laid down the hundred regulations governing
every day and hour. In this atmosphere, pervaded by a
y continuous sense of the reality, holiness, purity and domin- ix
ion of Yahweh the religious consciousness of the child was
awakened, stimulated and nurtured.
In the home, as in the temple and in the synagogue
prayer was a conspicuous and important channel of re-
ligious expression. The life of every mem-
ber of the family was a life of prayer. Before
and after meals a prayer of thanksgiving was offered. 71
Besides this, prayers were offered three times each day,
morning, afternoon and evening. 72 One of the first things l
taught to children was to pray. 73
Two different classes of festivals were observed in the
home : 74 ( 1 ) festivals celebrating some event of family life,
Festivals in the such as the infancy festivals already described ;
Home. (2) festivals celebrating some historical, re-
ligious or social event of national importance such as the
Passover and the Feast of the Tabernacles. Some festivals
such as the Sabbath, 75 originally seasons of rest, gradually
became days of religious observance, study of the Law and
71 Inference based upon such passages as Matthew xv. 36 and Acts
xxvii. 35.
72 Inference based upon such passages as Psalm Iv. 17 and Daniel
vi. 10.
73 By Talmudic law the child was "to be enforced by the father to
say the benediction after each meal and to invoke a blessing before
tasting any kind of fruit." N. H. Imber, Education and the Talmud,
Report of the U. S. Commissioner of Education, 1894-95, II, 1814d.
74 Cf. Chapter V, The Synagogue, paragraph on Order of Service.
75 T. G. Soares, The Social Institutions and Ideals of the Bible.
pp. 168-170.
EDUCATION IN THE FAMILY AFTER THE EXILE. 65
training in ritual and religious customs. 78 Every religious
festival offered parents an opportunity for giving impres-
sive religious instruction. Many festivals were definitely
set aside as seasons for instruction in national history and
religion (Nehemiah viii. 18). Within the home the parents
in obedience to divine command explained to the chil-
dren the origin of the festival and the meaning of each
symbolic act. How far this tendency to make religious in-
struction an element of every festival was carried is well
illustrated by Purim, the carnival of the Jewish year. Purim
was originally merely a festival of merriment and is to this
day marked chiefly by unbridled jollity. In time, however,
the custom arose (which finally became a universal obliga-
tory part of the day's observance) of reading or hearing the
story of the book of Esther.
The Passover celebrated in the evening of the fourteenth
day of the month Abib, or Nisan, was followed immediately
The Passover ty tne seven days' Feast of Unleavened Bread
and Feast of Un- which began on the fifteenth and continued
leavened Bread. through the twenty-first. During all this time
only unleavened bread was eaten. In every household on
Passover eve a lamb, a year old, or a kid, free from all
blemish, was roasted whole and eaten with bitter herbs.
The manner in which the feast was celebrated aimed to
recall vividly and dramatically the situation to which its
origin was traced, namely the flight from Egypt: for the
Law directed that those, partaking of the feast should eat
it in haste, standing and dressed ready to march, their loins
girded, their shoes on their feet and staff in hand. 77 Perhaps
no festival illustrates better than the Feast of the Passover
the manner in which festivals were used as occasions for
religious instruction and training.
"At a certain part of the service it was expressly or-
dained that the youngest at the paschal table should rise
and formally ask what was the meaning of all this service
Ibid., pp. 170-171. 77 Exodus xii. 11.
66 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT ISRAEL.
and how that night was distinguished from others: to which
the father was to reply, by relating, in language suited to
the child's capacity, the whole national history of Israel
from the calling of Abraham down to the deliverance from
Egypt and the giving of the Law." 78
Morals.
Through the prophets Yahweh had been revealed as a
God of righteousness whose first demand of his worshipers
was pure hearts and upright lives. Direct
Religious Basis. -
from Yahweh of Hosts came the command
to truthfulness, mercy, honesty and purity. The moral
responsibility of the individual was not merely to his fam-
ily and the community but to Yahweh. Consequently there
could be no separation between morality and religion. It
was impossible to be religious unless one were first righteous.
In the Native Period moral education like every other
type of education had been received almost entirely through
training. 79 Such training in no sense ceased after the Exile ;
nevertheless, the Jews became ever increasingly a people of
the book, and written literature became more and more im-
portant as a channel of education in morals and manners
as well as in religion.
No people has ever produced a body of literature so rich
in moral teachings or so wide and so varied in its possible
application. In the earlier writings and in those passages
in the later ones designed for children, moral precepts are
stated dogmatically. But in many portions of the later writ-
ings dogmatic precepts give way to principles. Consequently
the Old Testament is equally well adapted for the primitive ,
virtues Empha- and the highly developed mind, for the moral
sized, Obedience instruction of the child and the meditation of
the philosopher. Absolute obedience to parents was re-
garded as the cardinal virtue of childhood and was pre-
78 A. Edersheim, In the Days of Christ, p. 110; cf. Exodus xii.
26-27 and Exodus xiii. 8.
79 See Chapter II, paragraph on Morals.
EDUCATION IN THE FAMILY AFTER THE EXILE. 67
sented as such in the earliest as well as in the latest writ-
ings:
"Honor thy father and thy mother that thy days may be long
In the land which Yahweh thy God giveth thee." 80
"He that feareth the Lord will honor his father
And will do service unto his parents, as to his masters." 81
"Honor thy father with thy whole heart
And forget not the sorrows of thy mother,
Remember thou wast begotten of them :
And how canst thou recompense them
The things they have done for thee?" 82
Children are specifically enjoined to respect the old age
of their parents:
"My son, help thy father in his age
And grieve him not as long as he liveth." 83
"Hearken unto thy father in his age
And despise not thy mother when she is old." 84
The remaining moral virtues taught to the Jewish chil-
dren were those which are known and honored to-day
throughout Christendom. They were presented in part
through proverbs, moral precepts, psalms and prayers, in
part through biographies and historical narratives, in part
through the symbolic rites, customs and festivals already
described. It must suffice here to name briefly the more im-
portant of these virtues, bearing in mind that they "were
taught line upon line, precept upon precept," in season and
out of season.
1. Obedience 8. Chastity 14. Patience
2. Reverence 9. Truthfulness 15. Meekness
3. Brotherly love 10. Industry 16. Loyalty
4. Charity 11. Thrift 17. Diligence
5. Compassion 12. Prudence 18. Perseverance
6. Hospitality 13. Patriotism 19. Mercy
7. Temperance
80 Exodus xx. 12. 81 Ecclesiasticus iii. 7.
82 Ibid., vii. 27-28. 83 Ibid., iii. 12. i
84 Proverbs xxiii. 22; Ecclesiasticus iii. 1-16 is of marked interest.
68 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT ISRAEL.
Manners.
Manners were regarded as matters of religion and moral-
ity. This is well brought out in the command to the young
to rise in the presence of the aged: "Thou
shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honor
the face of the old man, and thou shalt fear thy God : I am
Yahweh." 85 Here we have a command to perform an
ordinary act of politeness made correlative with fearing
God and followed by the most authoritative and binding ol
all divine utterances, "/ am Yahweh."
No description of any system of training in manners
employed by the ancient Hebrews is available. However,
the patriarchal organization of the home, the implicit obe-
dience exacted of children, the respect required of them
for all their elders, the emphasis placed by the Hebrews
upon form in every aspect of life are sufficient reasons for
believing that training in manners constituted a most im-
portant part of the education of children. The soundness
of this inference is amply supported by many lessons in
politeness contained in the Holy Scriptures. Some of these
lessons are given in the form of narratives which relate in
detail the conduct of some great national character. Gen-
esis xviii gives, under the guise of the story of Abraham
entertaining angels unawares, a beautiful lesson in hospital-
ity and detailed instructions as to the proper manner of treat-
ing guests. Genesis xix gives a similar lesson in connection
with the story of Lot. 86 Elsewhere lessons in courtesy are
given in the form of precepts and admonitions relating to
the treatment of strangers, the aged, topics of conversation
and conduct in general or upon particular occasions. These
lessons vary in length from terse proverbs to comparatively
long passages such as that on table manners in Ecclesiasticus. 87
85 Leviticus xix. 32.
86 For a summary of Abraham's acts 0f courtesy see below, para-
graph on Hospitality.
S7 See below, special paragraph.
EDUCATION IN THE FAMILY AFTER THE EXILE. 69
Breeding expresses itself outwardly and concretely in
acts, but the essence of good breeding is the spirit which
simplicity prompts and pervades the acts. Simplicity,
Meekness and meekness, humility, gentleness and kindness,
the earmarks of good breeding, and the foun-
dations of all genuine courtesy are repeatedly presented as
qualities which bring divine favor, care and reward. "Yah-
weh preserveth the simple." 88 "The meek shall inherit the
land;" 89 "He will adorn the meek with salvation;" 90 "I
(Yahweh) dwell in the high and holy place, with him also
that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit
of the humble and to revive the heart of the contrite;" 91
"Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men
who were upon the face of the earth." 92
Boasting, ostentation and conceit, the most patent evi-
dences of vulgarity, are condemned in narrative and in pre-
cept: "Let another man praise thee, and not thine own
mouth: a stranger and not thine own lips;" 93 "Let not the
wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty glory
in his might, let not the rich glory in his riches ;" 94 "Be not
wise in thine own eyes; fear Yahweh, and depart from
evil ;" 95 "The way of the foolish is right in his own eyes, but
he that is wise hearkeneth unto counsel." 96
Whispering and whisperers are to be shunned: "A whis-\
perer separateth chief friends." 97 Loquacity is condemned
Conversation, and^cscrve in uttgrance commended : "In the
Whispering. multitude of words there wanteth not trans-
gression, but he that ref raineth his lips doth wisely ;" 98 "A
fool's vexation is presently known : but a prudent man con-
cealeth shame ;" 99 "A fool uttereth all his anger but a wise
88 Psalm cxvi. 6. 89 p sa lm xxxvii. 11.
90 Psalm cxlix. 4. i Isaiah Ivii. 15.
82 Numbers xii. 3. ** Proverbs xxvii. 2.
84 Jeremiah ix. 23. . s Proverbs iii. 7.
86 Proverbs xii. 15. * Proverbs xvi. 28.
88 Proverbs x. 19. Proverbs xii. 16.
70 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT ISRAEL.
man keepeth it back and stilleth it ;" 100 "Death and life are
in the power of the tongue; and they that love it shall eat
the fruit thereof." 101
Stinging and bitter retorts are to be avoided: "A soft
answer turneth away wrath : but a grievous word stirreth up
anger;" 102 "The north wind bringeth forth rain: so doth
Topics of a backbiting tongue an angry countenance." 103
Cqnversation. Nothing more readily betrays breeding than
the character of conversation. The book of Proverbs con-
tains numerous exhortations to proper conversation and
denunciations of rash or perverse speech.
"A wholesome tongue is a tree of life :
But perverseness therein is a breaking of the spirit." 10 *
"A word fitly spoken
Is like apples of gold in network of silver." 105
"He that giveth answer before he heareth,
It is folly and shame unto him." 106
Wisdom, righteousness and the laws of Yahweh are to
be made the constant topics of conversation:
"And (thou) shalt talk of them, (the laws and words of
Yahweh), when thou sittest in thy house." 107 "And ye shall
teach them your children, talking of them when thou sittest
in thy house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when
thou liest down, and when thou risest up." 108
"And my tongue shall talk of Thy righteousness,
And of Thy praise all the day long." 109
"The mouth of the righteous talketh of wisdom,
And his tongue speaketh judgment." 110
The inseparability of religion, morals and manners has
been dwelt upon sufficiently to make it unnecessary to point
100 Proverbs xxix. 11. 10 i Proverbs xyiii. 21.
> 2 Proverbs xv. 1. 103 Proverbs xxv. 23.
54 Proverbs xv. 4. 105 Proverbs xxv. 11.
106 Proverbs xviii. 13. 10 ? Deuteronomy vi. 7.
108 Deuteronomy xi. 19. 100 p sa lm xxxv. 28.
110 Psalm xxxvii. 30.
EDUCATION IN THE FAMILY AFTER THE EXILE. 71
out that the fact that the passages just quoted bear primar-
ily upon religious instruction, does not to the slightest degree
exclude them from the field of manners.
If tact is the test of a thoroughbred, curiosity is equally '
the betrayer of the illbred. Curiosity is linked in the Scrip-
tures with irreverence and disobedience. It
was inevitable that the Hebrews should apply
to commonplace experiences and situations the frightful
warnings contained in the story of Lot's wife, 111 and in the
story of the fifty thousand and seventy men of Beth-shemesh
destroyed because they looked into the ark of Yahweh. 112
Among the most important occasions for display of
breeding are the times when one sits down to eat. Gluttony
Table Manners- is branded as a disgrace to one's own self and
Gluttony. a shaming of one's parents: "He that is a
companion of gluttonous men shameth his father." 113 The
principles, precepts and moral qualities presented and ex-
tolled in the Scriptures if applied to conduct at the table
would have made any specific direction unnecessary. Never-
theless Ben Sira, like the authors of chivalric courtesy books,
felt it incumbent upon him to give specific rules of table,
conduct which he did in the following interesting and, to
the modern mind, curious passage:
"Eat, as it becometh a man, those things which are set
before thee ; and devour not lest thou be hated. Leave off
Ecciesiasticus ^ rst ^ or manners ' sa ^e ; and be not unsatiable
on Table Man- lest' thou offend. When thou sittest among
many, reach not thine hand out first of all.
A very little is sufficient for a man well nurtured. Sound
sleep cometh of moderate eating: he riseth and his wits are
with him." 114
However important may be the command, "Thou shalt
not bear false witness against thy neighbor," it represents
merely the beginning of Hebrew custom with respect to the
111 Genesis xix. 26. i" i Samuel vi. 19.
us Proverbs xxviii. 7. n * Ecciesiasticus xxxi. 16-21.
72 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT ISRAEL.
treatment of neighbors. In the Levitical code, as well as in
the teachings of Jesus 115 stranger and neighbor are to be
treated with the same love that one bears
toward his own flesh and blood : "Thou shalt
love thy neighbor as thyself." 116 Neighbors are to be treated
with generosity when they come seeking to borrow: "Say
not unto thy neighbor, 'Go and come again, and to-morrow
I will give,' when thou hast it by thee." 117
Hospitality is a religious obligation and brings divine
rewards. Many details of a host's conduct are clearly and
HOS itaii beautifully set forth in the two stories already
referred to, of how Abraham 118 and Lot 119
entertained angels unawares. Abraham, sitting in his tent,
beholds three men. He runs forth to meet them. He bows
himself to the earth and then entreats them in terms of
unsurpassable courtesy to be his guests. He orders water
fetched that their feet may be washed. His wife Sarah
makes fresh bread and a feast is prepared. When they
depart, as a last act of hospitality, Abraham goes with them
"to bring them on their way." The acts of hospitality per-
formed by Lot as host are almost identical with those per-
formed by Abraham. Abraham is rewarded by a promise
of a son; Lot, by being saved from the destruction that
overtakes the other inhabitants of Sodom.
