"The Way of the Land", or "Ethics" are common translations of the Hebrew concept of "Derekh Eretz", which every scholar is expected to embody prior to taking up the study of Torah.
The name is misleading in more than one respect; the word "zuta" (small) would seem to indicate that it is a shorter version of the treatise "Derekh Eretz Rabbah," which is not the case, the two having little in common.
[6] A third version is that in Machzor Vitry,[7] where the first part of the eighth and the whole of the ninth section are given under the title "Hilkot Darkan shel Talmidei Ḥakamim."
However, it has a certain unity in that it consists almost exclusively of exhortations to self-examination and meekness and of rules of conduct, and urges temperance, resignation, gentleness, patience, respect for age, readiness to forgive, and, finally, the moral and social duties of a talmid chacham.
Several precepts which begin with the same word are put together even when they are not at all related in subject-matter;[8] especially are they thus combined into groups of four, five, or seven maxims, numbers which serve to aid in memorizing the passages.
The first section begins with introductory remarks on the duties and proper conduct of a "disciple of the wise"; then follow seven teachings, each a precept in four parts, which, however, are often confused in the text as it now exists.
After a series of admonitions concerning only the student, there follow, to the end of the section, maxims of a general nature for people in the most varied walks of life.
The paragraph beginning with the words אל תאמר איש, which, as is to be seen from the Siddur Rab Amram, consists of four parts, concludes the fourth section, which is the end of the "Yir'at Chet."
In addition, Avot of Rabbi Natan 8,[11] Midrash Mishlei 9:9, Pesikta Rabbati 8, כל זמן,[12] and probably Derekh Eretz Rabbah were also used.
As already mentioned, the Spanish version of the Halakhot Gedolot, probably made about 1000, adopted these four sections as a complete treatise; hence one would not be far wrong in setting the 9th century as the date of composition.
Besides Pirkei Avot, this treatise is the only collection of precepts from the period of the Talmud and the Midrashim, and is therefore of great importance in any estimate of the earliest ethical views of the old rabbis.
Zunz appropriately characterizes the treatise: "The Derek Ereẓ, Zuṭa, which is meant to be a mirror for scholars, is full of high moral teachings and pithy worldly wisdom which philosophers of to-day could study to advantage."