Even as early as the time of David it would seem that Nathan assumed this more developed function as interpreter of Yahweh's righteous will to David.
This is the moral of Lessing's Nathan the Wise, the hero of which is undoubtedly Mendelssohn.
Just as the latter afterwards makes Nathan the Wise and Saladin meet over the chess-board, so did Lessing and Mendelssohn actually come together as lovers of the game.
In Italy appeared the invaluable Talmud-lexicon (`Arukh) by Nathan b.
Mendelssohn became a warm friend of Lessing, the hero of whose drama Nathan the Wise was drawn from the Dessau Jew.