116 Luke x. 29-37. Leviticus xix. 18.
11T Proverbs iii. 28. us Genesis xviii. 3-18.
118 Genesis xix.
CHAPTER V.
EDUCATION IN SCHOOL AND SOCIETY
AFTER THE EXILE.
EDUCATION IN SCHOOL AND SOCIETY
AFTER THE EXILE.
"Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore
get wisdom." Proverbs iv. 7.
"The fear of Jehovah is the beginning of
wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One
is understanding." Proverbs ix. 10.
"The law of Jehovah is perfect. ...The
precepts of Jehovah are right. .. .The judg-
ments of Jehovah are true. . . .More to be de-
sired are they than gold, yea th'an much fine
gold." Psalm xix. 7-10 (Extracts).
"There is no love such as the love of the
Torah. The words of the Torah are as dif-
ficult to acquire as silken garments,, and are
lost as easily as linen ones." Babylonian
Talmud, "Tract Aboth of Rabbi Nathan,"
XXVIII, beginning. (In Rodkinson's trans-
lation, p. 97.)
Summary of Chapter.
As the earlier hope of ever becoming a great political power
waned, a new hope arose, that of preserving the nation through pre-
serving its religion. There was only one way of doing this, by edu-
cation.
The Priestly code had given to the priests the supreme political as ''
well as the supreme religious authority. Their devotion to political
and administrative duties and to the elaborate system of worship
organized in connection with the second temple led them to resign
gradually most of their one-time teaching functions to a newly arisen
lay order of teachers, the scribes. The temple and the priests never
ceased to be important factors in the educational situation, but a new
institution, the synagogue, became the people's prayer-house, assem-.
bly-hall and house of instruction.
Although the family always remained, as it had been in the pre-
Exilic Period, the .-fundamental educational' institution, and the parents L-
76 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT ISRAEL.
continued to be the child's first teachers, nevertheless there gradually
arose, in connection with the synagogues, elementary schools which
relieved the home of much of its educational burden. Finally, as the
result of the reforms of two famous educators, Simpn ben Shetach
(c. 65 B.C.) and _Joshua ben Gamala (c. 64 A.D.), elementajryjidu-
cation became both universal and compulsory. In addition to the ele-
mentary schools higher schools were established for the sake of offer-
ing opportunities for advanced study of the Law.
The schools made no provision for girls and women. Their edu-
cation always remained thoroughly domestic and was received almost
entirely at home.
EDUCATIONAL CHARACTERISTICS AND TENDENCIES.
Warned by the oblivion which had overtaken the tribes
of the northern kingdom, the religious leaders of subject
Zeal for Educa- Judah set about to save the people of the little
tion - kingdom from a similar fate. As the one-
time hope of national and political independence and great-
ness waned a new hope arose, that of preserving the nation ^
through preserving its religion, There was only one way
of achieving this end, that was by universal education. Zeal
for education was further fostered by three important be-
liefs: (1) the belief that national calamities were punish-
ments visited upon the people because they had not been
faithful to Yahweh and his laws; 1 (2) that if Yahweh's
laws were kept, national prosperity would return; (3) the
belief that the divinely appointed mission of Judah was to
make known to the other nations of the world Yahweh, the
only true God. Educational zeal resulted in an ever-increas-
ing tendency to organize and institutionalize education. In
this process of organization and institutionalization, each of
the following five movements played an important part : ( 1 )
the development of a complete code of laws (the Priestly
code) governing every phase of life; (2) the state adoption
of the Priestly code, which made it's observance binding
upon every member of the Jewish state and consequently a
1 This is the underlying philosophy of the Book of Judges. See
Judges iv. 1 and 2; vi. 1 and elsewhere.
EDUCATION IN SCHOOL AND SOCIETY AFTER THE EXILE. 77
knowledge of it necessary; (3) a vast growth of sacred
literature, both oral and written, including works specially
written as textbooks, such as Proverbs and Ecclesiasticus ;
(4) the organization of the scribes into a teaching guild;
(5) the rise of schools, elementary and advanced.
The passages quoted at the opening of the present chap-
ter bear witness to the supreme importance attached to the
Torah, the Law of Yahweh, in the centuries
Place of Religion .. ,, . , _. , , T- M T-I
and Morals in following the Babylonian Exile. This position
Post-Exilic Life O f supremacy had been attained gradually.
and Education. T ,. . . .. TT , ,._ ,. .
In the earliest periods of Hebrew life, religion
was but one, albeit a most important one, of many interests
in life and education. Gradually, however, the vision of
Yahweh, his power and his kingdom enlarged. He came
to be regarded as the founder of the state and of all its
institutions, civic and political as well as religious. He was
accepted as the author of all its laws whether criminal,
moral or religious, and of all institutions. The Law, in\
other words religion, and with it morality, became the
supreme interest, the chief study and the all-determining!
force in public and in private life at home and in school.
It is doubtful whether history contains a more tragic illus-
tration of devotion to an ideal than the story of Simon ben
Shetach's son. Certainly no other incident reveals as for-
cibly the supreme place accorded to the Law in the hearts
of the devout Jews. The story is related by Graetz in the
following words :
"On account of his unsparing severity, Simon ben She-
tach brought upon himself such hatred of his opponents
that they determined upon a fearful revenge. They incited
two false witnesses to accuse his son of a crime punishable
with death, in consequence of which he was actually con-
demned to die. On his way to the place of execution the
young man uttered such vehement protestations of inno-
cence that at last the witnesses themselves were affected
and confessed to their tissue of falsehoods. But when the
78 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT ISRAEL.
judges were about to set free the condemned, the prisoner
himself drew their attention to their violation of the Law,
which enjoined that no belief was to be given witnesses
who withdrew their previous testimony. 'If you wish,' said
the condemned youth to his father, 'that the salvation of
Israel should be wrought by your hand, consider me but
the threshold over which you must pass without compunc-
tion.' Both father and son showed themselves worthy of
their sublime task, that of guarding the integrity of the
Law ; for to uphold it one sacrificed his life, and the other
his paternal love. Simon, the Judean Brutus, let the law
pursue its course, although he, as well as the judges, were
convinced of his son's innocence." 2
I In the educational ideal of the Native Period, the phys-
I ical, the esthetic and the industrial aspects of personality
'i The Scribe as as wel1 as tne intellectual, moral and religious
jj the Post-Exilic were recognized. The educational ideal of the
post-Exilic Period was the scribe, 3 the man
learned in and obedient to the Law. Such obedience im-
plied complete consecration to Yahweh and a consequent
separation from all duties and activities not related to Him.
The vast development of the Law during the Exile, the
multitude of legal interpretations and -precedents made
leisure a prerequisite for all who would become learned
and left the student of the Law little time for attention to
anything else. 4 Despite the fact that the great cultural
heritage of Greece and of Hellehized Rome was at their
very doors, the faithful Jews not only remained indifferent
the physical, esthetic and intellectual interests of their
\pagan conquerors but studiously excluded them from their
2 H. Graetz, History of the Jews, II, 54c-55a.
3 A further discussion of the educational ideal is given below,
paragraph on the Ideal Scribe ; see also below, note 15.
4 Cf. with these statements those relating to the scribes' attitude
toward manual work in Schools of the Soferim, paragraph on Sup-
port, and note 15. An interesting suggestion of a broader attitude in
the Rabbinical comment to Genesis ix. 27, in which ("Tractate Me-
gillah," 9b) the esthetic element in Greek culture is praised.
le
EDUCATION IN SCHOOL AND SOCIETY AFTER THE EXILE. 79
schools and from their ambitions. Narrow as this may .
seem, it is doubtful whether any other course would havejj
saved the Jews from paganism, amalgamation and oblivion. H
Had the native interests of the Hebrews which charac-
terized the pre-Exilic Period been allowed free development
Ph sicai Educa- ^ 1S P 058 ^ 6 tnat physical education among
tion Greek in- the Hebrews might have had an entirely dif-
ferent history. The solemn duty resting upon
every Jew of mastering an ever-increasing body of sacred
literature left little time for anything else. To be sure, the
high priest Jason who had purchased his office 5 from An-
tiochus IV, Epiphanes (r. 175-164 B.C.), 6 built a Greek
gymnasium in Jerusalem under the very tower. 7 Moreover
"many of the priests took their place in the arena," 8 and
"the high priest even sent three hundred drachmas to Tyre
for a sacrifice to Hercules." 9 Nevertheless the faithful
Jews looked upon the Greek physical sports with abhor-
rence, 7 and the establishment of Greek gymnasia, far from
introducing physical training into Jewish education, led to
an identification of physical education with paganism and to
a consequent hostility to it. 10
WHO WAS TAUGHT.
Throughout the period of foreign influence, educations
remained for the most part a masculine privilege. With the
exception of the synagogue, of the temple and of certain
festivals, the home was the sole institution providing train-
ing and instruction for girls and women. All schools were
boys' schools and all teachers were men.
H. P. Smith, Old Testament History, p. 443.
6 I. J. Peritz, Old Testament History, p. 293.
7 H. P. Smith, Old Testament History, p. 443 and footnote.
8 See 2 Maccabees iv. 9-12; cf. 1 Maccabees i. 13-14.
9 I. J. Peritz, Old Testament History, p. 294.
10 H. Graetz, History of the Jews, I, 444-446, gives much inter-
esting material.
EDUCATION IN ANCIENT ISRAEL.
TEACHERS.
Decline of Priests and Prophets as Teachers.
Reference has already been made to the growth of the
political importance of the priests following the restoration
of Jerusalem after the return from captivity. More and
more their numbers, wealth and power increased. It was
no longer possible for all the members of this vast army to
be actively engaged all the time in rites and ceremonials.
Consequently they were organized into twenty-four courses
or families. The courses rotated, each course serving one
week in turn and beginning its duties by offering the Sab-
bath evening sacrifice. The existence of a vast Priestly
f |Lode setting forth in detail regulations governing every phase
)f conduct did away with the need of the type of instruction
[iven by the priests and prophets in earlier times. This
i function could now be entrusted to lay teachers whose task
mvould be transmitting and interpreting the already existing
Maws. This fact combined with the increase in the number,
complexity and elaborateness of the temple rites and in the
increase of the political and administrative activities of the
priests resulted in the gradual transfer of the major portion
of the teaching function from the priests and prophets to a
newly arisen teaching order, the Soferim or scribes.
It must not be inferred, however, that the priests ceased
to teach. The Soferim, it is true, became the teachers of
the Law, but the priests still continued to be the people's
great teachers in forms of worship. In addition to this, some
of the priests were also famous scribes, and in this capacity
were professed teachers of the Law.
V
The Soferim, or Scribes.
The art of writing, as already shown, had been known
and employed from early times by priests, prophets, secre-
taries and others. It has also been shown how the Exilic
EDUCATION IN SCHOOL AND SOCIETY AFTER THE EXILE. 81
renaissance increased greatly the body of literature. The
original meaning of the term soferim was "people who know
how to write." 11 It was, therefore, applied
to court chroniclers or royal secretaries. Be-
cause ability to write came to be generally accepted as the
mark of the educated or learned man, the term came to be
employed for a wise man (1 Chron. xxvii. 32 J. 11
Following the restoration, the Jewish community, under
the leadership of the priest-scribe, Ezra, bound itself to the
observance of the written Law. 12 If the Law was to be
kept it must be known and understood; there must be
teachers and interpreters. But the Law was written in
ancient Hebrew, a tongue almost unknown to the masses,-
most of whom spoke Aramaic or Greek. As the result of
these conditions, those able to read the Scriptures in the
original Hebrew and to interpret them to the people came
to form a distinct teaching class. At length soferim came to
be used to designate specifically this great body of teachers
from the time of Ezra to that of Simeon the Just (a con-
temporary of Alexander the Great). It seems that after
Simeon the Just the teachers were more generally styled
"elders," %ekenim, later "the wise ones," hakhamim, while
soferim was sometimes used as an honorific appellation. In
still later times soferim became synonymous with "teachers
of little children." As conditions became, more settled through-
out Judea the scribes made their way to its remotest parts.
In time a powerful scribes' guild was organized to which
all teachers belonged, and which monopolized the teaching
profession. By the time of the Chronicler, three ranks of
teachers appear: (1) the Hazzan or elementary teacher;
(2) the scribe; (3) the sage. 13
11 Max Seligsohn, "Scribes," Jewish Encyclopedia, XI, 123.
12 H. P. Smith, Old Testament History, pp. 393-5, discredits this
story entirely.
650b.
13 A. R. S. Kennedy, "Education," Hastings' Bible Dictionary, I,
82 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT ISRAEL.
The following paragraphs, written by Jesus ben Sira
(who flourished in the first third of the second century
B.C.) 14 present the most complete description
e * of the ideal scribe that has descended to us
from that period. The divorce made by Sira between the
life of study and that of industrial occupations, and his
contempt for manual labor must not, however, be regarded
as necessarily representing a universal attitude.
JESUS BEN SIRA ON THE GLORY OF BEING A SCRIBE.
(Ecclesiasticus xxxviii. 24 xxxix. 11.)
fif "The wisdom of a learned man cometh by opportunity
I of leisure : and he that hath little business shall become wise.
"How can he get wisdom that holdeth the plow, and
that glorieth in the goad, that driveth oxen, and is occupied
in their labors, and whose talk is of bullocks? He giveth
his mind to make furrows ; and is diligent to give the kine
fodder.
"So every carpenter and workmaster, that laboreth night
and day ; and they that cut and grave seals, and are diligent
to make great variety, and give themselves to counterfeit
imagery, and watch to finish a work:
"The smith also sitting by the anvil, and considering the
iron work, the vapor of the fire wasteth his flesh, and he
fighteth with the heat of the furnace ; and the noise of ham-
mer and anvil is ever in his ears, and his eyes look still
upon the pattern of the thing that he maketh; he setteth
his mind to finish his work, and watcheth to polish it per-
fectly;
"So doth the potter sitting at his work, and turning
the wheel about with his feet, who is always carefully set
at his work, and maketh all his work by number;
"He fashioneth the clay with his arm, and boweth down
his strength before his feet; he applieth himself to lead it
over ; and he is diligent to make clean his furnace :
14 I. Levi, "The Wisdom of Jesus Sirach," Jewish Encyc., XI, 389a.
EDUCATION IN SCHOOL AND SOCIETY AFTER THE EXILE. 83
"All these trust in their hands, and every one is wise in
his work.
