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Bible Encyclopedias
Proverbs

The 1901 Jewish Encyclopedia

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Wise, witty, and pithy maxims or aphorisms. Jewish proverbs are derived from the following sources: (1) Biblical collections, included in the canon; (2) Apocryphal collections, not included in the canon; (3) the Talmud; (4) collections of the Moorish-Spanish period; (5) miscellaneous works. The Biblical collections include, apart from the aphorisms scattered through the Psalms and the Prophets, the collection known as the Book of Proverbs (see separate article). The chief sources for proverbs in the Apocrypha are Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) and the Book of Wisdom. The New Testament quotes from the former without mentioning the source (comp. Luke 18:22 and Ecclus. 29:14); the Talmud forbids its being read, including it among the "sefarim hiẓonim," like the works of Ben Tiglah and Ben La'anah, and the "Megillat Ḥasidim." Yet, as the Talmud, despite its own prohibition, cites this megillah (Yer. Ber.), so it quotes from the book of Ecclesiasticus, with the words , and even without naming its source. Many of these Ecclesiasticus sentences acquire a more theological coloring in the Talmud, especially when associated with Biblical passages.

The Talmudic sources include the treatises Abot, Abot de-Rabbi Natan, Derek Ereẓ Rabbah, and Derek Ereẓ Zuṭa. The sporadic aphorisms of R. Johanan, the teachers of Jabneh (see Ber. 17a), and others, are quoted with the following formulas: . They fall into two classes, one inculcating, the necessity of prudence in the affairs of life (), and the other consisting of regulations for the practise of the religious life; many of them relate to dietetics. Most of them are compared with Biblical passages, being connected therewith either by the phrase , which lends a halakic note to them, or by the formulas . The number of Biblical passages at the basis of an aphorism is frequently given, as in Cant. R. 27a, and both (e.g., Ab. 6:2; see M. J. Landau, "Geist und Sprache der Hebräer," pp. 20 et seq., Prague, 1822) and (Yeb. 4a et al.; comp. Psalms 3:8) occur in witticisms.

Original collections of proverbs are found in: (1) "Mussar ha-Sekel," by R. Hai Gaon; (2) "Ben Mishle," by Samuel ha-Nagid; (3) "Tarshish," by Moses ibn Ezra; (4) three translations from the Arabic—"Mibḥar ha-Peninim" and "Tiḳḳun Middotha-Nefesh," by Solomon ibn Gabirol, and "Mussare ha-Filosofim," by Hunain ibn Isḥaḳ. Isolated proverbs are found in Baḥya ibn Paḥuda's "Ḥobot ha-Lebabot," Abraham b. Hisdai's "Ben ha-Melek weha-Nazir," Ali's "Iggeret Mussar," Immanuel's "Maḥberot," Abraham Gavison's "Omer ha-Shikḥa," and others (comp. Jost's "Annalen," p. 83).

Method of Quotation.

From the above sources a considerable number of proverbs can be cited which may be regarded as being more or less Jewish in character and which are utilized in various ways in Jewish literature. These maxims are quoted, either explicitly or implicitly,as proverbs, with the formulas , . The high regard in which proverbs were held is evident from Midr. Cant. 1b: "Scorn not the mashal, for through it thou mayest gain a firm hold upon the Law; like a king who had lost a piece of gold or a pearl, but by means of a wick, which is worth but a trifle, was able to find it again." The formulas , and are used to connect proverbs with Biblical passages. although the connection is at times merely mechanical; sometimes a proverbial meaning entirely foreign to it is given to a Biblical passage, as with Leviticus 11:15, , which is paraphrased as "Like seeks like."

Some Jewish proverbs are found in the New Testament, as (Gen. R. 20b; comp. Luke 4:23). The proverbs originating in Palestine are generally quoted in the Babylonian Talmud with the phrase , or . Jerusalem is mentioned in Ket. 66b ( ); Galilee in B. Ḳ. 52 (); etc. An aphorism in Yer. Ḳid. 13a is quoted in the name of the millers ().

