suggest that, as in the days before the exile, they were still active in connection with the civic, social, and national life of the people, and that by influencing public policies they conserved the moral welfare of the individual as well as the state.  Many references to “wisdom’s voice crying aloud in the public places” suggest that, like the earlier prophets, the wise men at times taught in public, in the market-places, in the open spaces within the city gates, or wherever men were gathered together.  They appear also to have taught in private, by wise counsel delivering the individual disciple who resorted to them from the perils that beset his path, or aiding him by prudent advice in solving successfully his individual problems.

In 6:32-37 Ben Sira has given a vivid sketch of the schools of the wise, which are clearly the forerunners of the later rabbinical schools: 

My son, if you wish, you will be instructed,
And if you pay attention, you will become prudent. 
If you are willing to hear, you will receive,
And if you listen attentively, you will be wise. 
Stand in the assembly of the elders,
And whoever is wise, stick close to him. 
Be willing to listen to every discourse,
And let no illuminating proverbs escape you. 
If you see a man of insight, hasten to him,
And let your foot wear out his threshold. 
Let your mind dwell upon the law of the Most High,
And meditate continually on his commands. 
Thus he will enlighten your mind,
And teach you the wisdom you desire.

It requires little imagination to picture these ancient prototypes of our modern universities.  Like all Oriental teachers, the wise doubtless sat cross-legged, with their disciples in a circle about them.  They trusted largely to question and answer, and poured out from their own and their inherited experience wise maxims such as would guide the simple and inexperienced and develop efficient manhood.

VIII.  Their Important Teachings.  In the opening chapters of Proverbs the wise describe the character and value of that wisdom which represents their teaching as a whole.  In chapters 8 and 9 “Wisdom” is personified.  Inasmuch as the Hebrew word for “wisdom” is feminine, it is spoken of as a woman.  Chapter 9 describes, in a form intended to arrest the attention of the most inattentive, the feast that Wisdom offers to her guests.  This is contrasted with Folly’s banquet, and the consequences to those who participated in these rival banquets are clearly presented.

In the practical teachings of the wise no question that vitally concerned the individual man was considered beneath their attention.  Like the wise modern teacher they made no distinction between the religious and the secular.  Everything that influenced man’s acts and ideals possessed for them profound religious import.  While the proverbial epigrammatic form of their teaching was not conducive to a logical or