becomes individual and the
outlook universal. During these centuries Israel's prophets, priests,
and sages became not merely teachers of the nation but of humanity.
Conspicuous among the great teachers of his day stands the noble sage,
Jesus the son of Sirach, who gleaned out and presented in effective form
that which was most vital in the earlier teaching of his race. In his
broad, simple faith in God and man, in his emphasis on deeds and
character, as well as ceremonial, and in his practical philosophy of life
he was a worthy forerunner of the Great Teacher whose name he bore.

This period represents the culmination and fruition of the divine
Influences at work in Israel's early history. It was during this period
that Judaism was born and attained its full development, Israel accepted
the absolute rule of the written law, and the scribes succeeded the earlier
prophets and sages. Out of the heat and conflict of the Maccabean
struggle the parties of the Pharisees and Sadducees sprang into existence
and won their commanding place in the life of Judaism. Hence this period
is the natural historical introduction to the study of the birth and early
development of Christianity. It is also the link that binds the revelation
found in the Old Testament to that of the New.

The volume of literature coming from this period is so vast that it has
been necessary to abridge it at many points in order to utilize that which
is most valuable. This has been done by leaving out those passages which
are of secondary origin or value, and by preserving at the same time the
language and logical thought of the original writers. In the verbose and
voluminous writings of Josephus the resulting text is in most cases far
clearer and more useful; for the repetitious clauses found in the original
often obscure the real thought of the writer. No apology or explanation is
required for the use of such apocryphal writings as I Maccabees, Ben Sira,
the Wisdom of Solomon, or Josephus's histories, for these are required to
bridge the two centuries which intervene between the latest writings of
the Old Testament and the earliest writings of the New. They make it
possible to study biblical history as an unbroken unit from the days of
Moses to the close of the first Christian century, and thus concretely to
emphasize the significant but often the forgotten fact that God was
revealing himself unceasingly through the life of his people, and that the
Bible whic