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diff --git a/30608-h/30608-h.htm b/30608-h/30608-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1c8fca9 --- /dev/null +++ b/30608-h/30608-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,16223 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<html> + +<head> +<title>Christology of the Old Testament, and a Commentary on the Messianic +Predictions. Vol. II.</title> +<meta name="Author" content="Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg"> +<meta name="Publisher" content="T. & T. Clark"> +<meta name="Date" content="1861"> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1"> +<style type="text/css"> +body { + line-height:150%; + font-size: 14pt; + margin-left:10%; + margin-right:10%; + background-color:#FFFFFF +} + +p.normal { + text-indent:.25in; + text-align: justify; +} +p.center { + text-align:center; + margin-top:9pt; +} + +p.hang1 { margin-left:2em; + text-indent:-2em; + text-align: justify; +} + + +p.right { + text-align:right; + margin-top: 9pt; +} +p.continue { + text-indent: 0in; + margin-top:9pt; +} +h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; + font-weight: bold +} + + + +table.page2 { + width:6in; + font-size:10pt; + +} + +span.sc { font-variant: small-caps } +span.space {letter-spacing: 2pt; } + +hr.ftn { text-align:left; width:30%; margin-top:48pt; color:black; } +div.ftn { font-size: 100%; margin-top:9pt; color:#000000} +sup.ftnRef {font-size:100%; color:black; } +p.ftnText { margin-left: 3em; text-indent: -1em; margin-top:14pt; text-align:justify; } +div.ftnlast { font-size: 90%; margin-top:9pt; margin-bottom:64pt; color:#000000} + + + +.pagenum { + display: inline; + font-size:80%; + text-align: left; + position: absolute; left: 1%; +} + + + +hr.W10 { + width:10%; + margin-top:12pt; + margin-bottom:12pt; + color:black; +} +hr.W20 { + width:20%; + margin-top:12pt; + margin-bottom:12pt; + color:black; +} + + +span.Greek { + font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS', 'Gentium', 'GentiumAlt', 'Palatino Linotype', 'Times New Roman'; + font-size:100%; + color: red; +} +span.Hebrew { + font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS', 'Gentium', 'GentiumAlt', 'Palatino Linotype', 'Times New Roman'; + font-size:150%; +} +</style> +</head> + +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Christology of the Old Testament: And a +Commentary on the Messianic Predictions. Vol. 2, by Ernst Hengstenberg + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Christology of the Old Testament: And a Commentary on the Messianic Predictions. Vol. 2 + +Author: Ernst Hengstenberg + +Translator: Theodore Meyer + +Release Date: December 5, 2009 [EBook #30608] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHRISTOLOGY OF OLD TESTAMENT, V2 *** + + + + +Produced by Charles Bowen, from images obtained from Google Books. + + + + + +</pre> + +<p class="normal">Transcriber's Note: Images taken from the 1861 edition, found +at http://Books.Google.com., is the source of the text used for this ebook.</p> +<p class="normal">Unclear or missing punctuation marks were corrected by reference +to the 1856 edition of this work.</p> + +<p class="continue"><span class="pagenum">[Pg i]</span></p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h1><span class="space">CLARK</span>'S</h1> +<br> +<h2>FOREIGN</h2> +<br> +<h1>THEOLOGICAL LIBRARY</h1> +<br> +<br> +<h2>NEW SERIES.<br> +VOL. IX.</h2> +<br> +<br> +<h2>Hengstenberg's Christology of the Old Testament.<br> +VOL. II.</h2> +<br> +<br> +<h2>EDINBURGH:</h2> +<h2>T. & T. CLARK, 38, GEORGE STREET.</h2> +<h3>LONDON: J. GLADDING; WARD AND CO.; AND JACKSON AND WALFORD.<br> +DUBLIN: JOHN ROBERTSON.</h3> +<hr class="W10"> +<h3>MDCCCLXI.</h3> +<p class="continue"><span class="pagenum">[Pg ii]</span></p> +<p class="continue">[Blank Page] </p> +<p class="continue"><span class="pagenum">[Pg iii]</span></p> +<h1><span class="space">CHRISTOLOGY</span></h1> +<h4>OF</h4> +<h1><span class="space">THE OLD TESTAMENT</span>,</h1> +<h4>AND A</h4> +<h2>COMMENTARY ON THE MESSIANIC PREDICTIONS</h2> +<br> +<h4>BY</h4> +<h2>E. W. HENGSTENBERG,</h2> +<h5>DR. AND PROF. OF THEOL. IN BERLIN.</h5> +<br> +<hr class="W20"> +<h3>SECOND EDITION GREATLY IMPROVED.</h3> +<hr class="W20"><br> +<h3>TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN</h3> +<h5>BY</h5> +<h2><span class="space">THE REV. THEOD. MEYER,</span></h2> +<h5>HEBREW TUTOR IN THE NEW COLLEGE, EDINBURGH.</h5> +<h2>VOL. II.</h2> +<hr class="W20"> +<h2>EDINBURGH:</h2> +<h2>T. & T. CLARK, 38, GEORGE STREET.</h2> +<h3>LONDON: HAMILTON, ADAMS, AND CO.; SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, AND CO.; WARD AND CO.; +JACKSON AND WALFORD, ETC. DUBLIN: JOHN ROBERTSON, AND HODGES AND SMITH.</h3> +<hr class="W10"> +<h3>MDCCCLXI.</h3> +<p class="continue"><span class="pagenum">[Pg iv]</span></p> +<h2>NOTICE.</h2> +<h3><i>This Work is copyright in this country by arrangement with the Author.</i></h3> +<p class="continue"><span class="pagenum">[Pg v]</span></p> +<h2>LIST OF CONTENTS.</h2> +<hr class="W20"> +<table cellpadding="0" class="page2"> + <colgroup> + <col style="width:1em"><col style="width:1em"><col style="90%"> + <col style="width:5%; vertical-align: top; text-align:right"> + </colgroup> + <tr> + <td colspan="3"></td> + <td><span class="sc">Page</span></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="4"><span class="sc">Messianic Predictions in the Prophets.</span></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td colspan="3"><a name="div1Ref_1" href="#div1_1"><span class="sc">The + Prophet Isaiah.</span></a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td></td> + <td><a name="div2Ref_1" href="#div2_1">General Preliminary Remarks,</a></td> + <td>1</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td></td> + <td><a name="div2Ref_10" href="#div2_10">Chap. ii.-iv.--The Sprout of the + Lord,</a></td> + <td>10</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td></td> + <td><a name="div2Ref_26" href="#div2_26">Chap. vii.--Immanuel,</a></td> + <td>26</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td></td> + <td><a name="div2Ref_66" href="#div2_66">Chap. viii. 23-ix. 6--Unto us a + Child is born,</a></td> + <td>66</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td></td> + <td><a name="div2Ref_75" href="#div2_75">Chap. ix. 1-7,</a></td> + <td>75</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td></td> + <td><a name="div2Ref_94" href="#div2_94">Chap. xi., xii.--The Twig of Jesse,</a></td> + <td>94</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td></td> + <td><a name="div2Ref_106" href="#div2_106">On Matthew ii. 23,</a></td> + <td>106</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td></td> + <td><a name="div2Ref_133" href="#div2_133">Chap. xii.,</a></td> + <td>133</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td></td> + <td><a name="div2Ref_135" href="#div2_135">Chaps. xiii. 1-xiv. 27,</a></td> + <td>135</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td></td> + <td><a name="div2Ref_137" href="#div2_137">Chaps. xvii., xviii.,</a></td> + <td>137</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td></td> + <td><a name="div2Ref_141" href="#div2_141">Chap. xix.,</a></td> + <td>141</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td></td> + <td><a name="div2Ref_146" href="#div2_146">Chap. xxiii.--The Burden upon + Tyre,</a></td> + <td>146</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td></td> + <td><a name="div2Ref_149" href="#div2_149">Chaps. xxiv.-xxvii.,</a></td> + <td>149</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td></td> + <td><a name="div2Ref_154" href="#div2_154">Chaps. xxviii.-xxxiii.,</a></td> + <td>154</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td></td> + <td><a name="div2Ref_158" href="#div2_158">Chap. xxxv.,</a></td> + <td>158</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td></td> + <td><a name="div2Ref_163" href="#div2_163">General Preliminary Remarks on + Chaps, xl.-lxvi.,</a></td> + <td>163</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td></td> + <td><a name="div2Ref_196" href="#div2_196">Chap. xlii. 1-9,</a></td> + <td>196</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td></td> + <td><a name="div2Ref_226" href="#div2_226">Chap. xlix. 1-9</a>,</td> + <td>226</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td></td> + <td><a name="div2Ref_247" href="#div2_247">Chap. 1. 4-11,</a></td> + <td>246</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td></td> + <td><a name="div2Ref_257" href="#div2_257">Chap. li. 16,</a></td> + <td>256</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td></td> + <td><a name="div2Ref_260" href="#div2_260">Chaps. lii. 13-liii. 12,</a></td> + <td>259</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td></td> + <td colspan="2"><a name="div2Ref_311" href="#div2_311">I. History of the + Interpretation.</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td></td> + <td><p style="margin-left:1em;"> + <a name="div3Ref_311" href="#div3_311">A. With the Jews,</a></p></td> + <td>311</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td></td> + <td><p style="margin-left:1em;"> + <a name="div3Ref_319" href="#div3_319">B. History of the Interpretation + with the Christians,</a></p></td> + <td>319</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td></td> + <td><a name="div2Ref_327" href="#div2_327">II. The Arguments against the + Messianic Interpretation,</a></td> + <td>327</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td></td> + <td><a name="div2Ref_330" href="#div2_330">III. The Arguments in favour + of the Messianic Interpretation,</a></td> + <td>330</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td></td> + <td><a name="div2Ref_334" href="#div2_334">IV. Examination of the Non-Messianic + Interpretation,</a></td> + <td>334</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td></td> + <td><a name="div2Ref_342" href="#div2_342">Chap. lv. 1-5,</a></td> + <td>343</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td></td> + <td><a name="div2Ref_351" href="#div2_351">Chap. lxi. 1-3,</a></td> + <td>351</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td colspan="2"><a name="div1Ref_356" href="#div1_356"><span class="sc"> + The Prophet Zephaniah,</span></a></td> + <td>356</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td colspan="3"><a name="div1Ref_362" href="#div1_362"><span class="sc"> + The Prophet Jeremiah.</span></a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td></td> + <td><a name="div2Ref_362" href="#div2_362">General Preliminary Remarks,</a></td> + <td>362</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td></td> + <td><a name="div2Ref_373" href="#div2_373">Chap. iii. 14-17,</a></td> + <td>373</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td></td> + <td><a name="div2Ref_398" href="#div2_398">Chap. xxiii. 1-8,</a></td> + <td>398</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td></td> + <td><a name="div2Ref_424" href="#div2_424">Chap. xxxi. 31-40,</a></td> + <td>424</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td></td> + <td><a name="div2Ref_459" href="#div2_459">Chap. xxxiii. 14-26,</a></td> + <td>459</td> + </tr> +</table> +<p class="continue"><span class="pagenum">[Pg vi]</span></p> +<p class="continue">[Blank Page]</p> +<p class="continue"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 1]</span></p> +<h2><a name="div1_1" href="#div1Ref_1">THE PROPHET ISAIAH.</a></h2> +<h3><a name="div2_1" href="#div2Ref_1">GENERAL PRELIMINARY REMARKS.</a></h3> +<p class="normal">Isaiah is the principal prophetical figure in the first period +of canonical prophetism, <i>i.e.</i>, the Assyrian period, just as Jeremiah is in +the second, <i>i.e.</i>, the Babylonian. With Isaiah are connected in the kingdom +of Judah: Joel, Obadiah, and Micah; in the kingdom of Israel: Hosea, Amos, and Jonah.</p> +<p class="normal">The name "Isaiah" signifies the "Salvation of the Lord." In this +name we have the key-note of his prophecies, just as the name Jeremiah: "The Lord +casts down," indicates the nature of his prophecies, in which the prevailing element +is entirely of a threatening character. That the proclamation of salvation occupies +a very prominent place in Isaiah, was seen even by the Fathers of the Church. <i> +Jerome</i> says: "I shall expound Isaiah in such a manner that he shall appear not +as a prophet only, but as an Evangelist and an Apostle;" and in another passage: +"Isaiah seems to me to have uttered not a prophecy but a Gospel." And <i>Augustine</i> +says, <i>De Civ. Dei</i>, 18, c. 29, that, according to the opinion of many, Isaiah, +on account of his numerous prophecies of Christ and the Church, deserved the name +of an Evangelist rather than that of a Prophet. When, after his conversion, <i>Augustine</i> +applied to <i>Ambrose</i> with the question, which among the Sacred Books he should +read in preference to all others, he proposed to him Isaiah, "because before all +others it was he who had more openly declared the Gospel and the calling of the +Gentiles." (<i>Aug. Conf.</i> ix. 5.) With the Fathers of the Church <i>Luther</i> +coincides. He says in commendation of Isaiah: "He is full of loving, comforting, +cheering words for all poor consciences, and wretched, afflicted hearts." Of course, +there is in Isaiah no want of severe reproofs and threatenings. If it were +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 2]</span> otherwise, he would have gone beyond the boundary +by which true prophetism is separated from false. "There is in it," as Luther says, +"enough of threatenings and terrors against the hardened, haughty, obdurate heads +of the wicked, if it might be of some use." But the threatenings never form the +close in Isaiah; they always at last run out into the promise; and while, for example, +in the great majority of Jeremiah's prophecies, the promise, which cannot be wanting +in any true prophet, is commonly only short, and hinted at, sometimes consisting +only of words which are thrown into the midst of the several threatenings, <i>e. +g.</i>, iv. 27: "Yet will I not make a full end,"--in Isaiah the stream of consolation +flows in the richest fulness. The promise absolutely prevails in the second part, +from chap. xl.-lxvi. The reason of this peculiarity is to be sought for chiefly +in the historical circumstances. Isaiah lived at a time in which, in the kingdom +of Judah, the corruption was far from having already reached its greatest height,--in +which there still existed, in that kingdom, a numerous "election" which gathered +round the prophet as their spiritual centre. With a view to this circle, Isaiah +utters the words: "Comfort ye, comfort ye my people." The contemporary prophets +of the kingdom of the ten tribes, which was poisoned in its very first origin, found +a different state of things; the field there was already ripe for the harvest of +judgment. And at the time of Jeremiah, Judah had become like her apostate sister. +At that time it was not so much needed to comfort the miserable, as to terrify sinners +in their security. It was only after the wrath of God had manifested itself in deeds, +only after the judgment of God had been executed upon Jerusalem, or was immediately +at hand,--it was only then that, in Jeremiah, and so in Ezekiel also, the stream +of promise broke forth without hinderance.</p> +<p class="normal">Chronology is, throughout, the principle according to which the +Prophecies of Isaiah are arranged. In the first six chapters, we obtain a survey +of the Prophet's ministry under Uzziah and Jotham. Chap. vii. to x. 4 belongs to +the time of Ahaz. From chap. x. 4 to the close of chap. xxxv. every thing belongs +to the time of the Assyrian invasion in the fourteenth year of Hezekiah; in the +face of which invasion the prophetic gift of Isaiah was displayed as it had never +been before. The section, chap. xxxvi.-xxxix., furnishes us with the historical +commentary on the preceding <span class="pagenum">[Pg 3]</span> prophecies from +the Assyrian period, and forms, at the same time, the transition to the second part, +which still belongs to the same period, and the starting point of which is Judah's +deliverance from Asshur. In this most remarkable year of the Prophet's life--a year +rich in the manifestation of God's glory in judgment and mercy--his prophecy flowed +out in full streams, and spread to every side. Not the destinies of Judah only, +but those of the Gentile nations also are drawn within its sphere. The Prophet does +not confine himself to the events immediately at hand, but in his ecstatic state, +the state of an elevated, and, as it were, armed consciousness, in which he was +during this whole period, his eye looks into the farthest distances. He sees, especially, +that, at some future period, the Babylonian power, which began, even in his time, +to germinate, would take the place of the Assyrian,--that, like it, it would find +the field of Judah white for the harvest,--that, for this oppressor of the world, +destruction is prepared by <i>Koresh</i> (Cyrus), the conqueror from the East, and +that he will liberate the people from their exile; and, at the close of the development, +he beholds the Saviour of the world, whose image he depicts in the most glowing +colours.</p> +<p class="normal">Isaiah has especially brought out the view of the Prophetic and +Priestly offices of Christ, while in the former prophecies it was almost alone the +Kingly office which appeared; it is only in Deut. xviii. that the Prophetic office, +and in Ps. cx. that the Priestly office, is pointed at. Of the two states of Christ, +it is the doctrine of the state of humiliation, the doctrine of the suffering Christ, +which here meets us, while formerly it was the state of exaltation which was prominently +brought before us,--although Isaiah too can very well describe it when it is necessary +to meet the fears regarding the destruction of the Theocracy by the assaults of +the powerful heathen nations. The first attempt at a description of the humbled, +suffering, and expiating Christ, is found in chap. xi. 1. The real seat of this +proclamation is, however, in the second part, which is destined more for the election, +than for the whole nation. In chap. xlii. we meet the servant of God, who, as a +Saviour meek and lowly in heart, does not break the bruised reed, nor quench the +smoking flax, and by this merciful love establishes righteousness on the whole earth. +In chap. xlix., the Prophet describes how the covenant-people requite with ingratitude +the faithful labours of the Servant of God, but that <span class="pagenum">[Pg 4]</span> +the Lord, to recompense Him for the obstinacy of Israel, gives Him the Gentiles +for an inheritance. In chap. l. we have presented to us that aspect of the sufferings +of the Servant of God which is common to Christ and His people--viz., how, in fulfilling +His calling. He offered His back to the smiters, and did not hide His face from +shame and spitting. Then, finally, in chap. liii.--that culminating point of the +prophecy of the Old Testament--Christ is placed before our eyes in His highest work, +in His atoning and vicarious suffering, as the truth of both the Old Testament high-priest, +and the Old Testament sin-offering.</p> +<p class="normal">There are still the following Messianic features which are peculiar +to Isaiah. A clear Old Testament witness for the divinity of Christ is offered by +chap. ix. 5 (6); the birth by a virgin, closely connected with His divinity, is +announced in chap. vii. 14; according to chap. viii. 23 (ix. 1.) Galilee, and, in +general, the country surrounding the Sea of Gennesareth, being that part of the +country which hitherto had chiefly been covered with disgrace, are, in a very special +manner, to be honoured by the appearance of the Saviour, who shall come to have +mercy upon the miserable, and to seek that which was lost. Isaiah has, further, +first taught that, by the redemption, the consequences of the Fall would disappear +in the irrational creation also, and that it should return to paradisaic innocence, +chap. xi. 6-9. He has first announced to the people of God the glorious truth, that +death, as it had not existed in the beginning, should, at the end also, be expelled, +chap. xxv. 8; xxvi. 19. The healing powers which by Christ should be imparted to +miserable mankind, Isaiah has described in chap xxxv. in words, which by the fulfilment +have, in a remarkable manner, been confirmed.</p> +<p class="normal">Let us endeavour to form, from the single scattered features which +occur in the prophecies of Isaiah, a comprehensive view of his prospects into the +future.</p> +<p class="normal">The announcement first uttered by Moses of an impending exile +of the people, and desolation of the country, is brought before us by Isaiah in +the first six chapters, in the prophecies belonging to the time of Uzziah and Jotham, +at which the future had not yet been so clearly laid open before the Prophet as +it was at a later period, at the time of Ahaz, and, very especially, in the fourteenth +year of Hezekiah. A reference to <span class="pagenum">[Pg 5]</span> the respective +announcements of the Pentateuch is found in chap. xxxvii. 26, where, in opposition +to the imagination of the King of Asshur, that, by his own power, he had penetrated +as a conqueror as far as Judah, Isaiah asks him whether he had not heard that the +Lord, long ago and from ancient times, had formed such a resolution regarding His +people. These words can be referred only to the threatenings of the Pentateuch, +which a short-sighted criticism endeavoured to ascribe to a far later period, without +considering that the germ of this knowledge of the future is found in the Decalogue +also, the genuineness of which is, at present, almost unanimously conceded: "In +order that thy (Israel's) days may be long in the land which the Lord thy God giveth +thee."</p> +<p class="normal">In the solemnly introduced short summary of the history of the +covenant-people, in chap. vi., there is, after the announcement of the impending +complete desolation of the country and the carrying away of its inhabitants in vers. +11, 12, the indication of a <i>second</i> judgment which will not less make an end, +in ver. 13: "But yet there is a tenth part in it, and it shall again be destroyed;" +and this goes hand in hand with the promise that the <i>election</i> shall become +partakers of the Messianic salvation.</p> +<p class="normal">The Prophet clearly sees that, by the <i>Syrico-Ephraemitic</i> +war, the full realization of that threatening of the Pentateuch will not be brought +about, as far as Judah is concerned; that here a faint prelude only to the real +fulfilment is the point in question. Although the allied kings speak in chap. vii. +6: "Let us go up against Judea and vex it, and let us conquer it for us, and set +a king in the midst of it, even the son of Tabeal," the Lord speaks in chap. vii. +7: "It shall not stand, neither shall it come to pass." And although the heart of +the king and the heart of his people were moved as the trees of the wood are moved +with the wind, the Prophet says: "Fear not, let not thy heart be tender for the +tails of those two smoking firebrands."</p> +<p class="normal">It is Asshur that shall do more for the realization of that divine +decree first revealed by Moses. It is he who, immediately after that expedition +against Judah, shall break the power of the kingdom of the ten tribes, chap. viii. +4: "Before the child shall be able to cry: 'My father and my mother,' the riches +of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria shall be carried before the King of +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 6]</span> Assyria." The communion of guilt into which +it has entered with Damascus shall also implicate it in a communion of punishment +with it, chap. xvii. 3. The adversaries of Rezin shall devour Israel with open mouth, +chap. ix. 11, 12. Yea Asshur shall, some time afterwards, put an end altogether +to the kingdom of Israel; "Within threescore and five years shall Ephraim be broken +that it shall not be a people any more," chap. vii. 8. Upon Judah also severe sufferings +shall be inflicted by Asshur. He shall invade and devastate their land, chap. vii. +17, and chap. viii. He shall irresistibly penetrate to the neighbourhood of Jerusalem, +chap. x. 28-32. But when he is just preparing to inflict the mortal blow upon the +head of the people of God, the Lord shall put a stop to him: "He shall cut down +the thickets of the forest with iron, and Lebanon shall fall by the mighty one," +chap. x. 34. "Asshur shall be broken in the land of the Lord, and upon His mountains +be trodden under foot; and his yoke shall depart from off them, and his burden depart +from off their shoulders," chap. xiv. 25. "And Asshur shall fall with the sword +not of a man," chap. xxxi. 8. These prophecies found their fulfilment in the destruction +of Sennacherib's host before Jerusalem,--an event which no human ingenuity could +have known even a day beforehand. But Isaiah does not content himself with promising +to trembling Zion the help of God against Asshur in that momentary calamity. In +harmony with Hosea and Micah, he promises to Judah, in general, security from Asshur. +He says to Hezekiah, after that danger was over, in chap. xxxviii. 6: "And I will +deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the King of Assyria, and I will defend +this city."</p> +<p class="normal">Behind the Assyrian kingdom, the Prophet beholds a new power germinating, +viz., the Babylonian or Chaldean; and he announces most distinctly and repeatedly +that from this shall proceed a comprehensive execution of the threatenings against +unfaithful Judah. According to chap. xxiii. 13, the Chaldeans overturn the Assyrian +monarchy, and conquer proud Tyre which had resisted the assault of the Assyrians. +Shinar or Babylon appears in chap. xi. 11, in the list of the places to which Judah +has been removed in punishment. In chap. xiii. 1-xiv. 27, Babylon is, for the first +time, distinctly and definitely mentioned as the threatening power of the future, +by which Judah is to be carried into captivity. The corresponding announcement in +chap. xxxix. is so <span class="pagenum">[Pg 7]</span> closely and intimately interwoven +with the historical context, that even <i>Gesenius</i> did not venture to deny its +origin by Isaiah, just as he was compelled also to acknowledge the genuineness of +the prophecy against Tyre, in which the Babylonian dominion is most distinctly foretold, +and even the duration of that dominion is fixed. The 70 years of Jeremiah have here +already their foundation.</p> +<p class="normal">The Prophet sees distinctly and definitely that Egypt, the rival +African world's power, on which the sharp-sighted politicians of his time founded +their hope for deliverance, would not be equal to the Asiatic world's power representing +itself in the Assyrian and Babylonian phases. He knows what he could not know from +any other source than by immediate communication of the Spirit of God, that, by +its struggle against the Asiatic power, Egypt would altogether lose its old political +importance, and would never recover it; compare remarks on chap. xix.</p> +<p class="normal">As the power which is to overthrow the Babylonian Empire appear, +in chap. xxxiii. 17, the Medes. In chap. xxi. 2, Elam, which, according to the +<i>usus loquendi</i> of Isaiah, means Persia, is mentioned besides Media. This power, +and at its head, the conqueror from the East, Cyrus, will bring deliverance to Judah. +By it they obtain a restoration to their native land.<sup class="ftnRef"><a name="ftnRef_7a" href="#ftn_7a">[1]</a></sup> +Nevertheless Elam appears in chap. xxii. 16 as the representative of the world's +power oppressing Judah in the future; and from chap. xi. 11 we are likewise led +to expect that the world's power will in future shew itself in an Elamitic phase +also, and that the difference between Babel and Elam is one of degree only, just +as, indeed, it appeared in history; comp. Neh. ix. 36, 37.</p> +<p class="normal">An intimation of an European phasis of the world's power, hostile +to the kingdom of God, is to be found in chap. xi. 11.</p> +<p class="normal">After the Kingdom of God has, for such protracted periods, been +subject to the world's power, the relation will suddenly be reversed; at the end +of the days the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be exalted above all the +hills, and all nations shall flow into it, chap. ii. 2.</p> +<p class="normal">This great change shall be accomplished by the Messiah, chaps. +iv., ix., xi., xxxiii. 17, who proceeds from the house of <span class="pagenum"> +[Pg 8]</span> David, chap. ix. 6 (7), lv. 3, but only after it has sunk down to +the utmost lowliness, chap. xi. 1. With the human, He combines the divine nature. +This appears not only from the names which are given to Him in chap. ix. 5 (6),but +also from the works which are assigned to Him,--works by far exceeding human power. +He rules over the whole earth, according to chap. xi.; He slays, according to xi. +4, the wicked with the breath of His mouth (compare chap. l. 11, where likewise +He appears as a partaker of the omnipotent punitive power of God); He removes the +consequences of sin even from the irrational creation, chap. xi. 6-9; by His absolute +righteousness He is enabled to become the substitute of the whole human race, and +thereby to accomplish their salvation resting on this substitution, chap. liii.</p> +<p class="normal">The Messiah appears at first in the form of a servant, low and +humble, chap. xi. 1, liii. 2. His ministry is quiet and concealed, chap. xlii. 2, +as that of a Saviour who with tender love applies himself to the miserable, chap. +xlii. 3, lxi. 1. At first it is limited to Israel, chap. xlix. 1-6, where it is +enjoyed especially by the most degraded of all the parts of the country, viz., that +around the sea of Galilee, chap. viii. 23 (ix. 1.) Severe sufferings will be inflicted +upon Him in carrying out His ministry. These proceed from the same people whom He +has come to raise up, and to endow (according to chap. xlii. 6, xlix. 8), with the +full truth of the covenant into which the Lord has entered with them. The Servant +of God bears these suffering's with unbroken courage. They bring about, through +His mediation, the punishment of God upon those from whom they proceeded, and become +the reason why the salvation passes over to the Gentiles, by whose deferential homage +the Servant of God is indemnified for what He has lost in the Jews, chap. xlix. +1-9, l. 4-11. (The foundation for the detailed announcement in these passages is +given already in the sketch in chap. vi.,--according to which an election only of +the people attain to salvation, while the mass becomes a prey to destruction.) But +it is just by these sufferings, which issue at last in a violent death, that the +Servant of God reaches the full height of His destination. They possess a vicarious +character, and effect the reconciliation of a whole sinful world, chap. lii. 13-liii. +12. Subsequently to the suffering, and on the ground of it, begins the exercise +of the Kingly office of Christ, chap. liii. 12. He brings law and righteousness +to the <span class="pagenum">[Pg 9]</span> Gentile world, chap. xlii. 1; light into +their darkness, chap. xlii. 6. He becomes the centre around which the whole Gentile +world gathers, chap. xi. 10: "And it shall come to pass in that day, the root of +Jesse which shall stand for an ensign of the people, to it shall the Gentiles seek, +and His rest shall be glory;" comp. chap. lx., where the delighted eye of the Prophet +beholds how the crowds of the nations from the whole earth turn to Zion; chap. xviii., +where the future reception of the Ethiopians into the Kingdom of God is specially +prophecied; chap. xix., according to which Egypt turns to the God of Israel, and +by the tie of a common love to Him, is united with Asshur, his rival in the time +of the Prophet, and so likewise with Israel, which has so much to suffer from him; +chap. xxiii., according to which, in the time of salvation. Tyre also does homage +to the God of Israel. The Servant of God becomes, at the same time, the <i>Witness</i>, +and the Prince and Lawgiver of the nations, chap. lv. 4. Just as the Spirit of the +Lord rests upon Him, chap. xi. 2, xlii. 1, lxi. 1, so there takes place in His days +an outpouring of the Holy Spirit, chap. xxxii. 15, xliv. 3, comp. with chap. liv. +13. Sin is put an end to by Him, chap. xi. 9, and an end is put especially to war, +chap. ii. 4. The Gentiles gathered to the Lord become at last the medium of His +salvation for the covenant-people, who at first had rejected it, chap. xi. 12, lx. +9, lxvi. 20, 21. The end is the restoration of the paradisaic condition, chap. xi. +6-9, lxv. 25; the new heavens and the new earth, chap. lxv. 17, lxvi. 22; but the +wicked shall inherit eternal condemnation, chap. lxvi. 24.</p> +<hr class="ftn"> +<div class="ftn"> + <p class="ftnText"><a name="ftn_7a" href="#ftnRef_7a"><sup class="ftnRef">[1]</sup></a> + <i>Vitringa</i>: There are no predictions in reference to the temporal deliverance + of the Jewish Church, in which the Prophet shews himself more than in those + which relate to the downfall of the Babylonian Empire, and the deliverance of + the people of God by Cyrus.]</p> +</div> +<p class="continue"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 10]</span></p> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="div2_10" href="#div2Ref_10">THE PROPHECY--CHAP. II.-IV.</a></h2> +<h3>THE SPROUT OF THE LORD.</h3> +<p class="normal">It has been already proved, in Vol. i., p. 416 ff., that this discourse belongs +to the first period of the Prophet's ministry. It consists of three parts. In the +first, chap. ii. 2-4, the Prophet draws a picture of the Messianic time, at which +the Kingdom of God, now despised, should be elevated above all the kingdoms of the +world, should exercise an attractive power over the Gentiles, and should cause peace +to dwell among them; comp. Vol. i., p. 437 ff. In the second part, from chap. ii. +5-iv. 1, the Prophet describes the prevailing corruption, exhorts to repentance, +threatens divine judgments. This part is introduced, and is connected with the preceding, +by the admonition in ii. 5, addressed to the people, to prepare, by true godliness, +for a participation in that blessedness, to beware lest they should be excluded +through their own fault. In the third part, chap. iv. 2-6, the prophet returns to +the proclamation of salvation, so that the whole is, as it were, surrounded by the +promise. It was necessary that this should be prominently brought out, in order +that sinners might not only be terrified by fear, but also allured by hope, to repentance,--and +in order that the elect might not imagine that the sin of the masses, and the judgment +inflicted in consequence of it, did away with the mercy of the Lord towards His +people, and with His faithfulness to His promises. Salvation does not come without +judgment. This feature, by which true prophetism is distinguished from false, which, +divesting God of His righteousness, announced salvation to unreformed sinners, to +the whole rude mass of the people,--this feature is once more prominently brought +out in ver. 4. But salvation for the elect comes as necessarily as judgment does +upon the sinners. In the midst of the deepest abasement of the people of God, God +raises from out of the midst of them the Saviour by whom they are raised to the +highest glory, chap. iv. 2. They are installed into the dignity of the saints of +God, after the penitent ones have been renewed by His Spirit, and the +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 11]</span> obstinate sinners have been exterminated by +His judgment, ver. 3, 4. God's gracious presence affords them protection from their +enemies, and from all tribulation and danger, ver. 5, 6.</p> +<p class="normal">The first part, in which Isaiah follows Micah (comp. the arguments +in proof of originality in Micah, Vol. i., p. 413 ff.), has already been expounded +on a former occasion. We have here only to answer the question, why it is that the +Prophet opens his discourse with a proclamation of salvation borrowed from Micah? +His object certainly was to render the minds of the people susceptible of the subsequent +admonition and reproof, by placing at the head a promise which had already become +familiar and precious to the people. The position which the Messianic proclamation +occupies in Isaiah is altogether misunderstood if, with <i>Kleinert</i> and <i>Ewald</i>, +we assume that the passage does not, in Isaiah, belong to the real substance of +the prophecy; that it is merely placed in front as a kind of text, the abuse and +misinterpretation of which the Prophet meets in that which follows, so that the +sense would be: the blessed time promised by former prophets will come <i>indeed</i>, +but <i>only</i> after severe, rigorous judgments upon all who had forsaken Jehovah. +It is especially ver. 5 which militates against this interpretation, where, in the +words: "Come ye and let us walk in the light of the Lord,"<sup class="ftnRef"><a name="ftnRef_11a" href="#ftn_11a">[1]</a></sup> +the prophet gives an <i>express declaration</i> as to the object of the description +which he has placed in front, and expresses himself in regard to it in perfect harmony +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 12]</span> with Heb. iv. 1: +<span lang="el" class="Greek">φοβηθῶμεν οὖν μῄποτε καταλειπομένης ἐπαγγελίας ... +δοκῇ τις ἐξ ὑμῶν ὐστερηκέναι.</span> This shows, that after the manner of an evangelical +preacher, and in conformity with his name, he wishes to allure to repentance by +pointing to the great salvation of the future;--that the +<span lang="el" class="Greek">ἤγγικε ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν</span> of the first +part serves as a foundation to the <span lang="el" class="Greek">μετανοεῖτε οὗν</span> +of the second.</p> +<p class="normal">The threatening of punishment contained in the second part is +destitute of any particular reference. It bears a general character, comprehending +the whole of the mischief with which the Lord is to visit the unfaithfulness of +His people. Most thoroughly was the animating idea realized in the Roman catastrophe, +the consequence of which is the helplessness which still presses upon the people. +The preparatory steps were the decay of the people at the time of Ahaz--especially +the Chaldean overthrow--and, generally, everything which the people had to suffer +in the time of the dominion of the Assyrian, Chaldean, Medo-Persian, and Greek kingdoms. +As none of these kingdoms were as yet on the stage, or in sight, it is quite natural +that the threatening here keeps altogether within general terms; it was given to +Isaiah himself afterwards to individualize it much more.</p> +<p class="normal">It is with the third part only that we have here more particularly +to employ ourselves.</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 2. "<i>In that day the Sprout of the Lord becomes for beauty +and glory, and the fruit of the land for exaltation and ornament, to the escaped +of Israel.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 3. "<i>And it shall come to pass, he that was left in Zion, +and was spared in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, every one that is written to +life in Jerusalem.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 4. "<i>When the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters +of Zion, and shall remove the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the spirit +of right and the spirit of destruction.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 5. "<i>And the Lord creates over the place of Mount Zion, +and over her assemblies clouds by day and smoke, and the brightness of flaming fire +by night, for above all glory is a covering.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 6. "<i>And a tabernacle shall be for a shadow by day from +the heat, and, for a refuge and covert from storm and from rain.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal" dir="ltr">Ver. 2. "<i>In that day</i>" <i>i.e.</i>, not by any +means <i>after</i> the suffering, but <i>in the midst of it</i>, comp. chap. iii. +18; iv. 1, where, by <span class="pagenum">[Pg 13]</span> the words "in that day," +contemporaneousness is likewise expressed. Parallel is chap. ix. 1 (2),where the +people that walketh in darkness seeth a great light. According to Micah v. 2 (3) +also, the people are given up to the dominion of the world's powers until the time +that she who is bearing has brought forth. Inasmuch as the Messianic proclamation +bears the same general comprehensive character as the threatening of punishment, +and includes in itself beginning and end, the suffering may partly also reach into +the Messianic time. It dismisses from its discipline those who are delivered up +to it, gradually only, after they have become ripe for a participation in the Messianic +salvation.--There cannot be any doubt that, by the "<i>Sprout of the Lord</i>" the +Messiah is designated,--an explanation which we meet with so early as in the Chaldee +Paraphrast (<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">בְּעדָּנָא הַהוּא יְהֵי מְשִׁיחָא דַיָי +לְחֶדְוָה וְלִיקָר</span>), from which even <i>Kimchi</i> did not venture to differ, +which was in the Christian Church, too, the prevailing one, and which Rationalism +was the first to give up. The Messiah is here quite in His proper place. The Prophet +had, in chap. iii. 12-15, in a very special manner, derived the misery of the people +from their bad rulers. What is now more rational, therefore, than that he should +connect the salvation and prosperity likewise with the person of a Divine Ruler? +comp. chap. i. 26. In the adjoining prophecies of Isaiah, especially in chaps. vii., +ix., and xi., the person of the Messiah likewise forms the centre of the proclamation +of salvation; so that, <i>a priori</i>, a mention of it must be expected here. To +the same result we are led by the analogy of Micah; comp. Vol. i. p. 443-45, 449. +<i>Farther</i>--The representation of the Messiah, under the image of a sprout or +shoot, is very common in Scripture; comp. chap. xi. 1-10; liii. 2; Rev. v. 5. But +of decisive weight are those passages in which precisely our word +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">צמח</span> occurs as a designation of the Messiah. +The two passages, Jer. xxiii. 5: "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, and I raise +unto David a righteous Sprout;" and xxxiii. 15: "In those days, and at that time, +shall I cause the Sprout of righteousness to grow up unto David," may at once and +plainly be considered as an <i>interpretation</i> of the passage before us, and +as a commentary upon it; and that so much the more that there, as well as here, +all salvation is connected with this Sprout of Jehovah; comp. Jer. xxiii. 6: "In +His days Judah <span class="pagenum">[Pg 14]</span> shall be saved, and Israel shall +dwell safely, and this is His name whereby he shall be called: The Lord our righteousness." +The two other passages, Zech. iii. 8: "Behold, I bring my servant <i>Zemach</i>," +and vi. 12: "Behold, a man whose name is <i>Zemach</i>" are of so much the greater +consequence that in them <i>Zemach</i> (<i>i.e.</i>, Sprout) occurs as a kind of +<i>nomen proprium</i>, the sense of which is supposed as being known from former +prophecies to which the Prophet all but expressly refers; or as <i>Vitringa</i> +remarks on these passages: "That man who, in the oracles of the preceding Prophets +(Is. and Jer.) bears the name of 'Sprout.'" Of no less consequence, <i>finally</i>, +is the parallel passage, chap. xxviii. 5: "In that day shall the Lord of hosts be +for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty unto the residue of His people." +The words <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">צבי</span> and +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">תפארת</span> there meet us again. The same is there +ascribed to the Lord which is here attributed to the Sprout of the Lord. That can +be readily accounted for, only if the Sprout of the Lord be the Messiah. For the +Messiah appears everywhere as the channel through which the Lord imparts to His +Church all the fulness of His blessings, as the Immanuel by whom the promise given +at the very threshold of the Old Testament: "I dwell in the midst of them," is most +perfectly realized. "This is the name whereby He shall be called: The Lord our righteousness," +says Jeremiah, in the passage quoted.--The "Sprout of the Lord" may designate either +him whom the Lord causes to sprout, or him who has sprouted forth from the Lord, +<i>i.e.</i>, the Son of God. Against the latter interpretation it is objected by +<i>Hoffmann</i> (<i>Weissagung und Erfüllung.</i> Th. 1, S. 214): "<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">צמח</span> +is an intransitive verb, so that <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">צֶמַח</span> may +be as well connected with a noun which says, who causes to sprout forth, as with +one which says, whence the thing sprouts forth. Now it is quite obvious that, in +the passage before us, the former case applies, and not the latter, inasmuch as +one cannot say that something, or even some one, sprouts forth from Jehovah; it +is only with a thing, not with a person, that <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">צמח</span> +can be connected." But it is impossible to admit that this objection is well founded. +The person may very well be conceived of as the soil from which the sprout goes +forth. Yet we must, indeed, acknowledge that the Messiah is nowhere called a Sprout +of David. But what decides in favour of the first view are the +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 15]</span> parallel passages. In Jer. xxiii. 5, xxxiii. +15, the Lord raises up to David a righteous Sprout, and causes Him to grow up unto +David. Hence here, too, the Sprout will in that sense only be the Lord's, that he +does not sprout forth out of Him, but through Him. In Zech. iii. 8 the Lord brings +his servant <i>Zemach</i>; in Ps. cxxxii. 17, it is said: "There I cause a horn +to sprout to David," and already in the fundamental passage, 2 Sam. xxiii. 5, which +contains the first germ of our passage, David says: "For all my salvation and all +my pleasure should He not make it to <i>sprout</i> forth."--As the words "Sprout +of the Lord" denote the heavenly origin of the Redeemer, so do the words +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">פרי הארץ</span> the earthly one, the soil from which +the Lord causes the Saviour to sprout up. These words are, by <i>Vitringa</i> and +others, translated: "the fruit of the earth," but the correct translation is "the +fruit of the <i>land</i>." The passages, Num. xiii. 26: "And shewed them the fruit +of the land;" and Deut. i. 25: "And they took in their hands of the fruit of the +land, and brought it unto us, and brought us word again, and said, good is the land +which the Lord our God doth give us,"--these two passages are, besides that under +consideration, the only ones in which the phrase <span lang="he" class="Hebrew"> +פרי הארץ</span> occurs; and there is here, no doubt, an allusion to them. The excellent +natural fruit of ancient times is a type of the spiritual fruit. To the same result--that +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">הארץ</span> designates the definite land, that land +which, in the preceding verses, in the description of the prevailing conniption, +and of the divine judgments, was always spoken of,--to this result we are led by +the fact also, that everywhere in the Old Testament where the contrariety of the +divine and human origin of the Messiah is mentioned, the human origin is more distinctly +qualified and limited. This is especially the case in those passages which, being +dependent upon that before us, maybe considered as a commentary upon it; in Jer. +xxiii. 5, xxxiii. 15, where the Lord raises a Sprout unto <i>David</i>, and Zech. +vi. 12, where the man whose name is <i>Zemach</i> (Sprout) grows up out of its soil; +comp. Heb. vii. 14, where, in allusion to the Old Testament passages of the Sprout--the +verb <span lang="el" class="Greek">ἀνατέλλειν</span> is commonly used of the sprouting +forth of the plants (see <i>Bleek</i> on this passage)--it is said: +<span lang="el" class="Greek">ἐξ Ἰούδα ἀνατέταλκεν ὁ Κύριος ἡμῶν</span>, <i>Bengel</i>: +<i>ut germen justitiae</i>; farther, Mic. v. 1 (2), where the eternal existence +of the Messiah, <span class="pagenum">[Pg 16]</span> and His birth in Bethlehem +are contrasted with one another; Is. ix. 5, (6), where the words: "Unto <i>us</i> +a child is born, unto <i>us</i> a son is given," are contrasted with the various +designations of the Messiah, according to His divine majesty. This qualification +and limitation which everywhere takes place, have their ground in the circumstance +that the Messiah is constantly represented to the covenant-people as their property; +and that He, indeed, was, inasmuch as salvation went out from Jews (John iv. 22), +and was destined for the Jews, into whose communion the Gentiles were to be received; +comp. my Commentary on Revel. vii. 4. "The Sprout of the Lord," "the fruit of the +land," is accordingly He whom the Lord shall make to sprout forth from Israel. The +Sprout of the Lord, the fruit of the land is to become to the escaped of Israel +for <i>beauty</i> and <i>glory</i>, for <i>exaltation</i> and <i>ornament</i>. The +passages to be compared are 2 Sam. i. 19, where Saul and Jonathan are called +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">צבי ישראל</span>; <i>farther</i>, Is. xxviii. 5: +"In that day shall the Lord of hosts be for a crown of beauty, and for a diadem +of ornament unto the residue of His people," where the words +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">צבי</span> and <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">תפארת</span><!--see Biblos web site; fnal 'h' not 't'--> +are likewise used; <i>finally</i>, chap. xxiv. 16, where, in reference to the Messianic +time, it is said: "From the uttermost part of the earth do we hear songs of praise: +beauty (<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">צבי</span>) to the righteous." By the appearance +of Christ, the covenant-people, hitherto despised, were placed in the centre of +the world's history; by it the Lord took away the rebuke of His people from off +all the earth, chap. xxv. 8. There is evidently in these words a reference to the +preceding threatening of punishment, especially to chap. iii. 18: "In that day the +Lord will take away the ornament," &c.: But <i>Drechsler</i> is wrong in fixing +and expressing this reference thus: "Instead of farther running after strange things, +Israel will find its glory and ornament in Him who is the long promised seed of +Abrahamitic descent." For it is not the position which Israel takes that is spoken +of, but that which is granted to them. The antithesis is between the false glory +which God takes away, and the true glory which He gives. The Lord cannot, by any +possibility, for any length of time, appear merely <i>taking away</i>; He takes +those seeming blessings, only in order to be able to give the true ones. Every taking +away is a prophecy of giving.--"<i>To the escaped of Israel</i>," who, according +to the idea of a people of God, and according to <span class="pagenum">[Pg 17]</span> +the promise of the Law (comp. Deut. xxx. 1, ff.) can never be wanting, as little +as it is possible that the salvation should be partaken of by the whole <i>mass</i> +of the people; sifting judgments must necessarily go before and along with it. True +prophetism everywhere knows of salvation for a remnant only. On +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">פליטה</span>, which does not mean "deliverance," +so that the abstract would thus here stand for the concrete, but "that which has +escaped," comp. remarks on Joel iii. 5, Vol. 1, p. 338.</p> +<p class="normal">All which now remains is to examine those explanations of this +verse which differ from the Messianic interpretation. 1. Following the interpretation +of <i>Grotius</i> and others, <i>Gesenius</i>, in his Commentary, understands by +the Sprout of the Lord the new growth of the people after their various defeats. +His explanation is: "Then the sprout of Jehovah will be splendid and glorious, and +the fruit of the land excellent and beautiful for the escaped of Israel." <i>Fruit +of the land</i> he takes in its literal sense, and understands it to mean the product +of the land. The same view is held by <i>Knobel</i>: "<i>He becomes for beauty and +glory</i>,<!--deleted quote--> <i>i.e.</i>, the people, having reformed, prosper +and form a splendid, glorious state." And <i>Maurer</i> in his Dictionary says: +"The Sprout of Jehovah seems to be the morally improved remnant, the new, sanctified +increase of the people." But in opposition to such a view there is, <i>first</i>, +the circumstance, that according to it the <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ל</span> +before <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">לצבי</span> and +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">לכבור</span> must be understood differently from +what it is in <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">לגאון</span>, and +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">לתפארת</span> which immediately follow and exactly +correspond with them. There are, <i>secondly</i>, the parallel passages chap. xxviii. +5, xxiv. 16, according to which <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">צבי</span> "beauty" +is conferred upon the escaped, but they themselves do not become beauty. <i>Finally</i>--It +is always most natural to suppose that <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">צמח יהוה</span> +and <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">פרי הארץ</span> correspond with one another, +and denote the same subject which is here described after his various aspects only. +For in the same manner as <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">צמח</span> and +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">פרי</span> go hand in hand, both being taken from +the territory of botany, so <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">יהוה</span> and +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">הארץ</span> also stand in a contrast which is not +to be mistaken. 2. <i>Hitzig</i>, <i>Ewald</i>, <i>Meier</i>, and others not only +refer "the fruit of the land," but also the "Sprout of Jehovah" to that which Jehovah +makes to sprout forth.<sup class="ftnRef"><a name="ftnRef_17a" href="#ftn_17a">[2]</a></sup> +It is true that, in the prophetic <span class="pagenum">[Pg 18]</span> announcements, +among the blessings of the future the rich produce of the land is also mentioned +(comp. chap. xxx. 23-25), and the same is very expressly done in the Law also; but +in not a single one of these passages does the strange expression occur, that this +fruitfulness should serve to the escaped for beauty and glory, for exaltation and +ornament, or any other that bears the slightest resemblance to it. Against this +explanation there is, <i>in addition</i>, the circumstance that the barrenness of +the country is not at all pointed out in the preceding context. <i>Finally</i>--When +we understand this expression as referring to the Messiah, this verse, standing +as it does at the head of the proclamation of salvation, contains the fundamental +thought; and in what follows we obtain the expansion. In the verse before us we +are told that in Christ the people attain to glory,--and, in those which follow, +how this glory is manifested in them. But according to this view, every internal +connexion of the verse before us with what follows is entirely destroyed. 3. According +to <i>Hendewerk</i>, by the "Sprout of the Lord," "the collective person of the +ruling portion in the state during the Messianic happy time," is designated. This +opinion is the beginning of a return to the Messianic interpretation. But then only +could that ideal person be here referred to, if elsewhere in Isaiah too it would +come out strongly and decidedly. As this, however, is not the case; as, on the contrary, +the Messiah everywhere in Isaiah meets us in shining clearness, it would be arbitrary +to give up the <i>person</i> in favour of a <i>personification</i>. 4. <i>Umbreit</i> +acknowledges that, in the case of <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">צמח יהוה</span>, +the Messianic interpretation is the only correct one. "The two subsequent prophecies +in chap. ix. and xi.," he says, "are to be considered as a commentary on our short +text." But it is characteristic of his compromising manner that by "the fruit of +the land" he understands "the consequences of the dominion of the Messiah for the +land, the fruits which, in consequence of his appearing, the consecrated soil brings +forth,"--thus plainly overlooking the clear <span class="pagenum">[Pg 19]</span> +contrast between the Sprout of the Lord, and the fruit of the land, by which evidently +the same thing is designated from different aspects.</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 3. The Prophet now begins to show, more in detail, in how +far the Sprout of the Lord and the fruit of the land would serve for the honour +and glory of the Church. The words: "He that was left in Zion and was spared in +Jerusalem," take up the idea suggested by the "escaped of Israel" in ver. 2. The +double designation is intended to direct attention to the thought that the remnant, +and the remnant only, are called to a participation in the glory. <i>Zion</i> and +<i>Jerusalem</i>, as the centre of the covenant-people, here represent the whole; +this is evident from the circumstance that at the close of ver. 2, which is here +resumed, the escaped of <i>Israel</i> were spoken of Ever since the sanctuary and +the royal palace were founded at Zion, it was in a spiritual point of view, the +residence of all Israel, who even personally met there at the high festivals.--Whoever +is left in Zion "<i>shall be called holy</i>." The fundamental notion of holiness +is that of separation. God is holy, inasmuch as He is separated from all that is +created and finite, and is elevated above all that is finite; comp. my Commentary +on Rev. iv. 8. <i>Believers</i> are holy, because they are separated from the world +as regards their moral existence and their destiny. Here only the latter aspect +is considered. Holy in a moral sense they were already, inasmuch as it is this which +forms the condition of their being spared in the divine judgments. They became holy +because they are partakers of the beauty, of the exaltation, and ornament which +are to be bestowed upon the escaped by the Sprout of the Lord. The circumstance +that they have been installed into the dignity of the saints of God implies that, +when the Spirit of the Lord has appeared, the world's power has no longer any dominion +over them, but that, on the contrary, they shall judge the world. In like manner +we read in Exod. xix. 6, in the description of the <i>reward</i> for faithfulness: +"And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation;" comp. ver. 5: +"And now if you will obey my voice and keep my covenant, ye shall be a property +unto me out of all people." In reference to the exalted dignity and glory, holiness +occurs in Deut. vii. 6: "For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God; the +Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself out of all the +people that are upon <span class="pagenum">[Pg 20]</span> the face of the earth." +When the company of Korah said: "All the congregation, they are holy" (Numb. xvi. +3), they had in view, not the moral holiness but the dignity--a circumstance which +is quite obvious from words added: "And in the midst of them is the Lord." And so +Moses likewise speaks of the dignity in Numb. xvi. 7: "Whom the Lord shall choose, +he is the holy one." In Rom. i. 7; Heb. iii. 1, holiness is declared to consist +in being loved, called, and chosen by God.--As regards the fulfilment of this promise, +it has its <i>horas</i> and <i>moras</i>. It began with the first appearance of +Christ, by which the position of the true Israel to the world was substantially +and fundamentally changed. It was not without meaning that, as early as in the apostolic +times, the "Saints" was a kind of <i>nomen proprium</i> of believers, comp. Acts +ix. 13, 32. We are even now the sons of God, and hence even already installed into +an important portion of the inheritance of holiness; but it has not yet appeared +what we shall be, 1 John iii. 2. But the beginning, and the continuation pervading +all ages, viz., God's dealings throughout the whole of history, whereby he ever +anew lifts up His Church from the dust of lowliness, afford to us the guarantee +for the completion, which is, with graphic vividness, described in the last two +chapters of Revelation.--"<i>To be called</i>" is more than merely "to be;" it indicates +that the <i>being</i> is so marked as to procure for itself acknowledgment.--The +words: "<i>Every one that is written to life in Jerusalem</i>" anew point out that +judgment will go before, and by the side of grace. The meaning of +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">חיים</span> is, according to the fundamental passage +in Ps. lxix. 29, "not living ones" (<i>Hoffmann</i>, <i>Weiss.</i> i. S. 208), but +"life." In Revelation, too, the book of life, and not the book of the living ones, +is spoken of "To be written to life" is equivalent to being ordained to life, Acts +xiii. 48; comp. my Comment. on Ps. lxix. 29; Rev. iii. 5. Life is not naked life,--a +miserable life is, according to the view of Scripture, not to be called a life, +but is a form of death only--but life in the full enjoyment of the favour of God; +comp. my Comment. on Ps. xvi. 11, xxx. 6, xxxvi. 10; xlii. 9; lxiii. 4. The Chaldean +thus paraphrases it: "All they that are written to eternal life shall see the consolation +of Jerusalem, <i>i.e.</i> the Messiah." Comp. Dan. xii. 1; Rev. iii. 5, xiii. 8, +xx. 15, xxii. 19; Phil. iv. 3; Luke x. 20. The bodily death of believers cannot +exclude them from a participation in being written to <span class="pagenum">[Pg +21]</span> life; for, being a mere transition to life, it can, in truth, not be +called a death. Here, too, the word of Christ applies: "The maid is not dead but +sleepeth," Matt. ix. 24. The fact that there is no contradiction between bodily +death and life, <i>i.e.</i> a participation in the blessings of the Kingdom of Christ, +is pointed out by Isaiah himself in chap. xxvi. 19: "Thy dead men shall <i>live</i>, +my dead bodies shall arise, for a dew of light is thy dew."</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 4. The Prophet points out that before the Church is raised +to the dignity of the saints of God, a thorough change of its moral conditions, +an energetic expunging of the sin now prevailing in her, must take place, "<i>When +the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion.</i>" The "daughters +of Zion" are none other than those whose haughtiness, luxury, and wantonness were +described in chap. iii. 16 ff., and to whom the deepest abasement was then threatened. +The filth, under the image of which sin is here represented (comp. Prov. xxx. 12); +"A generation pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness," +forms the contrast to the splendid attire which is there spoken of Behind this splendid +attire the filthiness is concealed. The filth is not washed away (1 Cor. vi. 11; +Eph. v. 26) from the daughters of Jerusalem,--for, inasmuch as this washing away +is accomplished by means of the spirit of destruction, it could not apply to them--but +from Jerusalem; comp. the phrase, "from the midst thereof," which immediately follows. +Jerusalem, the city of the Lord, in which no unclean person, and no unclean thing +are permitted to dwell, is cleansed from the filth with which its unworthy daughters +contaminate it. "<i>And shall remove the blood of Jerusalem.</i>" The "blood of +Jerusalem" is the blood which attaches to Jerusalem, which has been shed in it. +The connection of the punishment of the sins of avarice on the part of the rulers, +in chap. iii. 13-15, with the punishment of the luxury and ostentation on the part +of the women, is illustrative of the relation of filth and blood to each other. +Blood is shed in order to furnish pride and vanity with the means of their gratification. +The avarice of the rulers, and their shedding of blood, are put together in Ezek. +xxii. 13; comp. ver. 27: "Her princes are in the midst thereof like wolves ravening +the prey, shedding blood, destroying souls, to get dishonest gain." Bloodguiltiness +those too incur who deprive the poor of the necessary means of support, Mic. iii. +2, 3. The comparison of <span class="pagenum">[Pg 22]</span> chap. i. 15: "Your +hands are full of blood," and of ver. 21: "But now murderers," compared with vers. +17, 23, 26, shews that we have to think especially of unjust judges and avaricious +rulers. Yet, there is no reason for limiting ourselves to the nobles and rulers +<i>alone</i>; comp. Ezek. xxii. 29: "The people of the land use oppression, and +boldly practice robbery, and vex the poor and needy, and oppress the stranger." +Where sins so gross are still prevalent, where the law of the Lord is so wantonly +broken, an installation into the dignity of the saints of God is out of the question. +For that, it is absolutely essential that exertions be made that the high destination +of the people: "Ye shall be holy for I am holy," become a truth; that in a moral +point of view it show itself as truly separated from the world,--and that is something +so infinitely great, that men are utterly unable for it, that it can proceed from +God only, with whom nothing is impossible.--The last words of the verse are commonly +explained: "by the spirit of <i>judgment</i>, and by the spirit of destruction or +burning." In that case the putting away of the filth and blood by the judging activity +of the Lord, by the destruction of sin, would be spoken of +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">משפט</span>, however, may also be taken in the sense +of "right:" by the spirit of right which lays hold of, and changes the well disposed +(comp. Mic. iii. 8: "But I am full of power by the Spirit of the Lord, and of <i> +right</i> and might"), and by the spirit of destruction which consumes the disobedient. +In favour of the latter view are the parallel passages; above all, chap. xxviii. +6, where it is said of the Messianic time, "In that day the Lord will become, &c.," +"And for a spirit of right to him that sitteth for right;" farther, chap. i. 27, +28: "Zion shall be redeemed by right, and her converts by righteousness. But the +transgressors and sinners are destroyed together, and they that forsake the Lord +are consumed." Comp. Matt. iii. 11: <span lang="el" class="Greek">αὐτὸς ὑμᾶς βαπτίσει +ἐν πνεύματι ἁγίῳ καὶ πυρί</span>, where likewise a double washing, that of grace +and that of wrath, is spoken of. In chap. xxxii. 15: "Until the Spirit be poured +out upon us from on high," Isaiah likewise points to the regeneration which, in +the Messianic time, will be accomplished by the Spirit; and it is, according to +the whole <i>usus loquendi</i> of the Old Testament, most natural to think of the +Spirit transforming from within The Spirit of God scarcely occurs elsewhere in the +Old Testament as the executor of God's judgments; so that the supposition is +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 23]</span> very natural that the spirit of destruction +has been brought in by the spirit of right only.--The word +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">בער</span> is, by some, understood as "burning," +by others, as "destruction." We ourselves decide in favour of the latter signification, +which occurs also in chap. iv. 13, for this reason, that it is in that signification +that <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">בער</span> is, in Deuteronomy, used as the +<i>terminus technicus</i> of the extirpation of the wicked. If the Church does not +comply with the command: <span lang="el" class="Greek">ἐξάρεῖτε τὸν πονηρὸν ἐξ ὑμῶν +αὐτῶν</span>, 1 Cor. v. 13; Deut. xiii. 6 (5), God himself will enforce His authority +by His Spirit, who carries out the judgments of the avenging God, just as He carries +out every influence of the Creator upon the created. On the "Spirit of the Lord," +comp. my remarks on Rev. i. 4.</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 5. The image is here taken from the journey of Israel through +the wilderness. During that journey, they were guided and protected by a symbol +of God's presence, which by day presented itself as smoke, and by night assumed +the form of flaming fire. By this symbol the God of Israel was designated as the +jealous God, as the living, personal energy, energetic in His love for His people, +energetic in wrath against His and their enemies. Comp. especially Exod. xiii. 21: +"And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud to lead them on the +way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light;" and xl. 38: "For a cloud +was upon the tabernacle by day, and fire was on it by night;" comp. Numb. ix. 15, +16. The same phenomenon is to be repeated in future, although in a different form. +In a manner the most real, the Lord will manifest himself as the living energy of +His Church, dwelling in the midst of her, and ruling over her as a protector, so +that the world's power can no longer injure her. That such will be done in and by +His <i>Sprout</i>, in Christ, appears from the relation of the verse under consideration +to ver. 2; for the verse before us still belongs to the expansion of the proposition +placed at the head of the whole: "The <i>Sprout</i> of the Lord becomes for beauty +and glory, and the fruit of the land for exaltation and ornament to the escaped +of Israel." Christ in His person and Spirit is the true Shechinah, the true indwelling +of God in His Church. This indwelling is, even in the Law, designated as the highest +privilege of the covenant-people; its being raised to a higher power is therefore +to the Prophet the highest blessing of the future, the source from which all other +blessings flow. That which the heathen in vain longed <span class="pagenum">Pg 24]</span> +for and imagined; that which Israel hitherto possessed only very imperfectly, a +<i>praesens numen</i>, whereby the antithesis of heaven and earth is done away with, +and earth is glorified into a heaven;--that, the purified Church of the Lord possesses +in the most perfect and real manner, and in it, absolute security against the world, +a decided victory over it. The words: "<i>Over her assemblies</i>," show that the +whole life of the people shall then bear a religious character, and shall be a continual +service of God, comp. Acts ii. 42, where, as a type of the completion of the Church, +it is said: "And they continued stedfastly in the Apostles' doctrine and fellowship, +and in breaking of bread, and in prayers." <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">מקרא</span> +is only the name for that which is called, "the assembly," and stands in Levit. +xxiii. and Is. i. 13 of the religious assemblies which were held on the holy days, +comp. my pamphlet: <i>Ueber den Tag des Herrn S</i>. 32. The same phenomenon is, +according to its appearance by day, designated, at the same time, as <i>clouds</i> +and <i>smoke</i>. Smoke is never "vapour, vapoury clouds" (<i>Knobel</i>); and here +the smoke by day corresponds with the <i>flaming fire</i> by night. If then the +smoke can be considered as a product of the fire only (comp. my remarks on Rev. +xv. 8), the cloud cannot come into consideration according to its matter, but according +to its form only. The smoke assumes the form of a cloud which affords protection +from the burning sun of tribulations, as once, in the burning desert, from the scorching +heat of the natural sun, comp. Num. x. 34: "And the cloud of the Lord was upon them;" +Ps. cv. 39: "He spread a cloud for a covering;" Is. xxv. 5. The cloud which thus +affords protection to the Church turns a threatening face towards her enemies. Rev. +xv. 8.--The words: "<i>For above all glory is a covering</i>," point to the ground +of the protecting, gracious presence of God in the Church. Several interpreters +explain the sense thus: "As we cover and preserve precious things more carefully, +in order that they may not be injured, so does God in His grace surround His Church, +which has been adorned with glorious virtues, and raised to the high dignity of +the saints of God, and protects her from every danger." Others understand by +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">כל־כבוד</span> the whole glory mentioned in the preceding +context; but in that case we should expect the article. One may also supply the +limitation: For, <i>in the Kingdom of God</i>, there is a covering over all glory.</p> +<p class="continue"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 25]</span></p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 6. God--this is the same sense--protects His Church from +every danger and calamity. By His gracious presence in His Sprout, He affords to +them that protection which a hut does from sun, storms, and rain. Luther says: "In +this passage, accordingly, Christ is held up to us as He who in all tribulations, +bodily as well as spiritual, is our protection." There is an allusion to the 21st +verse of Ps. xxxi. (which was written by David): "Thou hidest them in the secret +of thy countenance from the conspiracy of every one; thou keepest them secretly +in a pavilion from the strife of tongues." The pavilion in this Psalm is a spiritual +one, viz., God's grace and protection. That word of David shall be gloriously fulfilled +when the Sprout of the Lord shall appear.--The "<i>Sun</i>" comes into consideration +in its scorching quality; and the "<i>heat</i>" is in Scripture the image of temptations, +sufferings, and trials; comp. remarks on Rev. viii. 12, xvi. 8; Song of Sol. i. +6; Ps. cxxi. 6; Matt. xiii. 6, compared with v. 21; Is. xlix. 10, xxv. 4; and, according +to the last passage, we must especially have in view the enmity and assaults of +the world's power. The "<i>rain</i>" appears as an image of tribulation in the Song +of Sol. ii. 11; Is. xxv. 4: "The spirit of the terrible ones (the passions of the +kings of the world, and conquerors) is like a violent shower against the wall;" +xxxii. 2.--A comparison of the Messianic prophecy in chap ii. with that which we +have now considered shows very clearly how necessary it is to regard the single +Messianic prophecies as fragments only, supplementing one another, inasmuch as commonly +a few aspects only were presented to the spiritual eye of the Prophet. Just as the +description in chap. ii. receives an important supplement from the passage now considered, +inasmuch as the latter contains the mention of the personal Messiah, so it, again, +supplements that before us by announcing the participation by the Gentiles in the +blessings of the Messianic Kingdom.</p> +<hr class="ftn"> +<div class="ftn"> + <p class="ftnText"><a name="ftn_11a" href="#ftnRef_11a"><sup class="ftnRef"> + [1]</sup></a> Light is the image of salvation; to walk in the light is to enjoy + a participation in it. Israel is not wantonly to wander away from the path of + light which the Lord has opened up to them, into the dark desolation of misery. + In the words <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">לכו ונלכה</span> there is a clear + reference to <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">לכו ונעלה</span> of the Gentile + nations in ver. 3. If the Gentiles apply with such zeal for a participation + in the blessings of the Kingdom of God, how disgraceful would it be if you, + the people of the covenant, the children of the Kingdom, should lose your glorious + possession by your ungodly walk. In vers. 6-11 the Prophet states the grounds + of his admonition to the people to walk in the light of the Lord which he had + expressed in the preceding verse. This admonition implies that there existed + a danger of losing a participation in the light; and it is this danger which + the Prophet here more particularly details. It is not without reason, so the + words may be paraphrased, that I say: "Walk ye in the light of the Lord," for + at present the Lord has <i>forsaken</i> the people on account of their sins, + and with that, a participation in His light is incompatible. By being full of + heathenish superstition, of false confidence in earthly things, yea, even of + the most disgraceful that can be imagined for Israel, viz., gross idolatry, + they rather become more and more ripe for the divine judgment which will break + in irresistibly upon them.</p> +</div> +<div class="ftn"> + <p class="ftnText"><a name="ftn_17a" href="#ftnRef_17a"><sup class="ftnRef"> + [2]</sup></a> So <i>Gesenius</i> also in the <i>Thesaurus</i>: "The whole earth + shall be holy and shall more beautifully bloom and be adorned with plenty of + fruits and corn for the benefit of those who have escaped from those calamities." + <i>Gesenius'</i> wavering clearly shows how little satisfaction the non-Messianic + explanation affords to its own abettors. Besides the explanations of + <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">צמח יהוה</span> by "the new growth of the people," + and "the rich produce of the country," he advances still a third one, viz., + "a divinely favoured ruler,"--an explanation which has even the grammar against + it, as we are at liberty to translate only: "The Sprout of the Lord;" and likewise + the analogy of <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">פרי הארץ</span>, according to + which the Genitive can have a reference to the <i>origin</i> only.</p> +</div> +<p class="continue"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 26]</span></p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="div2_26" href="#div2Ref_26">THE PROPHECY, CHAP. VII.</a></h2> +<h3>IMMANUEL.</h3> +<p class="normal">A crisis of the most important nature in the history of Israel +is formed by the Syrico-Ephraemitic war, by the expedition of the allied kings, +Rezin of Damascus, and Pekah of Samaria, which had been already prepared under the +reign of Jotham, and which broke out in the first years of Ahaz. It was in consequence +of this war that Asshur came into the land. The inroad of the Assyrian King, Pul, +under Menahem of Israel, had been transitory only, comp. Vol. 1. p. 165. It was +only with the invasion under Ahaz that the tendency of Asshur began of making lasting +conquests on the other side of the Euphrates, which could not fail to bring about +a collision with the Egyptian power. The succeeding powers in Asia and Europe followed +Asshur's steps. "Hitherto,"--so says <i>Caspari</i>, in his pamphlet on the Syrico-Ephraemitic +war, S. 17 ff.--"hitherto Israel had to do with the small neighbouring nations only,--now, +in punishment of their sins, oppressed by them; then, in reward of their obedience, +oppressing and ruling over them. And the Syrico-Ephraemitic war itself had been +a link only in the chain of these attacks--its last link. Israel, having arrived +at the point of being hardened, and having entered upon a path in accordance with +this tendency, required another more severe corrective--its being crushed by the +mighty world's power. The appearance of these mighty powers, just at the period +when Israel entered upon their hardening, is most providential.--The beginning of +the end of the kingdom of the ten tribes had come, and the breaking up of its independent +political existence had commenced. As enmity to Judah had given its origin to the +kingdom of the ten tribes, so also did it bring about its destruction; born out +of it, it died of it. It owed its existence to the incipient enmity; when the latter +was accomplished (Isa. vii. 6,) it caused its death.--The Assyrians came to the +help of Judah, but charged a high price for their help, viz., Judah's submission +and fealty. Thirty heavy years of servitude, and, to a great part, of +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 27]</span> fears of the worst, 2 Kings xvi. 18; Is. xxxiii. +18 (?); xxxvii. 3, followed for this kingdom also; and when, at the close of this +period, it freed itself from them after the fashion of the kingdom of Israel, it +shared nearly the same fate, 2 Kings xviii. 