[Sidenote: Jonah 3:5-9] And the people of Nineveh believed God; and they proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them. And when word came to the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, and took off his robe, and dressed in sackcloth, and sat in the dust. And he made proclamation and published in Nineveh: By the decree of the king and his nobles: Man, beast, herd, and flock shall not taste anything; let them neither eat nor drink water; But let them clothe themselves with sackcloth, both man and beast, and let them cry mightily to God, and turn each from his evil way, and from the act of violence which they have in hand. Who knows but that God may relent, and turn from his fierce anger, that we perish not?
[Sidenote: Jonah 3:10] And God saw their works, how they turned from their evil way; and God relented of the evil which he said he would do to them, and did it not.
[Sidenote: Jonah 4:1-5] But it displeased Jonah greatly, and he was angry. And he prayed to Jehovah, and said, Ah now, Jehovah, was not this what I said when I was yet in mine own country? Therefore I hastened to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that thou art a God, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in love, and relenting of evil. Therefore, O Jehovah, take now, I beseech thee, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live! And Jehovah said, Doest thou well to be angry? Then Jonah went out of the city, and sat down before the city, and there made him a booth, and sat under it, until he might see what would become of the city.
[Sidenote: Jonah 4:6-11] And Jehovah God prepared a gourd, and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head. So Jonah rejoiced exceedingly over the gourd. But as the dawn appeared the next day God prepared a worm and it injured the gourd, so that it withered. And when the sun arose, God prepared a sultry east wind. And the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, so that he was faint, and begged for himself that he might die saying, It is better for me to die than to live. And God said to Jonah, Is it well for thee to be angry about the gourd? And he said, It is well for me to be angry, even to death! And Jehovah said, Thou carest for a gourd, for which thou hast not troubled thyself, nor hast thou brought it up—a thing that came in a night and hath perished in a night. Shall I, indeed, not care for the great city, Nineveh, in which there are one hundred and twenty thousand human beings who know not their right hand from their left; besides much cattle?
[Sidenote: Eccles. 1:12-18] I, Koheleth, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. And I applied my mind to searching out and exploring wisdom, all that is done under heaven: it is an evil task that God hath given the children of men at which to toil. I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and behold, the whole is vanity and a striving after wind. The crooked cannot be made straight; and the wanting cannot be numbered. I communed with myself, saying, Behold, I have increased and gathered wisdom more than all who were before me in Jerusalem, and my mind has abundantly beheld wisdom and knowledge. And I applied my mind to know wisdom and knowledge, madness and folly: I know that this also is a striving after wind. For in much wisdom is much trouble, and he who increases knowledge, increases pain.
[Sidenote: Eccles. 2:1-11] I said in my mind, Come now, I will test you with pleasure; so look upon what is attractive; and, behold, this also is vanity. I said of laughter, It is mad; and of pleasure, What does it do? I searched in my mind, how to Stimulate my flesh with wine, while my mind was guiding with wisdom, and how to lay hold on folly, until I should see what is good for the children of men to do under the heavens all the days of their life. I did great works: I built for myself houses; I planted for myself vineyards; I made for myself gardens and parks, and I planted trees in them, every kind of fruit-tree. I made for myself pools of water, to water a grove springing up with trees. I bought male and female slaves and had slaves born in my house; also I had great possessions of herds and flocks, more than all who had been before me in Jerusalem. I also gathered for myself silver and gold, and the treasure of kings and of provinces. I secured for myself male and female singers, and the delights of the sons of men, mistresses of all kinds. And I grew more wealthy than all who were before in Jerusalem; also my wisdom remained with me. And nothing that my eyes craved did I keep from them; I did not deny my heart any joy, for my heart rejoiced because of all my labor. Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labor that I had labored to do; and, behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was no gain under the sun.
[Sidenote: Eccles. 2:12-17] And I turned to behold wisdom and madness, and folly; for what can the man do who comes after the king? Even that which has been done already. Then I saw that wisdom excels folly, as far as light excels darkness. The wise man's eyes are in his head, but the fool walks in darkness: yet I know that the same fate overtakes them all. Then I said in my heart, As is the fate of a fool so will be my fate; so why have I then been more wise? Then I said in my heart that this also is vanity. For of the wise man, even as of the fool, there is no remembrance for ever, inasmuch as in the days to come all will have been already forgotten. And how the wise man dies even as the fool! So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun is evil to me; for all is vanity and a striving after wind.
[Sidenote: Eccles. 2:24-26b] There is nothing better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and find his pleasure in his labor. This also I saw that it is from the hand of God. For who can eat, or who can have enjoyment without him? This is also vanity and a striving after wind.
I. The Ritualists. Liberty of thought as well as speech was from the first characteristic of Israel's life and thought. It was one of the many valuable heritages that the Hebrews brought with them from the free life of the desert. Their close contact with the outside world, and especially with Hellenic life and thought during the Greek period, increased this sense of freedom. The result is that many different currents of thought are reflected in the Old Testament writings that come from this age. Most familiar and easiest understood is the ritualistic type. It is represented by the Chronicler, who lived and wrote some time between 300 and 250 B.C. For him all life and interest centred about the temple and its services. In general the vision of the ritualists was turned toward the past rather than the present and the future. In the traditions regarding the origin of the temple and its institutions, in keeping the ceremonial law, in participating in the formal ritual, and in joining their songs with those of the temple singers they found an escape from the pettiness of the age and attained that peace and joy which is expressed in many of the psalms of the Psalter.
II. The Legalists. Closely related to the ritualists were those whose interests were all fixed in the study of the law and the teachings of the earlier priests. They regarded the written laws as a complete guide to conduct and the embodiment of Jehovah's supreme message to his race. Psalms like the fragment found in 19:7-14 voice their convictions: