remained in use as the sacred language ([lashon ha-kodesh]),
it being the language of the learned, and was employed for
literary, liturgical, and legal purposes. This accounts for
the Mishnah being written almost entirely in Hebrew, though
Aramaic was spoken on the streets. It is related of Judah
ha-Nasi that he disliked the Aramaic jargon to such an extent
that he forbade its use in his home, where even the servants
spoke Hebrew with elegance (_Rosh ha-Shanah_, 26b). When
scholars used Aramaic in his presence, he chided them for not
speaking in Hebrew or in Greek (_Baba Kamma_, 82b).




DEVELOPMENT OF ABOT (13)

(13) On the subject-matter of this section, consult Hoffmann,
_Die erste Mischna_, pp. 26-37; idem, _Mischnaiot Seder
Nesikin_, _Introd._, pp. XX-XXI; Brull, _Enstehung und
ursprunglicher Inhalt des Traktates Abot;_ Loeb, _La Chaine_,
etc.; Ginzburg, _Spruche der Vater, erstes Capitel historisch
beleuchtet_ (Liepzig, 1889); Strack, _Die Spruche der Vater_,
_Introd._, pp. 7-8; idem, _Einleitung_, p. 52, and Rawicz,
_Commentar des Maimonides_, p. 105, n. 3.

It is apparent from the literary construction of _Abot_ that it has
been edited several times, and that, in its earliest form, the
_Abot_ collection was much smaller than we have it to-day. Originally,
probably shortly after the time of Hillel, it may have been merely a
sort of appendix to the _Tractate Sanhedrin_, with typical sayings of