31 ff. It was only to the mercy of the +Lord, who looked graciously upon the feeble beginnings of conversion, that it owed +its deliverance. The Assyrian power, which had put an end to the kingdoms of Damascus +and Israel, and which was the first power that appeared on the stage of history +and came into conflict with the people of God, became a significant sign of the +final fate of the world's power in its attacks upon the Kingdom of God. But, as +a prelude to the long series of visitations which it had to endure from the world's +power in its different phases, Judah was even now led to the very brink of destruction; +there came a period, the 14th year of Hezekiah, when almost nothing more of it was +to be seen by the outward eye than its metropolis exposed to the utmost danger."</p> +<p class="normal">A remarkable proof of the fact that the spirit which filled the +prophets was a higher one than their own, is the fact that Isaiah recognized so +distinctly and clearly the importance of the decisive moment.</p> +<p class="normal">In close connection with the great crisis at which the history +of the people of God had arrived, stands the richer display of the Messianic announcement +which begins with the chapter before us. Messiah is henceforth represented to Judah +as an Immanuel against the world's powers, as the surety for its deliverance from +the severe oppressions hanging over it, as He who at last, at His appearance, would +conquer the world, and lay it at the feet of the people of God.</p> +<p class="normal">After these general introductory remarks, let us turn more particularly +to the contents of the chapter before us. It was told to the house of David: "Aram +is encamped in Ephraim." The position of Ahaz was, humanly considered, desperate. +His enemies were far superior to him, and he could scarcely hope for help from heaven, +for he had an evil conscience. The idea of seeking help from Asshur was natural. +Isaiah received a commission to oppose this idea before it became a firm resolution. +In doing so he, by no means, occupies the position of an ingenious politician. On +the contrary, the whole commission is <span class="pagenum">[Pg 28]</span> forced +upon him. It can scarcely be doubted that the Assyrians would have penetrated to +Western Asia, even if Ahaz had not called them to his assistance. The expedition +of the Syrians and Ephraimites with the view of making conquests, could not but +turn their attention to that quarter. As the instruments of the judgments upon Damascus +and Samaria, which Isaiah announced as impending under any circumstances, we can +surely think of none but Asshur. But if once they came into these regions, in order +to chastise the haughtiness of the Syrians and Ephraimites, who would set up as +a new conquering power, then was Judah too threatened by them. <i>In a political +point of view it did not make any great difference whether Ahaz sought help from +the Assyrians, or not</i>; on the contrary, the king of Asshur could not but be +more favourably disposed towards him for so doing. <i>Isaiah, throughout, rather +occupies the position of the man of God.</i> The kings of the people of God were, +in general, not prevented from forming alliances; but such alliances must belong +to the category of permitted human resources. Such, however, was not the case here. +Asshur was a conquering power, altogether selfish. His help had to be purchased +with dependance, and with the danger of entire destruction; to stay upon him was +to stay upon their destroyer, Is. x. 20. Such an alliance was a <i>de facto</i> +denial of the God of Israel, an insult to His omnipotence and grace. If Ahaz had +obeyed Him; if he had limited himself to the use of the human means granted to him +by the Lord without trusting in them, and had placed all his confidence in the Lord, +He would have delivered him in the same manner as He afterwards delivered Hezekiah, +in the first instance from Aram and Ephraim, and then from Asshur also. But although +Ahaz did not follow the prophet, his mission was by no means in vain. Even before +the mission, this result lay open before the Lord who sent him. The great point +was to establish, before the first conflict of Israel with the world's power, thus +much, that this conflict had been brought about by the sin of the house of David, +and that hence it did not afford any cause for doubting the omnipotence and mercy +of the Lord whose help had been offered, but rejected.</p> +<p class="normal">The Prophet seeks out the king at a place to which he had been +driven by his despairing disquietude which was clinging convulsively to human resources. +He endeavours, first, to exert <span class="pagenum">[Pg 29]</span> an influence +upon him by taking with him his son, whose symbolical name, containing a prophecy +of the future destinies of the people, indicated that the king's fear of a total +destruction of the State was without foundation. After the king has thus been prepared, +he endeavours to make a deeper impression upon him by the announcement, distinct +and referring to the present case, that the enemies should not only entirely fail +in their intention of conquering and dividing between themselves the kingdom of +Judah; but that the kingdom of Ephraim was itself hastening towards that destruction +which it was preparing for its brethren, and that after sixty-five years it should +altogether lose its national independence and existence, ver. 1-9. But Ahaz makes +no reply; and his whole deportment shows that he does not follow the Prophet's exhortation +to "take heed and be quiet," and that the words: "If ye do not believe, ye shall +not be established," with which the Prophet closes his address, have not made any +impression upon him. In order that the greatness of the king's hardness of heart +may become manifest, the Prophet offers, in the commission of the Lord, to confirm +the certainty of his statement by a miraculous sign, which the king himself is called +upon to fix, without any restriction, in order that any suspicion of imposition +may be removed. "But Ahaz, the unbeliever, is afraid of heavenly communications, +has already chosen his help, wishes that every thing should go on in an easy human +manner, and refuses the Lord's offer in a polite turn which even refers to the Law. +A sign is then forced upon him, because as the king of Judah, he must see and hear +for all Judah that the Lord is faithful and good."<sup class="ftnRef"><a name="ftnRef_29a" href="#ftn_29a">[1]</a></sup> +The Prophet, in ver. 14, points to the birth of the Saviour by a Virgin. How then +was it possible that in the present collision that people should be destroyed, among +whom, according to former promises. He was to be born; that that family should be +extinguished from which he was to be descended? The name "Immanuel," by which the +future Saviour is designated as "He in whom the Lord is, in the truest manner, to +be with His people," is a guarantee for His help in the present distress also. The +Prophet then states the time in which the land shall be entirely delivered from +its present enemies. The contemporaries, as the representative of whom +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 30]</span> the child appears (the Prophet, in the energy +of his faith, has transferred the birth of this child from the future to the present), +shall, after the short space of about two years, again obtain the full enjoyment +of the products of the land, ver. 15. For, before this period has elapsed, destruction +will fall upon the hostile kings in their own land, ver. 16. The danger, however--and +this is pointed out in ver. 17-25--will come from just that quarter from which Ahaz +expects help, viz., from Asshur. But the security for deliverance from this danger +also--the conqueror of the world's power which was soon to begin its course in Asshur, +is none other than Immanuel, whom the Prophet, in the beginning of the humiliation +of the people of God, makes, so to say, to become man, in order that, during the +impending deep humiliation of the people of God, He may accompany it in its history +during all the stages of its existence, until He should really become man. He is, +however in this discourse, not yet pointed out as the deliverer from Asshur, and +the world's power represented by him. The darkness of the misery to be inflicted +by Asshur should not, and could not, in the meantime, be cleared up for Ahaz; the +picture must end in night. But in the following discourse, chap. viii. 1, ix. 6 +(7), which serves as a necessary supplement to the one before us, the Saviour is +depicted before the eyes of those despairing in the sight of Asshur; and the two-fold +repetition of His name Immanuel, in chap. viii. 8, 10, serves to show that the two +discourses are intimately connected, and form one whole.</p> +<p class="normal">Ahaz persevered in his unbelief, according to 2 Kings xvi. 7, +8. He sent messengers with large presents to Tiglath-pileser, King of Assyria, saying: +"I am <i>thy servant</i> and <i>thy son</i> (a word as ominous as that: +<!--changed quote-->'We have no king but Cĉsar,'<!--changed quote--> in John xix. +35); come up and save me out of the hand of the King of Aram, and out of the hand +of the King of Israel which rise up against me." But before the asked-for help came, +king and people had to endure very severe sufferings from Aram and Ephraim. Ahaz, +after having first made preparations to secure Jerusalem against the impending siege, +sent out his armies. They met with a twofold heavy defeat from the divided armies +of the allied kings,<sup class="ftnRef"><a name="ftnRef_30a" href="#ftn_30a">[2]</a></sup> +from which he might have been spared by <span class="pagenum">[Pg 31]</span> being +still, and hoping. The hostile armies then came up to Jerusalem, and laid siege +to it. It was probably by the intelligence of the advance of Asshur that they were +induced to raise the siege. It was now confirmed that the Prophet had been right +in designating the two hostile kings as mere tails of smoking firebrands. Damascus +was taken by the King of Ophir; the inhabitants were carried away into exile to +Kir; Rezin was slain, 2 Kings xvi. 9: the land of Israel was devastated; a portion +of its inhabitants was carried away into exile; the king was made tributary, 2 Kings +xv. 29. Exactly at the time fixed by the Prophet, the overthrow of the two hostile +kingdoms took place; but the deliverance which, without any farther sacrifice, Ahaz +would have obtained, if he had believed the Prophet, had now to be purchased by +very heavy sacrifices; and with perfect justice it is said in 2 Chron. xxviii. 20, +21, that the king of Asshur did not help him, but rather, by coming unto him, distressed +him. Ahaz purchased this help at the price of his independence, and had probably +to submit to very hard claims being made upon him. (<i>Caspari</i>, S. 60.) The +world's power, to which Ahaz had offered a finger, seized, more and more, the whole +hand, and held it by a firm grasp. Under Hezekiah, faith broke through the consequences +of the sin of the family; but this interruption lasted as long only as did the faith. +In addition to that which Ahaz had, for his unbelief, to suffer from Aram, Ephraim, +and Asshur, came the rebellion of the neighbouring nations,--of the Edomites, according +to 2 Chron. xxviii. 17, and of the Philistines, according to ver. 18.</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 1. "<i>And it came to pass in the days of Ahaz, the son of +Jotham, the son of Uzziah, that Rezin, the king of Aram, and Pekah the son of Remaliah, +the king of Israel, went up toward Jerusalem, to war against it, and could not fight +against it.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">In thus tracing back the pedigree of Ahaz to Uzziah, there is +a reference to chap. vi. 1: "In the year that King Uzziah <span class="pagenum"> +[Pg 32]</span> died," &c. These two chapters stand related to each other as prophecy +and fulfilment. It was in the year of Uzziah's death that the Prophet had been seized +with fearful forebodings; and by the divine word these fearful forebodings had soon +been raised into a clear knowledge of the threatening judgments which were impending. +Under Ahaz, the second successor of Uzziah, this knowledge began to be realized, +keeping pace with the hardening which in Ahaz had become personified. He, the type +of the unbelieving Jewish people, did not hear and understand, did not see and perceive; +and the announcement of the Prophet served merely to increase his hardening. Even +as early as that, the germ of the carrying away of the people, announced by the +Prophet in chap. vi., was formed.--The circumstance of the hostile kings being introduced +as <i>going up</i> implies the spiritual elevation of Jerusalem; comp. remarks on +Ps. xlviii. 3; xlviii. 17. The city of God is unconquerable unless her inhabitants +and, above all, the anointed one of God, make, by their unbelief, their glorious +privilege of no avail. In the last words: "<i>And could not fight against it</i>," +(the singular <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">יכל</span> because Rezin is the chief +person, Rezin and Pekah being identical with Rezin with Pekah, comp. Esth. iv. 16), +the result of the siege is anticipated; and this is easily accounted for by the +consideration that ver. 1 serves as an introduction to the whole account, stating, +in general terms, the circumstances which induced the Prophet to come publicly forward. +In the following verses, the share only is mentioned which the Prophet took in the +matter; and the account is closed after he has discharged his commission. The apparent +contradiction to 2 Kings xvi. 5, according to which Jerusalem was really besieged,--a +contradiction which occurs also in that passage itself: "And they besieged Ahaz, +and could not fight"--is most simply reconciled by the remark that a fruitless struggle +can, as it were, not be called a struggle, just as, <i>e. g.</i>, in the Old Testament, +such as have a name little known are spoken of as being without a name.</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 2, "<i>And it was told to the house of David, saying: Aram +rests upon Ephraim. Then his heart trembled, and the heart of his people, like as +the trembling of the trees of the wood before the wind.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">The representative of the house of David was, according to +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 33]</span> ver. 1, Ahaz, to whom the suffix in +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">לבבו</span> refers. It is thereby intimated that +Ahaz does not come into consideration as an individual, but as a representative +of the whole Davidic family, of which the members were responsible, conjunctly and +severally, and which in Ahaz denied their God, and gave themselves up to the world's +power,--a deed of the family from the consequences of which a heroic faith only, +like that of Hezekiah, could deliver, but in such a manner only that it at once +became valid again when this faith ceased, until at length in Christ the house of +David was raised to glory. Ver. 19 shows that <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">נוח</span> +must be taken in the signification "to let oneself down," "to sit down," "to encamp." +The anguish of the natural man, who has not his strength in God at the breaking +in of danger, is most graphically described.</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 3. "<i>And the Lord said to Isaiah: Go out to meet Ahaz, +thou and Shearjashub thy son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool, in the +highway of the fuller's field.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">Why is the Prophet to seek out the king just at this place? The +answer is given by chap. xxii. 2. "And a reservoir you make between the two walls +for the waters of the old pool: and not do ye look unto him who makes it (viz., +the impending calamity), and not do ye regard him who fashioned it long ago."<!--inserted quote--> +When a siege of Jerusalem was imminent, in the lower territory, the first task was +to cut off the water from the hostile army. This measure Hezekiah, according to +2 Chron. xxxii. 3, took against Sennacherib: "And he took counsel with his princes +and his mighty men, to stop the waters of the fountains which were without the city, +and they helped him." That might be done in faith; but he who, like Ahaz, did not +stand in the faith, sought in it, <i>per se</i>, his safety; his despairing heart +clung to such measures. The stopping of the fountains was, in his case, on a level +with seeking help from the Assyrians. It is thus in the midst of his sin that the +Prophet seeks out the king, and recalls to his conscience: "take heed and be quiet." +But why did the Prophet take his son Shearjashub with him? It surely cannot be without +significance; for otherwise it would not have been recorded, far less would it have +been done at the express command of the Lord. As the boy does not appear actively, +the reason can only be in the signification of the name. According to chap. viii., +the Prophet was accustomed to give to <span class="pagenum">[Pg 34]</span> his sons +symbolical names which had a relation to the destinies of the nation. They were, +according to chap. viii. 18, "for signs and for wonders in Israel." But as an interpretation +of the name, the passage chap. x. 21 is to be considered: "The remnant shall return, +the remnant of Jacob unto the mighty God." The word +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">שוב</span> can, accordingly, be understood of returning +to the Lord, of repentance only, comp. chap. i. 27; Hos. iii. 5. But with repentance +the recovery of salvation is indissolubly connected. The reason why it is impossible +that they who commit the sin against the Holy Ghost shall never recover salvation +lies solely in the circumstance, that it is impossible that they should be renewed +to repentance. The fundamental passage, which is comprehended in the name of the +Prophet's son: "And thou returnest unto the Lord thy God.... And the Lord thy God +turneth thy captivity (<i>i.e.</i>, thy misery), and hath compassion upon thee, +and returneth and gathereth thee from all the nations" (Deut. xxx. 2, 3), emphatically +points out the indissoluble connection of the return to the Lord, and of the return +of the Lord to His people. This connection comes out so much the more clearly, when +we consider that, according to Scripture, repentance is not the work of man but +of God, and is nothing else but the beginning of the bestowal of salvation; comp. +Deut. xxx. 6: "And the Lord thy God circumciseth thine heart, and the heart of thy +seed to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that +thou mayest live;" Zech. xii. 10. King and people feared entire destruction; and +it was at this that their powerful enemies aimed. Isaiah took his son with him, +"as the living proof of the preservation of the nation, even amidst the most fearful +destruction of the greater part of it." After having in this manner endeavoured +to free their minds from the extreme of fear, he seeks to elevate them to joyful +hopes, by the prophetical announcement proper, which showed that, from this quarter, +not even the future great judgment, which would leave a portion only, was to be +feared.</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 4. "<i>And say unto him: Take heed and be quiet; fear not, +nor let thy heart be tender for the two ends of these smoking firebrands, for the +fierce anger of Rezin and Aram, and of the son of Remaliah.</i>"</p> +<p class="continue"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 35]</span></p> +<p class="normal">The words "<i>Take heed</i>" point to the dangerous consequences +of fear; comp. ver. 9: "If ye do not believe, ye shall not be established." On the +words "<i>be quiet</i>," lit., make quiet, viz., thy heart and walk, comp. chap. +xxx. 15: "For thus saith the Lord: By returning and rest ye shall be saved; in +<i>quietness</i> and confidence shall be your strength; and ye would not." Such +as he was, Ahaz could not respond to the exhortations to be quiet. Quietness is +a product of <i>faith</i>. But the way of faith stood open to Ahaz every moment, +and by his promising word and by his example, the Prophet invited him to enter upon +it. In the words: "Fear not," &c., there is an unmistakable reference to Deut. xx. +1, ff., according to which passage the priest was, on the occasion of hostile oppression, +to speak to the people: "Let not your hearts be tender, and be not terrified." That +which, in the Law, the priest was commanded to do, is here done by the Prophet, +who was obliged so often to step in as a substitute, when the class of the ordinary +servants fell short of the height of their calling.--The "firebrand" is the image +of the conqueror who destroys countries by the fire of war, comp. remarks on Rev. +viii. 8. The Prophet is just about to announce to the hostile kings their impending +overthrow; for this reason, he calls them <i>ends</i> of firebrands, which no longer +blaze, but only glimmer. He calls them thus because he considers them with the eye +of <i>faith</i>; to the bodily eye a bright flame still presented itself, as the +last words: "For the fierce anger," &c., and vers. 5 and 6 show. <i>Chrysostom</i> +remarks: "He calls these kings 'firebrands,' to indicate at the same time their +violence, and that they are to be easily overcome; and it is for this reason, that +he adds 'smoking,' <i>i.e.</i>, that they were near being altogether extinguished."</p> +<p class="normal">Vers. 5, 6. "<i>Because Aram meditates evil against thee, Ephraim +and the son of Remaliah, saying: Let us go up against Judah, and drive it to extremity, +and conquer it for us, and set up as a king in the midst of it the son of Tabeal.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">We have here, farther carried out, the thought indicated by the +words: "for the fierce anger," &c. The interval, in the original text, between vers. +6 and 7, is put in to prevent the false connection of these verses with ver. 7 (<i>Hitzig</i> +and <i>Ewald</i>).--<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">קוץ</span> always means "to loathe," +"to experience disgust;" here, <span class="pagenum">[Pg 36]</span> in Hiph., "to +cause disgust," "to drive to extremity;" comp. my work on Balaam, Rem. on Num. xxii. +3.--<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">בקע</span> means always: "to cleave asunder," +"to open," "to conquer."--The words: "<i>For us</i>," show that Tabeal is to be +the vassal only of the two kings. The absolute confidence with which the Prophet +recognizes the futility of the plan of the two kings, forms a glaring contrast to +the modern view of Prophetism, Ver. 2 shows in what light ordinary consciousness +did, and could not fail to look on the then existing state of things.</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 7. "<i>Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: It shall not stand, neither +shall it come to pass.</i>" (A plan stands when it is carried out.)</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 8. "<i>For the head of Aram is Damascus, and the head of +Damascus is Rezin, and in threescore and five years more, Ephraim shall be broken, +and be no more a people.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 9. "<i>And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of +Samaria is Remaliah's son. If ye believe not, ye shall not be established.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">Each of these two verses forms a complete whole.--The words: "For +the head of Aram," &c., to "Rezin" receive their explanation from the antithesis +to vers. 5 and 6, where the king of Aram and the king of Ephraim had declared their +intention of extending their dominion over Judah. As, concerning this intention +and this hope, the Lord has declared His will that it shall not be, we must understand: +Not as regards Judah, and not as regards Jerusalem. It is in vain that men's thoughts +exalt themselves against the purposes of God. From Aram, the Prophet turns, in the +second part of the verse, to Ephraim: "And even Ephraim! What could it prevail against +the Lord and His Kingdom! It surely should give up all attempts to get more; its +days are numbered, the sword is already suspended over its own head." But inasmuch +as it is possible, although not likely, that Ephraim, before its own overthrow, +may still bring evil upon Judah, this is expressly denied in ver. 9: Samaria, according +to the counsel of God, and the limit assigned to it, is the head of Ephraim only, +and not, at the same time, of Judah, &c. With this are then connected the closing +words: "If ye believe not, ye shall not be established" (properly, the consequence +will be that ye do not continue), which are equivalent to it: it is hence not Samaria +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 37]</span> and the son of Remaliah that you have to fear; +the enemy whom you have to dread, whom you have to contend against with prayer and +supplication, is in yourselves. Take heed lest a similar cause produce a similar +effect, as in the last clause of ver. 8 it has been threatened against Ephraim.--This +prophecy and warning, one would have expected to have produced an effect so much +the deeper, because they were not uttered by some obscure fanatic, but by a worthy +member of a class which had in its favour the sanction of the Lawgiver, and which +in the course of centuries had been so often and so gloriously owned and acknowledged +by God.<sup class="ftnRef"><a name="ftnRef_37a" href="#ftn_37a">[3]</a></sup></p> +<p class="continue"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 38]</span></p> +<p class="normal">Vers. 10, 11. "<i>And the Lord spoke farther unto Ahaz, saying, +Ask thee a sign of the Lord thy God; ask it from the depth, or above from the height.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">Ahaz observed a dignified silence after those words of the Prophet; +but his whole manner shews the Prophet that they have not made any impression upon +him. If David's spirit had rested on Ahaz, he would surely, if he had wavered at +all, have, on the word of the Prophet, thrown himself into the arras of his God. +But in order that the depth of his apostacy, the greatness of his guilt, and the +justice of the divine judgments may become manifest, God shows him even a deeper +condescension. The Prophet offers to prove the truth of his announcement by any +miraculous work which the king himself should determine, and from which he might, +at the same time, see God's omnipotence, and the Divine mission of the Prophet. +As Ahaz refused the offered sign, the word 2 Tim. ii. 12, 13: +<span lang="el" class="Greek">εἰ ἀρνούμεθα, κἀκεῖνος ἀρνήσεται ἡμᾶς· εἰ ἀπιστοῦμεν, +ἐκεῖνος πιστὸς μένει·--ἀρνήσασθαι γὰρ ἑαυτὸν οὐ δύναται</span> came into application. +According to Deut. vii. 9 ff. the truth and faithfulness of God must now manifest +itself in the <span class="pagenum">[Pg 39]</span> infliction of severe visitations +upon the house of David.--The character of a <i>sign</i> is, in general, borne by +everything which serves for certifying facts which belong to the territory of faith, +and not to that of sight. 1. In some instances, the sign consists in a mere naked +word; thus in Exod. iii. 12: "And this shall be the sign unto thee that I have sent +thee: When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon +this mountain." Moses' doubts of the truth of his Divine mission originated in the +consciousness of his own unworthiness, and in the condition of those to whom he +was sent. From these doubts he was delivered by the announcement that, at the place +where he had been called, he, at the head of the delivered people, should serve +his God. This was to him a <i>sign</i> that God was in earnest in calling him. 2. +In other instances the assurance given by the sign consists in its perceptibility +and corporeality; so that the word assumes, as it were, flesh and blood. A case +of this kind it is, <i>e.g.</i>, when, in chap. viii. 18, Isaiah calls his two sons, +to whom, at the command of God, he had given symbolical names, expressive of the +future salvation of the covenant-people, "Signs and wonders in Israel;" farther, +chap. xx. 3, where the Prophet walks naked and barefoot for a sign of the calamity +impending over Egypt and Ethiopia in three years. 3. In another class of signs, +a fact is announced which is, in itself, natural, but not to be foreseen by any +human combination, the coming to pass of which, in the immediate future, furnishes +the proof that, at a distant future, that will be fulfilled which was foretold as +impending. The wonderful element, and the demonstrative power do not, in such a +case, lie in the matter of the sign, but in the telling of it beforehand. It is +in this sense that, in 1 Sam. x., Samuel gives several <i>signs</i> to Saul, that +God had destined him to be king, <i>e.g.</i>, that in a place exactly fixed, he +would meet two men who would bring him the intelligence that the lost asses were +found; that, farther onwards, he would meet with three men, one of whom would be +carrying three kids, another, three loaves of bread, and another, a bottle of wine, +&c. In 1 Sam. ii. 34, the sudden death of his two sons is given to Eli as a sign +that all the calamities threatened against his family should certainly come to pass. +In Jer. xliv. 29, 30, the impending defeat of Pharaoh-Hophras is given as a <i>sign</i> +of the divine vengeance breaking in upon the Jews in Egypt. Even before the +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 40]</span> thing came to pass, it could not in such a +case, be otherwise than that the previous condition and foundation brought before +the eyes in a lively manner (Jer. xliv. 30: +<!--inserted quote-->"<i>Behold</i>, I give Pharaoh-Hophras into the hands of his +enemies") gave a powerful shock to the doubts as to whether the fact in question +would come to pass. 4. In other cases, the assurance was given in such a manner, +that all doubts as to the truth of the announcement were set at rest by the immediate +performance of a miraculous work going beyond the ordinary laws of nature. Thus, +<i>e.g.</i>, Isaiah says to Hezekiah, in chap. xxviii. 7: "And this shall be the +sign unto thee from the Lord, that the Lord will do this thing which He has spoken," +and, as a <i>sign</i> that the Lord would add fifteen years to the life of the King, +who was sick unto death, he makes the shadow on the sun-dial of Ahaz to go back +ten degrees. Of this description were also the signs granted to Gideon, and, in +many respects, the plagues in Egypt also. In the passage before us, no other sign +can possibly be spoken of than one of the <i>two last classes</i>. For it was a +real, miraculous sign only which could possibly exert any influence on a mind so +darkened as was that of Ahaz, and it was the vain offer of such an one only which +was fitted to bring to light his obduracy. If, then, the Prophet was willing and +able to give a real, miraculous sign, why, then, is the answer of Ahaz so unsuitable? +And we can surely not suppose, as <i>Meier</i> does, that he should have intentionally +misunderstood the Prophet. The temptation of the Lord by the children of Israel, +to which the word of the Lord, Deut. vi. 16, quoted by Ahaz, refers, consisted, +according to Exod. xvii., in their having asked <i>water</i>, as a <i>miraculous +sign</i> that the Lord was truly in the midst of them. How could the Prophet reproach +Ahaz with having offended, not men merely, but God, unless he had offered to prove, +by a fact which lay absolutely beyond the limits of nature, the truth of his announcement, +the divinity of Him who gave it, the divinity of his own mission, and the soundness +of his advice? <i>Hendewerk</i> is of opinion that "it is difficult to say what +the author would have made to be the sign in the heavens; probably, a very simple +thing." But in making this objection it is forgotten that Isaiah gives <i>free choice</i> +to the king. <i>Hitzig</i> says: "Without knowing it, Isaiah here plays a very dangerous +game. For if Ahaz had accepted his proposition, Jehovah would +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 41]</span> probably have left His servant in the lurch, +and he would have begun to doubt of his God and of himself." In these words, at +all events, it is conceded that the prophets themselves would not be what people +in modern times would have them to be. If such was their position towards <i>miracles</i>, +then, in their own convictions, <i>prophecies</i>, too, must be something else than +general descriptions, and indefinite forebodings. But how should it have been possible +that an order could have maintained itself for centuries, the most prominent members +of which gave themselves up to such enthusiastic imprudence and rashness? Moreover, +it is overlooked that afterwards, to Hezekiah, our Prophet grants that in reality +which here he offers to Ahaz in vain,--<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">העמק</span> +and <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">הגבה</span> are <i>Infin. absol.</i> "going high," +"going low." The Imperat. <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">שאלה</span> must be understood +after <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">הגבה</span> also. Some explain +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">שאלה</span> by "to hell," "down to hell;" but this +is against the form of the word, which it would be arbitrary to change. Nor does +one exactly see how, if we except, perhaps, the apparition of one dead, Isaiah could +have given to the king a sign from the Sheol; and in other passages, too (comp. +Joel iii. 3 [ii. 30]), signs in the heavens and in the earth are contrasted with +one another. <i>Theodoret</i> remarks that both kinds of miracles, among which the +Lord here allowed a choice to Ahaz, were granted by Him to his pious son, Hezekiah, +inasmuch as He wrought a phenomenon in <i>heaven</i> which affected the going back +of the shadow on the sun-dial of Ahaz; and on <i>earth</i>, inasmuch as He, in a +wonderful manner, destroyed the Assyrians, and restored the king to health. <i>Jerome</i> +farther remarks, that, from among the plagues in Egypt, the lice, frogs, &c., were +signs on earth; the hail, fire, and three day's darkness, were signs in the heaven. +It is on the passage before us that the Pharisees take their stand, when in Matt. +xvi. 1 they ask from the Lord that He should grant them a sign from heaven. If even +the Prophet Isaiah offered to prove in such a manner his divine mission, then, according +to their opinion, Christ was much more bound to do this, inasmuch as He set up far +higher claims. But they overlooked the circumstance that enough had already been +granted for convincing those who were well disposed, and that it can never be a +duty to convince obstinate unbelief in a manner so palpable.</p> +<p class="continue"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 42]</span></p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 12. "<i>And Ahaz said: I will not ask, neither will I tempt +the Lord.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">Ahaz declines the offer by referring to Deut. vi. 16., and thus +assuming the guise of reverence for God and His commandment. "He pretends," says +<i>Calvin</i>, "to have faith in the words of the Prophet, and not to require anything +besides the word." The same declarations of the Law, the Lord opposes to Satan, +when the latter would induce Him to do something for which he had no word of God, +Matt. iv. 7. That would really have been a tempting of God. Ahaz had no doubt that +the miracle would really be performed; but he had a dislike to enter within the +mystical sphere. Who knows whether the God who grants the miracle is really the +highest God? comp. Is. x. 10, 11, xxxvi. 18–20, xxxvii. 10–12. Who knows whether +He is not laying for him a trap; whether, by preventing him from seeking the help +of man. He is not to bring upon him the destruction which his conscience tells him +he has so richly deserved? At all events the affording of His help is clogged with +a condition which he is resolved not to fulfil, viz., his conversion. A better and +easier bargain, he thought, could be struck with the Assyrians; how insatiable soever +they might be, they did not ask the heart. How many do even now-a-days rather perish +in sin and misery, than be converted!</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 13. "<i>And he said: Hear ye now, O house of David: Is it +too little for you to provoke man, that you provoke also my God?</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">When Ahaz had before refused to believe in the simple announcement +of the Prophet, his sin was more pardonable; for, inasmuch as Isaiah had not proved +himself outwardly as a divine ambassador, Ahaz sinned to a certain degree against +man only, against the Prophet only, by unjustly suspecting him of a deceitful pretension +to a divine revelation. Hence, Isaiah continues mild and gentle. But when Ahaz declined +the offered sign, <i>God himself</i> was provoked by him, and his wickedness came +evidently to light. It is substantially the same difference as that between the +sin against the <i>Son of Man</i>, the Christ coming outwardly and as a man only +(Bengel: <i>quo statu conspicu, quatenus aequo tum loco cum hominibus conversabatur</i>), +and the sin against the Holy Ghost who powerfully glorifies Him outwardly and inwardly. +It is the antithesis <span class="pagenum">[Pg 43]</span> of the relative ignorance +of what one is doing, and of the absolute unwillingness which purposely hardens +itself to the truth known, or easy to be known. We say <i>relative</i> ignorance; +for an element of obduracy and hardening already existed, if he did not believe +the Prophet, even without a sign. For the fact that the Prophet was sent by God, +and spoke God's word, was testified to all who would hear it, even by the inner +voice, just as in every sin against the Son of Man there is always already an element +of the sin against the Holy Ghost.--The truth that godlessness is the highest folly +is here seen in a very evident manner. The same Ahaz who rejects the offer of the +living God, who palpably wishes to reveal to him that He is a living God, sacrifices +his son to the dead idol Moloch, who never yet gave the smallest sign of life! In +this mirror we may see the condition of human nature.--The circumstance that it +is not Ahaz, but the house of David that is addressed, indicates that the deed is +a deed of the whole house.--The Prophet says, "<i>My God</i>," <i>i.e.</i>, the +God whose faithful servant I am, and in whom ye hypocrites have no more any share. +In Ver. 11, the Prophet had still called Him the God of Ahaz.</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 14. "<i>Therefore the Lord himself giveth you a sign: Behold +the Virgin is with child, and heareth a Son, and thou callest his name Immanuel.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">Ahaz had refused the proffered sign; the whole depth of his apostacy +had become manifest; no further regard was to be had to him. But it was necessary +to strengthen those who feared God, in their confidence in the Lord, and in their +hope in him. For this reason, the Prophet gives a sign, even against the will of +Ahaz, by which the announcement of the deliverance from the two kings was confirmed. +Your weak, prostrate faith, he says, may erect itself on the certain fact that, +in the Son of the Virgin, the Lord will some day be with us in the truest manner, +and may perceive therein a guarantee and a pledge of the lower help in the present +danger also.--"Therefore"--because ye will not fix upon a sign. <i>Reinke</i>, in +the ably written Monograph on this passage, assigns to +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">לכן</span> the signification, "nevertheless," which +is not supported by the <i>usus loquendi</i>.--<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">יתן</span> +must be translated as a Present; for the pregnancy of the Virgin and birth of Immanuel +are present to <span class="pagenum">[Pg 44]</span> the Prophet; and the fact cannot +serve as a sign, in so far as it manifests itself outwardly, but only in so far +as, by being foretold, it is realized as present.--<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">הוא</span> +<i>He</i>, <i>i.e.</i>, of His own accord without any co-operation, such as would +have taken place if Ahaz had asked the sign.--<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">לכם</span> +refers by its form to the house of David; but in determining the sign, it is not +the real condition of its representative at that time which is regarded, but as +he ought to be. In substance, the sign given to ungodly Ahaz is destined for believers +only.--<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">הנה</span> "behold" indicates the energy with +which the Prophet anticipates the future; in his spirit it becomes to him the immediate +present. Thus it was understood as early as by <i>Chrysostom</i>: +<span lang="el" class="Greek">μόνον γὰρ οὐκ ὁρῶντος ἦν τὰ γινόμενα καὶ φανταζομένου +καὶ πολλὴν ἔχοντος ὑπερ τῶν εἰρημένων πληροφορίαν, τῶν γὰρ ἡμετέρων ὀφθαλμῶν ἐκεῖνοι +σαφέστερον τὰ μὴ ὁρώμενα ἔβλεπον.</span>--The article in +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">העלמה</span> cannot refer to <i>the</i> virgin <i> +known</i> as the mother of the Saviour; for, besides the passage before us, it is +only Micah v. 2 (3) which mentions the mother of the Saviour, and it is our passage +only which speaks of her as a <i>virgin</i>. In harmony with +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">הנה</span>, the article in +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">העלמה</span> might be explained from the circumstance +that the Virgin is present to the inward perception of the Prophet--equivalent to +"the virgin there." But since the use of the article in the <i>generic</i> sense +is so general, it is most natural to understand "the virgin"<!--inserted quote--> +as forming a contrast to the married or old woman, and hence, in substance, as here +equivalent to <i>a</i> virgin. To this view we are led also by the circumstance +that, in the parallel passage, Mic. v. 2 (3) <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">יולדה</span> +"a bearing woman" is used without the article.--<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">עלמה</span> +is, by old expositors, commonly derived from <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">עלם</span> +in the signification "to conceal" A virgin, they assume, is called a <i>concealed</i> +one, with reference to the customs of the East, where the virgins are obliged to +lead a concealed life. Thus it was understood by <i>Jerome</i> also: +<!--inserted quote-->"<i>Almah</i> is not applied to girls or virgins generally, +but is used emphatically of a hidden and concealed virgin, who is never accessible +to the look of males, but who is with great care watched by the parents." But all +parties now rightly agree that the word is to be derived from +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">עלם</span>, in the signification, "to grow up." To +offer here any arguments in proof would be a work of supererogation, as they are +offered by all dictionaries. But with all that, <i>Luther's</i> remark is even now +in full force: "If <span class="pagenum">[Pg 45]</span> a Jew or a Christian can +prove to me that in any passage of Scripture <i>Almah</i> means +<!--changeed quote-->'a married woman,'<!--changed quote--> I will give him a hundred +florins, although God alone knows where I may find them." It is true that +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">עלמה</span> is distinguished from +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">בתולה</span>, which designates the virgin state as +such, and in this signification occurs in Joel i. 8. also where the bride laments +over her bridegroom whom she has lost by death. Inviolate chastity is, in itself, +not implied in the word. But certain it is that <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">עלמה</span> +designates an unmarried person in the first years of youth; and if this be the case, +un violated chastity is a matter of course in this context; for if the mother of +the Saviour was to be an <i>unmarried</i> person, she could be a virgin only; and, +in general, it is inconceivable that the Prophet should have brought forward a relation +of impure love. In favour of "an unmarried person" is, in the first instance, the +derivation. Being derived from <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">עלם</span>, "to grow +up," "to become marriageable," <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">עלמה</span> can denote +nothing else than <i>puella nubilis</i>. But still more decisive is the <i>usus +loquendi</i>. In Arabic and Syriac the corresponding words are never used of married +women, and <i>Jerome</i> remarks, that in the Punic dialect also a virgin proper +is called <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">עלמה</span>. Besides in the passage before +us, the word occurs in Hebrew six times (Gen. xxiv. 43; Exod. ii. 8; Ps. lxviii. +26; Song of Sol. i. 3, vi. 8; Prov. xxx. 19); but in all these passages the word +is undeniably used of unmarried persons. In the two passages of the Song of Solomon, +the <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">עלמות</span> designate the nations which have +not yet attained to an union with the heavenly Solomon, but are destined for this +union. In chap. vi. 8, they are, as <i>brides</i>, expressly contrasted with the +<i>wives</i> of the first and second class. Marriage forms the boundary; the <i> +Almah</i> appears here distinctly as the anti-thesis to a married woman. It is the +passage in Proverbs only which requires a more minute examination, as the opponents +have given up all the other passages, and seek in it alone a support for their assertion +that <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">עלמה</span> may be used of a married woman also. +The passage in its connection runs as follows: Ver. 18. "There be three things which +are too wonderful for me, and four which I know not. Ver. 19. The way of an eagle +in the air, the way of a serpent upon the rock, the way of a ship in the heart of +the sea, and the way of a man with a maid. Ver. 20. This is the way of an adulterous +woman; she <span class="pagenum">[Pg 46]</span> eateth, and wipeth her mouth and +saith: I have done no wickedness." According to <i>De Wette</i>, <i>Bertheau</i>, +and others, the <i>tertium comparationis</i> for every thing is to lie in this only, +that the ways do not leave any trace that could be recognized. But the traceless +disappearing is altogether without foundation; there is not one word to indicate +it; and it is quite impossible that that on which every thing depends should have +been left to conjecture. Farther,--instead of the eagle, every other bird might +have been mentioned, and the words "in the air" would be without meaning, as well +as the words "in the heart of the sea" mentioned in reference to the ship. But the +real point of view is expressly stated in ver. 18. It is the <i>incomprehensible</i>. +It is thus only that ver. 20, for which the other verses prepare the way, falls +in with the tendency of the whole. In the way of the adulteress, that which is pointed +out is not that it cannot be known, but the moral incomprehensibility that she, +practising great wickedness which is worthy of death, and will unavoidably bring +destruction upon her, behaves as if there were nothing wrong, as if a permitted +enjoyment were the point in question, that she eats the poisoned bread of unchaste +enjoyment as if it were ordinary bread; comp. ix. 17, xx. 17; Ps. xiv. 4. Four incomprehensible +things in the natural territory are made use of to illustrate an incomprehensible +thing in the ethical territory. The whole purpose is <i>to point out the mystery +of sin</i>. In the case of the <i>eagle</i>, it is the boldness of his flight in +which the miraculous consists. The speed and boldness of his flight is elsewhere +also very commonly mentioned as the characteristic of the eagle; it is just that +which makes him the king of birds. In the case of the <i>serpent</i>, the wonder +is that, although wanting feet, it yet moves over the smooth rock which is inaccessible +to the proud horse; comp. Amos vi. 12: "Do horses run upon the rock." In the <i> +ship</i>, it is the circumstance that she safely passes over the abyss which, as +it would appear, could not fail to swallow her up. <i>The way of a man with a maid</i> +occupies the last place in order to intimate that <span lang="he" class="Hebrew"> +דרך</span>, as in the case of the adulteress, denotes the <i>spiritual</i> way. +What is here meant is the relation of the man to the virgin, <i>generally</i>, for +if any <i>particular</i> aspect had been regarded, <i>e. g.</i>, that of boldness, +cunning, or secrecy, it <span class="pagenum">[Pg 47]</span> ought to have been +pointed at. The way of the man with the maid is the secret of which mention is made +as early as in Gen. ii. 24,--the union of the strong with the weak and tender (comp. +the parallel passage, Jer. xxxi. 22), the secret attraction which connects with +one another the hearts, and at last, the bodies. The end of the way is marriage. +It is the <i>young</i> love which specially bears the character of the mysterious; +after the relation has been established, it attracts less wonder.--<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">הָרָה</span> +is the femin. of the verbal adj. <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">הָרֶה</span>. The +fundamental passage, Gen. xvi. 11, where the angel of the Lord says to Hagar: "Behold +thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael, because +the Lord has heard thy affliction," shows that we must translate: The virgin <i> +is</i> with child, and not: becomes with child. The allusion to that passage in +Genesis is very significant. In that case, as well as in the one under consideration, +salvation is brought into connection with the birth of a child. To the birth of +Ishmael, the despairing Hagar is directed as to a security for the divine favour; +to the birth of Immanuel, the desponding people are directed as to the actual proof +that God is with them. If the <i>Almah</i> represents herself to the Prophet as +being already with child, then passages such as Is. xxix. 8, Matt. xi. 5, are not +applicable. A virgin who is with child cannot be one who was a virgin.--The form +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">קראת</span> may be 3d fem. for +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">קראה</span>, comp. Jer. xliv. 23; but the fundamental +passage in Gen. xvi. 11 is decisive for considering it as the 2d fem.: "<i>thou</i> +callest," as an address to the virgin; in which case the form is altogether regular. +It was not a rare occurrence in Israel that mothers gave the name to children, Gen. +iv. 1, 25, xix. 37, xxix. 32. The circumstance, therefore, that the giving of the +name is assigned to the mother (the virgin) affords no ground for supposing, as +many of the older expositors do, that this is an intimation that the child would +not have a human father. "Thou callest" can, on the contrary, according to the custom +then prevalent, be substantially equivalent to: they shall name, Matt. +<span lang="el" class="Greek">καλέσουσι</span>, <i>Jerome</i>: <i>vocabitur</i>. +The name is, of course, not to be considered as an ordinary <i>nomen proprium</i>, +but as a designation of his nature and character. It may be understood in different +ways. Several interpreters, <i>e. g.</i>, <i>Jerome</i>, referring to passages such +as Ps. xlvi. 8, lxxxix. 25, Is. xliii. 2, Jer. i. 8, see <span class="pagenum">[Pg +48]</span> in it nothing else than an appeal to, and promise of divine aid. According +to others, the name is to be referred to God's becoming man in the Messiah; thus +<i>Theodoret</i> says: "The name reveals the God who is with us, the God who became +man, the God who took upon Him the human nature." In a similar manner <i>Irenaeus</i>, +<i>Tertullian</i>, <i>Chrysostom</i>, <i>Lactantius</i>, <i>Calvin</i>, and others, +express themselves. But those very parallel passages just quoted show that the name +in itself has no distinct reference to the incarnation of God in Christ. But from +the passage chap. ix. 5, (6), which is so closely connected with the one before +us, and in which the Messiah is called <i>God-hero</i>, (the mighty God), and His +divine nature so emphatically pointed out (comp. also Mic. v. 1 [2],) it plainly +appears that the Prophet had in view the highest and truest form of God's being +with His people, such as was made manifest when the word became flesh. (Chrysostom +says: "Then, above all, God was with us on earth, when He was seen on earth, and +conversed with man, and manifested so great care for us.")</p> +<p class="normal">According, then, to the interpretation given, this verse before +us affirms that, at some future period, the Messiah should be born by a virgin, +among the covenant people, who in the truest manner would bring God near to them, +and open the treasures of His salvation. In Vol. I. p. 500 ff., we proved that this +explanation occurs already in the Gospel according to St. Matthew. According to +the interpretation of the Apostle, the passage can refer to Christ only, and finds +in him not only the highest, but the only fulfilment. In the Christian Church, throughout +all ages, the Messianic explanation was the prevailing one. It was held by all the +Fathers of the Church, and by all other Christian commentators down to the middle +of the 18th century,--only that some, besides the higher reference to the Messiah, +assumed a lower one to some event of that period. With the revival of faith, this +view, too, has been revived. It is proved by the parallel passage, chap. ix. 5 (6). +That passage presents so remarkable an agreement with the one now under consideration, +that we cannot but assume the same subject in both. "Behold, a virgin is with child, +and beareth a son"--"A child is born unto us, a son is given;"--"They call him Immanuel," +<i>i.e.</i>, Him in whom God will be with us in the truest manner--"They call Him +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 49]</span> Wonder-Counsellor, the God-Hero, Ever-Father, +the Prince of Peace." Both of these passages can the less be separated from one +another, that chap. viii. 8 is evidently intended to lead from the one to the other. +In this passage it is said of the <i>world's power</i>, which in the meantime, and +in the first place, was represented by <i>Asshur</i>: "And the stretchings out of +his wings are the fulness of the breadth of thy land, Immanuel," i. e., his wings +will cover the whole extent of thy land,--the stretching of the wings of this immense +bird of prey, Asshur, comprehends the whole land. In the words: "Thy land, O Immanuel," +the prophecy of the wonderful Child, in chap. viii. 23–ix. 6 (ix. 1–7), is already +prepared. The land in which Immanuel is to be born, which belongs to Him, cannot +remain continually the property of heathen enemies. Every destruction is, at the +same time, a prophecy of the restoration. A look to the wonderful Child, and despair +must flee. Behind the clouds, the sun is shining. Every attempt to assign the Immanuel +to the lower sphere, must by this passage be rendered futile. For how, in that case, +could Canaan be called <i>His</i> land? The signification "native country" which +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ארץ</span>, it is true, sometimes receives by the +context, does not suit here. For the passage just points out the contrast of reality +and idea, that the world's power takes possession of the land which <i>belongs</i> +to Immanuel, and hence prepares for the announcement contained in that which follows, +viz., that this contrast shall be done away with, and that this shall be done as +soon as the legitimate proprietor comes into His kingdom. Farther,--Decisive in +favour of the Messianic explanation is also the passage Mic. v. 1, 2, (2, 3), where, +in correspondence to <i>virgin</i> here, we have, <i>she who is bearing</i>. The +latter, indeed, is not expressly called a virgin; but it follows, as a matter of +course, that she be so, as she is to bear the Hero of Divine origin ("<i>of eternity</i>"), +who, hence, cannot have been begotten by any mortal. Both of the prophecies mutually +illustrate one another. +<!--uncertain quote start-->"Micah designates the Divine origin of the Promised +One; Isaiah, the miraculous circumstances of His birth" (<i>Rosenmüller</i>) Just +as Isaiah holds up the birth of Immanuel as the pledge that the covenant-people +would not perish in their present catastrophe; just as he points to the shining +form of Immanuel, announcing the victory over the <span class="pagenum">[Pg 50]</span> +world, in order to comfort them in the impending severe oppression by the world's +power (viii. 8);--so Micah makes the oppression by the world's power continue only +until the time that she who is bearing brings forth. As Micah, in v. 1 (2), contrasts +the divine dignity and nature with the birth in time, so, in Isaiah, Immanuel, He +in whom God will most truly be with His people, is born by a virgin.</p> +<p class="normal">The arguments which the Jews, and, following their example, the +rationalistic interpreters, especially <i>Gesenius</i>, and with them <i>Olshausen</i>, +have advanced against the Messianic explanation, prove nothing. They are these:</p> +<p class="normal">1. "A reference to the Messiah who, after the lapse of centuries, +is to be born of a virgin, appears to be without meaning in the present circumstances." +This argument proves too much, and, hence, nothing. <i>It would be valid against +Messianic prophecies in general</i>, the existence of which certainly cannot be +denied. Do not Jeremiah and Ezekiel, at the time when the people were carried away +into captivity, comfort them by the announcement that the kingdom of God should, +in a far more glorious manner, be established by Messiah, whose appearance was yet +several centuries distant? The highest proof of Israel's dignity and election, was +the promise that, at some future time, the Messiah was to be born among them. How, +indeed, could the Lord leave, without the lower help in the present calamity, a +people with whom He was to be, at some future period, in the truest manner? The +Prophet refers to the future Saviour in a way quite similar to that in which the +Apostle refers to Him, after He had appeared: "Who did not spare His only begotten +Son, but gave Him up for us all, how should He not in Him give us all things freely?" +Let us only realize the truth that the hope in the Messiah formed the centre of +the life of believers; that this hope was, by fear, repressed only, but not destroyed. +All which was needed, therefore, was to revive this hope, and with it the special +hope for the present distress also was given--the assurance, firm as a rock, that +in it the covenant-people could not perish. This revival took place in this way, +that in the mind of the Prophet, the Messianic hope was, by the Holy Spirit, rekindled, +so that at his light all might kindle their lights. The Messianic idea here meets +us in such originality <span class="pagenum">[Pg 51]</span> and freshness, as if +here were its real fountain head. The faith already existing is only the foundation, +only the point of connexion. What is essential is the new revelation of the old +truth, and that could not fail to be affecting, overpowering to susceptible minds.</p> +<p class="normal">2. "The ground of consolation is too <i>general</i>. The Messiah +might be born from the family of Ahaz without the Jewish state being preserved in +its then existing condition, and without Ahaz continuing on the throne. The Babylonish +captivity intervened, and yet Messiah was to be born. Isaiah would thus have made +himself guilty of a false sophistical argumentation."--We answer: What they, at +that time, feared, was the total destruction of state and people. This appears sufficiently +from the circumstance that the prophet takes his son Shearjashub with him; and indeed +the intentions of the enemy in this respect are expressed with sufficient clearness +in ver. 6. It is this <i>extreme</i> of fear which the Prophet here first opposes. +Just as, according to the preceding verses, he met the fear of entire destruction +by taking with him his son Shearjashub, "the remnant will be converted," without +thereby excluding a temporary carrying away, so he there also prepares the mind +for the announcement contained in vers. 15, 16, of the near deliverance from the +present danger, by first representing the fear of an entire destruction to be unfounded. +A people, moreover, to whom, at some future period, although it may be at a very +remote future, a divine <i>Saviour</i> is to be sent, must, in the present also, +be under special divine protection. They may be visited by severe sufferings, they +may be brought to the very verge of destruction,--whether that shall be the case +the Prophet does not, as yet, declare,--but one thing is sure, that to them all +things must work together for good; and that is the main point. He who is convinced +of this, may calmly and quietly look at the course of events.</p> +<p class="normal">3. "The sense in which <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">אות</span> +is elsewhere used in Scripture, is altogether disregarded by this interpretation. +For, according to it, <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">אות</span> would refer to a +future event; but according to the <i>usus loquendi</i> elsewhere observed, +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">אות</span> +<!--changed quote-->'is a prophesied second event, the earlier fulfilment of which +is to afford a sure guarantee for the fulfilment of the first, which is really the +point at issue.'"<!--inserted single quote--> But, in opposition to this, it is +sufficient to <span class="pagenum">[Pg 52]</span> refer to Exod. iii. 12, where +Moses receives this as a sign of his Divine mission, and of the deliverance of the +people to be effected by him: "When thou hast brought forth my people out of Egypt, +ye shall serve God upon this mountain." In chap. xxxvii. 30, our Prophet himself, +as a confirmation of the word spoken in reference to the king of Asshur: "I make +thee return by the way by which thou earnest," gives this sign, that, in the third +year after this, agriculture should already have altogether returned into its old +tracks, and the cultivation of the country should have been altogether restored.<sup class="ftnRef"><a name="ftnRef_52a" href="#ftn_52a">[4]</a></sup> +The fact here given as a sign is later than that which is to be thereby made sure. +The sign consists only in this, that the idea is vividly called up and realized +in the mind, that the land would recover from the destruction; and this of course, +implies the destruction of the enemy. But in our chapter itself,--the name of Shearjashub +affords the example of a sign (comp. chap. vii. 18), which is taken from the territory +of the distant future. It is time that <i>commonly</i> +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">אות</span> is not used of future things; but this +has its reason not in the idea of <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">אות</span>, but +solely in the circumstance that, ordinarily, the future cannot serve as a sign of +assurance. But it is quite obvious that, in the present case, the Messianic announcement +<i>could</i> afford such a sign, and that in a far higher degree than the future +facts given as signs in Exod. iii., and Isa. xxxvii. The kingdom of glory which +has been promised to us, forms to us also a sure pledge that in all the distresses +of the Church, the Lord will not withhold His help from her. But the Covenant-people +stood in the same relation to the first appearance of Christ, as we do to the second.</p> +<p class="normal">(4.) "The passage, chap. viii. 3, 4, presents the most marked +resemblance to the one before us. If <i>there</i> the Messianic explanation be decidedly +inadmissible, it must be so <i>here</i> also. The name and birth of a child serves, +there as here, for a sign of the deliverance from the Syrian dominion. If then +<i>there</i> the mother of the child be the wife of the Prophet, and the child a +son of his, the same must be the case <i>here</i> also." But it is <i>a priori</i> +improbable that the Prophet should have given <span class="pagenum">[Pg 53]</span> +to two of his sons names which had reference to the same event. To this must be +added the circumstance, that the <i>time is wanting</i> for the birth of two sons +of the Prophet. Before Immanuel knows to refuse the evil and choose the good, the +country of both the hostile kings shall be desolated, chap. vii. 15; before Mahershalalhashbaz +knows to cry My Father, My Mother, the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria +shall be carried before the king of Assyria, chap. viii. 4. The two births hence +coincide. At all events, it is impossible to find the time for a double birth by +the same mother. Several interpreters (<i>Gesenius</i>, <i>Hitzig</i>, <i>Hendewerk</i>,) +assume the identity of Immanuel and Mahershalalhashbaz; but this is altogether inadmissible, +even from the difference of the names. It is the less admissible to assume a double +name for the child, as the name Shearjashub plainly enough shews that the Prophet +was in earnest with the names of his children; and indeed, unless they had been +real proper names, there would have existed no reason at all for giving them to +them. To have assigned several names to one child would have weakened their power. +The agreement must, therefore, rather be explained from the circumstance, that it +was by the announcement in chap. vii. 14 that the Prophet was induced to the symbolical +action in chap. viii. 3, 4. He has, in chap. vii. 14, given to the despairing people +the birth of a child, who would bring the highest salvation for Israel, as a pledge +of their deliverance. The birth of a child and its name were then required as an +actual prophecy of help in the present distress,--a help which was to be granted +with a view to that Child, who not only indicates, but grants deliverance from all +distresses, and to whom the Prophet reverts in chap. ix., and even already in chap. +viii. 8.--Moreover, besides the agreement there is found a thorough difference. +In chap. vii. the mother of the child is called <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">העלמה</span>, +whereby a virgin only can be designated; in chap. viii., "the prophetess." In chap. +vii. there is not even the slightest allusion to the Prophet's being the father; +while in chap. viii. this circumstance is expressly and emphatically pointed out. +In chap. vii. it is the mother who gives the name to the child; in chap. viii. it +is the Prophet. Far closer is the agreement of chap. ix. 5 (6) with chap. vii. 14. +It especially appears in the circumstances that in neither of them +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 54]</span> is the father of the child designated; and, +farther, in the correspondence of Immanuel with <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">אל +גבור</span>, God-Hero.</p> +<p class="normal">(5.) "Against the Messianic explanation, and in favour of that +of a son of the Prophet, is the passage chap. viii. 18, where the Prophet says that +his sons have been given to him for signs and wonders in Israel." But although Immanuel +be erroneously reckoned among the sons of the Prophet, there still remain Shearjashub +and Mahershalalhashbaz. The latter name refers, <i>in the first instance only</i>, +to Aram and Ephraim specially; or the general truth which it declares is applied +to this relation only. But, just as the name Shearjashub announces new <i>salvation</i> +to the prostrate <i>people of God</i>, so the second name announces near <i>destruction</i> +to the triumphing <i>world</i> hostile to God; so that both the names supplement +one another. As <i>signs</i>, these two sons of the Prophet pointed to the future +deliverance and salvation of Israel, and the defeat of the world; and the very circumstance +that they did so when, humanly viewed, all seemed to be lost, was a subject for +wonder. But that we can in no case make Immanuel a third son of the Prophet, we +have already proved.</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 15. <i>Cream and honey shall he eat, when he knows to refuse +the evil and choose the good.</i> Ver. 16. <i>For before the boy shall know to refuse +the evil and choose the good, the country shall be forsaken of the two kings of +which thou standest in awe.</i></p> +<p class="normal">The older Messianic explanation has, in these two verses, exposed +itself to the charge of being quite arbitrary. Most of the interpreters assume that, +in ver. 15, the true humanity of the Saviour is announced. The name Immanuel is +intended to indicate the divine nature; the eating of milk and honey the human nature. +Milk and honey are in this case considered as the ordinary food for babes; like +other children. He shall grow up, and, like them, gradually develope. Thus <i>Jerome</i> +says: "I shall mention another feature still more wonderful: That you may not believe +that he will be born a phantasm. He will use the food of infants, will eat butter +and milk." <i>Calvin</i> says: "In order that here we may not think of some spectre, +the Prophet states signs of humanity from which he proves that Christ, indeed put +on our flesh." In the same manner <i>Irenĉnus</i>, <i>Chrysostom</i>, <i>Basil</i>, +and, in our century, <i>Kleuker</i> and <i>Rosenmüller</i> speak.--But this explanation +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 55]</span> is altogether overthrown by ver. 16. Most interpreters +assume, in the latter verse, a change of subject; by +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">נער</span>, not Immanuel, but Shearjashub, who accompanied +the Prophet, is to be understood. According to others, it is not any definite boy +who is designated by <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">נער</span>; but it is said in +general, that the devastation of the hostile country would take place in a still +shorter time than that which elapses between the birth of a boy and his development. +Such is <i>Calvin's</i> view. But the supposition of a change of subject is altogether +excluded, even by the circumstance that one and the same quality, the distinction +between good and evil, is in both verses ascribed to the subject. Others, like +<i>J. H. Michaelis</i>, refer ver. 16 also to the Messiah, and seek to get out of +the difficulty by a <i>jam dudum</i>. It is not worth while to enter more particularly +upon these productions of awkward embarassment. All that is required is, to remove +the stone of offence which has caused these interpreters to stumble. Towards this +a good beginning has been made by <i>Vitringa</i>, without, however, completely +attaining the object. In ver. 14, the Prophet has seen the birth of the Messiah +as present. Holding fast this idea, and expanding it, the Prophet makes him who +has been born accompany the people through all the stages of its existence. We have +here an <i>ideal anticipation of the real incarnation</i>, the right of which lies +in the circumstance, that all blessings and deliverances which, before Christ, were +bestowed upon the covenant-people, had their root in His future birth, and the cause +of which was given in the circumstance, that the covenant-people had entered upon +the moment of their great crisis, of their conflict with the world's powers, which +could not but address a call to invest the comforting thought with, as it were, +flesh and blood, and in this manner to place it into the midst of the popular life. +What the Prophet means, and intends to say here is this, <i>that, in the space of +about a twelvemonth, the overthrow of the hostile kingdoms would already have taken +place</i>. As the representative of the cotemporaries, he brings forward the wonderful +child who, as it were, formed the soul of the popular life. <i>At the time when +this child knows to distinguish between good and bad food, hence, after the space +of about a twelvemonth, he will not have any want of nobler food,</i> ver. 15, +<i>for before he has entered upon this stage, the land of</i> +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 56]</span> <i>the two hostile kings shall be desolate.</i> +In the subsequent prophecy, the same wonderful child, grown up into a warlike hero, +brings the deliverance from Asshur, and the world's power represented by it.--We +have still to consider and discuss the particular. <i>What is indicated by the eating +of cream and honey?</i> The erroneous answer to this question, which has become +current ever since <i>Gesenius</i>, has put everything into confusion, and has misled +expositors such as <i>Hitzig</i> and <i>Meier</i> to cut the knot, by asserting +that ver. 15 is spurious. Cream and honey can come into consideration as the noblest +food only; the eating of them can indicate only a <i>condition of plenty and prosperity</i>. +"A land flowing with milk and honey" is, in the books of Moses, a standing expression +for designating the rich fulness of noble food which the Holy Land offers. A land +which flows with milk and honey is, according to Numb. xiv. 7, 8, a "very good land." +The <i>cream</i> is, as it were, a gradation of <i>milk</i>. Considering the predilection +for fat and sweet food which we perceive everywhere in the Old Testament, there +can scarcely be anything better than cream and honey; and it is certainly not spoken +in accordance with Israelitish taste, if <i>Hofmann</i> (<i>Weiss</i>, i. S. 227) +thus paraphrases the sense: "It is not because he does not know what tastes well +and better (cream and honey thus the evil!), that he will live upon the food which +an uncultivated land can afford, but because there is none other." In Deut. xxxii. +13, 14, cream and honey appear among the noblest products of the Holy Land. Abraham +places cream before his heavenly guests, Gen. xviii. 8. The plenty in honey and +cream appears in Job xx. 7, as a characteristic sign of the divine blessing of which +the wicked are deprived. It is solely and exclusively vers. 21 and 22 that are referred +to for establishing the erroneous interpretation. It is asserted that, according +to these verses, the eating of milk and honey must be considered as an evil, as +the sad consequence of a general devastation of the hind. But there are grave objections +to any attempt at explaining a preceding from a subsequent passage; the opposite +mode of proceeding is the right one. It is altogether wrong, however, to suppose +that vers. 21, 22, contain a threatening. In those verses the Prophet, on the contrary, +allows, as is usual with him, a <i>ray of light</i> to fall upon the dark picture +of the <span class="pagenum">[Pg 57]</span> calamity which threatens from Asshur; +and it could, indeed, <i>a priori</i>, be scarcely imagined that the threatening +should not be interrupted, at least by such a gentle allusion to the salvation to +be bestowed upon them after the misery (comp. in reference to a similar sudden breaking +through of the proclamation of salvation in Hosea, Vol. I., p. 175, and the remarks +on Micah ii. 12, 13); but then he returns to the threatening, because it was, in +the meantime, his principal vocation to utter it, and thereby to destroy the foolish +illusions of the God-forgetting king. It is in the subsequent prophecy only, chap +viii. 1; ix. 6 (7) that that which is alluded to in vers. 21, 22 is carried out. +The little which has been left--this is the sense--the Lord will bless so abundantly, +that those who are spared in the divine judgment will enjoy a rich abundance of +divine blessings. Parallel is the utterance of Isaiah in 2 Kings xix. 30: "And the +escaped of the house of Judah, that which has been left, taketh root downward, and +beareth fruit upward."--If thus the eating of cream and honey be rightly understood, +there is no farther necessity for explaining, in opposition to the rules of grammar, +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">לדעתו</span> by "(only) until he knows" (comp. against +this interpretation <i>Drechsler's Comment.</i>). <span lang="he" class="Hebrew"> +לדעתו</span> can only mean: "belonging to his knowledge, <i>i.e.</i>, when he knows."<!--inserted quote--> +<i>Good</i> and <i>evil</i> are, as early as Deut. i. 39: "Your sons who to-day +do not know good and evil," used more in a physical than in a moral sense. Michaelis: +"<i>rerum omnium ignari</i>." The parallel expression, "not to be able to discern +between the right hand and the left hand," in Jonah iv. 11 (Michaelis: "<i>discretio +rationis et judicii, ut sciant utra manus sit dextra aut sinistra</i>"<!--inserted quote-->) +likewise loses sight of the moral sense. But good and evil are very decidedly used +in a physical sense in 2 Sam. xix. 36 (35), where Barzillai says: "I am this day +fourscore years old, can I discern between good and evil, or has thy servant a taste +of what I eat or drink, or do I hear any more the voice of singing men or singing +women?" The connection with the eating of cream and honey, by which the good and +evil is qualified, clearly proves that good and evil are, in our passage, used in +a similar sense. To the same result we are led by the circumstance also, that the +evil <i>precedes</i>, which must so much the rather have a meaning, that nowhere +else is this the case with this phrase. The evil, the <span class="pagenum">[Pg +58]</span> bad food in the time of war, precedes; the good follows after it: Cream +and honey, the good, he will eat when he knows to refuse the evil and choose the +good, <i>i.e.</i>, when he is beyond the time where he does not yet know to make +any great difference between the food, and in which, therefore, the evil, the bad +food, is felt as an evil. If the good and the evil be understood in a physical sense, +then, in harmony with chap. viii. 4, we must think of the period of about one year. +Moral consciousness develops much later than sensual liking and disliking.--The +construction of <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">מאס</span> and +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">בחר</span> with <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ב</span> +points to the affection which accompanies the action.--<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">כי</span> +in ver. 16 suits very well, according to the view which we have taken, in its ordinary +signification, "for." The full enjoyment of the good things of the land will return +in the period of about twelve months (in chap. xxxvii. 30 a longer terra is fixed, +because the Assyrian desolation was much greater than the Aramean); <i>for</i>, +even before the year has expired, devastation shall be inflicted upon the land of +the enemies. <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">האדמה</span> comprehends at the same +time the Syrian and Ephraimitish land.</p> +<p class="normal">From ver. 17-25 the Prophet describes how the Assyrians, the object +of the hope of the house of David, and also the Egyptian attracted by them, who, +however, occupy a position altogether subordinate, shall fill the land, and change +it into a wilderness. The fundamental thought, ever true, is this: He who, instead +of seeking help from his God, seeks it from the world, is ruined by the world. This +truth, which, through the fault of Ahaz, did not gain any <i>saving</i> influence, +obtained an <i>accusing</i> one; it stood there as an incontrovertible testimony +that it was not the Lord who had forsaken His people, but that they had forsaken +themselves. It was a necessary condition of the blessed influence of the impending +calamity that such a testimony should exist; without it, the calamity would not +have led to repentance, but to despair and defiance.--From the circumstance that +in ver. 17, which contains the outlines of the whole, upon the words: "The Lord +shall bring upon thee and thy people," there follow still the words: "And upon thy +father's house," it appears that the fulfilment must not be sought for in the time +of Ahaz only. In the time of Ahaz, the <i>beginning</i> only of the calamities here +indicated can accordingly be sought for,--the <i>germ</i> from which all that followed +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 59]</span> was afterwards developed. Nor shall we be allowed +to limit ourselves to that which Judah suffered from the Assyrians, commonly so +called. It is significant that, in 2 Kings xxiii. 29, Nebuchadnezzar is called King +of Asshur. Asshur, as the first representative of the world's power, represents +the world's power in general.