Behar people ask each other the question: "Can the crow become white by eating camphor?" A phrase that George Herbert (1639) rendered "The bath of a blackamoor hath sworn not to whiten." The phrase "Skin for skin" (Job 2:4) was probably a well-known expression, which Satan emphasized by the addition of the statement "All that a man hath will he give for his life." The old Hebrew proverb "Is Saul also among the prophets" (I Sam. 19:24) had its origin in a well-known incident recorded in I Sam. 10: 12. The phrase "As the mother, so the daughter" (See Psa. 106: 35-40; Ezek. 16: 44) has its parallel in a multitude of modern maxims. The words of the wise woman recorded in II Sam. 20: 18: "They shall surely ask counsel of Abel"-i.e. Abel-beth-maacah, a place in upper Galilee celebrated for the wisdom of its inhabitants, was a familiar saying long before she repeated it. Zebah and Zalmunna probably quoted a proverb when they said "As the man is so is his strength" (Judges 8:21). The axiom-"A living dog is better than a dead lion-found in Ecclesiastes 9: 4 is still in common use not only in England and America but in other lands. It must have been very expressive to the men of Solomon's day, who thought only of the undomesticated, prowling dog of the streets and the lion, king of all beasts. David quoted a well-known proverb, if not the oldest one in existence, when he vindicated himself

with the words "Out of the wicked cometh forth wickedness" (I Sam. 24: 13) which was equivalent to saying character determines conduct, or as Isaiah put it-"The fool will speak folly" (Isaiah 20: 11) and as Christ declared-"The corrupt tree will bringeth forth evil fruit" (Matt. 7:17). The phrase, "Dead flies cause the oil of the perfumer to send forth an evil odour" found in Ecclesiastes 10: I is equivalent to the French, Spanish and Italian saying "A little gall spoils a great deal of honey," the Dutch, "One rotten apple in the basket infects the whole quantity," the German, "One rotten egg spoils the whole pudding," the Danish and Italian, "One mangy sheep spoils the whole flock" and the Russian "A spoonful of tar in a barrel of honey and all is spoiled.”

"Now if some flies perchance, however small,
Into the alabaster urn should fall,

The odours of the sweets enclosed would die;
And stench corrupt, sad change their place supply."
Matthew Prior.

It was common in Old Testament times for men to refer to those of their number who were celebrated for proverbs as "Like Nimrod," who we are told was a mighty hunter before the Lord. "Like Nimrod" was a proverbial simile that was suggestive of a multitude of legends, stories of impossible achievements, and folk tales repeated

among the people some of which are preserved in the Talmud.

Scattered throughout the Sacred Oracles are sayings borrowed from every-day life. Some are now unrecognized as popular dicta, others are spoken of as parables, while a few are distinctly designated as proverbs.

NEW TESTAMENT PROVERBS

Many of the proverbs found in the New Testament are of pure Hebrew origin, but not all. The Jews, in their intercourse with men from other lands, borrowed a large number of maxims. The precepts of the common people are always great travelers, and pass easily from one district to another. Those that were quoted in Palestine in the days of Christ included some that came from Assyria, Babylonia, Persia and Greece.

A few centuries ago the people of England laughed at the men of Gotham and counted them as fools. Today their children make merry over their fathers' prejudice and repeat the nursery rhyme:

"Three wise men of Gotham went to sea in a bowl,

If the bowl had been stronger, my tale would have been longer."

So in New Testament times the Jews taunted

the men of Nazareth and quoted the proverb, "Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?" (John 1:46) to prove the untrustworthiness of our Lord's claim. Nazareth had an evil reputation and its inhabitants were compelled to live under reproach.

Jesus, who understood the hearts of his countrymen, said to them, "Doubtless you will say unto me this parable or proverb: 'Physician heal thyself' (Luke 4:23) and then added another familiar saying "A prophet is not without honor save in his own country and in his own house" (Matt. 13:57) which has its parallel in all parts of the world under various forms. The same thought is quaintly expressed in Hindustan by their phrase "A Jogee is called a Jogra in his own village, but one from another village is called Sidh." No less striking is the Telugu dictum "The tree in the back yard won't do for medicine."

Sitting by Jacob's well the Master referred to a familiar observation, when he asked His disciples, "Say ye not there are yet four months and then cometh harvest?" (John 4:35) and then proceeded to speak of the need of laborers in the field of service.

The excuse maker, who refused to follow Christ, plead that he must first go and bury his father, not because his father was dead or even was nearing death, but because the p overbial expression furnished him a convenient pretext

for delay. The saying then current is still used in the East.

To another excuse maker Jesus said, "No man having put his hand to the plow and looking back is fit for the kingdom" (Luke 9: 62), thus suggesting to his hearer the picture of a laborer seeking to drive his plow while at the same time he continually turned to look back at some object that interested him instead of keeping his eyes on the furrow. Such a familiar picture would naturally lead to some proverb indicative of divided attention, which would be similar to the phrase used by Jesus.

Our Lord, in his Sermon on the Mount, declared that "One jot or tittle of the law" (Matt. 5: 18) would not pass until all was fulfilled. In so speaking he repeated a common aphorism. The people were wont to use the phrase "one jot or tittle" whenever they desired to emphasize the impossibility of detraction.

In that same hillside sermon Jesus joined two proverbs when He declared that "With what measure ye mete it shall be measured unto you” (Matt. 7: 2) and asked "Why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?" (Matt. 7:3). The first of these is found in the Talmud and corresponds to the Persian phrase "As he does to others so he will be done by" and the other is paralled by a large number of modern sayings.