he foretells'; and this is that which Jeremiah said in his answer to Hananiah the son of Azur, when Jeremiah was prophesying evil, and Hananiah good. Then he said to Hananiah: If MY words be not fulfilled, this will be no proof that I am a false prophet; but if THY words be not fulfilled, it will be known that thou art a false prophet; thus it is said: Nevertheless hear thou now this word, &c.... The prophet which prophesieth OF PEACE, when the word of the prophet shall come to pass, then shall, the prophet be known that the Lord hath truly sent him, (Jer. xxviii. 7, 9).

IX. With regard to a prophet, to whom another prophet has borne witness that he is a prophet-behold! he must be held to be a prophet; so that this new prophet need not [un

justice said again unto Him: O Lord of the Universe! though this be revealed to Thee, was it then also revealed to them?'-And in consequence of this it is written: Slay utterly old and young, both maids and little children, and women, &c....and begin at my sanctuary; and then it is written: Then they began at the ancient men, which were before the house, (Ezek. ix. 6). Rabbi Joseph taught thus: Do

At my ממקודשי At my SANCTUARY, but ממקדשי not read it

SAINTS; namely, at the men that have fulfilled the law from
Aleph to Tau*.-Bab. Talm. Treatise Sabbath, Section 5.

.literally: that in things good alone שבדברי הטובה בלבד 1

21707 170Y) NÝ ON literally: if my words will not stand.

3 literally: this second one.

* From Aleph to Tau, is a phrase commonly used in the Rabbinical language to denote from beginning to end.

2

dergo] any examination; for, behold! Moses our Rabbi bore witness to Joshuah, and then all Israel believed him (Joshuah), [even] before he performed any sign. And so it is to be with respect to [future] generations', [namely, that as to] a prophet, whose prophecy shall have bebecome known, and whose words shall have been repeatedly believed, or to whom another prophet shall have borne witness, and who moreover has been walking in the ways of prophecy-it will be unlawful to make reflections on him, or to suspect his prophecy that it may not perhaps be true. Moreover it is unlawful to tempt him more than necessary; so that we must not be continually tempting him; for it is said: Ye shall not tempt the Lord your God, as ye tempted Him in Massah, (Deut. vi. 16.); [namely] when they said: Is the Lord among us or not? (Exod. xvii. 7). But after it has become known that this man is a prophet, they ought to believe, and to know that the Lord is among them, and ought not to suspect him, nor make any reflections on him; as it is said: Yet [they] KNOW that there hath been a prophet

among them, (Ezek. ii. 5).

PRECEPTS RELATING TO [THE GOVERNMENT OF]

THE TEMPER1.

CHAPTER I.

THERE are a variety of dispositions' in every one of the sons of men, of which one [disposition] may be different from, nay even altogether opposed to, another. One man there will be, who is passionate, and in [a state of] perpetual irritation; and another man, whose mind is composed, and who is never irritated at all; or if he happen to be irritated, the irritation

literally: minds, is often used by the Rabbins to denote Temper or Disposition. Thus they say:

ארבע מדות בדעות נוח לכעוס ונוח לרצות יצא הפסדו בשכרו קשה לכעוס וקשה לרצות יצא שכרו בהפסדו קשה לכעוס ונוח לרצות חסיד נוח לכעוס וקשה לרצות רשע

"There are four modifications in the tempers (or dispositions of man). He, who is easily irritated, but also easily reconciled, has his disadvantage neutralized by his advantage. He, who is not easily irritated, but also not easily reconciled, has his advantage neutralized by his disadvantage. He who is not easily iritated, and, moreover, is easily reconciled, is a pious man. He, who is easily irritated, and, moreover, is not easily reconciled, is a wicked man."-Perke Avoth, Section 5.

.literally : and very distant from it ורחוקה ממנה ביותר 5

will be very slight, and at [intervals of] several years. One man there will be, who is of a mind exceedingly lofty; and another of a mind exceedingly humble. Again there will be one, who is given up to [carnal] desires; whose soul is never surfeited with its voluptuous pursuits; and another, who is of a mind' so exceedingly pure, that he does not covet even those few things which the body stands in need of.

II. Again there will be one of a grasping mind, whose soul is not satisfied with all the mammon in the world, just as it is said: He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver, (Eccles. v. 10.); and another, who limits his mind; who is contented even with so little as is not sufficient for him, and who is not eager 3 to obtain all that is necessary for him. Again there will be one, who tortures himself with hunger and with thirst; who accumulates [wealth] with a grasping hand', and who does not

1 literally; a pure heart.

3

טהר לב

.Prov. xxviii) רחב נפש יגרה מדון taken in a bad sense, as

2 literally: a wide soul, i. e. an unlimited mind,

25.), and which is rendered by: He that is of a PROUD HEART, stirreth up strife.

3

ירדוף

literally: and will not pursue or hunt for.

literally who gathers in his hand (or by his

hand); an expression made use of in Prov. xiii. 11. in a good sense; but here our Author evidently uses the same expression in a bad sense, and therefore it is rendered here accordingly.

spend even a Prutah of his own, without great pangs [of mind]; and another, who knowingly wastes all his mammon with his own hands. And thus it is with all other dispositions; as for instance, [those of] the jocose man, and the melancholy man; the miser and the liberal man; the cruel man and the charitable man; the faint-hearted man and the bold-hearted man; and the like [dispositions].

III. But between each disposition and the disposition opposed to it', [namely], that at the other extreme, there are intermediate dispositions, which are also in opposition to each other. Now, with regard to dispositions in general, some of them are dispositions, which [belong] to a man from his birth, as being the consequences of his bodily constitution; and some of them are dispositions, which some persons are by their nature more apt and more ready to acquire than any other dispositions; and again some dispositions there are, which do not belong to a man from his birth, but which he acquires11 from other men, or towards which he himself inclines, in conse

5

literally: and does not eat or consume.

10

911 y literally: the nature of his body.