</p> +<hr class="W20"> +<p class="normal">We have still to submit to an examination those explanations of +vers 14-16 which differ, in essential points, from that which we have given. Difference +of opinion--the characteristic sign of error--meets us here, and that in a very +striking manner, in those who oppose the convictions of the whole Christian Church.</p> +<p class="normal">1. <i>Rosenmüller</i> expressed his adherence to the Messianic +explanation, but supposed that the Prophet was of opinion that the Messiah would +be born in his time. Even <i>Bruno Bauer</i> (<i>Critik der Synopt.</i> i. S. 19) +could not resist the impression that Immanuel could be none other than the Messiah. +But he, too, is of opinion that Isaiah expected a Messiah, who was to be born at +once, and to become the "deliverer from the collision of that time." This view has +been expanded especially by <i>Ewald</i>. "False," so he says, "is every interpretation +which does not see that the Prophet is here speaking of the Messiah to be born, +and hence of Him to whom the land really belongs, and in thinking of whom the Prophet's +heart beats with joyful hope, chap. viii. 8, ix. 5, 6 (6, 7)." But not being able +to realize that which can be seen only by faith--a territory, in general, very inaccessible +to modern exposition of Scripture--he, in ver. 14, puts in the <i>real</i> Present +instead of the <i>ideal</i>, and thinks that the Prophet imagined that the conception +and birth of the Messiah would take place at once. By +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">עלמה</span> he understands, like ourselves, a virgin; +but such an one as is so at the present moment only, but will soon afterwards cease +to be so;--and in supposing this, he overlooks the fact that the virgin is introduced +as being already with child, and that her bearing appears as present. In ver. 15, +the time when the boy knows &c., is, according to him, the maturer juvenile age +from ten to twenty years. It is during this that the devastation of the land by +the Assyrians is to take place, of which <span class="pagenum">[Pg 60]</span> the +Prophet treats more in detail afterwards in ver. 17 ff. But opposed to this view +is the circumstance that, even before the boy enters upon this maturer age (ver. +16), hence in a few years after this, the allied Damascus and Ephraim shall be desolated; +so little are these two kings able to conquer Jerusalem, and so certain is it that +a divine deliverance is in store for this country in the immediate future. And, +in every point of view, this explanation shows itself to be untenable. The supposition +that a <i>real</i> Present is spoken of in ver. 14 saddles upon the Prophet an absurd +hallucination; and nothing analogous to it can be referred to in the whole of the +Old Testament. According to statements of the Prophet in other passages, he sees +yet many things intervening between the Messianic time and his own; according to +chap. vi. 11-13, not only the entire carrying away of the whole people, (and he +cannot well consider the Assyrians as the instruments of it, were it only for this +reason, that he is always consistent in the announcement that they should not succeed +in the capture of Jerusalem), but also a later second divine judgment. According +to chap. xi., the Messiah is to grow up as a twig from the stem of Jesse completely +cut down. This supposition of His appearance, the complete decay of the Davidic +dynasty, did not in any way exist in the time of the Prophet. According to chap. +xxxix., and other passages, the Prophet recognised in Babylon the appearance of +a new phase of the world's power which would, at some future period, follow the +steps of the Assyrian power which existed at the time of the Prophet, and which +should execute upon Judah the judgment of the Lord. We pointed out (Vol. I. p. 417 +ff.) that in the Prophet Micah also, the contemporary of Isaiah, there lies a long +series of events between the Present and the time when she who is bearing brings +forth. <i>Farther</i>--In harmony with all other Prophets, Isaiah too looks for +the Messiah from the house of David, with which, by the promise of Nathan in 2 Sam. +vii. salvation was indissolubly connected, and the high importance of which for +the weal and woe of the people appears also from the circumstance of its being several +times mentioned in our chapter. Hence it would be a son of Ahaz only of whom we +could here think; and then we should be shut up to Hezekiah, his first-born. But +in that case there arises the difficulty which Luther already brought forward against +the Jews: <span class="pagenum">[Pg 61]</span> "The Jews understand thereby Hezekiah. +But the blind people, while anxious to remedy their error, themselves manifest their +laziness and ignorance; for Hezekiah was born nine years before this prophecy was +uttered!"--"The eating of cream and honey" is, in this explanation, altogether erroneously +understood as a designation of the devastated condition of the land. From our remarks, +it sufficiently appears that the expression "to refuse the evil," &c., cannot denote +the maturer juvenile age. And many additional points might, in like manner, be urged.</p> +<p class="normal">2. Several interpreters do not indeed deny the reference to the +Messiah, but suppose that, <i>in the first instance</i>, the Prophet had in view +some occurrence of his own time. They assume that the Prophet, while speaking of +a boy of his own time, makes use, under the guidance of divine providence, of expressions, +which apply more to Christ, and can, in an improper and inferior sense only, be +true of this boy. This opinion was advanced as early as in the time of Jerome, by +some anonymous author who, on that account, is severely censured by him: "Some Judaizer +from among us asserts that the Prophet had two sons, Shearjashub and Immanuel. Immanuel +too was, according to him, born by the prophetess, the wife of the Prophet, and +a type of the Saviour, our Lord; so that the former son Shearjashub (which means +'remnant,' or 'converting') designates the Jewish people that have been left and +afterwards converted; while the second son Immanuel, 'with us is God,' signifies +the calling of the Gentiles after the Word became flesh and dwelt among us." This +explanation was defended by, among others <i>Grotius</i>, <i>Richard Simon</i>, +and <i>Clericus</i>; and then, in our century, by <i>Olshausen</i>, who says: "The +unity of the reference lies in the name Immanuel; the son of Isaiah had the <i>name</i> +but Christ the <i>essence</i>. He was the visible God whom the former only represented." +In a modified form, this view is held by <i>Lowth</i>, <i>Koppe</i>, and <i>von +Meyer</i>, also. According to them, the Prophet is indeed not supposed to speak +of a definite boy who was to be born in his time, but yet, to connect the destinies +of his land with the name and destinies of a boy whose conception he, at the moment, +imagines to be possible. "The most obvious meaning which would present itself to +Ahaz," says <i>von Meyer</i>, "was this: If now a girl was to marry, to become +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 62]</span> pregnant, and to bear a child, she may call +him 'God with us,' for God will be with us at his time." But the prophecy is, after +all, to have an ultimate reference to Christ. "The prophecy," says <i>Lowth</i>, +"is introduced in so solemn a manner; the sign, after Ahaz had refused the call +to fix upon any thing from the whole territory of nature according to his own choice, +is so emphatically declared to be one selected and given by God himself; the terms +of the prophecy are so unique in their kind, and the name of the child is so expressive; +they comprehend in them so much more than the circumstances of the birth of an ordinary +child require, or could even permit, that we may easily suppose, that in minds, +which were already prepared by the expectation of a great Saviour who was to come +forth from the house of David, they excited hopes which stretched farther than any +with which the present cause could inspire them, especially if it was found that +in the succeeding prophecy, published immediately afterwards, this child was, under +the name of Immanuel, treated as the Lord and Prince of the land of Judah. Who else +could this be than the heir of the throne of David, under which character a great, +and even divine person had been promised?" The reasons for the Messianic explanation +are very well exhibited in these words of <i>Lowth</i>; but he, as little as any +other of these interpreters, has been able to vindicate the assumption of a <i>double +sense</i>. When more closely examined, the supposition is a mere makeshift. On the +one hand, they could not make up their minds to give up the Messianic explanation, +and, along with it, the authority of the Apostle Matthew. But, on the other hand, +they were puzzled by the <i>sanctum artificium</i> by which the Prophet, or rather +the Holy Spirit speaking through him, represents Christ as being born even before +His birth, places Him in the midst of the life of the people, and makes Him accompany +the nation through all the stages of its existence. In truth, if the real, or even +the nearest fulfilment is sought for in the time of Ahaz, there is no reason whatever +for supposing a higher reference to Christ. The <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">עלמה</span> +is then one who was a virgin, who had nothing in common with the mother of Jesus, +Mary, who remained a virgin even after her pregnancy. The name Immanuel then refers +to the help which God is to afford in the present distress.</p> +<p class="continue"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 63]</span></p> +<p class="normal">3. Many interpreters deny every reference to Christ. This interpretation +remained for a long time the exclusive property of the Jews, until <i>J. E. Faber</i> +(in his remarks on <i>Harmar's</i> observations on the East, i. S. 281), tried to +transplant it into the Christian soil.<sup class="ftnRef"><a name="ftnRef_63a" href="#ftn_63a">[5]</a></sup> +He was followed by the Roman Catholic, <i>Isenbiehl</i> (<i>Neuer Versuch über die +Weissagung vom Immanuel</i>, 1778) who, in consequence of it, was deposed from his +theological professorship, and thrown into gaol. The principal tenets of his work +he had borrowed from the lectures of <i>J. D. Michaelis</i>. In their views about +the <i>Almah</i>, who is to bear Immanuel, these interpreters are very much at variance.</p> +<p class="hang1">(a) The more ancient Jews maintained that the <i>Almah</i> was +the wife of Ahaz, and Immanuel, his son Hezekiah. According to the <i>Dialog. c. +Tryph.</i> 66, 68, 71, 77, this view prevailed among them as early as the time of +<i>Justin</i>. But they were refuted by <i>Jerome</i>, who showed that Hezekiah +must, at that time, have already been at least nine years old. <i>Kimchi</i> and +<i>Abarbanel</i> then resorted to the hypothesis of a second wife of Ahaz.</p> +<p class="hang1">(b) According to the view of others, the <i>Almah</i> is some virgin +who cannot be definitely determined by us, who was present at the place where the +king and Isaiah were speaking to one another, and to whom the Prophet points with +his finger. This view was held by <i>Isenbiehl</i>, <i>Steudel</i> (in a Programme, +Tübingen, 1815), and others.</p> +<p class="hang1">(c) According to the view of others, the <i>Almah</i> is not a +<i>real</i> but only an <i>ideal</i> virgin. Thus <i>J. D. Michaelis</i>: "At the +time when one, who at this moment is still a virgin, can bear," &c. <i>Eichhorn</i>, +<i>Paulus</i>, <i>Stähelin</i>, and others. The sign is thus made to consist in +a mere poetical figure.</p> +<p class="hang1">(d) A composition of the two views last mentioned is the view of +<i>Umbreit</i>. The virgin is, according to him, an actual virgin whom the Prophet +perceived among those surrounding him; but the pregnancy and birth are imaginary +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 64]</span> merely, and the virgin is to suggest to the +Prophet the idea of pregnancy. But this explanation would saddle the Prophet with +something indecent. <i>Farther</i>: It is not a birth possible which is spoken of, +but an actual birth. From chap. viii. 8, it likewise appears that Immanuel is a +real individual, and He one of eminent dignity; and this passage is thus at once +in strict opposition to both of the explanations, viz. that of any ordinary virgin, +and that of the ideal virgin. It destroys also</p> +<p class="hang1">(e) The explanation of <i>Meier</i>, who by the virgin understands +the people of Judah, and conceives of the pregnancy and birth likewise in a poetical +manner. The fact, the acknowledgment of which has led <i>Meier</i> to get up this +hypothesis, altogether unfounded, and undeserving of any minute refutation, is this: +"<i>The mother is, in the passage before us, called a virgin, and yet is designated +as being with child.</i> The words, when understood physically and outwardly, contain +a contradiction." But this fact is rather in favour of the Messianic explanation.</p> +<p class="hang1">(f) Others, farther, conjecture that the wife of the Prophet is +meant by the <i>Almah</i>. This view was advanced as early as by <i>Abenezra</i> +and <i>Jarchi</i>. By the authority of <i>Gesenius</i>, this view became, for a +time, the prevailing one. Against it, the following arguments are decisive; part +of them being opposed to the other conjectures also. As +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">עלמה</span> designates "virgin" only, and never a +young woman, and, far less, an older woman, it is quite impossible that the wife +of the Prophet, the mother of Shearjashub could be so designated, inasmuch as the +latter was already old enough to be able to accompany his father. Gesenius could +not avoid acknowledging the weight of this argument, and declared himself disposed +to assume that the Prophet's former wife had died, and that he had thereupon betrothed +himself to a virgin. <i>Olshausen</i>, <i>Maurer</i>, <i>Hendewerk</i>, and others, +have followed him in this. But this is a story entirely without foundation. In chap. +viii. 13, the wife of the Prophet is called simply "the prophetess." Nor could one +well see how the Prophet could expect to be understood, if, by the general expression: +"the virgin" he wished to signify his presumptive betrothed. <i>There</i> +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 65]</span> <i>is an entire absence of every intimation +whatsoever of a nearer relation of the Almah to the Prophet</i>; and such an intimation +could not by any means be wanting if such a relation really existed. One would, +in that case at least, be obliged to suppose, as <i>Plüschke</i> does, that the +Prophet took his betrothed with him, and pointed to her with his finger,--a supposition +which too plainly exhibits the sign of embarrassment, just as is the case with the +remark of <i>Hendewerk</i>: "Only that, in that case, we must also suppose that +his second wife was sufficiently known at court even then, when she was his betrothed +only, although her relation to Isaiah might be unknown; so that, for this very reason, +we could not think of a frustration of the sign on the part of the king." <i>Hitzig</i> +remarks: "The supposition of a former wife of the Prophet is altogether destitute +of any foundation." He then, however, falls back upon the hypothesis which <i>Gesenius</i> +himself admitted to be untenable, that <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">עלמה</span>, +"virgin" might not only denote a young woman, but sometimes also an older woman. +Not even the semblance of a proof can be advanced in support of this. It is just +the juvenile age which forms the fundamental signification of the word. In the wife +of the Prophet we can the less think of such a juvenile age, that he himself had +already exercised his prophetic office for about twenty years. <i>Hitzig</i> has +indeed altogether declined to lead any such proof. A son of the Prophet, as, in +general, every subject except the Messiah, is excluded by the circumstance that +in chap viii. 8, Canaan is called the land of Immanuel.--<i>Farther</i>,--In all +these suppositions, <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">אות</span> is understood in an +inadmissible signification. It can here denote a fact only, whereby those who were +really susceptible were made decidedly certain of the impending deliverance. This +appears clearly enough from the relation of this sign to that which Ahaz had before +refused, according to which the difference must not be too great, and must not refer +to the substance. To this may be added the solemn tone which induces us to expect +something grand and important. A mere poetical image, such as would be before us +according to the hypothesis of the ideal virgin, or of the real virgin and the ideal +birth, does <span class="pagenum">[Pg 66]</span> surely not come up to the demand +which in this context must be made in reference to this <i>sign</i>. And if the +Prophet had announced so solemnly, and in words so sublime, the birth <i>of his +own</i> child, he would have made himself ridiculous. <i>Farther</i>,--How then +did the Prophet know that after nine months a child would be born to him, or, if +the pregnancy be considered as having already commenced, how did he know that just +a son would be born to him? That is a question to which most of these Rationalistic +interpreters take good care not to give any reply. <i>Plüschke</i>, indeed, is of +opinion that, upon a bold conjecture, the Prophet had ventured this statement. But +in that case it might easily have fared with him as in that well known story in +<i>Worms</i>, (<i>Eisenmenger</i>, <i>entdecktes Judenthum</i> ii. S. 664 ff.), +and his whole authority would have been forfeited if his conjecture had proved false. +And this argument holds true in reference to those also who do not share in the +Rationalistic view, of Prophetism. Predictions of such a kind may belong to the +territory of foretelling, but not to that of Prophecy.</p> +<hr class="ftn"> +<div class="ftn"> + <p class="ftnText"><a name="ftn_29a" href="#ftnRef_29a"><sup class="ftnRef"> + [1]</sup></a> <i>Meyer</i>, <i>Blätter für höhere Wahrheit</i>, iii. S. 101.]</p> +</div> +<div class="ftn"> + <p class="ftnText"><a name="ftn_30a" href="#ftnRef_30a"><sup class="ftnRef"> + [2]</sup></a> <i>Caspari</i> very justly remarks: "Nothing can be clearer than + that 2 Chron. xxviii. 5 ff. comes in between 2 Kings xvi. 5 a. b.; that the + author of the books of the Kings gives a report of the beginning and end; the + author of the Chronicles, of the middle of the campaign." But we cannot agree + with <i>Caspari</i> in his transferring to Idumea the victory of Rezin. According + to Is. vii. 2, Aram was encamped in Ephraim. According to 2 Kings xvi. 5, <i> + both</i> of the kings came up to Jerusalem and besieged her. The expedition + against Elath, 2 Kings xvi. 6, was secondary, and by the way only.</p> +</div> +<div class="ftn"> + <p class="ftnText"><a name="ftn_37a" href="#ftnRef_37a"><sup class="ftnRef"> + [3]</sup></a> The words: "In threescore and five years more, Ephraim shall be + broken and be no more a people," have, by rationalistic critics, without and + against all external arguments, been declared to be <i>spurious</i>. The reasons + which serve as fig leaves to cover their doctrinal tendency are the following: + (1) "The time does not agree, inasmuch as the ten tribes sustained their first + defeat very soon afterwards by Tiglath-pilezer; the second, nineteen to twenty-one + years later, by Shalmanezer, who, in the sixth year of Hezekiah, carried the + inhabitants of the kingdom of the ten tribes away into captivity." But the question + here is <i>the complete destruction of the national existence of Israel</i>; + and that took place only under King Manasseh, when, by Azarhaddon, new Gentile + colonists were brought into the land, who expelled from it the old inhabitants + who had again gathered themselves together; comp. 2 Kings xvii. 24 with Ezra + iv. 2, 10. From that time, Israel amalgamated more and more with Judah, and + never returned to a national independence. This happened exactly sixty-five + years after the announcement by the Prophet. Chap. vi. 12 compared with ver. + 13 shows how little the desolation of the country (ver. 16) is connected with + the breaking up as a nation. It is, moreover, at least as much the interest + of those who assert the spuriousness, as it is ours to remove the chronological + difficulties; for how could it be imagined that the supposed author should have + introduced a false chronological statement? His object surely could be none + other than to procure authority for the Prophet, by putting into his mouth a + prophecy so very evidently and manifestly fulfilled. (2) "The words contain + an unsuitable consolation, as Ahaz could not be benefitted by so late a destruction + of his enemy." But, immediately afterwards, he is even expressly assured that + this enemy will not be able to do him any immediate harm. <i>Chrysostom</i> + remarks: "The king, hearing that they should be destroyed after sixty-five years, + might say within himself: What about that? Although they be <i>then</i> overthrown, + of what use is it to us, if they now take us? In order that the king might not + speak thus, the Prophet says: Be of good cheer even as to the present. At that + time they shall be <i>utterly</i> destroyed; but even now, they shall not have + any more than their own land, for 'the head of Ephraim,'"<!--inserted quote--> + &c. The preceding distinct announcement of the last end of his enemy, however, + was exceedingly well fitted to break in Ahaz the opinion of his invincibility, + and to strengthen his faith in the God of Israel, who, with a firm hand, directs + the destinies of nations, and, no less, the faith in <i>His servant</i> whom + He raises to be privy to His secrets.--(3.) "The use of numbers so exact is + against the analogy of all oracles." But immediately afterwards (ver. 15 comp. + with chap. viii. 4), the time of the defeat is as exactly fixed, although not + in ciphers. In chap. xx. Isaiah announces that after three years the Egyptians + and Ethiopians shall sustain a defeat; in chap. xxiii. 15, that Tyre would flourish + anew seventy years after its fall; in chap. xxxviii. 5, he announces to Hezekiah, + sick unto death, that God would add fifteen years to his life. According to + Jeremiah, the Babylonish captivity is to last seventy years; and the fulfilment + has shown that this date is not to be understood as a round number. And farther, + the year-weeks in Daniel.--But in opposition to this view, and positively in + favour of the genuineness, are the following arguments: The words have not only, + as is conceded by <i>Ewald</i>, "a true old-Hebrew colouring," but in their + emphatic and solemn brevity ("he shall be broken from [being] a people") they + do not at all bear the character of an interpolation. If we blot them out, then + the Prophet says less than from present circumstances, from ver. 4, where he + calls the kings "ends of smoking firebrands," in opposition to ver. 6, and from + the analogy of ver. 9, where the threatening is much more severe, he was bound + to say. His saying merely that they would not get any more, was not sufficient. + He could make the right impression only when he reduced that declaration to + its foundation--<i>i.e.</i>, their own destruction and overthrow. Ver. 16, too, + would go far beyond what would be announced here, if we remove this clause. + He announces destruction to the kings themselves. Finally, the symmetrical parallelism + would be destroyed by striking out these words. The words: "If ye believe not, + ye shall not be established," would, in that case, be without the parallel members. + They are connected with the clause under discussion so much the rather, that + in them it is not specially Judah's deliverance from the Syrians and Ephraimites + that is looked at, but its salvation in general.</p> +</div> +<div class="ftn"> + <p class="ftnText"><a name="ftn_52a" href="#ftnRef_52a"><sup class="ftnRef"> + [4]</sup></a> By a minute and trifling exposition of what is to be understood + as a whole, and comprehensively, many misunderstandings have been introduced + into this passage. The defeat of Asshur should take place very soon, but the + devastation of the country had been so complete that a longer time would be + required before the fields would be again <i>completely</i> cultivated.</p> +</div> +<div class="ftn"> + <p class="ftnText"><a name="ftn_63a" href="#ftnRef_63a"><sup class="ftnRef"> + [5]</sup></a> <i>Gesenius</i> mentions <i>Pellicanus</i> as the first defender + of the Non-Messianic interpretation. But this statement seems to have proceeded + from a cursory view of an annotation by <i>Cramer</i> on <i>Richard Simon's + Kritische Schriften</i> i. S. 441, where the words: "this historical interpretation + <i>Pellicanus</i> too has preferred," do not refer to Isaiah but to Daniel. + Nor is there any more ground for the intimation that <i>Theodorus</i> a Mopsuesta + rejected the Messianic interpretation.</p> +</div> +<hr class="W20"> +<h3><a name="div2_66" href="#div2Ref_66">THE PROPHECY, CHAP. VIII. 23-IX. 6.</a></h3> +<p class="center">(Chap. ix. 1-7.)</p> +<p class="center">UNTO US A CHILD IS BORN.</p> +<p class="normal">In the view of the Assyrian catastrophe, the Prophet is anxious +to bring it home to the consciences of the people that, by their own guilt, they +have brought down upon themselves this calamity, and, at the same time, to prevent +them from despairing. Hence it is that, soon after the prophecy in chap. vii., he +reverts once more to the subject of it. The circumstances in chap. viii. 1-ix. 6 +(7) are identical with those in chap. vii. Judah is hard pressed by Ephraim and +Aram. Still, some time will elapse before the destruction of +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 67]</span> their territories. The term in chap. vii. 16: +"Before the boy shall know to refuse the evil and choose the good," and in chap. +viii. 4: "Before the boy shall know to cry, My father and my mother," is quite the +same. This is the less to be doubted when it is kept in mind that, in the former +passage, evil and good must be taken in a physical sense. The sense for the difference +of food is, in a child, developed at nearly the same time as the ability for speaking. +If it had not been the intention of the Prophet to designate one and the same period, +<i>he ought to have fixed more distinctly the limits between the two termini.</i> +It might, indeed, from chap. viii. 3, appear as if at least the nine months must +intervene between the two prophecies of the conception of the son of the Prophet, +and his birth. As, however, it cannot be denied that there is a connection between +the giving of the name, and the drawing up of the document in vers. 1 and 2, we +should be obliged to suppose that, in reference to the first two futures with <i> +Vav convers.</i> the same rule applies as in reference to +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ויצר</span>, in Gen. ii. 19. The progress lies first +in <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ותלה</span>; the event falling into that time +is the birth.</p> +<p class="normal">Chap. viii. 1-ix. 6 (7), forms the necessary <i>supplement</i> +to chap. vii., the germ of which is contained already in chap. vii. 21, 22. The +Prophet saw, by the light of the Spirit of God, that the fear of Aram and Ephraim +was unfounded; the enemy truly dangerous is Asshur, <i>i.e.</i>, <i>the whole world's +power first represented by Asshur.</i> For the King of Asshur is, so to say, an +ideal person to the Prophet. The different phases of the world's powers are intimated +as early as chap. viii. 9, where the Prophet addresses the "nations," and "all the +far-off countries;" and, at a later period, he received disclosures regarding all +the single phases of the world's power which began its course with Asshur. With +this the Prophet had only threatened in chap. vii.; here, however, he is pre-eminently +employed with it, <i>exhorting</i>, <i>comforting</i>, <i>promising</i>, so that +thus the two sections form one whole in two divisions. <i>His main object is to +induce his people, in the impending oppression by the world's power, to direct their +eyes steadily to their heavenly Redeemer, who, in due time, will bring peace instead +of strife, salvation and prosperity instead of misery, dominion instead of oppression.</i> +As in chap. vii. 14, the <span class="pagenum">[Pg 68]</span> picture of Immanuel +is placed before the eyes of the people desponding on account of Aram and Ephraim, +so here the care, anxiety, and fear in the view of Asshur are overcome by pointing +to the declaration: "Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given." It is of +great importance for the right understanding of the Messianic announcement in chap. +viii. 23, ix. 6, that the historical circumstances of the whole section, and its +tendency be clearly understood. As, in general, the Messianic announcement under +the Old Testament bears a one-sided character, so, for the <i>present occasion</i>, +those aspects only of the picture of the Saviour were required which were fitted +effectually to meet the despondency of the people in the view, and under the pressure +of the world's power.</p> +<p class="normal">After these preliminary remarks, we must enter still more in detail +upon the arrangement and construction of the section before us.</p> +<p class="normal">The Prophet receives, first, the commission to write down, like +a judicial document, the announcement of the speedy destruction of the present enemies, +and to get it confirmed by trust-worthy witnesses, chap. viii. 1, 2. He then, farther, +receives the commission to give, to a son that would be born to him about the same +time, a name expressive of the speedy destruction of the enemies, vers. 3, 4. Thus +far the announcement of the deliverance from Aram and Ephraim. There then follows, +from vers. 5-8, an announcement of the misery which is to be inflicted by <i>Asshur</i>, +of whom Ahaz and the unbelieving portion of the people expected nothing but deliverance. +<i>Up to this, there is a recapitulation only, and a confirmation of chap. vii.</i> +But this misery is not to last for ever, is not to end in destruction. In vers. +9, 10, the Prophet addresses exultingly the hostile nations, and announces to them, +what had already been gently hinted at at the close of ver. 8, that their attempts +to put an end to the covenant-people would be vain, and would lead to their own +destruction. The splendour of Asshur must <i>fade</i> before the bright image of +Immanuel, which calls to the people: "Be ye of good cheer, I have overcome the world." +<i>Calvin</i> strikingly remarks: "The Prophet may be conceived of, as it were, +standing on a watch tower, whence he beholds the defeat of the people, and the victorious +Assyrians insolently exulting. <span class="pagenum">[Pg 69]</span> But by the name +and view of Christ he recovers himself, forgets all the evils as if he had suffered +nothing, and, freed from all misery, he rises against the enemies whom the Lord +would immediately destroy." The Prophet then interrupts the announcement of deliverance, +and exhibits the subjective conditions upon which the bestowal of deliverance, or +rather the <i>partaking</i> in it, depends, along with the announcement of the fearful +misery which would befal them in case these conditions were not complied with. But, +so he continues in vers. 11-16, he who is to partake of the deliverance which the +Lord has destined for His people, must in firm faith expect it from Him, and thereby +inwardly separate himself from the unbelieving mass, who, at every appearance of +danger, tremble and give up all for lost. He who stands as ill as that mass in the +trial inflicted by the Lord; he to whom the danger becomes an occasion for manifesting +the unbelief of his heart;--he indeed will perish in it. At the close, the prophet +is emphatically admonished to impress this great and important truth upon the minds +of the susceptible ones. In ver. 17: "And I waited upon the Lord," &c., the Prophet +reports what effect was produced upon him by this revelation from the Lord,--thereby +teaching indirectly what effect it ought to produce upon all. In ver. 18, the Prophet +directs the desponding people to the example of himself who, according to ver. 17, +is joyful in his faith, and to the names of his sons which announced deliverance. +Deliverance and comfort are to be sought from the God of Israel only. Vain, therefore,--this +he brings out, vers. 19-22--are all other means by which people without faith seek +to procure help to themselves. They should return to God's holy Law which, in Deut. +xviii. 14, ff. commands to seek disclosures as regards the future, and comfort from +His servants the Prophets only, and which itself abounds in comfort and promise. +If such be not done, misery without any deliverance, despair without any comfort, +are the unavoidable consequences. From ver. 23, the Prophet continues the interrupted +announcement of deliverance. That which, in the preceding verses, he had threatened +in the case of apostacy from God's Word, and of unbelief, viz., <i>darkness</i>, +<i>i.e.</i>, the absence of deliverance, will, as the Prophet, according to vers. +21, 22, foresees, really befal them in future, as <span class="pagenum">[Pg 70]</span> +the people will not fulfil the conditions held forth in vers. 16 and 20, as they +will not speak: "To the Law and to the testimony," as they will not in faith lay +hold of the promise, and trust in the Lord. The calamity having, in the preceding +verses, been represented as <i>darkness</i>, the deliverance which, by the grace +of the Lord, is to be bestowed upon the people (for the Lord indeed chastises His +people on account of their unbelief, but does not give them up to death), is now +represented as a great <i>light</i> which dispels the darkness. It shines most clearly +just where the darkness had been greatest--in that part of the country which, being +outwardly and inwardly given up to heathenism, seemed scarcely still to belong to +the land of the Lord, viz., the country lying around the lake of Gennesareth. The +people are filled with joy on account of the deliverance granted to them by the +Lord,--their deliverance from the yoke of their oppressors, from the bondage of +the world which now comes to an end. As the bestower of such deliverance, the Prophet +beholds a divine child who, having obtained dominion, will exercise it with the +skill of the God-man; who will, with fatherly love, in all eternity care for His +people and create peace to them; who will, at the same time, infinitely extend His +dominion, the kingdom of David, not by means of the force of arms, but by means +of right and righteousness, the exercise of which will attract the nations to Him; +so that with the increase of dominion, the increase of peace goes hand in hand. +The guarantee that these glorious results shall really take place is the zeal of +the Lord, and it is this to which the Prophet points at the close.</p> +<hr class="W20"> +<p class="normal">Chap. viii. 23 (ix. 1). "<i>For not is darkness to the land, to +which is distress; in the former time he has brought disgrace upon the land of Zebulun +and the hind of Naphtali, and in the after-time he brings it to honour, the region +on the sea, the other side of the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles.</i>"</p> + +<p class="normal"><span lang="he" class="Hebrew">כי</span> stands in its ordinary +signification, "for." Allow not yourselves to be turned away by anything from trusting +in the God of Israel; hold fast by His word alone, and by His servants,--such was +the fundamental thought of the whole preceding section. It meets us last in ver. +20, in the exhortation: <span class="pagenum">[Pg 71]</span> "To the Law and to +the testimony!" in so far as this is rich in consolation and promise. The Prophet, +after having, in the preceding verses, described the misery which will befal those +who do not follow this exhortation, supports and establishes it by referring to +the <i>help of the Lord</i> already alluded to in vers. 9 and 10, and to the <i> +light of His grace</i> which He will cause to shine into the darkness of the people,--a +darkness produced by their unbelief and apostacy; and this light shall be brightest +where the darkness was greatest. All the attempts at connecting this +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">כי</span> with the verse immediately preceding instead +of referring it to the main contents of the preceding section, have proved futile. +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">כי</span> can neither mean "nevertheless," nor "yea;" +and the strange assertion that it is almost without any meaning at all cannot derive +any support from Isaiah xv. 1: "The <i>burden</i> of Moab, <i>for</i> in the night +the city of Moab is laid waste;" for only in that case is +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">כי</span> without any meaning at all, if +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">משא</span> be falsely interpreted.--Ver. 22, where +the phrase <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">מעוף צוקה</span> "darkness of distress" +is equivalent to "darkness which consists in distress" (compare also: "behold trouble +and darkness" in the same verse), shows that <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">מועף</span> +and <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">מוצק</span> are substantially of the same meaning.--Our +verse forms an antithesis to ver. 22; the latter verse described the darkness brought +on by the guilt of the people; the verse under consideration describes, in contrast +to it, the <i>removal</i> of it called forth by the grace of the Lord.--<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">לא</span> +may either be connected with the noun, or it may be explained: not is darkness. +It cannot be objected to the latter view that, in that case, +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">אין</span> should rather have stood; while the analogy +of the phrase: "Not didst thou increase the joy," in chap. ix. 2 (3), seems to be +in favour of it. Here we have the negative, the ceasing of darkness; in chap. ix. +1 (2) the positive, the appearance of light. The suffix, in +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">לה</span> refers, just as the suffix, in +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">בה</span> in ver. 21, to the omitted +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ארץ</span>.--The <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">כ</span> +in <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">כעת</span> is, by many interpreters, asserted +to stand in the signification of <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">כאשר</span>: "Just +as the former time has brought disgrace,"<!--inserted quote--> &c. But as it cannot +be proved that <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">כ</span> has ever the meaning, "just +as;" and as, on the other hand, <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">כעת</span> frequently +occurs in the signification, "at the time" (compare my remarks on Numb. xxiii. 13 +in my work on Balaam), we shall be obliged to take, here too, the +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">כ</span> as a temporal particle, and to supply, as +the subject, Jehovah, who <span class="pagenum">[Pg 72]</span> always stands before +the Prophet's mind, and is often not mentioned when the matter itself excludes another +subject. Moreover, it is especially in favour of this view that, in vers. 3 (4), +the Lord himself is expressly addressed.--As regards +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">אחרון</span>, either +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">כעת</span> may be supplied,--and this is simplest +and most natural--or it may be taken as an Accusative, "for the whole after-time."--<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">הקל</span> +means properly to "make light," then "to make contemptible," "to cover with disgrace," +and <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">הכביד</span> properly then, "to make heavy," +"to honour,"--a signification which indeed is peculiar to <i>Piel</i>, but in which +the <i>Hiphil</i>, too, occurs in Jer. xxx. 19; the two verbs thus form an antithesis. +The <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ה</span> <i>locale</i> in +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ארצה</span> (the word does not occur in Isaiah with +the <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ה</span> <i>paragog.</i>) shews that a certain +modification of the verbal notion must be assumed: "to bring disgrace and honour." +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ארצה</span> thus would mean "towards the land." The +scene of the disgrace and honour, which at first was designated in general only, +is afterwards <i>extended</i>. First, the land of Zebulun and Naphtali only is mentioned, +because it was upon it that the disgrace had pre-eminently fallen, and it was, therefore, +pre-eminently to be brought to honour; then the whole territory along the sea on +both sides of it.--<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ים</span> can, in this context +which serves for a more definite qualification, mean the sea of Gennesareth only +(<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ים כנרת</span> Numb. xxxiv. 11, and other passages), +just as, in Matt. iv. 13, the designation of Capernaum as +<span lang="el" class="Greek">ἡ παραθαλασσία</span> receives its definite meaning +from the context.--<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">דרך</span> occurs elsewhere also +in the signification of <i>versus</i>, <i>e.g.</i>, Ezek. viii. 5, xl. 20, 46; it +will be necessary to supply after it <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ארץ</span>, +just as in the case of the <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">עבר הירדן</span> following. +It is without any instance that <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">דרך</span> "way" +should stand for "region," "country." The region on the sea is then divided into +its two parts <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">עבר הירדן</span>, +<span lang="el" class="Greek">πέραν τοῦ Ἰορδάνου</span>, the land on the east bank +of Jordan, and Galilee. The latter answers to the land of Zebulun and Naphtali; +for the territory of these two tribes occupied the centre and principal part of +Galilee. In opposition to the established <i>usus loquendi</i>, many would understand +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">עבר הירדן</span> as meaning the land "on the side," +<i>i.e.</i>, this side "of the Jordan," proceeding upon the supposition that the +local designations must, from beginning to end, be congruous. Opposed to it is also +the circumstance that, in 2 Kings, xv. 29, the most eastward and most northward +countries, Peraea and Galilee are connected. <span class="pagenum">[Pg 73]</span> +In that passage the single places are mentioned which Tiglath-pilezer took; then, +the whole districts, "Gilead and Galilee, the whole land of Naphtali." By the latter +words, that part of Galilee is made especially prominent upon which the catastrophe +fell most severely and completely. In the phrase, "Galilee of the Gentiles," Galilee +is a geographical designation which was already current at the time of the Prophet. +There is no reason for fixing the extent of ancient Galilee differently from that +of the more modern Galilee,--for assigning to it a more limited extent. We are told +in 1 Kings ix. 11, that the twenty cities which Solomon gave to Hiram lay in the +land of <i>Galil</i>, but not that the country was limited to them. The qualification, +"of the Gentiles," is nowhere else met with in the Old Testament; it is peculiar +to the Prophet. It serves as a hint to point out in what the disgrace of Galilee +and Peraea consisted. This <i>Theodoret</i> also saw. He says: "He calls it 'Galilee +of the Gentiles' because it was inhabited by other tribes along with the Jews; for +this reason, he says also of the inhabitants of those countries, that they were +walking in darkness, and speaks of the inhabitants of that land as living in the +shadow and land of death, and promises the brightness of heavenly light." It is +of no small importance to observe that Isaiah does not designate Galilee according +to what it was at the time when this prophecy was uttered, <i>but according to what +it was to become in future</i>. The distress by the Gentiles appears in chap. vii. +and viii. everywhere as a <i>future one</i>. At the time when the Prophet prophesied, +the Jewish territory still existed in its integrity. In vers. 4, and 5-7, he announces +Asshur's inroad into the land of Israel as a <i>future one</i>; in the present moment, +it was the kingdom of the ten tribes in connection with Aram which attacked and +threatened Judea. The superior power of the world which, according to the clear +foresight of the Prophet, was threatening, could not but be sensibly felt in the +North and East. For these formed the border parts against the Asiatic world's power; +it was from that quarter that its invasions commonly took place; and it was to be +expected that there, in the first instance, the Gentiles would establish themselves, +just as, in former times, they had maintained themselves longest there; comp. Judges +i. 30-38; <i>Keil</i> on 1 Kings ix. 11. But very soon after this, +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 74]</span> the name "Galilee of the Gentiles" ceased to +be one merely prophetical; Tiglathpilezer carried the inhabitants of Galilee and +Gilead into exile, 2 Kings xv. 29. <i>At a later period</i>, when the Greek empire +"peopled Palestine, in the most attractive places, with new cities, restored many +which, in consequence of the destructive wars, had fallen into decay, filled all +of them, more or less, with Greek customs and institutions, and, along with the +newly-opened extensive commerce and traffic, everywhere spread Greek manners also," +this change was chiefly limited to Galilee and Peraea; Judea remained free from +it; comp. <i>Ewald</i>, <i>Geschichte Israels</i>, iii. 2 S. 264 ff. In 1 Maccab. +v. Galaaditis and Galilee appear as those parts of the country where the existence +of the Jews is almost hopelessly endangered by the Gentiles living in the midst +of, and mixed up with them. What is implied in "Galilee of the Gentiles" may be +learned from that chapter, where even the <i>expression</i> reverts in ver. 15. +With external dependence upon the Gentiles, however, the spiritual dependence went +hand in hand. These parts of the country could the less oppose any great resistance +to the influences of heathendom, that they were separated, by a considerable distance, +from the religious centre of the nation--the temple and <i>metropolis</i>, in which +the higher Israelitish life was concentrated. A consequence of this degeneracy was +the contempt in which the Galileans were held at the time of Christ, John i. 47, +vii. 52; Matt. xxvi. 69.--But in what consisted the <i>honour</i> or the <i>glorification</i> +which Galilee, along with Peraea, was to obtain in the after-time? Chap. ix. 5 (6), +where the deliverance and salvation announced in the preceding verses are connected +with the person of the <i>Redeemer</i>, show that we must not seek for it in any +other than that of the Messianic time. Our Lord spent the greater part of His public +life in the neighbourhood of the lake of Gennesareth; it was there that Capernaum--His +ordinary residence--was situated, Matt. ix. 1. From Galilee were most of His disciples. +In Galilee He performed many <i>miracles</i>; and it was there that the preaching +of the Gospel found much entrance, so that even the name of the Galileans passed +over in the first centuries to the Christians. <i>Theodoret</i> strikingly remarks: +"Galilee was the native country of the holy Apostles; there the +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 75]</span> Lord performed most of His miracles; there +He cleansed the leper; there He gave back to the centurion his servant sound; there +He removed the fever from Peter's wife's mother; there He brought back to life the +daughter of Jairus who was dead; there He multiplied the loaves; there He changed +the water into wine." Very aptly has <i>Gesenius</i> compared Micah v. 1 (2). Just +as in that passage the birth of the Messiah is to be for the honour of the small, +unimportant Bethlehem, so here Galilee, which hitherto was covered with disgrace, +which was reproached by the Jews, that there no prophet had ever risen, is to be +brought to honour, and to be glorified by the appearance of the Messiah. It was +from the passage under review that the opinion of the Jews was derived, that the +Messiah would appear in the land of Galilee. Comp. <i>Sohar</i>, p. 1. fol. 119 +ed. Amstelod.; fol. 74 ed. Solisbae: <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">בארעת דגליל +יתגלי מלכא משיתא</span><!--word order questionable; see 1856 ed. and other web sites-->. +"King Messiah will reveal himself in the land of Galilee." But we must beware of +putting prophecy and fulfilment into a merely accidental outward relation, of changing +the former into a mere foretelling, and of supposing, in reference to the latter, +that, unless the letter of the prophecy had existed, Jesus might as well have made +Judea the exclusive scene of His ministry. Both prophecy and history are overruled +by a higher idea, by the truth absolutely valid in reference to the Church of the +Lord, that where the distress is greatest, help is nearest. If it was established +that the misery of the covenant-people, both outward and spiritual, was especially +concentrated in Galilee, then it is also sure that He who was sent to the lost sheep +of Israel must devote His principal care just to that part of the country. The prophecy +is not exhausted by the one fulfilment; and the fulfilment is a new prophecy. Wheresoever +in the Church we perceive a new Galilee of the Gentiles, we may, upon the ground +of this passage, confidently hope that the saving activity of the Lord will gloriously +display itself.</p> +<p class="normal"><a name="div2_75" href="#div2Ref_75">Chap. ix. 1 (2)</a>. "<i>The +people that walk in darkness see a great light, they that dwell in the land of the +shadow of death, upon them light ariseth.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">"The people" are the inhabitants of the countries mentioned in +the preceding verse; but they are not viewed in contrast to, and exclusive of the +other members of the covenant-people,--for <span class="pagenum">[Pg 76]</span> +according to chap. viii. 22, darkness is to cover the whole of it--but only as that +portion which comes chiefly into consideration. <i>Light</i> is, in the symbolical +language of Scripture, salvation. That in which the <i>salvation</i> here consists +cannot be determined from the words themselves, but must follow from the context. +It will not be possible to deny that, according to it, the darkness consists, in +the first instance, in the oppression by the Gentiles, and, hence, salvation consists +in the <i>deliverance</i> from this oppression, and in being raised to the dominion +of the world; and in ver. 2 (3) ff., we have, indeed, the farther displaying of +the light, or deliverance. But it will be as little possible to deny that the sad +companion of outward oppression by the Gentile world is the <i>spiritual</i> misery +of the inward dependence upon it. <i>Farther</i>,--It is as certain that the elevation +of the covenant-people to the dominion of the world cannot take place all on a sudden, +and without any farther ceremony, inasmuch as, according to a fundamental view of +the Old Testament, all outward deliverance appears as depending upon conversion +and regeneration. "Thou returnest," so we read in Deut. xxx. 2, 3, "to the Lord +thy God, and the Lord thy God turneth to thy captivity." And in the same chapter, +vers. 6, 7: "The Lord thy God circumciseth thy heart, and <i>then</i> the Lord thy +God putteth all these curses upon thine enemies." Before Gideon is called to be +the deliverer of the people from Midian, the Prophet must first hold up their sin +to the people, Judg. vi. 8 ff., and Gideon does not begin his work with a struggle +against the outward enemies, but must, first of all, as Jerubbabel, declare war +against sin. All the prosperous periods in the people's history are, at the same +time, periods of spiritual revival. We need only think of David, Jehoshaphat, and +Hezekiah. Outward deliverance always presents itself in history as an <i>addition</i> +only which is bestowed upon those seeking after the kingdom of God. Without the +inward foundation, the bestowal of the outward blessing would be only a mockery, +inasmuch as the holy God could not but immediately take away again what He had given. +But the circumstance that it is the <i>outward</i> salvation, the deliverance from +the heathen servitude, the elevation of the people of God to the dominion of the +world, as in Christ it so gloriously took <span class="pagenum">[Pg 77]</span> place, +which are here, in the first instance, looked at, is easily accounted for from the +historical cause of this prophetic discourse which, <i>in the first instance, is +directed against the fears of the destruction of the kingdom of God by the world's +power</i>. Ps. xxiii. 4; "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of +death, I fear no evil; for thou art with me, thy rod and thy staff they comfort +me," must so much the more he considered as the fundamental passage of the verse +under consideration, that the Psalm, too, refers to the whole Christian Church. +It was in the appearance of Christ, and the salvation brought through Him, in the +midst of the deepest misery, that this Psalm found its most glorious confirmation.--<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">צלמות</span>, +"darkness of death," is the darkness which prevails in death or in Sheol. Such compositions +commonly occur in proper names only, not in appellatives; and hence, by "the land +of the darkness (shadow) of death," hell is to be understood. But darkness of hell +is, by way of a shortened comparison, not unfrequently used for designating the +deepest darkness. The point of comparison is here furnished by the first member +of the verse. Parallel is Ps. lxxxviii. 4 ff., where Israel laments that the Lord +had thrust it down into dark hell. The Preterite tense of the verbs in our verse +is to be explained from the prophetical view which converts the Future into the +Present. How little soever modern exegesis can realise this seeing by, and in faith, +and how much soever it is everywhere disposed to introduce the <i>real</i> Present +instead of the <i>ideal</i>, yet even <i>Ewald</i> is compelled to remark on the +passage under consideration: "The Prophet, as if he were describing something which +in his mind he had seen as certain long ago, here represents everything in the past, +and scarcely makes an exception of this in the new start which he takes in the middle." +At the time when the Prophet uttered this Prophecy, even the <i>darkness</i> still +belonged to the future. As yet the world's power had not gained the ascendancy over +Israel; but here the light has already dispelled the darkness.</p> +<p class="normal">It now merely remains for us to view more particularly the quotation +of these two verses in Matt. iv. 12-17. <span lang="el" class="Greek">Ἀκούσας δὲ</span>--thus +the section begins--<span lang="el" class="Greek">ὅτι Ἰωάννης παρεδόθη, ἀνεχώρησεν +εἰς τὴν Γαλιλαίαν.</span> Since, in these words, we are told that Jesus, after having +received the intelligence of the imprisonment of <span class="pagenum">[Pg 78]</span> +John, withdrew into Galilee, we cannot for a moment think of His having sought in +Galilee, safety from Herod; for Galilee just belonged to Herod, and Judea afforded +security against him. The verb <span lang="el" class="Greek">ἀναχώρεῖν</span> denotes, +on the contrary, the withdrawing into the <i>angulus terrae</i> Galilee, as contrasted +with the civil and ecclesiastical centre. The <i>time</i> of the beginning of Christ's +preaching (His ministry hitherto had been merely a kind of prelude) was determined +by the imprisonment of John, as certainly as, according to the prophecy of the Old +Testament, the territories of the activity of both were immediately bordering upon +one another, and by that very circumstance <i>the place</i>, too, was indirectly +determined; for it was fixed by the prophecy under consideration that Galilee was +to be the scene of the chief ministry of Christ. If, then, the time for the beginning +of the ministry had come, He must also depart into Galilee. The connection, therefore, +is this: After he had received the intelligence of the imprisonment of John--in +which the call to Him for the beginning of His ministry was implied--He departed +into Galilee, and especially to Capernaum, vers. 12, 13; for it was this part of +the country which, by the prophecy, was fixed as the main scene of His Messianic +activity, vers. 14-16. It was there, therefore, that He continued the preaching +of John, ver. 17.--<span lang="el" class="Greek">Καὶ καταλιπὼν τὴν Ναζαρὲτ</span>--it +is said in ver. 13--<span lang="el" class="Greek">ἐλθὼν κατῴκησεν εἰς Καπερναοὺμ +τὴν παραθαλασσίαν, ἐν ὁρίοις Ζαβουλὼν καὶ Νεφθαλείμ.</span> Christ had hitherto +had His settled abode at Nazareth, and thence undertook His wanderings. The immediate +reason why He did not remain there is not stated by Matthew; but we learn it from +Luke and John. In accordance with his object, Matthew takes cognizance of this one +circumstance only, that, according to the prophecy of the Old Testament, Capernaum +was very specially fitted for being the residence of Christ. The town was situated +on the western shore of the Lake of Gennesareth. Quite in opposition to his custom +elsewhere, Matthew describes the situation of the town 80 minutely, because this +knowledge served to afford a better insight into the fulfilment of the prophecy +of the Old Testament. The designation <span lang="el" class="Greek">τὴν παραθαλασσίαν</span> +stands in reference to <span lang="el" class="Greek">ὁδὸν θαλάσσης</span>, in ver. +15. <span lang="el" class="Greek">Ἐν ὁρίοις</span>, &c., may either mean: "In the +borders of Zebulun and Naphtali," <i>i. e.</i> in that place where +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 79]</span> the borders of both the countries meet,--or +<span lang="el" class="Greek">τὰ ὅρια</span> may, according to the analogy of the +Hebrew <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">גבולים</span>, denote the borders in the sense +of "territory," as in Matt. ii. 16. From a comparison of +<span lang="el" class="Greek">γῆ Ζαβουλὼν καὶ Νεφαλείμ</span> of the prophecy in +ver. 15, to which the words stand in direct reference, it follows that the latter +view is the correct one. Whether Capernaum lay just on the borders between the two +countries was of no consequence to the prophecy, and hence was of none to Matthew.--The +phrase <span lang="el" class="Greek">ἵνα πληρωθῇ</span> does not, according to the +very sound remark of <i>De Wette</i>, point to the intention, but to the objective +aim. The question, however, is to what the <span lang="el" class="Greek">ἵνα πληρωθῆ</span> +is to be referred,--whether merely to that which immediately precedes, viz., the +change of residence from Nazareth to Capernaum, or, at the same time to +<span lang="el" class="Greek">ἀνεχώρησεν εἰν τὴν Γαλιλαίαν</span>. The latter is +alone correct. The prophecy which the Evangelist has in view referred mainly to +Galilee, or the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali in general; but, according to +the express remark of the Evangelist, Nazareth itself was likewise situated in Galilee. +The advantage which Capernaum had over it was this only, that in Capernaum the +<span lang="el" class="Greek">ὁδὸν θαλάσσης</span> of the prophecy was found again, +and that, therefore, thence the <span lang="el" class="Greek">πέραν τοῦ Ἰορδάνου</span> +of the prophecy also could be better realized, inasmuch as across the lake there +was an easy communication from that place with the country beyond Jordan. The connection +is hence this: After the imprisonment of the Baptist, Jesus, in order to enter upon +His ministry, went to Galilee, and especially to Capernaum, which was situated on +the lake, in order that thus the prophecy of Isaiah as to the glorification of Galilee, +and of the region on the lake, might be fulfilled.--Matthew has abridged the passage. +From chap. viii. 23 (ix. 1) he has taken the designation of the part of the country, +in order that the agreement of fulfilment and prophecy might become visible. The +words from <span lang="el" class="Greek">γῆ--τῶν ἐθνῶν</span> may either be regarded +as a fragment taken out of its connection, so that they are viewed as a quotation, +and as forming a period by themselves (this, from a comparison of the original, +seems most natural);--or we may also suppose, that the Evangelist, having broken-up +the connection with the preceding, puts these words into a new connection, so that, +along with the <span lang="el" class="Greek">ὁ λαός</span>, which has become an +apposition, they form <span class="pagenum">[Pg 80]</span> the subject of the following +sentence. At all events, <span lang="el" class="Greek">ὁδόν</span> takes here the +place of the adverb, although it may not be possible to adduce instances and proofs +altogether analogous from the Greek <i>usus loquendi</i>.--The confidence with which +Matthew explains chap. viii. 23, and ix. 1 of Christ can be accounted for only from +the circumstance that he recognized Christ as He who in chap. ix. 5, 6, (6, 7) is +described as the author of all the blessings designated in the preceding verses. +It was therefore altogether erroneous in <i>Gesenius</i> to assert that there was +the less reason for holding the Messianic explanation of chap. ix. 5, 6, as there +was no testimony of the New Testament in favour of it.--It is quite obvious that +Matthew does not quote the Old Testament prophecy in reference to any single special +event which happened at Capernaum; but that rather the whole following account of +the glorious deeds of Christ in Galilee, as well as in Peraea, down to chap. xix. +1, serves to mark the fulfilment of this Old Testament prophecy, and is subservient +to this quotation. <i>This passage of Matthew explains the reason, why it is that +he, and Luke and Mark who closely follow him, report henceforth, until the last +journey of Jesus to Jerusalem, exclusively facts which happened in Galilee, and +in Peraea, which likewise was mentioned by Isaiah.</i> The circumstance that this +fact, which is so obvious, was not perceived, has called forth a number of miserable +conjectures, and has even led some interpreters to assail the credibility of the +Gospel. To Matthew, who wished to show that Jesus was the Christ, the Messiah promised +in the Old Testament, the interest must, in the view of the prophecy under consideration, +be necessarily concentrated upon Galilee; and Mark and Luke followed him in this, +perceiving that it was not becoming to them to open up a path altogether new. This +was reserved to the second Apostle from among the Evangelists.</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 2 (3). "<i>Thou multipliest the nation to which thou didst +not increase the joy; they joy before thee like the joy in harvest, and as they +rejoice when they divide the spoil.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">The Prophet beholds the joy of the Messianic time as present; +he beholds the covenant-people numerous, free from all misery, and full of joy; +full of delight he turns to the Lord, and praises Him for what He has done to His +people.--One <span class="pagenum">[Pg 81]</span> of the privileges of the people +of God is the increase which at all times takes place after they are sifted and +thinned by judgments. Thus, <i>e.g.</i>, it happened at the time after their return +from the captivity, comp. Ps. cvii. 38, 39: "And He blesseth them, and they are +multiplied greatly, and He suffereth not their cattle to decrease. They who were +minished and brought low through affliction, oppression, and sorrow." But this increase +took place most gloriously at the time of Christ, when a numerous multitude of adopted +sons from among the Gentiles were received into the Church of God, and thus the +promise to Abraham: "I will make of thee a great nation" (<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">גוי</span> +as in the passage before us, and not <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">עם</span>), +received its final fulfilment. From the arguments which we advanced in Vol. i. on +Hosea ii. 1, it appears that the increase which the Church received by the reception +of the Gentiles is, according to the biblical view, to be considered as an increase +of the people of Israel. The fundamental thought of Ps. lxxxvii. is: Zion the birth-place +of the nations; by the new birth the Gentiles are received in Israel. The manner +in which the Gentiles show their anxiety to be received in Israel is described by +Isaiah in chap. xliv. 5. The commentary on the words: "Thou multipliest the nation," +is furnished to us by chap. liv. 1 ff., where, in immediate connection with the +prophecy regarding the Servant of God who bears the sin of the world, it is said: +"Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear, break forth into singing, and shout thou +that didst not travail with child; for more are the children of the desolate than +the children of the married wife, saith the Lord." Comp. also chap. lxvi. 7-9, and +Ezek. xxxvii. 25, 26: "And my servant David shall be their prince for ever. And +I make a covenant with them and multiply them." Several interpreters, <i>e. g.</i> +<i>Calvin</i>, <i>Vitringa</i>, suppose that the Prophet in this verse (and so likewise +in the two following verses) speaks, in the first instance, of a nearer prosperity, +of the rapid increase of the people after the Babylonish captivity. <i>Vitringa</i> +directs attention to the fact, that the Jewish people after the captivity did not +only fill Judea, but spread also in Egypt, Syria, Mesopotamia, Asia Minor, Greece, +and Italy. And surely we cannot deny that in this increase, no less than in the +new flourishing of the people after the defeat of Sennacherib also, there is a +<i>prelude</i> to the real fulfilment; <span class="pagenum">[Pg 82]</span> and +that so much the more that these precursory increases, happening, as they did, regularly +after the decreases, were bestowed upon the covenant-people with a view to the future +appearance of Christ. These increases enter into a still closer relation to the +prophecy under consideration, if we keep in mind that in chap. vii. the Prophet +anticipates in spirit the appearance of Christ, and that it is with this representation +that, in the Section before us, chap. viii. 8, 10 are connected. In order to refute +the explanation of <i>Umbriet</i>: "Thou hast multiplied the <i>heathen</i>, and +thereby thou hast removed all joy; but now," &c., it will be quite sufficient to +refer to the parallel passage, chap. xxvi. 15: "Thou increasest the <i>people</i>, +O Lord, thou art glorified, thou removest all the boundaries of the land," where, +just as in the verse before us, by <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">הגוי</span> "the +people," Israel is designated; and that is frequently the case where the notion +of the multitude, the mass only is concerned, comp. Gen. xii. 2.--"<i>Thou didst +not increase the joy</i>" stands for: to whom thou formerly didst not increase the +joy, to whom thou gavest but little joy, upon whom thou inflictedst severe sufferings. +The antithesis is quite the same as in chap. viii. 23 (ix. 1), where the former +distress is contrasted with the light which is now to shine upon them, the former +disgrace with the later glory; and in the same manner in chap. ix. 1 (2), where +the present <i>light</i> is rendered brighter by being contrasted with the former +<i>darkness</i>. The contrast of the present <i>increase</i> with the former absence +of joys shows that the joy is to be viewed as being connected with the increase, +and that if formerly the joy was less, the reason of it was chiefly in the <i>decrease</i>. +Ps. cvii. 38, 39, 41, shews how affliction and decrease, joy and increase, go hand +in hand; farther, Jerem. xxx. 19: "And out of them proceed thanksgivings, and the +voice of the merry ones; and I multiply them, and they do not decrease; and I honour +them, and they are not small." The decrease is a single symptom only of a depressed, +joyless condition, which everywhere in the kingdom of God shall be brought to an +end by Christ. Most of the ancient translators (LXX., Chald., Syr.) follow the marginal +reading <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">לו</span>, "<i>to him</i>" hast thou increased +the joy. According to many modern interpreters, <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">לא</span> +is supposed to be a different mode of writing for <span lang="he" class="Hebrew"> +לו</span>. But no <i>proof</i> that could stand the test can be brought forward +for <span class="pagenum">[Pg 83]</span> such a mode of writing; nor is there any +reason for supposing that <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">לא</span> stands here in +a different sense from what it does in chap. viii. 23, and it would indeed be strange +that <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">לו</span> should have been placed before the +verb. At most, it might be supposed that the Prophet intended an ambiguous and double +sense: <sup>not</sup>/<sub>to him</sub> didst thou increase the joy. But altogether +apart from such an ambiguous and double sense, behind the negative, at all events, +the positive is concealed; thou multipliest the people, and increasest to them the +joy, thou who formerly didst decrease their joy, &c.; and it is to this positive +that the words refer which, in Luke ii. 10, the angels address to the shepherds: +<span lang="el" class="Greek">μὴ φοβεῖσθε, ἰδοὺ γὰρ εὐαγγελίζομαι ὑμῖν χαρὰν μεγάλην +ἥτις ἔσται παντὶ τῷ λαῷ ὅτι ἐτέχθη ὑμῖν σήμερον σωτὴρ, ὅς ἐστι Χριστὸς Κύριος</span>; +comp. Matth. ii. 10.--In the following words, the Prophet expresses, in the first +instance, the nature of the joy, then its greatness. The joy over the blessings +received is a joy <i>before God</i>, under a sense of His immediate presence. The +expression is borrowed from the sacrificial feasts in the courts before the sanctuary, +at which the partakers rejoiced <i>before the Lord</i>, Deut. xii. 7, 12, 18, xiv. +26. In Immanuel, God with his blessings and gifts has truly entered into the midst +of His people. With the joy at <i>the dividing of the spoil</i>, the joy is compared +only to show its greatness, just as with the joy <i>in the harvest</i>; and it is +in vain that Knobel tries here to bring in a dividing of spoil.</p> +<p class="normal">Vers. 3, (4). "<i>For the yoke of his burden and the staff of +his neck, the rod of his driver thou hast broken as in the day of Midian.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">In this verse, the reason of the people's joy announced in the +preceding verse is stated: it is the deliverance from the world's power, under the +oppression of which they groaned, or, in point of fact, were to groan. He who imposes +the <i>yoke</i> and the <i>staff</i>, the <i>driver</i>, (an allusion to the Egyptian +taskmasters, masters, comp. Exod. iii. 7; v. 10), is Asshur, and the <i>whole</i> +world's power hostile to the Kingdom of God, which is represented by him, and which +by Christ was to receive, and has received, a mortal blow. A prelude to the fulfilment +took place by the defeat of Sennacherib under Hezekiah, comp. chap. x. 5, 24, 27; +xiv. 25. After him. Babel had to experience <span class="pagenum">[Pg 84]</span> +the destructive power of the Lord, the single phases of which, pervading, as they +do, all history, are here comprehended in one great act. Although the definitive +fulfilment begins first with the appearance of Christ in the flesh, who spoke to +His people: <span lang="el" class="Greek">θαρσεῖτε, ἐγὼ νενίκηκα τὸν κόσμον</span>, +yet after what we remarked on ver. 2, we are fully entitled to consider the former +catastrophes also of the kingdoms of the world as preludes to the real fulfilment.--<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">שכם</span> +"shoulder" does not suit as the <i>membrum cui verbera infliguntur</i>; it comes, +as is commonly the case, into consideration as that member with which burdens are +borne. The <i>staff</i> or tyranny is a heavy <i>burden</i>, comp. chap. x. 27: +"His burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder." "<i>As in the day of Midian</i>" +is equivalent to: as thou once didst break the yoke of Midian. This event was especially +fitted to serve as a type of the glorious future victory over the world's power, +partly because the oppression by Midian was very hard,--according to Judges vii. +12, Midian, Amalek, and the sons of the East broke in upon the land like grasshoppers +for multitude, and their camels were without number, as the sand by the seaside +for multitude--partly because the help of the Lord (<i>thou</i> hast broken) was +at that time specially visible. "I will be with thee," says the Lord to Gideon in +Judges vi. 16, "and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man;" and Judges vii. +2: "The people that are with thee are too many, as that I could give the Midianites +into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying: Mine own hand +hath saved me."</p> +<p class="normal">Vers. 4, (5). "<i>For every war-shoe put on with noise, and the +garment rolled in blood: it is for burning, food of fire.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">We have here the reason why the tyranny is broken: <i>for</i> +the enemies of the Kingdom of God shall entirely and for ever be rendered incapable +of carrying on warfare. If the noisy war-shoes, and their blood-stained garments +are to be burned, they themselves must, of course, have been previously destroyed. +But, if that be the case, then all war and tyranny are come to an end, "for the +dead do not live, and the shades do not rise," chap. xxvi. 14. The parallel passages, +Ps. xlvi. 10, and Ezek. xxxix. 9, 10, do not permit us to doubt that the burning +of the war-shoes and of the bloody garments come into consideration here as a consequence +of the destruction of <span class="pagenum">[Pg 85]</span> the conquerors. Nor can +we, according to these passages, entertain, for a moment, the idea of <i>Meier</i>, +that those bloody garments belong to <i>Israel</i>.</p> +<p class="normal">Vers. 5 (6). "<i>For unto us a child is horn, unto us a son is +given, and the government is upon his shoulders, and his name shall be called Wonder-Counsellor, +God-Hero, Ever-Father, Prince of Peace.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">The Prophet had hitherto spoken only of the salvation which is +to spread from Galilee over the rest of the country; it is first here that its author, +in all His sublime glory, comes before him; and, having come to him, the prophecy +rises to exalted feelings of joy. In chap. vii. 14, the Prophet beholds the Saviour +as being already born; hence the Preterites <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ילד</span> +and <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">נתן</span>. If any one should imagine that from +the use of these Preterites he were entitled to infer that the subject of the prophecy +must, at that time, already have been born, he must also, on account of the Preterites +in vers. 1 (2) suppose that the announced salvation had at that time been already +bestowed upon Israel,--which no interpreter does. <i>Hitzig</i> correctly remarks: +"Because He is still <i>future</i>, the Prophet in His first appearance, beholds +Him as a child, and as the son of another." <i>Whose</i> son He is we are not told; +but it is supposed to be already known. Ever since the revelation in 2 Sam. vii., +the Messiah could be conceived of as the Son of David only; compare the words: "Upon +the throne of David" in vers. 6 (7), and chap. xi. 1, lv. 3. As the Son of God the +Saviour appears as early as in Ps. ii.; and it is to that Psalm that the "God-Hero" +alludes, and connects itself. Alluding to the passage before us, we read in John +iii. 16: <span lang="el" class="Greek">οὕτω γὰρ ἠγάπησεν ὁ θεὸς τὸν κόσμον</span> +<!--see 1856 ed.-->("The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this,") vers. 6 +[7], <span lang="el" class="Greek">ὥστε τὸν υἱὸν τὸν μονογενῆ ἔδωκεν</span>.--When +grown up, the Son has the government upon His shoulder. The Prophet contrasts Christ +with the <i>world's power</i>, which threatened destruction to the people of God. +This, then, refers to the <i>Kingly office</i> of Christ, and the state of glory. +Parallel is the declaration of Christ in Matt. xxviii. 18, +<span lang="el" class="Greek">ἐδόθη μοι πᾶσα ἐξουσία</span>. The Lord has also, +in John xviii. 37, confirmed the truth that He is <i>King</i>; and it is upon the +ground of His own declaration that Pilate designates Him upon the cross as a King. +Although His Kingdom is not of <span class="pagenum">[Pg 86]</span> this world, +John xviii. 36, it is, just for that very reason, so much the more all-governing. +The <span lang="el" class="Greek">ἐντεῦθεν</span> in that passage is contrasted +with the words "from heaven" in Dan. ii., by which, in that passage, its absolute +superiority over all the kingdoms of the world, and its crushing power are declared +to be indissolubly connected.--"<i>The shoulder</i>" comes, here also, as in vers. +3 (4), chap. x. 27, into consideration in so far as on it we <i>bear</i>; comp. +Gen. xlix. 15; Ps. lxxxi. 7. The bearer of an office has it, as it were, on his +shoulders.--The Jewish interpreters, despairing of being able, with any appearance +of truth, to apply the following attributes to Hezekiah, insist that, with the exception +of the last, they denote Him who calls, not Him who is called: the Wonderful, &c., +called him Prince of peace. Altogether apart from the consideration that this is +in opposition to the accents, the mentioning of so many names of Jehovah is here +quite unsuitable; and, in all other passages, the noun put after +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">שמו קרא</span><!--Biblos and 1856 ed have words in reverse of this--> +designates always him who is called. Modern Exegesis has tried everything with a +view to deprive the names of their deep meaning, in order to adapt them to a Messiah +in the ordinary Jewish sense, hence, to do that of which the Jews themselves had +already despaired. But, in doing so, they have considered the names too much by +themselves, overlooking the circumstance that the full and deeper meaning of the +individual attributes, as it at first sight presents itself, must, in the connection +in which they here occur, be so much the rather held fast. The names are completed +in the number <i>four</i>,--the mark of that which is complete and finished. <i> +They form two pairs, and every single name is again compounded of two names.</i> +The first name is <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">פלא יועץ</span>. That these two +words must be <i>connected</i> with one another (<i>Theodor.</i>--<span lang="el" class="Greek">θαυμαστῶς +βουλεύων</span>) appears from the analogy of the other names, especially of +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">אל גבּור</span> with whom +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">פלא יועץ</span> forms one pair; and then from the +circumstance that <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">יועץ</span> alone would, in this +connection, be too indefinite. The words do not stand in the relation of the <i> +Status constructus</i>, but are connected in the same manner as +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">פלא אדם</span> in Gen. xvi. 12. +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">יועץ</span> designates the attribute which is here +concerned, while <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">פלא</span> points out the supernatural, +superhuman degree in which the King possesses this attribute, and the infinite riches +of consolation and help which are to be found in such <span class="pagenum">[Pg +87]</span> a King. As a <i>Counsellor</i>, He is a <i>Wonder</i>, absolutely elevate +d above everything which the earth possesses in excellency of counselling. As +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">פלא</span> commonly denotes "wonder" in the strictest +sense (comp. chap. xxv. 1: "I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name, for thou +hast done wonders," Ps. lxxvii. 