Reference: Education
Fausets
Chiefly in the law of God (Ex 12:26; 13:8,14; De 4:5,9-10; 6:2,7,20; 11:19,21; Ac 22:3; 2Ti 3:15). The Book of Proverbs inculcates on parents, as to their children, the duty of disciplinary instruction and training in the word of God. This was the ONE book of national education in the reformations undertaken by Jehoshaphat and Josiah (2Ch 17:7-9; 34:30). The priests' and Levites' duty especially was to teach the people (2Ch 15:3; Le 10:11; Mal 2:7; Ne 8:2,8-9,13; Jer 18:18).
The Mishna says that parents ought to teach their children some trade, and he who did not virtually taught his child to steal. The prophets, or special public authoritative teachers, were trained in schools or colleges (Am 7:14). "Writers," or musterers general, belonging to Zebulun, who enrolled recruits and wrote the names of those who went to war, are mentioned (Jg 5:14). "Scribes of the host" (Jer 52:25) appear in the Assyrian bas-reliefs, writing down the various persons or objects brought to them, so that there is less exaggeration than in the Egyptian representations of battle. Seraiah was David's scribe or secretary, and Jehoshaphat, son of Ahilud, was "recorder" or writer of chronicles, historiographer (2Sa 8:16-17); Shebun was Hezekiah's scribe (2Ki 18:37).
The learned, according to the rabbis, were called "sons of the noble," and took precedence at table. Boys at five years of age, says the Mishna, were to begin reading Scripture, at ten they were to begin reading the Mishna, and at thirteen years of age they were subject to the whole law (Lu 2:46); at fifteen they entered study of the Gemara. The prophetic schools included females such as Huldah (2Ki 22:14). The position and duties of females among the Jews were much higher than among other Orientals (Pr 31:10-31; Lu 8:2-3; 10:38, etc.; Ac 13:50; 2Ti 1:5).
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And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say to you, What mean ye by this service?
And thou shalt inform thy son in that day, saying, It is because of what Jehovah did to me when I came out of Egypt.
And it shall be when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, What is this? that thou shalt say to him, With a powerful hand Jehovah brought us out from Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
and that ye may teach the children of Israel all the statutes which Jehovah hath spoken to them by the hand of Moses.
See, I have taught you statutes and ordinances, even as Jehovah my God commanded me, that ye may do so in the land into which ye enter to possess it.
Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things that thine eyes have seen (and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life; but thou shalt make them known to thy sons and to thy sons' sons), the day that thou stoodest before Jehovah thy God in Horeb, when Jehovah said to me, Gather me the people together, that I may cause them to hear my words, that they may learn them, and fear me all the days that they live upon the earth, and teach them to their children.
that thou mayest fear Jehovah thy God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments which I command thee, thou, and thy son, and thy son's son, all the days of thy life; and that thy days may be prolonged.
and thou shalt impress them on thy sons, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thy house, and when thou goest on the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
When thy son shall ask thee in time to come, saying, What are the testimonies, and the statutes, and the ordinances, which Jehovah our God hath commanded you?
And ye shall teach them unto your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thy house, and when thou goest on the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up;
that your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which Jehovah swore unto your fathers to give them, as the days of the heavens which are above the earth.
From E'phraim they set out thither into the valley, following you, Benjamin, with your kinsmen; from Machir marched down the commanders, and from Zeb'ulun those who bear the marshal's staff;
And Joab the son of Zeruiah was over the host; and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was chronicler; and Zadok the son of Ahitub, and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar, were the priests; and Seraiah was scribe;
And Eliakim the son of Hilkijah, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph, the chronicler, came to Hezekiah with their garments rent, and told him the words of Rab-shakeh.
And Hilkijah the priest, and Ahikam, and Achbor, and Shaphan, and Asaiah, went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah, son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe: now she dwelt in Jerusalem in the second quarter of the town; and they spoke with her.
Now for a long while Israel was without the true God, and without a teaching priest, and without law;
And in the third year of his reign he sent his princes, Ben-hail, and Obadiah, and Zechariah, and Nethaneel, and Micah, to teach in the cities of Judah; and with them the Levites: Shemaiah, and Nethaniah, and Zebadiah, and Asahel, and Shemiramoth, and Jonathan, and Adonijah, and Tobijah, and Tob-Adonijah, Levites; and with them Elishama and Jehoram, the priests. read more. And they taught in Judah, and had the book of the law of Jehovah with them; and they went about through all the cities of Judah, and taught among the people.
