iii. 18, 'Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and
the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth Him not'?
Does the righteous here mean him that serveth God, and the wicked him
that serveth Him not? Why this repetition?" To this Hillel replied, "The
expressions, 'he that serveth God, and he that serveth Him not,' are
both to be understood as denoting 'perfectly righteous,' but he who
repeats his lesson a hundred times is not to be compared with one who
repeats it a hundred and one times." Then said Ben Hey-Hey, "What!
because he has repeated what he has learned only one time less than the
other, is he to be considered as 'one who serveth Him not'?" "Yes!" was
the reply; "go and learn a lesson from the published tariff of the
donkey-drivers--ten miles for one zouz, eleven for two."
_Chaggigah_, fol. 9, col. 2.
Hillel was great and good and clever, but his exposition of
Scripture, as we see from the above, is not always to be
depended upon. If, indeed, he was the teacher of Jesus, as some
suppose him to have been, then Jesus must, even from a
Rabbinical stand-point, be regarded as greater than Hillel the
Great, for He never handled the Scriptures with such
irreverence.
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