fool is he who does the exact opposite of all thest things. See FooL.
It IS this notion of a wise ordering of practical life which reappears in the far more magnificent conception which we owe to these books — of the wisdom of God. This is conceived partly as an attribute of God, partly as a counsellor standing, as it were, by the throne of God. According to the latter view, which appears in some of the finest passages in these books, wisdom was the counsellor and helper of God in the creation of the world (Pr 8, cf. Wis 10, Job 28^ etc. ), and has been conspicuously embodied in the law (Sir 24^). Wisdom is the power that guides the history of man, and has watched over that of the chosen people (cf. Wis lO'"-). Hence the previous con- nexion between morality and wisdom is explained. Man's wisdom consists in following out the em bodied wisdom of God in the law.
This particular character of the divine wisdom brings us back to the consideration of the problems which, as has been already pointed out, appear in the Psalms. The problem of the true relation of virtuous action or righteousness is set forth, ai" in a tragedy, in the Bk. of Job. The author empha-sizes the fact that Job was free from all blame in the truest and strictest sense. He bewails his misery — the cruel change of fortune which comes upon him; but in it all 'he sinneii not.' He neither rejected the verdict of his conscience, which acquitted him of wTong-doing, nor called in question the supreme justice of God. In this he proves superior to the popular opinion on such matters, as it is represented in the utterances of the friends. And the justification of his attitude is found in the answer of J" out of the whirlwind, the point of which consists in the assertion of the variety and mysteriousness of the activity of God. The question is not solved by any philosophical formula, but is referred simply to the nature of God Himself.
In the Bk. of Ec we find a much more gloomy point of view. In this case the obscurity of the whole matter presses very hard upon the author's mind. He is impressed with the apparent futility and lack of coherence in the life of man ; he can see no purpose served and no object attained by the pursuit of ^visdom, or the indulgence of pleasure, or tlie enjoyment of high place. Everytning lies under the doom of vanity ; there is no profit under the sun — nothing that endures, and can satisfy man's desire for the enduring. Under these circumstances he approaches the form of ethical thought which, in modem times, is called pessimism. Indeed he only falls short of it in so far as he finds the good of man in the giini adherence to the com- mandments of God (if Ec U'^ be genuine).
In both these works the general view of the life of man is closely akin to that which we have had occasion to notice before. It is noted (Job 1') that Job rose up early in the morning and offered burnt- offerings according to the number of them all (i.e. his family), ' for Job said, It may be that my sons have sinned, and renoimced God in their hearts.' He deemed it neces.sary to provide against in- advertences of this sort as regards God, and this of course adds to the impression of his complete virtue. In later chapters we find the usual emphasis laid upon the protection of the poor, and the wickedness of oppression (cf. ch. 24. 31'* etc.), upon purity (ch. 31), and justice (29"). In like manner, oppression is one of the things which attracts the attention of the preacher (Ec 4'"*), as well £13 the vanity of the eflTorts of the righteous, when death conies and cuts short all that he is planning to achieve.
We may now review briefly the drift of this very imperfect sketch of the ethical ideas of the OT,
ETHICS
ETUICS
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It seems that the central feature of OT morality is that it is religious ; it b grafted on to the national faith and worship. But this must not be taken to imply that the ceremonial order was indissolubly bound up with the moral ideas ; the various sacri- fices, and the like, are, on the whole, held apart from the definite scheme (so far as there is one traceable) of virtues and vices. It would be truer to say that the ceremonial order and the ethical code are two co-ordinate developments of the one principle — the holiness of J". The character of God was the final rule of the life of man, and the archaic details of sacrificial purification were tilled with this meaning ; the great holiness of God demanded cfvutious approach. On the other hand, the general impression left upon the mind by the history of the people and the reflections upon their life is one of considerable simplicity. The acts condenmed, the ideals commended, belong to a comparatively simple condition of society. Acts of violence and oppression are the chief burden of denunciation ; the tendency is manifest to exact usurious interest ; and there are some few other forms of sin noticed, such as drunkenness and impurity. But the real depth and value of Jewish moral teaching is found, not in the political or social sphere, but in the religious life. It is in the Psalms and in those passages of the Prophets which come nearest in tone to the Psalms that we find the permanent and supreme value of the Jewish notion of life. Varieties of religious emotion and aspiration such as we find in these forms are pos- sible only to a people whose whole ethical outlook is religious.