"Rabbi," asked the Boy, "if the first was really the Messiah, could
not God raise him up again and send him back to rule?"
"You ask wisely, son," answered Hillel, "and I think the prophets
tell us that we must hope for only one Messiah. This book of Daniel
is full of heavenly words, but it is not counted among the prophets
whose writings are gathered in the Scripture. Which of them have
you read, and which do you love most, my son?"
"Isaiah," said the Boy, "because he says God will have mercy with
everlasting-kindness. But I love Daniel, too, because he says they
that turn many to righteousness shall shine as the stars for ever
and ever. But I do not understand what he says about the times
and a half-time and the days and the seasons before the coming of
Messiah."
With this there rose a dispute among the doctors about the meaning
of those sayings, and some explained them one way and some another,
but Hillel sat silent. At last he said:
"It is better to hope and to wait patiently for Him than to reckon
the day of His coming.
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