15: "Thou art the God that doest wonders;" Exod. +xv. 11); as it here stands in parallelism with <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">אל</span> +God; as the whole context demands that we should take the words in their full meaning;--we +can consider it only as an arbitrary weakening of the sense, that several interpreters +explain <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">פלא יועץ</span> "extraordinary Counsellor." +Parallel is Judges xiii. 18 where the Angel of the Lord, after having announced +the birth of Samson, says: "Why askest thou thus after my name?--it is wonderful," +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">פלאי</span>, <i>i.e.</i>, my whole nature is wonderful, +of unfathomable depth, and cannot, therefore, be expressed by any human name. <i> +Farther</i>--Revel. xix. 12 is to be compared, where Christ has a name written that +no man knows but He himself, to intimate the immeasurable glory of His nature. That +which is here, in the first instance, said of a single attribute of the King, applies, +at the same time, to all others, holds true of His whole nature; the King is a Wonder +as a Counsellor, because His whole person is wonderful. A proof, both of the connection +of the two words, and against the weakening of the sense, is afforded by the parallel +passage, chap. xxviii. 29, where it is said of the Most High God +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">הפליא עצה</span>, "He shows himself wonderful in +His counsel."--The second name is <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">אל גבּור</span> +"God-Hero." Besides the ability of giving good counsel, a good government requires +also <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">גבורה</span> strength, heroic power: comp. chap. +xi. 2, according to which the spirit of counsel and strength rest upon the Messiah. +What may not be expected from a King who not only, like a David in a higher degree, +possesses the greatest <i>human measure</i> of heroic strength, but who is also +a <i>God-Hero</i>, and a <i>Hero-God</i>, so that with His appearance there <i>disappears</i> +completely the contrast of the invisible Head of the people of God, and of His visible +substitute,--a contrast which so often manifested itself, to the great grief of +the covenant-people? The God-Hero forms the contrast to a human hero whose heroic +might is, after all, always <i>limited</i>, <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">אל גבור</span> +can signify God-Hero only, a Hero who is infinitely exalted above all human heroes +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 88]</span> by the circumstance that He is <i>God</i>. +To the attempts at weakening the import of the name, chap. x. 21, where +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">אל גבור</span> is said of the Most High, appears +a very inconvenient obstacle,--a parallel passage which does not occur by chance, +but where <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">שאר ישוב</span> stands with an intentional +reference to chap. vii.: "The remnant shall return, the remnant of Jacob, unto the +Hero-God," who is furnished with invincible strength for His people; comp. Ps. xxiv. +8: "The Lord strong and a hero, the Lord a hero of war." The older Rationalistic +exposition endeavoured to set aside the deity of the Messiah by the explanation: +"strong hero." So also did <i>Gesenius</i>. This explanation, against which chap. +x. 21 should have warned, has been for ever set aside by the remark of <i>Hitzig</i>: +"Commonly, in opposition to all the <i>usus loquendi</i>, the word is translated +by: <i>strong hero</i>. But <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">אל</span> is always, +even in passages such as Gen. xxxi. 29, "God," and in all those passages which are +adduced to prove that it means "<i>princeps</i>," "<i>potens</i>," the forms are +to be derived not from <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">אל</span>, but from +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">איל</span>, which properly means 'ram,' then 'leader,' +'prince.'" By this explanation, especially the passage Ezek. xxxii. 21, which had +formerly been appealed to in support of the translation "strong hero," is set aside; +for the <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">אלי גבּורים</span> of that passage are "rams +of heroes." Rationalistic interpreters now differ in their attempts at getting rid +of the troublesome fact. <i>Hitzig</i> says, "Strong God"--he erroneously views +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">גבּור</span>, which always means "hero," as an adjective--"the +future deliverer is called by the oriental not strictly separating the Divine and +human, and He is called so by way of exaggeration, in so far as He possesses divine +qualities." A like opinion is expressed by <i>Knobel</i>: "Strong God the Messiah +is called, because in the wars with the Gentiles He will prove himself as a hero +equipped with divine strength."<!--inserted uncertain quote--> The expression proves +a divine nature as little as when in Ps. lxxxii. 1-6, comp. John x. 34, 35, kings +are, in general, called <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">אלהים</span>, "gods, <i>Like</i> +God, to be compared to Him, a worthy representative of Him, and hence, likewise, +called God." It is true that there is one <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">אל גבּור</span> +only, and that, according to chap. x. 21, the Messiah cannot be +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">אל גבּור</span> beside the Most High God, excepting +<i>by partaking in his nature</i>. Such a participation in the nature, not His being +merely filled with the power of <span class="pagenum">[Pg 89]</span> God, is absolutely +required to explain the expression. It is true that in the Law of Moses all those +who have to command or to judge, all those to whom, for some reason or other, respect +or reverence is due, are consecrated as the representatives of God on earth; <i> +e.g.</i>, a court of justice is of God, and he who appears before it appears before +God. But the name <i>Elohim</i> is there given <i>in general only to the judicial +court</i>, which represents God--to the <i>office</i>, not to the single individuals +who are invested with it. In Ps. lxxxii. 1, the name <i>Elohim</i> in the expression: +"He judgeth among the gods" is given to the single, judging individual; comp. also +ver. 6; but this passage forms an isolated exception. To explain, from it, the passage +before us is inadmissible, even from chap. x. 21, where +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">אל גבּור</span> stands in its fullest sense. It must +not be overlooked that that passage in Ps. lxxxii. belongs to higher poetry; that +the author himself there mitigates in ver. 6, in the parallel member, the strength +of the expression: "I have said ye are <i>Elohim</i>, and sons of the Most High +ye all;" and, finally, that there <i>Elohim</i> is used as the most vague and general +name of God, while here <i>El</i>, a personal name, is used. <i>Hendewerk</i>, +<i>Ewald</i>, and others, finally, explain "<i>God's hero</i>," <i>i.e.</i>, "a +divine hero, who, like an invincible God, fights and conquers." But in opposition +to this view, it has been remarked by <i>Meier</i> that then necessarily the words +ought to run, <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">גבור אל</span>. It is farther obvious +that by this explanation the <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">גבור אל</span><!--Biblos has inverse word order--> +here is, in a manner not to be admitted, disconnected and severed from those passages +where it occurs as an attribute of the Most High God; comp. besides chap. x. 21; +Deut. x. 17; Jer. xxxii. 18.</p> +<p class="normal">The third name is <i>Father of eternity</i>. That admits of a +double explanation. Several interpreters refer to the Arabic <i>usus loquendi</i>, +according to which he is called the father of a thing who possesses it; <i>e.g.</i>, +Father of mercy, <i>i.e.</i>, the merciful one. This <i>usus loquendi</i>, according +to the supposition formerly very current, occurs in Hebrew very frequently, especially +in proper names, <i>e.g.</i>, <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">טוב אבי</span>. "Father +of goodness," <i>i.e.</i>, the good one. According to this view. Father of eternity +would be equivalent to Eternal one. According to the opinion of others. Father of +eternity is <i>he who will ever be a Father</i>, <i>an affectionate provider</i>, +comp. chap. xxii. 21, where Eliakim <span class="pagenum">[Pg 90]</span> is called +"<i>Father</i> to the inhabitants of Jerusalem;" Job xxix. 16; Ps. lxviii. 6. <i> +Luther</i>, too, thus explains: "Who at all times feeds His Kingdom and Church, +in whom there is a fatherly love without end." The <i>latter</i> view is to be preferred +unconditionally. Against the former view is the circumstance that all the other +names stand in direct reference to the salvation of the covenant-people, while, +in the mere eternity, this reference would not distinctly enough appear. And it +has farther been rightly remarked by <i>Ewald</i>, that that <i>usus loquendi</i> +in Arabic always belongs to the artificial, often to jocular discourse. Whether +it occur in Hebrew at all is still a matter of controversy; <i>Ewald</i>, § 27, +denies that it occurs in proper names also. On the other hand, the paternal love, +the rich kindness and mercy, exceedingly well suit the first two names which indicate +unfathomable <i>wisdom</i>, and divine <i>heroic strength</i>. The rationalistic +interpreters labour very hard to <i>weaken</i> the idea of <i>eternity</i>. But +the "Provider for life"<!--inserted quote--> agrees very ill with the <i>Wonder-Counsellor</i>, +and the <i>God-hero</i>. The absolute eternity of the Messiah's dominion is, on +the foundation of 2 Sam. vii., most emphatically declared in other passages also +(comp. vol. i., p. 132, 133), and meets us here again immediately in the following +verse. The name Ever-Father, too, leads us to <i>divine Majesty</i>, comp. chap. +xlv. 17: "Israel is saved by the Lord with an <i>everlasting</i> salvation; ye shall +not be ashamed nor confounded in all <i>eternity</i>" chap. lvii. 15, where God +is called <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">שכן עד</span> "the ever dwelling;" farther, +Ps. lxviii. 6: "A <i>Father</i> of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows is +God in His holy habitation," where the providence of God for the <i>personae miserabiles</i> +is praised with a special reference to that which He does for His poor people.--<i>Hitzig's</i> +explanation: "Father of prey," does not suit the prophetic style, and has, in general, +no analogy from Hebrew to adduce in its favour. The circumstance that, in the verse +immediately following, the eternity of the government is mentioned, shows that +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">עד</span> must be taken in its ordinary signification +"eternity."</p> +<p class="normal">The fourth name, <i>Prince of peace</i>, stands purposely at the +end, and is to be considered as strongly emphatic. War, hostile oppression, the +distress of the servitude which threatens the people of God,--these are the things +which, in the first instance, <span class="pagenum">[Pg 91]</span> have directed +the Prophet's eye to the Messiah. The name points back to Solomon who typified Christ's +dominion of peace, and who himself, in the Song of Solomon, transfers his name to +Christ (comp. my Comment. S. 1 ff.); then to the Shiloh, Gen. xlix. 10 (comp. vol. +i, 84, 85). We should misunderstand the name were we to infer from it that, in the +Messianic time, all war should cease. Were such to be the case, why is it that, +immediately before, the Redeemer is designated as <i>God-Hero</i>? Peace is the +aim; it is offered to all the nations in Christ; but those who reject it, who rise +up against His Kingdom, He throws down, as the God-Hero, with a powerful hand, and +<i>obtains by force</i> peace for His people. But war, as far as it takes place, +is carried on in a form different from that which existed under the Old dispensation. +According to Micah v. 9 (10), ff., the Lord makes His people outwardly defenceless, +before they become in Christ world-conquering; comp. vol. i., p. 515. According +to chap. xi. 4, Christ smiteth the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the +breath of His lips He slayeth the wicked.</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 6 (7.) "<i>To the increase of the government and to the peace, +there is no end, upon the throne of David and over his kingdom, so that he establisheth +it, and supporteth it by justice and righteousness, from henceforth even for ever. +The zeal of the Lord of Hosts shall perform this.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">There is no reason for connecting this verse with the preceding +one; in which case the sense would be: "For the increase of government and for peace +without end." <i>For</i> chap. ii. 7; Nah. ii. 10; Job. xvi. 3--in which +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ל</span> with <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">קץ</span> +occurs in the very same sense--clearly show that the +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ל</span> in <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">לשלום</span> +and <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">למרבה</span> may very well be understood as a +mere sign of the Dative. And the objection that the following +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">להכין</span>, &c. would, in that case, be unsuitable, +is removed if it be explained: so that He establisheth, &c., or: by His establishing, +&c.; comp. <i>Ewald</i>, <i>Lehrbuch der Hebr. Sprache</i> § 280 d. The words designate +the basis on which the increase of government and the peace rest. The Kingdom of +God will, through the Redeemer, acquire an ever increasing <i>extent</i>, and, along +with it, perfect <i>peace</i> shall be enjoyed by the world. For it is not by rude +force that this kingdom is to be founded and established, as is the case with worldly +kingdoms, in which increase of <span class="pagenum">[Pg 92]</span> government and +peace, far from being always connected, are, on the contrary, irreconcilable opponents, +but by <i>justice</i> and <i>righteousness</i>. Parallel is Ps. lxvii. In vers. +11-15 of that Psalm, the Psalmist just points to that "by which all nations and +kings are induced to do homage to that king; it is just that which, in the whole +Psalm, appears as the root of everything else, viz., the absolute justice of the +king." <i>Decrease</i> of government and <i>war</i> without end were, meanwhile, +in prospect, and they were so, because those who were sitting on the throne of David +did not support his kingdom by justice and righteousness. But the Psalmist intimates +to the trembling minds that such is not the end of the ways of God with His people; +that at last the idea of the Kingdom of God will be realized. From the fundamental +passage, Ps. lxxii. 8-11, and parallel passages, such as chap. ii. 2, 4; Mic. v. +3 (4); Zech. ix. 10, it is obvious that, as regards the endless increase of the +government, the Prophet thinks of all the nations of the earth. On the <i>peace</i> +without end, comp. Ps. lxxii. 7; chap. ii. 4; Mic. v. 4 (5), and the words: "He +speaketh peace unto the heathen," Zech. ix. 10. The +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ל</span> designates the substratum on which the increase +of dominion and the peace manifest themselves; the dominion of the Davidic family +and its kingdom gain infinitely in extent, and in the same degree peace also increases. +In these words the Prophet gives an intimation that the Messiah will proceed from +David's family, comp. chap. xi. 1 where he designates Him as the twig of Jesse.--<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">הכין</span> +"to confirm," "to establish," used of throne and kingdom, 1 Sam. xiii. 13, comp. +14; 1 Kings ii. 12, comp. ver. 24, and farther, chap. xvi. 5.--The words: "from +henceforth even for ever" do not, as <i>Umbreit</i> supposes, refer to every thing +in this verse, but to the words immediately preceding. That the words must be understood +in their full sense, we have already proved in our remarks on the fundamental passage, +2 Sam. vii. 13: "And I will establish the throne of His kingdom for ever;" see Vol. +i. p. 131. <i>Michaelis</i> says: "So that that promise to David shall never fail." +The <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">עתה</span> does not refer to the <i>actual</i>, +but to the <i>ideal</i> present, to the first appearance of the Redeemer, to the +words: "Unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given, and the government is upon +His shoulder."--This great change is brought about <span class="pagenum">[Pg 93]</span> +by the <i>zeal</i> of the Lord who raises this glorious King to His people; comp. +John iii. 16. The zeal in itself is only <i>energy</i>; the sphere of its exercise +is, in every instance, determined by the context. In Exod. xv. 5; Deut. iv. 24; +Nah. i. 2, the zeal is the energy of wrath. In the passage before us, as in the +Song of Solomon viii. 6, and in chap. xxxvii. 32: "For out of Jerusalem shall go +forth a remnant, and escaped ones out of Mount Zion; the zeal of the Lord of hosts +shall do this," the zeal of God means the energetic character of His love to Zion.</p> +<p class="normal">We must, in conclusion, still make a few remarks, on the interpretation +of vers. 5 and 6. The older interpreters were unanimous in referring these verses +to the Messiah. Even by the Jews, this explanation was abandoned at a subsequent +period only. To the Messiah this passage is referred by the Chaldean Paraphrast, +by the Commentary on Genesis known by the name <i>Breshith Rabbah</i> in the exposition +of Genesis xli. 44 (see <i>Raim. Martini Pugio fidei</i>, Vol. iii. sec. 3, chap. +xiv. § 6), by Rabbi <i>Jose Galilaeus</i> in the book <i>Ekha Rabbati</i>, a Commentary +on Lamentations (see <i>Raim. Matt.</i> iii. 3 chap. 4, § 13). <i>Ben Sira</i> (fol. +40 ed., Amstel. 1679), mentions among the eight names of the Messiah, the following +from the passage before us: Wonderful, Counsellor, El Gibbor, Prince of Peace. But +the late Jewish interpreters found it objectionable that the Messiah, in opposition +to their doctrinal views, was here described as God; for doctrinal reasons, therefore, +they gave up the received interpretation, and sought to adapt the passage to Hezekiah. +Among these, however, <i>Rabbi Lipmann</i> allows the Messianic explanation to a +certain degree to remain. Acknowledging that the prophecy could not refer exclusively +to Hezekiah, he extends it to all the successors from the House of David, including +the Messiah, by whom it is to attain its most perfect fulfilment. Among Christian +interpreters, <i>Grotius</i> was the first to abandon the Messianic explanation. +Even <i>Clericus</i> acknowledges that the predicates are applicable to Hezekiah +"<i>sensu admodum diluto</i>" only. At the time when Rationalism had the ascendancy, +it became pretty current to explain them of Hezekiah. <i>Gesenius</i> modified this +view by supposing that the Prophet had connected his Messianic wishes and expectations +with Hezekiah, and <span class="pagenum">[Pg 94]</span> expected their realization +by him. At present this view is nearly abandoned; after <i>Gesenius</i>, <i>Hendewerk</i> +is the only one who still endeavours to defend it.</p> +<p class="normal">Against the application to Hezekiah even this single argument +is decisive, that a glory is here spoken of, which is to be bestowed especially +upon Galilee which belonged to the kingdom of the ten tribes. <i>Farther</i>--Although +the prophecy be considered as a human foreboding only, how could the Prophet, to +whom, everywhere else such a sharp eye is ascribed, that, from it, they endeavour +to explain his fulfilled prophecies,--how could the Prophet have expected that Hezekiah, +who was at that time a boy of about nine years of age, and who appeared under such +unfavourable circumstances, should realize the hopes which he here utters in reference +to the world's power, should conquer that power definitively and for ever, should +infinitely extend his kingdom, and establish an everlasting dominion? How could +he have ascribed divine attributes to Hezekiah who, in his human weakness, stood +before him? <i>Finally</i>--The undeniable agreement of the prophecy before us with +other Messianic passages, especially with Ps. lxxii. and Is. xi., where even <i> +Gesenius</i> did not venture to maintain the reference to Hezekiah, is decidedly +in opposition to the reference to Hezekiah.</p> +<h3><a name="div2_94" href="#div2Ref_94">THE TWIG OF JESSE.</a></h3> +<p class="center">(Chap. xi., xii.)</p> +<p class="normal">These chapters constitute part of a larger whole which begins +with chap. x. 5. With regard to the time of the composition of this discourse, it +appears, from chap. x. 9-11, that Samaria was already conquered. The prophecy, therefore, +cannot be prior to the sixth year of Hezekiah. On the other hand, the defeat of +the Assyrian host, which, under Sennacherib, invaded Judah, is announced as being +still future. The prophecy, accordingly, falls into the period between the 6th and +the 14th year of Hezekiah's reign. From the circumstance that in it +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 95]</span> the king of Asshur is represented as being +about to march against Jerusalem, it is commonly inferred that it was uttered shortly +before the destruction of the Assyrian host, and hence, belongs to the fourteenth +year of Hezekiah. But this ground is not very safe. It would certainly be overlooking +the liveliness with which the prophets beheld and represented future things as present; +it would be confounding the <i>ideal</i> Present with the <i>actual</i>, if we were +to infer from vers. 28-32 that the Assyrian army must already have reached the single +stations mentioned there. The utmost that we are entitled to infer from this liveliness +of description is, that the Assyrian army was already on its march; but not even +that can be inferred with certainty. In favour of the immediate nearness of the +danger, however, is the circumstance that, in the prophecy, the threatening is kept +so much in the background; that, from the outset, it is comforting and encouraging, +and begins at once with the announcement of Asshur's destruction, and Judah's deliverance. +This seems to suggest that the place which, everywhere else, is occupied by the +threatening, was here taken by the events themselves; so that of the two enemies +of salvation, proud security and despair, the latter only was here to be met. The +prophecy before us opens the whole series of the prophecies out of the 14th year +of Hezekiah, the most remarkable year of the Prophet's life, rich in the revelations +of divine glory, in which his prophecy flowed in full streams, and spread on all +sides.</p> +<p class="normal">The prophecy divides itself into two parts. The first, chap. x. +5-34, contains the threatening against Asshur, who was just preparing to inflict +the deadly blow upon the people of God. The fact that in chap. xi. we have not an +absolutely new beginning before us, sufficiently appears from the general analogy, +according to which, as a rule, the Messianic prophecy does not <i>begin</i> the +prophetical discourse; but still more clearly from the circumstance that chap. xi. +begins with "and;" to which argument may still be added the fact that the figure +in the first verse of this chapter evidently refers to the figure in the last verse +of the preceding chapter. Asshur had there been represented as a stately forest +which was to be cut down by the hand of the Lord; while here the house of David +appears as a stem cut down, from the roots of which a small twig shall +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 96]</span> come forth, which, although unassuming at first, +is to grow up into a fruit-bearing tree. The purpose of the whole discourse was +to strengthen and comfort believers on the occasion of Asshur's inroad into the +country; to bring it home to the convictions of those who were despairing of the +Kingdom of God, that He who is in the midst of them is greater than the world with +all its apparent power; and thereby to awaken and arouse them to resign themselves +entirely into the hands of their God. It is for this purpose that the Prophet first +describes the catastrophe of Asshur; that, then, in chap. xi., he points to the +highest glorification which in future is destined for the Church of God by the appearance +of Christ, in order that she may the more clearly perceive that every fear regarding +her existence is folly.</p> +<p class="normal">The connection of the two passages appears so much the more plainly +when we consider, that that which, in chap. x., was said of Asshur, and especially +the close in vers. 33 and 34: "Behold Jehovah of hosts cuts down the branches with +power, and those of a high stature shall be hewn down, and the high ones shall be +made low. And He cuts down the thickets of the forest with the iron, and Lebanon +shall fall by the glorious one,"<!--see 1856 ed.--> <i>refers to him as the representative +of the whole world's power</i>; that the defeat of Sennacherib before Jerusalem +is to be considered as the nearest fulfilment only, but not as the <i>full</i> and +<i>real</i> fulfilment.</p> +<p class="normal">From the family of David sunk into total obscurity--such is the +substance--there shall, at some future period, rise a Ruler who, at first low and +without appearance, shall attain to great glory and bestow rich blessings,--a Ruler +furnished with the fulness of the Spirit of God and of His gifts, filled with the +fear of God, looking sharply and deeply, and not blinded by any appearance, just +and an helper of the oppressed, an almighty avenger of wickedness, ver. 1-5. By +him all the consequences of the fall, even down to the irrational creation, in the +world of men and of nature, shall be removed, ver. 6-9. Around Him the Gentiles, +formerly addicted to idols, shall gather, ver. 10. In ver. 11-16 the Prophet describes +what he is to do for Israel, to whom the discourse was in the first instance addressed, +and upon whom it was to impress the word: "Fear not." Under Him they obtain deliverance +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 97]</span> from the condition of being scattered and exiled +from the face of the Lord, the removal of pernicious dissensions, conquering power +in relation to the world which assails them, and the removal of all obstacles to +salvation by the powerful arm of the Lord.</p> +<p class="normal">The reference of the prophecy to the Messiah is, among all the +explanations, the most ancient. We find it in the Targum of Jonathan, who thus renders +the first verse: <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ויפק מלכא מבנוהי דישי ומשיחא מבני +בנוהי יתרבי</span>. St. Paul quotes this prophecy in Rom. xv. 12, and proves from +it the calling of the Gentiles. In 2 Thes. ii. 8 he quotes the words of ver. 4, +and assigns to Christ what is said in it. In Rev. v. 5, xxii. 16, Christ, with reference +to ver. 1 and 10, is called the root of David. The Messianic explanation was defended +by most of the older Jewish interpreters, especially by <i>Jarchi</i>, <i>Abarbanel</i>, +and <i>Kimchi</i>.<sup class="ftnRef"><a name="ftnRef_97a" href="#ftn_97a">[1]</a></sup> +It is professed even by most of the rationalistic interpreters, by the modern ones +especially, without any exception (<i>Eichhorn</i>, <i>De Wette</i>, <i>Gesenius</i>, +<i>Hitzig</i>, <i>Maurer</i>, <i>Ewald</i>), although, it is true, they distinguish +between Jesus Christ and the Messiah of the Old Testament,--as, <i>e.g.</i>, <i> +Gesenius</i> has said: "Features such as those in ver. 4 and 5 exclude any other +than the political Messiah, and King of the Israelitish state," and <i>Hitzig</i>: +"A political Messiah whose attributes, especially those assigned to him ver. 3 and +4, are not applicable to Jesus."</p> +<p class="normal">But the non-Messianic interpretation, too, has found its defenders. +According to a statement of Theodoret, the passage was referred by the Jews to Zerubbabel.<sup class="ftnRef"><a name="ftnRef_97b" href="#ftn_97b">[2]</a></sup> +Interpreters more numerous and distinguished have referred it to Hezekiah. This +interpretation is mentioned as early as by <i>Ephraem Syrus</i>; among the Rabbis +it was held by <i>Moses Hakkohen</i>, and <i>Abenezra</i>; among Christian interpreters, +<i>Grotius</i> was the first who professed it, but in such a manner that he assumed +a higher reference to Christ. ("The Prophet returns to praise Hezekiah in words +under which the higher praises of Christ are concealed.") He was followed by <i> +Dathe</i>. The exclusive reference to Hezekiah was maintained by <i>Hermann v. d.</i> +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 98]</span> <i>Hardt</i>, in a treatise published in 1695, +which, however, was confiscated; then, by a number of interpreters at the commencement +of the age of Rationalism, at the head of whom was <i>Bahrdt</i>. Among the expositors +of the last decade, this interpretation is held by <i>Hendewerk</i> alone.</p> +<p class="normal">The reasons for the Messianic interpretation, and against making +Hezekiah the subject of the prophecy, are, among others, the following:--</p> +<p class="normal">1. <i>The comparison of the parallel passages.</i> The Messiah +is here represented under the figure of a shoot or sprout. This has become so common, +as a designation of the Messiah, that the name "Sprout" has almost become a proper +name of the Messiah; compare the remarks on chap. iv. 2. A striking resemblance +to ver. 1 is presented by chap. lviii. 2, where the Messiah, to express His lowliness +at the beginning of His course, is, in the same manner as here, compared to a feeble +and tender twig. Ps. lxxii. and the prophecies in chap. ii., iv., vii., ix., and +Mic. v., present so many agreements and coincidences with the prophecy under consideration, +that they must necessarily be referred to one and the same subject. The reception +of the Gentile nations into the Kingdom of God, the holiness of its members, the +cessation of all hostilities, are features which constantly recur in the Messianic +prophecies.</p> +<p class="normal">2. There are features interwoven with the prophecy which lead +to a more than human dignity of its subject. Even this circumstance is of importance +here, that the <i>whole earth</i> appears as the sphere of His dominion. Still more +distinctly is the human sphere overstepped by the announcement that, under His government, +<i>sin</i>, yea, even all destruction in the outward nature is to cease, and the +earth is to return to the happy condition in which it was before the fall. According +to ver. 4, He slays the wicked in the whole earth by His mere word,--a thing which +elsewhere is said of <i>God</i> only; and according to ver. 10, the heathen shall +render Him religious reverence.</p> +<p class="normal">3. A <i>future</i> scion of David is here promised. For +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ויצא</span> in ver. 1 must be taken as a <i>praeteritum +propheticum</i>, as is evident from its being connected with the preceding chapter, +which has to do with future things, and in which the preterites have a prophetic +meaning; as also by the analogy of the following preterites from which this can +by no means be separated. But <span class="pagenum">[Pg 99]</span> at the time when +this prophecy was composed, Hezekiah had long ago entered upon the government.</p> +<p class="normal">4. The circumstances under which the Prophet makes the King appear +are altogether different from those at the time of Hezekiah. According to ver. 1 +and 10, the royal house of David would have entirely declined, and sunk into the +obscurity of private life, at the time when the Promised One would appear. The Messiah +is there represented as a tender twig which springs forth from the roots of a tree +cut down. In the circumstance, too, that the stem is not called after David, but +after Jesse, it is intimated that the royal family is then to have sunk back into +the obscurity of private life. This does not apply to Hezekiah, under whom the Davidic +dynasty maintained its dignity, but to Christ only. <i>Farther</i>: In ver. 11 there +is an announcement of the return of not only the members of the kingdom of the ten +tribes, but also of the members of the kingdom of Judah from all the countries in +which they were dispersed. This must refer to a far later time than that of Hezekiah; +for at his time no carrying away of the inhabitants of Judah had taken place. This +argument is conclusive also against the false modified Messianic explanation as +it has been advanced by <i>Ewald</i>, according to which the Prophet is supposed +to have expected that the Messiah would appear immediately after the judgment upon +the Assyrians, and after the conversion and reform of those in the Church who had +been spared in the judgment. The facts mentioned show that between the appearance +of the Messiah, and the Present and immediate Future, there lay to the Prophet still +a wide interval in which an entire change of the present state of things was to +take place. Ver. 11 is here of special importance. For this verse opens up to us +the prospect of a whole series of catastrophes to be inflicted upon Israel by the +world's powers, all of which are already to have taken place at the time of the +King's appearance, and which lay beyond the historical horizon at the time of the +Prophet.</p> +<p class="normal">A certain amount of truth, indeed, lies at the foundation of the +explanation which refers the prophecy to Hezekiah. The fundamental thought of the +prophecy before us: "The exaltation of the world's power, is a prophecy of its abasement; +the abasement of the Davidic Kingdom is a prophecy of its exaltation," +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 100]</span> was, in a prelude, to be realized even at +that time. But the Prophet does not limit himself to these feeble beginnings. He +points to the infinitely greater realization of this idea in the distant future, +where the abasement should be much deeper, but the exaltation also infinitely higher. +To him who had first, by a living faith, laid hold of Christ's appearance, it must +be easy, even in the present difficulty, to hope for the lower salvation.</p> +<p class="normal">The distinction between the "political Messiah" of the prophecy +before us, and "Jesus of Nazareth"--a distinction got up by Rationalism--rests chiefly +upon the fact that Rationalism knows Christ as the <i>Son of Man</i> only, and is +entirely ignorant of His true eternal Kingdom. Hence a prophecy which, except the +intimation, in ver. 1, of His lowliness at first, refers altogether to the glorified +Christ, could not but appear as inapplicable. But it is just by ver. 4, to which +they chiefly appeal, that a "political Messiah" is excluded; for to such an one +the words: "He smiteth the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath +of His lips He slayeth the wicked" do not in the least apply. And so likewise vers. +6-9 altogether go beyond the sphere of a political Messiah, All that at first sight +seems to lead to such an one belongs to the imagery which was, and could not fail +to be, taken from the predecessors and types on the throne of David, since Christ +was to be represented as He in whom the Davidic Kingdom attains to its full truth +and glory.</p> +<p class="normal">In the whole section, the Redeemer appears as a <i>King</i>. This +is altogether a matter of course, for He forms the antithesis to the king of Asshur. +It is quite in vain that <i>Umbreit</i> has endeavoured to bring political elements +into the description. Thereby the sense is essentially altered. We must keep closely +in view the Prophet's starting-point. Before those who were filled with cares and +fears, lest the Davidic Kingdom should be overturned by the Assyrian kingdom, he +holds up the bright image of the Kingdom of David, in its last completion. When +they had received that into their hearts, the king of Asshur could not fail to appear +to them in a light altogether different, as a miserable wretch. The giant at once +dwindled down into a contemptible dwarf, and with tears still +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 101]</span> in their eyes they could not avoid laughing +at themselves for having stood so much in awe of him.</p> +<p class="normal">As is commonly the case in the Messianic prophecies, so here, +too, no attention is paid to the development of Christ's Kingdom in time. Everything, +therefore, is fulfilled only as to its beginning; and the complete fulfilment still +stands out for that future in which, after the fulness of the Gentiles has been +brought in, and apostate Israel has been converted, the consequences of the fall +shall, in the outward nature also, be removed.</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 1. "<i>And there cometh forth a twig from the stump of Jesse, +and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">The circumstance that the words in the first verse are completed +in the number seven, divided into three and four, intimates that the Prophet here +enters upon the territory of the revelation of a mystery of the Kingdom of God. +Totally different--so the Prophet begins--from the fate of Asshur, just now proclaimed, +shall that of the royal house of David be. Asshur shall be humbled at a time when +he is most elevated. Lebanon falls through the mighty One: but the house of David +shall be exalted at a time when he is most humbled. Who then would tremble and be +afraid, although it go downward? <i>Luther</i> says: "This is a short summary of +the whole of theology and of the works of God, that Christ did not come till the +trunk had died, and was altogether in a hopeless condition; that hence, when all +hope is gone, we are to believe that it is the time of salvation, and that God is +then nearest when He seems to be farthest off!" The same contrast appears in Ezek. +xvii. 24. The Lord brings down the high tree of the world's power, and exalts the +low tree of the Davidic house. The word <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">גזע</span> +does not mean "stem" in general, as several rationalistic interpreters, and <i>Meier</i> +last, have asserted, but rather stump, <i>truncus</i>, +<span lang="el" class="Greek">κορμός</span>, as <i>Aquila</i>, <i>Symmachus</i>, +<i>Theodotion</i>, translate. This is proved from the following reasons: (1) the +derivation from <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">גזע</span>, in Arabic <i>secuit</i>, +equivalent to <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">גדע</span>, "to cut off," chap. ix. +9; x. 33. The <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">גדעים</span> in latter passage clearly +refers to the <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">גזע</span> here. The proud trees of +Asshur shall be <i>cut down</i>; from the cut down trunk of David there shall grow +up a <i>new</i> tree overshadowing the earth, and offering glorious fruits to them +that dwell on it.--(2) The <i>usus loquendi</i>. The signification, "stump," is, +by <span class="pagenum">[Pg 102]</span> the context, required in the two passages +in which the word <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">גזע</span> still occurs. In Job +xiv. 8, it is obvious. The whole passage there from vers. 7-9 illustrates the figurative +representation in the verse under review. "For there is hope of a tree; if it be +<i>cut down</i> it will sprout again, and its tender branch does not cease. Though +the root thereof wax old in the earth, and the <i>stump</i> thereof die in the dust, +through the scent of waters it buds, and brings forth boughs, like one newly planted." +We have here the figure of our verse carried out. That which water is to the natural +tree decaying, the Spirit and grace of God are to the dying tree, cut down to the +very roots, of the Davidic family. In the second passage. Is. xl. 23, 24, it is +only by a false interpretation that <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">גזע</span> has +been understood of the stem in general. "He bringeth princes to nothing, He destroyeth +the kings of the earth. They are not planted; they are not sown; their <i>stump</i> +does not take root in the earth." The Prophet, having previously proved God's elevation +over the creature, from the creation and preservation of the world, now proves it +from the nothingness of all that which on earth has the greatest appearance of independent +power. It costs Him no effort to destroy all earthly greatness which places itself +in opposition to Him. He blows on them, and they have disappeared without leaving +any trace. If God's will be not with it, princes will not attain to any firm footing +and prosperity (they are not planted and sown); they are like a cut-down stem which +has no more power to take root in the earth. A tree not planted dries up; corn not +sown does not produce fruit; a cut down tree does not take root.--(3.) The connection. +In the second member of the verse we read: "A branch from his roots shall bear fruit." +Unless we mean to adopt the altogether unsuitable expedient of explaining it of +a wild twig which shoots forth from the roots of a still standing tree, we cannot +but think of a stem cut down to the very root. Against the opinion of <i>Hendewerk</i> +who remarks: "An indirect shoot from the root which comes forth from the root through +the stem;" and against <i>Meier's</i> opinion: "The root corresponds with the stem, +and both together form the living tree," it is decisive, that in ver. 10, the Messiah +is simply, and without any mention being made of the stem, designated as +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">שרש</span> "a shoot from the root." Farther, chap. +liii. 2, where the Messiah is represented <span class="pagenum">[Pg 103]</span> +as a shoot from the root out of a dry ground.--(4.) It is only when +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">גזע</span> has the meaning, "stump," that it can +be accounted for why the <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">גזע</span> of Jesse, and +not of David, is spoken of--(5.) The supposition that the Messiah shall be born +at the time of the deepest humiliation of the Davidic family, after the entire loss +of the royal dignity, pervades all the other prophetical writings. That Micah views +the Davidic family as entirely sunk at the time of Christ's appearance, we showed +in vol. I. p. 508-9. Compare farther the remarks on Amos ix. 11, and those on Matth. +ii. 23 immediately following.--<i>Hitzig</i> is obliged to confess that +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">גזע</span> can designate the cut-off stem only; but +maintains that Jesse, as an individual long ago dead, is designated as a cut-off +tree. But against this opinion is the relation which, as we proved, exists between +this verse and the last verses of the preceding chapter; the undeniable correspondence +of <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">גזע</span> with <span lang="he" class="Hebrew"> +גדעים</span> in chap. x. 33. In that case the antithesis also, so evidently intended +by the Prophet, would be altogether lost. It is not by any means a thing so uncommon, +that a man who is already dead should have a glorious descendant. To this it may +further be added that, according to this supposition, the circumstance is not all +accounted for, that Jesse is mentioned, and not David, the royal ancestor, as is +done everywhere else. <i>Finally</i>--In this very forced explanation, the parallel +passages are altogether left out of view, in which likewise the doctrine is contained +that, at the time of Christ's appearance, the Davidic family should have altogether +sunk. The reason of all these futile attempts at explaining away the sense so evident +and obvious, is none other than the fear of acknowledging in the prophecy an element +which goes beyond the territory of patriotic fancy and human knowledge. But this +dark fear should here so much the more be set aside, that, according to other passages +also, the Prophet undeniably had the knowledge and conviction that Israel's course +would be more and more downward before it attained, in Christ, to the full height +of its destiny. We need remind only of the prophecies in chap. v. and vi.; and it +is so much the more natural here to compare the latter of them, that, in it, in +ver. 13, Israel, at the time of the appearing of the Messianic Kingdom, is represented +as a felled tree,--a fact which has for its ground the sinking of the +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 104]</span> Davidic race which is here announced. We farther +direct attention to the circumstance that in our prophecy itself, Israel's being +carried away into all the countries of the earth is foreseen as future,--a circumstance +which is so much the more analogous, that there also, as here, the foreknowledge +clothes itself in the form of the <i>supposition</i> and not of express announcement. +With regard to the latter point, it may still be remarked that Amos also, in chap. +ix. 11, by speaking of the raising up of the tabernacle of David which is fallen, +anticipates its future lowliness.--The question still arises:--Why is it that the +Messiah is here designated as a rod of Jesse, while elsewhere, His origin is commonly +traced back to David? <i>Umbreit</i> is of opinion that the mention of Jesse may +be explained from the Prophet's desire to trace the pedigree as far back as possible; +in its apparent extinction, the family of the Messiah was to be pointed out as a +<i>very old</i> one. But if this had been his intention, he would have gone back +beyond Jesse to the older ancestors whom the Book of Ruth mentions; and if he had +been so anxious to honour the family of the Messiah, it would, at all events, have +been far more suitable to mention David than Jesse, who was only one degree removed +from him. The sound view has been long ago given by Calvin, who says: "The Prophet +does not mention David; but rather Jesse. For so much was the dignity of that family +diminished, that it seemed to be a rustic, ignoble family rather than a royal one." +It was appropriate that that family, upon whom was a second time to be fulfilled +the declaration in Ps. cxiii. 7, 8: "He raiseth up the poor out of the dust; He +lifteth up the needy out of the dunghill, that He may set him with princes, with +the princes of His people,"--in which, the second time, the transition should take +place from the low condition to the royal dignity, should not be mentioned according +to its royal, but according to its rustic character. This explanation of the fact +is confirmed by the circumstance that it agrees exceedingly well with the right +interpretation of <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">גזע</span>: Jesse is mentioned +and not David, because the Davidic dignity had become a +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">גזע</span>. The mention of Jesse's name thus explained, +agrees, then, with the birth of Christ at Bethlehem, announced by Isaiah's cotemporary, +Micah. Christ was to be born at Bethlehem, because that residence was peculiar to +the <span class="pagenum">[Pg 105]</span> family of David during its lowliness; +comp. vol. I., p. 508-9.--The second hemistich of the verse may either be explained: +"a twig from his roots shall bear fruit," or, as agrees better with the accents: +"a twig shall from his roots bear fruit." The sense, at all events, is: A shoot +proceeding from his roots (<i>i.e.</i>, the cut-off stem of Jesse) shall grow up +into a stately fruitful tree; or: As a tree cut down throws out from its roots a +young shoot which, at first inconsiderable, grows up into a stately fruit-bearing +tree, so from the family buried in contempt and lowliness, a <i>King</i> shall arise +who, at first humble and unheeded,<sup class="ftnRef"><a name="ftnRef_105a" href="#ftn_105a">[3]</a></sup> +shall afterwards attain to great glory. Parallel is Ezek. xvii. 22-24. The Messiah +is there compared to a tender twig which is planted by the Lord on a high hill, +and sends forth branches and bears fruit, so that all the birds dwell in the shadow +of its branches.--It has now become current to explain: "A branch breaks forth or +sprouts;" but that explanation is against the <i>usus loquendi</i>. +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">פרה</span> is never equivalent to +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">פרח</span> "to break forth;" it has only the signification +"to bear," "to bear fruit," "to be fruitful." <i>Gesenius</i> who, in the later +editions of his translation, here explains <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">פרה</span> +by, "to break forth," knows, in the <i>Thesaurus</i>, of no other signification. +In the passage of Ezekiel referred to, which may be considered as a commentary on +the verse before us, <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">עשה פרי</span> corresponds to +the <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">יפרה</span> here. The change of the tense, too, +suggests that <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">יפרה</span> does not contain a mere +repetition, but a progress. This progress is necessary for the sense of the whole +verse. For it cannot be the point in question that, in general, a shoot comes forth; +but the point is that this shoot shall attain to importance and glory. +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">יפרה</span> comprehends and expresses in one word +that which, in the subsequent verses of the section, is carried out in detail. First, +there is the bestowal of the Spirit of the Lord whereby He is enabled to bear fruit; +then, the fruit-bearing itself.</p> +<p class="normal">We here subjoin the discussion of the New Testament passage which +refers to this verse.</p> +<hr class="ftn"> +<div class="ftn"> + <p class="ftnText"><a name="ftn_97a" href="#ftnRef_97a"><sup class="ftnRef"> + [1]</sup></a> Their testimony is collected by <i>Seb. Edzardi</i> in the treatise: + <i>Cap. xi. Esaiae Christo vindicatum adversus Grotium et sectatores ejus, imprimos + Herm. v. d. Hardt.</i> Hamburg 1696.</p> +</div> +<div class="ftn"> + <p class="ftnText"><a name="ftn_97b" href="#ftnRef_97b"><sup class="ftnRef"> + [2]</sup></a> "The madness of the Jews is indeed to be lamented who refer this + prophecy to Zerubbabel."</p> +</div> +<div class="ftn"> + <p class="ftnText"><a name="ftn_105a" href="#ftnRef_105a"> + <sup class="ftnRef">[3]</sup></a> Although <i>Umbreit</i> denies it, yet this + is implied in the designation of the Messiah as a shoot from the roots. Moreover, + the lowliness of the Messiah himself at His appearance is a necessary consequence + of the lowliness of His family; and it is a bad middle course to acknowledge + the latter and deny the former. To this may, moreover, be added the parallel + passage Is. liii. 2.]</p> +</div> +<p class="continue"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 106]</span></p> +<h3><a name="div2_106" href="#div2Ref_106">ON MATTHEW II. 23.</a></h3> +<p class="normal"><span lang="el" class="Greek">Καὶ ἐλθὼν κατῴκησεν εἰς πόλιν λεγομένην +Ναζαρέτ· ὅπως πληρωθῇ τὸ ῥηθὲν διὰ τῶν προφητῶν, ὅτι Ναζωραῖος κληθήσεται.</span></p> +<p class="normal">We here premise an investigation as regards the name of the town +of Nazareth. Since that name occurs in the New Testament only, different views might +arise as to its orthography and etymology. One view is this: The name was properly +and originally <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">נצר</span>. Being the name of a town, +it received, in Aramean, in addition, the feminine termination +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">א</span>. And, finally, on account of the original +appellative signification of the word, a <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ת</span>, +the designation of the <i>status emphaticus</i> of feminine nouns in +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">א</span>, was sometimes added. We have an analogous +case in the name <i>Dalmanutha</i>, the same place which, with the Talmudist, is +called <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">צַלְמוֹן</span>. Compare <i>Lightfoot decas +chorog. Marc. praem., opp.</i> II., p. 411 sqq. So it is likewise probably that +<span lang="el" class="Greek">γαββαθὰ</span>, <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">גַבְתָא</span> +is formed from the masculine <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">גַב</span>, <i>dorsum</i>. +Our view is that the original name was <i>Nezer</i>, that this form of the name +was in use along with that which received a <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ת</span> +added, and that this <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ת</span> served for the designation +of the <i>status emphaticus</i> only; or also, if we wish to take our stand upon +the Hebrew form, was a mere hardening of the <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ה</span> +Femin. (either of which suppositions is equally suitable for our purpose); and this +our view we prove by the following arguments: 1. The testimonies of the Jews. <i> +David de Pomis</i> (in <i>De Dieu</i>, <i>critic. sacr.</i> on M. II. 23) says: +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">נצרי מי שנולד בעיר נֵצָר הגליל רחוק מירושלים דרך +שלשת ימים</span> "A Nazarene is he who is born in the town of <i>Nezer</i>, in Galilee, +three days' journey from Jerusalem." In the Talmud, in <i>Breshith Rabba</i>, and +in <i>Jalkut Shimeoni</i> on Daniel, the contemptuous name of <i>Ben Nezer</i>, +<i>i.e.</i>, the Nazarene, is given to Christ; compare the passages in <i>Buxtorf</i>, +<i>lex. c.</i> 1383; in <i>Lightfoot</i>, <i>disquis. chorog. Johan. praem. opp.</i> +II., 578 sqq.; <i>Eisenmenger</i>, I., p. 3139. It is true, <i>Gieseler</i> (on +Matth. ii. 23, and in the <i>Studien u. Kritiken</i>, 1831, III. S. 591) has tried +to give a different interpretation to this appellation. He is of opinion that this +appellation has reference to Is. xi. 1; that it had come to the Jews from the Christians, +who called <span class="pagenum">[Pg 107]</span> their Messiah +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">בן נצר</span>, because He was He who had been promised +by Isaiah. But this supposition is correct thus far only, that, no doubt, this appellation +was chosen by the Jews with a reference to the circumstance that the Christians +maintained that Jesus was the <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">נצר</span> announced +by Isaiah, just as, for the very same reason, they also assign to Him the names +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">נצר נאפוף</span> "adulterous branch," and +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">נצר נתעב</span> "abominable branch" (from Is. xiv. +19); comp. <i>Eisenmenger</i> I. S. 137, 138. But <i>Gieseler</i> is wrong in deriving, +from this reference to Is. xi. 1, the origin of the appellation, be it properly +or mainly only. Against that even the very appellation is decisive, for in that +case it ought to have been <i>Nezer</i> only, and not <i>Ben-Nezer</i>. <i>Gieseler</i>, +it is true, asserts that he in whom a certain prophecy was fulfilled is called the +"Son of the prophecy," and in confirmation of this <i>usus loquendi</i> he refers +to the circumstance that the pseudo-Messiah under Hadrian assumed, with a reference +to the <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">כוכב</span> in Numb. xxiv. 17, the name +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">בן כוכב</span> or <span lang="he" class="Hebrew"> +בר כוכבא</span>, in so far as the star there promised had appeared in him. But this +confirmation is only apparent; it can as little be proved from it, that Christ could +be called <i>Ben-Nezer</i> because He was He in whom the prophecy of the <i>Nezer</i> +was fulfilled, as it can be proved from the appellation <i>Ben Nezer</i> that that +pseudo-Messiah could be called <i>Bar Cochba</i>, only because it was believed that +in him the prophecy of the star was fulfilled. <i>Reland</i> has already proved +(Geogr. II. p. 727) that <i>Barcochba</i> probably had that name because he was +a native of Cocab, a town or district in the country beyond Jordan. And the reason +why he laid such special stress upon that descent was, that he sought a deeper meaning +in this agreement of the name of his birth-place with the designation of the subject +of the prophecy in Numb. xxiv. Moreover the supposition that, by the Jews, he in +whom some prophecy was fulfilled, was called the son of that prophecy; that, <i> +e.g.</i>, the Messiah, the Servant of God, the Prince of Peace were called the Son +of the Messiah, &c., is not only destitute of all foundation, but is, even in itself, +most improbable. To this must still be added the consideration that this interpretation +of <i>Ben-Nezer</i> is opposed by the constant interpretation of the Jews. <i>Jarchi</i>, +in a gloss on that passage of the Talmud referred to, explains <i>Ben Nezer</i> +by: "He who has come from the town of Nazareth." <i>Abarbanel</i> +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 108]</span> in his book <i>Majenehajeshua</i>, after having +quoted from <i>Jalkut Shimeoni</i> the passage in question, observes: "Remark well +how they have explained the little horn in Daniel vii. 8, of the <i>Ben Nezer</i> +who is Jesus the <i>Nazarene</i>." From the Lexicon <i>Aruch</i> which forms a weighty +authority, Buxtorf quotes: "<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">נצר נצרי המקלל</span> +Nezer, (or Ben Nezer), is the accursed <i>Nazarene</i>." <i>Finally</i>--It could +not well be supposed that the Jews, in a contest where they heap the most obnoxious +blasphemies on Christ, should have given Him an honourable epithet which they had +simply received from the Christians.</p> +<p class="normal">2. The result which we have obtained is confirmed by the statements +of Christian writers. Even at the time of <i>Eusebius</i> (Hist. Eccles. i. 7), +and of <i>Jerome</i>, the place was called <i>Nazara</i>. The latter says: "<i>Nazareth</i>: +there exists up to this day in Galilee a village opposite Legio, fifteen miles to +the east of it, near Mount Tabor, called <i>Nazara</i>" (comp. <i>Reland</i> i. +S. 497). In <i>Epistol.</i> xvii. ad <i>Marcellum</i> he expressly identifies the +name with <i>Nezer</i>, by saying: "Let us go to Nazareth, and according to a right +interpretation of that name, we shall see there the flower of Galilee."</p> +<p class="normal">3. To this may be added, that the <i>Gentilitia</i> formed from +Nazareth can be explained only when the <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ת</span> +is not considered as belonging to the original form of the name. For, in that case, +it must necessarily be found again in the <i>Gentilitia</i>, just as, <i>e.g.</i>, +from <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ענתת</span> we could not by any means form +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ענתי</span>, but only +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ענתתי</span>. In the New Testament the two forms +<span lang="el" class="Greek">Ναζωραῖος</span> and <span lang="el" class="Greek"> +Ναζαρηνὸς</span> only occur, never the form <span lang="el" class="Greek">Ναζαρεταῖος</span>. +<i>Gieseler</i> has felt the difficulty which these names present to the common +hypothesis, but has endeavoured (l. c. p. 592) to remove them by the conjecture +that this form, so very peculiar, had been coined by a consideration of +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">נצר</span> which the first Christians were accustomed +to bring into connection with <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">נצרת</span>. But this +conjecture would, at most, be admissible, only if, with the Jews too, the form +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">נצרי</span> were not found throughout without a +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ת</span>, and if the Arabic form also were not entirely +analogous.<sup class="ftnRef"><a name="ftnRef_108a" href="#ftn_108a">[1]</a></sup></p> +<p class="continue"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 109]</span></p> +<p class="normal">The question now is:--In what sense was +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">נצר</span> assigned as a <i>nomen proprium</i> to +a place in Galilee? Certainly, we must at once reject the supposition of <i>Jerome</i> +that Nazareth was thus called, as being "the flower of Galilee," partly because +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">נצר</span> never occurs in this signification; partly +because it is not conceivable that the place received a name which is due to it +<span lang="el" class="Greek">κατʼ ἀντί φρασιν</span> only. It is much more probable +that the place received the name on account of its smallness: a weak twig in contrast +to a stately tree. In this signification <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">נצר</span> +occurs in Is. xi. 1, xiv. 19, and in the Talmudical <i>usus loquendi</i> where +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">נצרים</span> signifies "<i>virgulta salicum decorticata, +vimina ex quibus corbes fiunt.</i>" There was so much the greater reason for giving +the place this name that people had the symbol before their eyes in its environs; +for the chalk-hills around Nazareth are over-grown with low bushes (comp. Burkhardt +II. s. 583). That which these bushes were when compared with the stately trees which +adorned other parts of the country, Nazareth was when compared with other cities.</p> +<p class="normal">This <i>nomen</i> given to the place on account of its small beginnings, +resembling, in this respect, the name of Zoar, <i>i.e.</i>, a small town, was, at +the same time, an <i>omen</i> of its future condition. The weak twig never grew +up into a tree. Nowhere in the Old Testament is Nazareth mentioned, probably because +it was built only after the return from the captivity. Neither is it mentioned in +<i>Josephus</i>. It was not, like most of the other towns in Palestine, ennobled +by any recollection from the olden times. Yea, as it would appear, a special contempt +was resting upon it, besides the general contempt in which all Galilee was held; +just as every land has some place to which a disgrace attaches, which has often +been called forth by causes altogether trifling. This appears not only from the +question of Nathanael, in John i. 47: "Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?" +but also from the fact, that from the most ancient times the Jews thought to inflict +upon Christ the greatest disgrace, by calling Him the Nazarene, whilst, in later +times, the disgrace which rested on all Galilee <span class="pagenum">[Pg 110]</span> +was removed by the circumstance that the most celebrated Jewish academy, that of +Tiberias, belonged to it.</p> +<p class="normal">Let us now examine in how far Christ's abode at Nazareth served +the purpose of fulfilling the Old Testament prophecy. It is, throughout, the doctrine +of the prophets, that the Messiah, descending from the family of David, sunk into +utter lowliness, would at first appear without any outward rank and dignity. The +fundamental type for all other passages here concerned is contained in that passage +of Is. xi. 1, now under consideration: "And there cometh forth a twig from the stump +of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit," which is strikingly illustrated +in the following words of <i>Quenstedt</i>, in his <i>Dissertatio de Germine Jehovae</i>, +in the <i>Thesaurus theol. philol.</i> I. p. 1015: +<!--inserted quote-->"The stem of Jesse which, from low beginnings, was, in David, +raised to the glory of royal majesty, shall then not only be deprived of all royal +dignity, and all outward splendour which it received in David, but shall again have +been reduced to the private condition in which it was before David; so that it shall +present the appearance of a stem deprived of all boughs and foliage, and having +nothing left but the roots; nevertheless out of that stem thus reduced and cut off, +and, as it appeared, almost dry, shall come forth a royal rod, and out of its roots +shall grow the twig upon whom shall rest the Spirit of the Lord," &c. Quite in harmony +with this, it is said in chap. liii. 2: "He grew up before the Lord as a tender +twig, and as a root out of a dry ground." To <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">נצר</span>, +in chap. xi., corresponds <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">יונק</span> in chap. liii.; +to <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">חטר</span> the <span lang="he" class="Hebrew"> +שרש</span>; to the cut-off stem the dry land, with this difference, however, that +by the latter designation, the low condition of the Servant of God, generally, is +indicated; but His descent from the family of David sunk in lowliness, is not specially +pointed at thereby, although it is necessarily implied in it. The same thought is +further carried out in Ezek. xvii. 22-24. As the descendant of the family of David +sank in lowliness, the Messiah appears in that passage as a small tender twig which +is taken by the Lord from a high cedar, and, being planted upon a high mountain, +growls up into a lofty tree, under which all the fowls dwell. In Jeremiah and Zechariah, +the Messiah, with reference to the image of a cut-off tree used by Isaiah, is called +the Sprout of David, or simply the Sprout; <span class="pagenum">[Pg 111]</span> +compare remarks on Zech. iii. 8, vi. 12. All that is here required is certainly +only to place beside one another, on the one hand, prophecy, and, on the other, +history, in order clearly and evidently to point out the fulfilment of the former +in the latter. It was not at Jerusalem, where there was the seat of His royal ancestor, +where there were the thrones of His house (comp. Ps. cxxii.), that the Messiah took +up his residence; but it was in the most despised place of the most despised province +that, by divine Providence, He received His residence, after the predictions of +the prophets had been fulfilled by His having been born at Bethlehem. The name of +that place by which His lowliness was designated was the same as that by which Isaiah +had designated the lowliness of the Messiah at His appearing.</p> +<p class="normal">We have hitherto considered prophecy and fulfilment independently +of the quotation by St. Matthew. Let us now add a few remarks upon the latter.</p> +<p class="normal">1. It seems not to have been without reason that the wider formula +of quotation: <span lang="el" class="Greek">τὸ ῥηθὲν διὰ τῶν προφητῶν</span> is +here chosen, although <i>Jerome</i> infers too much from it when he remarks: "If +he had wished to refer to a distinct quotation from Scripture, he would never have +said: 'As was spoken by the prophets,' but simply, 'as was said by the prophet.' +By using prophets in the plural, he shows that it is the sense, and not the words +which he has taken from Scripture." No doubt St. Matthew has one passage chiefly +in view--that in Is. xi. 1, which, besides the general announcement of the Messiah's +lowliness, contains, in addition, a special designation of it which is found again +in the <i>nomen</i> and <i>omen</i> of his native place. This appears especially +from the circumstance that, if it were otherwise, the quotation: in +<span lang="el" class="Greek">ὅτι Ναζωραῖος κληθήσεται</span>, would be inexplicable, +since it is very forced to suppose that "Nazarene" here designates generally one +low and despised.<sup class="ftnRef"><a name="ftnRef_111a" href="#ftn_111a">[2]</a></sup> +But he chose the general formula of <span class="pagenum">[Pg 112]</span> quotation +(comp. <i>Gersdorf</i>, <i>Beiträge zur Sprachcharacteristik</i> 1. S. 136), in +order thereby to intimate that in Christ's residence at Nazareth those prophecies, +too, were at the same time fulfilled, which, in the essential point--in the announcement +of Christ's lowliness--agree with that of Isaiah. But it is just this additional +reference which shows that, to Matthew, this was indeed the essential point, and +that the agreement of the name of the town with the name which Christ has in Isaiah, +appears to him only as a remarkable outward representation of the close connection +of prophecy and fulfilment; just as, indeed, every thing in the life of Christ appears +to be brought about by the special direction of Divine providence.</p> +<p class="normal">2. The phrase <span lang="el" class="Greek">ὅτι κληθήσεται</span> +likewise is explained from the circumstance that Matthew does not restrict himself +to the passage Is. xi. 1, but takes in, at the same time, all those other passages +which have a similar meaning. From among them, it was from Zech. vi. 12: "Behold +a man whose name is the Sprout,"<!--inserted quote--> that the phrase +<span lang="el" class="Greek">ὅτι κληθήσεται</span> flowed. There is hence no necessity +for explaining this circumstance solely from the custom of the later Jews,<sup class="ftnRef"><a name="ftnRef_112a" href="#ftn_112a">[3]</a></sup> +of claiming as the names of the Messiah all those expressions by which, in the Old +Testament, His nature is designated, inasmuch as, in doing so, they followed the +custom of the prophets themselves, who frequently bring forward as the name of the +Messiah that which is merely one of His attributes. This hypothesis is inadmissible, +because otherwise it would be difficult to point out any case in which the Evangelists +had not admixed something of their own with a quotation which they announced as +a literal one.</p> +<p class="continue"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 113]</span></p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 2. "<i>And the Spirit of the Lord resteth upon Him, the Spirit +of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge +and of the fear of the Lord.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">The Spirit of the Lord is the general, the principle; and the +subsequent terms are the single forms in which he manifests himself, and works. +But, on the other hand, in a formal point of view, the Spirit of the Lord is just +co-ordinate with the Spirit of wisdom, &c. Some, indeed, explain: the Spirit of +God, who is the Spirit of, &c.; but that this is inadmissible appears with sufficient +evidence from the circumstance that, by such a view, the sacred number, seven, is +destroyed, which, with evident intention, is completed in the enumeration; compare +the <i>seven</i> spirits of God in Rev. i. 4. To have the Spirit is the necessary +condition of every important and effective ministry in the Kingdom of God, from +which salvation is to come forth; comp. Num. xxvii. 18. It is especially the blessed +administration of the regal office which depends upon the possession of the Spirit; +comp. 1 Sam. xvi. 13 ff. where it is said of David: "And Samuel took the horn of +oil and anointed him: and the Spirit of the Lord came upon him from that day forward;" +comp. 1 Sam. x. 6, 10. The circumstance that the Spirit of the Lord resteth upon +the Messiah does not form a contradiction to His <i>divine nature</i>, which is +intimated by his being born of the Virgin, chap. vii. 14, by the name +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">אל גבור</span> in chap. ix. 5, and elsewhere (comp. +Vol. I., p. 490, 491), and is witnessed even in this prophecy itself; but, on the +contrary, the pouring out of the Spirit fully and not by measure (John iii. 39) +which is here spoken of, <i>implies</i> the divine nature. In order to receive the +Spirit of God in such a measure that He could baptize with the Holy Spirit (John +i. 33), that out of His fulness all received (John i. 16), that, in consequence +of His fulness of the Spirit overflowing from Him to the Church, the earth could +be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters covering the sea (ver. 9), +He could not but be highly exalted above human nature. It was just because they +remained limited to the insufficient substratum of human nature, that even the best +kings, that even David, the man after God's own heart, received the Spirit in a +scanty measure only, and were constantly in danger of <span class="pagenum">[Pg +114]</span> losing again that which they possessed, as is shown by David's pitiful +prayer: "Take not thy Holy Spirit from me" (Ps. li. 13). It was just for this reason, +therefore, that the theocracy possessed in the kings a very sufficient organ of +its realization, and that the stream of the divine blessings could not flow freely. +In Matt. iii. 16: <span lang="el" class="Greek">καὶ εἶδε τὸ πνεῦμα θεοῦ καταβαῖνον +ὡσεὶ περιστερὰν καὶ ἐρχόμενον ἐπ’ αὐτόν</span>, it is not the passage before us +only which lies at the foundation, but also, and indeed pre-eminently, the parallel +passage, chap. xlii. 1: "Behold my Servant whom I uphold, mine Elect in whom my +soul delighteth; I put my Spirit upon Him," as is apparent from the circumstance +that it is to this passage that the voice from heaven refers in Matt. iii. 17: +<span lang="el" class="Greek">οὗτος ἐστιν ὁ υἱός μου ὁ ἀγαπητὸς ἐν ᾧ εὐδόκησα</span>. +But a reference to the passage before us we meet most decidedly in John i. 32, 33: +<span lang="el" class="Greek">Τεθέαμαι τὸ πνεῦμα καταβαῖνον ὡσεὶ περιστερὰν ἐξ οὐρανοῦ, +καὶ ἔμεινεν ἐπ’ αὐτόν· Κᾀγὼ οὐκ ᾕδειν αὐτόν· ἀλλ’ ὁ πέμψας με βαπτίζειν ἐν ὕδατι, +ἐκεῖνος μοι εἶπεν· ἐφ’ ὃν ἂν ἴδῃς τὸ πνεῦμα καταβαῖνον καὶ μένον ἐπ’ αὐτόν, οὗτος +ἐστιν ὁ βαπτίζων ἐν πνεύματι ἁγίῳ</span>. The word +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">נוח</span>, which in Numb. xi. 25 also is used of +the Spirit, combines in itself both the <span lang="el" class="Greek">καταβαίνειν</span> +and the <span lang="el" class="Greek">μένειν</span>; it is <i>requiescere</i>. As +the fulfilment of this prophecy, however, we must not look to that event only where +it received a symbolical representation, but also to Acts ii. 3: +<span lang="el" class="Greek">καὶ ὤφθησαν αὐτοῖς διαμεριζόμεναι γλῶσσαι ὡσεὶ πυρός, +ἐκάθισέ τε ἐφ’ ἕνα ἕκαστον αὐτῶν</span>; comp. 1 Pet. iv. 14: +<span lang="el" class="Greek">ὅτε τὸ τῆς δόξης καὶ τὸ τοῦ θεοῦ πνεῦμα ἐφ’ ὑμᾶς ἀναπαύεται</span> +(this most exactly answers <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">נוח</span>). For it is +not merely for himself that Christ here receives the Spirit; but He receives Him +as the transforming principle for the human race; He is bestowed upon. Him as the +Head of the Church.--In the enumeration of the forms in which the Spirit manifests +himself, it was not the intention of the Prophet to set forth <i>all</i> the perfections +of the Messiah; he rather, by way of example, mentions some only after having comprehended +all of them in the general: The Spirit of the Lord. Thus, <i>e.g.</i>, <i>justice</i>, +which is mentioned immediately afterwards in ver. 5, is omitted here.--The first +pair are wisdom and understanding. <i>Wisdom</i> is that excellency of knowledge +which rests on moral perfection. It is opposed to <span lang="he" class="Hebrew"> +נבלה</span>, foolishness in a moral sense, which may easily be combined with the +greatest ingenuity and cleverness. The excellence of knowledge resting +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 115]</span> on a moral basis manifests itself in the first +instance, and preeminently, in the <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">בינה</span>, understanding, +the sharp and penetrating eye which beholds things as they are, and penetrates from +the surface to their hidden essence, undisturbed by the dense fogs of false notions +and illusions which, in the case of the fool, are formed by his lusts and passions. +Neither of these attributes can, in its absolute perfection, be the possession of +any mortal, because even in those who, morally, are most advanced, there ever remains +sin, and, therefore, a darkening of the knowledge.--The second pair, counsel and +might, are, just as in the passage before us, ascribed to the Messiah in chap. ix. +5 (6), by His receiving the names "Wonder-Counsellor," "God-Hero." From chap. xxxvi. +5 it is seen that, for the difficult circumstances of the struggle, <i>counsel</i> +is of no less consequence than <i>might</i>. The last pair, knowledge and fear of +the Lord, form the fundamental effect of the Spirit of the Lord; all the great qualities +of the soul, all the gifts which are beneficial for the Kingdom of God, rest on +the intimacy of the connection with God which manifests itself in living knowledge +and fear of the Lord; the latter not being the servile but the filial fear, not +opposed to love, but its constant companion. The Prophet has put this pair at the +close, only because he intends to connect with it that which immediately follows. +We have already remarked that the Spirit of the Lord, &c., is bestowed upon the +Messiah not for himself alone, but as the renovating principle of the Church.--Old +Testament analogies and types are not wanting in this matter. Moses puts of his +spirit upon the seventy Elders, and the spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha, and likewise +on the whole crowd of disciples who gathered around him (2 Kings ii. 9).</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 3. "<i>And He hath His delight in the fear of the Lord, and +not after the sight of His eyes doth He judge, nor after the hearing of His ears +doth He decide.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">We now learn how the glorious gifts of the Anointed, described +in ver. 2, are displayed in His government. All attempts to bring the second and +third clauses under the same point of view as the first, and to derive them from +the same source are in vain. That He has delight in the fear of the Lord, is the +consequence of the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord resting upon +Him,--He loves what is congenial <span class="pagenum">[Pg 116]</span> to His own +nature. That He does not judge after the sight of His eyes, &c., is the consequence +of His having the Spirit of wisdom and understanding. It is thereby that He is freed +from the narrow superficiality which is natural to man, and raised to the sphere +of that divine clearness of vision which penetrates to the depths, +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">הריח</span> with the accusative is "to smell something;" +with <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ב</span>, to "smell at something," "to smell +with delight." The fear of the Lord appears as something of a sweet scent to the +Messiah. The other explanations of the first clause abandon the sure, ascertained +<i>usus loquendi</i> (comp. Exod. xxx. 38; Levit. xxvi. 31; Am. v. 21), and, therefore, +do not deserve any mention. On the second and third clauses 1 Sam. xvi. 7, is to +be compared: "And the Lord said unto Samuel: Look not on his countenance, or on +the height of his stature, because I have refused him; for not that which man looks +at (do I look at); for man looketh on the eyes (and, in general, on the outward +appearance), and I look on the heart." It is especially John who repeatedly mentions +that Christ really possessed the gift here assigned to Him, of judging, not from +the first appearance, and according to untrustworthy information, but of penetrating +into the innermost ground of the facts and persons, comp. ii. 24, 25: +<span lang="el" class="Greek">αὐτὸς δὲ Ἰησοῦς, οὐκ ἐπίστευεν ἑαυτὸν αὐτοῖς, διὰ +τὸ αὐτὸν γινώσκειν πάντας, καὶ ὅτι οὐ χρείαν εἶχεν ἵνα τὶς μαρτυρήση περὶ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου· +αὐτὸς γὰρ ἐγίνωσκεν τί ἦν ἕν ἀνθρῴπῳ</span>. Farther--chap. xxi. 17 where Peter +says to Christ: <span lang="el" class="Greek">Κύριε σὺ πάντα οἶδας· σὺ γινώσκεις +ὅτι φιλῶ σε.</span> Farther, i. 48, 49; iv. 18, 19; vi. 64. In Revel. ii. 23, Christ +says: "And all Churches shall know that I am He which searcheth the reins and hearts."</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 4. "<i>And He judgeth in righteousness the lowly, and doeth +justice in equity to the meek of the earth, and smiteth the earth with the rod of +His mouth, and with the breath of His lips He slayeth the wicked.