by link the coat of mail is made." (French). "In time a mouse will gnaw through a cable." "The repeated stroke will fell the oak." (German). 'Perseverance brings success." (Dutch). "Nine-storied terraces rise by a gradual accumulation of bricks." (Chinese). "Paris was not built in a day.' (French). "Little by little we become fat." (Turkish). "With perseverance one surmounts all difficulties." (Modern Greek). "Step by step one goes far." "Step by step one goes to Rome." (Italian, Dutch, Portuguese).

You must walk a long while behind a WILD GOOSE before you find an ostrich feather. (Danish).

BIBLE PROVERBS

1

THE OLD TESTAMENT

A brother offended is harder to be won than a strong city; and such contentions are like the bars of a castle.

(Prov. xviii: 19).

The word offend is here used in the sense of resisted. Quarrels between brothers are often the bitterest. Someone has observed that when cruelty is referred to as ruthless, pitiless, blood-stained, or fiendish one instinctively thinks of the feuds of Ancient Greece or Medieval Europe.

The

The strength and bitterness of feeling between estranged brothers has been expressed in several proverbs. In Spain and Portugal it is said, "The wrath of brothers is the wrath of devils." Italians and French have the expression, "Three brothers, three castles." The French also say, "A landmark is well placed between two brothers' fields."

Michael Jermin in commenting on this proverb expresses his admiration for brothers who settle their differences by lot rather than by strife. A better way is that proposed in the Turkish adage, "When one hits you with a stone, hit him with a piece of cotton," remembering the observation of the modern Greeks, that "Two brothers are one trunk; they should mutually support each other." In considering the proverb it is well to recall Æsop's Fables of "The Eagle and the Arrow," and "The Pomegranate, the Apple Tree, and the Bramble."

A continual dropping in a very rainy day and a contentious woman are alike. (Prov. xxviii: 15).

William M. Thomson, traveller and missionary in the East, declares that the force of the saying is

well understood in the country from which it came as the rains often soak through the flat earthen roofs of the mountain houses descending in numberless leaks all over the room. He then tells of a quarrel over some trifling matter that he witnessed. A woman, who was one of the parties concerned in the dispute, scolded and screamed and cursed in a loud voice for hours, ever and anon rushing into the room and out again and around the court like a fury, throwing off her tarbush, tearing her hair, beating her breast, and wringing her hands. Sometimes, trembling with rage, she snatched up her shoe and shook it in the face of the one with whom she was quarrelling. (The Land and the Book, vol. ii., p. 261.)

A seventeenth-century writer thus quaintly alludes to the contentions of a quarrelsome woman: "There is no flint so hard but the continual dropping of water will eat it out; and there is no heart so firmly settled in a resolute practice but the dropping of a brawling tongue will at length eat it out with grief."

Solomon's proverb may have suggested the English saying: 'Smoke, rain, and a very curst wife make a man weary of house and life, and the Danish phrase, "Smoke, rain, and a scolding wife will make a man run out of doors."

A false balance is an abomination to Jehovah; but a just weight is his delight. (Prov. xi: 1).

A foolish son is the calamity of his father; and the contentions of a wife are a continual dropping. (Prov.

xix: 13).

A friend loveth at all times and a brother is born for adversity. (Prov. xvii : 17).

Constancy as a test of friendship is recognized in many proverbs: "A friend in need is a friend indeed." (English, Scotch, Dutch, and French). "In distress will the friend be seen." (Welsh). "A fair-weather friend changes with the wind." (Spanish and Portuguese). "He never was a friend who has ceased to be one." (French). "He is a real friend who in the time of distress and

helplessness takes his friend by the hand." (Persian). "A friend's ne'er ken't till he's needed." (Scotch). "An untried friend is like an uncracked nut." (Russian).

"Many kinsfolk and few friends, some folk say;

But I find many kinsfolk, and friends not one. Folk say it hath been said many years since gone

Prove thy friend ere thou have need; but, in
deed,

A friend is never known till a man have need.
Before I had need, my most present foes

Scemed my most friends; but thus the world

goes:

Every man basteth the fat hog we see;

But the lean shall burn ere he basted be."
John Heywood.

"

A living dog is better than a dead lion. (Eccles. ix : 4). See Quotation Proverb: "He fled, disgrace upon him, is better than God have mercy upon him.' "A living ass is better than a dead doctor." (Italian). To realize the full force of this proverb it must be understood that the Hebrews in common with others regarded the lion a symbol of royal strength and power: "The King of Beasts." The lion is referred to in the Scriptures about one hundred and thirty times. (See Job x: 16; Isa. xxxviii: 13; Lam. iii : 10; Hos. xiii: 7, 8.) In Rev. (v5) Jesus Christ is called "The Lion of the Tribe of Juda." The figure of the lion or the lion's face was often used as an ornament in Hebrew architecture and sculpture. (See I Ki. vii : 29, 36; x : 19, 20.) On the other hand the dog was by Jewish law an unclean animal and despised. (See Exod. xxii: 31; Deut. xxiii : 18; I Sam. xvii : 43; xxiv : 14; II Sam. ix : 8; II Ki. viii: 13; Isa. lxvi : 3; Matt. xv : 26; Phil. iii : 2; and Rev. xxii : 15.)

The proverb is used in many lands, probably suggested in all cases by the Hebrew original.

See note on New Testament Proverbs: "Give not that which is holy unto the dogs.'

A man's goings are of Jehovah; how then can man understand his way?" (Prov. xx: 24).

"The hand of Providence writes often by abbreviatures, hieroglyphics, or short characters, which, like the laconism on the wall, are not to be made out but by a hint or key from that spirit which indited them."-Sir Thomas Browne.

Answer not a fool according to his folly lest thou also be like unto him. (Prov. xxvi: 4).

Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own conceit. (Prov. xxvi: 5).

See Introduction.

It is thought by some people who are not familiar with the characteristics, growth, and general use of proverbs that this saying contradicts the one immediately preceding, for this reason it is repeated among the contradicting proverbs but under different circumstances both sayings are true and wise. The apparent clashing of proverbial precepts is often due, as in this case, to the consideration of principles or practices from different points of view.

"In some cases a wise man will not set his wit to that of a fool so far as to answer him according to his folly yet in other cases a wise man will use his wisdom for the conviction of a fool; when by taking notice of what he says there may be hopes of doing good, or at least preventing further mischief either to himself or others."Matthew Henry.

"This knot will be easily loosed if it be observed that there are two sorts of answers, the one in folly, the other unto folly."-Peter Muffet.

A perverse man scattereth abroad strife; and a whisperer separateth chief friends. (Prov. xvi : 28).

The last half of this saying is often used as a modern proverb. "The whisperer's tongue is worse than the serpent's venom." (Latin). "Gossips and talebearers set on fire all the houses they enter." (English). "Lies and gossip have wretched offspring." (Danish).