"Without these cannot a city be inhabited: and they
shall not dwell where they will, nor go up and down. They
shall not be sought for in public council, nor sit high in the
congregation; they shall not sit on the judges' seat, nor
understand the sentence of judgment; they cannot declare
justice and judgment; and they shall not be found where
parables are spoken. But they will maintain the state of
the world, and (all) their desire is in the work of their
craft.
"But he that giveth his mind to the law of the Most \<
High and is occupied in the meditation thereof, will seek j
out the wisdom of the ancient, and be occupied in proph- I
ecies. He will keep the sayings of renowned men; and/ ,
where subtil parables are, he will be there also.
"He will seek out the secrets of grave sentences and be
conversant in dark parables.
"He shall serve among great men, and appear before
princes ; he will travel through strange countries ; for he
hath triced the good and the evil among men.
"He will give his heart to resort early to the Lord that
made him, and will pray before the Most High, and will
open his mouth in prayer, and make supplication for his
sins.
"He shall show forth that which he hath learned, and\
shall glory in the law of the covenant of the Lord.
"If he die he shall leave a greater name than a thousand :
and if he live he shall increase it." 15
^/ee Franz Delitzsch, Jewish Artisan Life in the Time of Jesus
PP- 76 ' 7 / for opinions opposite to those of Sira regarding the possi-
bility of combining study with handicraft. See also below, Elemen-
tary Schools, paragraph on Teachers: etc., and Schools of the Sofe-
rtm, paragraph on Support.
84 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT ISRAEL.
tf The Soferim regarded their work as a holy one: to
(them had been entrusted the sacred task of transmitting
1 Educational the laws given by Yahweh himself. Through
Services. their literary and educational activities they
/(eventually gained almost complete control over religious
thought and education. They interpreted the Law for the
masses. They furnished the texts upon which instruction
was based. They established elementary schools and col- >
leges. They taught public and select groups of pupils. It
was their aim "to raise up many disciples," as is said in the
Talmud ("Tract Aboth," I, 2). On occasions of public
worship they translated the Scriptures written in a tongue
- almost unknown to the masses in the post-Exilic period
into the language of the people. In their teaching and in
their lives they represented the new educational and re-
ligious ideal of the times, Judaism. Within their schools
arose that oral literature which developed into the Talmud.
Despite the sincere efforts of the Soferim to adjust the
Law to changing conditions they soon became burdened
Defects and with such a mass of traditions and precedents
Weaknesses. that readjustment and progress became ex-
tremely difficult if not impossible. Their standpoint as
legalists led to such emphasis upon technical adherence to
details that the great principles were frequently lost sight
of. Political, social and religious life came to be dominated
by a burdensome system of traditions, laws and minute
regulations, the external form of which instead of the
spirit and underlying principles came to be the focus of
interest and attention. 16
Rabbis.
Qnginally the leader of^an^union ofjwprkmen, even
the leader of the hangmen, was called rabbi (literally, "my.
master"). Rabbi was applied to the head of the weavers
16 For a contrary view see S. Schechter, "The Law and Recent
Criticism" in Schechter's Studies in Judaism, Vol. I, pp. 233-251.
EDUCATION IN SCHOOL AND SOCIETY AFTER THE EXILE. 85
(Talmud, "Tract Abodah Zarah" 17b), and to the head of
the gladiators (Talmud, "Tract Baba Mezia," 84a). It was
commonly applied to teachers, but did not entitle its posses-
sor to preach or teach. It apparently was not used dis-
tinctively as a teacher's title till after the time of Christ. 17
The Perushim or Pharisees.
During the latter part of the second century B. C. there
came into prominence among the Jews two important sects
Origin, charac- or parties, the Perushim or Pharisees, and
teristics. the Zedukim or Sadducees. 18 The Perushim_
or separatists were simply later exponents of a tendency
older than the time of Ezra. This tendency had its be-
ginnings in the earliest impulses of a certain portion of the
Jews to regard the devout observance of the laws of Yah-
weh as the supreme aim of individual and national life.
They believed the Jews could realize this aim only by holding
themselves aloof from all foreign innovations and by em-
phasizing those elements and customs of Jewish life that
marked off the Jews as a distinct and peculiar people. They
"insisted upon all political undertakings, all public transac-i]
tions, every national act being tried by the standard of reli-"
gion." 19 In both of these positions they were opposed by the
Sadducees. They differed further from the Zedukim or Sad- Uu^
ducees in accepting and throwing the weight of their influ- ^*
ence in favor of the oral law of the scribes and many beliefs
not set forth in the Pentateuch, such as the doctrine of the
resurrection and the belief in the existence of angels and
future rewards and punishments.
Many of the most prominent of the scribes were Peru-
shim, but the Perushim were in no sense a teaching order.
Rather they constituted a religious sect or party which in-
17 A. R. S. Kennedy, "Education," Hastings? Bible Dictionary, I,
650b.
18 H. P. Smith, Old Testament History, p. 479.
19 H. Graetz, History of the Jews, II, 17.
86 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT ISRAEL.
eluded men of every rank and occupation. Their educa-
tional importance grew out of the support they gave to the
cause of Judaism and to the teachings and educational ef-
forts of the Soferim.
EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS.
Rise of Universal Education.
Universal compulsory education for the sake of pre-
serving the natiori is a state policy familiar to the modern
world. The gradual development of this policy among the
Jews of Palestine is the most interesting and most signifi-
cant feature of the history of education from the time of
the restoration of the Jewish community in the sixth cen-
tury B.C. to the end of the Jewish state 70 A. D. The
realization of this policy was made possible by two distinct
but nevertheless inseparable movements : first, the evolution
of a professional teaching class ; second, the rise of edu-
cational institutions. The Native or pre-Exilic Period had
been a period without schools, the period of foreign influence
was marked by the rise of three types of educative institu-
tions: (1) the synagogue; (2) boys' elementary schools;
(3) the scribes' (or higher) schools.
The most important steps in the rise of the policy of
universal education may be stated as follows : ( 1 ) the public
adoption of the sacred canon and solemn covenant to keep
the Law of Yahweh; (2) the provision of universal oppor-
tunities for instruction through the rise and gradual spread
of the synagogue; (3) the rise of elementary schools (at-
tendance voluntary) ; (4) 70 B. C, ordinance (of Simon
ben Shetach) making compulsory the education of orphan
boys over sixteen years of age; (5) boys' compulsory ele-
mentary education b^ edict of Joshua ben Gamala, high
priest, 64 A. D.
EDUCATION IN SCHOOL AND SOCIETY AFTER THE EXILE. 87
The Synagogue.
Jewish tradition traces the synagogue back to the time
of Moses. Nevertheless it is not expressly mentioned until
Origin and the last century of the second temple, but then
Spread. as an institution long existing, universal, and
the center of Jewish life. 20 It may have arisen during the
Exile. Sacrifice could be offered only in Jerusalem, but
prayer and the study of the Law could be carried on regard-
less of place. The Sabbath, already observed as a day of
rest in pre-Exilic times, 21 offered the exiles leisure and op-
portunity for study. The custom of assembling on the
Sabbath for worship and study may have arisen in Babylon,
whence it may have been carried back to Jerusalem and
there institutionalized in the synagogue. After the restora-
tion of Jerusalem, the synagogue spread throughout Judea
and the entire Jewish world. 22
The term synagogue, applied originally to the assembly,,
came in time to be applied to the building in which the
General Charac- assembly met. The use of the term "church"
ter and Purpose, illustrates a similar transference of a title from
a group of people to the building occupied by the group.
Although used as public halls, court rooms and places for
scourging malefactors, the synagogues never ceased to be
chiefly houses of instruction and worship. In communities
too small or too poor to erect a separate building, a room
in some building might be devoted to the purpose. The in-
terior of buildings erected as synagogues was generally
round or rectangular. 23 Beyond the middle rose the bema
20 W. Bacher, "Synagogue," Hastings' Bible Dictionary, IV, 636d.
21 Exodus xxiii. 12. Nothing is said in this earliest legislation
about special religious observance. See T. G. Scares, The Social /-
stitutions and Ideals of the Bible, pp. 168ff. C. H. W. Johns, "The
Babylonian and Assyrian Sabbath," Enc. Brit., llth ed. XXIII, 961d-
962a.
22 W. Bacher, "Synagogue," Hastings' Bible Dictionary, IV, 637b.
23 Alfred Edersheim, In the Days of Christ, p. 254.
88 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT ISRAEL.
or platform. 24 On the center of this stood the lectern or
pulpit. Farther back stood the "ark," the chest containing
the scrolls of Scripture. 26 The manner in which worship
and instruction were combined in synagogical religious exer-
cises is revealed by the order of service.
Synagogue services were held twice on the Sabbath ; on
all (east- and fast^days; and on the two weekly market-
days, Monday and Thursday. 26 Although the
Order of Service. J .' . J / . * ,
service varied somewhat with the day and the
hour, 27 the general order was the same: that of the Sabbath
morning may be taken as a type. An analysis of the Sab-
bath morning service shows that it consisted of two main
divisions : one, liturgical ; the other, instructional. The litur-
gical portion consisted of the recitation by all adult males 27
of the Shema 27 preceded and followed by a number of
"benedictions," prayers or eulogies 27 recited by one indi-
vidual especially deputed for the occasion, the congregation
simply responding "Amen." 28 The Shema is commonly
characterized as the national creed or confession. 27 It is
composed of three scriptural passages: 27 Deuteronomy vi.
4-9 ; Deuteronomy xi. 13-21 ; Numbers xv. 37-41. It begins :
"Hear O Israel, Yahweh is our God, Yahweh alone," a pas-
sage which offers many difficulties in translation as may be
seen from the variant translations in the marginal note of
the American Revised Version. It is named Shema from its
initial Hebrew word shema, meaning "hear." The liturgical
portion of the service offered definite systematic training on
three or more days per week in worship and acts of devo-
tion. The instructional portion consisted in the reading
from the Law and then from the Prophets in the original
Hebrew passages assigned to the day, which were forthwith
translated into the vernacular by the meturgeman or trans-
lator who stood beside the reader. 29
2* Ibid., 261. 2/Wd.,262.
. /&., 277d-278a. " Ibid., 268*.
2* Ibid., 275c. 29 Ibid.. 277-279.
EDUCATION IN SCHOOL AND SOCIETY AFTER THE EXILE. 89
It is unnecessary to dwell upon the educational signifi-
cance of a custom which resulted in insuring the reading to
the Aramaic or Greek speaking masses of their native litera-
ture in the original tongue. The Pentateuch was so divided
that its reading extended over three or .three and a half
years. 30 The section for the day was subdivided in such a
manner that at least seven persons might be called upon to
read a portion of not less than three verses each. 30 The
Law was read and translated verse by verse. The reading
and translating of the Prophets was presented in passages of
three verses each. 31
The synagogue service provided training in worship and
oral instruction in the Scriptures for every man, woman and
child in the community. Furthermore, it furnished a power-
ful stimulus to every man and boy to become an earnest
student of the native literature, for any male, eyen a minor,
might act either as reader or meturgeman, 32 and the public
esteem attached to fulfilling such an office made it the pious
ambition of all, through the many opportunities it furnished
to those qualified for active participation in its "services.
Moreover, one individual especially deputed for the occa-
sion led in the recitation of the benedictions or prayers 33
which constituted so large a part of the liturgical portion of
the service, the congregation simply responding "Amen." 33
Finally, the reading of the Scriptures was followed by the
derashah, an address or exposition which consisted of the
explanation and application of the day's lesson or some
portion of it. 34 Here again we find a custom providing,^
on the one hand, instruction for the mass of the people, and \
on the other hand, an incentive for earnest study, for any
learned man present might be called upon to act as the
datskan or expositor. The manner in which the synagogue
combined worship and education, instruction for the masses
30 Ibid., 277. si Ibid., 279a.
32 Ibid., 278. Ibid., 275.
3 * Ibid., 279b-c.
90 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT ISRAEL.
and incentives to study for those having leisure and ability,
will appear from the following outline 85 of the Sabbath
morning order of service.
ORDER OF SYNAGOGUE SERVICE ( SABBATH MORNING.)
PART I. LITURGICAL OR DEVOTIONAL.
I. Lectern Devotions. 86
1. Two "Benedictions."
2. The Shema recited by all adult males.
3. One "Benediction."
II. Devotions Before the "Ark." 3
4. Various "Benedictions."
The number apparently varied from twelve in earlier times
to eighteen or nineteen in later times. 37
5. The Priestly Benediction (Numbers vi. 23-24) , 88
To be recited by a descendant of Aaron if any such were
present, otherwise by the leader of the devotions. 88
PART II. INSTRUCTIONAL.
I. The Scripture Lessons.
1. "Benediction" by first reader. 89
2. Reading and translation of selections from the Law.
3. Reading and translation of selections from the Prophets.
4. "Benediction" by the last reader. 39
II. The Exposition or Derashah.
The synagogue was the earliest, the most widespread
and the most enduring of all the educational institutions
I Educational Sig- after the Exile. It was the first institution to
offer systematic instruction to both sexes. It
was the parent of the scribe college and the elementary
school. Out of it arose the movement which resulted in
universal education. Under its influence and that of the
**Ibid., 268ff. Edersheim states in a footnote on page 268 that his
description is based on a study of the Mishna.
38 "The 'Shema' and its accompanying 'benedictions' seem to have
been said at the lectern; whereas for the next series of prayers
the leader of the devotions went forward and stood before the ark."
Ibid., 272*.
87 Ibid., 272-275. 88 Ibid., 275. Ibid., 277.
EDUCATION IN SCHOOL AND SOCIETY AFTER THE EXILE. 91
scribes all Jews became students of the Law ; the Law became -
the most reverenced of all studies, and the center of re-
ligious and intellectual interest.
Elementary Schools.
It was but a step from using the synagogue on Sabbaths
and feast-days as a place of instruction to using it every day
Origin and EX- as a place for teaching boys whose parents
tension. would permit them to come. A school was a
common feature of Babylonian temples, and if the syna-
gogue arose during the Exile it may be that the elementary
school arose at this time also as an adjunct to the synagogue*
On the other hand, it may not have arisen till after the
Exile and then not in any sense as a borrowed institution
but merely as a natural result of the increasing conviction
that the salvation of the Jews depended upon every Jew -
knowing and keeping the Law. 40
When such schools first became universal is still an open
question. The universality of teachers in the first part of
the first century A. D. and, by inference, of schools is shown u
by passages in the New Testament such as Luke v. 17: -
"There were Pharisees and doctors of the law, sitting by,
who were come out of every village of Galilee and Judea
and Jerusalem." In the year 64 A. D. the ordinance of
Gamala 41 required that one or more, elementary schools be /
established in every community. The elementary school was
always located in the synagogue proper, or in some room
attached to the synagogue or in the master's house. 42 If, as
is generally agreed, teachers and synagogues were practically
universal in Palestine in the first century B. C, it does not
40 In time the name most commonly given to such a school was
Betha-Sefer, or "House of the Book"; this, however, is a post-
iiblical term and is consequently avoided in the present account.
