thou eat bread," his heart was comforted. For herein lies (according to the Rabbis) the

dignity of labour, that man is not forced to, nor unconscious in, his work; but that while

becoming the servant of the soil, he wins from it the precious fruits of golden harvest.

And so, albeit labour may be hard, and the result doubtful, as when Israel stood by the

shores of the Red Sea, yet a miracle will cleave these waters also. And still the dignity of

labour is great in itself: it reflects honour; it nourisheth and cherisheth him that

engageth in it. For this reason also did the law punish with fivefold restitution the theft

of an ox, but only with fourfold that of a sheep; because the former was that with which

a man worked.

Assuredly St. Paul spoke also as a Jew when he admonished the Ephesians (Eph 4:28):

"Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the

thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth." "Make a working

day of the Sabbath: only be not dependent upon people," was the Rabbinical saying

(Pes. 112). "Skin dead animals by the wayside," we read, "and take thy payment for it,

but do not say, I am a priest; I am a man of distinction, and work is objectionable to me!"

And to this day the common Jewish proverb has it: "Labour is no cherpah (disgrace)";

or again: "Melachah is berachah (Labour is blessing)." With such views, we can

understand how universal industrious pursuits were in the days of our Lord. Although

it is no doubt true, as the Rabbinical proverb puts it, that every man thinks most of his

own trade, yet public opinion attached a very different value to different kinds of trade.

Some were avoided on account of the unpleasantnesses connected with them, such as

those of tanners, dyers, and miners. The Mishnah lays it down as a principle, that a man

should not teach his son a trade which necessitates constant intercourse with the other

sex (Kidd. iv. 14). Such would include, among others jewellers, makers of handmills,

perfumers, and weavers. The latter trade seems to have exposed to as many troubles as

if the weavers of those days had been obliged to serve a modern fashionable lady. The

saying was: "A weaver must be humble, or his life will be shortened by

excommunication"; that is, he must submit to anything for a living. Or, as the common

proverb put it (Ab. S. 26 a): "If a weaver is not humble, his life is shortened by a year."

This other saying, of a similar kind, reminds us of the Scotch estimate of, or rather

disrespect for, weavers: "Even a weaver is master in his own house." And this not only

in his own opinion, but in that of his wife also. For as the Rabbinical proverb has it:

"Though a man were only a comber of wool, his wife would call him up to the house-

door, and sit down beside him," so proud is she of him. Perhaps in the view of the

Rabbis there was a little of female self-consciousness in this regard for her husband's

credit, for they have it: "Though a man were only the size of an ant, his wife would try to

sit down among the big ones."

In general, the following sound views are expressed in the Talmud (Ber. 17 a): "The

Rabbi of Jabne said: I am simply a being like my neighbour. He works in the field, and I

in the town. We both rise early to go to work; and there is no cause for the one setting

himself up above the other. Do not think that the one does more than the other; for we

have been taught that there is as much merit in doing that which is little as that which is

great, provided the state of our hearts be right." And so a story is told, how one who

dug cisterns and made baths (for purification) accosted the great Rabbi Jochanan with

the words: "I am as great a man as thou"; since, in his own sphere, he served the wants

of the community quite as much as the most learned teacher in Israel. In the same spirit

another Rabbi admonished to strict conscientiousness, since in a sense all work,

however humble, was really work for God. There can be no doubt that the Jewish

tradesman who worked in such a spirit would be alike happy and skilful.

It must have been a great privilege to be engaged in any work connected with the

Temple. A large number of workmen were kept constantly employed there, preparing

what was necessary for the service. Perhaps it was only a piece of Jerusalem jealousy of

the Alexandrians which prompted such Rabbinical traditions, as, that, when

Alexandrians tried to compound the incense for the Temple, the column of smoke did

not ascend quite straight; when they repaired the large mortar in which the incense was