Rabbi Pinhas ben Yair11 opened his exposition with the text, "If you seek for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure" [Prov. 2:4]. [He explained this text as follows:] "If you search for words of Torah as for hidden treasure, the Holy One, blessed be He, will not withhold your reward. This could be compared to a man who loses a coin, even a small coin, in his house. What does he do? He lights lamp after lamp and wick after wick until he finds it. If for the transitory things of this world a man will light so many lamps and wicks until he finds them, how much more ought you to search, as for hidden treasure, for the words of Torah, which are life in this world and life in the world to come."12
In his Hidden Treasure and Valuable Pearl parables, Jesus emphasizes that being among his disciples (being in the Kingdom of Heaven) and having the opportunity to learn Torah at his feet is a great treasure. Using slightly different words, Pinhas ben Yair is making the same point: since the words of Torah give life in this world and life in the world to come, one should search for them as one searches for hidden treasure. Like ben Yair, Jesus taught that the words of Torah are life in this world and life in the world to come. As Jesus puts it in Luke 18:2930, those who have left home to study Torah with him will receive "much more [life] in this world and eternal life in the world to come."