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">The King shall be adorned with perfect justice, and, in the exercise +of it, be supported by His omnipotence,--differently from what was the case with +David, who, for want of power, was obliged to allow heinous crimes to pass unpunished +(2 Sam. iii. 39). Just as by the excellency of His <i>will</i> He is infinitely +exalted above all former rulers, so is He also by the excellency of <i>might</i>. +Where, as in His case, the highest <span class="pagenum">[Pg 117]</span> might stands +in the service of the best will, the noblest results must come forth. The first +two clauses refer to Ps. lxxii., which was written by Solomon, and where, in ver. +2, it is said of Christ: "He shall judge thy people in righteousness, and thy lowly +ones in judgment," and in ver. 4: "He shall judge the lowly of thy people, He shall +save the children of the needy, and shall break in pieces the oppressors;" compare +farther Prov. xxix. 14: "A king that in truth judgeth the lowly, his throne shall +be established for ever." The earth forms the contrast to the limited territory +which was hitherto assigned to the theocratic kings.--In the second part of the +verse <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ארץ</span> does not by any means stand in contrast +to <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">דלים</span> and <span lang="he" class="Hebrew"> +ענוים</span>, and, in parallelism to <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">רשע</span>, +designate the wicked ones; but <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ארץ</span> "earth" +stands in antithesis to the narrow territory in which earthly kings are permitted +to dispense law and justice. It is a matter of course, and is, moreover, expressly +stated in the second clause, that the earth comes into consideration with a view +to those only who are objects of His judging activity. From that which follows, +where changes are spoken of which shall take place on the whole earth, it follows +that <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ארץ</span> must be taken in the signification +of "earth." and not of "land." Hand in hand with the infinite extent of the King's +exercise of justice goes also the manner of it. "The whole earth," and the "breath +of the mouth," correspond with one another.--In the words "with the rod of His mouth," +a tacit antithesis lies at the foundation. As kings strike with the sceptre, so +He smiteth with His mouth.--<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">שבט</span>, the ensign +of royal dignity, is the symbol of the whole earthly power, which, being external +and exercised by external means, must needs be limited, and insufficient for the +perfect exercise of justice. The exercise of justice on the part of earthly kings +reaches so far only as their hand armed with the smiting sceptre. But that great +King is, in the exercise of justice, supported by His <i>Omnipotence</i>. He punishes +and destroys by His mere word. Several interpreters understand this as a mere designation +of His severity in punishing,--"the rod of His mouth" to be equivalent to "severity +of punishment;"--but that such is not the meaning appears from the following clause, +where likewise special weight is attached to the circumstance that the Messiah inflicts +punishment by His mere word; "the breath of His lips" is equivalent +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 118]</span> to "mere words," "mere command;" compare "breath +of His mouth," in Ps. xxxiii. 6. <i>Hitzig's</i> explanation, "the angry breath +of His lips," does not interpret, but interpolate. In the future Son of David every +word is, at the same time, a deed; He speaks and it is done. The same which is here +said of the Messiah is, in other passages, attributed to <i>God</i>: compare Job +xv. 30, where it is said of the wicked: "By the breath of His mouth he shall go +away;" Hos. vi. 5: "I have slain them by the word of my mouth." In general, according +to the precedent in Gen. i., doing by the mere word is, in Scripture, the characteristic +designation of Divine Omnipotence. Parallel is chap. xlix. 2, where Christ says: +"And He hath made my mouth like a sharp sword," equivalent to: He has endowed me +with His Omnipotence, so that my word also exercises destructive effect, just as +His. In Rev. i. 16, it is said of Christ: "And out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged +sword,"--to designate the destructive power of His word borne by Omnipotence, the +omnipotent punitive power of Christ against enemies, both internal and external. +An instance of the manner in which Christ smites by the word of His mouth is offered +by Acts v. 3 (where, according to the analogy of the word spoken in the name of +God by Elijah, 2 Kings i. 10, 12, and by Elisha, 2 Kings ii. 24, v. 27, the Apostles +are to be considered only as His instruments): <span lang="el" class="Greek">ἀκούων +δὲ Ἁνανίας τοὺς λόγους τούτους πεσὼν ἐξέψυξε</span>, comp. ver. 10; xiii. 11. The +Chaldee translates: "And by the word of His lips wicked Armillus shall die." He +refers <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">רשע</span> not to the ideal person of the +wicked, but to an individual, <i>Armillus</i>, (<span lang="el" class="Greek">ἐρημόλαος</span>, +corresponding to the name of Balaam, compounded of +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">בלע</span> "devouring," "destruction," and +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">עם</span> "people") the formidable, last enemy of +the Jews who shall carry on severe wars with them, slay the Messiah ben Joseph, +but at length be slain by the Messiah ben David with a mere word, compare <i>Buxtorf</i>, +<i>Lex. Chald.</i> cap. 221-224: <i>Eisenmenger</i>, <i>entdecktes Judenthum</i> +ii. S. 705 ff. In 2 Thess. ii. 8, in the description of Antichrist's destruction +by Christ: <span lang="el" class="Greek">ὃν ὁ Κύριος Ἰησοῦς ἀναλώσει τῷ πνεύματι +τοῦ στόματος αὐτοῦ</span>, there is an intentional and significant allusion to the +passage before us, Antichrist there being, like <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">רשע</span> +here, an ideal person; for the arguments in proof, see my Comment, on Revelation, +vol. ii.</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 5. "<i>And righteousness is the girdle of His loins, and +faithfulness the girdle of His reins.</i>"</p> +<p class="continue"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 119]</span></p> +<p class="normal">Righteousness and faithfulness are in a similar manner connected +in 1 Sam. xxvi. 13 (? Prov. xii. 17). Faithfulness is trustworthiness. The point +of comparison with the girdle is the closeness of the union; comp. Ps. cix. 19; +Jer. xiii. 1, 2, 11.</p> +<p class="normal">In ver. 6, the Prophet passes from the <i>person</i> of the glorious +King to a description of His Kingdom. With regard to ver. 6-8, the question arises, +whether the description is to be understood figuratively or literally; whether the +Prophet intends to describe the cessation of all hostility among men, or whether +he expected that, in the Messianic time, even among the irrational creation, all +hostility and destruction, every thing pernicious was to cease. Most of the ancient +interpreters are attached to the former view. Thus <i>Theodoret</i> says: "In a +figurative manner, under the image of domesticated and wild animals, the Prophet +taught the change of the habits of men." He refers every thing to the union, within +the Christian Church, of those who, in their natural condition, lived far separated +from one another, and in hostility the one to the other. <i>Jerome</i> considers +the opposite view as even a species of heresy. He says: "The Jews and the Judaizers +among ourselves maintain that all this shall be fulfilled according to the letter; +that in the light of Christ who, they believe, shall come at the end of the days, +all beasts shall be reduced to tameness, so that the wolf, giving up its former +ferocity, shall dwell with the lamb, &c." Upon the whole, he states the sense in +the same manner as <i>Theodoret</i>, from whom he sometimes differs in the allegorical +explanation of the details only. In a similar manner <i>Luther</i> also explains +it, who, <i>e.g.</i>, on ver. 6, "the wolf shall dwell with the lambs, etc." remarks: +"But these are allegories by which the Prophet intimates that the tyrants, the self-righteous +and powerful ones in the world, shall be converted, and be received into the Church." +<i>Calvin</i> says: "By these images, the Prophet indicates that, among the people +of Christ there will be no disposition for injuring one another, nor any ferocity +or inhumanity." The circumstance that the use of animal symbolism is widely spread +throughout Scripture is in favour of this interpretation. One may, <i>e.g.</i> compare +Ps. xxii., where the enemies of the righteous are represented under the image of +dogs, lions, bulls, and unicorns; <span class="pagenum">[Pg 120]</span> Jer. v. +6, where, by lion, wolf, and leopard, the kingdoms of the world which are destructive +to the people of God are designated; the four beasts in Dan. vii.; but especially +Is. xxxv. 9: "There (on the way of salvation which the Lord shall, in the future, +open up for His people) shall not be a lion, nor shall any ravenous beast go up +thereon,"--where the ravenous beasts are the representatives of the world's power, +hostile to the Kingdom of God. Nevertheless, the literal interpretation, defended +by several Jewish expositors, maintains an undeniable preference. In favour of it +are the following arguments: 1. The circumstance that it is impossible to carry +through, in the details, the figurative interpretation; and it is by this that our +passage is distinguished from all the other passages in which the wild, cruel, and +destructive tendencies in the human sphere appear under the images of their representatives +in the animal world. The supposition that "we have here before us only a poetical +enlargement of the thought that all evil shall cease" (<i>Hendewerk</i>, <i>Knobel</i>), +removes the boundaries which separate prophecy from poetry. 2. The parallelism with +the condition of the creation before the fall, as it is described to us by Holy +Scripture. It is certainly not without reason that, in the account of the creation, +so much emphasis is laid on the circumstance that all which was created was <i>good</i>. +This implies a condition of the irrational creation different from what it is now; +for in its present state it gives us a faithful copy of the first fall, inasmuch +as every heinous vice has its symbols and representatives in the animal kingdom. +According to Gen. ii. 19, 20, the animals recognize in Adam their lord and king, +peaceably gather around him, and receive their names from him. According to Gen. +i. 30, grass only was assigned to animals for their food; the whole animal world +bore the image of the innocence and peace of the first man, and was not yet pervaded +by the law of mutual destruction. Where there was not a Cain, neither was there +a lion. The serpent has not yet its disgusting and horrible figure, and fearlessly +men have intercourse with it; comp. Vol. i. p. 15, 16. But the influence of sin +pervaded and penetrated the whole nature, and covered it with a curse (comp. Gen. +iii. 17-19); so that it not only bears evidence to the existence of God, but also +to the existence of sin. <span class="pagenum">[Pg 121]</span> Now, as it is by +sin that outward discord, and contention, and destruction <i>arose</i> in the irrational +creature, so we may also expect that, when the cause has been removed, the effect +too will disappear; that, with the cessation of the discord and enmity among men, +which, according to ver. 9, the Prophet expected of the Messianic time, discord +and enmity in the animal world will cease also. In the individual features, the +Prophet seems even distinctly to refer to the history of the creation; compare ver. +7: "The lion shall eat straw like the ox," with Gen. i. 30; ver. 8: "the sucking +child shall play on the hole of the asp," with Gen. iii. 15. 3. The comparison of +other passages of Scripture, according to which likewise the reflection of the evil +in the irrational creation shall cease, after the evil has been removed from the +rational creation; compare chap. lxv. 25, lxvi, 22; Matt. xix. 28, where the Lord +speaks of the <span lang="el" class="Greek">παλιγγενεσία</span>, the return of the +whole earthly creation to its original condition; but especially Rom. viii. 19 ff.--that +classical passage of the New Testament which is really parallel to the passage before +us. 4. A subordinate argument is still offered by the parallel descriptions of heathen +writers. From the passages collected by <i>Clericus</i>, <i>Lowth</i>, and <i>Gesenius</i>, +we quote a few only. In the description of the golden age, <i>Virgil</i> says, +<i>Ecl.</i> iv. 21 sqq.; v. 60: <i>Occidet et serpens et fallax herba veneni occidet.</i>--<i>Nec +magnos metuent armenta leones.</i>--<i>Nec lupus insidias pecori.</i> <i>Horat. +Epod.</i> xiv. 53: <i>Nec vespertinus circumgemit ursus ovile nec intumescit alta +viperis humus.</i>--<i>Theocrit. Idyll.</i> xxiv. 84. Utterances such as these show +how unnatural the present condition of the earth is. They are, however, not so much +to be regarded as the remains of some outward tradition (against such a supposition +it is decisive that they occur chiefly with <i>poets</i>), but rather as utterances +of an indestructible longing in man, which, being so deeply rooted in human nature, +contains in itself the guarantee of being gratified at some future period. But, +with all this, we must do justice to the objection drawn from the evident parallelism +of passages such as chap. xxxv. 9, and to another objection advanced by <i>Vitringa</i>, +that it is strange that there is so much spoken of animals, and so little of men. +This we shall do by remarking that, in the description of the glorious effects which +the government of Christ shall produce on the earth, the Prophet at once proceeds +to the utmost limit of <span class="pagenum">[Pg 122]</span> them; and that the +removal of hostility and destruction from the irrational creation implies that all +that will be removed which, in the rational creation, proceeds from the principle +of hatred, inasmuch as it is certain that the former is only a reflection of the +latter, and that the Prophet speaks with a distinct reference to this supposition +which he afterwards, in ver. 9, distinctly expresses. Hence, to a certain degree, +a double sense takes place; and, in the main, <i>J. H. Michaelis</i> has hit the +right by comparing, first, Gen. i. and Rom. viii., and then continuing: "Parabolically, +however, by the wild beasts, wild and cruel nations are understood, which are to +be converted to Christ; or violent men who, by the Spirit of Christ, are rendered +meek and gentle, just as Paul, from a wolf, was changed into a lamb." We are the +less permitted to lose sight of the reference to the lions and bears on the spiritual +territory, that ver. 6 is, in the first instance, connected with vers. 4 and 5, +in which the all-powerful sway of Christ's justice on earth is described, of which +the consequences must, in the first instance, appear in the <i>human territory</i>; +and, farther, that the point from which the prophecy started, is the raging of the +wolf and bear of the world's power against the poor defenceless flock of the Lord.</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 6. "<i>And the wolf dwelleth with the lamb, and the leopard +shall lie down with the kid, the calf, and, the lion and the fatling together, and +a little child leads them.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 7. "<i>The cow and bear go to the pasture; their young ones +lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.</i>" (The going to +pasture of the bear corresponds with the lion's eating straw [comp. Gen. i. 30], +and we are not allowed to supply the "together" in the first clause.)</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 8. "<i>And the sucking child playeth on the hole of the asp, +and the weaned child putteth his hand into the den of the basilisk.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">The change in the irrational creation described in the preceding +verses is a consequence of the removal of sin in the rational creation; this removal +the Prophet now proceeds to describe.</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 9. "<i>They shall not do evil, and shall not sin in all my +holy mountain, for the earth is full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters +covering the sea.</i>"</p> +<p class="continue"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 123]</span></p> +<p class="normal">The subject are the dwellers in the Holy Mountain. The Holy Mountain +can, according to the <i>usus loquendi</i>, be Mount Zion only, and not, as was +last maintained by <i>Hofmann</i>, the whole land of Canaan, which is never designated +in that manner; comp. chap. xxvii. 13, and my Commentary on Ps. lxxviii. 54. The +second part of the verse, connected with the first by means of <i>for</i>, agrees +with the first only in the event that Mount Zion is viewed as the spiritual dwelling +place of the inhabitants of the earth, just as, under the Old Testament dispensation, +it was the <i>ideal</i> dwelling place of all the Israelites, even of those who +outwardly had not their residence at Jerusalem; on the spiritual dwelling of the +servants of the Lord with Him in the temple, compare remarks on Ps. xxvii. 4, xxxvi. +9, lxv. 5, lxxxiv. 3, and other passages. In chap. ii. 2-4, lxvi. 23, the Holy Mountain, +too, appears as the centre of the whole earth in the Messianic time. From chap. +xix. 20, 21, where, in the midst of converted Egypt, an altar is built, and sacrifices +are offered up, it appears that it is this in an <i>ideal</i> sense only, that under +its image the <i>Church</i> is meant. The designation, "my Holy Mountain," intimates +that the state of things hitherto, when unholiness prevailed in the Kingdom of the +Holy God, is an unnatural one; that at some future period the <i>idea</i> necessarily +must manifest its power and right in opposition to the <i>reality</i>.--In the second +clause, the ground and fountain of this sinlessness is stated. In Zion, in the Church +of God, there will then be no more any sins; for the earth is then full of the knowledge +of the Lord, by which the sins are done away with. The general outpouring of the +Holy Ghost forms one of the characteristics of the Messianic time; and the <i>consequence</i> +of this outpouring is, according to ver. 2, the knowledge of the Lord,--so that +the clause may be thus paraphrased: For, in consequence of the Spirit poured out, +in the first instance, upon Him, the earth is full of the knowledge of the Lord; +comp. chap. xxxii. 15: "Until the Spirit be poured upon us from on high;"<!--inserted quote--> +liv. 13; Joel iii. 1; ii. 28; Jer. xxxi. 34, That <span lang="he" class="Hebrew"> +הארץ</span> is here not the "land," or "country," but the "<i>earth</i>" is sufficiently +evident from the antithesis of the <i>sea</i>: as the <i>sea</i> is full of water, +so the <i>earth</i> is full of the knowledge of the Lord. To this +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 124]</span> reason it may still be added that in vers. +6-8 changes are spoken of, which concern the whole territory of the earthly creation, +the <span lang="el" class="Greek">παλιγγενεσία</span> of the whole earth. As the +relation of these changes to that which is stated here is that of cause and effect, +here, too, the whole earth can only be thought of <i>Finally</i>,--The following +verse too supposes the spreading of salvation over the whole earth. The entire relation +of the first section to the second and third makes it obvious that by +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">הארץ</span> the whole earth is to be understood. +The passage under consideration is alluded to in Hab. ii. 14: "For the earth shall +be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters covering the +sea." In that passage, the enforced knowledge of the Divine glory which manifests +itself in punitive justice, forms the subject of discourse; but that enforced knowledge +forms the necessary condition of the knowledge which is voluntary and saving.</p> +<p class="normal"><i>Ver. 10. "And it shall come to pass in that day, the root of +Jesse which standeth for an ensign to the people, it shall the Gentiles seek, and +His rest is glory.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">The words, "and it shall come to pass," introduce a new section; +so that the interval in the Hebrew manuscripts is here quite in its place. With +ver. 11 again, a new section begins. In ver. 1-9 we have the appearance of the Messiah +in relation to the whole earth; then, in the second section, the way in which he +becomes a centre to the whole <i>Gentile world</i>; and in ver. 11 ff., what He +grants to the <i>old covenant-people</i>, for whom the Prophet was, in the first +instance, prophesying, and whose future he therefore describes more in detail. Why +His relation to the Gentile world is <i>first spoken of</i> appears from ver. 12; +the Gentiles gathered to the Lord are the medium of His salvation to the old covenant-people.--The +<i>root</i> designates here (and likewise in chap. liii. 2), and in the passages +founded upon this, viz., in Rev. v. 5, xxii. 16, the <i>product</i> of the root, +that whereby the root manifests itself, the shoot from the root; just as "seed" +so very often occurs for "product of the seed." This appears from a comparison with +ver. 1, where, more fully, the Messiah is called a twig from Jesse's roots. <i>Bengel</i> +has already directed attention to the antithesis of the root and ensign, in his +Commentary on Rom. xv. 12: "A sweet antithesis: the root is undermost, +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 125]</span> the ensign rises uppermost; so that even the +nations farthest off may behold it."--<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">דרש</span> +with <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ל</span>, <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">אל</span>, +and <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">את</span>, has the signification "to apply to +the true God, or some imaginary god, in order to seek protection, help, counsel, +advice, disclosures regarding the future;" comp. Is. viii. 19; Deut. xii. 4, 5, +and other passages in <i>Gesenius' Thesaurus</i>. The Gentiles feel that they cannot +do without the Redeemer; they see, at the same time, His riches and their poverty; +and this knowledge urges them on to <i>seek</i> Him, that from him they may obtain +<i>light</i> (chap. xlii. 6), that He may communicate to them His <i>law</i> (chap. +xlii. 4), that he may teach them of His ways, and that they may walk in His paths +(chap. ii. 3), &c. St. Paul, in Rom. xv. 12, following the LXX., has +<span lang="el" class="Greek">ἐπ αὐτῷ ἔθνη ἐλπιοῦσι</span>, which, as regards the +sense, fully agrees with the original. The beginning of the seeking took place when +the representatives of the Gentile world, the Maji from the East, came to Jerusalem, +saying: "Where is He that is born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in +the East and are come to worship Him," Matt. ii. 2. The historical foundation and +the type are the homage which, from the Gentile world, was offered to Solomon, 1 +Kings x.--<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">מנוחה</span> "resting place," "dwelling +place," "habitation;" comp. Ps. cxxxii. 13, 14: "For the Lord hath chosen Zion; +He hath desired it for His <i>habitation</i>. This is my <i>rest</i> (<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">מנוחתי</span>) +for ever; here will I <i>dwell</i>, for I have desired it." The glory of the King +passes over to His residence to which the Gentile world are flowing together, in +order to do homage to Him; Comp. Ps. lxxii. 10: "The kings of Tarshish and of the +isles shall bring presents; the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts." The +comparison of this passage alone is sufficient to refute the absurd interpretation, +according to which <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">עמים</span> and +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">גוים</span> are referred to the Israelitish tribes,--an +interpretation which has been tried with as little success in the fundamental passage +(Gen. xlix. 10), according to which the <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">עמים</span> +are to adhere to Shiloh; compare Vol. i. p. 62.</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 11: "<i>And it shall come to pass in that day, the Lord shall +continue a second time with His hand to ransom the remnant of His people which has +remained from Asshur and from Egypt, from Patros and from Cush, from Elam and from +Shinar, from Hamath and from the islands of the sea.</i>"</p> +<p class="continue"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 126]</span></p> +<p class="normal">From the Gentiles, the Prophet now turns to Israel. The reception +of the Gentiles into the Messianic Kingdom is not by any means to take place at +the expense of the old covenant-people; even they shall be brought back again, and +shall be received into the Kingdom of God. <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">יוסיף</span> +must be connected with <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">לקנות</span>, comp. 2 Sam. +xxiv. 1: "And the Lord continued to kill," <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">להרג</span>. +It is unnecessary and arbitrary to supply <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">לשלח</span>. +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ידו</span> is Accusative, "as to His hand," equivalent +to "with His hand;" comp. Ps. iii. 5, xvii. 10, 11, 13, 14. Just the hand of God, +which here comes into consideration as the instrument of <i>doing</i>, is repeatedly +mentioned in the account of the deliverance from Egypt; comp. Exod. iii. 20, vii. +4, xiii. 9. The expression: "<i>He shall continue</i>," in general, points out the +idea that it is not a new beginning which is here concerned, but the continuation +of former acting, by which believing was rendered so much the more easy. The expression, +"a <i>second time</i>," points more distinctly to the type of the <i>deliverance +from Egypt</i> with which the redemption to be effected by Christ is frequently +paralleled; comp. vers. 15, 16; Vol. i. p. 218, 219. "<i>From Asshur</i>," &c., +must not be connected with <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">לקנות</span>, but with +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ישאר</span>, comp. v. 16, those who have remained +from Asshur, &c., <i>i.e.</i>, those whom Asshur and the other places of punishment, +with their hostile influences, have left, who have been preserved in them. The fact +that destructive influences may proceed from those nations also which do not properly +belong to the number of the kingdoms of the world, is plainly shown by the history +of the Jews after Christ. It would be against the accents, both here and in ver. +6, to connect it with <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">לקנות</span>; the words "which +shall remain" would, in that case, appear to be redundant; and, farther, it is opposed +by Exod. x. 3: "And eats the residue of that which is escaped, which remaineth unto +you from the hail," equivalent to; which the hail has left to you. Similar to this +is 2 Chron. xxx. 6, where Hezekiah exhorts the children of Israel: "Turn again unto +the Lord.... in order that He may again return to the remnant which has been left +to you from the hand of the kings of Asshur." A question here arises, viz., whether +the dispersion of Israel which is here described, had already taken place at the +time of the Prophet, or whether the Prophet, transferring himself in the Spirit +into <span class="pagenum">[Pg 127]</span> the distant future, describes the dispersion +which took place at a later period, after the carrying away of the ten tribes into +the Assyrian exile had preceded, viz., that which took place when Judah was carried +away into the Babylonish exile, and especially after the destruction of Jerusalem. +The latter view is the correct one. The whole tenor of the Prophet's words shows +that he supposes a <i>comprehensive</i> dispersion of the people. It is true that, +at the time when the prophecy was written, the ten tribes had already been carried +away into captivity; but the kingdom of Judah, the subjects of which, according +to ver. 12, likewise appear as being in the dispersion, had not yet suffered any +important desolation. The few inhabitants of Judah who, according to Joel iv. 6, +(iii. 6), and Amos i. 6, 9, had been sold as slaves by the Philistines and Phœnicians, +and others, who, it may be, in hard times had spontaneously fled from their native +country, cannot here come into consideration. Just as here, so by Hosea too, the +future carrying away of the inhabitants of Judah is anticipated; comp. vol. i., +p. 219, 220. The fundamental passage is in Deut. xxx. 3, 4, where the gathering +of Israel is promised "from all the nations whither the Lord thy God has scattered +thee. If any of thine be driven out into the utmost parts of heaven, from thence +will the Lord thy God gather thee, and from thence will He fetch thee." This passage +shows with what clearness the future scattering lay before the eyes of the holy +men, even at the first beginnings of the people of God. In vers. 11 and 12 we have +the summary of the whole of the second part of Isaiah, in which the announcement +of Israel's being gathered and brought back is constantly repeated; and it is quite +incomprehensible how some grant the genuineness of the prophecy before us, and yet +bring forward, against this second part of Isaiah, the argument that the Prophet +could not <i>supposee</i> the scattering, that it must really have taken place, +since he simply announces their being brought back.--As regards the redemption from +the scattering, all that which in history is realised in a series of events, is +here united in one view. There is no reason for excluding the deliverance under +Zerubbabel; for it, too, was already granted for the sake of Christ, whose incarnation +the Prophet anticipates in faith; comp. remarks on chaps. vii., ix. This redemption, +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 128]</span> however, in which those who have been brought +back remain servants in the land of the Lord, can be considered as only a prelude +to the true one; comp. vol. i., p. 220 f. 448. The true fulfilment began with the +appearance of Christ, and is still going on towards its completion, which can take +place even without Israel's returning to Canaan, comp. vol. i., p. 222. Asshur opens +the list, and occupies the principal place, because it was through him who, under +the very eyes of the Prophet, had carried away the ten tribes, that the dispersion +began. But the Prophet does not limit himself to that which was obvious,--did not +expect, from the Messiah, only the healing of already existing hurts.--With Asshur, +<i>Egypt</i> is connected in one pair. Egypt is the <i>African</i> world's power +struggling for dominion with the <i>Asiatic</i>. Its land serves not only as a refuge +to those oppressed by the Asiatic world's power (comp. Jer. xlii. ff.), but, in +that struggle with the Asiatic power, itself invades and oppresses the land; comp. +chap. vii. 18; 2 Kings xxiii. 29 ff.: "In his days Pharaoh Necho, king of Egypt, +went up against the king of Assyria." In a similar connection, Asshur and Egypt, +the kingdoms on the Euphrates and the Nile, appear in chap. xxvii. 13: "And it shall +come to pass in that day, that a great trumpet is blown, and they come, the perishing +ones in the land of Asshur, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, and worship the +Lord in the holy mount at Jerusalem;" Micah vii. 12; Jer. ii. 18; Lam. v. 6. As +annexed to Egypt, the <i>second</i> pair presents itself, representing the uttermost +<i>South</i>; compare the expression, "from the four comers of the earth," in ver. +12. Pathros, in Jer. xliv. 1, 15, also appears as a dependency of Egypt; and Cush, +Ethiopia, was, at the Prophet's time, the ally of Egypt, chap. xxxvii. 9, xviii., +xx. 3-6. <i>Gesenius</i> remarks on chap. xx. 4: "Egypt and Ethiopia are, in the +oracles of this time, always connected, just as the close political alliance of +these two countries requires."--From the uttermost South, the Prophet turns to the +uttermost East. "Elam is," as <i>Gesenius</i> in his Commentary on chap. xxi. 2 +remarks, "in the pre-exilic writers, used for Persia in general, for which afterwards +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">פרס</span> becomes the ordinary name;" and according +to Dan. viii. 2, the Persian Metropolis Shushan is situated in Elam. It appears +in chap. xxii. 6 as the representative of the world's power +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 129]</span> which in future will oppress Judah, and we +hence expect that it will appear in an Elamitic phase also.--Shinar, the ancient +name for Babylon, is that world's power which, according to chaps. xiii., xiv., +xxxix., and other passages, is to follow after the Assyrian, and is to carry away +Judah into exile. Elam and Madai appear in chap. xxi. 2 as the destroyers of the +Babylonian world's power; hence the Elamitic phase of it can follow after the Babylonish +only. The geographical arrangement only can be the reason why it is here placed +first.--The last of the four pairs of countries is formed by Hamath, representing +Syria, (comp. 1 Maccab. xii. 25, according to which passage Jonathan the Maccabee +marches into the land of Hamath against the army of Demetrius,) and the islands +of the sea, the islands and the countries on the shores of the Mediterranean in +the uttermost West. As early as in the prophecy of Balaam, in Numb. xxiv. 24: "And +ships come from the side of Chittim and afflict Asshur, and afflict Eber, and he +also perisheth," we find the announcement that, at some future time, the Asiatic +kingdoms shall be conquered by a power which comes from the West in ships, by European +nations--an announcement which was realised in history by the dominion of the Greeks +and Romans in Asia.</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 12: "<i>And He setteth up an ensign to the Gentiles and assembleth +the exiled of Israel, and gathereth together the dispersed of Judah from the four +corners of the earth.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">The setting up of the ensign for the Gentiles, around which they +are to assemble for the purpose of restoring Israel, took place, in a prelude, under +Cyrus; comp. chap. xiv. 2, xlix. 22: "Thus saith the Lord God: Behold I lift up +mine hand to the Gentiles, and set up my standard to the nations, and they bring +thy sons on their bosom, and thy daughters are carried upon their shoulders;" where +the sons and daughters correspond to the exiled men of Israel, and to the dispersed +women of Judah, equivalent to all the exiled and dispersed men and women. As early +as in the Song of Solomon, we are taught that in the Messianic time the Gentile +nations will take an active part in the restoration of Israel. According to the +first part of that Song, the appearance of the heavenly Solomon is connected with +the reception of the Gentiles into His Kingdom, and that, through the instrumentality +of the <span class="pagenum">[Pg 130]</span> old covenant people, as is intimated +by the name of the daughters of Jerusalem; comp. my Comment. on Song of Solomon, +iii. 9-11. In the second part of that Song we have a description of the reunion +of apostate Israel with Christ,--which reunion takes place by the co-operation of +the daughters of Jerusalem, the same whom they formerly brought to salvation. According +to Is. lxvi. 20, the Gentiles, converted to the Lord in the time of salvation, bring +the children of Israel for an offering unto the Lord,--A significant allusion to +the passage before us is found in John xi. 52: <span lang="el" class="Greek">καὶ +οὐχ ὑπὲρ τοῦ ἔθνους μόνον, ἀλλ’ ἵνα καὶ τὰ τέκνα τοῦ Θεοῦ τὰ διεσκορπισμένα συναγάγῃ +εἰς ἕν.</span> It is the same mercy seeking that which is lost that manifests itself +in the gathering of apostate Israel, and in the gathering of the Gentiles. What +is said of the one furnishes, at the same time, the guarantee for the other.</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 13. "<i>And the envy of Ephraim departeth, and the adversaries +of Judah are cut off; Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">According to the explanatory fourth clause, the "adversaries of +Judah" in the second clause, can only be those among Judah who vex Ephraim. At the +very beginning of the separation of the two kingdoms, their future reunion had been +announced by a prophet; and this must now take place as certainly as Jehovah is +God, who had promised to David and his house the eternal dominion over all Israel. +The separation had taken place because the house of David had become unfaithful +to its vocation. In the Messiah, the promise, to the Davidic race is to be completely +realized; <i>and this realization has</i>, for its necessary consequence, the <i> +removal for ever</i> of the separation; comp. Ezek. xxxvii. 22. It was a <i>prelude</i> +to the fulfilment, that a portion of the subjects of the kingdom of the ten tribes +united with Judah in all those times when, in the blessing accompanying the enterprises +of a pious son of David, the promise granted to David was, in some measure realized,--as +was the case under Jehoshaphat, Hezekiah, and Josiah. Even before Christ appeared +in the flesh, the announcement here made was all but realized. The exile put an +end to the kingdom of the ten tribes, and hence also to the unnatural separation +which had been designated as the severest calamity of the past, chap. vii. 17. The +other tribes <span class="pagenum">[Pg 131]</span> joined Judah and the restored +sanctuary; comp. Acts xxvi. 7; Luke ii. 36. The name of "<i>Jews</i>" passed over +to the whole nation; the jealousy disappeared. This blessing was conferred upon +the people for Christ's sake, and with a view to His future appearance. In Christ, +the bond of union and communion is so firmly formed that no new discord can alienate +the hearts from one another.</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 14. "<i>And they fly upon the shoulder of the Philistines +toward the West, spoil together the children of the East; Edom and Moab shall be +their assault, the children of Ammon their obedience.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">As Israel is united internally, so it shall be externally powerful. +According to the Song of Solomon vi. 10, the congregation of Israel when, by her +renewed connection with the Lord and His heavenly Solomon, she has regained her +former strength, is "terrible as an army with banners."--The nations mentioned are +those of the Davidic reign. Even before the time of the Prophet, they had been anew +conquered by Jehoshaphat, in whom the spirit of David had been revived anew; comp. +2 Chron. xx.; Ps. lxxxiii. A prelude to the fulfilment of the prophecy before us +took place at the time of the Maccabees, comp. Vol. i. p. 467, 468. But as regards +the fulfilment, we are not entitled to limit ourselves to the names here mentioned. +These names are the accidental element in the prophecy; the thought is this: As +soon as Israel realizes its destiny, it partakes of God's inviolability, of God's +victorious power. The Prophet's sole purpose is to point out the victorious power, +to give prominence to the thought that outward prosperity is the necessary consequence +of inward holiness.--In the first clause, the image is taken from birds of prey; +comp. Hab. i. 8: "They fly as an eagle hastening to eat," which passage refers to +the enemies of Israel at the time of wrath. In the time of <i>grace</i>, the relation +will be just the reverse.--<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">משלח יד</span> occurs, +in a series of passages in Deuteronomy, of that which is taken in hand, undertaken. +Edom and Moab are no longer an object of <i>Noli me tangere</i> for them.</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 15. "<i>And the Lord destroys the tongue of the Sea of Egypt, +and waves His hand over the River with the violence of His wind, and smiteth it +into seven streams, that one may go through in shoes.</i>"</p> +<p class="continue"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 132]</span></p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 16. "<i>And there shall be a highway for the remnant of His +people which was left from Asshur; like as it was to Israel in the day that he came +up out of the land of Egypt.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">The miraculous power of the Lord shall remove all obstacles to +deliverance. These obstacles are represented by the Euphrates and the Red Sea (the +tongue of the Sea of Egypt, equivalent to the point of it), with a reference to +the fact that, among the countries, in ver. 11, from which Israel is to be delivered, +there had been mentioned, <i>Egypt</i>, between which and the Holy Land was the +Red Sea, and Asshur, situated on the other side of Euphrates. To Euphrates, upon +which there will be repeated that which, in ancient times, was done in the case +of Jordan, the Prophet assigns, in ver. 15, the last place, on account of ver. 16. +The highway in that verse is prepared by the turning off of Euphrates, so that we +might put: "And thus," at the beginning of the verse. As regards the destroying, +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">החרום</span>, it is the forced devoting to God of +that which would not spontaneously serve Him; compare remarks on Mal. iii. 24. Objects +of such devoting can properly be <i>persons</i> only, because they only are capable +of spontaneous sanctification to God, as well as of wilful desecration. The fact +that it is here transferred to the sea may be accounted for by its being personified. +The destruction which is inflicted upon the sea is, in it, inflicted upon the enemies +of God thereby represented, inasmuch as it opposes the people of God, and thus, +as it were, strives against God.--<i>With the violence or terror of His wind</i>, +<i>i.e.</i>, with His violent, terrible wind. There is in this an allusion to Exod. +xiv. 21, according to which the Lord dried up the Red Sea by a violent wind. Against +<i>Drechsler</i>, who thinks of "God's breathing of anger," first, this reference +to Exod. xiv. 21, and farther, the circumstance that the +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">רוח</span> appears as something which the Lord has +in His hand, are decisive.--In ver. 16 we need not, after "from Asshur," supply +the other nations mentioned in ver. 11, which would be unexampled; but Asshur appears +as the representative of all the enemies of God. Similarly in Micah also, Asshur +is, with evident intention, used typically; comp. Vol. i. p. 515, 516.</p> +<hr class="ftn"> +<div class="ftn"> + <p class="ftnText"><a name="ftn_108a" href="#ftnRef_108a"> + <sup class="ftnRef">[1]</sup></a> Notwithstanding the arguments which we stated + in favour of our proposition, that the original form of the name is + <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">נצר</span>. <i>Ebrard</i> without even attempting + to refute them, assumes, in favour of a far-fetched conjecture, that the name + of the place was written <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">נזרת</span> (<i>Kritik. + d. Ev. Geschichte</i> S. 843, 1st Ed.), and has introduced this opinion even + into the text of the new edition of <i>Olshausen's</i> Commentary, edited by + him. The circumstance that elsewhere <i>commonly</i> the Hebrew + <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ז</span> is, in Greek, rendered by + <span lang="el" class="Greek">ζ</span>, <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">צ</span> + by <span lang="el" class="Greek">σ</span> is, in this case, where the special + arguments in favour of <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">נצר</span> are so strong, + of no consequence.</p> +</div> +<div class="ftn"> + <p class="ftnText"><a name="ftn_111a" href="#ftnRef_111a"> + <sup class="ftnRef">[2]</sup></a> <i>Hofmann</i> (<i>Weissagung und Erfüllung.</i>, + II. S. 64) was the last who assumed that the Evangelist had generally in view + those passages in which the lowliness, contempt, and rejection of Christ are + spoken of, and that, in the Old Testament passages in question, the + <span lang="el" class="Greek">Ναζωραῖος</span> was not contained according to + the letter, but according to the spirit only. But this is opposed not only by + the whole manner of quotation which is given as a literal one, but also by a + whole series of analogies: Christ's birthplace in Bethlehem, His stay in Jerusalem, + His ministry in Galilee, and especially in Capernaum, His entrance into Jerusalem,--all + these are by Matthew traced back to prophetical declarations which have a special + reference to these localities. Against the exposition given by us, <i>Hofmann</i> + advances the assertion that neither <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">נצר</span> + nor <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">חטר</span> have ever attached to them the + idea of lowliness, of unassuming appearance. But even if a twig were not of + itself something lowly and unassuming in appearance, yet, in the passage before + us, that idea is, at all events, implied in the connection with the <i>stump</i> + and <i>roots</i>, as well as by the contrast to + <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">יפרה</span>.</p> +</div> +<div class="ftn"> + <p class="ftnText"><a name="ftn_112a" href="#ftnRef_112a"> + <sup class="ftnRef">[3]</sup></a> The following passage, which we take from + <i>Raim. Martini Pug. Fid.</i> III. 3, 19 p. 685, will fully illustrate that + custom: R. <i>Abba</i> said: His name is <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">יהוה</span> + Lord, according to the word in Jerem. xxiii. 6; R. <i>Josua ben Levy</i> said: + "His name is Sprout, according to what is said in Zech. vi. 12. Others say that + His name will be Comforter, Son of the strength of God, as is declared in Lam. + i. 16. Those from the School of R. <i>Siloh</i> said: His name will be <i>Shiloh</i>, + as is written in Gen. xlix. 10: 'Until Shiloh come.' Those from the School of + R. <i>Chanina</i> said: His name will be the Gracious one, as Jerem. said in + chap. xvi. 13. Those from the School of R. <i>Jannai</i> said: Jinnon shall + be His name, according to Ps. lxxii. 17, &c."</p> +</div> +<p class="continue"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 133]</span></p> +<h3><a name="div2_133" href="#div2Ref_133">CHAP. XII.</a></h3> +<p class="normal">This chapter contains Israel's hymn of thanks after having obtained +redemption and deliverance, and is connected with chap. ix. 2 (3), where the Prophet +had, in general, mentioned the joy of the elect in the Messianic time. Here he embodies +it in words. The hymn, which forms a kind of close, and, to a certain degree, belongs +to the whole cycle of the preceding Messianic prophecies, is based upon the hymn +of thanksgiving by Israel after having passed through the Red Sea,--that historical +fact which contained so strong a guarantee for the future redemption, and is in +harmony with chap. xi. 15, 16, where the Prophet had announced a renewal of those +wonderful leadings of the Lord. The hymn falls into three stanzas, each consisting +of two verses. In ver. 1 and 2, and in ver. 4 and 5, the redeemed ones are introduced +speaking; ver. 3 and 5, which likewise form a couple, contain an epilogue of the +Prophet on the double <i>jubilus</i> of the congregation.</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 1. "<i>And in that day thou sayest: I will praise thee, Lord, +for thou wast angry with me, and now thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortest +me.</i> Ver. 2. <i>Behold, God is my salvation; I trust, and am not afraid; for +my strength and song is the Lord, and He became my Saviour.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">The words "my strength and my song," are from Exod. xv. 2. The +two members of the verse enter into the right relation to one another, and the +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">כי</span> becomes intelligible, only if we keep in +mind that the words at the beginning, "The Lord is my salvation," are an expression +of the conviction of the speaker; hence are equivalent to: we acknowledge Him as +our God; so that the first part expresses the subjective disposition of the Church; +the second, the objective circumstance of the case--that on which that disposition +is founded, and from which it grew up.</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 3. "<i>And ye draw water in joy out of the wells of salvation.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">During the journey through the wilderness, the bestowal of salvation +had been represented under the form of granting <span class="pagenum">[Pg 134]</span> +water. It is to it that we have here an allusion. The spiritual water denotes salvation.</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 4. "<i>And in that day ye say: Praise the Lord, proclaim +His name, declare His doings among the nations, make mention that His name is exalted.</i> +Ver. 5. +<!--deleted quote--><i>Praise the Lord, for He hath done great things; this is known +in all the earth.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 6. "<i>Cry out and shout thou inhabitant of Zion; for great +is the Holy One of Israel in thy midst.</i>"</p> +<hr class="W20"> +<p class="normal">There now follows a cycle of ten prophecies, which, in the inscriptions, +have the name <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">משא</span> "burden," and in which the +Prophet exhibits the disclosures into the destinies of the nations which he had +received on the occasion of the threatening Assyrian invasion under Sennacherib. +For, from the prophecy against Asshur in chap. xiv. 24, 25, which is contained in +the very first burden, it clearly appears that the cycle which, by the equality +of the inscriptions, is connected into one well arranged and congenial whole, belongs +to this period. This prophecy against Asshur forms one whole with that against Babel, +and by it the latter was suggested and called forth. In that prophecy, the defeat +of Asshur, which took place in the 14th year of Hezekiah, is announced as future. +It is true that the second burden, directed against the Philistines, in chap. xiv. +28-32, seems to suggest another time. Of this burden it is said, in ver. 28, that +it was given in the year that king Ahaz died; not in the year in which his death +was impending, but in that in which he died, comp. chap. vi. 1. The distressed circumstances +of the new king raised the hopes of the Philistines, who, under Ahaz, had rebelled +against the Jewish dominion. But the Prophet beholds in the Spirit that, just under +this king, the heavenly King of Zion would destroy these hopes, and would thrust +down Philistia from its imaginary height. But from the time of the original composition +of the prophecy, that of its <i>repetition</i> must be distinguished. That took +place, as is just shewn by the prophecy's being received in the cycle of the <i> +burdens</i>, at the time when the invasion of Sennacherib was immediately impending. +The Assyrians were the power from the <i>North</i>, <span class="pagenum">[Pg 135]</span> +by whom the threatened destruction would break in upon the Philistines; and the +truth of the word should be verified upon them, that prosperity is only the forerunner +of the fall. In the view of the fulfilment, Isaiah repeated the prophecy.</p> +<p class="normal">From the series of these <i>burdens</i>, we shall very briefly +comment upon those which are of importance for our purpose. First,</p> +<h3><a name="div2_135" href="#div2Ref_135">CHAPTERS XIII. l.-XIV. 27.</a></h3> +<p class="normal">This prophecy does not contain any characteristically expressed +Messianic element; but it is of no small consequence for bringing out the whole +picture of the future, as it was before the mind of the Prophet. It is in it that +Babel meets us distinctly and definitely as the threatening world's power of the +future, by which Judah is to be carried away into captivity.</p> +<p class="normal">The genuineness is incontrovertibly testified by the close; and +it is only by a naturalistic tendency that it can be denied. With the announcement +of the deliverance from Babel is first, in chap. xiv. 24, 25, connected an announcement +of deliverance from Asshur; and then follows in ver. 26 and 27, the close of the +whole prophecy from chap. xiii. 1, onward. Vers. 26 and 27, which speak of the whole +earth and of all the nations, refer to chap. xiii., where the Prophet had spoken +of an universal judgment, comp. ver. 5, 9, 10, &c.; while, in the verses immediately +preceding, one single people, the Assyrians only, were spoken of It is thereby rendered +impossible to separate chap. xiv. 24, 27 from the whole.</p> +<p class="normal">Behind the world's power of the present--the Assyrian--the Prophet +beholds a new one springing up--the Babylonish. Those who have asserted that the +prophecy against Babel is altogether without foundation as soon as Isaiah is supposed +to have composed it, are utterly mistaken. Although the prophecy was by no means +destined for the contemporaries only, as prophecy is generally destined for all +times of the Church, yet, even for the Prophet's contemporaries, every letter was +of consequence. If Israel's principal enemies belonged to the future, how very little +was to be feared from the present ones; and especially if Israel should and must +rise from even the <span class="pagenum">[Pg 136]</span> deepest abasement, how +should God not then deliver them from the lower distress and need? But just because +weak faith does not like to draw such <i>inferences</i>, the Prophet at the close +expressly adverts to the present affliction, and gives to the weak faith a distinct +and sure word of God, by which it may support itself, and take encouragement in +that affliction.</p> +<p class="normal">The points of connection must not be overlooked which the prophecy +in chap. xi. offers for the prophecy before us. We already met there the total decay +of the royal house of David, the carrying away of Judah into exile, and their dispersion +into all lands. It is on this foundation that the prophecy before us takes its stand: +it points to the power by which these conditions are to be brought about. Farther--There, +as well as here, the conditions of the future are not expressly <i>announced</i> +as such, but <i>supposed</i>: the Prophet takes his stand in the future. There, +as well as here, the Prophet draws consolation in the sufferings of the present +from a salvation to be bestowed in a far distant future only.</p> +<p class="normal">From the very outset, the Prophet announces an impending carrying +away of the people, and, at the same time, that, even in this distress, the Lord +would have compassion upon His people, comp. <i>e.g.</i> chaps. v., vi. From the +very outset, the Prophet clearly saw that it was not by the Assyrians that this +carrying away would be effected. This much we consider to be fully proved by history. +The progress which the prophecy before us offers, when compared with those former +ones, consists in this circumstance only, that the Prophet here expressly mentions +the names of the future destroyers. And in reference to this circumstance we may +remark, that, according to the testimony of history, as early as at that time, the +plan of the foundation of an independent power was strongly entertained and fostered +at Babylon, as is clearly enough evidenced by the embassy of the viceroy of Babylon +to Hezekiah.</p> +<p class="normal">In chap. xxiii. 13--the prophecy against Tyre, which is acknowledged +to be genuine by the greater number of rationalistic interpreters--the Prophet shows +the clearest insight into the future universal dominion of Chaldea, which forms +the point of issue for the prophecy before us. With perfect clearness this insight +meets us in chap. xxxix. also, on which even <i>Gesenius</i> cannot avoid remarking: +"The prophetic eye of <span class="pagenum">[Pg 137]</span> Isaiah foresaw, even +at that time, that, in a political point of view, Babylon would, in a short time, +altogether enter into the track of Assyria."</p> +<h3><a name="div2_137" href="#div2Ref_137">CHAPTERS XVII., XVIII.</a></h3> +<p class="normal">These two chapters form one whole, as, generally, the series of +the ten <i>burdens</i> is nowhere interrupted by inserted, heterogeneous, independent +portions. Chapter xx. forms an appendix only to chapter xix. In the same manner, +the prophecy against Sebna in chap. xxii. 16-25, stands in an internal connection +with vers. 1-15; in that which befel him, the destinies of the people were to be +typified. That these two chapters belong to one another is clearly proved by the +parallelism of chap. xvii. 10, 11, and chap. xviii. 4-6.</p> +<p class="normal">The inscription runs: "Burden of Damascus." It is at the commencement +of the prophecy that the Syrians of Damascus are spoken of; the threatening soon +after turns against Judah and Israel. This is easily accounted for by the consideration +that the prophecy refers to a relation where Judah and Israel appear in the retinue +of Damascus. It was from Damascus that, in the Syrico-Damascenic war, the whole +complication proceeded. Aram induced Israel to join him in the war against Judah, +and misled Judah to seek help from Asshur. In a general religious point of view, +also, all Israel, the kingdom of the ten tribes, as well as Judah, were at that +time, as it were, incorporated into Damascus; comp. ver. 10, according to which +Israel's guilt consisted in having planted strange vines in his vineyard, with 2 +Kings xvi. 10, according to which Ahaz got an altar made at Jerusalem after the +pattern of that which he had seen at Damascus. The circumstance that Israel had +become like Damascus, was the reason why it was given up to the Gentiles for punishment.</p> +<p class="normal">From the comparison of chap. x. 28-34, it appears that chap. xvii. +12-14 belongs to the time of Hezekiah, when Israel was threatened by the invasion +of Sennacherib. In chap. xvii. 1-11, in which, at first, the overthrow of Damascus +and the kingdom of the ten tribes appears as still future, the Prophet +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 138]</span> thus transfers himself back to the stand-point +of an earlier time. To this result we are also led by the chronological arrangement +of the whole collection. The Prophet, stepping back in spirit to the beginning of +the complication, surveys the whole of the calamity and salvation which arise to +Israel from the relation to Asshur and the whole world's power represented by Asshur--a +relation into which it had been led by Damascus--and takes a view of the punishment +which it receives by its sins, by its having become worldly, and of the Divine mercy +which sends deliverance and salvation.</p> +<p class="normal">The threatening goes as far as chap. xvii 11. The rod of chastisement +is, in the first instance, in the hand of Asshur; but he, as has been already mentioned, +represents the world's power in general. With this, the promise connects itself. +The oppressors of the people of God are annihilated, chap. xvii. 12-14. All the +nations of the earth, especially Ethiopia, which was, no less than Israel, threatened +by Asshur (comp. chap. xxxvii. 9), and to which Egypt at that time occupied the +position of a subordinate ally, perceive with astonishment the catastrophe by which +God brings about the destruction of His enemies, chap. xviii. 1-3. Or, to state +it more exactly: Messengers who, from the scene of the great deeds of the Lord, +hasten in ships, first, over the Mediterranean, then, in boats up the Nile, bring +the intelligence of the catastrophe which has taken place to Cush, the land of the +rustling of the wings--thus named from the rustling of the wings of the royal eagle +of the world's power, which, being in birth equal to Asshur, has there its seat, +vers. 1 and 2; comp. chap. viii. 8. All the inhabitants of the earth shall look +with astonishment at the catastrophe which is taking place, ver. 3, where the Prophet +who, in vers. 1 and 2, had described the catastrophe as having already taken place, +steps back to the stand-point of reality. In vers. 4-6, we have the graphic description +of the catastrophe. At the close, we have, in ver. 7, the words which impart to +the prophecy importance for our purpose.</p> +<p class="normal">"<i>In that time shall be brought, as a present unto the Lord +of hosts, the people far stretched and shorn, and from the people terrible since +it</i> (has been) <i>and onward, and from the people of law-law and trampling down, +whose land streams divide, to the place of the name of the Lord of hosts, the Mount +Zion.</i>"</p> +<p class="continue"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 139]</span></p> +<p class="normal">The expression, "shall be brought as a present," (the word +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">שי</span> occurs, besides in this passage, only in +Ps. lxviii. 30; lxxvi. 12) points back to the fundamental passage in Ps. lxviii. +30, where David says, "Because of thy temple over Jerusalem shall kings bring presents +unto thee." As outwardly, so spiritually too, the sanctuary lies <i>over</i> Jerusalem. +The sanctuary of God over Jerusalem is the emblem of His protecting power, of His +saving mercy watching over Jerusalem; so that, "because of thy temple over Jerusalem +they bring," &c., is equivalent to: On account of thy glorious manifestation as +the God of Jerusalem. Cush is in that Psalm, immediately afterwards, expressly mentioned +by the side of Egypt, which, at the Prophet's time, was closely connected with it. +"Princes shall come out of Egypt, Cush makes her hands to hasten towards God."--According +to <i>Gesenius</i>, and other interpreters, the <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">מן</span> +from the second clause is to be supplied before <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">עם +ממשך</span>. But this is both hard and unnecessary. It is quite in order that, first, +the offering of persons, and, afterwards, the offering of their gifts should be +mentioned. Parallel is chap. xlv. 14: "The labour of Egypt and the merchandize of +Ethiopia, and the Sabeans, men of stature, shall come over unto thee, and they shall +be thine;" the difference is only this, that there first the goods are mentioned, +and then the men. In chap. lxvi. 20, we likewise meet men who are brought for an +offering. The designations of the people who here appear as the type of the whole +Gentile world to be converted at some future period, and who have been chosen for +this honour in consequence of the historical circumstances which existed at the +time of the Prophet, are taken from ver. 2. <i>Gesenius</i> is wrong in remarking +in reference to them: "All these epithets have for their purpose to designate that +distant people as a powerful and terrible one." As <i>Gesenius</i> himself was obliged +to remark in reference to the last words, "Whose land streams divide:" "This is +a designation of a striking peculiarity of the country, not of the people,"--the +purpose of the epithets can generally be this only, to characterise the people according +to their different prominent peculiarities.--<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ממשך</span> +properly "<i>drawn out</i>," "<i>stretched</i>," Prov. xiii. 12, corresponds to +the <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">אנשי מדה</span> "men of extension or stature," +in chap. xlv. 14. High stature appears, in classical writers also, as a characteristic +sign of the <span class="pagenum">[Pg 140]</span> Ethiopians.--On +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">מורט</span> "<i>closely shorn</i>," comp. chap. l. +6, where <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">מרט</span> is used of the plucking out of +the hair of the beard.---"To the people fearful since it and onward," equivalent +to: which all along, and throughout its whole existence, has been terrible; compare +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">מימי היא</span> Nah. ii. 9, and the expression: "from +this day and forward," 1 Sam. xviii. 9. For everywhere one people only is spoken +of, comp. ver. 1, according to which Egypt cannot be thought of--<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">קו +קו</span> "law-law" is explained from chap. xxviii. 10, 13, where it stands beside +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">צו צו</span>, and designates the mass of rules, ordinances, +and statutes. This is characteristic of the Egyptians, and likewise of the Ethiopians, +who bear so close an intellectual resemblance to them. With regard to the connection +of the verse with what precedes, <i>Gesenius</i> remarks: "The consequence of such +great deeds of Jehovah will be, that the distant, powerful people of the Ethiopians +shall present pious offerings to Jehovah,"--more correctly, "present themselves +and their possessions to Jehovah."--A prelude to the fulfilment Isaiah beheld with +his own eyes. It is said in 2 Chron. xxxii. 33: "And many (in consequence of the +manifestation of the glory of God in the defeat of Asshur before Jerusalem) brought +gifts unto the Lord to Jerusalem." Yet, we must not limit ourselves to that. The +real fulfilment can be sought for only at a later time, as certainly as that which +the Prophet announces about the destruction of the world's power exceeds, by far, +that isolated defeat of Asshur, which can be regarded as a prelude only to the real +fulfilment; and as certainly as he announces the destruction of Asshur generally, +and, under his image, of the world's power. "He who delights in having pointed out +the fulfilment of such prophecies in the later history"--<i>Gesenius</i> remarks--"may +find it in Acts viii. 26 ff., and still more, in the circumstance that Abyssinia +is, up to this day, the only larger Christian State of the East."--In consequence +of the glorious manifestation of the Lord in His kingdom, and of the conquering +power which, in Christ, He displayed in His relation to the world's power, there +once existed in Ethiopia a flourishing Christian Church; and on the ground of this +passage before us, we look at its ruins which have been left up to this day, with +the hope that the Lord will, at some future time, rebuild it.</p> +<p class="continue"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 141]</span></p> +<h3><a name="div2_141" href="#div2Ref_141">CHAPTER XIX.</a></h3> +<p class="normal">The burden of Egypt begins with the words: "Behold the Lord rideth +upon a swift cloud, and cometh into Egypt, and the idols of Egypt are moved at His +presence, and the heart of Egypt melteth in the midst of it." The clouds with which, +or accompanied by which, the Lord comes, are, in the Old and New Testament writings, +symbolical indications and representations of judgment; comp. my remarks on Rev. +i. 7; and besides the passages quoted there, compare in addition Jer. iv. 13; Rev. +xiv. 14. But what judgment is here spoken of? According to <i>Gesenius</i> and other +interpreters, the calamity is the victory of Psammeticus over the twelve princes, +with which physical calamities are to be joined. But against this view, ver. 11 +alone is conclusive, inasmuch as, according to this verse, Pharaoh, at the time +when this calamity breaks in upon Egypt, is the ruler of the whole land: "How say +ye unto Pharaoh: I am the Son of the wise a (spiritual) son of the kings of ancient +times," who are celebrated for their wisdom. In ver. 2, according to which, in Egypt, +kingdom fights against kingdom, we cannot, therefore, think of independent kingdom +s; but following the way of the LXX., <span lang="el" class="Greek">νόμος ἐπὶ νόμον</span>, +of provinces only. Further,--According to <i>Gesenius</i>, the fierce lord and cruel +king in ver. 4 is assumed to be Psammeticus. But against this the plural alone is +decisive. Ezek. xxx. 12--according to which outward enemies, the +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">זרים</span>, are the cause of the drying up of the +Nile, of the ceasing of wealth and prosperity--militates against the assumption +of a calamity independent of the political one. The circumstance, that the prophecy +under consideration belongs to the series of the <i>burdens</i>, and was written +in the view of Asshur's advance, leaves us no room to doubt that the Lord is coming +to judgment in the oppression by the Asiatic world's power. To this may be added +the analogy of the prophecies of Jeremiah and Ezekiel against Egypt, which are evidently +to be considered as a resumption of the prophecy under consideration, and as an +announcement that its realization is constantly going on. They do not know any other +calamity than being given up to the Asiatic world's power. Compare <i>e.g.</i> Jer. +xlvi. 25, 26: "And behold, I visit Pharaoh and Egypt, and their gods and their kings, +Pharaoh <span class="pagenum">[Pg 142]</span> and them that trust in him. And I +deliver them into the hand of those that seek their soul, and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, +king of Babylon." After what we have remarked, the discord among the Egyptians in +ver. 2, can be considered as the consequence and concomitant of the real and main +calamity only: Where God is not in the midst, there, commonly, internal discord +is wont to follow upon severe outward affliction, inasmuch as one always imputes +to the other the cause of matters going on so badly. And what is said of the drying +up of the Nile, we shall thus likewise be obliged to consider as a consequence of +the hostile oppression. Waters are, in Scripture, the ordinary image of prosperity; +compare remarks on Rev. xvii. 1, 8, 40; xvi. 4. Here the Nile specially is chosen +as the symbol of prosperity, inasmuch as upon it the woe and weal of Egypt chiefly +depended. In consequence of the hostile invasion which consumes all the strength +of the land, the Nile of its prosperity dries up; "its very foundations are destroyed, +all who carry on craft are afflicted."</p> +<p class="normal">The scope of the prophecy is this: The Lord comes to judgment +upon Egypt (through Asshur and those who follow in his tracks), ver. 1. Instead +of uniting all the strength against the common enemy, there arises, by the curse +of God, discord and dissolution, ver. 2. Egypt falls into a helpless state of distress, +ver. 3. "And I give over Egypt into the hand of hard rule, and a fierce king (<i>Jonathan</i>: +<i>potens</i>, sc. Nebuchadnezzar) shall rule over them, saith the Lord, Jehovah +of hosts," ver. 4. The fierce king is the king of Asshur, the Asiatic kingdom; compare +the mention of Asshur in ver. 23-25; LXX. <span lang="el" class="Greek">βασιλεῖς +σκληροί</span>. For, the fact that the unity is merely an <i>ideal</i> one, is most +distinctly and intentionally pointed at by the <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">אדנים</span> +preceding. The prosperity of the land is destroyed, ver. 5-10. The much boasted +Egyptian wisdom can as little avert the ruin of the country as it did formerly, +in ancient times; its bearers stand confounded and ashamed; nothing will thrive +and prosper, vers. 11-15. But the misery produces salutary fruits; it brings about +the conversion of Egypt to the God of Israel, and, with this conversion, a full +participation in all the privileges and blessings of the Kingdom of God shall be +connected, ver. 16, and especially vers. 18-25. This close of the prophecy, which +for our purpose is of special consequence, we must still submit to a closer examination.</p> +<p class="continue"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 143]</span></p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 18. "<i>In that day shall be five cities in the land of Egypt +which speak the language of Canaan and swear to the Lord of hosts; city of destruction +the one shall be called.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal"><i>Five</i>, as usual, here comes into consideration as the half +of <i>ten</i>, which number represents the whole; "<i>five</i> cities," therefore, +is equivalent to: a goodly number of cities. On the words: "Who speak the language +of Canaan," <i>Gesenius</i> remarks: "With the spreading of a certain religion resting +on certain documents of revelation, as <i>e.g.</i> the Jewish religion, the knowledge +of their language, too, must be connected." We must not, of course, limit the thought +to this, that Hebrew was learned wherever the religion of Jehovah spread. When viewed +more deeply, the language of Canaan is spoken by all those who are converted to +the true God. Upon the Greek language, <i>e.g.</i> the character of the language +of Canaan has been impressed in the New Testament. That language which, from primeval +times, has been developed in the service of the Spirit, imparts its character to +the languages of the world, and changes their character in their deepest foundation.--"To +swear to the Lord" is to do Him homage; Michaelis: <i>Juramento se Domino obstringent</i>; +comp. chap. xlv. 23: "Unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear." In +the words: "City of destruction,"<!--inserted quote--> +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">הרס</span>, one shall be called, there is contained +an allusion to <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">קיר הרס</span>, "<i>city of the Sun</i>" +(Heliopolis) which was peculiar to one of the chief seats of Egyptian idolatry. +It is the celebrated <i>On</i> or <i>Bethshemish</i> of which Jeremiah prophesies +in chap. xliii. 13: "And he (Nebuchadnezzar) breaketh the pillars in Beth-shemish, +that is in the land of Egypt, and the houses of the gods of Egypt he burneth with +fire." This allusion was perceived as early as by <i>Jonathan</i>, who thus paraphrases: +"<i>Urbs domus solis quae destruetur.</i>" By this allusion it is intimated that +salvation cannot be bestowed upon the Gentile world in the state in which it is; +that punitive justice must prepare the way for salvation: that everywhere the destructive +activity of God must precede that which builds up; that the way to the Kingdom of +God passes through the fire of tribulation which must consume every thing that is +opposed to God; compare that which Micah, even in reference to the covenant-people, +says regarding the necessity of taking, before giving can have place, vol. i., p. +517.</p> +<p class="continue"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 144]</span></p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 19. "<i>In that day shall there be an altar to the Lord in +the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar at the border thereof to the Lord.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">That the altar is to be considered as a "monument" only is a supposition +altogether far-fetched, and which can the less find any support in the isolated +case, Josh. xxii., that that account clearly enough intimates how decidedly the +existence of an altar furnishes a foundation for the supposition that sacrifices +are to be offered up there, a supposition intimated by the very name in Hebrew. +If it was meant to serve some other purpose, it would have been necessary expressly +to state it, or, at least, some other place of sacrifice ought to have been assigned +for the sacrifices mentioned in ver. 21. But as it stands, there cannot be any doubt +that the altar here and the sacrifices there belong to one another. This passage +under consideration is of no little consequence, inasmuch as it shows that, in other +passages where a going up of the Gentiles to Jerusalem in the Messianic time is +spoken of, as, <i>e.g.</i>, chap. lxvi. 23, we must distinguish between the thought +and the embodiment. The <i>pillar</i> at the border bears an inscription by which +the land is designated as the property of the Lord, just as it was the custom of +the old eastern conquerors, and especially of the Egyptians, to erect such pillars +in the conquered territories.</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 20. "<i>And it is for a sign and for a witness to the Lord +of hosts in the land of Egypt: When they cry unto the Lord because of the oppressors, +He shall send them a Saviour and a Deliverer; and he shall deliver them.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">Altar and pillar, as a sign and witness of the confession to the +Lord, are, at the same time, a guarantee of the deliverance to be granted by Him. +According to <i>Gesenius</i>, the Prophet speaks "without a definite historical +reference, of a saving or protecting angel." But we cannot think of an angel on +account of the plain reference to the common formula in the Book of Judges, by which +it is intimated that, as far as redemption is concerned, Egypt has been made a partaker +of the privileges of the covenant-people. It is just this reference which has given +rise to the general expression; but it is Christ who is meant; for the prophets, +and especially Isaiah, are not cognizant of any other Saviour for the Gentile world +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 145]</span> than of Him; and it is He who is suggested +by the Messianic character of the whole description.</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 21. "<i>And the Lord is known to the Egyptians, and the Egyptians +know the Lord in that day, and offer sacrifice and oblation, and vow vows unto the +Lord, and perform them.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 22. "<i>And the Lord smiteth the Egyptians so that He healeth +them, and they are converted to the Lord, and He shall be entreated by them, and +shall heal them.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">We have here simply a recapitulation. The prophet describes anew +the transition from the state of wrath to that of grace--not, as <i>Drechsler</i> +thinks, what they experience in the latter. Upon Egypt is fulfilled what, in Deut. +xxxii. 39, has been said in reference to Israel.</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 23. "<i>In that day there shall be a highway out of Egypt +to Asshur, and Asshur cometh into Egypt, and Egypt into Asshur, and Egypt serveth +with Asshur.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal"><span lang="he" class="Hebrew">עבד</span> with +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">את</span> has commonly the signification "to serve +some one;" here, however, <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">את</span> is used as a +preposition: Egypt serves God <i>with</i> Asshur. Yet there is an allusion to the +ordinary use of <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">עבד</span> with +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">את</span> in order to direct attention to the wonderful +change: First, Egypt serves Asshur, and the powers that follow its footsteps; then, +it serves <i>with</i> Asshur. Here also it becomes manifest that the deliverer in +ver. 20 is no ordinary human deliverer; for such an one could help his people only +by inflicting injury upon the hostile power.</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 24. "<i>In that day Israel shall be the third with Egypt +and with Asshur, a blessing in the midst of the earth.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">The "blessing" is not "that union of people formerly separated," +but it is <i>Israel</i> from which the blessing is poured out upon all the other +nations; compare the fundamental passage, Gen. xii. 1-3, and the word of the Lord: +<span lang="el" class="Greek">ἡ σωτηρία ἐκ τῶν Ἰουδαίων ἐστί</span>, John iv. 22.</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 25. "<i>For the Lord of Hosts blesseth him, saying: Blessed +be Egypt my people, and Asshur the work of mine hands, and Israel mine inheritance.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">The suffix in <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ברמ</span> refers +to every thing mentioned in ver. 24. "Assyria and Egypt are called by epithets which +elsewhere are wont to be bestowed upon Israel only."