aiming (Ps. cxiii. 9), "The joyful mother of
children" (or, the mother of the children rejoiceth).

_Gittin_, fol. 57, col. 2.

The story of this martyrdom is narrated at much greater length
in the Books of Maccabees (Book iii. chap. 7, Book iv. chaps.
8-18). In a Latin version the names are given, that of the
mother Solomona, and her sons respectively Maccabeus, Aber,
Machir, Judas, Achaz, Areth, while the hero of our Talmudic
reference, the seventh and last, is styled Jacob. Josephus,
Ant., Book xii. chap. 6, sec. 4, may also be referred to for
further and varying details.

The land of Israel was not destroyed till the seven courts of judgment
had fallen into idolatry, and these are they:--Jeroboam, the son of
Nebat; Baasha, the son of Ahijah; Ahab, the son of Omri; Jehu, the son
of Nimshi; Pekah, the son of Remaliah; Menahem, the son of Gadi; and
Hoshea, the son of Elah; as it is written (Jer. xv. 9), "She that hath
borne seven languisheth: she hath given up the ghost; her sun is gone
down while it is yet day; she hath been ashamed and confounded."

_Gittin_, fol. 88, col. 1.

"He stood and measured the earth; he beheld and freed the Gentiles
(A.V., he drove asunder the nations, Hab. iii. 6); he beheld that the
seven precepts which the children of Noah accepted were not observed; he
stood up and set their property free for the service of Israel."

_Bava Kama_, fol. 38, col. 1.

This is one of the weightier expositions met with from time to
time in the Talmud, in which one recognizes a more than
ordinarily deep and earnest feeling on the part of the
commentator. The interpreter expresses himself as a man instinct
with the exclusive Hebrew spirit, and as such claims his title
to the whole inheritance. It is a claim abstractly defensible,
and the just assertion of it is the basis of all rights over
others. The only question here is whether the Jew alone is
invested with the privilege. There can be little doubt that the
principle on which he claims enfeoffment in the estate is a
sound one, that the earth belongs in no case to the sons of
Belial, only to the sons of God.

Seven things distinguish an ill-bred man and seven a wise man:--The wise
man (1.) does not talk before his superior in wisdom and years; (2.) he
does not interrupt another when speaking; (3.) he is not hasty to make
reply; (4.) his questions are to the point, and hi