The book was written by Rabbi Jacob ben Isaac Ashkenazi (1550–1625) of Janowa (near Lublin, Poland), and mixes Biblical passages with teachings from Judaism's Oral Law such as the Talmud's Aggada and Midrash, which are sometimes called "parables, allegories, short stories, anecdotes, legends, and admonitions" by secular writers.
Tseno Ureno (צאנה וראינה), a 1616 Yiddish-language prose work