And the king went up into the house of Jehovah, and all the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the priests and the Levites, and all the people, great and small; and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant which had been found in the house of Jehovah.
And Ezra the priest brought the law before the congregation, both of men and women, and all that could hear with understanding, on the first day of the seventh month.
And they read in the law of God distinctly out of the book, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading. And Nehemiah, that is, the Tirshatha, and Ezra the priest the scribe, and the Levites that explained to the people, said to all the people, This day is holy to Jehovah your God: mourn not, nor weep. For all the people wept when they heard the words of the law.
And on the second day were gathered together the chief fathers of all the people, the priests, and the Levites, to Ezra the scribe, even to gain wisdom as to the words of the law.
Who can find a woman of worth? for her price is far above rubies. The heart of her husband confideth in her, and he shall have no lack of spoil. read more. She doeth him good, and not evil, all the days of her life. She seeketh wool and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands. She is like the merchants' ships: she bringeth her food from afar; And she riseth while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household, and the day's work to her maidens. She considereth a field, and acquireth it; of the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard. She girdeth her loins with strength, and maketh strong her arms. She perceiveth that her earning is good; her lamp goeth not out by night. She putteth her hands to the distaff, and her hands hold the spindle. She stretcheth out her hand to the afflicted, and she reacheth forth her hands to the needy. She is not afraid of the snow for her household; for all her household are clothed with scarlet. She maketh herself coverlets; her clothing is byssus and purple. Her husband is known in the gates, when he sitteth among the elders of the land. She maketh body linen and selleth it, and delivereth girdles unto the merchant. Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laugheth at the coming day. She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and upon her tongue is the law of kindness. She surveyeth the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness. Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her: Many daughters have done worthily, but thou excellest them all. Gracefulness is deceitful and beauty is vain; a woman that feareth Jehovah, she shall be praised. Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her own works praise her in the gates.
And they said, Come, and let us devise devices against Jeremiah; for law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor word from the prophet. Come and let us smite him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words.
And out of the city he took a eunuch that was set over the men of war, and seven men of them that were in the king's presence, who were found in the city, and the scribe of the captain of the host, who enrolled the people of the land. And sixty men of the people of the land that were found in the midst of the city.
And Amos answered and said to Amaziah, I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet's son; but I was a herdman, and a gatherer of sycamore fruit.
For the priest's lips should keep knowledge, and at his mouth they seek the law; for he is the messenger of Jehovah of hosts.
And it came to pass, after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers and hearing them and asking them questions.
and certain women who had been healed of wicked spirits and infirmities, Mary who was called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, and Joanna, wife of Chuza, Herod's steward, and Susanna, and many others, who ministered to him of their substance.
And it came to pass as they went that he entered into a certain village; and a certain woman, Martha by name, received him into her house.
But the Jews excited the women of the upper classes who were worshippers, and the first people of the city, and raised a persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and cast them out of their coasts.
I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city, at the feet of Gamaliel, educated according to the exactness of the law of our fathers, being zealous for God, as ye are all this day;
For this cause I left thee in Crete, that thou mightest go on to set right what remained unordered, and establish elders in each city, as I had ordered thee:
All with me salute thee. Salute those who love us in the faith. Grace be with you all.
Hastings
In the importance which they attached to the education of the young, it may fairly be claimed that the Hebrews were facile princeps among the nations of antiquity. Indeed, if the ultimate aim of education be the formation of character, the Hebrew ideals and methods will bear comparison with the best even of modern times. In character Hebrew education was predominantly, one might almost say exclusively, religious and ethical. Its fundamental principle may be expressed in the familiar words: 'The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge' (Pr 1:7). Yet it recognized that conduct was the true test of character; in the words of Simeon, the son of Gamaliel, that 'not learning but doing is the chief thing.'
As to the educational attainments of the Hebrews before the conquest of Canaan, it is useless to speculate. On their settlement in Canaan, however, they were brought into contact with a civilization which for two thousand years or more had been under the influence of Babylonia and in a less degree of Egypt. The language of Babylonia, with its complicated system of wedge-writing, had for long been the medium of communication not only between the rulers of the petty states of Canaan and the great powers outside its borders, but even, as we now know from Sellin's discoveries at Taanach, between these rulers themselves. This implies the existence of some provision for instruction in reading and writing the difficult Babylonian script. Although in this early period such accomplishments were probably confined to a limited number of high officials and professional scribes, the incident in Gideon's experience, Jg 8:14 (where we must render with Revised Version margin 'wrote down'), warns us against unduly restricting the number of those able to read and write in the somewhat later period of the Judges. The more stable political conditions under the monarchy, and in particular the development of the administration and the growth of commerce under Solomon, must undoubtedly have furthered the spread of education among all classes.