41 The claims of Shetach and the ordinance of Gamala will be dis-
cussed in the immediately following paragraphs.
42 A - R- S. Kennedy, "Education," Hastings' Bible Dictionary, I,
92 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT ISRAEL.
seem unreasonable to conclude that, whether elementary edu-
cation was compulsory or not at this time, elementary schools
were exceedingly widely spread, perhaps practically uni-
versal. Moreover, if the claims of Shetach be admitted, and
if his law refers, as some maintain, to already existing
schools, it is possible that elementary schools were all but
universal even earlier than the first century B. C., how much
earlier cannot be conjectured. 43
The widespread existence of elementary schools proved
in itself insufficient to guarantee an education to every boy.
Compulsory To insure this, a law was passed requiring
Education. every community to establish one or more
elementary schools and making attendance compulsory for
boys over seven years. It is a matter of dispute whether
this law was passed early in the first century B. C. or in the
latter part of the first century A. D. Some writers give the
credit to a decree issued in 75 B. C. by Simon ben Shetach,
brother-in-law of the Jewish king Alexander Janneus (r.
104-78 B.C.) and president of the Sanhedrin. Kennedy,
in his brief but scholarly account, asserts there is no good
reason for rejecting the tradition regarding Shetach's efforts
on behalf of popular education, but fails to state what he
considers this tradition to include. 44 Graetz, recounting the
reign of Queen Alexandra, writes:
"Simon ben Shetach, the brother of the queen, the oracle
of the Pharisaic party, stood high in her favor. So great a
Rival claims P art did he play in the history of that time
of Shetach and that it was called by many 'the days of Simon
ben Shetach and of Queen Sajome.' 45 . . . ..But
Simon was not an ambitious man and he determined to waive
his own rights (to the presidency of the Great Council) . . .in
favor of Judah ben Tabbai, who was then residing in Alex-
p- . conclusions given below in the paragraph on the
Kival Claims of Shetach and Gamala, should be consulted at this point.
44A ' R ' ^' Kenned y "Education," Hastings' Bible Dictionary, I,
45 H. Graetz, History of the Jews, II, 48d.
EDUCATION IN SCHOOL AND SOCIETY AFTER THE EXILE. 93
andria, of whose profound learning and excellent character he
had formed a high estimate . . .These two celebrated men have
therefore been called 'Restorers of the Law/ who 'brought
back to the Crown (the Law) its ancient splendor'. . . , 46
"One of the reforms of this time expressly attributed to
Simon ben Shetach was the promotion of better instruction.
In all large towns, high schools for the use of young men
from the age of sixteen sprang up at his instance. But all
study, we may presume, was entirely confined to the Holy
Scriptures, and particularly to the Pentateuch and the study
of the Law. Many details or smaller points in the Law
which had been partly forgotten and partly neglected during
the long rule of the Sadducees, that is to say, from Hyr-
canus's oppression of the Pharisees until the commencement
of Salome's reign, were once more introduced into daily
life." 47
The passage in the Jerusalem Talmud which records the
services rendered to education by Simon ben Shetach reads
as follows :
"Simon ben Shetach ordained three things : that a man
may do business with the kethnbah (a sum of money stipu-
lated in the marriage contract) ; that people should send
their children to school; that glassware be subject to con-
tamination." 48
It is evident that the brevity and vagueness of the ref-
erence to education in this passage are such as to furnish
basis for much discussion but at the same time such as to
make exceedingly difficult, if not impossible, any conclusions
as to what Shetach actually did.
Giidemann, 49 Grossmann and Kandel, 50 Laurie, 31 Leip-
46 Ibid., p. 49a and d. 4 ? Ibid., pp. 50d-51a.
48 Jerusalem Talmud, "Kethuboth," VIII, end.
49 M. Giidemann, "Education," Jewish Encyc., V, 43c.
50 Grossmann and Kandel, "Jewish Education," Monroe's Cyclo-
pedia of Education, III, 542d.
51 S. S. Laurie, Pre-Christian Education, p. 93.
94 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT ISRAEL.
ziger, 52 and Spiers, 83 while crediting Shetach with educa-
,tional reforms, regard the law issued in 64 A. D. by the
(high priest Joshua ben Gamala as the ordinance by which
\, elementary education was first made universal and compul-
sory for boys over six or seven. The defenders of the
claims of Gamala assert that the law of Shetach applied
either only to orphan boys over sixteen years of age, or
only to Jerusalem and other large cities. If the first of
these positions be accepted, it would follow that the first
step toward compulsory education was the establishment in
75 B. C. of higher schools for orphan boys over sixteen
years of age. Gudemann sums up the situation as follows :
"The scribes, at first, restricted their educational activ-
ities to adults, giving free lectures in synagogues and schools
while the education of children remained in the hands of the
parents as in olden time's. But as boys often lacked this
advantage, the state employed teachers in Jerusalem (B.
21a) to whose care the children from the provinces were
entrusted ; and as these did not suffice, schools were also
established in the country towns. This arrangement must
probably be referred to an ordinance of R. Simon ben Shetach
(/*r.ra/m.;'Keth."VIII, end). 48 . .. .These district schools
were intended only for youths of sixteen and seventeen
years of age who could provide for themselves away from
home. The high priest Joshua ben Gamala instituted schools
for boys of six and seven years in all cities of Palestine." 54
The section of the Babylonian Talmud recounting the
work of Gamala is of such importance in the history of
Jewish education that -no account, however summary, can
afford to omit it. The passage is valuable not only for its
account of Gamala's work but for the light it throws, on
earlier conditions.
"Verily let it be remembered to that man for good.
82 H. M. Leipziger, Education of the Jews, p. 197.
63 B. Spiers, The School System of the Talmud, pp. 9-10.
54 M. Gudemann, "Education," Jewish Encyc., V, 43.
EDUCATION IN SCHOOL AND SOCIETY AFTER THE EXILE. 95
Rabbi Joshua ben Gamala is his name, for had he not been,
the Law would have been forgotten in Israel. At first every
one that had a father received from him instruction in the
Law, but he that had no father learned not the Law
Thereafter teachers for the children were appointed in Je-
rusalem. . . . But even this measure sufficed not, for he that
had a father was brought by him to school and was taught
there, but he that had no father was not brought to be
taught there. In consequence of this, it was ordained that
teachers should be appointed in every district, to whom
children were sent when they were sixteen or seventeen
years of age. When a teacher became angry with a scholar,
the latter 'stamped his feet and ran away. In this condition
education remained until the time of Joshua ben Gamala,
who ordained that in every province and in every town
there should be teachers appointed to whom children should
be brought at the age of six or seven years." 55
Any such legislation as that described in the foregoing
paragraphs would, of course, have been ineffective had it
not been supported by a widespread sentiment in favor of
education.
All schools were for boys only and all teachers were
men. The ordinance of Gamala required communities to
organization of P rovi ^e one teacher for twenty-five pupils orfj
Elementary less ; f or any number over twenty-five and
less than fifty, one teacher and one assistant;
for fifty pupils, two teachers and two classes. 56 In the be-
ginning probably any scribe or any officer of
a. Teachers: f
Numbers, the synagogue who had the leisure taught the
elementary classes. In time, however, the
master of the elementary school came to hold
membership in the powerful scribes' guild and to bear the
65 Der Babylonische Talmud, "Baba Bathra," tr. by Wunsche ; A.
R. S. Kennedy, Hastings' Bible Dictionary, I, 250b. I have taken
Kennedy's translation of Wunsche here in preference to Rodkinson's.
66 Babylonian Talmud, "Baba Bathra," 21a. (Tr. Rodkinson, p. 62.)
96 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT ISRAEL.
distinct title of hazzan* 7 Kennedy asserts that the Hazzan
of the elementary schools was distinct from the synagogue
officer of the same title whose work consisted largely of
menial duties connected with the synagogue, including even
the whipping of criminals. 58 Other writers consider that
the two may have been identical.
S Although the scribes taught without pay and supported
themselves, if necessary, by plying a trade, the Hazzan prob-
ably received a regular though small wage. 59 The greatest
reward, however, of the teachers of every rank was the love,
gratitude, esteem and veneration in which they were held
i by the community. In public and in private they were
treated with a marked and particular respect, and no man in
a Jewish community occupied a more esteemed or a more
enviable position. Moral character, knowledge of the Law
and pious observance of all it' ordinances, were undoubtedly
the qualities most sought for in a teacher.
pj- Before the boy began going to school he had learned at
home many passages of Scripture, some prayers, some
b Aim of the son g s an d' many sacred traditions of his race.
Eiemen&ry He had also witnessed and participated in
many feasts and festivals and listened to the
explanations of the origin and significance of each act. The
n aim of the elementary school was to give every boy a com-
1 1 plete mastery of the Law and thus prepare him for assuming
\ upon reaching his majority, responsibility for the Law.
Probably the only subjects taught in the elementary
school were reading, writing and the elements of arithmetic.
Learning to read and to write was far from an easy task.
No language was permitted other than the ancient Hebrew, 60
57 A. R. S. Kennedy, "Education/' Hastings' Bible Dictionary, I,
58 Ibid.
59 D. Eaton, "Scribes," Hastings' Bible Dictionary, IV, 422d; cf.
xviii. 3; M. Schloessinger, "Hazzan," Jewish Encyclopedia, VI,
_ 60 A. R. S. Kennedy, "Education," Hastings' Bible Dictionary, I,
EDUCATION IN SCHOOL AND SOCIETY AFTER THE EXILE. 97
a tongue almost unknown to the children of this period, in '
the majority of whose homes Aramaic or Greek was spoken.
The difficulty of learning to read and write
was further increased by the fact that in writ-
ing ancient Hebrew, vowel sounds were not indicated. Thus
Yahweh was written YHWH. Consequently, a large ele-
ment in reading consisted in reproducing from memory the
vowel sounds.
The work of the elementary school centered about.,
memorizing the Law in its threefold content, ceremonial, 1
civil and crirnjnal. No doubt Hebrew education like that
of every other oriental people made great demands upon the
child's memory. However, we should never lose sight of
the fact that passages which the boy would be required to
learn by heart, setting forth the details of rites and laws and
which to a Gentile of to-day are vague, unreal and exceed-
ingly difficult to remember, were in many cases merely
descriptions of acts the pupil had witnessed from his earliest
years. They had been presented concretely again and again
in a manner which could not fail to impress them vividly
upon his mind long before he was assigned the task of com-
mitting them to memory. From the very first, his parents
had explained to him, as far as his years and understand-
ing permitted, the origin, real or traditional, and the signi-
ficance of all that entered into law or tite. In view of the
relation that the Law in its threefold content held to the life
of the community, it will be seen that this work of the
schools, far from being remote from life, was in reality a
distinctly socializing process. The only way to comprehend
the breadth of studies of the elementary schools is by re-
calling the varied nature of the contents of the Scriptures.
Upon this basis, it will be seen that religion, morals, man-
ners, history and law as well as the three R's were studied
in the elementary school, for all these are contained in the
great literature there taught to the child.
The books included in the Scriptures, especially those
98 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT ISRAEL.
constituting the Pentateuch, were the chief school texts.
The Psalms, owing to their important place in the temple
worship, undoubtedly received much attention
in the school. Two other books which must
have held a prominent place in the schools were Proverbs
and the apocryphal book, Ecclesiasticus. Both arose during
this period ; both were specifically designed as texts for in-
struction; both are compilations of moral and religious
maxims, instruction in manners, intermingled with eulogies
of the Law, its study, and its students and the virtues it
extols. In later times there were prepared ,as texts for
little children small parchment rolls containing portions of
the Scriptures such as the Shema, 61 the Hallel (Psalms
cxiii-cxviii), history from the Creation to the Flood, the
first eight chapters of Leviticus. 62 How early such texts
were employed cannot be determined.
The hair-splitting methods of the scholars of this period,
as well as the sanctity attached to every word and every
e. Methods, Re- ^ etter f tne Law made it necessary that it
views, incentives be memorized exactly word for word and
letter for letter. Absolute accuracy was im-
perative owing to the fact that many Hebrew characters
are almost identical (e. g., h and c h) and that the interchange
of two such characters frequently gives not only different
but opposite meanings : thus hallel means "to praise," c hallel
means "to desecrate." To achieve this end countless memo-
|| riter exercises and constant repetitions were employed. The
Rabbinical saying "to review one hundred and one times
is better than to review one hundred times" indicates much
regarding the character of the school work.
A large part of the literature committed to memory was
no doubt interesting to the child, nevertheless, many portions
of it must have been indescribably dull and taxing. The
61 See above, The Synagogue, paragraph on Order of Service, and
note 27.
2 A. Edersheim, In the Days of Christ, p. 117.
EDUCATION IN SCHOOL AND SOCIETY AFTER THE EXILE. 99
great veneration in which the Law was held and the fact
that through it alone was there access to the highest posi-
tions in state and society were no doubt sufficient incentives
to spur on the older boys to diligent study. But the com-
mendations of corporal punishment to be found in the
Scriptures, 83 as well as the Jewish conception of child nature,
leave no doubt that punishment was used freely in the school
to keep the younger and less studious at their tasks.
The Jews of this period have already been described as
a "people of the book/' It is scarcely necessary to add that
Results of Eie- education in the schools was thoroughly book-
mentary Educa- ish. The Greeks had sought in vain to induce
the Jews to include in their course of study
physical culture, the golden classics of Greece^and Greek
science. Nevertheless, the boy who had completed the,
studies of the elementary school was master of one of thej
greatest literatures any race has ever produced. He prob-
ably knew by heart most of the Pentateuch as well as selec-
tions from many other books of the Scriptures. -He was
ready to explain the origin and meaning of the sacred rites
and customs, public and private, which played a part in the
events of each day. He was steeped in the religious con-
sciousness of his people and was united with them in
thought, knowledge and sympathies. Ellis writes:
"An interesting commentary on the (elementary) edu-
cation of the time is that of Jesus. He never attended one
of the Rabbinical schools (Mark vi. 2, 3), and this allows
us to see what advantages the common people had. His
knowledge of the Scriptures was remarkable and unchal-
lenged. He could read Hebrew and was often called upon to
officiate in the synagogue (Luke iv. 16; Mark i. 21, etc.)." 94
63 See Chapter IV, paragraph on Conception of Child Nature
Corporal Punishment. These statements should be compared with such
Talmudic statements as in Aboth II, 6 (tr. Rodkinson, pp. 4, 56-58)
where it is asserted that a hasty (or passionate) man is unfit to teach.