The nature of the ("Kobsin proverbs") is not clear (see Æsop's Fables). A purely Greek proverb is given in the Jerusalem Talmud ("Orient, Lit." 8:330), and Arabic proverbs are easily recognizable (Steinschneider, "Jüdische Literatur," in Ersch and Gruber, "Encyc." section , part 28, p. 374). Jewish proverbs, which are mostly in Aramaic, are restrained and gentle in their satire, and not trivial, like the Arabic proverbs quoted by Freytag, "Proverbia Arabum," 3:354 (Steinschneider, c. p. 375). It is indicative of a high level of culture among the Jews, as Dukes correctly observes ("Blumenlese," p. 16), that physical infirmities were seldom ridiculed in their proverbs, as they were among other peoples. The inhabitants of Nehar Pekoda are derided as Abderites; those of Pumbedita and Naresh as thieves (Ḥul. 127a); and those of Maḥoza as "fat-guts" (ib. 58b). Many persons have become historical through proverbs, as Ḳamẓa and Bar Ḳamẓa (Giṭ. 55b), Shwilnai (Sanh. 82b), Tobiah and Zigud (Pes. 113; Mak. 11a), Shilo and Johanan (Gen. R. 21b). Among the Biblical personages quoted are Zimri and Phinehas (Soṭah 22), Shechem and Mibgai (Mak. 11a). Garments also furnish comparisons, as in "His girdle is a sign of his poverty" (Ḥul. 108a). Moral lessons are drawn from fables, or the fables themselves are epitomized and quoted: e.g., in Sanh. 106 (the camel which desired grain); Gen. R. 58a (the raven that set fire to its nest); Yalḳ., Tehillim, 767 (the scorpion and the camel).

Puns were popular: e.g., in Palestine when any one married it was said (Yeb. 63b; comp. Ecclesiastes 7:27). Proverbs () are often quoted to elucidate difficulties in technical or philosophical problems.

Among proverbial phrases may be mentioned that in Soṭah 47b referring to the "sycophants" (= proud" [Rashi]); Gen. R. 59b, "Thy bread is baked everywhere," equivalent to "Thou wilt find sustenance anywhere"; Ḳid. 16b, "iota as the smallest object"; Yer. Ma'as. Sh. 15b, "to recognize one's bodkin" (e., his influence).

The Talmudic "mashal" (proverb) is usually concisely worded; it condenses the sense it has to express into a few clear-cut words. The animal kingdom is frequently drawn upon for illustration, and many of the fables and moralizations drawn therefrom become popular property by repetition, and ultimately are summed up in the form of proverbs. It is to be noted that the Talmudic proverb is generally expressed in concrete form, whereas proverbs in languages other than Hebrew favor abstract expressions. Compare, for instance, Yeb. 45a: ("In Media the camel dances on a basket"), which has the same meaning as the French, "A beau mentir qui vient de loin" ("He who comes from far may lie with impunity"); or B. K. 92a: ("Hurt the stalk and you hurt the cabbage"), which corresponds to the German "Mitgegangen, mitgefangen."

The following may be taken as examples of Talmudic proverbs:

Talmudic Proverbs.

Aramaic Proverbs.

The Talmud contains a large fund of genuine world-wisdom in the form of Aramaic proverbs and popular sayings. They touch the whole round of human existence; the home, the family, society, as well as all the circumstances of the individual, are treated of with a keen knowledge of life and life's experiences. Cities and countries, as well as personages both Biblical and non-Biblical, are made the subjects of popular sayings. Those that follow certain callings are also favorite subjects of these utterances, as, for instance, weavers and wool carders; all revealing incidentally curious little points of information concerning the manners and customs, local happenings and circumstances, of those days in Babylonia and Palestine.