Of schools and schoolmasters, however, there is no evidence till after the Exile, for the expression 'schools of the prophets' has no Scripture warrant. Only once, indeed, is the word 'school' to be found even in NT (Ac 19:9), and then only of the lecture-room of a Greek teacher in Ephesus. The explanation of this silence is found in the fact that the Hebrew child received his education in the home, with his parents as his only instructors. Although he grew up ignorant of much that 'every school-boy' knows to-day, he must not on that account be set down as uneducated. He had been instructed, first of all, in the truths of his ancestral religion (see De 6:20-25 and elsewhere); and in the ritual of the recurring festivals there was provided for him object-lessons in history and religion (Ex 12:26 f., Ex 13:8,14). In the traditions of his family and race
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And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say to you, What mean ye by this service?
And thou shalt inform thy son in that day, saying, It is because of what Jehovah did to me when I came out of Egypt.
And it shall be when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, What is this? that thou shalt say to him, With a powerful hand Jehovah brought us out from Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
Hear, Israel: Jehovah our God is one Jehovah;
When thy son shall ask thee in time to come, saying, What are the testimonies, and the statutes, and the ordinances, which Jehovah our God hath commanded you? then thou shalt say unto thy son, We were Pharaoh's bondmen in Egypt; and Jehovah brought us out of Egypt with a powerful hand; read more. and Jehovah shewed signs and wonders, great and grievous, upon Egypt, upon Pharaoh, and upon all his household, before our eyes; and he brought us out thence, that he might bring us in, to give us the land which he swore unto our fathers. And Jehovah commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear Jehovah our God, for our good continually, that he might preserve us alive, as it is this day. And it shall be our righteousness if we take heed to do all these commandments before Jehovah our God, as he hath commanded us.
And he caught a young man of Succoth, and questioned him; and he wrote down for him the officials and elders of Succoth, seventy-seven men.
this Ezra went up from Babylon; and he was a ready scribe in the law of Moses, which Jehovah the God of Israel had given. And the king granted him all his request, according to the hand of Jehovah his God upon him.
all the people gathered together as one man to the open place that was before the water-gate; and they spoke to Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses, which Jehovah had commanded Israel.
The fear of Jehovah is the beginning of knowledge: fools despise wisdom and instruction.
And besides, my son, be warned by them: of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh.
And Jesus went round the whole of Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the glad tidings of the kingdom, and healing every disease and every bodily weakness among the people.
And they go into Capernaum. And straightway on the sabbath he entered into the synagogue and taught.
And having asked for a writing-table, he wrote saying, John is his name. And they all wondered.
And it came to pass on one of the days, that he was teaching, and there were Pharisees and doctors of the law sitting by, who were come out of every village of Galilee and Judaea and out of Jerusalem; and the Lord's power was there to heal them.
But when some were hardened and disbelieved, speaking evil of the way before the multitude, he left them and separated the disciples, reasoning daily in the school of Tyrannus.
I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city, at the feet of Gamaliel, educated according to the exactness of the law of our fathers, being zealous for God, as ye are all this day;
I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city, at the feet of Gamaliel, educated according to the exactness of the law of our fathers, being zealous for God, as ye are all this day;
Smith
Education.
There is little trace among the Hebrews in earlier times of education in any other subjects than the law. The wisdom therefore and instruction, of which so much is said in the book of Proverbs, are to be understood chiefly of moral and religious discipline, imparted, according to the direction of the law, by the teaching and under the example of parents. (But Solomon himself wrote treatises on several scientific subjects, which must have been studied in those days.) In later times the prophecies and comments on them, as well as on the earlier Scriptures, together with other subjects, were studied. Parents were required to teach their children some trade. (Girls also went to schools, and women generally among the Jews were treated with greater equality to men than in any other ancient nation.) Previous to the captivity, the chief depositaries of learning were the schools or colleges, from which in most cases proceeded that succession of public teachers who at various times endeavored to reform the moral and religious conduct of both rulers and people. Besides the prophetical schools instruction was given by the priests in the temple and elsewhere. [See SCHOOLS]
See Schools