64 H. G. Ellis, "Origin and Development of Jewish Education,"
Pedagogical Seminary, 1902, IX, 58.
100 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT ISRAEL.
Schools of the Soferim.
From earliest times it was necessary for prospective
Soferim (scribes) to receive special professional training.
The increase, after the Exile, in the functions
of the Soferim, in their numbers, importance,
and in the body of literature to be mastered by them made
necessary prolonged and careful training. Those who were
called upon daily to declare and administer the Law must
possess not merely a superior knowledge of the Law itself.
They must know all possible interpretations, methods of
interpretation and the precedents created by former deci-
sions and applications. In temple court or in synagogue,
noted scribes gathered about themselves groups of youths
and men. In time each famous scribe appears to have had
his own group or school. 65 In some cases the distinctive
character of the master's teaching resulted in the develop-
ment of rival schools, such as those of Shammai and Hillel. 68
The latter's grandson, Gamaliel, it will be recalled, was the
teacher of Saul of Tarsus. 67
In some scribe schools, Greek learning may have been
given a place but in all the major part of the time was prob-
ably devoted to the study of the sacred writ-
studies. . J
ings of the Hebrews and to the memorizing
of the ever-increasing mass of oral literature. This mass
of oral learning consisted of two elements, the~"rfelakah
or legal element, and the Hagadah or non-legal element.
The Halakah was composed chiefly of oral laws grow-
ing out of the attempts of the scribes to adapt the written
law to the ever-changing social and political conditions. In
65 In later times, such a school was commonly known as Beth
Hammidrash, but this is a post-Biblical term and is consequently
avoided in the present account.
66 Associated with (by tradition, President of) the Sanhedrin 30
B. C. Wm. Bacher, "Hillel," Enc. Brit., XIII, 467c-d.
67 A. R. S. Kennedy, "Education," Hastings' Bible Dictionary, I,
o50d.
EDUCATION IN SCHOOL AND SOCIETY AFTER TKE f&LEf. 101
time these oral laws, decisions and interpretations
fixed form and with fixed form, sanctity. Upon the basis
of Exodus xxiv. 12 ("I will give thee tables
a. The Halakah. .. , , ... . , -
of stone and a law ) it was asserted that
Moses had received from Yahweh upon Mt. Sinai, in addi-
tion to the written law, an oral law, namely, the Halakah. 68
For many centuries the Halakah was forbidden to be written
and consequently must be committed to memory by every
prospective scribe. Every sentence, every word was sacred
and must be memorized exactly as given by the teacher.
All possible interpretations were presented and discussed.
Various methods of interpretation must be learned and prac-
tised.
The Hagadah (literally "narrative") was not distinguish-
able in method from the Halakah. But whereas the Hala- ^
b. the Hagadah: kah was devoted to religious law, the Hagadah
The Talmud. included literature of considerable range and -"""
variety. Though much of it was ethical, exegetical or homi-
letical, it included as well proverbs, fables, traditions, his-
tory and science. In a word, it embraced all topics except
the more strictly legal elements, which might be drawn into
the discursive discussions of a group of scholars seeking to
amplify and explain in a somewhat popular manner laws,
institutions and customs. This oral literature developed into l\
the two monumental encyclopedias, known as the Jerusalem -rT
Talmiid and the Babylonian Talmud. 69
The main theme of the instruction given by the Sof erim 1 1
was the oral law. Their instruction was consequently en-/
Methods tirely oral. In order to assist their pupils to
retain their words, they cast many of their
teachings in the form of proverbs, precepts, epigrams. They
68 Arthur Ernest Cowley, "Hebrew Literature," Enc. Brit., llth
ed., XIII, 170c-d.
69 In form, the Talmud consists of two parts, the Mishna com-
piled about 190 A. D., and the Gemara or Commentary upon the
Mishna, produced during the next three hundred years and compiled
about 500 A. D.
102 j i/; i EDUCATION IN ANCIENT ISRAEL.
presented concrete cases, real or imaginary, to train their
pupils in the application of legal principles. Parable and
allegory were employed for illustration. Public discussions
between different scribes were frequently held. Upon Sab-
baths and feast-days, it was customary for various scribes
to assemble "on the terrace of the temple and there publicly
to teach and expound, the utmost liberty being given of
asking questions, discussing, objecting and otherwise taking
intelligent part in the lectures." 70 In their groups of select
pupils as well as in public they made large use of the ques-
tion and answer method, the pupils as well as the master
asking questions. 71
The study and the teaching of the Law were alike sacred
tasks. The Soferim would have regarded charging fixed
fees for their services as trafficking in the
wisdom of the Most High. Those without
private incomes commonly supported themselves by some
craft or trade. 72 At that time there were no paid teachers.
Delitzsch writes: "The learned, or 'teachers of wisdom/ as
they were called, were thrown on the gratitude of their
scholars and their scholars' parents, on some consideration
at the distribution of the tithes for the poor, and in certain
cases also on the support from the temple treasury No
wonder that the pursuit of some remunerative occupation in
connection with the study of the Law was held to be most ad-
visable. And this combination was not only a necessary evil,
but to work in the sweat of face was also regarded a blessing
of healthy moral discipline which admitted of no substitute." 73
70 Alfred Edersheim, In the Days of Christ, p. 120.
71 Plumtre gives a number of interesting details, not found in most
accounts, concerning the education of the scribe and his admission
into the rank of scribes, see Edward Hayes Plumtre, "Scribes," Wm.
Smith's Dictionary of the Bible, III, 1167-1168.
72 Franz Delitzsch, Jewish Artisan Life in the Time of Jesus, (tr.
by B. Pick), pp. 73, 81. For a list of the various trades followed by
Rabbis, see article on "Rabbi," Jewish Encyclopedia.
73 Franz Delitzsch, loc. cit., p. 80.
EDUCATION IN SCHOOL AND SOCIETY AFTER THE EXILE. 103
FESTIVALS.
The great national holidays of the Jews were national
holy days. Through them the Jews recognized their de-
Origin, Number, g^mfeiTce upon God for the fruits of the field,
Character. f or the joys of home,, for deliverance from
enemies and for past and future prosperity. Every period
in Hebrew history contributed its portion to the heritage
of national festivals. From Jiomadism came the Pgssovpr
originally a spring festival when the firstlings of the Hock
were offered up to Yahweh. 74 From the agricultural stage
came Pentecost and the Feast of Tabernacles.
The Jewish year included three hundred and fifty-four
days. In the period of later Judaism, more than thirty
Table of Festi- days in the year, in addition to New Moons
vals - and Sabbaths, were devoted to ceremonial ob-
servances of some sort. 75 The table on the following page
shows 76 the more important of these feasts, their duration
and time of celebration.
From the standpoint of education, the significance of
the festivals was manifold. Probably no other factor in
Educational sig- Jewish life played a more important part in
nificance. stimulating and developing the racial religious
consciousness, national and individual. They formed a cycle ,
of religious and patriotic revivals extending throughout the
year. Through them each new generation was taught the
story of the great religious and political experiences of the ,
race. Every religious festival was a period of training in ij
connection with worship ; in connection with many of them
definite provision was made for religious instruction. Parents
74 T G. Soares, The Social Institutions and Ideals of the Bible, p.
1/3 ; Exodus xii.
75 T. G. Soares, The Social Institutions and Ideals of the Bible, p.
178.
76 Exclusive of New Moons and Sabbaths. The data in this table
have been compiled from various sources. See especially Elmer E
Harding, "Feasts and Fasts," Hastings' Bible Dictionary, I.
104
EDUCATION IN ANCIENT ISRAEL.
were directed to instruct their children in advance or during
the celebration in the origin and meaning of the festival.
This private instruction was frequently supplemented by
instruction given in public by priests and scribes.
TABLE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT JEWISH FEASTS AND
FESTIVALS. 76
POST-MACCABEAN PERIOD.
FEAST
No. OF
DAYS
JBWIS
DAYS
MONTH
APPROXIMATE CURRENT
CALENDAR TIME
Passover 77 or
Feast of Unleavened
Bread
7
From even-
ing of i4th
to zist of
Nisan
Nisan
The month of Nisan began
with the New Moon of March
and extended to the New
Moon of April
Pentecost 77
I
6th of
Siwan
Siwan included part of May
and part of June
Feast of Trumpets
i
ist of
Tishri
Tishri included part of Sep-
tember and part of October
Day of Atonement
(Strictly a fast, not a
feast)
i
loth
Feast of Tabernacles 77
7
i5th to 2ist
inclusive
Tishri
Shemini Atzereth
Eight or Day of
Conclusion
i
22nd
Tishri
Feast of Dedication
8
asth ff.
Kislew
Kislew included part of Nov-
ember and part of December
Purim
2
I4th to isth
Adar
Adar included parts of
February and March
THE TEMPLE.
Despite the rise of the teaching order of Soferim and the
multiplication of synagogues, the temple at Jerusalem never
influence upon ceased to be a national center of religious
the Synagogue, education. Hither the people resorted to cele-
brate the great national festivals and here they were trained
in forms of worship. Here, too, the carefully trained choirs
77 One of the three great annual feasts.
EDUCATION IN SCHOOL AND SOCIETY AFTER THE EXILE. 105
of Levites sang the national songs of praise and in singing
them taught them to the people. Indeed it was the temple,
according to Graetz, which furnished the pattern for the
service in the thousand synagogues scattered throughout
Judea and the diaspora. "The form of prayer used in the
temple became the model of the services in all prayer-houses
or houses of gathering." 78 "The inhabitants of the country
towns introduced in their own congregations an exact copy
of the divine service as it was conducted in [the temple in]
Jerusalem." 79 More than this, it was at the hours of temple
worship that the Jews everywhere gathered in their local
synagogues, 79 and it was toward the Holy City that every
Jew, alone or in the congregation, turned his face when he
prayed. The resemblance of the synagogue service to that
of the temple will be seen by comparing the
Order of Service. , . e r . . -fir*
outline of service given above with the fol-
lowing order of the temple morning song service which
followed the dawn sacrifice. 80
ORDER OF TEMPLE MORNING PRAYER AND SONG SERVICE.
1. Selected psalms of praise and thanksgiving.
2. Response by the congregation.
3. Prayer and thanksgiving.
4. Reading of selections from the Law.
5. The Ten Commandments.
6. The Shema.
In addition to the instruction and training given through
the services, public instruction was often given in the temple
courts. This custom, probably antedating the time of Jere-
miah, was followed in the days of Jesus and undoubtedly
continued till the final destruction of the temple in 70 A. D.
The temple and its public services were national institu-
tions. "The temple was the approach of the nation to their
God Its standard rites were performed in the name and
78 H. Graetz, History of the Jews, I, 399a.
"Ibid., 401a. * Ibid., 399.
106 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT ISRAEL.
for the sake of the whole people. . . .The Tamid or standing
sacrifice offered twice a day on the high altar was the offer-
ing of the nation. Every Jew contributed to its mainte-
nance. 81 .... Each of its celebrations was attended by a
formal committee of the nation. . . ," 82
It is not within the purpose of the present account to
enter upon a history of the temple and its varying fortunes
nor to describe the magnificence of its structure and of its
services. 83 It arose aloft above the city on its holy hill like
the temples of Athens. Here as in Greece, the lofty emi-
nence and conspicuousness of its position contributed toward
keeping it ever before the minds of the inhabitants of the
city. Every day was ushered in by a national sacrifice,
marked midway by a second one and closed with a national
service of prayer.
"After midnight the captain of the temple together with
a number of priests arose from their beds and with torches
in their hands went through the temple. ... to see if every-
thing was in a state of preparation for worship at the dawn
of day. As soon as the watchers upon the temple ramparts
could perceive in the morning light the city of Hebron, the
signal was given : 'the light shines on Hebron' and the sacri-
ficial victim fell under the hand of the priest.
"Immediately after the immolation came a service of
prayer with music and song. This was followed by the
burning of incense upon the golden altar, at which the
priestly blessing was pronounced. The sacrificing priest
then performed his functions at the altar of burnt-offering,
while the Levites sang psalms, accompanied by the sound of
trumpets. Two hours and a half from mid-day the evening
81 By a decree of the Council issued in the reign of Salome
Alexandra, every Israelite, proselytes and freed slaves included, was
required to pay at least one half shekel a year to the support of the
temple. H. Graetz, History of the Jews, II, 52.
82 G. A. Smith, Jerusalem:. .. .to 70 A.D., II, S22d-523b.
83 For Biblical descriptions see 2 Chronicles xxix. 19-36; Eccle-
siasticus 1. 1-21 ; Ezekiel xl-xli.
EDUCATION IN SCHOOL AND SOCIETY AFTER THE EXILE. 107
worship began with the slaughter of the sacrificial lamb.
Immediately after sunset the evening service of prayer was
closed." 84
Not only was the temple service fraught throughout with
symbolism, but the structure and organization of the temple
Educational made it a monumental object lesson teaching
Significance. the holiness, majesty and omnipotence of Yah-
weh. "If Josephus be right, the vast entrance of the porch
symbolized heaven ; the columns of the first veil, the ele-
ments ; the seven lamps, the seven planets ; the twelve loaves
of the Presence, the signs of the zodiac, and the circuit of
the year; the altar of incense that God is the possessor
of all things." 85
The multitude of private sacrifices required of every
Jew resulted in making the influence of the temple indi-
vidual as well as national. To visit Jerusalem and worship
in the temple became a life desire of every Jew. Thousands
of pilgrims journeyed thither each year. The three great
annual festivals, the Passover, the Pentecost, the Feast of
Tabernacles brought together Jews from all over the world.
Many such returned home inspired and strengthened in their
faith, and better instructed in the approved methods of re-
ligious observances. Thus through the temple religion and
religious education were unified, standardized and national-
ized.
The effect of the temple service in the first century of
the Christian era upon a Hebrew child has been beautifully
set forth by Edersheim and forms a fitting close to the dis-
cussion of the educative influence of the temple.
"No one who had ever worshiped within the courts of
Jehovah's house at Jerusalem could ever have forgotten the
scenes he had witnessed or the words he had heard. Stand-
ing in that gorgeous, glorious building, and looking up its
terraced vista, the child would watch with solemn awe, not
84 Condensed from M. Seidel, In the Time of Jesus, pp. 119-120.
85 G. A. Smith, Jerusalem:.. . .to 70 A. D., II, p. 257.
108 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT ISRAEL.
