It cuts its wings, it is no bird;
Damaged the house, it is no mouse;
It ate the barley and is no donkey.
Answer—The ant."[151]
The following is quoted from Jerome: "It is customary in the cities of Palestine, and has been so from ancient times, to place up and down large stones to serve for exercises for the young, who, according in each case to their degrees of strength, lift these stones, some as high as their knees, others to their middle, others above their heads, the hands being kept horizontal and joined under the stone."[152]
Education.
In a general way education among the Hebrews may be divided into two epochs—pre-exilic, from the foundation of the kingdom down to the return from the Babylonian captivity, and post-exilic, from the close of the first period to the fall of Jerusalem and the final dispersion of the Jews.
During the first period there was no public means of education. Instruction was given by the parents, the very young child of both sexes being under the mother's care, but when older the boys went with the father out into his work and so learned from him. The young people were taught the history of their own people, their relation to God, the meaning of the religious feasts, the needed ethical and social training, and the things necessary for making a living and the care of the home. "Higher education was scarcely known until after the exile. Even the priesthood and scribes were limited to a certain knowledge of law, and of historical and judicial literature. In the schools of the prophets, besides theological interpretation and the law, they apparently learned only the arts of sacred music and poetry, whereby they were to be stimulated to greater ecstasy, and were instructed in the compilation of maxims, narratives, and annals. It has been claimed that they were taught some mathematics and astronomy, to mark off the religious festivals, but this is very doubtful."[154]
During the Captivity, the Hebrews came in contact with the education of Babylon, so that upon their return to their own country education became more general and this continued to grow till contact with the Greeks and Romans brought about more general education and the establishment of schools for the training of the priests and the youth of the upper classes, and later public elementary schools began to grow up and became the most prominent feature of Jewish education. Rich and poor alike attended these schools. Reading and writing and a little arithmetic were taught the younger pupils, the older pupils were given instruction in the law. All pupils were obliged to learn a trade.
In the teaching the children were required to use the memory a great deal so that frequent repetition was the practice and, as in other oriental countries, the pupil was to do this work aloud and should he try to do it quietly he was reproved. In teaching the child to read, he was first given the alphabet, the letters being placed on a board for him so that he could see them. The child had to read aloud to his teacher, who corrected his pronunciation. The Hebrew Bible was begun to be read by the child at an early age. In learning to write, a copy was made in a wax tablet which the child traced with a stylus, and after a while he followed a copy on papyrus or parchment with a pen. In the more advanced work, interpretation of the law, etc., would be given by the instructor, the youth, would listen attentively and then strive to reproduce in exact words what had been given.