</p> +<p class="normal">It is scarcely necessary to point out how gloriously this, +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 146]</span> prophecy was fulfilled; how, at one time, +there existed a flourishing Church in Egypt. Although the candlestick of that Church +be now removed from its place ("<i>Satanas in hac gente sevit zizania</i>"--<i>Vitringa</i>), +yet we are confident of, and hope for, a future in which this prophecy shall anew +powerfully manifest itself The broken power of the Mahommedan delusion opens up +the prospect, that the time in which this hope is to be realized is drawing nigh.</p> +<h3><a name="div2_146" href="#div2Ref_146">CHAPTER XXIII.</a></h3> +<h4>THE BURDEN UPON TYRE.</h4> +<p class="normal">In the view of Sennacherib's invasion, the eyes of the Prophet +are opened, so that he beholds the future destinies of the nations within his horizon. +It is under these circumstances that it is revealed to him that Tyre also, which, +not long before, had successfully resisted the attack of Asshur, and had imagined +herself to be invincible, would not, for any length of time, be able to resist the +attack of the Asiatic world's power.</p> +<p class="normal">The threatening goes on to ver. 14; it is, in ver. 13, concentrated +in the words: "Behold the land of the Chaldeans, this people which was not, which +Asshur assigns to the beasts of the wilderness,--they set up their watch-towers, +they arouse her palaces, they bring them to ruin." The correct explanation of this +verse has been given by <i>Delitzsch</i> in his Commentary on Habakkuk, S. xxi. +Before the capture of Tyre could be assigned to the Chaldeans, it was necessary +to point out that they should overthrow Asshur, the representative of the world's +power in the time of the Prophet. The Chaldeans, a people which, up to that time, +were not reckoned in the list of the kingdoms of the world, destroy, in some future +period, the Assyrian power, and shall then inflict upon Tyre that destruction which +Asshur intended in vain to bring upon it.</p> +<p class="continue"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 147]</span></p> +<p class="normal">Upon the threatening there follows the promise. Ver. 15. "<i>And +it shall come to pass in that day, and Tyre is forgotten seventy years like the +days of one king. After the end of seventy years, it shall be unto Tyre according +to the song of the harlot.</i> Ver. 16. <i>Take the harp, go about the city, forgotten +harlot, make sweet melody, sing many songs, that thou mayest be remembered.</i> +Ver. 17. <i>And it shall come to pass, after the end of seventy years, the Lord +will visit Tyre, and she returneth to her hire of whoredom, and whoreth with all +the kingdoms of the earth upon the surface of the earth.</i> Ver. 18. <i>And her +gain and hire of whoredom shall be holy unto the Lord; not is it treasured and laid +up, but to those who sit before the Lord its gain shall be, that they may eat and +be satisfied, and for durable clothing.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">On the "70 years, like the days of one king," <i>Michaelis</i> +very pertinently remarks: "Not of one individual, but of one reign or empire, <i> +i.e.</i> as long as the Babylonian empire shall last, which, after 70 years, was +destroyed by Cyrus." The necessary qualification follows from ver. 13. According +to that verse, the one king can be the king of the Chaldeans only. Parallel are +the 70 years which, in Jer. xxv. 11, 12, are assigned to the Chaldean empire: "And +these nations serve the king of Babylon 70 years. And it shall come to pass, when +the 70 years are accomplished, I will visit upon the king of Babylon, and upon that +nation, saith the Lord, their iniquity." In the Commentary on Rev. ii. 1, p. 75, +200, it was proved that, in Scripture, kings are frequently <i>ideal</i> persons; +not individuals, but personifications of their kingdoms. <i>Gesenius'</i> objection, +that the time of the Babylonish dynasty, from the pretended destruction of Tyre +to the destruction of Babylon, did not last 70 years, vanishes by the remark that +the Prophet says "like the days;" that, hence, it is expressly intimated that the +70 years here, differently from what is the case in Jeremiah, are to be considered +as a <i>round</i> designation of the time. From a comparison of Jeremiah we learn +that the Chaldean dominion will last 70 years <i>in all</i>. Into which point of +that period the destruction of Tyre is to fall, Isaiah does not disclose. It is +quite proper that in reference to Tyre the announcement should not be so definite, +in point of chronology, as in reference to Judah. That the capture of +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 148]</span> Tyre by the Chaldeans, which is here announced, +really took place, has been more thoroughly established in my book: <i>De rebus +Tyriorum</i>; and afterwards by <i>Drechsler</i> in his Commentary on Isaiah, and +by <i>Hävernick</i> in his Commentary on Ezekiel.</p> +<p class="normal">After the end of the 70 years. Tyre is to resume her trade of +whoring, and is to carry it on to a wide extent, and with great success. "By the +image of whoredom"--so we remarked in commenting upon Rev. xiv. 8--"in some passages +of the Old Testament, that selfishness is designated which clothes itself in the +garb of love, and, under its appearance, seeks the gratification of its own desires. +In Is. xxiii. 15 ff., Tyre is, on account of her mercantile connections, called +a whore, and the profit from trade is designated as the reward of whoredom. The +point of comparison is the endeavour to please, to feign love for the sake of gain." +Under the dominion of the Persians, Tyre again began to flourish.</p> +<p class="normal">Tyre's reward of whoredom is consecrated to the Lord, and the +bodily wants of His servants are provided from it,--quite in agreement with the +words of the Apostle: <span lang="el" class="Greek">εἰ ἡμεῖς ὑμῖν τὰ πνευματικὰ +ἐσπείραμεν, μέγα, εἰ ἡμεῖς ὑμῶν τὰ σαρκικὰ θερίσομεν</span>; 1 Cor. ix. 11. Converted +Tyre offers, in these gifts, its thanks for the noble gift which it received from +the sanctuary.</p> +<p class="normal"><i>Vitringa</i>, who remarks that the Prophet was fully aware +of "the great interval of time that would intervene betwixt the restoration of Tyre, +and her dedication of herself, with her gains, to the Lord," is right, while <i> +Drechsler</i>, who is of opinion that the doings of consecrated Tyre also are represented +under the image of whoring, is wrong. Whoring designates a sinful conversation which +is irreconcilable with conversion to the Lord. It does not designate trade, as such, +but trade as it is earned on by those who, with unrenewed hearts, serve the god +Mammon. We have here before us two stages, strictly separated. <i>First</i>, she +resumes her old whorings; <i>then</i>, she consecrates her gain to the Lord. The +severe catastrophe intervening, the new capture of Tyre, as it took place by Alexander, +is not yet beheld by Isaiah. The announcement of it was reserved for the post-exilic +Prophet Zechariah, chap. ix. 3.</p> +<p class="normal">The announcement of the future conversion of Tyre received, +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 149]</span> in the time of Christ, a symbolical representation +as it were, in the Canaanitish woman. <i>Vitringa</i> says: "The first fruits of +this grace were received by that wise Canaanitish woman, who had been taught, as +if she had been in the school of Christ, to ask for divine grace; whom Matth. xv. +22, calls a woman of Canaan, Mark vii. 26, a Syrophenician; but who was no doubt +a Tyrian, inasmuch as she obtained mercy from Christ the Lord himself, while He +sojourned in the territory of Tyre and Sidon. Paul found at Tyre a congregation +of disciples of Christ already in existence, Acts xxi. 3 ff."<!--inserted quote mark here; +see Thomas Newton, Dissertations on the Prophecies--> At a subsequent period, there +existed at Tyre a flourishing and wealthy church. <i>Eusebius</i> and <i>Jerome</i> +describe to us, from their own experience, the fulfilment of this prophecy.</p> +<h3><a name="div2_149" href="#div2Ref_149">CHAPTERS XXIV.-XXVII.</a></h3> +<p class="normal">Upon the ten single "burdens" as they were called forth by the +threatening Assyrian catastrophe, there follows here a comprehensive description +of the judgments of God upon His people, and upon the world's power hostile to His +Kingdom, The characteristic feature in it is, that the Prophet abstains from all +details.</p> +<p class="normal">The prophecy begins in chap. xxiv. 1-13, with the threatening +of the judgment upon Judah, The fact that Judah is here spoken of, not alone, it +is true, but together with his companions in suffering, with all the other nations +crushed like him by the world's power in its various phases (verse 4 most clearly +shows that it is not Judah alone which is spoken of; comp. the same comprehensive +mode of representation in Jer. xxv.; Hab. ii. 6), appears from ver. 5: "For they +transgressed the <i>laws</i>, violated the <i>ordinances</i>, broke the everlasting +<i>covenant</i>," where there can exist only a collateral reference to the Gentile +world; from ver. 13, where the continuing gleaning is characteristic of the covenant-people +(comp. xvii. 6); but especially from ver. 23, where, after the time of punishment, +the Lord reigneth on Mount Zion.</p> +<p class="normal">The judgment upon Judah bears a comprehensive character. +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 150]</span> As the single phases of the world's power, +by which the sins of the people of God are visited, there had been mentioned in +the cycle of the <i>burdens</i>, Asshur in chap. xiv. 25; Babylon in chap. xiii., +xiv., xxi., (the circumstance that the first <i>burden</i> of the first half of +the <i>burdens</i>, and likewise the first <i>burden</i> of the second half of the +<i>burdens</i>--the ten <i>burdens</i> being thus divided into twice five--is directed +against Babylon, shows that specially heavy judgments were to be inflicted by Babel); +Elam in chap. xxii. 6 (comp. remarks on chap. xi. 11). Here the idea of judgment +upon the covenant-people is viewed <i>per se</i>, and irrespective of the particular +forms of its realisation.</p> +<p class="normal">In vers. 14, 15, there is a sudden transition from the threatening +to the promise: "They (the remnant left according to ver. 13) shall lift their voice, +they shall shout for the majesty of the Lord, they shall cry aloud from the sea,"--from +the sea into which they were driven away by the storm of the judgments of the Lord. +To the "sea" here, correspond the "islands of the sea," in ver. 15; compare the +mention of the islands in chap. xi. 11. Ver. 15. "Therefore, in the light praise +ye the Lord, in the isles of the sea the name of the Lord God of Israel." The words +are addressed to the elect in the time of salvation. The Plural +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ארים</span> denotes the <i>fulness</i> of light or +salvation, comp. chap. xxvi. 19; <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ב</span> is, in +both instances, used in a local sense. The light is the spiritual territory; the +isles of the sea, the natural.</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 16 returns to the threatening: "From the uttermost parts +of the earth we hear songs: Glory to the righteous! And I say: Misery to me, misery +to me, woe to me! the treacherous are treacherous, and very treacherous are the +treacherous." The song of praise of the redeemed, which is heard coming forth from +a far distant future, is suppressed by the same affliction which is immediately +impending, by the look to the rod of chastisement by the world's power with its +treachery, its policy feigning love and concealing hatred, with which the Lord is +to visit His people, and the floods of which, like a new flood, are, according to +ver. 15, to overflow the whole earth. Compare the very similar transition from triumphant +hope to lamentation over the misery of the future more immediately at hand, in Hab. +iii. 16.</p> +<p class="normal">In ver. 21, ff. the promise breaks forth anew. Ver. 21: +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 151]</span> "<i>And it shall come to pass in that day: +the Lord shall visit the host of the height in the height, and the kings of the +earth upon the earth.</i> Ver. 22. <i>And they are all of them gathered together +as prisoners in the pit, and are shut up in the prison, and after many days they +are visited.</i> Ver. 23. <i>And the moon blusheth, and the sun is ashamed, for +the Lord of hosts reigneth on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and before His ancients +is glory.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">In ver. 21 the destruction of the world's power is announced. +The "kings of the earth" form the explanation of the "host of the height." It is +very common to represent rulers under the image of stars; compare Numb. xxiv. 17; +Rev. vi. 13, viii. 10; Is. xiv. 12, xxxiv. 4, 5, compared with ver. 12. +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">מרום</span> is used in reference to the great ones +of the earth in ver. 4, and in chap. xxvi. 5, also. The explanation by evil heavenly +powers has no Old Testament analogies in its favour.--In ver. 22, the words: "And +after many days they are visited," intimates that the time will appear very long +to Zion, until the visitation takes place. "Many days," or "a long time," viz., +after the beginning of their raging, which was to continue for a series of centuries, +until Christ at length spoke: "Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." The +visitation consists in their being gathered together.--In ver. 23, the words: "The +Lord reigneth," contain an allusion to the formula used in proclaiming the accession +of earthly kings to the throne, and point to an impending new and glorious manifestation +of the government of the Lord,--as it were, a new accession to the throne; compare +remarks on Ps. xciii. 1; Rev. xix. 6. The "ancients" are the <i>ideal</i> representatives +of the Church; compare remarks on Rev. iv. 4. Before them is glory, inasmuch as +the Lord imparts to them of His glory.</p> +<p class="normal">In chap. xxv. 1-5, the Lord is praised on account of the glorious +redemption bestowed upon His people. "For thou hast made"--it is said in ver. 2--"of +a city a heap, of a firm city a ruin, the palace of strangers to be no city; it +shall not be built in eternity." The city, palace (we must think of such an one +as comes up to a city, as is even now the case with the palaces of the princes in +India) bear an ideal character, and represent the whole fashion of the world, the +whole world's power; comp. ver. 12, chaps. xxvi. 5, xxvii. 10. <i>Gesenius</i> +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 152]</span> speaks of "the strange conjectures of interpreters +who have guessed all possible cities." But he himself has lost himself in the sphere +of strange conjectures and guesses, by remarking: "The city whose destruction is +here spoken of can be none other than Babylon." The circumstance that Babylon is +not mentioned at all in the whole prophecy in chaps. xxiv.-xxvii. shows plainly +enough that a special reference to Babylon cannot here be entertained; and the less +so, that it would be against the character of our prophecy, which abstains from +all details.</p> +<p class="normal">While in vers. 1-5 the discourse was laudatory and glorifying, +and addressed to the Lord, in vers. 6-8 the Lord is spoken of:</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 6. "<i>And in this mountain the Lord of hosts maketh unto +all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full +of marrow, of lees well-refined.</i> Ver 7. <i>And destroyeth in the mountain the +surface of the vail covering all the nations, and the covering cast upon all the +nations.</i> Ver. 8. <i>And destroyeth death for ever, and the Lord Jehovah wipeth +away the tears from off all faces, and the rebuke of His people shall He take away +from of all the earth; for the Lord hath spoken.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">"In this mountain," ver. 6, where He enters upon His government +(chap. xxiv. 23), and dwells in the midst of His people in a manner formerly unheard +of.--"Unto all people," comp. chap. ii. 2 ff. The verse under consideration forms +the foundation for the words of Christ in Matthew viii. 2: +<span lang="el" class="Greek">λέγω δὲ ὑμῖν ὅτι πολλοὶ ἀπὸ ἀνατολῶν καὶ δυσμῶν ἥξουσι +καὶ ἀνακλιθήσονται μετὰ Ἀβραὰμ καὶ Ἰσαὰκ καὶ Ἰακωβ ἐν τῇ βασιλείᾳ τῶν οὐρανῶν</span>; +comp. xxii. 1 ff.; Luke xxii. 30. In ver. 7, "the surface of the vail" is the vail +itself, inasmuch as it lies over it. The "covering" here comes into consideration +as a sign of mourning, comp. 2 Sam. xv. 30: "And David went up by the ascent of +Mount Olivet, weeping, and his head covered, and so also all the people with him." +The explanation is given in ver. 8, where the <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">בלע</span> +is intentionally resumed. We cannot, therefore, agree with <i>Drechsler</i> who +explains the being "covered," by "dullness and deadness in reference to spiritual +things."--The first part of ver. 8 is again resumed in Rev. vii. 17, xxi. 4. As +death entered into the world by sin (Gen. ii. 17; Rom. v. 12), +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 153]</span> so it ceases when sin is completely overcome; +compare 1 Cor. xv. 54, where our passage is expressly quoted. Besides death, <i> +tears</i> also are mentioned, inasmuch as they flow with special bitterness in the +case of bereavements by death.--The Lord removes the rebuke of His people when all +their hopes, which formerly were mocked and laughed at, are fulfilled, and when, +out of the midst of them, salvation for the whole world rises.</p> +<p class="normal">With the people of God in their exaltation, Moab is, in vers. +9-12, contrasted in its weakness and humiliation, and in its vain attempts to withdraw +from the supremacy of the God of Israel. Moab comes here into consideration, only +as the representative of all the kingdoms hostile to God, and obstinately persevering +in their opposition to His Kingdom; just as Edom in chap. xxxiv., lxiii. The representative +character of Moab was recognized by <i>Gesenius</i> also, who thus determines the +sense: "Whilst Jehovah's protecting hand rests upon Zion, His enemies helplessly +perish." It is intentionally that Moab is mentioned, and not Asshur or Babel, because, +in its case, the representative character could not so easily be mistaken or overlooked.--Ver. +12 returns to the world's power in general.</p> +<p class="normal">In chap. xxvi., the rejoicing and shouting for the salvation are +continued. A characteristic Messianic feature is contained in ver. 19 only, in which, +as in chap. xxv. 8, the ceasing of death and the resurrection of the righteous appear +as taking place in the Messianic time.</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 19. "<i>Thy dead shall live, my dead bodies shall arise. +Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust! For a dew of light is thy dew, and thou makest +fall to the earth the giants.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">The saints are raised from the earth; the giants are sunk into +the earth. The <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">רפאים</span> "giants" are identical +with the <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ישבי תבל</span> in ver. 18. There it was +said in reference to the time of wrath: "We have not wrought any deliverance in +the land, neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen;" compare vers. 9 and +21; Numb. xiv. 32. Parallel is the announcement of the defeat of the world's power +in ver. 14. <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">רפאים</span>, it is true, is there used +of the dead; but the signification of the word remains the same: The bodiless spirits +were called <i>giants</i>, because they were objects of terror to the living; comp. +remarks on Ps. lxxxviii. 11. The word is, in ver. 14, used <span class="pagenum"> +[Pg 154]</span> with a certain irony.--"Light" is equivalent to "salvation." The +Plural signifies the fulness of light or salvation. The complete fulfilment which +the words, "Thy dead shall live," will find in the resurrection of the body, affords +a guarantee for the fulfilment of the previous stages.</p> +<p class="normal">In chap. xxvii., it is especially ver. 1 which attracts our attention: +"<i>In that day the Lord with His sword, hard, great, and strong, shall visit the +leviathan, the tortuous serpent, and killeth the dragon that is in the sea.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">We have here three designations of one and the same monster. +<i>Gesenius</i>, on the other hand, rightly brings forward the accumulation of the +attributes of the sword: With the three epithets applied to the sword, the three +epithets of the monster to be killed by it pertinently correspond. The leviathan, +the dragon, is, as it were, the king of the sea-animals, compare remarks on Ps. +lxxiv. 13, 14. In the spiritual sea of the world, its natural antitype is the conquering +world's power; comp. remarks on Rev. xii. 3. But that which is meant is the whole +world's power, according to all its phases, which is here viewed as a whole; comp. +ver. 13, where it is designated by Asshur and Egypt. The special reference to Babylon +rests, here also, on a mere fancy.</p> +<hr class="W20"> +<p class="normal">After the single discourses out of the Assyrian time, from chap. +vii.-xxvii., there follows in <a name="div2_154" href="#div2Ref_154">chap. xxviii.-xxxiii.</a> +the sum and substance of those not fully communicated. Even the uncommonly large +extent of the section suggests to us such a comprehensive character. And so likewise +does the fact that the same thoughts are constantly recurring, as is the case in +several of the minor prophets also, <i>e.g.</i> Hosea. But what is most decisive +is, that in chap. xxviii. 1-4 Samaria appears as not yet destroyed. Considering +that the chronological principle pervades the whole collection, this going back +can be accounted for only by the circumstance that we have here a comprehensive +representation. And we are the more led to this opinion that, in other passages +of the same section, Jerusalem is represented as being threatened immediately. In +this section, it is especially the passage in chap. xxviii. 16 +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 155]</span> which attracts our attention; since, in the +New Testament, it is referred to Christ.</p> +<p class="normal">"<i>Behold I have laid for a foundation in Zion a stone, a tried</i> +(stone), <i>a precious corner stone of perfect foundation; he that believeth need +not make haste</i>," viz., for an escape or refuge for himself, Ps. lv. 9. In opposition +to false hopes, this stone is pointed to as the only true foundation, and all are +threatened with unavoidable destruction who do not make it their foundation. The +stone is the Kingdom of God, the Church; compare Zech. iii. 9, where the Kingdom +of God likewise appears under the image of the stone. But since the Kingdom of God +(which, in chap. viii. 16, had been represented under the image of the quietly flowing +waters of Siloah) is, for all eternity, closely connected with the house of David +which centres in Christ, <i>that which, in the first instance, is said of the kingdom +of God refers, at the same time, to its head and centre</i>. Parallel is Is. xiv. +32; "The Lord hath founded Zion, and the poor of His people trust in it." The +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">האמין</span> here corresponds with the +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">חסה</span> with <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ב</span> +there. The difference is, that there Zion itself is the object of confidence, while +here it is the stone which is in Zion. <i>There</i>, Zion is the <i>spiritual</i> +Zion; not the mountain as an assemblage of stones, nor the outward temple as such, +but Zion in so far as it is a sanctuary, the seat of the presence of the Lord. The +Lord--such is the sense--has founded His Kingdom among us; and the circumstance +that we are citizens of the Kingdom gives us security, enables us to be calm even +in the midst of the greatest danger. <i>Here</i>, on the contrary, Zion is the outward +Zion, and the Kingdom of God is the Church as distinguished from it. The Zion here +corresponds to the holy mountains in Ps. lxxxvii. 1, where, in a similar manner, +a distinction is drawn between the material and spiritual Zion: "His foundation +is in the holy mountains," on which I remarked in my Commentary: "The foundation +of Zion took place spiritually by its being chosen to be the seat of the sanctuary. +It was then only that the place, already existing, received its spiritual foundation." +The stone laid by God as a foundation in Zion, in the passage under consideration, +is, in substance, identical with the "tent that He placed among men," in Ps. lxxviii. +60. "In substance the sanctuary was erected by God alone, who, by +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 156]</span> fulfilling His promise, 'I dwell in the midst +of them,' breathed the living soul into the body, and caused His name to dwell there." +In Ezek. xi. the substance of the sanctuary, the Shechinah, withdraws into heaven.--Our +passage, farther, touches very closely upon chap. viii. 14: "And He (the Lord) becomes +a sanctuary and a stone of offence, and a rock of stumbling to both the houses of +Israel, and a snare and a trap to the inhabitants of Jerusalem." The stone <i>here</i> +is the Church; <i>there</i> it is the Lord himself, according to His relation to +Israel, the Lord who has become manifest in His Church. Another point of contact +is offered by Ps. cxviii. 22: "The stone which the builders rejected has become +the corner-stone." In that passage, too, the stone is the Kingdom and people of +God: "The people of God whom the kingdoms of the world despised, have, by the working +of God, then been raised to the dignity of the world-ruling people."</p> +<p class="normal">A simple quotation of the passage before us is found in Rom. x. +11: <span lang="el" class="Greek">λέγει γὰρ ἡ γραφή· πᾶς ὁ πιστεύων ἐπ’ αὐτῷ οὐ +καταισχυνθήσεται.</span> In chap. ix. ver. 3, we have chap. viii. 14, and the passage +under consideration blended in a remarkable manner: +<span lang="el" class="Greek">ἰδού τίθημι ἐν Σιὼν λίθον προκόμματος καὶ πέτραν σκανδάλου· +καὶ πᾶς ὁ πιστεύων ἐπ' αὐτῷ οὐ καταισχυνθήσεται</span>, and from the remarks already +offered, the right to this blending is evident. Peter, in 1 Pet. ii. 6, 7, adds +to these two passages, that in Ps. cxviii. 22: <span lang="el" class="Greek">διότί +περιέχει ἐν τῇ γραφῇ: ἰδοὺ τίθημι ἐν Σιὼν λίθον ἀκρογωνιαῖον, ἐκλεκτὸν, ἔντιμον, +καὶ ὁ πιστεύων ἐπ’ αὐτῷ οὐ μὴ καταισχυνθῇ. ὑμῖν οὖν ἡ τιμὴ τοῖς πιστεύουσιν. ἀπεῖστοῦσι +δὲ λίθον ὃν ἀπεδοκίμασαν οἱ οἰκοδομοῦντες, οὗτος ἐγενήθη εἰς κεφαλὴν γωνίας, καὶ +λίθος προσκόμματος καὶ πέτρα σκανδάλου</span>, on which <i>Bengel</i> remarks: "Peter +quotes, in ver. 6 and 7, three passages, the first from Isaiah, the second from +the Psalms, the third again from Isaiah. To the third he alludes in ver. 8, but +to the second and first, in ver. 4, having, even then already both of them in his +mind." Matth. xxi. 42-44 refers only to Ps. cxviii. and to Is. viii. 14, 15. to +the latter passage in ver. 44; Acts iv. has Ps. cxviii. only in view.</p> +<p class="normal">The second Messianic passage of the section which is of importance +for our purpose, is chap. xxxiii. 17.</p> +<p class="normal">"<i>Thine eyes shall see the King in His beauty; they shall see +the land that is far off.</i>"</p> +<p class="continue"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 157]</span></p> +<p class="normal">The "King" is the Messiah. This appears from the reference to +the Song of Solomon i. 16, where the bride says to the bridegroom, the heavenly +Solomon, "Behold thou art <i>fair</i>, my beloved" (comp. Ps. xlv. 3;) and from +the words immediately following: "they shall see the land that is far off." The +wide extension of the Kingdom of God is indissolubly connected with the appearance +of the Messiah. Those who refer the prophecy to Hezekiah refer "the land that is +far off" (literally: "the land of distances") to "a land stretching far out," in +antithesis to the siege when the people of Jerusalem were limited to its area, since +the whole country was occupied by the Assyrians. But the passage, chap. xxvi. 15: +"Thou increasest the nation, O God, thou art glorified, thou removest all the boundaries +of the land," is conclusive against this explanation. Comparing this passage, as +also chap. lx. 4; Zech. x. 9, <i>Michaelis</i> correctly explains: "The land of +distances is the Kingdom of Christ most widely propagated." In chap. viii. 9, likewise, +the Gentile countries are designated by the "distances of the earth." <i>Farther</i>--Hezekiah +could not be designated simply by <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">מלך</span> without +the article. It is only by the utmost violence that the whole announcement can be +limited to the events under Hezekiah, which everywhere form the foreground only. +We might rather, with <i>Vitringa</i>, think of Jehovah, with a comparison of ver. +22: "For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our King; +He will save us," and of Ps. xlviii. 3, where he is called +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">מלך רב</span>. To Jehovah, the passage, chap. xxx. +20, 21 also refers,--a passage which has been so often misunderstood: "And the Lord +giveth you bread of adversity, and water of affliction, and not does thy teacher +conceal himself any more, and thine eyes see thy Teacher. And thine ears hear a +voice behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it; do not turn to the right +hand, nor to the left." The affliction prepares for the coming of the heavenly teacher; +by it the eyes of the people have been opened, so that they are able to behold His +glorious form. But although we should understand Jehovah by "the King in His beauty," +we must, at all events, think of His glorious manifestation in Christ Jesus, who +said, He who sees me sees the Father, and in whom the fulness of the Godhead dwells +bodily; and it was indeed in Christ that God, <span class="pagenum">[Pg 158]</span> +in the truest manner, revealed and manifested himself as the Teacher of His people.</p> +<p class="normal">The close of the whole of the first part of Isaiah is, in chaps. +xxxiv., xxxv. formed by a comprehensive announcement, <i>on the one hand</i>, of +the judgments upon the God-hating world, here individualized by Edom, that hereditary +enemy of Israel, who was so much the more fitted for this representation that his +enmity was the most obstinate of all, and remained the same throughout all the phases +of Israel's oppression by the great kingdoms of the world (he always appears as +he who helped to bring misery upon his brethren); and, <i>on the other hand</i>, +of the mercy and salvation which should be bestowed upon the Church trampled upon +by the world.</p> +<p class="normal">On chap. xxxiv. 4;, 5, where the heaven is that of the princes, +the whole order of rulers and magistrates; the stars, the single princes and nobles, +compare my remarks on Rev. vi. 13.</p> +<p class="normal">The description of the salvation in store for the Church, in +<a name="div2_158" href="#div2Ref_158">chap. xxxv.</a>, is pre-eminently Messianic, +although the lower blessings also are included which preceded the appearance of +Christ. The description contains features so characteristic, that we must necessarily +submit it to a closer examination.</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 1. "<i>The wilderness and dry land shall be glad for it, +and the desert shall rejoice and sprout like the bulb.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">The wilderness is Zion--the Church to be devastated by the world.--"For +it,"--<i>i.e.</i> for the judgment upon the world, as it was described in chap. +xxxiv. with which the changed fate of the Church is indissolubly connected.</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 2. "<i>It shall sprout, and rejoice with joy and shouting. +The glory of Lebanon is given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon. They +shall see the glory of the Lord, the excellency of our God.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">"The glory of Lebanon," &c. is a glory like unto that of Lebanon. +The real condition of the glory of Zion, or the Church, is brought before us in +the subsequent verses only; it consists in the Lords glory being manifested in it. +The majestic, wooded Lebanon, and fruitful Carmel, are contrasted with one another; +the latter is put together with the lovely fruitful plain of Sharon, rich in flowers; +compare remarks on Song of Sol. vii. 6. <i>Michaelis</i> says: "The Lebanon excels +among the forests; the Carmel among the fruitful hills; the +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 159]</span> Sharon among the lovely fields or valleys."--To +"see the glory of the Lord, the excellency <i>of God</i>" means to behold Him in +the revelation of the full glory of His nature. Prophecy would have fed the minds +of the people with vain hopes, if God had revealed himself in any other way than +in Christ, the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, in whom +dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily (Col. ii. 9), and who, along with +His own glory, revealed, at the same time, that of the Father; for it was the glory +as of the only-begotten of the Father, John i. 14; ii. 11.</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 3. "<i>Strengthen ye the slack hands, and confirm ye the +tottering knees.</i>" The words are addressed to all the members of the people of +God; they are to strengthen and confirm <i>one another</i> by pointing to the future +revelation of the glory of the Lord.</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 4. "<i>Say to them that are of a fearful heart: Be strong, +fear not; behold, your God will come for vengeance, for a gift of God: He will come +and save you.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">"To them that are of a fearful heart,"--literally of a "hasty +heart," who allow themselves to be carried away by the Present, and are unmindful +of the <i>respice finem</i>.--<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">נקם</span> and +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">גמול</span> are Accusatives, used in the same manner +as in verbs of motion, to designate the object of the motion.--On +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">גמול</span>, "gift," comp. remarks on Ps. vii. 5. +"The gift of God" forms a contrast to the poor gifts, such as men offer. He comes +for vengeance upon His enemies, and for bestowing the most glorious divine gifts +upon His people. The words: "He will come and save you," are an explanation of "the +gift of God." It is in Christ that the words: "He will come and save you," found +their true fulfilment,--a fulfilment to which every lower blessing pointed, and +which is still going on, and constantly advancing.--That which, in the subsequent +verses, is said of the concomitant circumstances of this salvation, is by far too +high to admit of the fulfilment being sought in any other than Christ. All these +forced explanations, such as: "In their joy they feel <i>as if</i> they were healed" +(<i>Knobel</i>, after the example of <i>Gesenius</i>), only serve to show this more +clearly. They are overthrown even by the parallel announcement of the impending +resurrection of the dead in chap. xxv. 8; xxvi. 19.</p> +<p class="continue"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 160]</span></p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 5. "<i>Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the +ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">The blind and deaf are the individualizing designations of the +wretched; in Luke xiv. 13-21, the blind are named along with the poor, lame, and +maimed as an individualizing designation of the whole genus of <i>personae miserabiles</i>; +comp. John v. 3. But this individualizing designation must be carefully distinguished +from the image. The blind and deaf are mentioned as the most perspicuous <i>species</i> +in the <i>genus</i>; but they themselves are, in the first instance, meant, and +that which has been said must, in the first instance, be fulfilled upon them. <i> +Farther</i>--as blind and deaf are, without farther remark and qualification, spoken +of, we shall, in the first instance, be obliged to think of the bodily blind and +deaf, inasmuch as they, according to the common <i>usus loquendi</i>, are thus designated. +But a collateral reference to the <i>spiritually</i> blind and deaf must so much +the rather be assumed, that they, too, form a portion of the genus here represented +by the blind and deaf; and the more so that it is just Isaiah who so frequently +speaks of spiritual blindness and deafness; comp. chap. xxix. 18: "And in that day +(in the time of the future salvation, when the Lord of the Church shall have put +to shame the pusillanimity and timidity of His people), the deaf hear the words +of the book, and the eyes of the blind see out of obscurity and darkness;" xlii. +18: "Hear ye deaf, and look ye blind and see;" xliii. 8: "Bring forth the blind +people, that have eyes, and the deaf that have ears;" lvi. 10; vi. 10; Matth. xv. +14; John ix. 39; Ephes. i. 18; 2 Pet. i. 9. Spiritual blindness and deafness are +specially seen in the relation of the people to the leadings of the Church, and +to the promises of Scripture. The blind cannot understand the complicated ways of +God; the deaf have, especially in the time of misery, no ear for His promises. Besides +the natural and spiritual blindness, Scripture knows of still a third; it designates +as blind those who cannot see the way of salvation, the helpless and drooping; compare +my Commentary on Ps. cxlvi. 8; Zeph. i. 17; Isa. xlii. 7. Now, it is blindness and +deafness of every kind which, along with all other misery, shall find a remedy at +the time of salvation.--If we ask for the fulfilment, our eye is, in the first instance, +attracted by Matt. <span class="pagenum">[Pg 161]</span> xi. 5, where, with an evident +reference to the passage before us, the Lord gives to the question of John: "Art +thou he that should come, or do we look for another," the matter-of-fact answer, +that the blind receive their sight, the deaf hear, the lame walk: comp. Matth. xv. +31: <span lang="el" class="Greek">ὥστε τοὺς ὄχλους θαυμάσαι βλέποντας κωφοὺς λαλοῦτας, +κυλλοὺς ὑγιεῖς, χωλοὺς περιπατοῦντας καὶ τυφλοὺς βλέποντας</span>; xxi. 14; +<span lang="el" class="Greek">καὶ προσῆλθον αὐτῷ τυφλοὶ καὶ χωλοὶ ἐν τῷ ἱερῷ καὶ +ἐθεράπευσεν αὐτούς</span>; Mark vii. 37, where after the healing of the deaf and +dumb, the people say: <span lang="el" class="Greek">καλῶς πάντα πεποίηκε· καὶ τοὺς +κωφοὺς ποιεῖ ἀκούειν, καὶ τοὺς ἀλάλους λαλεῖν.</span> Yet shall we not be able to +see, in these facts, the complete fulfilment of the prophecy, in so far as it refers +to the healing of the bodily blind and deaf--inasmuch as it promises the healing +of all, not of some only--but only a pledge of the complete fulfilment of it; just +as Christ's raising some from the dead only prefigures what He shall do in the end +of the days. The complete fulfilment belongs to the time of the resurrection of +the just, of which it is said: Whatever is here afflicted, groans, prays, shall +then go on brightly and gloriously. More comprehensive was the fulfilment which +the prophecy received, in reference to spiritual blindness and deafness, immediately +at the first appearance of Christ, who declared that He had come into the world, +that they which see not, might see (John ix. 39). But even here the completion as +certainly belongs to the future world, as <span lang="el" class="Greek">βλέπομεν +ἄρτι δι’ ἐσόπτρου ἐν αἰνίγματι</span>.</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 6. "<i>Then shall the lame leap as an hart, and the tongue +of the dumb shall shout; for in the wilderness shall waters be opened, and streams +in the desert.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">The <i>leaping and shouting</i> imply that they have obtained +deliverance from their bodily defects,--at this deliverance the preceding verse +stopped--and proceed from the natural delight at the appearance of this salvation, +personal as well as general, of which these are an emanation. On the first words +especially. Acts iii. 8 is to be compared, where it is said of the lame man to whom +Peter, in the name of Jesus spoke. Arise and walk: <span lang="el" class="Greek"> +καὶ ἐξαλλόμενος ἔστη καὶ περιεπάτει, καὶ εἰσῆλθε σὺν αὐτοῖς εἰς τὸ ἱερὸν, περιπατῶν +καὶ ἀλλόμενος καὶ αἰνῶν τὸν θεόν</span>; farther. Acts viii. 7: +<span lang="el" class="Greek">πολλοὶ δὲ παραλελυμένοι καὶ χωλοὶ ἐθεραπεύθησαν</span>; +xiv. 8; John v. 9. Of <i>spiritual</i> lameness, Heb. xii. 13 is spoken. It appears +especially in dark times of affliction, as <i>Vitringa</i> says: "In the time of +wild persecution, and when the Church languishes, <span class="pagenum">[Pg 162]</span> +not a few men begin to halt, to vacillate in their views, to suspend their opinions," +&c. On the words: "the tongue of the dumb shall shout," compare Matt. xii. 22: +<span lang="el" class="Greek">τότε προσηνέχθη αὐτῷ δαιμονζόμενος, τυφλὸς καὶ κωφός· +καὶ ἐθεράπευσεν αὐτόν, ὥστε τὸν τυφλὸν καὶ κωφὸν καὶ λαλεῖν καὶ βλέπειν.</span> +<i>Spiritual</i> dumbness is the incapacity for the praise of God which, in the +time when salvation is withheld, so easily creeps in, and which is removed by the +bestowal of salvation. The words: "For in the wilderness," &c., state the ground +of the leaping and shouting, point to the bestowal of salvation, which forms the +cause. The <i>waters</i> are the waters of salvation, compare remarks on chap. xii. +3. The words contain, moreover, an allusion to Exod. xvii. 3 ff.; Numb. xx. 11, +where, during the journey through the wilderness, salvation is represented by the +bestowal of water. The desert here is an image of misery.</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 7. "<i>And the scorching heat of the sun becomes a pool, +and the thirsty land, springs of water; in the habitation of dragons shall be their +couching place, grass where formerly reeds and rushes.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">"The scorching heat of the sun," stands for "places scorched by +the heat" ("parched ground," English version). The passage chap. xlix. 10, forbids +us to explain it by <i>mirage</i>, the appearance of water. The suffix in +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">רבצה</span> refers to Zion. Dragons like to make +their abode especially in the waterless wilderness. The circumstance that Zion has +there her couching place, supposes that it has been changed into a garden of God; +while, on the contrary, in chap. xxxiv. 13, it is said of the world that "it becomes +an habitation of dragons." Besides the dry land, the moor-land which bears nothing +but barren reeds, shall undergo a change; nourishing <i>grass</i> is to take its +place; <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">חציר</span> has no other signification than +this.</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 8. "<i>And a high-way shall be there, and a way, and it shall +be called the holy way; an unclean shall not pass over it; and it shall be for them, +that they may walk on it, that fools also may not err.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">"The way" is the way of salvation which God opens up to His people +in the wilderness of misery; comp. chap. xliii. 19: "I will make a way in the wilderness, +rivers in the desert;" Ps. cvii. 4: "They wandered in the wilderness, in the desert +without ways," where the pathless wilderness is the image of misery; +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 163]</span> Ps. xxv. 4; xxvii. 11, where the ways of God +are the ways of salvation which He reveals to His people, that they may walk in +them. The way is <i>holy</i> (comp. remarks on chap. iv. 3), because inaccessible +to the profane world, to the <i>unclean</i>, who are not allowed to disturb the +righteous walking on it; comp. ver. 9, which shows how entirely out of place is +the remark that "the author, in his national hatred, will not allow any Gentiles +to walk along with the covenant-people." It is only as converted, as fellows and +companions of the saints, that the Gentiles are allowed to enter on the way, and +not as unclean and their enemies. The circumstance that even the foolish cannot +miss the way, indicates the abundant fulness of the salvation, in consequence of +which it is so easily accessible; and no human effort, skill, or excellence, is +required to attain the possession of it.</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 9. "<i>No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast go +up thereon, it shall not be found there; and the redeemed walk on it.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">By the lion, the ravenous beast, heathenish wickedness and tyranny, +the world's power pernicious to the Kingdom of God, is designated; comp. remarks +on chap. xi. 7. The Lord declared that the fulfilment had taken place, when He said: +Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 10. "<i>And the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come +to Zion, and everlasting joy shall be upon their heads. Joy and gladness they shall +obtain, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.</i>"</p> +<h3><a name="div2_163" href="#div2Ref_163">GENERAL PRELIMINARY REMARKS ON CHAPTERS +XL.-LXVI.</a></h3> +<p class="normal">The historical section, chap. xxxvi.-xxxix., forms the transition +from the first to the second part of the prophecies of Isaiah. Its close is formed +by the announcement of Judah's being carried away to Babylon, an announcement which +Isaiah uttered to Hezekiah after the impending danger from the +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 164]</span> Assyrians had been successfully warded off, +as had been mentioned in the preceding chapter. In chap. xxxix. 6, 7, it is said: +"Behold days are coming, and all that is in thine house, and that which thy fathers +have laid up in store until this day, shall be carried to Babylon, and nothing shall +be left, saith the Lord. And of thy sons shall they take away, and they shall be +eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon." In this announcement, we have at +the same time the concentration of the rebuking and threatening mission of the Prophet, +and the point from which proceeds the <i>comforting</i> mission which, in the second +part, is pre-eminently attended to. This second part at once begins with the words: +"Comfort ye, comfort ye my people," which stand in closest connection with the preceding +announcement of a great calamity, yea, even necessarily demand this. It is just +for this reason that the historical chapters cannot be a later addition and interpolation, +but must be an original element of the collection written by the Prophet himself.<sup class="ftnRef"><a name="ftnRef_164a" href="#ftn_164a">[1]</a></sup></p> +<p class="normal">The contents of the second part are stated at once, and generally, +in the introductory words, chap. xl. 1, 2: "Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith +your God. Speak to the heart of Jerusalem, and cry unto her that her warfare is +accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she receives of the Lord's hand +double for all her sins." The <i>comfort</i> must, accordingly, form the fundamental +character of the second part. But since, for the people of God, there does not exist +any purely external salvation; since, for them, salvation is indissolubly connected +with <i>repentance</i>,--<i>exhortation</i> must necessarily go hand ill hand with +the announcement of salvation. This second feature and element concealed behind +the first, is, moreover, expressly brought forward in what immediately follows, +inasmuch as by it the "Comfort ye" does not receive any addition, +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 165]</span> but is only commented upon and enlarged. The +servants of the Lord (the whole chorus of the messengers of the divine salvation +is addressed in vers. 3, 5), complying with His command, announce the impending +salvation, designating it as a manifestation of the Lord's glory, and exhort to +a worthy preparation for it. Vers. 3 and 4 treat of preparing in the desert a high-way +for the Lord, who is to manifest himself gloriously. The way is prepared by repentance; +the desert symbolizes the condition of bodily and spiritual misery. It is from this +miserable condition that the Lord is to deliver and redeem His people; but in order +that He may perform His part, they must, previously, have performed theirs. In ver. +5, this manifestation itself is described, with which is connected the fulness of +salvation for the covenant-people. The servants of God are to announce the approach +of salvation to mourning Jerusalem, in which the covenant-people appears to the +Prophet as personified. (Jerusalem does not stand for "the carried away Zionites;" +it is an ideal person, the afflicted and bowed down widow sitting on the ground +in sackcloth; the distressed and mourning mother of the children partly carried +away, and partly killed,--compare chap. iii. 26, where Jerusalem, desolate and emptied, +sits upon the ground.) But this salvation can be granted to those only whose hearts +are prepared to receive it. Thus the announcement of salvation is preceded by the +<span lang="el" class="Greek">μετανοεῖτε</span>, by the call to remove all the obstacles +which render impassable the path through the desert into the land of promise; which +render impossible the transition from misery to salvation; which prevent the Lord +from coming to His people in their misery, and leading them out from it. Then, to +those who have complied with the exhortation, the manifestation of the glory of +the Lord is promised--He comes to them, in a glorious manifestation, in the way +which, in the power of His Spirit, they have prepared and opened up to Him--and +in, and with it, all the glorious things which, according to ver. 2, the servants +of the Lord were to promise regarding the Future.</p> +<p class="normal">The comfort oftentimes moves in general terms, and consists in +pointing to a Future full of salvation and grace. But, in other passages, the announcement +of salvation is more individualised, becomes more special. These special announcements +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 166]</span> refer to a twofold object, <i>First</i>--The +Prophet comforts his people by announcing the deliverance from the Babylonish captivity. +This deliverance he describes by the most lovely images, frequently taken from the +deliverance of the people from Egypt. But it is to be well observed that even those +prophecies which pre-eminently refer to the lower object, have something exuberant +and overflowing; so that, even after having been fulfilled, they cannot be looked +upon as antiquated. He states the name of the ruler, <i>Koresh</i>, the king from +the rising of the sun, who, sent by the Lord, shall punish the oppressors of Zion, +and bring back the people to their land. The <i>second</i> object is the deliverance +and salvation by the Servant of God, the Messiah, who, after having passed through +humiliation, suffering, and death, and having thereby effected redemption, will +remove from the glorified Kingdom of God all the evil occasioned by sin. Of this +higher salvation the soul of the Prophet is so full, that the references to it are +constantly pressing forward, even where, in the first instance, he has to do with +the lower salvation. In the description of the higher salvation, the relation of +time is not observed. Now, the Prophet beholds its Author in His humiliation and +suffering; then, the most distant Future of the Kingdom of Christ presents itself +to his enraptured eye,--the time in which the Gentile world, alienated from God, +shall have returned to Him; when all that is opposed to God shall have been destroyed; +when inward and outward peace shall prevail, and all the evil caused by sin shall +have been removed. Elevated above time and space, from the height in which the Holy +Spirit has placed him, he surveys the whole development of the Messianic Kingdom, +from its small beginnings to its glorious end.</p> +<p class="normal">While the first part, containing the predictions which the Prophet +uttered for the present generation during the time of his ministry, consists mainly +of single prophecies which, separated by time and occasion, were first made publicly +known singly, and afterwards united in a collected whole, having been marked out +as different prophecies, either by inscriptions, or in any other distinguishable +way,--the second part, destined as a legacy for posterity, forms a continuous, collected +whole. The fact, first observed by <i>Fr. Rückert</i>, that it is divided into +<i>three sections or books</i>, is, in the first instance, indicated by the +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 167]</span> circumstance that, at the close of chap. xlviii. +and chap. lvii., the same thought recurs in the same words: "There is no peace, +saith the Lord, unto the wicked;" and that the same thought, viz. the exclusion +of the wicked from the promised salvation, is found also a third time at the close +of the whole, although there in another form. Yet, if nothing else could be advanced +in favour of this tri-partition, we might perhaps be permitted to speak of an accident +as <i>Knobel</i> indeed does. But a closer consideration shows that the three sections +are, inwardly and essentially, distinguished from one another. Beyond chap. xlviii. +22, there is no farther mention of <i>Babel</i>, which in the first book is mentioned +four times (chap. xliii. 14, xlvii. 1, xlviii. 14, 20); nor of the <i>Chaldeans</i>, +which occur there five times (chap. xliii. 14, xlvii. 1, 5, xlviii. 14, 20); nor +any farther mention of <i>Koresh</i>, neither of his name (chap. xliv. 28, xlv. +1), nor of his person, which in chap. xl.-xlviii. is so prominently brought before +us (chap. xli. 2, 25, xlvi. 11, xlviii. 14, 15, <i>i.e.</i> immediately at the +<i>beginning</i>, after the introduction contained in chap. xl., at the <i>close</i>, +and several times in the <i>middle</i>); nor of <i>Bel</i> and <i>Nebo</i>. <i>Farther</i>--The +whole first book is pervaded with the argumentation by which the God of Israel is +proved to be the true God, from His having foretold the deliverance to be effected +by <i>Koresh</i>. This argumentation we meet with in chap. xli., immediately after +the introductory chap. xl., and so still in the last chap. xlviii.; but never again +afterwards. With the end of the first book, this arguing and proving from prophecy, +that the Lord is the true God, as well as the reference to <i>Koresh</i>, the subject +of this prophecy, altogether disappear. But, in like manner, the announcement of +a personal Messiah is wanting in the first book, the sole exception being chap. +xlii. 1-9, where, after the first announcement of the author of the lower salvation, +the Author of the higher salvation is, by way of anticipation, <i>contrasted</i> +with him. To give a more minute and finished description of the Author of the higher +salvation is the object of the <i>second</i> book. In the <i>third</i> book, the +person of the Redeemer is spoken of briefly only, is, as it were, only hinted at, +in order to connect this book with the second; just as, by chap. xlii., the first +book is connected with the second. The third book in so far as it is <i>promising</i>, +is taken up with the description of the <span class="pagenum">[Pg 168]</span> <i> +glory of the Kingdom of God</i>, in that new stage upon which it enters by the Redeemer,--a +glory, the culminating point of which is the creation of the new heavens and the +new earth, chap. lxv. 17, lxvi. 22. A description of the glory of Zion, like that +in chap. lxii., is not found in the first and second book. In the third book, however, +<i>reproof and exhortation</i> prevail, in contradistinction to the first and second +book, in which the direct <i>promise</i> prevails. A transition from this, however, +to the reproof and exhortation, is made at the close of the second book. From chap. +lv. 1, the preaching of repentance appears first intermingled with the announcement +of salvation. Up to that the prevailing tendency of the Prophet had been, throughout, +to comfort the godly; but from chap. lv. 1, the other tendency shows itself by the +side of it, that of calling sinners to repentance, by which alone they can obtain +a participation in the promised salvation. In chap. lvi. 9, lvii. 21, the latter +tendency appears distinctly and exclusively. The second book had commenced with +the announcement of salvation, and thence to the close had advanced to reproof and +threatening. The third book takes the opposite course; and thus the two principal +portions of reproof and threatening border upon one another. Yet, the reproof and +threatening do not go on without interruption and distinction, so that no <i>boundary +line</i> could be recognized between the two books. At the close of the second book, +the Prophet has preeminently to do with <i>apostates</i>, while, at the beginning +of the third, he has to do with <i>hypocrites</i>; so that thus these two portions +of reproof supplement one another, and conjointly form a complete disclosure of +the prevailing corruption, according to its two principal tendencies. But the third +book is distinguished from the second by this circumstance, that in it reproof and +threatening are not limited to the beginning, which corresponds with the close of +the second book. At the close of chap. lix. the Prophet returns to the announcement +of salvation; but with chap. lxiii. 7, a new preaching of repentance commences, +which goes on to the end of chap. lxiv. The Prophet, in the Spirit, transposes himself +into the time when the visitation has already taken place, and puts into the mouth +of the people the words by which they are, at that time, to supplicate for the mercy +of the Lord. This discourse <span class="pagenum">[Pg 169]</span> implies what has +preceded. In the view of the glorious manifestation of the Lord's mercy and grace +which are there exhibited, the Prophet calls here upon the people to repent and +be converted, in order that they may become partakers of that mercy. If they, as +a people, are anxious to attain that object, they must repeat what the Prophet here +pronounces before them. But that up to this time has not been done, and hence that +has taken place which is spoken of by St Paul: "The election have obtained it, but +the rest have been blinded." In chap. lxv., which contains the Lord's answer to +this repenting prayer of the people, and is nothing else than an indirect <i>paraenesis</i>, +reproof and threatening likewise prevail, and it is only at the close that the promise +appears. The last chapter, too, begins with reproof and threatening. Rightly have +the Church Fathers called Isaiah the Evangelist among the prophets. This appears +also from the circumstance that the reproof is so thoroughly an appendage of the +promise, that it is only at the <i>close</i>, after the whole riches of the promise +have been exhibited, that it expands itself It appears, farther, also from the circumstance +that, even in the last book, the threatening does not prevail <i>exclusively</i>, +but that, even there, it is still interwoven with the most glorious promises which +are so exceedingly fitted to allure sinners to repentance.</p> +<p class="normal">In the whole of the second part, the Prophet, <i>as a rule</i>, +takes his stand in the time which was announced and foretold in the former prophecies, +and especially, with the greatest clearness and distinctness, in chap. xxxix., on +the threshold of the second part,--the time when Jerusalem is captured by the Chaldeans, +the temple destroyed, the country desolated, and the people carried away. It is +in this time that he thinks, feels, and acts; it has become present to him; from +it he looks out into the Future, yet in such a manner that he does not everywhere +consistently maintain this ideal stand-point. He addresses his discourse to the +people pining away in captivity and misery. He comforts them by opening up a view +into a better Future, and exhorts them to remove by repentance the obstacles to +the coming salvation.</p> +<p class="normal">Rationalistic Exegesis, everywhere little able to sympathize with, +and enter into existing circumstances and conditions, and always ready to make its +own shadowy, coarse views the rule <span class="pagenum">[Pg 170]</span> and arbiter, +has been little able to enter into, and sympathize with this ideal stand-point occupied +by the Prophet; nor has it had the earnest will to do so. To its rationalistic tendencies, +which took offence at the clear knowledge of the Future, a welcome pretext was here +offered. Thus the opinion arose, that the second part was not written by Isaiah, +but was the work of some anonymous prophet, living about the end of the exile,--an +opinion which, at the time of the absolute dominion of Rationalism, has obtained +so firm a footing, that it has become all but an <i>axiom</i>, and, by the power +of tradition, carries away even such as would not think of entertaining it, if they +were to enter independently and without prejudice upon the investigation.</p> +<p class="normal">The fact which here meets us does not by any means stand isolated. +The prophets did not prophesy in the state of rational reflection, but in <i>exstasis</i>. +As even their ordinary name, "seers," indicates, the objects were presented to them +in inward vision. They did not behold the Future from a distance, but they were +rapt into the future. This inward vision is frequently reflected in their representation. +Very frequently, that appears with them as present which, in reality, was still +future. They depict the Future before the eyes of their hearers and readers, and +thus, as it were, by force, drag them into it out of the Present, the coercing force +of which exerts so pernicious an influence upon them. Our Prophet expressly intimates +this peculiar manner of the prophetic announcement by making, in chap. xlix. 7, +the Lord say: "First I said to Zion: <i>Behold there, behold there</i>," by which +the graphic character of prophecy is precisely expressed, and by which it is intimated +that hearers and readers were led <i>in rem praesentem</i> by the prophets. Even +grammar has long ago acknowledged this fact, inasmuch as it speaks of <i>Praeterita +prophetica</i>, <i>i.e.</i>, such as denote the <i>ideal</i> Past, in contrast to +those which denote the <i>real</i> Past. Unless we have attained to this view and +insight, it is only by inconsistency that we can escape from <i>Eichhorn's</i> view, +that the prophecies are, for the most part, disguised historical descriptions,--a +view into which even expositors, such as <i>Ewald</i> and <i>Hitzig</i>, frequently +relapse. Frequently, the whole of the Future appears with the prophets in the form +of the <i>Present</i>. At other times, they take their stand in the +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 171]</span> more immediate Future; and this becomes to +them the <i>ideal</i> Present, from which they direct the eye to the distant Future. +From the rich store of proofs which we can adduce for our view, we shall here mention +only a few.</p> +<p class="normal">This mode of representation meets us frequently so early as in +the parting hymn of Moses, Deut. xxxii., which may be considered as the germ of +all prophetism; compare <i>e.g.</i> vers. 7 and 8. On the latter verse, <i>Clericus</i> +remarks: "Moses mourns over this in his hymn, as if it were already past, because +he foresees that it will be so, and he, in the Spirit, transfers himself into those +future times, and says that which then only should be said."</p> +<p class="normal">In Isaiah himself, the very first chapter presents a remarkable +proof The Present in chap. i. 5-9 is not a <i>real</i>, but an <i>ideal</i> Present. +In the Spirit, the Prophet transfers himself into the time of the calamity impending +upon the apostate people, and, stepping back upon the real Present, he, in the farther +course of the prophecy, predicts this calamity as future. The reasons for this view +have been thoroughly stated, even to exhaustion, by <i>Caspari</i>, in his <i>Beiträge +zur Einleitung in das Buch Jesaia</i>. In the second half of ver. 2, the kingdom +appears as flourishing and powerful. To the same result we are led also by the description +of the rich sacrificial worship in vers. 15-19. If, then, we view vers. 5-9 as a +description of the Present, we obtain an irreconcilable contradiction. <i>Farther</i>--Everywhere +else Isaiah always connects, with the description of the sin, that of the punishment +following upon it, but never that of the punishment which has followed it.--In chap. +v. 13, in a prophecy from the first time of his ministry, the <i>future carrying +away</i> of the people presents itself to the Prophet as present. Similarly, in +vers. 25, 26, the Praet. and Fut. with <i>Vav Conv.</i> must be understood prophetically; +for in chap. i.-v., the Prophet has, throughout, to do with future calamity. In +the Present, according to ver. 19, the people are yet in a condition of prosperity +and luxury,--as yet, it is the time of <i>mocking</i>; it is only of future calamity +that vers. 5 and 6 in the parable speak of, the threatenings of which are here detailed +and expanded.--In the prophecy against Tyre, chap. xxiii., the Prophet beholds as +present the siege by the Chaldeans impending over the city, and describes +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 172]</span> as an eye-witness the flight of the inhabitants, +and the impression which the intelligence of their calamity makes upon the nations +connected with them. From the more immediate Future, which to him has become present, +he then casts a glance to the more distant. He announces that after 70 years--counting +not from the <i>real</i>, but from the <i>ideal</i> Present--the city shall again +attain to its ancient greatness. His look then rises still higher, and he beholds +how at length, in the days of Messiah, the Tyrians shall be received into the communion +of the true God.--The future dispersion and carrying away of the people is anticipated +by the Prophet in the passage, chap. xi. 11, also, which may be considered as a +comprehensive view of the whole second part.--It is true that, in the second part, +as a rule, the misery, and not the salvation, appears as present; but, not unfrequently, +the latter, too, is viewed as present by the Prophet, and spoken of in Preterites, +comp. <i>e.g.</i>, chap. xl. 2, xlvi. 1, 2, li. 3, lii. 9, 10, lx. 1. If, then, +the Prophet is to be measured by the ordinary rule, these passages, too, must have +been written at a time when the salvation had already taken place.--In chap. xlv. +20, the escaped of the nations are those Gentiles who have been spared in the divine +judgments. They are to become wise by the sufferings of others. The Prophet takes +his stand in a time when these judgments, which were to be inflicted by Cyrus, had +already been completed. Even those who maintain the spuriousness of the second part +must here acknowledge that the Prophet takes his stand in an <i>ideal</i> Present.--In +chap. liii. the Prophet takes his stand between the sufferings and the glorification +of the Messiah. The sufferings appear to him as past; the glorification he represents +as future.</p> +<p class="normal">Hosea had, in chap. xiii., predicted to Israel great divine judgments, +the desolation of the country, and the carrying away of its inhabitants by powerful +enemies. This punishment and judgment appear in chap. xiv. 1 (xiii. 16) as still +future; but in ver. 2 (1 ff.) he transfers himself in spirit to the time when these +judgments had already been inflicted. He anticipates the Future as having already +taken place, and does not by any means exhort his <i>contemporaries</i> to a sincere +repentance, but those upon whom the calamity had already been inflicted: "O Israel, +return unto the Lord thy God; for <span class="pagenum">[Pg 173]</span> thou hast +fallen by thine iniquity." This parallel passage shews especially, with what right +it has been asserted that the addresses to the people pining away in exile "were +out of place in the mouth of Isaiah, who, as he lived 150 years before, could <i> +prophesy</i> only of the exiled" (<i>Knobel</i>).--Micah says in chap. iv. 8 (compare +vol. i., p. 449 ff.): "And thou tower of the flock, hill of the daughter of Zion, +unto thee it will come, and to thee cometh the former dominion." If the Prophet, +a cotemporary of Isaiah, speaks here of a <i>former dominion</i>, and announces +that it shall again come back to the house of David, he transfers himself from his +time, in which the royal family of David still existed and flourished, into that +period of which he had just before spoken, and during which the dominion of the +Davidic dynasty was to cease. In vers. 9, 10: "Now why dost thou raise a cry! Is +there no king in thee, or is thy counsellor gone? For pangs have seized thee as +a woman in travail,"<!--inserted quote--> &c., mourning Zion, at the time of the +carrying away of her sons into captivity, stands before the eye of the Prophet, +and is addressed by him. (In commenting upon this passage, we pointed already to +Hosea xiii. 9-11 as an analogous instance of representing as present the time of +the calamity.) The moment of the carrying away into exile forms to him the Present; +the deliverance from it, the Future: "There shalt thou be delivered, there the Lord +thy God shall redeem thee out of the hand of thine enemies." In chap. vii. 7, Micah +introduces, as speaking, the people already carried away into exile, and makes them +declare both the justice of the divine punishment, and their confidence in the divine +mercy. In the answer of the Lord also, ver. 11, the city is supposed to be destroyed; +for He promises that her walls shall be rebuilt.--The anticipation of the Future +prevails throughout the whole prophecy of Obadiah also. The song of Habakkuk in +chap. iii. takes its stand in the midst of the anticipated misery. In the announcement +of the invasion of the Chaldeans in chap. i. 6 ff., the Future presents itself in +the form of the Present. Here, as in the case of Obadiah, <i>Hitzig</i> and others, +overlooking and misunderstanding this prophetic peculiarity, and considering the +<i>ideal</i>, to be the <i>real</i> Present, have been led to fix the age of the +Prophet in a manner notoriously erroneous.--Jeremiah, in chap. iii. 22, 25, +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 174]</span> introduces as speaking the Israel of the Future. +In chap. xxx. and xxxi., he anticipates the future carrying away of Judah. Even +in the Psalms we perceive a faint trace of this prophetic peculiarity. On Ps. xciii. +1: "The Lord reigneth, He hath clothed himself with majesty," &c., we remarked: +"The Preterites are to be explained from the circumstance that the Singer as a +<i>seer</i> has the Future before his eyes. He <i>beholds</i> rejoicingly how the +Lord enters upon His Kingdom, puts on the garment of majesty, and girds himself +with the sword of strength in the face of the proud world." A similar anticipation +of redemption, even before the catastrophe has taken place, we meet with in Ps. +xciv. 1. The situation in the whole Psalm, yea in the whole cycle to which it belongs, +the lyrical echo of the second part of Isaiah, is not a <i>real</i>, but an <i>ideal</i> +one. This cycle bears witness that the singers and seers of Israel were living in +the Future, in a manner which it would be so much the greater folly to measure by +our rule as, for the people of the Old Covenant, the Future had a significance altogether +different from that which it has for the people of the New Covenant. That which +is common to all the Psalms, from xciii. onward, is the confident expectation of +a glorious manifestation of the Lord, which the Psalmist, following the example +of the prophets, beholds as present. A counterpart is the cycle Ps. cxxxviii.-cxlv., +in which David, stirred up by the promise in 2 Sam. vii., accompanies his house +throughout history.</p> +<p class="normal">Several interpreters cannot altogether resist the force of these +facts. They grant "that other prophets also sometimes, in the Spirit, transfer themselves +into later times, especially into the idealistic times of the Messiah," and draw +their arguments from the circumstance only, that the latter again came back to their +personal stand point, whilst our Prophet continues cleaving to the later time. Now +it is true, and must be conceded, that this mode of representation is here employed +to an extent greater than it is anywhere else in the Old Testament. But, in matters +of this kind, measuring by the ell is quite out of place. In other respects also, +the second part of Isaiah stands out as quite unique. There is, in the whole Old +Testament, no other continuous prophecy which has so absolutely and pre-eminently +proceeded from <i>cura posteritatis</i>. If <span class="pagenum">[Pg 175]</span> +it be acknowledged that the prophesying activity of Isaiah falls into two great +divisions,--the one--the results of which are contained in the first 39 chapters--chiefly, +pre-eminently indeed, destined for the Present; the other,--which lies before us +in the second part, belonging to the evening of the Prophet's life--forming a prophetical +legacy, and hence, therefore, never delivered in public, but only committed to writing;--then +we shall find it quite natural that the Prophet, writing, as he did, chiefly for +the Future, should here also take his stand in the Future, to a larger extent than +he has elsewhere done.</p> +<p class="normal">That it is in this manner only that this fact is to be accounted +for, appears from the circumstance that, although our Prophet so extensively and +frequently represents the Past as Present, yet he passes over, in numerous passages, +from the <i>ideal</i> into the <i>real</i> Present.<sup class="ftnRef"><a name="ftnRef_175a" href="#ftn_175a">[2]</a></sup> +We find a number of references which do not at all suit the condition of things +after the exile, but necessarily require the age of Isaiah, or, at least, the time +before the exile. If Isaiah be the author, these passages are easily accounted for. +It is true that, in the Spirit, he had transferred himself into the time of the +Babylonish exile; and this time had become Present to him. But it would surely be +suspicious to us, if the real Present had not sometimes prevailed, and attracted +the eye of the Prophet. It is just thus, however, that we find it. The Prophet frequently +steps out of his ideal view and position, and refers to conditions and circumstances +of his time. <i>Now</i>, he has before his eyes the condition of the unhappy people +in the Babylonish exile; <i>then</i>, the State still existing at his time, but +internally deranged by idolatry and apostacy. This apparent contradiction cannot +be reconciled in any other way than by assuming that Isaiah is the author. As a +rule, the punishment appears as already inflicted; city and temple as destroyed; +the country as devastated; the people as carried away; compare <i>e.g.</i>, chap. +lxiv. 10, 11. But in a series of passages, in which the Prophet steps back from +the <i>ideal</i>, to the <i>real</i> stand-point, <i>the punishment appears as still +future</i>; <i>city and temple as still existing</i>. In chap. xliii. +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 176]</span> 22-28, the Prophet meets the delusion, as +if God had chosen Israel on account of their deserts. Far from having brought about +their deliverance by their own merits, they, on the contrary, sinned thus against +Him, that, to the inward apostacy, they added the outward also. The greater part +of Israel had left off the worship of the Lord by sacrifices. It is the mercy alone +of the Lord which will deliver them from the misery into which they have plunged +themselves by their sins. But how can the Lord charge the people in exile for the +omission of a service which, according to His own law, they could offer to Him in +their native country only, in the temple consecrated to Him, but then destroyed? +The words specially: "Put me in remembrance," in ver. 26, "of what I should have +forgotten," imply that there existed a possibility of acquiring apparent merits, +and that, hence, the view of our opponents who, in vers. 22-24, think of a compulsory, +and hence, guiltless omission of the sacrificial service during the exile, must +be rejected. Vers. 27, 28 also, which speak of the punishment which Israel deserves, +just on account of the omitted service of the Lord, and which it has found in the +way of its works, prove that this view must be rejected, and that vers. 22-24 contain +a reproof. The passage can, hence, have been written only at the time when the temple +was still standing. Of this there can so much the less be any doubt that, in vers. +27, 28, the exile is expressly designated as future: "Thy first father (the high-priestly +office) hath sinned, and thy mediators have transgressed against me." (The sacrificial +service was by a disgraceful syncretism profaned even by those whose office it was +to attend to it). "Therefore I <i>will</i> profane the princes of the sanctuary, +and <i>will</i> give Jacob to the curse, and Israel to reproaches." Even +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ואחלל</span> is the common Future, and to +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ואתנה</span> the <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ה</span> +<i>optativum</i> is added; and hence, we cannot by any means translate and explain +it by: <i>I gave</i>.--In chap. lvi. 9, it is said: "All ye beasts of the field +come ye to devour all the beasts in the forest." This utterance stands in connection +with the <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">לנקבציו</span>, at the close of the preceding +verse. The gathering of Israel by God the good Shepherd, promised there, must be +preceded by the scattering, by being given up to the world's power--mercy, by judgment. +By the wild beasts are to be understood the Gentiles who shall be sent by God upon +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 177]</span> His people for punishment. This mission they +must first fulfil before they can, according to ver. 8, be added to, and gathered +along with, the gathered ones of Israel. By the "beasts in the forest," brutalized, +degraded, and secularized Israel is to be understood, comp. Jer. xii. 7-12; Ezek. +xxxiv. 5; and my Commentary on Rev. ii. 1.</p> +<p class="normal">The beasts have not yet come; they are yet to come. We can here +think of nothing else than the invasion of the Chaldeans, which the Prophet, stepping +back to the stand-point of his time, beholds here as future; whilst, in what precedes, +from his ideal stand-point, which he had taken in the Babylonish exile, he had, +for the most part, considered it as past.--In chap. lvi. 10-12, we meet with corrupted +rulers of the people, who are indolent, when everything depends upon warding off +the danger, greedy, luxurious, gormandizing upon what they have stolen. The people +are not under foreign dominion, but have rulers of their own, who tyrannize over, +and impoverish them; comp. Is. chap. v.; Micah, chap. iii.--In chap. lvii. 1, it +is said: "The righteous perisheth and no man layeth it to heart, and the men of +kindness are taken away, no one considering that, on account of the evil, the righteous +is taken away." The Prophet mentions it as a sign of the people's hardening that, +in the death of the righteous men who were truly bearing on their hearts the welfare +of the whole, they did not recognize a harbinger of severe divine judgments, from +which, according to a divine merciful decree, these righteous were to be preserved +by an early death. "On account of the evil," <i>i.e.</i>, in order to withdraw them +from the judgments, which were to be inflicted upon the ungodly people, comp. Gen. +xv. 15; 2 Kings xxii. 20; Is. xxxix. 8. The evil, <i>i.e.</i> according to 2 Kings +xxii. 20, the Chaldean catastrophe, appears here as still future. In chap. lvii. +2: "They enter in peace, they rest in their beds who have walked before themselves +in uprightness," the "peace" forms the contrast to the awful condition of suffering +which the survivors have to encounter.