-i
unmingled with wonderment as the great throng of white-
robed priests busily moved about, while the smoke of the
sacrifice rose from the altar of burnt-offering. Then, amid
the hushed silence of that vast multitude, they had all fallen
down to worship at the time of incense. Again, on those
steps that led up to the innermost sanctuary the priests had
lifted their hands and spoken over the people the words of
blessing ; and then, while the drink-offering was poured out,
the Levites' chant of psalms had risen and swelled into a
mighty volume ; the exquisite treble of the Levite children's
voices being sustained by the rich round notes of the men,
and accompanied by instrumental music. The Jewish child
knew many of these words. They had been the earliest
songs he had heard almost his first lesson when clinging
as a 'taph' to his mother. But now, in those white-marbled.
gold-adorned halls, under heaven's blue canopy, and with
such surroundings, they would fall upon his ear like sounds
from another world, to which the prolonged threefold blasts
from the silver trumpets of the priests would seem to waken
him. And they were sounds from another world; for, as
his father would tell him, all that he saw was after the exact
pattern of heavenly things which God had shown to Moses on
Mount Sinai ; all that he heard was God-uttered, spoken by
Jehovah Himself through the mouth of His servant David,
and of the other sweet singers of Israel." 88
86 A. Edersheim, In the Days of Christ, pp. 108-109.
CHAPTER VI.
WOMAN AND THE EDUCATION OF GIRLS.
WOMAN AND THE EDUCATION OF GIRLS.
"House and riches are an inheritance from fathers:
But a prudent wife is from Jehovah."
Proverbs xix. H
"A worthy woman who can find?
For her price is far above rubies."
Proverbs xxxi. 10.
Summary of Chapter.
The evidence seems to point to the fact that woman occupied a
relatively higher place in earlier than in later times. For the most
part, however, in and outside the home, her place was subordinate to
that of man. Her duties and her education were distinctly domestic.
In Biblical times no schools of any sort appear to have been open to
girls or women. Aside from the home, the institutions exerting an
educational influence upon girls and women were the synagogue, the
temple and festivals.
That woman held a relatively higher status in earlier
than in later times seems evident from the custom, then in
Woman in the vog 116 * of tracing the descent through the
Home and in mother 1 and from the part played in public
affairs by such women as Deborah, 2 Jael, 8 by
the "wise woman" of Tekoa 4 and by the wise woman of
Abel. 5 But even in the period of nomadism woman was
-distinctly a chattel and a servant, first of her father and
1 The descent of Esau's children is traced through their mothers,
Gen. xxxvi. Abraham married Sarah, the daughter of his father, but
not of his mother. See above, pp. 52 and 55, paragraphs on Rites of
Infancy and Circumcision (naming of children).
2 Judges iv and v. 3 Judges iv. 18-24.
*2 Samuel xiv. 1-23. *2 Samuel xx. 16-22.
112 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT ISRAEL.
then of her husband, who bought her from her father.
Progress in civilization which brought an ever-enlarging in-
tellectual sphere to man confined woman more and more to
narrow fields of religious and domestic duties, and in each
of these fields placed upon her restrictions which stamped
her as man's religious, intellectual and social inferior.
It is impossible to say when these restrictions began.
Some of them probably date back to tribal days and customs.
Among the most conspicuous restrictions of
Social Status. , , *, , r
later times were those debarring women from
wearing the phylacteries, from reciting the Shema, from en-
tering the main space of the synagogue. 6 Any consideration
of the religious restrictions and privileges of women must
take into account the principle which finds later development
in the Talmud, that women are excused from fulfilling all
positive commandments the fulfilment of which depends on
a fixed time or season. The reason for the exemption is
obvious. Woman, on account of domestic and physical con-
i ditions, would at certain times be incapacitated for per-
forming rites the observance of which is dependent upon a
particular time.
Peritz maintains that these restrictions we^e distinctly
a later development. He writes : "The Hebrews .... in the
earlier periods of their history, exhibit no tendency to dis-
criminate between man and woman so far as regards partici-
pation in religious practices, but woman participates in all
the essentials of the cult, both as worshiper and official ; only
in later time, with the progress in the development of the
cult itself, a tendency appears, not so much, however, to
exclude woman from the cult, as rather to make man prom-
inent in it." T
6 Carl H. Cornill, The Culture of Ancient Israel, p. 99.
7 I. J. Peritz, "Woman in the Ancient Hebrew Cult," Journal of
Biblical Literature, XVII, 114d. Peritz opposes the commonly ac-
cepted views of Stade, Benziger, Npwack and others. It is doubtful
whether the evidence he presents will be considered convincing at all
points.
WOMAN AND THE EDUCATION OF GIRLS. 113
Even if Peritz's view be accepted, the fact remains that
in the home as well as in the synagogue the position of
woman was a subordinate one. The father was given the
chief place in religious services and rites. The training and
instruction of the sons from their earliest years were in his
hands. The mother might assist in the education of the sons
but only as a subordinate ; her primary duties were the edu-
Daughter cation of the members of the inferior sex, her
Less Esteemed daughters, and the care of her household,
than sons. Daughters were less esteemed and less wel-
come than sons: "In the Talmud we find three times the
saying: 'Well to him whose children are boys, woe to him
whose children are girls/ In the Old Testament there is
Reverence and nothing like this directly expressed, but with-
Respect for out doubt this is what the Israelite of old
Women. thought." 8 It must not be supposed, however,
that love and respect were lacking. Many passages reveal
the love and tenderness in which wife and mother were
held. A loving wife is declared to be a gift from Yahweh, 9
and a worthy woman is more precious than rubies. 10 To
express the highest degree of sadness the poet writes, "I
ideal of bowed down mourning, as one that bewaileth
womanhbod. his mother." 11 The following extract from
Proverbs xxxi contains the most complete formulation of
the ancient Hebrew ideal of womanhood. 12
"A worthy woman who can find?
For her price is far above rubies.
"The heart of her husband truSteth in her,
And he shall have no lack of gain.
8 C. H. Cornill, The Culture of Ancient Israel, p. 97a.
9 Proverbs xix. 14.
10 Ibid., xxxi. 10.
11 Psalms xxxv. 14; C. H. Cornill, The Culture of Ancient Israel,
p. 93.
12 Proverbs xxxi. 10-31.
114 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT ISRAEL.
"She doth him good and not evil
All the days of her life.
"She seeketh wool and flax
And worketh willingly with her hands.
"Slue is like the merchant-ships;
She bringeth her food from afar.
"She riseth also while it is yet night,
And giveth food to her household,
And their task to her maidens.
"She considereth a field, and buyeth it:
With the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard.
"She girdeth her loins with strength,
And maketh strong her arms.
"She perceiveth that her merchandise is profitable ;
Her lamp goeth not out by night.
"She layeth her hands to the distaff,
And her hands hold the spindle.
"She spreadeth out her hand to the poor ;
Yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy.
"She is not afraid of the snow for her household ;
For all her household are clothed with scarlet.
"She maketh for herself carpets of tapestry;
Her clothing is fine linen and purple.
"Her husband is known in the gates,
When he sitteth among the elders of the land.
"She maketh linen garments and selleth them;
And delivereth girdles unto the merchant.
"Strength and dignity are her clothing;
And she laugheth at the time to come.
"She openeth her mouth with wisdom ;
And the law of kindness is on her tongue.
"She looketh well to the ways of her household,
And eateth not the bread of idleness.
WOMAN AND THE EDUCATION OF GIRLS. 115
"Her children rise up, and call her blessed;
Her husband also, and he praiseth her, saying:
"Many daughters have done worthily,
But thou excellest them all.
"Grace is deceitful, and beauty is vain :
But a woman that feareth Jehovah, she shall be praised.
"Give her of the fruit of her hands ;
And let her works praise her in the gates."
In the above passage, the home is represented as woman's
highest sphere. There is not the slightest hint of the recog-
nition of any need for higher intellectual development. This
is all the more significant as the passage belongs to the Greek
period. The most extolled virtues of the woman here de-
scribed are piety, mercy, industry, foresight, thrift, sound
practical judgment and devotion to her husband's interests.
She spins and weaves wool, linen, silk and tapestry. She
carries on commercial enterprises such as buying a field
and selling linen garments. She superintends her house-
hold and is devout in the performance of her religious duties.
The home was par excellence the institution where girls
received their education. The schools, elementary and higher,
Educational were open to boys and men only. In some
instances girls may have received advanced in-
struction through private lessons given in the home, but if
such cases occurred at all they were undoubtedly rare.
Festivals, the temple and the synagogue were the chief in-
stitutions which exerted an educative influence upon girls
and women outside the home. Although women were not
counted as members of the synagogue and were not per-
mitted to lead in any of its services, nevertheless they were
zealous attendants at its services. Many recorded incidents
bear witness to the familiarity of the Jewish women with the
Scriptures. The term mater synagogae appears as a title
of honor beside the term pater synagogae among inscrip-
tions found in southern Italy. 13
13 W. Bacher, "Synagogue," Hastings' Bible Dictionary, IV, 640b.
116 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT ISRAEL.
Woman's chief functions were to honor God, care for
Aier home, train her children, serve and please her husband.
]Aim and Content The aim of girls' education was to produce
I jof Education. efficient and industrious home-makers, obe-
Ijdient, virtuous, godfearing wives and daughters. The de-
ll tails of girls' education varied from generation to generation
with changes in habitat, modes of living, social and religious
institutions and laws, but the principles determining its scope
and limits were to a large extent unchanging. From earliest
times it included domestic duties, music, dancing, industrial
\ occupations, religion, manners and morals. The importance
'of many of these activities and the nature and method of
the instruction and training has been sufficiently set forth
in preceding paragraphs to make any further presentation
here unnecessary. The sex division of labor and the ex-
clusion of women from many religious duties and respon-
sibilities resulted in many differences in the education of
boys and girls. The domestic and industrial occupations of
girls and women included cooking, spinning, weaving, dye-
ing, caring for flocks, guarding vineyards, gathering har-
vests, grinding grain, caring for children and managing
slaves.
Later times added in some cases at least reading, writing
and enough knowledge of reckoning, weights, measures and
money to enable the prospective wife to carry on the busi-
ness of her household. It is impossible to state how early
and to what extent a knowledge of the three R's became
prevalent. The fact that Queen Jezebel is stated to have
written letters in Ahab's name to the elders of Naboth's
village 14 might seem an argument for a knowledge of these
arts by the women of the monarchical period. But as has
already been pointed out, Jezebel may have employed a
scribe, and the facts that she was a queen and that she was
a foreigner, a Phoenician, forbid any general inferences.
" 1 Kings xxi. 8.
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY.
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY.
The following brief bibliography has been selected with a view to
meeting the needs and interests of the general reader. It has been
felt that the accounts in such general histories of education as om-
payre, Graves, Laurie, Monroe are too well known to call for their
inclusion here. Owing to the limit set to the present account only a
few works dealing with post-Biblical times are given. Roman nu-
merals (unless preceded by the abbreviation Chap.) indicate the
number of the volume referred to; arabic numerals refer to pages;
the small letters, a, b, c and d, refer to the first, second, third and
last quarter of the page, e. g., I, 24d means Vol. I, p. 24, last quarter
of the page.
I. SOURCES.
The Holy Bible, Containing the Old and New Testaments, (American
Revised Version), New York, 1898.
Apocrypha, 2 vols., edited by Henry Wace, D.D., London, 1888. [Es-
pecially Ecclesiastics and the Books of the Maccabees.]
The Babylonian Talmud, edited by M. L. Rodkinson, 11 vols., New
York, 1900. [Not a satisfactory translation but the only Eng-
lish text available.]
II. GENERAL HISTORIES AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES
OF THE JEWS.
Barton, George Aaron, A Sketch of Semitic Origins, Social and Re-
ligious, New York, 1902.
Cornill, C. H. History of the People of Israel, 4th ed., Chicago, 1909.
Cook, Stanley Arthur, Old Testament History in article on "Pales-
tine," The Encyclopedia Britannica, -llth ed., XX, 605c-617b.
Ewald, Georg Heinrich August, The History of Israel (tr. from the
German), 8 vols., London, 1878-86.
Graetz, H., Geschichte der Juden von den altesten Zeiten bis auf die
120 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT ISRAEL.
Gegenwart, 11 vols., Leipsic, 1870-88. [New edition begun
1911.]
Graetz, H., History of the Jews, From the Earliest Times to 1870,
6 vols., Philadelphia, 1891-98. [Not merely a translation of the
author's German work, but a revision and an extension, see I,
p. vi. VI contains complete Index and Tables. Footnotes are
omitted in the English work.]
Hommel, Fritz, The Civilization of the East, (tr. from the German
by J. H. Loewe), London, 1900.
Hosmer, J. K., The Jews in Ancient, Medieval and Modern Times,
New York and London, 1889.
Kent, Charles Foster, A History of the Hebrew People, New York,
1896.
Kent, Charles Foster, Narratives of the Beginnings of Hebrew His-
tory, New York, 1904.
Kent, Charles Foster, Israel's Historical and Biographical Narratives
New York, 1905.
Kent, Charles Foster, The Sermons, Epistles and Apocalypses of
Israel's Prophets, New York, 1910.
Kent, Charles Foster, Biblical Geography and History, New York,
1911.
McCurdy, James Frederick, History, Prophecy and the Monuments,
3 vols., New York and London, 1894-1901.
Olmstead, A. T., Western Asia in the Days of Sargon of Assyria,
722-705 B. C., A Study in Oriental History, New York, 1908.
Ottley, R. L., A Short History of the Hebrews to the Roman Period,
New York, 1901.
feritz, Ismar J., Old Testament History, New York, 1915.
Renan, Joseph Ernest, History of the People of Israel, 5 vols., (tr.
from the French by J. H. Allen and E. W. Latimer), Boston,
1889-96.
Sayce, Archibald Henry, Light from Ancient Monuments, 10th im-
pression, London, 1909. [Always interesting but to be used
with caution.]
Schiirer, Emil, History of the Jewish People in the Time of Jesus
Christ, 5 vols., 2d ed., New York, 1891.
Smith, Henry Preserved, Old Testament History, New York, 1906.
Wellhausen, J., Sketch of the History of Israel and Judah, 3d ed*
London, 1891.
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY. 121
III. DISTINCTLY EDUCATIONAL TREATISES.
Blach-Gudensberg, Das Pddagogische im Talmud, Halberstadt, 1881.
[A lecture, 26 pages.]
Cheyne, T. K., and Black, J. S., Articles on "Education" and on
"Government," Encyclopaedia Biblica.
Cornill, Carl Heinrich, The Culture of Ancient Israel, (tr. from the
German by various writers), Chicago, 1914. [Especially "The
Education of Children in Ancient Israel," pp. 68-100.]
Edersheim, Alfred, In the Days of Christ : Sketches of Jewish Social
Life, New York, 1876. [Chapters VI-VIII deal specifically
with education and related topics.]
Ellis, A. C, "Growth of the Sunday School Idea," Fed. Seminary,
1896, III, 375-377.