A proverb is frequently adduced in proof or attestation of some special teaching—and this not exclusively in haggadic portions of the Talmud; and it is not unusual even for a halakic discussion to be decided by the quotation of some popular saying, or for a lengthy religious controversy to be finally ended by the citation of some terse and appropiate maxim of daily life. There are traces of small collections of such sayings in the Talmud itself, as, for instance, in B. Ḳ. 92b, 93a, and Yeb. 118b. Some proverbs, moreover, possess value as proffering etymological explanations of words the meanings of which have become obscure. Some, and especially such as are paralleled in the New Testament, were no doubt exceedingly frequent in the mouths of the people long before the writing down of the Talmud. Those which refer to historical personages may be approximately fixed as to their date, but these, of course, are in the minority. The language in which all of these are couched is the eastern Aramaic dialect, which about the year 500 was spoken in the upper Euphrates and Tigris lands.

J.
M. Gr.

To the student of comparative proverbial literature the study of the Aramaic sayings and proverbs should yield rich results. Very many of them are encountered in some form in other languages, and many more have been adopted verbatim. The following may serve as examples:

Comparative Use.

J. Sr.
L. Lew.

The following proverbs in Judæo-German are still current in eastern Europe:

The following proverbs are front earlier Judæo-German literature (compare "Mittheilungen," 2:5-22; Glückel of Hameln, pp. 44, 47; Emden, "Dibre Emet we-Shalom," p. 16):

Bibliography:
  • I. Bernstein, Jüdische Sprichwörter, in Hausfreund, 1889;
  • H. Bloch. Omri Inschi, Breslau, 1884;
  • L. Dukes, Rabbinische Blumenlese, Leipsic, 1844;
  • idem, Zur Rabbinischen Spruchkunde, Vienna, 1850:
  • D. Ehrmann, Aus Palilstina und Babylon;
  • R. Faulche-Delbosi, Proverbs Judéo-Espagnoles, Paris, 1895);
  • G. N. Gotemb, Mishle Ḥakamim, Wilna. 1879:
  • Ad. Jellinek, Der Jüdische Stamm, Vienna, 1869;
  • Dav. Kahane, Mishle 'Am, in Ha-Asif, -, Warsaw. 1886-87;
  • M. Kayserling, Bibl. Esp.-Port.-Jud.;
  • idem, in Revue Hispanique, Paris, 1897;
  • Mos. Levin, Aramäische Sprichwörter und Volkssprüche, Frankfort-on-the-Main. 1895;
  • F. Sailer, Sinnsprüche aus dem Talmud und der Rabbinischen Literatur, Berlin;
  • M. Schuhl, Sentences et Proverbes, Paris, 1878;
  • Jac. Stern, Lichtstrahlen aus dem Talmud, Zurich, 1882;
  • A. Tendlan, Sprichwörter und Redensarten Deutsch-Jüdischer Vorzeit, Frankfort-on-the-Main, 1860;
  • M. Wahl, Das Sprichwort der Hehräisch-Aramäischen Literatur, Leipsic, 1871;
  • Weissberg, Mishle Ḳadmonim, Neisin, 1900;
  • Michelstadt, Millin, de-Rabbanan, Frankfort-on-the-Oder, 1780 (new ed., 1869).
  • Buxtorf, Florilegium, etc., Basel, 1648;
  • Fürstenthal, Rabbinische Anthologie, Breslau, 1835;
  • G. Fürst, Perlen Aramäischer Gnomen, Leipsic, 1836;
  • Jolowicz, Blüten Rabbinischer Weisheit, Thorn, 1849;
  • Dessauer, Spruchlexicon dcs Talmuds und Midrasch, Budapest, 1876;
  • Kohut, Aruch Completum;
  • Wünsche, Neue Beiträge zur Erläuterung der Evangelien aus Talmud und Midrasch, Göttingen, 1878;
  • I. Hamburger, R.B.T.
J.
M. Gr.
Bibliography Information
Singer, Isidore, Ph.D, Projector and Managing Editor. Entry for 'Proverbs'. 1901 The Jewish Encyclopedia. https://www.studylight.org/​encyclopedias/​eng/​tje/​p/proverbs.html. 1901.
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