--In chap. lvii. 9, it is said: "And thou +lookest on the king anointed with oil, and increasest thy perfumes, and sendest +thy messengers far off, sendest them down into hell." The apostacy from the Lord +their God is manifested not only in idolatry, but also in their not leaving untried +any means to <span class="pagenum">[Pg 178]</span> procure for themselves human +helpers, in their courting human aid. The personification of Israel as a woman, +which took place in the preceding verses, is here continued. She leaves no means +untried to heighten her charms; she makes every effort to please the mighty kings. +The king is an ideal person comprehending a real plurality within himself A parallel +passage, in which the seeking for help among foreign nations is represented under +the same image, is Ezek. xvi. 26 ff., comp. Hos. xii. 2 (1). It occurs also in immediate +connexion with seeking help from the idols, in chap. xxx. 1 ff. The verb +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">שור</span> means always "to see," "to look at;" and +this signification is, here too, quite appropriate: Israel is <i>coquetting</i> +with her lover, the king. The reproach which the Prophet here raises against the +people has no meaning at all in the time of the exile, when the national independence +was gone. We find ourselves all at once transferred to the time of Isaiah, who, +in chap. xxxi. 1, utters a woe upon them "that go down to Egypt for help,"--who, +in chap. xxx. 4, complains: "His princes are at Zoar, and his ambassadors come to +Hanes,"--who, in chap. vii., exhibits the dangerous consequences of seeking help +from Asshur. The historical point at issue is brought before us by passages such +as 2 Kings xvi. 7: "And Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglathpileser, king of Assyria, +saying: I am thy servant and thy son; come up and save me out of the hand of the +king of Aram, and out of the hand of the king of Israel, who rise against me."--In +chap. lvii. 11-13, the thought is this: Israel is not becoming weary of seeking +help and salvation from others than God. But He will soon show that He alone is +to be feared, that He alone can help; that they are nothing against whom, and from +whom help is sought. The words in ver. 11: "Am I not silent, even of old; therefore +thou fearest me not," state the cause of the foolish forgetfulness of God, and hence +form the transition to the subsequent announcement of judgment. The prophecy is +uttered at a time when Israel still enjoyed the sparing divine forbearance, inasmuch +as for time immemorial (since they were in Egypt), no destructive catastrophe had +fallen upon them. It was in the Babylonish catastrophe only that the Egyptian received +its counterpart. But how does this suit the time of the Babylonish exile, when the +people were groaning under the severe judgments of God, <span class="pagenum">[Pg +179]</span> and had not experienced His forbearance, but, on the contrary, for almost +70 years, the full energy of His punitive justice? In ver. 13, it is said: "In thy +crying, let thy hosts (thy whole Pantheon so rich, and yet so miserable) help thee." +"In thy crying,<!--deleted quote--> <i>i.e.</i>, when <i>thou</i>, in the judgment +to be inflicted upon thee in future, wilt cry for help." In chap. lxvi. the punishment +appears as future; temple and city as still existing; the Lord as yet enthroned +in Zion. So specially in ver. 6: "A voice of noise from the city, a voice from the +temple, the voice of the Lord that rendereth recompence to His enemies," A controversy +with the hypocrites who presumed upon the temple and their sacrificial service, +in vers. 1, 3, has, at the time of the exile, no meaning at all, <i>Gesenius</i>, +indeed, was of opinion that the Prophet might judge of the worship of God in temples, +and of the value of sacrifices, although they were not offered at that time; but +it must be strongly denied that the Prophet could do so in such a context and connection. +For, the fact that the Prophet has in view a definite class of men of his time, +and that he does not bring forward at random a <i>locus communis</i> which, at his +time, was no longer applicable--a thing which, moreover, is not by any means his +habit--appears from the close of the verse, and from ver. 4, where divine judgment +is threatened to those men: "Because they choose their own ways, and their soul +delighteth in their abominations: I also will choose their derision, and will bring +their fears upon them." Even in ver. 20: "And they (the Gentiles who are to be converted +to the Lord), shall bring all your brethren out of all nations for a meat-offering +unto the Lord, upon horses, &c., <i>just as the children of Israel are bringing</i> +(<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">יבואו</span>, expresses an habitual offering), +<i>the meat-offering in a clean vessel into the house of the Lord</i>," the house +of God appears as still standing, the sacrificial service in full operation; the +future spiritual meat-offering of the Gentiles is compared to the bodily meat-offering +which the children of Israel are now offering in the temple.</p> +<p class="normal"><i>Throughout the whole second part we perceive the people under +the, as yet, unbroken power of idolatry.</i> It appears everywhere as the principal +tendency of the sinful apostacy among the people; to counteract it appears to be +the chief object of the Prophet. The controversy with idolatry pervades everything. +At the very commencement, in chap. xl. 18-26, we are met <span class="pagenum">[Pg +180]</span> with a description of the nothingness of idolatry, and an impressive +warning against it. In the whole series of passages, commencing with chap. xli.--of +which we shall afterwards speak more in detail--the sole Deity of the God of Israel, +and the vanity of the idols are proved from prophecy in connection with its fulfilment; +and this series has for its supposition the power which, at the time when the prophecy +was uttered, idolatry yet possessed over the minds of men. Chap. xlii. 17 announces +that the future historical development shall bring confusion upon those "that trust +in graven images, that say to the molten images: Ye are our gods." In chap. xliv. +12-20, the absurdity of idolatry is illustrated in a brilliant description. We have +here before us the real <i>locus classicus</i> of the whole Scripture in this matter, +the main description of the nothingness of idolatry. The emotion and excitement +with which the Prophet speaks, shew that he has here to do with the principal enemy +to the salvation of his people. According to chap. xlvi. the idols of Babel shall +be overturned and carried away. From this, Israel may learn the nothingness of idolatry, +and the apostates may return to the Lord. In the hortatory and reproving section, +the punishment of idolatry forms the beginning; in chap. lvii. idolatry is described +as far-spread, manifold, advancing to the greatest horrors. The offering up of children +as sacrifices especially appears as being in vogue; and it can be proved that this +penetrated into Israel, from the neighbouring nations, at the time of the Prophet +(comp. 2 Chron. xxviii. 3; xxxiii. 6), while, at the time of the exile, there was +scarcely any cause for warning against it,--at least, existing information does +not mention any such sacrifices among the Babylonians (comp. <i>Münter</i>, <i>die +Religion der Babylonier</i>, S. 72). The people appear as standing under the dominion +of idolatry in chap. lxv. 3: "The people that provoketh me to anger continually +to my face, that sacrificeth in gardens, and burneth incense upon the bricks;" comp. +ver. 7: "Who have burned incense upon the mountains, and blasphemed me upon the +hills;" chap. lxvi. 17: "They that sanctify themselves and purify themselves in +the gardens behind one in the midst, who eat swine's flesh, and the abominations, +and mice, shall be consumed together, saith the Lord." Idolatry is the service of +nature, and was, therefore, chiefly practised <span class="pagenum">[Pg 181]</span> +in places where nature presents herself in all her splendour, as in gardens and +on the hills. The gardens are mentioned in a similar way in chap. i. 29: "Ye shall +blush on account of the <i>gardens</i> that ye have chosen." (On the words which +precede in that verse: "For they shall be ashamed of the <i>oaks</i> which ye have +desired," chap. lvii. 5 offers an exact parallel: "Who inflame themselves among +the <i>oaks</i> under every green tree.") In chap. lxv. 11, they are denounced who +forsake the Lord, forget His holy mountain (on which, at the time when this was +written, the temple must still have stood), who prepare a table to <i>Fortune</i>, +and offer drink-offerings to <i>Fate</i>. The second main form of sinful apostacy--hypocrisy +and dead ceremonial service--is only rarely mentioned by the Prophet (in chap. lvii., +lxvi.), while he always anew reverts to idolatry. Now <i>this absolutely prevailing +regard to idolatry can be accounted for, only if Isaiah be the author of the second +part.</i> From Solomon, down to the time of the exile, the disposition to idolatry +in Israel was never thoroughly broken. During Isaiah's ministry, it came to the +fullest display under Ahaz. Under Hezekiah it was kept down, indeed; but with great +difficulty only, as appears from the fact that, under the reign of Manasseh, who +was a king after the heart of the people, it again broke openly forth; comp. 2 Kings +xxi. 1-18; 2 Chron. xxxiii. 1-18; 2 Kings xxi. 6, according to which Manasseh made +his own son to pass through the fire. But it is a tact generally admitted, and proved +by all the books written during and after the exile, that, with the carrying away +into exile, the idolatrous disposition among the people was greatly shaken. This +fact has its cause not only in the deep impression which misery made upon their +minds, but still more in the circumstance that it was chiefly the godly part of +the nation that was carried away into captivity. The disproportionately large number +of <i>priests</i> among the exiled and those who returned--they constitute the tenth +part of the people--is to be accounted for only on the supposition, that the heathenish +conquerors saw that the real essence and basis of the people consisted in the faith +in the God of Israel, and were, therefore, above all, anxious to remove the priests +as the main representatives of this principle. If, for this reason, they carried +away the priests, we cannot think otherwise but that, in <span class="pagenum">[Pg +182]</span> the selection of the others also, they looked chiefly to the theocratic +disposition on which the nationality of Israel rested. To this we are led by Jer. +xxiv. also, where those carried away are designated as the flower of the nation, +as the nursery and hope of the Kingdom of God. Incomprehensible, for the time of +the exile, is also the <i>strict antithesis</i> between the servants of the Lord, +and the servants of the idols--the latter hating, assailing, and persecuting the +former--an antithesis which meets us especially in the last two chapters; comp. +especially chap. lxv. 5 ff. 13-15; lxvi. 16. That such a state of things existed +at the time of the Prophet is, among other passages, shown by 2 Kings xxi. 16, according +to which Manasseh shed much innocent blood at Jerusalem, and, according to ver. +10, 11, especially the blood of the prophets, who had borne a powerful testimony +against idolatry.</p> +<p class="normal"><i>If it be assumed that the second part was composed during the +exile, then those passages are incomprehensible, in which the Prophet proves that +the God of Israel is the true God, from His predicting the appearance of the conqueror +from the east, and the deliverance of the people to be wrought by Him in connection +with the fulfilment of these predictions.</i> The supernatural character of this +announcement which the Prophet asserts, and which forms the ground of its probative +power, took place, only if it proceeded from Isaiah, but not if it was uttered only +about the end of the exile, at a time when Cyrus had already entered upon the stage +of history. These passages, at all events, admit only the alternative,--either that +Isaiah was the real author, or that they were forged at a later period by some deceiver; +and this latter alternative is so decidedly opposed to the whole spirit of the second +part, that scarcely any one among the opponents will resolve to adopt it. Considering +the very great and decisive importance of these passages, we must still allow them +to pass in review one by one. In chap. xli. 1-7, the Lord addresses those who are +serving idols, summons them triumphantly to defend themselves against the mighty +attack which He was just executing against them, and describes the futility of their +attempts at so doing. The address to the Gentiles is a mere form; to work upon Israel +is the real purpose. To secure them from the allurements of the world's religion, +the Prophet points to <span class="pagenum">[Pg 183]</span> the great confusion +which the Future will bring upon it. This confusion consists in this:--that the +prophecy of the conqueror from the East, as the messenger and instrument of the +Lord--a prediction which the Prophet had uttered in the power of the Lord--is fulfilled +without the idolators being able to prevent it. The answer on the words in ver. +2: "Who hath raised up from the East him whom righteousness calleth whither he goes, +giveth the nations before him, and maketh kings subject to him, maketh his sword +like dust, and his bow like driven stubble?" is this: According to the agreement +of prophecy and fulfilment, it is none other than the Lord, who is, therefore, the +only true God, to whose glory and majesty every deed of His servant Koresh bears +witness. The argumentation is unintelligible, as soon as, assuming that it was Isaiah +who wrote down the prophecy, it is not admitted that he, losing sight of the <i> +real</i> Present, takes his stand-point in an <i>ideal</i> Present, viz., the time +of the appearance of the conqueror from the East, by which it becomes possible to +him to draw his arguments from the prophecy in connection with the fulfilment. It +is altogether absurd, when it is asserted that the second part is spurious, and +was composed at a time when Cyrus was already standing before Babylon. It would +indeed have required an immense amount of impudence on the part of the Prophet to +bring forward, as an unassailable proof of the omniscience and omnipotence of God, +an event which every one saw with his bodily eyes. By such argumentation, he would +have exposed himself to general <i>ridicule</i>.--In chap. xli. 21-29, the discourse +is formally addressed to the Gentiles; but in point of fact, the Prophet here, too, +has to do with Judah driven into exile, to whom he was called by God to offer the +means to remain stedfast under the temptations from the idolators by whom they were +surrounded. Before the eyes, and in the hearing of Israel, the Lord convinces the +Gentiles of the nothingness of their cause. They are to prove the divinity of their +idols by showing forth the announcements of the Future which proceeded from them. +But they are not able to comply with this demand. It is only the Lord, the living +God, who can do that. Long before the appearance of the conqueror from the North +and East, He caused it to be <i>foretold</i>, and comforted His Church with the +view of the Future. Hence, He alone is <span class="pagenum">[Pg 184]</span> God, +and vanity are all those who are put beside Him. It is said in ver. 22: "Let them +bring forth and shew to us what shall happen; the former things, what they be, show +and we will consider them and know the latter end of them; or the coming (events +make us to hear)." <i>The former things</i> are those which are prior on this territory; +hence the former prophecies, as the comparison of the parallel passage, chap. xlii +9, clearly shows. The <i>end</i> of prophecy is its fulfilment. +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">הבאות</span> "the coming, or future," are the events +of the more distant Future. As the Prophet demands from the idols and their servants +that only which the true God has already performed by His servants, we have here, +on the one hand, a reference to the whole cycle of prophecies formerly fulfilled, +as <i>e.g.</i>, that of the overthrow of the kingdoms of Damascus and Ephraim, and +the defeat of Asshur,--and, on the other hand, to the prophecy of the conqueror +from the East, &c., contained in the second part. The <i>former</i> prophecies, +however, are here mentioned altogether incidentally only; the real demand refers, +as is shown by the words: "What shall happen," only to the prophecies in reference +to the Future, corresponding to those of our Prophet regarding the conqueror from +the East, whose appearance is here represented as belonging altogether to the <i> +Future</i>, and not to be known by any human ingenuity. In ver. 26: "Who hath declared +(such things) from the beginning, that we may know, and long beforehand, that we +may say: he is righteous?" the <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">מראש</span> "from +the beginning" puts insurmountable obstacles in the way of the opponents of the +genuineness. If the second part of Isaiah be <i>spurious</i>, then the idolaters +might put the same scornful question to the God of Israel. The +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">מראש</span> denotes just the opposite of a <i>vaticinium +post eventum</i>.--In chap. xlii. 9: "The former (things), behold, they are come +to pass, and new things do I declare; before they spring forth, I let you hear," +the Prophet proves the true divinity of the Lord, from the circumstance that, having +already proved himself by prophecies fulfilled, He declares here, in the second +part, the future events before they spring forth, before the facts begin to sprout +forth from the soil of the Present, and hence could have been known and predicted +by human combination. The words, "before they spring forth," become completely enigmatical, +if it be denied that Isaiah <span class="pagenum">[Pg 185]</span> wrote the second +part; inasmuch as, in that case, it would have in a great part, to do with things +which did not belong to the territory of prophetic foresight, but of what was plainly +visible.--In chap. xliii. 8-13, the Prophet again proves the nothingness of idolatry, +and the sole divinity of the God of Israel, from the great work, declared beforehand +by the Lord, of the deliverance of Israel, and of the overthrow of their enemies. +He is so deeply convinced of the striking force of this argument, that he ever anew +reverts to it. After having called upon the Gentiles to prove the divinity of their +idols by true prophecies given by them, he says in ver. 9: "Let them bring forth +their witnesses, that they may be justified." By the witnesses it is to be proved, +by whom, to whom, and at what time the prophecies were given, in order that the +Gentiles may not refer to deceitfully forged prophecies, to <i>vaticinia post eventum</i>. +According to the hypothesis of the spuriousness of the second part, the author pronounced +his own condemnation by thus calling for witnesses. "Ye are my witnesses, saith +the Lord, and witness is my Servant whom I have chosen," is said in ver. 10. While +the Gentiles are in vain called upon to bring forward witnesses for the divinity +of their idols, the true God has, for His witnesses, just those whose services he +claimed. The prophecies which lie at the foundation of their testimony, which are +to be borne witness to, are those of the second part. The Prophet may safely appeal +to the testimony of the whole nation, that they were uttered at a time, when their +contents could not be derived from human combination. "The great unknown" (<i>Ewald</i>), +could not by any possibility have spoken thus.--In chap. xlv. 19-21, it is proved +from the prophecy, in connection with the fulfilment, that Jehovah alone is God,--the +like of which no Gentile nation can show of their idols. The argumentation is followed +by the call to all the Gentiles to be converted to this God, and thus to become +partakers of His salvation--a call resting on the striking force of this argumentation--and +with this call is, in ver. 23-25, connected the solemn declaration of God, that, +at some future time, this shall take place; that, at some future time, there shall +be one shepherd and one flock. How would these high, solemn, words have been spoken +in vain, if "the great unknown" had spoken them! In ver. 19 +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 186]</span> it is said: "I have not spoken in secret, +in a dark place of the earth; I said not unto the seed of Jacob: Seek ye me in vain; +I the Lord speak righteousness, I declare rectitude." The Lord here says, first, +in reference to His prophecies, those namely which He gave through our Prophet, +that <i>they were made known publicly</i>, that, hence, there could not be any doubt +of their genuineness,--altogether different from what is the case with the prophecies +of idolatrous nations which make their appearance <i>post eventum</i> only, <i>no +one knowing whence</i>. Every one might convince himself of their truth and divinity. +This is expressed by the words: "I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of +the earth." Then he says that the Lord had not deceived His people, like the idols +who leave their servants without disclosures regarding: the Future; but that, by +the prophecies granted to our Prophet, He had met the longings of his people for +revelations of the Future. While the gods of the world leave them in the lurch, +just when their help is required, and never answer when they are asked, the Lord, +in reference to prophecies, as well as in every other respect, has not spoken: "Seek +ye me in vain," but rather: When ye seek, ye shall find me. And, finally, he says +that his prophecies are true and right; that the heathenish prophets commit an +<i>unrighteousness</i> by performing something else than that which they promised +to perform. To declare <i>righteousness</i> is to declare that which is righteous, +which does not conceal internal emptiness and rottenness under a fair outside. The +words: "I the Lord speak righteousness, I declare rectitude," could not but have +died on the lips of the "great unknown."--In chap. xlvi. 8-13 the apostates in Israel +are addressed. They are exhorted to return to the true God, and to be mindful, 1. +of the nothingness of idols, ver. 8; 2. of the proofs of His sole divinity which +the Lord had given throughout the whole of the past history; 3. of the new manifestation +of it in announcing and sending Koresh (Cyrus), ver. 10, 11; "Declaring the end +from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying: +My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure. Calling from the East an +eagle, from a far country the man of His counsel; I have spoken it, and will also +bring it to pass; I have formed it, and will also do it." To the +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ראשנות</span>, the former <span class="pagenum">[Pg +187]</span> events, the fulfilled prophecies from former times (comp. xlii. 9), +here the new proof of the sole divinity of the God of Israel is added, in that He +sends Koresh: God <i>now</i> declares. The Prophet, by designating the time in which +the announcement was issued as <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ראשית</span> and +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">קדם</span>, as beginning and ancient times, and by +founding the proof of the divinity of the Lord just upon the high age of the announcement, +again puts an insurmountable obstacle in the way of the opponents of the genuineness. +The announcement and declaration prove any thing in connection with the execution +only; the bringing to pass, therefore, is connected with the declaring, the doing +with the speaking. These words are <i>now</i> spoken, since, from the ideal stand-point, +the carrying out is at hand; they form the antecedent to the <i>calling</i>, of +which ver. 11 treats. <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">קום</span> properly "to rise," +opposed to the laying down, means "to bring to stand," "to bring about," "to be +fulfilled." "The counsel," <i>i.e.</i>, the contents of the prediction which was +spoken of before; it is the divine counsel and decree to which Koresh served as +an instrument.--<i>Finally</i>--In chap. xlviii., the same subject is treated of; +the divinity of the Lord is proved from His prophecies, in three sections, ver. +1-11, ver. 12-16, ver. 22. Here, at the close of the first book of the second part, +the argumentation occurs once more in a very strong accumulation, because the Prophet +is now about to leave it, and, in general, the whole territory of the lower salvation. +First, in ver. 1-11: Israel should return to the Lord, who formerly had manifested +and proved His sole divinity by a series of prophecies and their fulfilments, and +<i>now</i> was granting new and remarkable disclosures regarding the Future. Ver. +6: "New things I shew thee from this time, hidden things, and thou didst not know +them, ver. 7. Now they have been created and not of old, and before this day thou +heardest them not; lest thou shouldest say: Behold, I knew them." The deliverance +of Israel by Cyrus--an announcement uttered in the preceding, and to be repeated +immediately afterwards--is called <i>new</i> in contrast to the old prophecies of +the Lord already fulfilled; <i>hidden</i> in contrast to the facts which are already +subjects of history, or may be known beforehand by natural ingenuity. <i>To be created</i> +is equivalent to being made manifest, inasmuch as the hidden Divine counsel enters +into life, only by being manifested, and <span class="pagenum">[Pg 188]</span> the +prophesied events are created for Israel, only by the prophecy. Ver. 8: "Thou didst +not hear it, nor didst thou know it, likewise thine ear was not opened beforehand; +for I knew that thou art faithless, and wast called a transgressor from the womb." +I have, says the Lord, communicated to thee the knowledge of events of the Future +which are altogether unheard of, of which, before, thou didst not know the least, +nor couldst know. The reason of this communication is stated in the words: "for +I knew," &c. It is the same reason which, according to vers. 4, 5, called forth +also the former definite prophecies regarding the Future, now already fulfilled, +viz., the unbelief of the people, which requires a <i>palpable</i> proof that the +Lord alone is God, because it is but too ingenious in finding out seeming reasons +for justifying its apostacy. All that is perfectly in keeping with, and suitable +to the stand-point of Isaiah, but not to that of "the great unknown," at whose time +the conqueror from the East was already beheld with the bodily eye; and Habakkuk +had long ago prophesied the destruction of the Babylonish world's power, and Israel's +deliverance; and Jeremiah had announced the destruction of Babylon by the Modes +much more distinctly and definitely than is done here in the second part of Isaiah. +In ver. 16 it is said: "Come ye near unto me, hear this: from the beginning I have +not spoken in secret; from the time that it was, I was there, and now the Lord God +hath sent me and His Spirit." The sense is: Ever since the foundation of the people, +I have given them the most distinct prophecies, and made them publicly known (referring +to the whole chain of events, from the calling of Abraham and onward, which had +been objects of prophecy); by mine omnipotence I have fulfilled them; and now I +have sent my servant Isaiah, and filled him with my Spirit, in order that, by a +new distinguished prophecy, he may bear witness to my sole divinity. It is only +the accompanying mission of the Spirit which gives its importance to that of the +Prophet. It is from God's Spirit searching the depths of the Godhead, and knowing +His most hidden counsels, that those prophecies of the second part, going beyond +the natural consciousness, have proceeded.</p> +<p class="normal">We believe we have incontrovertibly proved that we are not entitled +to draw any arguments against Isaiah's being the <span class="pagenum">[Pg 189]</span> +author of the second part, from the circumstance "that the exile is not announced, +but that the author takes his stand in it, as well as in that of Isaiah's time, +inasmuch as this stand-point is an assumed and ideal one. But if the <i>form</i>, +can prove nothing, far less can the <i>prophetic contents</i>."<!--uncertain position for end quote--> +It is true that these contents cannot be explained from the natural consciousness +of Isaiah; but it is not to be overlooked, that the assailed prophecies of Isaiah +are even as directly as possible opposed to the rationalistic notion of prophetism, +which is arbitrary, and goes in the face of all facts, and from which the arguments +against their genuineness are drawn. In a whole series of passages of the second +part (the same which we have just been discussing), the Prophet intimates that he +gives disclosures which lie beyond the horizon of his time; and draws from this +circumstance the arguments for his own divine mission, and the divinity of the God +of Israel. He considers it as the disgrace of idolatry that it cannot give any definite +prophecies, and with a noble scorn, challenges it to vindicate itself by such prophecies. +That rationalistic notion of prophetism removes the boundaries which, according +to the express statements of our Prophet, separate the Kingdom of God from heathenism. +The rationalistic <i>notional</i> God, however, it is true, can as little prophesy +as the heathenish gods of stone and wood, of whom the Psalmist says: "They have +ears, but they hear not, <i>neither speak they through their throat</i>."</p> +<p class="normal">It is farther to be considered that the predictions of the Future, +in those portions of Isaiah which are assailed just on account of them, are not +so destitute of a foundation as is commonly assumed. There existed, in the present +time and circumstances of the Prophet, important actual points of connection for +them. They farther rest on the foundation of ideal views and conceptions of eternal +truths, which had been familiar to the Church of the Lord from its very beginnings. +They only enlarge what had already been prophesied by former prophets; and well +secured and ascertained parallels in the prophetic announcement are not wanting +for them.</p> +<p class="normal">The carrying away of the covenant-people into exile had been actually +prophesied by the fact, that the land had spued out its former inhabitants on account +of their sins. The threatening of the exile pervades the whole Pentateuch from +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 190]</span> beginning to end; compare <i>Genuineness of +the Pentateuch</i>, <i>p.</i> 270 <i>ff.</i> It is found in the Decalogue also: +"That thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee." David +shows a clear knowledge of the sufferings impending over his family, and hence also +over the people of God; comp. my Commentary on Song of Sol. S. 243. Solomon points +to the future carrying away in his prayer at the consecration of the temple. Amos, +the predecessor of Isaiah, foresees with absolute clearness, that, before the salvation +comes, all that is glorious, not only in Israel, but in Judah also, must be given +over to destruction, compare Vol. i. p. 357. In like manner, too, Hosea prophesies +not only the destruction of the kingdom of the ten tribes, but also that Judah shall +be carried away into exile, comp. Vol. i. p. 176. In Isaiah, the foreknowledge of +the entire devastation of the city and land, and the carrying away into captivity +of its inhabitants--a foreknowledge which stands in close connection with the energy +of the knowledge of sin with the Prophets--meets us from the very beginning of his +ministry, and also in those prophecies, the genuineness of which no one ventures +to assail, as, <i>e.g.</i>, in chap. i.-vi. After the severity of God had been manifested +before the bodily eyes of the Prophet in the carrying away of the ten tribes, it +could not, even from human considerations, be doubtful to him, what was the fate +in store for Judah.</p> +<p class="normal">The knowledge, that the impending carrying away of Judah would +take place by the Chaldeans, and that Babylon would be the place of their banishment, +was not destitute of a certain natural foundation. In the germ, the Chaldean power +actually existed even at that time. Decidedly erroneous is the view of <i>Hitzig</i>, +that a Chaldean power in Babylon could be spoken of only since the time of Nabopolassar. +This power, on the contrary, was very old; compare the proofs in <i>Delitzsch's</i> +Commentary on Habakkuk, S. 21. The Assyrian power, although, when outwardly considered, +at its height, when more closely examined, began, even at that time, already to +sink. A weakening of the Assyrian power is intimated also by the circumstance, that +Hezekiah ventured to rebel against the Assyrians, and the embassy of the Chaldean +Merodach Baladan to Hezekiah, implies that, even at that time, many things gave +a title to expect the speedy downfal of the Assyrian <span class="pagenum">[Pg 191]</span> +Empire. But the fact that Isaiah possessed the clear knowledge that, in some future +period, the dominion of the world would pass over to Babylon and the Chaldeans,--that +they would be the executors of the judgment upon Judah, we have already proved, +in our remarks on chaps. xiii., xiv., from the prophecies of the first part,--from +chap. xxiii. 13, where the Chaldeans are mentioned as the executors of the judgment +upon the neighbouring people, the Tyrians, and as the destroyers of the Assyrian +dominion,--and from chap. xxxix. The attempt of dispossessing him of this knowledge +is so much the more futile, that his contemporary Micah undeniably possesses it; +comp. Vol. i. p. 464. So also does Habakkuk, between whose time and that of Isaiah, +circumstances had not essentially changed, and who likewise still prophesied before +the Chaldean monarchy had been established.</p> +<p class="normal">While this foreknowledge of the future <i>elevation</i> of Babylon +had a <i>historical</i> foundation, the foreknowledge of its <i>humiliation and +fate</i>, following soon after, rested on a <i>theological</i> foundation. With +a heathenish people, elevation is always followed by haughtiness, with all its consequences; +and, according to the eternal laws of the divine government of the world, haughtiness +is a matter-of-fact prophecy of destruction. Proceeding from this view, the downfal +of the Chaldean monarchy was prophesied by Habakkuk also, at a time when it was +still developing, and was far from having attained to the zenith of its power. In +the same manner, the foreknowledge of the future <i>deliverance of Israel</i> rises +on a theological foundation, and is not at all to be considered in the same light +as if <i>e.g.</i>, the Prophet had foretold to Moab its deliverance. That which +the Prophet here predicts is only the individualization of a general truth which +meets us at the very beginnings of the covenant-people. The principle which St. +Paul advances in Rom. xi. 2: "God hath not cast away His people whom He foreknew," +and ver. 29: "For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance," meets us, +clearly and distinctly, as early as in the books of Moses. In Levit. xxvi. 42-45, +the deliverance from the land of captivity is announced on the ground of the election +of Israel, and of the covenant with the fathers, and as a fulfilment of the promise +of future election, which was given by the fact of Israel's being delivered from +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 192]</span> Egypt. And according to Deut. iv. 30, 31, +xxx. ff., and the close of chap. xxxii., the end of all the catastrophes which are +inflicted upon the covenant-people is always Israel's conversion and reception into +favour; behind the judgment, mercy is always concealed. In the prayer of Solomon, +the carrying away goes hand in hand with the reception into favour. But it will +be altogether fruitless to deny to Isaiah the knowledge of the future deliverance +of Israel from Babylon, since his contemporary Micah, in chap. iv. 10, briefly and +distinctly expresses the same: "And thou comest to Babylon; there shalt thou be +delivered; there shall the Lord redeem thee from the hand of thine enemies."</p> +<p class="normal">The only point in the prophetic foreknowledge of the second part +which really seems to want, not only a historical or ideal foundation, but also +altogether corresponding analogies, is the mention of the name of Koresh. But this +difficulty disappears if, in strict opposition to the current notion, it is assumed +that Cyrus was induced, by our book only, to appropriate to himself that name. Recent +investigation has proved that this name is originally not a proper name, but an +honorary title,--that the Greek writers rightly explain it by <i>Sun</i>,--that +the name of the sun was, in the East generally, and especially with the Persians, +a common honorary title of rulers; comp. <i>Bürnouf</i> and others in <i>Hävernick's +Einleitung</i>, ii. 2, S. 165. This honorary title of the Persian kings, Isaiah +might very easily learn in a natural way. And the fact that this <i>Nomen dignitatis</i> +became, among several others, peculiar to Cyrus (the mention of the name of Koresh +by Isaiah does not originally go beyond the announcement of the conqueror from the +East) is explained by the circumstance that Cyrus assumed this name in honour of +our book, and as an acknowledgment of the mission assigned to him by it, although +the Prophet had not used this name in any other manner than Balaam had that of Agag, +perhaps with an allusion to its signification; compare the phrases "from the East," +"from the rising of the sun," in chap. xli. 2, 25. And it is historically settled +and certain, that Cyrus had originally another name, viz., <i>Agradates</i>, and +that he assumed this name only at the time of his ascending the throne, which falls +into the time when the prophecies of our book could already be known to him (comp. +the <span class="pagenum">[Pg 193]</span> proofs in <i>Hävernick's Einleit.</i>) +And as it is farther certain that the prophecies of our book made a deep impression +upon him, and, in important points, exercised an influence upon his actions (this +appears not only from the express statement of <i>Josephus</i>, [Arch. xi. c. 1. +§ 1, 2,] but still more from an authentic document, the Edict of Cyrus, in Ezra +i. 1 ff., which so plainly implies the fact reported by <i>Josephus</i>, that <i> +Jahn</i> rightly called <i>Josephus'</i> statement a commentary on this Edict, which +refers, <i>partly</i> with literal accuracy, to a series of passages from the second +part of Isaiah, compare the particulars in <i>Kleinert</i>, <i>über die Echtheit +des Jesaias</i>, S. 142);--as the condition of the Persian religion likewise confirms +this result gained from the Edict of Cyrus (<i>Stuhr</i>, <i>die Religionssysteme +des alten Orients</i>, S. 373 ff., proves that in the time of Cyrus, and by him, +an Israelitish element had been introduced into it);--there will certainly not be +any reason to consider our supposition to be improbable, or the result of embarrassment.</p> +<p class="normal">But to this circumstance we must still direct attention, that +those prophetic announcements of the second part which have reference to that which, +even at the time of "the great unknown," still belonged to the future, are far more +distinct, and can far less be accounted for from natural causes, than those from +which rationalistic criticism has drawn inferences as regards the spuriousness of +the second part. The personal Messianic prophecies of the second part are much more +characteristic than those concerning Cyrus. He who cannot, by the help of history, +supplement and illustrate the prophecy, receives only an incomplete and defective +image of the latter. And, indeed, a sufficiently long time elapsed before even Exegesis +recognised with certainty and unanimity that it was Cyrus who was meant. Doubts +and differences of opinion on this point meet us even down to last century. The +Medes and Persians are not at all mentioned as the conquerors of Babylon, and all +which refers to the person of Cyrus has an altogether ideal character; while the +Messiah is, especially in chap. liii., so distinctly drawn, that scarcely any essential +feature in His image is omitted. And it is altogether a matter of course that here, +in the antitypical deliverance, a much greater clearness and distinctness should +prevail; for it stands <span class="pagenum">[Pg 194]</span> in a far closer relation +to the idea, so that form and substance do far less disagree.</p> +<p class="normal">It would be inappropriate were we here to take up and refute all +the arguments against the genuineness of the second part, which rationalistic criticism +has brought together. Besides those which we have already refuted, we shall bring +into view only this argument, which, at first sight indeed, may dazzle and startle +even the well-disposed, viz., the difference between the first and second parts, +as regards language and mode of representation. The chief error of those who have +adduced this argument is, that they judge altogether without reference to person,--a +matter, however, quite legitimate in this case,--that they simply apply the same +rule to the productions of Isaiah which, in the productions of less richly endowed +persons, has indeed a <i>certain</i> right, <i>e.g.</i>, on the prophetical territory +of Jeremiah, who, notwithstanding the difference of subject, yet does not understand +so to change his voice, that it should not soon be recognized by the skilled More +than of all the prophets that holds true of Isaiah, which <i>Fichte</i>, in a letter +to a <i>Königsberg</i> friend, writes of himself (in his <i>Life</i>, by his son, +i. S. 196): "I have properly no style at all, for I have them all." "Just as the +subject demands," says <i>Ewald</i>, without assigning to the circumstance any weight +in judging of the second part, "just as the subject demands, every kind of speech, +and every change of style are easily at his command; and it is just this in which +here his greatness, as, in general, one of his most prominent perfections, consists." +The chief peculiarities of style in the second part stand in close relation to the +subject, and the disposition of mind thereby called forth. The Prophet, as a rule, +does not address the mass of the people, but the election (<span lang="el" class="Greek">ἐκλογή</span>); +nor the sinful congregation of the Lord in the present time, but that of the future, +purified by the judgments of the Lord, the seed and germ of which were the election +of the Present. It is to the congregation of brethren that he addresses <i>Comfort</i>. +The beginning: "Comfort ye, Comfort ye, Zion," contains the keynote and principal +subject. It is from this that the gentle, tender, soft character of the style is +to be accounted for, as well as the frequent repetitions;--the comforting love follows, +step by step, the grief which is indefatigable in its repetitions. +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 195]</span> From this circumstance is to be explained +the habit of adding several epithets to the name of God; these are as many shields +which are held up against despair, as many bulwarks against the things in sight, +by which every thought of redemption was cut off Where God is the sole help, every +thing must be tried to make the Congregation feel what they have in Him. A series +of single phrases which several times recur <i>verbatim</i>, <i>e.g.</i>, "I am +the Lord, and none else, I do not give mine honour to any other, I am the first +and the last," are easily accounted for by the Prophet's endeavour and anxiety to +impress upon the desponding minds truths, which they were only too apt to forget. +If other linguistic peculiarities occur, which cannot be explained from the subject, +it must be considered that the second part is not by any means a collection of single +prophecies, but a closely connected whole, which, as such, must necessarily have +its own peculiar <i>usus loquendi</i>, a number of constantly recurring characteristic +peculiarities. The character of unity must necessarily be expressed in language +and style also. The fact, however, that, notwithstanding the difference of style +betwixt the first and second parts, the second part has a great number of characteristic +peculiarities of language and style in common with the first part (a fact which +cannot be otherwise, if Isaiah was the author of both), was first very thoroughly +demonstrated by <i>Kleinert</i>, while <i>Küper</i> and <i>Caspari</i> have been +the first conclusively to prove, that the second part was known and made use of +by those prophets who prophesied between the time of Isaiah and that of "the great +unknown."</p> +<p class="normal">The close connection of the second part with the first is, among +other things, proved also by the circumstance that both are equally strongly pervaded +with the Messianic announcement. Chap. i.-xii. especially have, in this respect, +a remarkable parallel in the second book of the second part. The fact, moreover, +that the single Messianic prophecies of the second part agree, in the finest and +most concealed features, with those of the first part, will be shown in the exposition.</p> +<hr class="ftn"> +<div class="ftn"> + <p class="ftnText"><a name="ftn_164a" href="#ftnRef_164a"> + <sup class="ftnRef">[1]</sup></a> Chap. xxxvii. 38, (comp. 2 Kings xix. 37), + describing apparently the murder of Sennacherib as belonging to the past, does + not decide any thing as to the composition of this chapter by Isaiah, "inasmuch + as the year which is assigned for Sennacherib's death, B.C. 696, is not historically + ascertained and certain. Nor can the supposition, that Isaiah lived until the + time of Manasseh, and himself arranged and edited the collection of his prophecies + on the eve of his life, be liable to any well-founded doubts" (<i>Keil</i>, + <i>Einleitung</i>, S. 271). The inscription in chap. i. 1, only indicates that + the collection does not contain any prophecies which go beyond the time of Hezekiah.</p> +</div> +<div class="ftn"> + <p class="ftnText"><a name="ftn_175a" href="#ftnRef_175a"> + <sup class="ftnRef">[2]</sup></a> To a certain degree analogous are those other + passages of the Old Testament, in which the Past presents itself in the form + of the Present, as the deliverance from Egypt in Ps. lxvi. 6; lxxxi. 6. Faith, + at the same time, makes all the old things new, fresh, and lively, and anticipates + the Future.</p> +</div> +<p class="continue"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 196]</span></p> +<h3><a name="div2_196" href="#div2Ref_196">CHAP. XLII. 1-9.</a></h3> +<p class="normal">The 40th chapter has an introductory character. It comforts the +people of the Lord by pointing, in general, to a Future rich in salvation. In chap. +xli. the Prophet describes the appearance of the conqueror from the East for the +destruction of Babylon,--an event from which he derives, as from a rich source, +ample consolations for his poor wretched people, while, at the same time, he represents +idolatry as being thereby put to shame. It is on purpose that, immediately after +the first announcement of this conqueror from the East, his antitype is, in chap. +xlii. 1-9, contrasted with him. In the preceding chapter, the Prophet had shown +how, by the influence of the king from the East, the Lord would put idolatry to +shame, and work out deliverance for His Church. In the section now before us, he +describes how, by the mission of His servant, the Lord would effect, definitely +and absolutely, that which the former had done only in a preliminary, limited, and +imperfect manner. In the subsequent section, the Prophet then first farther carries +out the image of the conqueror from the East; and from chap. xlix. he turns to a +more minute representation of the image of the true Saviour. In chaps. xlii. 10, +to xliii. 7, the discourse turns, from a general description of God's instruments +of salvation, to a general description of the salvation in its whole extent; just +as it is the manner of the second part ever again to return from the particular +to the general.</p> +<p class="normal">Here, where the Servant of God is first to be introduced, He is +at first spoken <i>of</i>; it is in ver. 5 that the Lord first speaks <i>to</i> +His servant. In chap. xlix., on the contrary, the Servant of God, being already +known from chap. xlii., is, without farther remark, introduced as speaking.</p> +<p class="normal">In the whole section, the Lord is speaking. It falls into three +divisions--First, the Lord speaks <i>of</i> His servant, vers. 1-4; then He speaks +to His servant, ver. 5-7; finally. He addresses some closing words to the Church, +ver. 8, 9. The representation, in harmony with the nature of the prophetic vision, +bears a dramatic character.</p> +<p class="normal">In ver. 1-4, the Lord, as it were, points to His servant, introduces +Him to His Church, and commends Him to the <span class="pagenum">[Pg 197]</span> +world: "Behold my Servant," &c. He, the beloved and elect One, upheld by God, and +endowed with the fulness of the Spirit of God, shall establish righteousness upon +the whole earth, and bring into submission to himself the whole Gentile world, by +showing himself meek and lowly in heart, an helper of the poor and afflicted, and +combining with it never-failing power. The aim: He shall bring forth right to the +Gentiles. is at once expressed at the close of ver. 1. In ver. 2-4, the means by +which He attains this aim are then stated. The bringing forth, or the establishing +of right, recurs again in ver. 3 and 4, in order to point out this relation of ver. +2-4 to ver. 1.</p> +<p class="normal">In ver. 6 and 7, after having pointed to His Omnipotence as affording +a guarantee for the fulfilment of a prophecy so great that it might appear almost +incredible, the Lord turns to His Servant and addresses Him. He announces to Him +that it should be His glorious destination, partly to bring, in His person, the +covenant with Israel to its full truth, partly to be the light for the Gentile world,--to +be, in general, the Saviour of the whole human race.</p> +<p class="normal">In the closing verses, 8, 9, the Lord addresses the Church, and +directs its attention to the object which the announcement of the mission of His +Servant, declared in the preceding context, serves: God, because He is God, is anxious +for the promotion of His glory. In order, therefore, that it may be known that He +alone is God, He grants to His people disclosures as regards the distant Future, +as yet fully wrapped up in obscurity.</p> +<p class="normal">There is no doubt, and it is now generally admitted, that the +Servant of the Lord, here described, is the same as He who is brought before us +in chap. xlix. 4; liii., lxi. It is, hence, not sufficient to point out an individual +to whom, apparently, the attributes contained in this prophecy belong; but we must +add and combine all the signs and attributes which are contained in the parallel +passages.</p> +<p class="normal">The Chaldean Paraphrast who, in so many instances, has faithfully +preserved the exegetical tradition, understands the Messiah by the Servant of God; +and so, from among the later Jewish expositors, do <i>Dav. Kimchi</i> and <i>Abarbanel</i>, +the latter of whom says of the non-Messianic interpretation, +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">שכל אלה</span> <span class="pagenum">[Pg 198]</span> +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">החכמים הכו בסנורים</span> "that all these expositors +were struck with blindness." That this exposition was the current one among the +Jews at the time of Christ, appears from Luke ii. 32, where Simeon designates the +Saviour as the light to be revealed to the Gentiles +<span lang="el" class="Greek">φῶς εἰς ἀποκάλυψιν ἐθνῶν</span>, with a reference +to Is xlii. 6; xlix. 6. It is especially the latter passage which Simeon has in +view, as also St. Paul in Acts xiii. 46, 47, as appears from the words immediately +preceding <span lang="el" class="Greek">ὅτι εἶδον οἱ ὀφθαλμοί μου τὸ σωτήριον σου +ὃ ἡτοίμασας κατὰ πρόσωπον πάντων τῶν λαῶν</span>, which evidently refer to chap. +xlix. But chap. xlix. is, as regards the point which here comes into consideration, +a mere repetition and confirmation of chap. xlii.</p> +<p class="normal">By the New Testament, this exposition has been introduced and +established in the Church of Christ. The words which, at the baptism of Christ, +resounded from heaven: <span lang="el" class="Greek">οὗτος ἐστιν ὁ υἱός μου ὁ ἀγαπητός, +ἐν ᾧ εὐδόκησα</span>, Matt. iii. 17 (comp. Mark i. 11) evidently refer to ver. 1 +of the chapter before us, and point out that He who had now appeared was none other +than He who had, centuries ago, been predicted by the prophets. And so do likewise +the words which, according to Matt. xvii. 5 (compare Mark ix. 7; Luke ix. 35; 2 +Pet. i. 17), at the transfiguration of Christ, towards the close of His ministry, +resounded from heaven in order to strengthen the Apostles: +<span lang="el" class="Greek">οὗτος ἐστιν ὁ υἱός μου ὁ ἀγαπητός, ἐν ᾧ εὐδόκησα· +αὐτοῦ ἀκούετε</span> These voices at the beginning and the close of Christ's ministry +have not been sufficiently attended to by those who have raised doubts against the +Messianic interpretation; for a doubt in this must necessarily shake also the belief +in the reality of those voices. In both of the passages, the place of the Servant +of God in chap. xlii. 1 (which passage is indeed not so much quoted, as only, in +a free treatment, referred to) is taken by the Son of God, from Ps. ii. 7, just +as, at the transfiguration, the words <span lang="el" class="Greek">αὐτοῦ ἀκούετε</span> +are at once added from Deut. xviii. 15. The name of the Servant of God was not high +enough fur the sublime moment; the <i>Son</i> formed, in the second passage, the +contrast to the <i>mere</i> servants of God, Moses and Elijah.--In Matt. xii. 17-21, +ver. 1-3 are quoted, and referred to Christ. The Messianic explanation of chap. +xlii., xlix. lies at the foundation of all the other passages also, where Christ +is spoken of as the <span lang="el" class="Greek">παῖς Θεοῦ</span>. In Acts iii. +13: <span lang="el" class="Greek">ἐδόξασε τὸν παῖδα</span> <span class="pagenum"> +[Pg 199]</span> <span lang="el" class="Greek">αὐτοῦ Ἰησοῦν</span>, we shall be obliged +to follow <i>Bengel</i> in explaining it by: <i>ministrum suum</i>, partly on account +of Matt. xii. 18, and because the LXX. often render +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">עבד</span> by <span lang="el" class="Greek">παῖς</span>; +partly on account of the obvious reference to the Old Testament passages which treat +of the Servant of God, and on account of the special allusion to chap. xlix. 3 in +the <span lang="el" class="Greek">ἐδόξασε</span> (LXX. +<span lang="el" class="Greek">δοῦλός μου εἶ σὺ [Ἰσραήλ] καὶ ἐν σοὶ εὐδοξασθήσομαι</span>). +And so likewise in Acts iii. 26; iv. 27: <span lang="el" class="Greek">ἐπὶ τὸν ἅγιον +παῖδά σου Ἰησοῦν, ὃν ἔχρισας</span>, where the last words refer to chap. lxi. 1; +farther, in Acts iv. 30. In all these passages it is not the more obvious +<span lang="el" class="Greek">δοῦλος</span>, but <span lang="el" class="Greek">παῖς</span> +which is put, in order to remove the low notions which, in Greek, attach to the +word <span lang="el" class="Greek">δοῦλος</span>.</p> +<p class="normal">Taking her stand partly on these authorities, partly on the natural +sense of the passage, the Christian Church has all along referred the passage to +Christ; and even expositors such as <i>Clericus</i>, who, everywhere else, whensoever +it is possible, seek to set aside the Messianic interpretation, are here found among +its most decided defenders. In our century, with the awakening faith, this explanation +has again obtained general dominion; and wherever expositors of evangelical disposition +do not yet profess it, this is to be accounted for from the still continuing influence +of rationalistic tradition.</p> +<p class="normal">We are led to the Messianic interpretation by the circumstance +that the servant of God appears here as the antitype of Cyrus. A real person can +be contrasted with a real person only, but not with a personification, as is assumed +by the other explanations. We are compelled to explain it of Christ by this circumstance +also, that it is in Him only that the signs of the Servant of God are to be found,--that +in Him only the covenant of God with Israel has become a truth,--that He only is +the light of the Gentiles,--that He only, without external force, by His gentleness, +meekness, and love, has founded a Kingdom, the boundaries of which are conterminous +with those of the earth. The connection, also, with the other Messianic announcements, +especially those of the first part, compels us to refer it to Christ.</p> +<p class="normal">The reasons against the Messianic interpretation are of little +weight. The assertion that nowhere in the New Testament does Jesus appear as the +Servant of Jehovah (<i>Hendewerk</i>), is at once overthrown by Matt. xii. 18, as +well as by the other <span class="pagenum">[Pg 200]</span> passages already quoted, +in which Christ appears as <span lang="el" class="Greek">παῖς Θεοῦ</span>. Phil. +ii. 7, <span lang="el" class="Greek">μορφὴν δούλου λαβών</span> comes as near the +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">עבד יהוה</span>, as it was possible, considering +the low notion attached to the Greek <span lang="el" class="Greek">δοῦλος</span>. +The passages which treat of the obedience of Christ, such as Rom, v. 19; Phil. ii. +8; Heb. v. 8; John xvii. 4: <span lang="el" class="Greek">τὸν ἔργον ἐτελειώσα, ὃ +δέδωκάς μοι ἵνα ποιήσω</span>, give only a paraphrase of the notion of the Servant +of the Lord. With perfect soundness <i>Dr Nitzsch</i> has remarked, that it was +required by the typical connection of the two Testaments, that Christ should somehow, +according to His <span lang="el" class="Greek">ὑπακοὴ</span>, +<span lang="el" class="Greek">ὑποταγή</span>, be represented as the perfect manifestation +of the <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">עבד</span>--The assertion: "The Messiah is +excluded by the circumstance that the subject is not only to be a teacher of the +Gentiles, who is endowed with the Spirit of God, but is also to announce deliverance +to Israel" (<i>Gesenius</i>), rests only on an erroneous, falsely literal interpretation +of ver. 7, which is not a whit better than if, in ver. 3, we were to think of a +natural bruised reed, a natural wick dimly burning.--The objection that this Servant +of the Lord is not foretold as a future person, but is spoken of as one present, +forgets that we are here on the territory of prophetic vision, that the prophets +had not in vain the name of <i>seers</i>, and puts the <i>real</i>, in place of +the <i>ideal</i> Present,--a mistake which is here the less pardonable that the +Prophet pre-eminently uses the Future, and, in this way, himself explains the ideal +character of the inserted Preterites.--In order to refute the assertion, that the +doctrine of the Messiah is foreign to the second part of Isaiah, that (as <i>Ewald</i> +held) in it the former Messianic hopes are connected with the person of a heathen +king, viz., Cyrus (how very little have they who advance such opinions any idea +of the nature of Holy Writ!), it is only necessary to refer to chap. lv. 3, 4, where +the second David, the Messiah, appears, at the same time, as Teacher, and as the +Prince and Lawgiver of the nations, who is to extend the Kingdom of God far over +all heathen nations. That which, in that passage, is declared of the Messiah, and +that which, in those passages which treat of the Servant of God, is declared of +Him, exclude one another, as soon as, by the Servant of God, any other subject than +the Messiah is understood.</p> +<p class="normal">Even this circumstance must raise an unfavourable prejudice against +the non-Messianic interpretation, that its defenders <span class="pagenum">[Pg 201]</span> +are at one in the negative only, but differ in the positive determination of the +subject, and that, hitherto, no one view has succeeded in overthrowing the other; +and farther, that ever anon new subtleties are advanced, by means of which it is +attempted to patch up and conceal the inadmissibilities of every individual exposition.</p> +<p class="normal">Passing over those expositions which have now become obsolete,--such +as of Cyrus, the Prophet Isaiah himself--we shall give attention to those expositions +only which even now have their representatives, and which have some foundation in +the matter itself.</p> +<p class="normal">The LXX. already understood Israel by the Servant of the Lord. +They translate in ver. 1: <span lang="el" class="Greek">Ἰακὼβ, ὁ παῖς μου, ἀντιλήψομαι +αὐτοῦ, Ἰσραήλ, ὁ, ἐκλεκτός μου, προσεδέξατο αὐτὸν ἡ ψυχή μου.</span> Among the Jewish +interpreters, <i>Jarchi</i> follows this explanation, but with this modification, +that, by the Servant of the Lord, he understands the collective body of the righteous +in Israel. In modern times, this view is defended by <i>Hitzig</i>. It appeals especially +to the circumstance that, in a series of other passages of the second part, Israel, +too, is designated by the Servant of God, viz. in chap. xli. 8: "And thou Israel, +my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, seed of Abraham my friend," ver. 9: "Thou +whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called thee from its sides, and +said unto thee: Thou art my servant, I have chosen thee, and not cast thee away," +chap. xlii. 19, xliii. 10, xliv. 1, 2: "And now hear, O Jacob my servant, and Israel +whom I have chosen. Thus saith the Lord that made thee, formed thee from the womb +and helpeth thee: Fear not, O Jacob, my servant, and thou Jeshurun, whom I have +chosen;" chap. xliv. 21, xlv. 4, xlviii. 20; "Say ye, the Lord hath redeemed His +servant Jacob." In the face of this fact, we shall not be permitted to refer to +"the general signification of the expression, and its manifold use." For, generally, +it is of very rare occurrence that Israel is personified as the Son of God (in Ps. +cv. 6, it is not Israel, as <i>Köster</i> supposes, but Abraham who is called Servant +of God; Jer. xxx. 10, xlvi. 27; Ezek. xxxvii. 25 are, in all probability, dependent +upon the second part of Isaiah, by which this designation first obtained a footing), +and never occurs in such accumulation as here. For this very reason, we cannot well +think <span class="pagenum">[Pg 202]</span> of an accident; and if there was an +intention, we can seek it only in the circumstance that there exists a close reference +to those prophecies which, <i>ex professo</i>, have to do with the Servant of God. +To this we are led by another circumstance, also. While those passages in which +Israel or Jacob is spoken of as the servant of God, occur in great numbers in the +first book of the second part of Isaiah, they <i>disappear</i> altogether in the +second book, which is the proper seat of the detail prophecies of the Servant of +God in question, who, in the first book was, by way of anticipation only, mentioned +in chap. xlii. After chap. xlviii. 20, where the words: "The Lord hath redeemed +His servant Jacob," occur with evident intention, once more at the close of the +first book, Jacob, the servant of God, is, in general, no more spoken of, but the +Plural is used only of the Israelites as the servants of God in chap. lxiii. 17: +"For thy servants' sake, the tribes of thine inheritance;" lxv. 8, 9-13, lxvi. 14,--passages +which make it only the more evident that the Prophet purposely avoids bringing forward +Jacob as the ideal person of the Servant of the Lord. <i>Finally</i>--The idea of +chance is entirely excluded by chap. xlix. 3, where the Messiah is called Israel.</p> +<p class="normal">From these facts, however, we are not entitled to infer that, +in the prophetic announcement, Israel is simply spoken of as the servant of God; +but on the contrary the context must be viewed in a different and <i>nicer</i> way. +This is evident from the circumstance that, while in the passages chaps. xli. 7, +xlviii. 20, Israel and Jacob are intentionally spoken of as the servant of God, +or, at least, Israel is so distinctly pointed out that it cannot be at all misunderstood, +such an express pointing to Israel is (with the sole exception of chap. xlix. 3), +as intentionally, avoided in the prophetic announcement of the Servant of God. The +phrase "My servant Jacob," which, in the former passages is the rule, never occurs +in the latter. This circumstance clearly indicates that, besides the agreement, +there exists a difference. The facts, however, which point out the agreement, receive +ample justice by the supposition <i>that the Prophet considers Christ as the concentration +and essence of Israel</i>, that he expects from Him the realization of the task +which was given to Israel, but had not been fulfilled by them, and just thereby, +also, the realization of the promises given to <span class="pagenum">[Pg 203]</span> +Israel. But, besides other reasons, the fact that the whole description of the Servant +of God stands in direct contradiction to what the Prophet elsewhere says of Israel, +proves that Israel is not meant in <i>opposition</i> to the Messiah,--the body without +the head. It is especially chap. xlii. 19 which here comes into consideration: "Who +is so blind as my servant, or so blind as my messenger whom I send?" Israel is here +called servant of the Lord, because it had been called by Him to preserve the true +religion on earth. Parallel is the appellation: "My messenger whom I send." Israel, +as the messenger of God, was to deliver His commands to the Gentiles. The Prophet +sharpens the reproof, in that he always contrasts what the people were, and what +they ought to have been, according to the destination given to them by the Lord. +The servant of the Lord, who, in order to execute His commissions, must have a sharp +eye, is blind; His messenger is deaf and cannot hear what He says to him. The immense +contrast between idea and reality which is here pointed out, implies, since the +idea must necessarily be realized, that it shall receive another bearer; that in +place of the messenger, who has become blind and deaf, there should come the true +Messenger who first opens the eyes of Israel, and then those of the Gentiles,--that +the destination of Israel, which the members are unfit to realize, should be realized +by the head. We are not at liberty to say that the servant who had become blind +and deaf shall be converted, shall put off the old man and put on the new man, and +shall then accomplish the great things which, in the prophecies of the Servant of +God, are assigned to him. For the conversion,--on which everything depends, and +apart from which the announcement of the Prophet would be an empty fancy--is, in +all these prophecies, not mentioned by a single word. On the contrary, the Servant +of God is everywhere, from His very origin, brought before us as the absolutely +just. No more glaring contrast can really be imagined than that which exists between +that which the Prophet says of the ordinary Israel (whose outward state, as it is +described in chap. xlii. 22: "This is a people robbed and spoiled, they are all +of them snared in holes, and hid in prison-houses," is only a faithful image of +the internal condition), and the Son of God in whom His soul delighteth, who in +exuberant love seeks <span class="pagenum">[Pg 204]</span> that which is lost, whose +overflowing righteousness justifies many, and who, as a substitute, can suffer for +others. It is in Christ only, that Israel attains to its destination, both in a +moral point of view, and as regards the Divine preservation and glorification. To +this it may still be added, that neither here, nor in the parallel passages is +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">עבד יהוה</span> ever connected with a Plural, but +always with the Singular only; while elsewhere, in the case of collective nouns +and ideal persons, the real plurality not uncommonly shines forth from behind the +unity; and in those passages, especially, where Israel appears personified as a +unity, the use of the Singular is interchanged with that of the Plural. Comp., +<i>e.g.</i>, chap. xli. 8: "And thou Israel, my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, +seed (<i>posterity</i>) of Abraham, my friend," chap. xliii. 10: "<i>Ye are my witnesses.</i> +saith the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen." But a circumstance, which alone +would be sufficient for the proof, is the fact, that in chap. xli. 6, (comp. chap. +xlix. 5, 6) the Servant of the Lord is plainly distinguished from the people. How +can the Lord say of the people, that He will give it for a covenant of the people, +that in it He will cause the covenant with the people to attain to its truth? The +fact, that this passage opposes an insurmountable barrier to the explanation which +makes the people the subject, sufficiently appears from the circumstance, that the +expositors saw themselves obliged to set aside its natural sense by a forced, unphilological +explanation. <i>Finally</i>,--In understanding the people by the Servant of God, +the prophecies of the Servant of God are brought into irreconcileable contradiction +with all other prophecies, with the first part of Isaiah, and even with the second +part, inasmuch as things would then be prophesied of the people which, everywhere +else, are constantly assigned to the Messiah. This is quite openly expressed by +<i>Köster</i>: "The Servant of Jehovah is the Jewish people; viewed, however, by +the Prophet in such a manner as to combine in itself the attributes of both, the +prophets and the Messiah." Prophetism would have dug its own grave if its organs +had, in a manner so inconsiderate, contradicted each other as regards the highest +hopes of the people. The national conviction of the inspiration of the prophets, +which formed the foundation of their activity and efficiency, could, in that case, +not have arisen at <span class="pagenum">[Pg 205]</span> all. The same arguments +decide partly also against a modification of this explanation which evidently has +proceeded from embarrassment only,<sup class="ftnRef"><a name="ftnRef_205a" href="#ftn_205a">[1]</a></sup> +against those who, by the Servant of God, understand the better portion of Israel,--such +as <i>Maurer</i>, <i>Ewald</i>, <i>Oehler</i> (<i>Ueber den Knecht Gottes</i>, +<i>Tübinger Zeitschrift</i>, 1840. The latter differs from the other supporters +of this view in this, that, according to him, the notion of the ideal Israel which, +he thinks, prevails in chap. xlii. and xlix., is, in chap. liii., raised to the +view of an individual--the Messiah), <i>Knobel</i> ("The theocratic substance of +the people, to which especially the prophets and priests belonged.") By this modification, +the explanation which makes the people the subject, loses its only apparent foundation, +inasmuch as it can no more appeal to those passages in which Israel is spoken of +as the Servant of the Lord; for it is obvious that, in these, not merely the pious +portion of the people is spoken of. At the very outset, in ver. 19, the whole of +the people are undeniably designated by the Servant of the Lord. It is they only +who are blind and deaf in a spiritual point of view. The whole people, and not a +portion of them, are in the condition of servitude, ver. 22. In ver. 24, Jacob and +Israel are expressly mentioned. The whole people, and not merely the pious portion, +are objects of the Lord's election (chap. xli. 8, xliv. 1, 2); the whole people +are to be redeemed from Babylon, chap. xlviii. 20. The hypothesis of the pious portion +of the people can as little account for the unexceptional use of the singular, as +the hypothesis of the whole people; like it, it isolates the prophecies of the Servant +of God, and brings them into contradiction with all the other prophecies, which +assign to Christ the same things that are here assigned to the Servant of God. But +what is especially in opposition to this hypothesis is ver. 3, where the Servant +of God is designated as the Saviour of the poor and afflicted, which, in the first +instance, are no other than the better portion of the people; as well as other reasons, +which we shall bring out in commenting upon chap. liii. by which section the hypothesis +is altogether overthrown.</p> +<p class="normal">According to <i>De Wette</i> (<i>de morte expiat.</i> p. 26) and +<i>Gesenius</i>, <span class="pagenum">[Pg 206]</span> the subject of the prophecy +is the collective body of the prophets. Substantially, <i>Umbreit</i> too (<i>Der +Knecht Gottes</i>, Hamburg 1840) adheres to this interpretation. He rejects the +explanation which refers it to Christ in the sense of the Christian Church, and +on p. 13 he completely assents to <i>Gesenius</i>, by remarking that he could not +find in the prophets any supernatural, distinct predictions of future events. The +Prophet, according to him, formed to himself, by his own authority, an "ideal of +a Messiah," the abstraction of what he saw before his eyes in the people, especially +in the better portion of them, but chiefly in the order of the prophets, and then +persuaded himself that this self-invented image would, at some future period, come +into existence as a real person. "The highest ideal of the prophetic order, viewed +as teaching, is represented in the unity of a person." "We find the prophets as +a collective body in the <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">עבד</span>, but chiefly, +the prophets who, in future only, on the regained paternal soil, are, in some person, +to reach the highest perfection."</p> +<p class="normal">This hypothesis of the collective body of the prophets violently +severs the prophecy before us, and the parallel passages from those passages of +the second part in which Israel is spoken of as the Servant of God. It is quite +impossible to point out anywhere in the Old Testament, and especially in the second +part of Isaiah, an analogous personification of the order of the prophets as the +Servant of God. The reference to chap. xliv. 26: "That establisheth the word of +His servant, and performeth the counsel of His messengers; that saith of Jerusalem: +She shall be inhabited, and of the cities of Judah: They shall be built, and I will +raise up the walls thereof," is, in this respect, altogether out of place, inasmuch +as the servant of the Lord, in that verse, is not the collective band of the prophets, +but Isaiah himself, just as in chap. xxiii. The parallelism between the servant +of the Lord and His messengers is not a <i>synonymous</i>, but a <i>synthetic</i> +one, just as, afterwards, Jerusalem and the cities of Judah are placed beside one +another. The parallel passages clearly intimate that, by the servant of the Lord, +Isaiah only is to be understood. Throughout, the Prophet refers exclusively to his +own prophecies, as regards the impending salvation of Israel (the prophecies of +others he mentions, everywhere else, always in reference to the past only); +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 207]</span> and it cannot be imagined that, in this single +passage only, he should have designated himself as one among the many. If we consider +those parallel passages, we must assume that the <i>messengers</i> also are represented +chiefly by our Prophet; that he is their mouth and organ, just as, in Rev. i. 1, +and xxii. 6, the servants of God and the prophets are represented by John.</p> +<p class="normal"><i>Farther</i>--It cannot be denied that a certain amount of truth +lies at the foundation of the explanation which makes the prophetic order the subject. +The Messiah appears in our prophecy pre-eminently as the Prophet, in harmony and +connection with Deut. xviii. (comp. Vol. i., p. 107); and the substratum of the +description forms chiefly the prophetic order, while, in the prophecies of the first +part, it is chiefly the regal office which appears, and, in chap. liii., the priestly. +But the mistake (as <i>Umbreit</i> himself partly saw) is, that this explanation +changes the person into a personification, instead of recognizing that the idea, +which hitherto was only imperfectly realised by the prophetic order, demands a future +perfect realisation in an individual, so that we could not but expect such an one +even if there did not exist any Messianic prophecy at all. Every prophet who, in +human weakness, performed his office, was a guarantee of the future appearance of +<i>the</i> Prophet, as surely as God never does by halves what, according to His +nature, and as proved by the existence of the imperfect, He must do. But the fact +that, here, we have not before us a mere personification of the prophetic order, +nor, as little, according to the opinion of <i>Umbreit</i>, a single individual +by whom, in future, the idea of the prophetic order was to be most perfectly realised, +is evident from the circumstance that the Servant of God does not, by any means, +represent himself as being <i>only</i> the Prophet. The contrast between Cyrus and +the Servant of God, which <i>G. Müller</i> advances: "Evidently, the former is a +conqueror; the latter, a meek teacher," is one-sided; for the Servant of God appears, +at the same time, as a powerful <i>ruler</i>, just as Christ, in chap. lv. 4, is +at the same time designated as a <i>Witness</i>, and as Prince and Lawgiver of the +nations. To the mere teacher not even ver. 3 is applicable, if the parallel passages +are compared, but far less ver. 4: "The isles shall wait for <i>His law</i>." Nor +does a mere teacher come up to the embodied covenant with Israel in ver. 6, nor +to <i>the</i> <span class="pagenum">[Pg 208]</span> <i>light</i>, <i>i.e.</i>, Salvation +and Saviour of the Gentiles. By mere teaching, salvation cannot be wrought out. +Ver. 7 also does not apply to the mere <i>teacher</i>.</p> +<p class="normal">The collective body of the prophets, or the ideal prophet, is +altogether out of place in chap. liii.; for there the Servant of God does not appear +as a Prophet, but as a High Priest and Redeemer. This hypothesis meets with farther +difficulties by the mention of Israel in chap. xlix. 3. <i>Farther</i>--It cannot +well be conceived how the Prophet who, according to these expositors, lived about +the end of the exile, could expect such glorious things of the prophetic order, +as that from it even a preliminary and partial realization of his hopes should proceed. +At that time the prophetic order was already dying out; and a prophetic order among +the exiled cannot well be spoken of <i>Finally</i>--That which is here ascribed +to the Servant of God--the grand influence upon the heathen world--is not of such +a character, as that the prophets could be considered as even the precursors and +companions in the work of <i>the Prophet</i>. Neither prophecy nor history assigns +to the prophets any share in this work. This hypothesis severe the second part from +its connection with the whole remaining Old Testament, according to which it is +by Christ alone that the reception of the Gentiles into the Kingdom of God shall +be effected. And in this second part itself, it stands likewise in contradiction +to chap. lv. 3, 4.</p> +<hr class="W20"> +<p class="normal">Ver. 1. "<i>Behold my Servant whom I uphold, mine elect, in whom +my soul delighteth; I have put my Spirit upon Him, He shall bring forth right</i><sup class="ftnRef"><a name="ftnRef_208a" href="#ftn_208a">[2]</a></sup> +<i>to the Gentiles.