Ellis, G. Harold, "Origin and Development of Jewish Education,"
Fed. Seminary, 1902, IX, 50-62.
Ellis, G. Harold, "The Pedagogy of Jesus," Fed. Seminary, 1902, IX,
441-459.
Giidemann, M., Quellenschriften zur Geschichte des Unterrichts und
der Erziehung bei den deutschen Juden. Von den dltesten,
Zeiten bis Mendelssohn, Berlin, 1891.
Guttmann, J., Die Scholastik des XIII. Jahrhunderts in ihren Be-
ziehungen sum Judentum und zur j'iidischen Liter atur, Breslau,
1902.
Imber, N. H., Education and the Talmud, Report of the U. S. Com-
missioner of Education, 1894-95, II,' 1795-1820. [Interesting
but not reliable.]
Imber, N. H., The Letters of Rabbi Akibah, or The Jewish Primer
Two Thousand Years Ago, Report of the U. S. Commis-
sioner of Education, 1895-96, I, 701-719.
Kandel, Isaac L., and Grossmann, Louis, "Jewish Education, Ancient,
Mediaeval, Modern," Monroe's Cyclopedia of Education, III,
542-553.
Kennedy, A. R. S., "Education," Hastings' Bible Dictionary, I, 646b-
652a.
Kent, Charles Foster, The Great Teachers of Judaism and Christian-
ity, Boston and Chicago, 1911.
Kohler, Giidemann, Deutsch and Jacobs, (joint authors), "Educa-
tion," The Jewish Encyclopedia, V, 42a-48c.
122 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT ISRAEL.
Leipziger, H. M., Education Among the Jews, New York, 1890, (=
Vol. Ill, No. 6 of Educational Monographs, published by the
New York College for the Training of Teachers). [This
monograph is mainly an adaptation of Dr. Samuel Marcus's
essay "Zur Schulpadagogik des Talmud."]
Levy, Clifton H., "Education Among the Ancient Hebrews," Educa-
tion, XVII, 457-462. [Too general to be of much value. Prone
to moralizing for the benefit of modern educators.]
Lewit, J., Darstellung der theoretischen und praktischen Pddagogik
itn judischen Alter tume nach dem Talmud. Berlin, 1896.
Marcus, Samuel, Die Pddagogik des israelitischen Volkesi Part I,
"Die Bibel ein Buch der Erziehung"; Part II, "Zur Schul-
padagogik des Talmud," 2 vols., Vienna, 1877.
Raphall, Morris J., "Education Among the Hebrews, An Introduc-
tory Sketch," Barnard's American Journal of Education, 1856,
I, 243-246. [Too brief to be of much value. Uncritical]
Schechter, Solomon, Studies in Judaism, First Series, chapter on
"The Child in Jewish Literature," Philadelphia, 1911.
Simon, Joseph, L'education et I' instruction des enfants chez les an-
ciens Juifs d'apres la Bible et le Talmud, Leipsic, 1879.
Spiers, B., School System of the Talmud, London, 1898.
Strassburger, B., Geschichte der Erziehung und des Unterrichts bei
den Israeliten, von der vortalmudischen Zeit bis auf die Gegen-
wart. Bibliographie der judischen Pddagogik, Breslau, 1885.
Wiesen, J., Geschichte und Methodik des Schulwesens im talmudi-
schen Alter tume, Strassburg, 1892.
IV. MISCELLANEOUS SECONDARY AUTHORITIES
DEALING WITH VARIOUS ASPECTS OF JEWISH LIFE.
Abbot, G. F., Israel in Europe, New York and London, 1907.
Abrahams, Israel, Jewish Life in the Middle Ages, (chapters on
Games and the Theater), New York and London, 1896.
Askowith, D., The Toleration and Persecution of the Jews in the
Roman Empire, New York, 1915.
Baudissin, Wolf Wilhelm, Graf, Die Geschichte des alttestament-
lichen Priestertums, Leipsic, 1889.
Baudissin, Wolf, "Priests and Levites," Hastings' Bible Dictionary,
IV, 67-97.
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY. 123
Benny, P. B., Criminal Code of the Jews According to the Talmud,
London, 1880.
Briggs, Charles Augustus, The Higher Criticism of the Hexateuch,
New York, 1897.
Briggs, Charles Augustus, General Introduction to the Study of Holy
Scripture, New York, 1899.
Buhl, Frants Peder William, "Feasts and Festivals," The New Schaff-
Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, IV, 287c-289b.
Cheyne, T. K., Jewish Religious Life After the Exile, New York and
London, 1901.
Cornill, C. H., Prophets of Israel, (tr. by S. F. Corkran), Chicago.
1895.
Crozier, John Beattie, History of Intellectual Development on the
Lines of Modern Evolution, 2 vols., London, 1897-1901. [Es-
pecially Part III, "The Evolution of Judaism," Chaps. II, IV,
V, VI.]
Davidson, A. B., Old Testament Prophecy, edited by J. A. Paterson,
Edinburgh, 1904.
Day, Edward, The Social Life of the Hebrews, New York, 1901.
["The best single book in English covering the whole subject."]
Delitzsch, Franz Julius, Jewish Artisan Life in the Time of Jesus
According to Oldest Sources, (tr. by B. Pick), New York, 1885.
Doughty, C. M., Travels in Arabia Deserta, 2 vols., Cambridge (Eng-
land), 1909. [Very valuable for local color.]
Driver, S. R., An Introduction to the Literature of the Old Testa-
ment, New York, 1914.
Drew, G. S., "On the Social and Sanitary Laws of Moses," Contem-
porary Review, 1866, II (May to August), 514-534.
Duff, Archibald, The Theology and Ethics of the Hebrews, New
York, 1902.
Edersheim, Alfred, In the Days of Christ : Sketches of Jewish Social
Life, New York, 1876.
Engel, C., Music of the Most Ancient Nations, Particularly of the
Assyrians, Egyptians and Hebrews, London, 1864.
Fenton, John, Early Hebrew Life, A Study in Sociology, London,
1880.
Fleury, Claude, Manners of Ancient Israelites, New York, 1837.
Hinsdale, B. A., Jesus as a Teacher and the Making of the New
Testament, St. Louis, 1895.
124 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT ISRAEL.
Jevons, Frank Byron, An Introduction to the History of Religion,
6th ed., London, 1914.
Landau, Richard, Geschichte der judischen Aerzte, Berlin, 1895.
Maimon, Solomon, An Autobiography, (tr. by J. C. Murray), Boston,
Margoliouth, G., "Games Hebrew and Jewish," Hastings' Encyclo-
pedia of Religion and Ethics, VI, 171d-17Sb.
Marsden, J. B., The Influence of the Mosaic Code Upon Subsequent
Legislation, London, 1862.
Montefiore, C. G., "Lectures on the Origin and Growth of Religion
as Illustrated by the Religion of the Ancient Hebrews," Hib-
bert Lectures, 1892, 3d ed., London, 1897.
Peritz, I. J., "Woman in the Ancient Hebrew Cult," Journal of Bib-
lical Literature, 1898, XVII, 111-148.
Renan, Ernest, Averroes et fAverroisme, essai historique, 3d ed.,
Paris, 1866.
Rosenau, William, Jewish Ceremonial Institutions and Customs, 2d
ed., Baltimore, 1912.
Ruppin, Arthur, The Jews of Today, (tr. from the German by
Margery Bentwich), New York, 1913.
Sayce, Archibald Henry, The Archeology of the Cuneiform Inscrip-
tions, London, 1908.
Schechter, Solomon, Studies in Judaism, 2 vols., Philadelphia, 1908
and 1911.
Schenk, F. S., The Sociology of the Bible, New York, 1909.
Seidel, Martin, In the Time of Jesus, New York, 1885.
Singer, S., Annotated Edition of the Authorized Daily Prayer-Book
with Historical and Explanatory Notes, annotated by Israel
Abrahams, London, 1914.
Smith, George Adam, The Historical Geography of the Holy Land,
3d ed., New York, 1895.
Smith, George Adam, Jerusalem: The Topography, Economics and
History from the Earliest Times to 70 A. D., 2 vols., London,
1908.
Smith, William Robertson, Kinship and Marriage in Early Arabia,
London, 1903.
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY. 125
Smith, W. R., The Prophets of Israel and Their Place in History to
the Close of the Eighth Century B. C., London, 1907. ["Most
English books on the subject are more theological than histor-
ical, but a sketch of Hebrew prophecy in connection with the
history down to the close of the eighth century is given by
W. R. Smith."]
Soares, Theodore Gerald, The Social Institutions and Ideals of the
Bible, New York, 1915.
Von Dobschutz, Ernst, The Influence of the Bible on Civilization,
New York, 1914.
Yellin, D., and Abrahams, L, Maimonides, Philadelphia, 1903.
INDEX.
INDEX.
Abel, referred to, in.
Abimelech, referred to, 8.
Abraham, 72.
Adolescence, 55-60.
Age, old, reverenced, 67, 68.
Age, school, 95.
Agricultural occupations, 8.
Agricultural festivals, 103.
Ahab's sons, referred to, 22.
Aim of education, girls', 116.
See also Ideals; Incentives.
Alexander the Great, 43, 81.
Alexander Janneus, referred to, 92.
Alexandra, Queen, referred to, 92.
Allegories, 102.
Amos, referred to, 36.
Anger, 69-70.
Antiochus IV, referred to, 79.
Apprenticeship, 61.
Arabia, trade with, 10.
Aramaic, 81.
Arba Kanfot, 57.
Archelaus, referred to, 44.
Ark, 88.
Assyrian conquest, u.
Ancestor-Worship, 13.
Anthropomorphic conception of Yah-
weh, 15.
Arts, origin, 8,
Athletics, 24.
Atonement, Day of, 104.
Augustus, referred to, 44.
Baal, worship of, 14.
Babylonian Exile, see Exile.
Bar Mizwah, 58-59.
Bards, as teachers, 25.
Baruch, referred to, 32.
Bema, 87.
Benedictions: bar mizwah, 59; chil-
dren's, 64 note 73; in synagogue,
88, 89, 90.
Benjamin, tribe of, under Saul, 9;
under Rehoboam, 10.
Beth-El, referred to, 35.
Bibliography, 119-125.
Biography, 67.
Birthday, 59.
Blood-ties, 10.
Boasting, 69.
Book of Instruction, 14-15, 20 and
note 2.
Books of law, 27 and note 27.
Books of prophets, 27 and note 29.
Breast feeding, 55.
Brotherhood of man, 15.
Caesar, 44.
Canaanites, influence on Israelites, 7-8.
Canon, evolution, 26-27; adoption, 86.
'Ceremonies, see Festivals; Order of
Service; Rites; Ritual.
Chariot-driving, 24.
Children, desired, 49; slave status, 51;
naturally wayward, 52-53; life pe-
riods, 54. See also Adolescence;
Religious consciousness, 63-64; be-
long to. God, 59.
Christianity, debt to Hebraism, 4.
See also Jesus.
Circumcision, 55-56. See also Bar
mizwah.
City,, see Municipal organizations.
Civic instruction, 34.
Classes, size, 95.
Commercial education, 61.
Commerce, effect on education, 29.
Composition, taught to prophets, 37.
Compulsory education, 86, 92-95.
Conceit, 69.
Conquest, the, 7-8.
Consecration, 78.
Conversation, 69-70.
Corporal punishment, 53, 99.
130
EDUCATION IN ANCIENT ISRAEL.
Courtesy, lessons in, 68, 72.
See also Manners.
Courts, instruction in, 37.
Creed, see Shema.
Curiosity, 71.
Curriculum, post- Exilic, outline, 60;
elementary, 96-98; higher, 100-101.
Cyrus, referred to, 42.
Dancing, patriotic and religious, 24,
as; prophetic, 36; post- Exilic, 61-62;
girls taught, 116.
Daphne, Egypt, referred to, 46 note
10.
Darius, referred to, 43.
Daughters, 52, 53. See also Girls;
Sex ; Woman.
David, reign of, 9-10; national ideal,
20; knowledge of writing, 28, 29;
referred to, 108.
Death penalty, 51.
Deborah, referred to, in.
Dedication, Feast of, 104.
Delitzsch, quoted, 102.
Democracy, 44-45.
Derashah, 89-90.
Diaspora, 46.
Dionysus, rites of, 45.
Discipline, at home, 51, 52, 53; lax
in school, 95.
Disobedience, capital punishment, 51.
Dispersion, 44, 46.
Disputations, scholarly, 102.
Divination, 33, 34-35.
Dramatic method, 37.
Ecclesiasticus, on table manners, 71;
on the scribe, 82; as textbook, 98.
Edersheim, cited, 54; quoted, 107-108.
Education, institutionalized, 76; uni-
versal, 86-89, 90, 91-95.
Elders, 81.
Elementary schools, see Schools.
Elephantine, Egypt, referred to, 46
note 10.
Elijah, referred to, 35.
Elisha, referred to, 35.
Environment, 12-13; moral influence,
30.
Epigrams, by Soferim, 101.
Esther, read, 65.
Exile, the, n, 41-42; educational
products, 87, 91.
Exposition, 89.
Ezekiel, referred to, 42.
Ezra, 27, 8 1 and note 12.
Fables, taught, 25.
Family, as educative institution, 2 iff,
49-54, 62-72, 96.
Family festivals, 59, 64-66.
Family, woman's sphere, 115. See
also Mother; Woman.
Fast-days, 88.
Father, as teacher, 23, 60, 66, 95, IO 8;
as priest, 32, 113; authority, 51, 59;
names children, 55; reverenced, 67.
See also Parents.
Fatherhood of God, 12 note 23, 15.
See also Yahweh.
Festivals, seasons of instruction, 64-
66, 103-104; songs, 24; directed by
priests, 34; synagogue service, 88;
influence, 107.
First-born, education, 22; redemption,
54-
Flute, 24, 25.
Foreign influence, n, 13, 41-44.
See also Exile, Hellenism.
Fringes, 57.
Gamala's school law, 91.
Gamaliel, referred to, 100.
Games, 24.
Gemara, 101 note 69.
Gideon, referred to, 8, 28.
Gilgal, referred to, 35.
Girls, attitude toward, 113; education,
115-116.
Gluttony, 71.
God, see Yahweh.
Graetz, quoted, 22, 77-78.
Greek period, 43; religion, 45; vernac-
ular, 81. See also Hellenism.
Grossmann, cited, 93-94.
Gudemann, cited, 93-94.
Guild, teachers', 81.
Hagadah, 100-101.
Kakhamim, 81.
Halakah, 100-101
Hallel, 98.
Hannah, referred to, 49.
Hassan, 81, 96.
Hebraism, influence upon Christian-
ity, 4.
Hebrew, study of, 81, 96.
