ABSTRACT
The Divine fiat, though stern, was merciful. For work, far from being a curse, is a blessing. It is the salt of life, which gives it health and savour, the antidote to its cares, the magic stone that transfigures the daily task, and “makes drudgery divine.” This wholesome truth is preached by the Bible again and again. Enforced in a score of texts, it is inculcated more effectively still by that indirect doctrine which is taught without words. The Hebrew Scriptures, in this respect unique, perhaps, among the great religious books of antiquity, are a panorama of worldly activities, a series of living pictures whose common note is industry. The ancient myth which made work the primeval curse seems, by a strange paradox, to be almost the only remnant of ancient legendary lore which retains its vitality in this age of doubt.
