In the individualism thus moulded into uniformity lay the chief difference which separated the new period from the old.  The aim was universal culture by the law, that the prophecy should be fulfilled which says:  “They shall all be taught of God.”  This universal culture was certainly of a peculiar kind, and imposed more troublesome observances than the culture of our day.  Yet the strange duties which the law imposed were not universally felt to be a heavy burden.  Precepts which were plain and had to do with something outward were very capable of being kept; the harder they seemed at first, the easier were they when the habit had been formed.  A man saw that he was doing what was prescribed, and did not ask what was the use of it.  The ever-growing body of regulations even came to be felt as a sort of emancipation from self.  Never had the individual felt himself so responsible for all he did and left undone, but the responsibility was oppressive, and it was well that there should be a definite precept for every hour of his life, thus diminishing the risk of his going astray.  Nor must we forget that the Torah contained other precepts than those which were merely ceremonial.  The kernel did not quite harden into wood inside the shell; we must even acknowledge that moral sentiment gained very perceptibly in this period both in delicacy and in power.  This also is connected with the fact that religion was not, as before, the custom of the people, but the work of the individual.  A further consequence of this was, that men began to reflect upon religion.  The age in question saw the rise of the so-called “Wisdom,” of which we possess examples in the Book of Job, in the Proverbs of Solomon and of the Son of Sirach, and in Ecclesiastes.  This wisdom flourished not only in Judah, but also at the same time in Edom; it had the universalistic tendency which is natural to reflection.  The Proverbs of Solomon would scarcely claim attention had they arisen on Greek or Arabian soil; they are remarkable in their pale generality only because they are of Jewish origin.  In the Book of Job, a problem of faith is treated by Syrians and Arabians just as if they were Jews.  In Ecclesiastes religion abandons the theocratic ground altogether, and becomes a kind of philosophy in which there is room even for doubt and unbelief.  Speculation did not on the whole take away from depth of feeling; on the contrary, individualism helped to make religion more intense.  This is seen strikingly in the Psalms, which are altogether the fruit of this period.  Even the sacrificial practice of the priests was made subjective, being incorporated in the Torah, i.e., made a matter for every one to learn.  Though the laity could not take part in the ceremony, they were at least to be thoroughly informed in all the minutiae of the system; the law was a means of interesting every one in the great public sacrificial procedure.  Another circumstance also tended to remove the centre of gravity