Before these one-sided developments of the truth were made the fundamental ideas of the divine gov- ernment found expression in words as well as in life. The Psalms, which, among the other infinite lessons that they convey, give a deep insight into the need of a personal apprehension of truth, everywhere declare the absolute sovereignty of God over the material and moral worlds. The classical scholar cannot fail to be struck with the frequency of natural imagery, and with the close connection which is assumed to exist between man and nature as parts of one vast order. The con- trol of all the elements by one All-wise Governor, stand- ing out in clear contrast with the deification of isolated objects, is no less essentially characteristic of Hebrew as distinguished from Greek thought. In the world of action Providence stands over against fate, the univer- sal kingdom against the individual state, the true and the right against the beautiful. Pure speculation may find little scope, but speculation guided by these great laws will never cease to affect most deeply the intel- lectual culture of men. (Comp. especially Psa. viii, xix, xxix, 1, lxv, lxviii, lxxvii, lxxviii, lxxxix, xcv, xcvii, civ, cvi, cxxxvi, cxlvii, etc. It will be seen that the same character is found in Psalms of every date.) For a late and very remarkable development of this philosophy of Nature, see Dillmann, Das B. Henoch, xiv, xv.
One man above all is distinguished among the Jews as " the wise man." The description which is given of his writings serves as a commentary on the national view of philosophy. " And Solomon's wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the children of the east country, and all the wisdom of Egypt. . . . And he spake three thou- sand proverbs ; and his songs were a thousand and five. And he spake of trees, from the cedar that is in Leba- non even unto the hyssop that springeth out of the
wall : he spake also of beasts, and of fowl, and of creep- ing things, and of fishes" (1 Kings iv, 30-33). The les- son of practical duty, the full utterance of "a large heart" (ver. 29), the careful study of God's creatures — this is the sum of wisdom. Yet in fact the very prac- tical aim of this philosophy leads to the revelation of the most sublime truth. Wisdom was gradually felt to be a person, throned by God, and holding converse with men (Prov. viii). She was seen to stand in open enmity with " the strange woman," who sought to draw them aside by sensuous attractions; and thus a new step was made towards the central doctrine of Chris- tianity— the Incarnation of the Word.
Two books of the Bible— Job and Ecclesiastes— of which the latter, at any rate, belongs to the period of the close of the kingdom, approach more nearly than any others to the type of philosophical discussions. But in both the problem is mural and not metaphysical. The one deals with the evils which afflict "the perfect and upright;" the other with the vanity of all the pur- suits and pleasures of earth. In the one we are led for an answer to a vision of " the enemy" to whom a par- tial and temporary power over man is conceded (Job i, 6-12) ; in the other to that great future when "God shall bring every work to judgment" (Eccl. xii, 14). The method of inquiry is in both cases abrupt and ir- regular. One clew after another is followed out, and at length abandoned ; and the final solution is obtained, not by a consecutive process of reason, but by an au- thoritative utterance, welcomed by faith as the truth, towards which all partial efforts had tended. (Comp. Maurice, Monti and Metaphysical Philosophy. 1st ed.)
The Captivity necessarily exercised a profound in- fluence upon Jewish thought. The teaching of Persia seems to have been designed to supply important ele- ments in the education of the chosen people. But it did yet more than this. The imagery of Ezekiel (ch. i) gave an apparent sanction to a new form of mystical speculation. The contact of the Jews with Persia thus gave rise to a traditional mysticism. Their contact with Greece was marked by the rise of distinct sects. In the 3d century B.C. the great doctor Antigonus of Socho bears a Greek name, and popular belief pointed to him as the teacher of Sadoc and Boethus, the sup- posed founders of Jewish rationalism. At any rate, we may date from this time the twofold division of Jewish speculation which corresponds to the chief tendencies of practical philosophy. The Sadducees appear as the supporters of human freedom in its widest scope; the Pharisees of a religious Stoicism. At a later time the cycle of doctrine was completed, when by a natural re- action the Essenes established a mystic asceticism. The characteristics of these sects are noticed elsewhere, It is enough now to point out the position which they occupy in the history of Judaism (comp. Westcott, In- trod. to Gospels, p. 60-GG). At a later period the Fourth Book of Maccabees (q. v.) is a very interesting example of Jewish moral (Stoic) teaching. See Sects, Jewish.
The conception of wisdom which appears in the book of Proverbs was elaborated with greater detail af- terwards [see Wisdom of Solomon], both in Palestine [see Ecclesiasticts] and in Egypt; but the doctrine of the Word is of greater speculative interest. Both doctrines, indeed, sprang from the same cause, and indi- cate the desire to find some mediating power between God and the world, and to remove the direct appear- ance and action of God from a material sphere. The personification of Wisdom represents only a secondary power in relation to God; the Logos, in the double sense of Reason (\6yoc tvhaStToc.') and Word (Xoyog Trpo<t)optKue.), both in relation to God and in relation to the universe. The first use of the term Word (Memra), based upon the common formula of the prophets, is in the Targum of Onkelos (1st century B.C.), in which " the Word of God" is commonly substituted for God in his immediate, personal relations with man (Westcott, Jntrod. to Gospels, p. 137) ; and it is probable that round