Hellenism, 43, 45, 46, 78, 79.
See also Greek period.
INDEX.
131
H en o theism, 13.
Herod, referred to, 44.
Hezekiah, referred to, 37.
Hierocracy, 44-45-
High priest, 45.
Hillel, referred to, 100.
History, priestly, 34; prophetic, 36
note 64; taught, 34, 36 note 64, 67,
98.
Holiness, as ideal, 62; symbolized by
Temple, 107.
Home, see Family.
Hosea, referred to, 36.
Hospitality, 68, 72.
Humility, 69.
Hyrcanus, referred to, 93.
Ideals, educational, pre-Exilic, 20;
Moses, 69; the scribe, 78, 82-83;
woman, 113-115.
Incentives to study, 90, 99. See also
Motives.
Incorrigibles, death penalty, 51, 52.
Industrial occupations, 23, 82-83;
teachers', 96, 102; woman's, 114-
115.
Industrial training, boys', 23, 60-6 1;
girls', 115-116.
Infancy, meaning, 54; education, 62-
63, 64, 65, 96, 97-
Infanticide, 51.
Institutionalization of education, 76.
Instruction, Book of, 20 and note 2.
Instruction, informal, 25; precedes
memorizing, 97. See also Training.
Interest, place of, 98. See also Cor-
poral punishment; Incentives.
Isaiah, referred to, 36; as teacher, 37.
Isaiah, Second, 42.
Israel, kingdom, n.
Jacob, as ideal, 20.
Jamnia, referred to, 27.
Jason, high priest, 79.
Jehoiachin, referred to, 41.
Jehovah, see Yahweh.
Jephthah, referred to, 8; as ideal, 20.
Jeremiah, referred to, 32; methods of,
37; public instruction in time of,
105.
Jerusalem, capital, 9; rebuilt, 10, 42;
worship, 14; destroyed, 42, 44; res-
toration, effect on synagogue, 87;
public teachers, 94.
Jesus ben Sira, quoted, 82-83.
Jesus of Nazareth, debt to Hebraism,
4; adolescence, 56; referred to, 63;
teachings, 72; education, 99.
Jezebel, Queen, writing ability, 116.
Jael, referred to, in.
Jonathan's son, referred to, 22.
Joshua ben Gamala, 86, 92-95.
Josiah, reforms of, 14-15; effect upon
priesthood, 33.
Judah, kingdom, 10, n, 44.
Judah, tribe, 9, 10.
Judaism, 13, 46, 76, 84, 86.
Judges, period of, 8.
Juvenile offenders, 51.
Kandel, cited, 93.
Kingship, rise, 8ff.
Kinnor, 25.
Kohanim, 21.
Kosem, 34-35-
Laurie, cited, 93-94.
Law, oral, native period, 25; devel-
oped by Soferim, 84; favored by
Perushim, 85; origin and study,
IOI-I02.
Law, reverenced, 77-78, 102.
Law, taught, 25, 31, 34; on Sabbath,
64; in conversation, 70; supreme
importance, 77; produces schools,
91; in synagogue, 88, 89; encour-
aged by Shetach, 93; complete mas-
tery sought, 96; in elementary
schools, 97; in higher schools, 100-
102; in Temple, 105.
Law, written, adopted, 20; influence
on education, 29, 80, 81.
Laws, school, 93-95.
Legends, origin, 12; taught, 34.
Leipziger, cited, 93-94 .
Leisure, necessary for study, 78, 82.
Lemuel, referred to, 52.
Levites, as priests and teachers, 22,
32-34; teach music, 105; Temple
musicians, 105, 106, 108.
Leviticus, taught, 98.
Libraries, Babylonian, 42.
Literature, evolution, 25-27; priestly,
34, 42; prophetic, 36, 42; taught in
prophetic communities, 37; learned
in infancy, 63; morals taught by,
66-67; dominates curriculum, 79;
132
EDUCATION IN ANCIENT ISRAEL.
scope, 97. 5** also Hellenism;
Law; Legends; Myths.
Lot, 68, 72.
Love, divine, 15-16; paternal, 53.
Maccabean period, u, 43-44.
Magic, 35, 58.
Manhood, primitive ideal, 20.
Manners, education in, 68-72; taught
to girls, 1 1 6.
Masses, education, see Universal edu-
cation.
Mater synagogae, 115.
Matriarchy, in. See also Mother.
Meekness, 69.
Memoriter work, 63, 97, 98, 100-101.
Mesa stone, 28.
Methods, native period, 21; music,
dancing, 25; prophetic, 37; morals,
67; in synagogue, 88ff; elementary,
98; higher, 101-102.
Meturgeman, 88, 89.
Mezuzah, 62-63.
Military training, 23-24.
Mishna, 101 note 69.
Monarchy, rise, 8-10.
Monotheism, rise, 13-14, 15, 16.
Moral education, native period, 30-31;
by priests, 34; by prophets, 38;
post- Exilic, 66-67; girls', 116. See
also Manners.
Moral virtues, of Yahweh, 15-16; em-
phasized 30-31, 67, 69, 71, 72; of
women, 114-115.
Moses, adolescence, 56; referred to,
69, 108.
Mother, as teacher, 52; responsibility,
55; honored, 67; status, in. See
also Wife; Woman; Parents.
Motives of education, 89, 116. See
also Incentives to study; Ideals.
Mount Sinai, referred to, 108.
Municipal organizations, origin, 8.
Music, learned at home, 24-25, 61,
116; uses, religious, 24-25; pro-
phetic, 36; Temple, 106-108.
Myths, nomadic, 12; taught, 25; trans-
mitted, 34.
Nabi, 34-35-
Naomi, referred to, 22.
Naming of child, 55.
Nationalism, dangers to, 13.
Nebiim, 21, 34-35-
Nebuchadnezzar, referred to, 41.
Nehemiah, referred to, 27.
Neighbors, treatment, 71-72. See also
Hospitality.
Nobility, education, 28.
Nomadism, passage from, 7, 19-20; in-
fluence, n, 12; occupations, 23;
priests, 32; religions, 14; rites, 58;
festivals, 103; woman under, ixx.
See also Tribes.
Notes, numbering explained, 119.
Nurses, 22.
Obedience to parents, 66; to the law
77-
Object lesson, method, 37; the Tem-
ple as, 107.
Oral instruction, native period, 25; in
synagogue, 89. See also Law, oral;
Literature.
Oratory, prophetic, 36, 37.
Order of service in synagogue, 88-90;
in Temple, 105-106.
Organization of schools, 95.
Orphans, education, 86, 94, 95.
Ostentation, 69.
Palestine, physical features, 12.
Parables, 102.
Parents, as teachers, 22, 50, 63 ; author-
ity, 51; responsibility, how im-
pressed, 59; reverenced, 66, 67.
See also Father; Mother.
Passover, 65-66, 103, 104.
Pastoral occupations, 23.
Pater synagogae, 115.
Patriotism, 26, 45.
Pentateuch, 89, 98, 99.
Pentecost, 103, 104.
Periods in child life, rites, 54-59.
Periods, educational, 6-7, 22, 58-59.
Periods, historical, 6, u.
Peritz, quoted, 112.
Perushim, 85-86.
Pharisees, 85-86.
Phylacteries, 57-58, 63, 112.
Physical education, 24, 79.
Play, 23, 24.
Poets, prophets as, 36.
Political institutions, Greek, 43.
Political instruction, 34.
Political weakness, influence, n.
Polytheism, 12, 14. See also Relig-
ion.
Prayer, in family, 64 and note 73; in
INDEX.
133
synagogue, 88, 89, 90; in Temple,
105, 106.
Precepts, moral, 31, 67, 101.
Priesthood, power, 44-45; organiza-
tion, 80.
Priestly benediction, 90.
Priestly code, 80.
Priests, educational services, 32-34,
42, 80; Temple services, 106.
Professional training, see Scribes.
Prophetic conceptions, Yahweh, 15-16;
democracy, 45.
Prophets, Books of, in synagogue ser-
vice, 88, 89.
Prophets, educational service, 34-38,
42, 80.
Proverbs, Book of, as textbook, 70-98.
Proverbs, used in moral instruction,
67, 101.
Psalms, moral instruction, 67 ; a school
text, 98; used in Temple, 105, 106.
Ptolemy I, referred to, 43.
Public instruction, 104, 105. See also
Universal education.
Punishment, capital, 51; corporal, 52,
S3-
Purification rites, 55.
Purim, 65, 104.
Questions, children's, 63.
Question and answer method, 102.
Rabbi, as artisan, 60; title, 84-85.
Rachel, referred to, 49.
Reading, origin and extension, 27-30;
in prophetic communities, 37; diffi-
cult to learn, 97, 98.
Rebecca, referred to, 49.
References, method of indicating, 119.
Reforms, needed, 35.
Religion, Greek, 43.
Religion, Hebrew, nomadic origins,
12; evolution, 13-14; in national life,
12, 77, 85; in child's mind, 63, 99;
basis of morals, 66; basis of man-
ners, 68. See also Festivals; Rites.
Religious instruction: native period,
30, 34; in school, 59; in adoles-
cence, 58-59; importance, 62;
through worship, 88; divinely com-
manded, 65; to girls, 1 1 6.
Renaissance, Babylonian, 42.
Reviews, 98.
Riddles taught, 25.
Riding taught, 24.
Rites, Baal, 14.
Rites, entrusted to first-born, 22;
taught, 26, 31, 34; overemphasized,
46; divide child life, 54-59; educa-
tional significance, 59; for moral
instruction, 67; child's knowledge,
99; woman's place, 112. See also
Festivals
Roeh, 34-35-
Roman period, 44.
Ruth's child, referred to, 22.
Sabbath, worship, 64; synagogue ser-
vices, 87-91.
Sacrifices: human, 15; only at Jeru-
salem, 15; public, 1 06; private, 107.
Sadducees, 85, 93.
Sage, 81.
Salome, Queen, referred to, 92.
Samuel, referred to, 34, 35; adoles-
cence, 56.
Sanhedrin, 45.
Sar,ah, referred to, 49.
Sargon, n.
Saul, reign of, 8-9; death of sons, 16;
as physical ideal, 20; resorts to
Samuel, 34.
Saul of Tarsus, referred to, 100.
Schools, Babylonian, 42, 91.
Schools, Greek, 43.
Schools : lacking, native period, 2 1 ;
post-Exilic, outline, 60; elementary,
91-100; higher, 100-102; closed to
girls, 115.
Scribes, court, 28.
Scribes (Soferim), educational ideal,
78; as teachers, 80-84; schools of,
. 100-102.
Seer, 34-35-
Seidel, quoted, 106-107.
Seleucids, 43.
Self-control, 69-70.
Services, see Order of service.
Sex basis of education, 21, 79; mas-
culine, privileges, 88, 89.
Shalmaneser IV, u.
Shammai, referred to, 100.
Shechem, referred to, n.
Sheiks, influence, 8.
Shema, learned in infancy, 63; taught
in schools, 98; recited by men, 88;
in synagogue, 88, 90; in Temple,
105; forbidden to women, 112.
134
EDUCATION IN ANCIENT ISRAEL.
Shemini Atsereth, 104.
Shetach, claims of, 92, 93-95.
Shetach's son's martyrdom, 77-78.
Siloam, inscription, 29.
Simeon the Just, referred to, 81.
Simlah, 56, 63.
Simon ben Shetach, see Shetach.
Simplicity, 69.
Social institutions, factors determin-
ing-, 11-16.
Social reform, need of, 35.
Sodom, referred to, 72.
Soferim, see Scribes.
Solomon, reign, 10; Temple, 31-32.
See also Jerusalem; Temple.
Songs, 24, 25, 1 08. See also Levites;
Music.
Sons of prophets, see Prophets.
Spiers, cited, 93-94.
Stones as records, 20.
Stories, see Literature.
Story-tellers, professional, 26.
Succoth, young man of, referred to,
28.
Summaries of chapters, 3, 19, 41, 49.
75. in-
Symbolical methods, 37.
Symbolism of Temple, 107.
Synagogue, 87-91 ; modeled after Tem-
ple, 105; woman's place in, 112-115.
Tabernacles, Feast of, 103, 104. See
also Festivals.
Table manners, 71.
Tables: feasts and .festivals, 104;
moral virtues, 67; periods, histor-
ical, 5 ; periods, educational, 7 ;
schools and studies, 60.
Tallit, 57.
Talmud, 84, 101 and note 69; quoted,
93; quoted, 94-95-
Tamid, 106.
Tattooing, 58.
Teachers, native period, 22, 32-38:
post-Exilic, outline, 60; sex, 79;
ranks, 81; number, 91; public, 94,
95; per class, 95; status, 96; wages,
96, 102: See also Bards; Father;
Hassan; Levites; Mother; Nurses;
Parents; Priests; Prophets; Rabbi;
Scribes; Tutors.
Tsfillin, 57-58, na.
Tekoa, referred to, in.
Temple, Solomon builds, 10; sacrifice.
14; rebuilt, 42; profaned, 43; after
the Exile, 104-108; teaching in court,
too.
Temples, educational functions, 31.
Ten Commandments, 105. See also
Law, oral.
Texts, evolution, 26, 36, 84; Proverbs
and Ecclesiasticus, 52; in elemen-
tary schools, 98. See also Law;
Literature.
Three R's, 28, 29. See also Reading;
Writing; Weights and measures.
Titus, referred to, 44.
Totemism, 13.
Trade education, 60-6 1.
Traditions taught, 25, 26.
Training versus instruction, 21, 31.
Tribe, organization, 8, 9, 10; dissen-
sions, 12; as educative institution,
21 ; religion, 14, 24, 56. See also
Nomadism.
Trumpets, Feast of, 104.
Tutors, Ahab's sons', 22.
Twisted threads, 57, 63.
Universal education, 86-89, 90, 91-95.
Unleavened Bread, Feast of, 104.
Weaning, 55.
Weapons, training in use of, 23-24.
Weights and measures, $, 27, 29.
Wife, see Mother; Woman.
Woman, 111-115; as prophetess, 36;
status, 51, 52; in synagogue, 89, 115.
See also Mother; Wife.
Work, 23. See also Industrial educa-
tion; Physical education.
Worship of Baal, 14.
Worship, training in, 34, 80, 103.
Worship of Yahweh, 14-15.
Writing, 8, 27, 30; difficult, 98;
taught to prophets, 37. See also
Stones.
Writings, the, 27 and note 31.
Yahweh, conception of, primitive and
prophetic, 15-16, 34; ethical, 53, 66;
founder of institutions, 77; sym-
bolized in Temple, 107.
Yahweh, worship of, 14-15. See also
Temple; Worship.
Zedukim, 85, 93.
Zekenim, 81.
Zisit, 57, 63.
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