cannot be, nor Sadducee; but is he Pharisee or Zealot, Essene or Baptist?"
"He is of no party."
"But from whom hath he received the tradition of the elders? At whose feet has he sat? Whom calleth he master?"
"He hath been baptized by Jochanan his kinsman, but none calleth he master."
"If he have not the tradition, he cannot teach the Law, for his words will not be binding. Doth he sit in judgment or pronounce Din?"
"Nay, master, he but teacheth us to be good."
"Ah," said I, "he is but a homolist of the Hagada; he addeth naught to the Halacha. Then what is his motto?"[1]
"He saith, 'Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.'"
Then I took the man away from his companions, and out of hearing of the Roman sentry, and asked him in a low tone, "And who shall be the king thereof?"
But the man answered not, but said only, " Lo! he cometh."
- ↑ Each of the Jewish rabbis used to sum up his teaching in some pregnant sentence. These are given in the Talmudic treatise, The Ethics of the Fathers.—Ed.