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">Every pious man is called, in general, "servant of the Lord," +comp. Job i. 8; Ps. xix. 12, 14; but ordinarily, the designation is, in a special +sense, applied to those whom God makes use of for the execution of His purposes, +to whom He entrusts the administration of His affaire, and whom He equips for the +promotion of His glory. David, who, according to Acts xiii. 36, had in his generation +served the counsel of God, calls himself <span class="pagenum">[Pg 209]</span> in +his prayer in 2 Sam. vii., not fewer than ten times, the servant of God, (Vol. i, +p. 135, 136); and the same designation he gives to himself in the inscriptions of +Ps. xviii. and xxxvi. The <i>Prophets</i> are called servants of God in 2 Kings +xiii. 3; Jer. xxvi. 5. In the highest and most perfect degree, that designation +belongs to Christ, who, in the most perfect manner, carried out the decrees of God, +and to whom all former servants and instruments of the Lord in His kingdom, pointed +as types. But the designation has not merely a reference to the subjective element +of obedience, but points, at the same time, to the <i>dignity</i> of him who is +thus designated. It is a high honour to be received by God among the number of His +servants, who enjoy the providence and protection of their mighty and rich Lord. +That this aspect--the dignity--comes here chiefly into consideration, in the case +of Him who is the Servant of God <span lang="el" class="Greek">κατ᾽ ἐζοχήν</span>, +and in whom, therefore, this dignity must reach its highest degree, so that the +designation, <i>My Servant</i>, borders very closely upon that of <i>My Son</i>, +(comp. Matth. iii. 17, xvii. 5);--that this aspect comes here chiefly into consideration +is probable even from the circumstance that, in those passages of the second part +which treat of <i>Israel</i> as the servant of God, it is just this aspect which +is pre-eminently regarded. Thus it is in chap. xli. 8: "And thou Israel, my servant, +Jacob, whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham, my friend." To be the servant of +God appears here as an honour, as the privilege which was bestowed upon Israel in +preference to the Gentiles. On ver. 9: "Thou, whom I have taken from the ends of +the earth, and from her borders called thee, and said unto thee: Thou art my servant, +I have chosen thee and not cast thee away," Luther remarks: "The name, 'my servant,' +contains the highest <i>consolation</i>, both when we look to Him who speaks, viz.. +He who has created everything, and also to him who is addressed, viz., afflicted +and forsaken man." In chap. xliv. 1, 2: "And now hear, O Jacob, my servant, and +Israel whom I have chosen; thus saith the Lord that made thee, and formed thee from +the womb, who will help thee: Fear not, O Jacob, my servant, and Jeshurun, whom +I have chosen," all the designations of God and Israel serve only for an introduction +to the exhortation: "Fear not," by laying open the necessity which exists for the +promise in <span class="pagenum">[Pg 210]</span> ver. 3, which, without such ca +foundation, would be baseless. The context and the parallelism with "whom I have +chosen" show that the designation, "servant of God" in these verses has no reference +to a duty imposed, but to a privilege, a relation which is the pledge of divine +aid to Israel. Jeshurun stands as a kind of <i>nomen proprium</i>, and is not parallel +to <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">עבדי</span>, but to Jacob. In chap. xliv. 21: +"Remember this, O Jacob, and Israel, for thou art my servant, I have formed thee +for a servant to me, Israel, thou shalt not be forgotten of me," the +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">אלה</span> "this" refers to the folly of idolatry +exhibited in the preceding verses. The duty that Israel should remember this, is +founded upon the fact, that he is the servant of the Lord, called by Him to a glorious +dignity, to high prerogatives, of which he must not rob himself by apostatizing +from Him. It is He who has bestowed upon him this dignity, and He will soon show +by deeds, that He cannot forget him, if only his heart does not forget his God. +In a similar manner, in chap. xlv. 4, the protecting providence and love of God +are looked to. The aspect of the duty and of the service which Israel has to perform +to his Lord, is specially pointed out in a single passage only, in chap. xlii. 19; +all the other passages place the dignity in the foreground. That, in the designation. +Servant of God, in the passage before us, prominence is also given to the dignity, +is confirmed by the addition of "whom I uphold," which presents itself as an immediate +consequence of the relation of a servant of God, and by the parallel: "mine elect +in whom my soul delighteth."--<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">תמך</span> "to take," +"to seize," "to hold," when followed by <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ב</span>, +always signifies <i>to lay hold of</i>, <i>to hold fast</i>, <i>to support</i>. +With the words: "Behold my servant whom I uphold," corresponds what the Lord says +in John viii. 29: <span lang="el" class="Greek">ὁ πέμψας με μετ’ ἐμοῦ ἐστιν· οὐκ +ἀφῆκέ με μόνον ὁ Πατὴρ, ὅτι ἐγὼ τὰ ἀρεστὰ αὐτῷ ποιῶ πάντοτε</span>; comp. John iii. +2; Acts x. 38. The Preterite <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">נתתי</span> is employed, +because the communication of the Spirit is the condition of his bringing forth right, +just as, in ver. 6, the <i>calling</i> is the ground of the preservation. In the +whole of the description of the Servant of God, the Future prevails throughout; +the <i>Praeteritum propheticum</i> is employed only, where something is to be designated, +which, relatively, is antecedent; compare the words: "And the Spirit of the Lord +rests upon <span class="pagenum">[Pg 211]</span> Him," in chap. xi. 2; lxi. 1; Matt. +iii. 16; John iii. 34. The three passages in Isaiah which speak of the communication +of the Spirit to Christ are inseparably connected with one another, and, on the +whole Old Testament territory, there is no passage exactly parallel to them. The +Hiphel of <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">יצא</span> must not be explained by "to +announce," as some interpreters do; for in this signification it nowhere occurs; +and according to what follows, and the parallel passages, the Servant of God does +not by any means establish right by the mere announcement, but by His holy disposition. +But as little can we explain <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">הוציא</span> by "to +lead out," in contrast to the circumstance that, under the Old Testament, right +was limited to a single nation. For in the parallel passage, chap. li. 4: "Hearken +unto me, my people, and give ear unto me, O my congregation, for law shalt proceed +from me, and I will set my right for the light of the nations," +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">יצא</span> does not mean to go <i>out</i>, but to +go <i>forth</i>, <i>i.e.</i>, to proceed. In the same way, in Hab. i. 4: "And not +does right go forth for ever," <i>i.e.</i>, it never comes forth, is never established, +comp. Vol. i., p. 442, 443. Hence <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">הוציא</span> here +can mean only "to bring to light," "to bring forth." +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">משפט</span> is, by several interpreters, taken in +the signification, "religion;" but it is just ver. 4, by which they support their +view, which shows that the ordinary signification "right," must be retained here. +For in that verse, <i>right</i> stands in parallelism with <i>law</i>, by which +right is established; comp. chap. li. 4. Before God's Kingdom was, by the Servant +of God, extended to the Gentile nations, there existed among them, notwithstanding +all the excellence of outward legal arrangements, a condition without right in the +higher sense. Right, in its essence, has its root in God, as may be seen from the +Ten Commandments, which everywhere go back to God, and in all of which Luther, in +his exposition of the ten commandments, rightly repeats: "We shall fear and love +God." Where, therefore, the living God is not known, there can be no right. The +commandment: "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself," <i>e.g.</i>, has any meaning +only where the eye is open for the divine image which the neighbour bears, and for +the redemption of which he is a fellow-partaker. The commandment: "Honour thy father +and thy mother" will go to the heart only where the divine paternity is known, of +which all earthly paternity is only an image. <span class="pagenum">[Pg 212]</span> +In Deut. iv. 5-8, Israel's happiness is praised, in that they alone, among all the +nations, are in possession of God's laws and commandments. Those privileges of Israel +are, by the Servant of God, to be extended to the Gentiles who, because they are +destitute of right, are, in Deut. xxxii. 21, called a foolish nation. In Ps. cxlvii. +19, 20, it is said: "He showeth His word unto Jacob, His statutes and laws unto +Israel. He has not dealt so with any nation, and law they do not know." This passage +touches very closely upon that before us; like it, it denies right to the Gentiles +in general. "The Gentiles, being without God in the world, do not know any right +at all. For that which they call so, is only the shadow of that which really deserves +this name, is only a dark mixture of right and wrong." As regards the first table +of the Ten Commandments, they grope entirely in the dark; and with respect to the +second table, it is only here and there that they see a faint glimpse of light.--A +consequence of the bringing forth of right to the Gentiles is the ceasing of war, +as it is described in chap. ii. 4. When right has obtained dominion, it cannot tolerate +war beside it; where there is true right, there is also peace. The benefit which, +in the first instance, is conferred upon the Gentiles, is enjoyed by Israel also: +The intention of comforting and encouraging Israel clearly appears in the parallel +passage, chap. li. 4. For the right which obtains dominion among the Gentiles, is +Israel's pride and ornament, so that, along with their God and His right, they obtain +also the dominion over the Gentile world, by which they were hitherto kept in bondage; +and whensoever and wheresoever the divine right obtains dominion, the violent oppression +must cease, under which the people of God had been groaning up to that time. The +Servant of God, however, who brings forth right to the Gentiles, forms the contrast +to the worldly conqueror, of whom it was said in chap. xli. 25: "He cometh upon +princes as mortar, and, just as the potter treadeth the clay."--The words: "He shall +bring forth right," purposely return again in ver. 3; and equally intentionally, +the words: "He shall found right on the earth," in ver. 4, refer to them. "We have +thus"--<i>Stier</i> pertinently remarks--"in ver. 1, the sum and substance, even +to its aim. But it is immediately brought more distinctly to view, what +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 213]</span> will be the spirit and character, the mode +of operation, by which this aim is to be brought about."</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 2; "<i>He shall not cry nor lift up, nor cause His voice +to be heard in the street.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">After <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ישא</span> "he shall lift +up," "His voice" must be supplied from the context. The words must not be understood +in such a manner, as if they stood in opposition to chap. lviii. 1: "Cry with thy +throat, do not refrain, lift up thy voice like the trumpet, and show my people their +transgression, and to the house of Jacob their sins." The Prophet, in that passage, +encourages himself; and he cannot mean to represent that as objectionable, by the +circumstance that, in the case of the Servant of God, the very ideal of all the +servants of God, he points out and praises the very opposite. And, in like manner, +every interpretation is to be avoided according to which "dumb dogs which cannot +bark" find a pretext in this passage. According to Prov. i. 20: "Wisdom crieth aloud +without, she uttereth her voice in the streets."<!--inserted quote--> Just as the +prohibition of swearing in Matt. v. 34 is qualified by the opposition to Pharisaic +levity in cursing and swearing, so here, also, the antithesis to the loud manner +of the worldly conqueror must be kept in view,--the contrast to his violence which +stakes every thing upon carrying his own will, which cries and rages when it meets +with opposition and resistance, (Matt. renders <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">יצעק</span> +by <span lang="el" class="Greek">ἐρίσει</span>, "He shall contend"), to the earnestly +sought publicity, to the intention of causing sensation, as it proceeds from vanity +or pride. The <span lang="el" class="Greek">κραυγάσει</span>, by which Matthew renders +the <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ישא</span>, has nothing in common with the +<span lang="el" class="Greek">ἔκραξε</span> which, in John vii. 28, 37, is said +of Christ. With the passionate restlessness, with which the conqueror from the East +seeks to carry through his human plans, and to place himself in the centre of the +world's history, is here contrasted the inward composure and deportment of the Servant +of God, His equanimity, His freedom from excitement,--all of which are based upon +the clear consciousness of His dignity and mission, upon the conviction of the power +of the truth which is of God, of the power of the Spirit which opens up the minds +and hearts for it, and which has its source in the declaration: "I put my Spirit +upon Him," by which the great wall of separation between Him and the conqueror from +the East is set up. It is just <span class="pagenum">[Pg 214]</span> because of +His not being beat upon carrying through any thing, because of His great confidence, +that the Servant of God <i>gains</i> everything, and obtains His object of bringing +right to the nations.--Matt., in chap. xii. 15-21, finds the confirmation of the +character here assigned to Christ in two circumstances:--<i>first</i>, in His not +entering into a violent dispute with the Pharisees opposing Him (<span lang="el" class="Greek">οἱ +δὲ φαρισαῖοι συμβούλιον ἔλαβον κατ' αὐτοῦ ἐξελθόντες, ὅπως αὐτὸν ἀπολέσωσιν</span>), +in His not exciting against them the masses who were devoted to Him, but in withdrawing +from them (<span lang="el" class="Greek">ὁ δὲ Ἰησοῦς γνοὺς ἀνεχώρησεν ἐκεῖθεν</span>, +ver. 15), being convinced that the cause was not His but God's, and that there was +no reason for getting angry with those who were contending against God; just as +David said of Shimei: "Let him curse, because the Lord has said unto him, Curse +David."--<i>Secondly</i>, in the circumstance that instead of availing himself of +the excitement of the aroused masses, He charged them that they should not make +known His miraculous deeds (<span lang="el" class="Greek">καὶ ἐπετίμησεν αὐτοῖς +ἵνα μὴ φανερὸν αὐτὸν ποιήσωσιν</span>, ver. 16), being convinced that He did not +need to seek to draw attention to himself, but that, by the secret and hidden power +of God, His work would be accomplished.</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 3. "<i>The bent reed shall He not break, and the dimly burning +wick shall He not quench; in truth shall He bring forth right.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">Here, too, the antithesis to the worldly conqueror who, without +mercy, "Cometh upon princes as mortar, and as a potter treadeth the clay" (chap. +xli. 25), whose mind is bent only upon destroying and cutting off nations not a +few (chap. x. 7), who does not give rest until he has fully cast down to the ground +the broken power. The Servant of God, far from breaking the bent reed, shall, on +the contrary--this is the positive opposed to the negative--care for, and assist +the wretched with tender love. Just thereby does He accomplish the object of His +efforts. The confirmation of the character here assigned to Christ is, by Matthew, +found in His healing the sick (<span lang="el" class="Greek">καὶ ἐθεράπευσεν αὐτοὺς +πάντας</span>, ver. 15), as prefiguring all that which He, who has declared the +object of His coming to be to seek all that which was lost, did and accomplished, +in general, for the misery of the human race. There cannot be any doubt that the +bent reed and the dimly burning wick are figurative designations +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 215]</span> of those who, beaten down by sufferings, feel +themselves to be poor and miserable. These the weary and heavy laden, the Servant +of God will not drive to despair by severity, but comfort and refresh by tender +love. His conduct towards them is that of a Saviour. As a bent reed, +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">קנה רצוץ</span>, Pharaoh appears on account of his +broken power, in chap. xxxvi. 6, and in chap. lviii. 6, the +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">רצוצים</span> are the oppressed. The fact, that the +<i>wick</i> dimly burning and near to being extinguished is an image of exhausted +strength, is shown by chap. xliii. 17, where, in reference to the Egyptians carried +away by the judgment, it is said: "They are extinct, they are quenched like a wick." +In the parallel passages which treat of the Servant of God, the <i>weary</i> in +chap. l. 4, and the <i>broken-hearted</i> in chap. lxi. 1, correspond to it. Elsewhere, +too, the wretched appear as objects of the loving providence of the Saviour. Thus, +in chap. xi. 4: "And He judges in righteousness the low;" in Ps. lxxii. 4: "He shall +judge the poor of the people; He shall save the children of the needy, and shall +break in pieces the oppressor;" and in vers. 12-14: "For He delivereth the needy +when he crieth, and the miserable, and him that hath no deliverer. From oppression +and violence He delivereth their soul, and precious is their blood in His sight." +Just as, in the passage before us, the bringing forth of right appears as a consequence +of the loving providence for the bent reed, and the dimly burning wick, so in that +Psalm, the great fact: "And all the kings worship Him, and all the nations serve +Him," is traced back to the tender love with which He cares for and helps the poor +and needy. In the Sermon on the Mount, the beatitude of the +<span lang="el" class="Greek">πτωχοί</span>, Matt. v. 3, of the +<span lang="el" class="Greek">πενθοῦντες</span>, ver. 4, and in Matt. xi. 28, the +invitation of the <span lang="el" class="Greek">κοπιῶντες καὶ πεφορτισμένοι</span>, +exactly correspond. The wicked and ungodly, upon whom the judgments of God have +been inflicted, are not included, because they are not wretched in the full sense; +for they harden themselves against the suffering, or seek to divert themselves in +it; they do not take it fully to heart. The <span lang="el" class="Greek">τῷ πνεύματι</span>, +"in their consciousness," which in Matthew is added to the simple +<span lang="el" class="Greek">πτωχοί</span>, which alone we find in Luke, must be +understood as a matter of course. He only is poor in the full sense, who feels and +takes to heart his poverty. According to an interpretation widely spread, repenting +sinners are designated <span class="pagenum">[Pg 216]</span> by the bent reed, and +dimly burning wick. Thus Luther writes: "That means that the wounded conscience, +those who are terrified at the sight of their sins, the weak in life and faith are +not cast away by Him, are not oppressed and condemned, but that He cares for them, +tends and nurses them, makes them whole and embraces them with love." But repenting +sinners do not here come into consideration <i>per se</i>, but only as one species +of the wretched, inasmuch as, according to Luther's expression, truly to feel sin +is a torment beyond all torments.--The last words: "In truth shall He bring forth +right" again take up the close of ver. 1, after the means have been stated, in the +intervening words, by which He is to bring about the result. The +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">לאמת</span> must not be translated: "For truth" +(LXX: <span lang="el" class="Greek">εἰς ἀλήθειαν</span>); for there is a thorough +difference between <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ל</span> and +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">אל</span>; the former does not, like the latter, +designate the motion towards some object, but is rather, here also, a preposition +signifying "belonging to;" hence <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">לאמת</span> means +"belonging to truth," "in a true manner," "in truth." By every other mode of dealing, +right would be established <i>in appearance</i> and <i>outwardly</i> only. Matthew +renders it: <span lang="el" class="Greek">ἕως ἂν ἐκβάλῃ εἰς νῖκος τὴν κρίσιν</span>, +"until He has led right to victory." By the addition of +<span lang="el" class="Greek">ἕως</span> he intimates, that the last words state +the result which is brought about by the conduct of the Servant of God described +in the preceding words. <span lang="el" class="Greek">Εἰς νῖκος</span> is a free +translation of <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">לאמת</span>; +<span lang="el" class="Greek">κρίσις</span> is "right," as in chap. xxiii. 23.--How +objectionable and untenable all the non-Messianic explanations are, appears very +clearly in this verse. If Israel were the Servant of God, then the <i>Gentile world</i> +must be represented by the bent reed and dimly burning wick. But in that case, we +must have recourse to such arbitrary interpretations as, <i>e.g.</i>, that given +by <i>Köster</i>: "The weak faith and imperfect knowledge of the Gentiles." No weak +faith, no imperfect knowledge, however, is spoken of; but the Servant of God appears +as a Saviour of the poor and afflicted, of those broken by sufferings. Those who, +by the Servant of God, understand the better portion of the people, or the prophetic +order, speak of "the meek spirit of the mode of teaching, which does not by any +means altogether crush the sinner already brought low, but, in a gentle, affectionate +manner, raises him up," (<i>Umbreit</i>); or say with <i>Knobel</i>: "These poor +and afflicted He does not <span class="pagenum">[Pg 217]</span> humble still more +by hard, depressing <i>words</i>, but <i>speaks</i> to them in a comforting and +encouraging way, raising them up and strengthening them." But in this explanation +everything is, without reason, drawn into the territory of speech, while Matthew +rightly sees, in the healing of the sick by Christ, a confirmation by deeds of the +prophecy before us. In chap. lxi., also, the Servant of God does not only bring +glad tidings, but <i>creates</i>, at the same time, the blessings announced. According +to chap. lxi. 3, He gives to them that mourn in Zion beauty for ashes, joy for mourning, +garment of praise for a weak (<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">כהה</span>) spirit. +Verse 6 of the chapter before us most clearly indicates how little we are allowed +to limit ourselves to mere speaking; for, according to that verse, the Servant of +God is himself the covenant of the people, and the light of the Gentiles, and according +to ver. 7, He opens the eyes of the blind, &c.</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 4. "<i>He shall not fail nor run away until He shall have +founded right in the earth, and for His law the isles shall wait.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">On: "He shall not fail," properly, "He shall not become dim," +comp. Deut. xxxiv. 7, where it is said of Moses, the servant of God: "His eye had +not become dim, nor had his strength fled." The <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">לא +ירוץ</span> "He shall not run away" (properly, "He shall not <i>run</i>") is qualified +and fixed by the parallelism with <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">לא יכהה</span> +"He shall not fail." <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">רוץ</span> in other passages +also, several times receives, by the context, the qualified signification "to run +away," "to take to flight," "to flee;" comp. Judges viii. 21; Jer. xlix. 19. The +words: "He shall not fail nor run away" imply that, in the carrying out of His vocation, +the Servant of God shall meet with powerful <i>obstacles</i>, with obstinate <i> +enemies</i>, and shall have to endure severe sufferings. That which is here merely +hinted at, is carried out and detailed in chap. xlix., l., liii. How near He was +to failing and running away (David, too, was obliged to say: "Oh! that I had wings +like a dove, then would I fly away and be at rest") is seen from His utterance in +Matt. xvii. 17: <span lang="el" class="Greek">ὦ γενεὰ ἄπιστος καὶ διεστραμμένη, +ἕως πότε ἔσομαι μεθ’ ὑμῶν; ἕως πότε ἀνέξομαι ὑμῶν.</span>--According to the current +opinion, <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ירוץ</span> is here assumed to be the Future +of <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">רצץ</span>, for <span lang="he" class="Hebrew"> +יָרֹץ</span>, and that in the appropriate signification: "He shall not be broken." +(Thus it was probably <span class="pagenum">[Pg 218]</span> viewed by the Chaldean +Paraphrast who renders <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">לא ילאי</span> <i>non laborabit</i>; +by the LXX., who translate <span lang="el" class="Greek">οὐ θραυθσησεται</span>, +while <i>Aquila</i> and <i>Symmachus</i>, according to the account of <i>Jerome</i>, +render, <i>non curret</i>, thus following the derivation from +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">רוץ</span>). As <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">יכהה</span> +points back to <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">כהה</span> in the preceding verse, +so, in that case <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ירוץ</span> would point back to +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">רצוץ</span> "He shall not break that which is bent, +nor quench that which is dimly burning; but neither shall He himself be broken or +quenched." But this explanation is opposed by the circumstance, that we must make +up our minds to admit a double anomaly. The territories of the two verbs +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">רצץ</span> and <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">רוץ</span> +are everywhere else kept distinct, and the former everywhere else means "to break," +and not "to be broken." In the only passage, Eccl. xii. 6, brought forward in support +of this irregularity, <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">רוץ</span> "to run," "to flee +away," being in parallelism with <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">נרחק</span> "to +be removed," is quite appropriate; just as in the second clause of that verse +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">רוץ</span> "to be crushed," is in parallelism with +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">נשבר</span>] "to be broken."--<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">איים</span> +are, in the <i>usus loquendi</i> of Isaiah, not so much the real islands, as rather +the islands in the sea of the world, the countries and kingdoms; compare remarks +on Rev. vi. 14, and Ps. xcvii. 1 (second Edition). The <i>law</i> for which the +islands wait is not so much a ready-made code of laws, as the single decisions of +the living Lawgiver, which the Gentiles, with anxious desire, shall receive as their +rule in all circumstances, after they have spontaneously submitted to the dominion +of the Servant of God, having been attracted by His loving dispensations. Several +unphilologically translate: "for His <i>doctrine</i>," which does not even give +a good sense, for it is not the doctrine which is waited for; its value is known +only after it has been preached. The Servant of God appears here as the spiritual +Ruler of the nations; and this He becomes by being, in the fullest sense, the Servant +of God, so that His will is not different from the will of God, nor +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">תורה</span> from that of God, just as, in a lower +territory, even Asaph speaks the bold word: "Hear, my people, my law." "The singer +comes forth as one who has full authority, the 'Seer' and 'Prophet' utter <i>laws</i> +which leave no alternative between Salvation and destruction." Parallel is chap. +ii. 3, 4, where the nations go up to Zion, in order there to seek laws for the regulation +of their practical conduct, and according to which the Lord <i>judges</i> among +the nations, and the law goes forth <span class="pagenum">[Pg 219]</span> out of +Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. The difference is this only,--that, +in that passage, the matter is traced back immediately to God, while here, the Servant +of God is mentioned as the Mediator between Him and the Gentiles. But we must keep +in mind that, for chap. ii. also, the parallel passages in chap. iv., ix., xi., +furnish the supplement. We must, farther, compare also chap. li. 5: "My righteousness +is near, my salvation goes forth, <i>mine arms shall judge the nations</i>, the +isles shall wait for me, and on mine arm shall they hope." The <i>judging</i> in +that passage does not mean divine punitive judgments; but it is rather thereby intimated +that all the nations shall recognise the Lord as their King, to whose government +they willingly submit, and with whom they seek the decision of their disputes. Matthew +purposely changes it into: "And in <i>His name</i> shall the Gentiles trust." The +desire for the commands of the Lord is an effect of the love of His <i>name</i>, +<i>i.e.</i>, of Him who is glorified by His deeds. For the name is the product of +deeds,--here especially of those designated in ver. 2 and 3. The commands are desired +and longed for, only because the person is beloved on account of His deeds. Matthew +has only distinctly brought out that which, in the original text, is intimated by +the connection with the preceding verses. In consequence of this, His quiet, just, +and merciful dispensation, the isles shall wait for His law.</p> +<p class="normal">In ver. 5-7 the Lord addresses His Servant, and promises Him that, +by His omnipotence, the great work for which He has called Him, shall be carried +out and accomplished, viz., that the covenant relation to Israel shall be fully +realized, and the darkness of the Gentile world shall be changed into light.</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 5. "<i>Thus saith God the Lord, who createth the heavens +and stretcheth them out; who spreadeth forth the earth and that which cometh out +of it; who giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk thereon.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">The Prophet directs attention to the omnipotence of God, in order +to give a firm support to faith in the promise which exceeds all human conception. +It is by this that the accumulation of the predicates is to be accounted for. He +who fully realizes what a great thing it is to bring an apostate world back to God, +to that God who has become a stranger to it, <span class="pagenum">[Pg 220]</span> +will surely not explain this accumulation by a "disposition, on the part of the +Prophet, to diffuseness."</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 6. "<i>I the Lord have called thee in righteousness, and +I will seize thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for the covenant of the +people and, for the Light of the Gentiles.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">It is so obvious that <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">בצדק</span> +must be translated by "in righteousness," that the explanations which disagree with +it do not deserve to be even mentioned. The mission of the Servant of God has its +root in the divine <i>righteousness</i>, which gives to every one his due,--to the +covenant-people, salvation. Even apart from the promise, the appearance of Christ +rests on the righteousness of God. For it is in opposition to the nature and character +of a people of God to be, for any length of time, in misery, and shut up to one +corner of the earth. That which is to be accomplished for Israel by the Servant +of God, forms, in the sequel, the first subject of discourse. But even that which +He affords to the <i>Gentiles</i> is, at the same time, given to Israel, inasmuch +as it is one of their prerogatives that salvation for the Gentiles should go forth +from them. As, here, the mission of the Servant of God, so, in chap. xlv. 13, the +appearance of the lower deliverer appears as the work of divine righteousness: "I +have raised him up in righteousness, and all his ways I will make straight." Similarly +also in chap. xli. 2: "Who raised up from the East him whom righteousness calls +wherever he goes," <i>i.e.</i>, him, all whose steps are determined by God's righteousness, +who, in all his undertakings, is guided by it.--The seizing by the hand, the keeping, +&c., are the consequence of His being called, and are equivalent to: just because +I have called him, therefore will I, &c. Luther remarks: "Namely, for this reason, +that Satan and the world, with all their might and wisdom, will <i>resist</i> thy +work." In the words: "For the Covenant of the people, and for the Light of the Gentiles," +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">עם</span> and <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">גוים</span> +form an antithesis. The absence of the article shows that we ought properly to translate: +"For a Covenant of a people, for a Light of Gentiles." It is thus, in the first +instance, only said that the Servant of God should be the personal covenant for +a people; but <i>what</i> people that should be, cannot admit of a moment's doubt. +To Israel, as such, the name of the <i>people</i> pre-eminently belongs. Israel, +in preference to all others, is called <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">עם</span> +(compare <i>Gesenius'</i> <span class="pagenum">[Pg 221]</span> Thesaurus <i>s.v.</i> +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">גוי</span>), because it is only the people of God +that is a people in the full sense, connected by an internal unity; the Gentiles +are <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">לא עם</span>, <i>non-people</i>, according to +Deut. xxxii. 21, because they lack the only real tie of unity. But what is still +more decisive is the mention of the <i>Covenant</i>. The covenant can belong to +the covenant-people only, <span lang="el" class="Greek">ὧν αἱ διαθῆκαι</span>, Rom. +ix. 4,--the old, no less than the new one. The covenant with Abraham is an everlasting +covenant of absolute exclusiveness, Gen. xvii. 7. The Servant of God is called the +personal and embodied Covenant, because in His appearance the covenant made with +Israel is to find its full truth; and every thing implied in the very idea of a +covenant, all the promises flowing from this idea, are to be in Him, Yea and Amen. +The Servant of God is here called the Covenant of Israel, just in the same manner +as in Mic. v. 4 (comp. Ephes. ii. 14), it is said of Him: "This (man) is Peace," +because in Him, peace, as it were, represents itself personally;--just as in chap. +xlix. 6, He is called the <i>Salvation</i> of God, because this salvation becomes +personal in Him, the Saviour,--just as in Gen. xvii. 10, 13, circumcision is called +a covenant, as being the embodied covenant,--just as in Luke xxii. 20, the cup, +the blood of Christ, is called the New Covenant, because in it it has its root. +The explanation: Mediator of the covenant, <span lang="el" class="Greek">διαθήκης +ἔγγυος</span>, is meagre, and weakens the meaning. The circumstance that the Servant +of God is, without farther qualification, called the Covenant of the people, shows +that He stands in a different relation to the covenant from that of Moses, to whom +the name of the <i>Mediator</i> of the covenant does not the less belong than to +Him. From Jer. xxxi. 31, we learn which are the blessings and gifts which the Servant +of God is to bestow, and by which He represents himself as the personal Covenant. +They are concentrated in the closest connection to be established by Him between +God and His people: "I will be their God, and they shall be my people." It is only +in the New Covenant, described in that passage of Jeremiah, that the Old Covenant +attains to its truth. The second destination of the Servant of God, which, according +to the context, here comes into special consideration, is, to be <i>the Light of +the Gentiles</i>. By the realization of this destination, an important feature in +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 222]</span> the former was, at the same time, realized. +For it formed part of the promises of the covenant with Israel that, from the midst +of them, salvation for all the families of the earth should go forth, as our Saviour +says: <span lang="el" class="Greek">ἡ σωτηρία ἐκ τῶν Ἰουδαίων ἐστίν</span> Light +is here, according to the common <i>usus loquendi</i> of Scripture, a figurative +designation of <i>salvation</i>. In the parallel passage, chap. xlix. 6, light is +at once explained by salvation. The designation proceeds upon the supposition that +the Gentiles, not less than Israel, (comp. chap. ix. 1 [2]) shall, until the appearance +of the Servant of God, sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,--that they are +in misery, although, in some instances, it may be a <i>brilliant</i> misery. The +following verse farther carries out and declares what is implied in the promise: +"Light of the Gentiles." Parallel is chap. lx. 3: "And the heathen walk in thy (Zion's) +light"--they become partakers of the salvation which shines for Zion--"and kings +in the brightness which riseth to thee."--The supporters of that opinion, which +understands Israel by the Servant of God, are in no small difficulty regarding this +verse, and cannot even agree as to the means of escape from that difficulty. Several +assume that <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">עם</span> is used collectively, and refer +it to the Gentile nations. But opposed to this explanation is the evident antithesis +of <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">עם</span> and <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">גוים</span>; +and it is entirely overthrown by the parallel passage in chap. xlix. Scripture knows +nothing of a covenant with the Gentiles. According to the view of the Old, as well +as of the New Testament, the Gentiles are received into the communion of the covenant +with Israel. Others (<i>Hitzig</i>, <i>Ewald</i>) explain: "covenant-people, <i> +i.e.</i>, a mediatorial, connecting people, a bond of union between God and the +nations." But the passage, chap. xlix. 8, is most decidedly opposed to this. <i> +Farther</i>--The parallelism with <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">אור גוים</span> +shows that <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ברית עם</span> is the <i>status constructus</i>. +But <i>fœdus alicujus</i>, is, according to the remark of <i>Gesenius</i>, <i>fœdus +cum aliquo sancitum</i>. Thus in Lev. xxvi. 45, the covenant of the ancestors is +the covenant entered into with the ancestors; Deut. iv. 31; Lev. xxvi. 42 (the covenant +of Jacob, the covenant of Isaac, &c.) According to <i>Knobel</i>: "the true theocrats +are to become a covenant of the people, the restorers of the Israelitish Theocracy, +they themselves having connection and unity by faithfully holding fast by Jehovah, +and by representing His cause." This explanation, <span class="pagenum">[Pg 223]</span> +also, is opposed to the <i>usus loquendi</i>, according to which "covenant of the +people" can have the sense only of "covenant with the people," not a covenant among +the people. And, <i>farther</i>, the parallel passage in chap. xlix. 8 is opposed +to this interpretation also, inasmuch as, in that passage, the Servant of the Lord +is called <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ברית עם</span>, not on account of what +He is in himself, but on account of the influence which He exercises upon others, +upon the whole of the people: "That thou mayest raise up the land, distribute desolate +heritages, that thou mayest say to the prisoners: Go forth," &c. In that passage +the land, the desolate heritages, the prisoners, &c., evidently correspond to the +people. <i>Finally</i>--A covenant is a relation between two parties standing opposite +one another. "The word is used,"<!--inserted quote--> says <i>Gesenius</i>, "of +a covenant formed between nations, between private persons, <i>e.g.</i>, David and +Jonathan, between Jehovah and the people of Israel." But here no parties are mentioned +to be united by the covenant.</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 7. "<i>That thou mayest open blind eyes, bring out them that +are bound from the prison, and from the house of confinement them that sit in darkness.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">On account of the connection with the "for the Light of the Gentiles," +which would stand too much isolated, if, in the words immediately following, Israel +alone were again the subject of discourse, the activity of God here mentioned refers, +in the first instance, to the <i>Gentiles</i>; and the words: "them that sit in +darkness," moreover, evidently point back to "for the Light of the Gentiles." But +from chap. xlix. 9, and also from ver. 16 of the chapter before us, where the blindness +of Israel is mentioned, it appears that Israel too must not be excluded. Hence, +we shall say: It is here more particularly described how the Servant of God <i>proves</i> +himself as the Covenant of the people and the Light of the Gentiles, how He puts +an end to the misery under which both equally groan. It will be better to understand +<i>blindness</i>, in connection with imprisonment, sitting in darkness, as a designation +of the need of salvation, than as a designation of spiritual blindness, of the want +of the light of knowledge. That is also suggested by the preceding: "for the Light +of the Gentiles," which, according to the common <i>usus loquendi</i>, and according +to chap. ix. 1 (2) is not to be referred to the spiritual illumination especially, +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 224]</span> but to the bestowal of salvation. To this +view we are likewise led by a comparison of ver. 16: "And I will lead the blind +by a way that they knew not, I will lead them in paths that they have not known, +I will change the darkness before them into light, the crooked things into straightness." +The <i>blind</i> in this verse are those who do not know what to do, and how to +help themselves, those who cannot find the way of salvation, the miserable; they +are to be led by the Lord on the ways of salvation, which are unknown to them. In +a similar sense and connection, the blind are, elsewhere also, spoken of, comp. +Remarks on Ps. cxlv. 8.--On the words: "Bring out them that are bound from the prison," +<i>Knobel</i> remarks: "The citizens of Judah were, to a great extent, imprisoned; +the Prophet hopes for their deliverance by the theocratic portion of the people." +A strange hope! By this coarsely literal interpretation, the connection with "for +the Light of the Gentiles" is broken up; and this is the less admissible that the +words at the close of the verse: "those that sit in darkness," so clearly refer +to it. <i>Imprisonment</i> is a figurative designation of the <i>miserable condition</i>, +not less than, the <i>darkness</i>, which, on account of the light contrasted with +it, and on account of chap. ix. 1 (2), cannot be understood otherwise than figuratively. +Under the image of men bound in dark prisons, the miserable and afflicted appear +also in Ps. cvii. 10-16; Job xxxvi. 8, where the words, "bound in fetters," are +explained by the parallel "holden in the cords of misery." When David, in Ps. cxlii. +8, prays: "Bring my soul out of the prison," he himself explains this in Ps. cxliii. +11 by the parallel: "Thou wilt bring my soul out of <i>trouble</i>;" comp. also +Ps. xxv. 17: "O bring thou me out of my <i>distresses</i>." If we here understand +the prison literally, we might, with the same propriety in other passages, also, +<i>e.g.</i>, in Ps. lxvi. 11, understand <i>literally</i> the net, the snare, the +trap.</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 8: "<i>I the Lord, that is my name, and my honour I will +not give to another, nor my glory to idols.</i> Ver. 9. <i>The former</i> (things), +<i>behold, they came to pass, and new</i> (things) <i>do I declare; before they +spring forth, I cause you to hear.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">We have here the solemn close and exhortation. At the close of +chap. xli. it had been pointed out, how the prediction of the <i>Conqueror from +the East</i> serves for the glory of Jehovah, <span class="pagenum">[Pg 225]</span> +who thereby proves himself to be the only true God. Here the zeal of God for His +glory is indicated as the reason which has brought forth the prediction of the +<i>Servant of God</i> and His glorious work,--a prediction which cannot be accounted +for from natural causes. It is thus the object of the prophecy which is here, in +the first instance, stated. It is intended to manifest the true God as such, as +a God who is zealously bent on His glory. But the same attribute of God which called +forth the prophecy, calls forth also the events prophesied, viz., the appearance +of the Servant of God, and the victory over the idols accomplished thereby, the +bringing forth of the law of God over the whole earth through Him, and the full +realization of the covenant with Israel. The thought is this:--that a God who does +not manifest and prove himself as such, who is contented with the honour granted +to Him without His interference, cannot be a God; that the true God must of necessity +be filled with the desire of absolute, exclusive dominion, and cannot but manifest +and prove this desire. From this thought, the prophecy and that which it promises +flow with a like necessity.--According to <i>Stier</i>, +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ראשנות</span>, "the former (things)" means "the redemption +of the exiled by Cyrus," which in chaps. xli. xlviii. forms the historico-typical +foreground, whose coming is here anticipated by the Prophet. But the parallel passages, +chaps. xli. 22, xliii. 9, xlviii. 3, are conclusive against this view; for, according +to these passages, it is only the former already fulfilled predictions of the Prophet +and his colleagues, from the beginnings of the people, which can be designated by +"the former (things)." By "the new (things)" therefore, is to be understood the +aggregate of the events which are predicted in the second part, to which belongs +the prophecy of the Servant of God which immediately precedes, and which the Prophet +has here as pre-eminently in view (<i>Michaelis</i>: <i>et nova, imprimis de Messia</i>), +as, in the parallel passage chap. xli. 22, the announcement of the conqueror from +the East. Both of these verses seem to round off our prophecy, by indicating that +such disclosures regarding the Future are not by any means intended to serve for +the gratification of idle curiosity, but to advance the same object to which the +events prophesied are also subservient, viz., the promotion of God's glory. The +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 226]</span> modern view of Prophetism is irreconcileable +with the verses under consideration, which evidently shew, that the prophets themselves +were filled with a different consciousness of their mission and position And in +like manner it follows from them, that there is no reason to put, by means of a +forced interpretation, the prophecy within the horizon of the Prophet's time, seeing +that the Prophet himself shows himself to be thoroughly penetrated by its altogether +supernatural character.</p> +<hr class="ftn"> +<div class="ftn"> + <p class="ftnText"><a name="ftn_205a" href="#ftnRef_205a"> + <sup class="ftnRef">[1]</sup></a> This embarrassment becomes still more obvious + in the explanation of <i>Vatke</i>, who understands by the Servant of God, "the + harmless ideal abstract of the people;" and that of <i>Beck</i>, who understands + thereby "the notion of the people."</p> +</div> +<div class="ftn"> + <p class="ftnText"><a name="ftn_208a" href="#ftnRef_208a"> + <sup class="ftnRef">[2]</sup></a> The Hebrew word is + <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">משפט</span>, which means "judgment," "right," + "law." Dr. <i>Hengstenberg</i> has translated it by <i>Recht</i>, which is, + as nearly as possible, expressed by the English word "right," (<i>jus</i>,) + as including "law" and "statutes."--<i>Tr.</i></p> +</div> +<h3><a name="div2_226" href="#div2Ref_226">CHAPTER XLIX. 1-9.</a></h3> +<p class="normal">The Servant of God, with whose person the Prophet had. by way +of preparation, already made us acquainted in the first book of the second part, +in chap. xlii., is here, at the beginning of the second book, at once introduced +as speaking, surprising, as it were, the readers. In ver. 1-3, we have the destination +and high calling which the Lord assigned to His Servant; in ver. 4, the contrast +and contradiction of the result of this mission; the covenant-people, to whom it +is, in the first instance, directed, reward with ingratitude His faithful work. +In ver. 5 and 6, we are told what God does in order to maintain the dignity of His +Servant; as a compensation for obstinate, rebellious Israel, He gives Him the <i> +Gentiles</i> for an inheritance. From ver. 7 the Prophet takes the word. In ver. +7 the original contempt which, according to the preceding verses, the Servant of +God meets with, especially in <i>Israel</i>, is contrasted with the respectful worship +of nations and kings which is to follow after it. Ver. 8 and 9 describe how the +Servant of God proves himself to be the embodied covenant of the people, and form +the transition to a general description of the enjoyment of salvation, which, in +the Messianic times, shall be bestowed upon the Congregation of the Lord. This description +goes on to chap. l. 3, and then, in chap. l. 4 ff., the person of the Servant of +the Lord is anew brought before us.</p> +<p class="normal">The Messianic explanation of our passage is already met with in +the New Testament. It is with reference to it that <span class="pagenum">[Pg 227]</span> +Simeon, in Luke ii. 30, 31, designates the Saviour as the +<span lang="el" class="Greek">σωτήριον</span> of God, which He had prepared before +the face of all people (comp. ver. 6 of our passage: "That thou mayest be my salvation +unto the end of the earth"), as the <span lang="el" class="Greek">φῶς εἰς ἀποκάλυψιν +ἐθνῶν καὶ δόξαν λαοῦ σου Ἰσραήλ</span>; comp. again ver. 6, according to which the +Servant of God is to be at the same time, the light of the Gentiles, to raise up +the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel. Ver. 1: "The Lord hath +called me from the womb, from the bowels of my mother hath He made mention of my +name," is alluded to in Luke ii. 21: <span lang="el" class="Greek">Καὶ ἐκλήθη τὸ +ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Ἰησοῦς, τὸ κληθὲν ὑπὸ τοῦ ἀγγέλου πρὸ τοῦ συλληφθῆναι αὐτὸν ἐν τῇ κοιλίᾳ</span> +(comp. i. 31: <span lang="el" class="Greek">συλλήψῃ ἐν γαστρὶ καὶ τέξῃ υἱόν καὶ +καλέσεις τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Ἰησοῦν</span>) as is sufficiently evident from +<span lang="el" class="Greek">ἐν τῇ κοιλίᾳ</span> <i>sc. matris</i>, which exactly +answers to the <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">מבטן</span> in the passage before +us. In Acts xiii. 46, 47, Paul and Barnabas prove, from the passage under review, +the destination of Christ to be the Saviour of the Gentiles, and their right to +offer to them the salvation despised and rejected by the Jews: +<span lang="el" class="Greek">ἰδοὺ στρεφόμεθα εἰς τὰ ἔθνη· οὕτω γὰρ ἐντέταλται ἡμῖν +ὁ Κύριος· τέθεικά σε εἰς φῶς ἐθνῶν τοῦ εἶναί σε εἰς σωτηρίαν ἕως ἐσχάτου τῆς γῆς</span> +In the destination which, in Isaiah, the Lord assigns to Christ, Paul and Barnabas +recognize an indirect command for his disciples, a rule for their conduct. In 2 +Cor. vi. 1, 2, ver. 8 is quoted, and referred to the Messianic time.</p> +<p class="normal">It is obvious that the Jews could not be favourable to the Messianic +interpretation; but the Christian Church has held fast by it for nearly 1800 years. +Even such interpreters as <i>Theodoret</i> and <i>Clericus</i>, who are everywhere +rather disposed to explain away real Messianic references, than to find the Messiah +where He is not presented, consider the Messianic interpretation to be, in this +place, beyond all doubt. The former says: "This was said with a view to the Lord +Christ, who is the seed of Abraham, through whom the nations received the promise." +And when, in our century, men returned to the faith, the Messianic interpretation +also returned. If the Church has Christ at all, it is impossible that she should +fail to find Him here.</p> +<p class="normal" dir="ltr"><i>Gesenius</i>, and those who have followed him, appeal +to the circumstance, that the Messiah could not well be introduced as speaking, +and, least of all, in such a manner, without any introduction +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 228]</span> and preparation. But it is difficult to see +how this argument can be advanced by those who themselves assume that a mere personification, +the collective body of the prophets, or, as <i>Beck</i> expresses it, the Prophet +<span lang="el" class="Greek">κατ’ ἐξοχήν</span> as a general substantial individual, +or even the people, can be introduced as speaking. The introduction of persons is +a necessary result of the dramatic character of prophetic Speech, comp., <i>e.g.</i>, +chap. xiv., where now the king of Babylon, then the inhabitants of the Sheol, and +again Jehovah, are introduced as speaking. The person who is here introduced as +speaking is already known from chap. xlii., where <i>he is spoken of</i>. The prophecy +before us stands to that prophecy in the very same relation as does Ps. ii. 7-9, +where the Anointed One suddenly appears as speaking, to the preceding verses, where +He was spoken of The Messiah is here so distinctly described, as to His nature and +character, that it is impossible not to recognise Him. Who but He should be the +Covenant of the people, the Light of the Gentiles, the Saviour for all the ends +of the earth? The point which was here concerned was not, first to introduce Him +to the knowledge of the people. His image existed there already in sharp outlines, +even from and since Gen. xlix. 10, where the Peaceful One meets us, in whom Judah +attains to the full height of his destination, and to whom the people adhere. The +circumstance that it is just here that the Messiah appears as speaking, forms the +most appropriate introduction to the second book, in which He is the principal figure.--It +is by a false literal interpretation only that ver. 8, 9 have been advanced in opposition +to the Messianic interpretation.</p> +<p class="normal">The arbitrariness of the non-Messianic interpretation manifests +itself in this also, that its supporters can, up to this day, not agree as to the +subject of the prophecy. 1. According to several interpreters--<i>Hitzig</i>, last +of all--the Servant of God is to be <i>Israel</i>, and the idea this, that Israel +would, at some future period, be the teacher of the Gentiles, and would spread the +true religion on earth. It is apparently only that this interpretation receives +some countenance from ver. 3, where the Servant of the Lord is called Israel. For +this name does not there stand as an ordinary <i>nomen proprium</i>, but as an honorary +name, to designate the high dignity and destination of the Servant of God. As this +name had passed over from <span class="pagenum">[Pg 229]</span> an individual to +a people, so it may again be transferred from the people to that person in whom +the people attain their destination, in which, up to that time, they had failed +But decisive against this explanation, which makes the whole people the subject, +is ver. 5, according to which the Servant of God is destined to lead back to the +Lord, Jacob and Israel (in the ordinary sense), who then must be different from +Him; ver. 6, according to which He is to raise up the tribes of Jacob; ver. 8, 9, +according to which He is to be the Covenant of the people, to deliver the prisoners, +&c. (<i>Knobel</i> remarks on this verse: "Nothing is clearer than that the Servant +of God is not identical with the mass of the people, but is something different.") +Supposing even that the people, destined to be the teachers of the Gentiles, appear +here as speaking, it is difficult to see how, in ver. 4, they could say that hitherto +they had laboured in vain in their vocation, and seen no fruits, since hitherto +the people had made no attempt at all at the conversion of the Gentiles. 2. <i>Maurer</i>, +<i>Knobel</i>, and others, endeavour to explain it of <i>the better portion of the +people</i>. But conclusive against this interpretation is ver. 6, according to which +the Servant of God has the destination of restoring the preserved of Israel, and +hence must be distinct from the better portion; ver. 8, according to which He is +given for a Covenant of the people, from which, according to ver. 4 and 6, the ungodly +are excluded; so that the idea of the people is identical with that of the better +portion. In general, the contrasting of the better portion of the people with the +whole people, Jacob and Israel, the centre and substance of which was formed just +by the <span lang="el" class="Greek">ἐκλογή</span>, can scarcely be thought of, +and is without any analogy. Nor is the mention of the <i>womb</i>. and <i>bowels +of the mother</i>, in ver. 1, reconcileable with a merely imaginary person, and +that, moreover, a person of a character so indistinct and indefinite,--a character +which has no definite and palpable historical beginnings. The parallel passages, +in which the calling from the womb is mentioned, treat of real persons, of individuals.--3. +According to several interpreters (<i>Jarchi</i>, <i>Kimchi</i>, <i>Abenezra</i>, +<i>Grotius</i>, <i>Steudel</i>, <i>Umbreit</i>, <i>Hofmann</i>), the Servant of +the Lord is to be none other than <i>the Prophet himself</i>. No argument has been +adduced in favour of this view, except the use of the first person, ("If here, without +introduction and preparation, a discourse begins with the first +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 230]</span> person, it refers most naturally to the Prophet, +who is the author of the Book"),--an argument of very subordinate significance, +and the more so that the person of the Prophet, everywhere else in the second part +of Isaiah, steps so entirely into the background behind the great objects with which +he is engaged. To follow thus the first appearance may, indeed, be becoming to a +eunuch from Ethiopia, but not a Christian expounder of Scripture. The contents of +the prophecy are decidedly in opposition to this opinion. Even the circumstance +that a single prophet should assume the name of Israel, ver. 3, appears an intolerable +usurpation. <i>Farther</i>--Like all the other prophets, Isaiah was sent to the +Jews, and not to the Gentiles; but at the very outset, <i>the most distant lands +and all the distant nations</i> are here called upon to hearken. The Lord says to +His Servant that the restoration of Israel was too little for Him, that He should +be a light and salvation for all the heathen nations from one end of the earth to +the other; kings and Princes shall fall down before Him, adoring and worshipping. +The Prophet would thus simply have raised himself to be the Saviour. <i>Umbreit</i> +expressly acknowledges this: "He is to be the holy pillar of clouds and fire which +leads the people back to their native land, after the time of their punishment has +expired. But a still more glorious vocation and destination is in store for the +prophets; they receive the highest, the Messianic destination." The usurpation of +which the Servant of God would have made himself guilty, appears so much the more +clearly, when it is known, that the work of the Servant of God comprehends even +all that also, which is described in ver. 10-23, viz., the blossoming of the Church +of God, her enlargement by the Gentiles, &c. <i>It is obvious that, if the interpretation +which refers this prediction to the prophets were the correct one, the authority +of the Old Testament prophecy would be gone; the authority of the Lord himself would +be endangered, inasmuch as He always recognizes, in these prophets, organs of divine +inspiration and power.</i> A vain attempt is made at mitigating this usurpation, +by imperceptibly substituting the collective body of the prophets for the single +prophet. This view thus leads to, and interferes with another which we shall immediately +examine. But if we would not give up the sole argument by which this +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 231]</span> exposition is supported, viz., the use of +the first person, everything must, in the first instance, apply to and be fulfilled +in Isaiah; and the other prophets can come into consideration only as continuators +of his work and ministry. He is entitled to use the first person in that case only, +when he is a perfect manifestation of prophetism.--4. According to <i>Gesenius</i>, +the Servant of the Lord is to be <i>the collective body of the prophets</i>, the +prophetic order. In opposition to this view, <i>Stier</i> remarks: "We maintain +that, according to history, there did not at that time (the time of the exile, in +which <i>Gesenius</i> places this prophecy) exist any prophetic order, or any distinguished +blossom of it; that hence it was impossible for any reasonable man to entertain +this hope, when viewed in this way, without looking farther and higher." Ver. 1 +is decisive against a mere personification. The name of Israel, too, in ver. 3, +is very little applicable to the whole prophetic order. This is sufficiently evident +from the fact that <i>Gesenius</i>, in his Commentary, declared this word to be +spurious; and it was at a later period only, when he had become bolder, that he +endeavoured to adapt it to his self-chosen subject. Nowhere in the Old Testament +do the prophets appear like the Servant of God here--as the Covenant of the people, +ver. 8, as the Light of the Gentiles, ver. 6.</p> +<hr class="W20"> +<p class="normal">Ver. 1. "<i>Listen, O isles, unto me, and hearken ye people from +far; the Lord hath called me from the womb, from the bowels of my mother hath He +made mention of my name.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">As the stand-point which the Messiah occupies in the vision of +the Prophet, we have to conceive of the time, at which He had already entered upon +His office, and had already experienced many proofs of the Jews' unbelief and hardness +of heart,--an event of the Future, the foresight of which was, even in a human point +of view, very readily suggested to the Prophet after the painful experience acquired +during his own long ministry; comp. chap. vi. For the fruitlessness of His ministry +among the mass of the covenant-people, ver. 4, as well as the great contempt which +the Servant of God found among them, ver. 7, are represented as having already taken +place; <span class="pagenum">[Pg 232]</span> while the enlightenment of the Gentiles, +the worship of the kings, &c., which are to be expected by Him, are represented +as being still future. In the same manner, in chap. liii., the humiliation of the +Servant of God appears as past; the glorification, as future, the reason why the +<i>isles</i> are addressed (comp. remarks on chap. xlii. 4) appears in ver. 6 only, +at the close of the discourse of the Servant of God, for all that precedes serves +as a preparation. In that verse, the Servant of the Lord announces that the Lord +had appointed Him to be the Light of the Gentiles; that He should be His salvation +unto the ends of the earth. It is very significant that the second book at once +begins with an address to the Gentiles, inasmuch us, thus, we are here introduced +into the sphere of a redemption which does not refer to a single nation, like that +with which the <i>first</i> book is engaged, but to the ends of the earth. At the +close of the first book, in chap. xlviii. 20, it was said: "Declare ye, tell this, +utter it even to the end of the earth, say ye: The Lord hath redeemed his servant +Jacob." The fact that the redemption, in the first instance peculiar to Jacob, is +to be proclaimed to all the nations of the earth, leads us to expect that these +nations, too, have their portion in the Lord; that at some future period they are +to hear a message which concerns them still <i>more particularly</i>. This expectation +is realized here, at the opening of the second book. The fact that the Gentiles +are to listen here, as those who have a personal interest in the message, is proved +by the circumstance, that the words: "Unto the ends of the earth," in ver. 6 of +the chapter before us, point back to the same words in chap. xlviii. 20.--<i>The +Lord had called me from the womb.</i> It is sufficient to go thus far back in order +to repress or refute the idea of His having himself usurped His office, and to furnish +a foundation for the expectation that God would powerfully uphold and protect His +Servant in the office which He himself had assigned to Him. Calvin remarks on these +words: "They do not indicate the commencement of the time of His vocation, as if +God had, only from the womb, called Him; but it is just as if it were said: Before +I came forth from the womb, God had decreed that I was to undertake this office. +In the same manner Paul also says that he had been separated from his mother's womb, +although he was chosen before <span class="pagenum">[Pg 233]</span> the foundation +of the world." To be called from the womb is, in itself, nothing extraordinary; +it is common to all the servants of the Lord. Jeremiah ascribes it to himself in +chap. i. 5: "Before I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee; and before thou camest +forth out of the womb I sanctified thee;" and in harmony with this passage in Jeremiah--not +with that before us--Paul says in Gal. i. 15: <span lang="el" class="Greek">ὁ θεὸς +ὁ ἀφορίσας</span> (corresponding to: I have <i>sanctified</i> thee) +<span lang="el" class="Greek">με ἐκ κοιλίας μητρός μου</span>. But we have here +merely the <i>introduction to what follows</i>, where the calling, to which the +Servant of God had been destined from the womb appears as quite unique.--<i>From +the bowels of my mother hath He made mention of my name.</i> The name is here not +an ordinary proper name, but <i>a name descriptive of the nature</i>,--one by which +His office and vocation are designated. This making mention was, in the case of +Christ, not a thing concealed; the prophecy before us received its palpable confirmation +and fulfilment; inasmuch as, in reference to it, Joseph received, even before His +birth, the command to call Him Jesus, Saviour: <span lang="el" class="Greek">τέξεται +δὲ υἱὸν καὶ καλέσεις τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Ἰησοῦν· αὐτὸς γὰρ σώσει τὸν λαὸν αὐτοῦ ἀπὸ τῶν +ἁμαρτιῶν αὐτῶν</span>, Matth. i. 21, after the same command had previously come +to Mary, Luke i. 31; comp. ii. 21, where, as we have already remarked, there is +a distinct reference to the passage before us.</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 2. "<i>And He hath made my mouth like a sharp sword, in the +shadow of His hand hath He hid me, and He hath made me a sharpened arrow, in His +quiver hath He hid me.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">According to the common interpretation, the words: "He hath made +my mouth like a sharp sword. He hath made me a sharpened arrow," are to express +only such a gift of powerful, impressive speech as is common to all the servants +of God, to all the prophets. But the two subjoined clauses are opposed to that interpretation. +The second and fourth clauses state the reason of the first and third, and point +to the source from which that emanates which is stated in them. There cannot be +any doubt but that in the second and fourth clauses, the Servant of God indicates +that He stands under the protection of divine omnipotence, so that the expression: +"Whom I uphold," in chap. xlii. 1, is parallel. The <i>shadow</i> is the ordinary +figure of protection. The figure of the sword is dropped in the second clause, and +hence the objection, that a drawn sword does not require any protection, is out +of place. This will <span class="pagenum">[Pg 234]</span> appear from a comparison +of chap. li. 16: "And I put my words in thy mouth, and I cover thee with the shadow +of mine hand," where the sword is not mentioned at all, and the shadow belongs simply +to the person. The quiver which keeps the arrow is likewise a natural image of divine +protection. The two accessory clauses do not suit, if the first and third clauses +are referred to the <i>rhetorical endowment</i> of the Servant of God; <i>that does +not flow from the source of the protecting omnipotence of God</i>. These accessory +clauses rather suggest the idea that, by the comparison of the <i>mouth</i> with +the sharp sword, of the <i>whole person</i> with the sharpened arrow, there is indicated +<i>the absolutely conquering power which, under the protection of omnipotence, adheres +to the word and person of the Servant of God</i>, so that He will easily put down +everything which opposes,--equivalent to: <i>He has endowed me with His omnipotence, +so that my word produces destructive effects, and puts down all opposition, just +as does His word</i>; so that there would be a parallel in chap. xi. 4, where the +word of the Servant of God likewise appears as being borne by omnipotence: "He smiteth +the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips He slayeth +the wicked." To the same result we are led also by a comparison of chap. li. 16, +where the word of the Lord, which is put into the mouth of the Servant of God, is +so living and powerful, so borne by omnipotence, that thereby the heavens are planted, +and the foundations of the earth are laid. But of special importance are those passages +of Revelation which refer to the verse under consideration. In chap. i. 16, the +sharp two-edged sword does not by any means represent the power of the discourse +piercing the heart for salvation; but rather the destructive power of the word which +is borne by omnipotence. It designates the almighty punitive power of Christ directed +against his enemies. "By the circumstance, that the sword goes out of the mouth +of Christ, that destructive power is attributed to His mere word, He appears as +partaking of divine omnipotence. For it belongs to God to slay by the words of His +mouth, Hos. vi. 5." The same applies to chap. ii. 16. On Rev. xix. 15: "And out +of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it He should smite the nations," we +remarked: "the sharp sword is not that of a teaching king, <span class="pagenum"> +[Pg 235]</span> but that of omnipotence which speaks and it is done, and slayeth +by the breath of the lips. How Christ casts down His enemies by the word of His +mouth is seen, in a prophetical instance, John xviii. 6; Acts ix. 4, 5." With the +sword, Christ appears even where He does not mean to destroy, but to bring salvation; +for, even in those who are to be blessed, hostile powers are to be overcome. The +image, however, is here, in the fundamental passage, occasioned by the comparison +of the Servant of God with the conqueror from the East, whose sword, according to +chap. xli. 2, the Lord makes as dust, and his bow as the driven stubble. Where the +mere <i>word</i> serves as a sword, the effect must be much more powerful. The conquering +power throwing down every opposing power, which, in the first clause, is assigned +to the mouth, is, in the third clause ("And He hath made <i>me</i> a sharpened arrow"), +attributed to the whole person. He, of whom it was already said in Ps. xlv. 6: "Thine +arrows are sharp, people fall under thee, they enter into the heart of the king's +enemies," is himself to be esteemed as a sharp arrow.</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 3. "<i>And He said unto me: Thou art my Servant, O Israel, +in whom I glorify myself.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">"My Servant" stands here as an honorary <i>designation</i>; to +be the Servant of God appears here as the highest privilege, as is evident not only +from the analogy of the parallel passages, which treat of the Servant of God (comp. +remarks on chap. xlii. 1), but also from the parallel second clause. In it, the +Servant of God is called <i>Israel</i> as the concentration and consummation of +the covenant-people, as He in whom it is to attain to its destination, in whom its +idea is to be realized. (It is evident from ver. 5, and from those passages in the +second part in which the people of Israel is spoken of as the Servant of God [comp. +remarks on chap. xlii.], that Israel must here be understood as the name of the +people, not as the name of the ancestor only.) <i>Hävernick</i> rightly remarks +that the Messiah is here called Israel, "in contrast to the people to whom this +name does not properly belong." Analogous is Matt. ii. 15, where that which, in +the Old Testament, is written of Israel, is referred to Christ. As the true Israel, +Christ himself also represents himself in John i. 52; with a reference to that which +in Gen. xxviii. 12 is written, not of Jacob as <span class="pagenum">[Pg 236]</span> +an individual, but as the representative of the whole race, it is said there: +<span lang="el" class="Greek">ἀπ᾽ ἄρτι ὄψεσθε τὸν οὐρανὸν ἀνεῳγότα, καὶ τοὺς ἀγγέλους +του̂ θεου̂ ἀναβαίνοντας καὶ καταβαίνοντας ἐπὶ τὸν υἱὸν του̂ ἀνθρώπου</span> All +those declarations of the Old Testament, in which the name of Jacob or Israel is +used to designate the <i>election</i>, to the exclusion of the false seed, the true +Israelites in whom there is no guile,--all those passages prepare the way for, and +come near to the one before us. Thus Ps. lxiii. 1: "Truly good is God to Israel, +to such as are of a clean heart;" and then Ps. xxiv. 6: "They that seek thy face +are Jacob," <i>i.e.</i>, those only who, with zeal and energy in sanctification, +seek for the favour of God. In the passage before us, the same principle is farther +carried out. The true Israel is designated as he in whom God glorifies, or will +glorify himself, inasmuch as his glorification will bear testimony to God's mercy +and faithfulness; comp. John xii. 23: <span lang="el" class="Greek">ἐλήλυθεν ἡ ὥρα +ἵνα δοξασθῇ ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου </span>; xvii. 5: <span lang="el" class="Greek"> +καὶ νῦν δοξασόν με σύ πάτερ</span>. The verb <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">פאר</span> +means in <i>Piel</i>, "to adorn," in <i>Hithp.</i> "to adorn one's self," "to glorify +one's self." Thus it occurs in Judg. vii. 2; Is. x. 15; lx. 21: "Work of my hands +for glorifying," <i>i.e.</i>, in which I glorify myself; lxi. 3: "Planting of the +Lord for glorifying." There is no reason for abandoning this well-supported signification +either here or in chap. xliv. 23: "The Lord hath redeemed Israel and glorified himself +in Israel." If God glorifies himself in His Servant, He just thereby gets occasion +to glory in Him as a monument of His goodness and faithfulness. Our Saviour prays +in John xii. 28: <span lang="el" class="Greek">Πάτερ δόξασόν σου τὸ ὄνομα.</span> +The Father, by glorifying the Son, glorifies at the same time His name. Those who +explain <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">אתפאר</span> by: <i>per quem ornabor</i>, +overlook the circumstance that, also in the phrase: "Thou art my Servant," the main +stress does not, according to the parallel passages, lie in that which the Servant +has to perform, but in His being the protected and preserved by God.</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 4. "<i>And I said: I have laboured in vain, I have spent +my strength for emptiness and vanity; but my right is with the Lord, and my reward +with my God.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">The Servant of God, after having spoken of His sublime dignity +and mission, here prepares the transition for proclaiming His destination to be +a Saviour of the Gentiles, to whom His whole discourse is addressed. He complains +of the small <span class="pagenum">[Pg 237]</span> fruits of His ministry among +Israel; but comforts himself by the confidence placed upon the righteousness of +God, that the faithful discharge of the duty committed to Him cannot remain without +reward. The speaking on the part of the Servant of God in this verse refers to the +speaking of God in verse 3. <i>Jerome</i>, who remarks on this point: "But when +the Father told me that which I have repeated, I answered Him: How wilt thou be +glorified in me, seeing that I have laboured in vain?" recognised this reference, +but erroneously viewed the words as being addressed to the Lord. It is a soliloquy +which we have here before us. Instead of "I said," we are not at liberty to put: +"I imagined;" the Servant of God had in reality expended His strength for nothing +and vanity. As the <i>scene</i> of the vain labour of the Servant of God, the <i> +heathen world</i> cannot be thought of; inasmuch as this is, first in ver. 6, assigned +to Him as an indemnification for that which, according to the verse before us, He +had lost elsewhere. It is <i>Israel</i> only which can be the object of the vain +labour of the Servant of God; for it was to them that, according to ver. 5, the +mission of the Servant of God in the first instance referred: The Lord had formed +Him to be His Servant, to bring back to Him Jacob and Israel that were not gathered. +Since, then, the mission is directed to <i>apostate</i> Israel, it can the less +be strange that the labour was in vain. To the same result we are led also by the +circumstance that, in ver. 6, the saving activity of the Servant of God appears +as limited to <i>the preserved</i> of Israel, while the original mission had been +directed to the <i>whole</i>. And this portion to which His activity is limited, +is comparatively a <i>small</i> portion. For that is suggested by the circumstance +that to have the preserved of Israel for His portion is represented as a light thing--not +at all corresponding to the dignity of the Servant of God. As, in that verse, the +preserved of Israel form the contrast to the mass of the people <i>given up</i> +by the Lord, so in the verse under consideration, the opposition which the Servant +of God finds, is represented as so great, that His ministry was, in the main, in +vain; so that accordingly the great mass of the people must have been unsusceptible +of it.--In the view that a great portion of the people would reject the salvation +offered in Christ, and thereby become liable to judgment, the Song of Solomon +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 238]</span> had already preceded our Prophet. As regards +the natural grounds of this foresight, we remarked in the Commentary on the Song +of Solomon, S. 245: "With a knowledge of human nature, and especially of the nature +of Israel, as it was peculiar to the people from the beginning, and was firmly and +deeply impressed upon them by the Mosaic laws,--after the experience which the journey +through the wilderness, the time of the Judges, the reign of David and of Solomon +also offered, it was absolutely impossible for the enlightened to entertain the +hope that, at the appearance of the Messiah, the whole people would do homage to +Him with sincere and cordial devotion." How very much this was the case, the very +first chapter of Isaiah can prove. It is impossible that one who has so deeply recognized +the corrupted nature of his people, should give himself up to vain patriotic fancies; +to such an one, the time of the highest manifestation of salvation must necessarily +be, at the same time, a period of the highest realization of judgment. The same +view which is given here, we meet with also in chap. liii. 1-3. In harmony with +Isaiah, Zechariah, too, prophesies, in chaps. xi., xiii. 8, that the greater portion +of the Jews will not believe in Christ. Malachi iii. 1-6, 19, 24, contrasts with +the longed-for judgment upon the heathen, the judgment which, in the Messianic time, +is to be executed upon the people itself.--On the words: "My right is with the Lord, +and my reward with my God," compare Lev. xix, 13: "The reward of him that is hired +shall not abide with thee all night until the morning." The God who watches that +among men the well-earned wages of faithful labour shall not be withheld, will surely +himself not withhold them from His Servant. The right, the well-deserved reward +of His Servant is <i>with Him</i>; it is there safely kept, in order that it may +be delivered up to Him in due time. That which the Servant of the Lord here, in +the highest sense, says of himself, holds true of His inferior servants also. Their +labour in the Lord is, in truth, never in vain. Their right and their reward can +never fail them.</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 5. "<i>And now, saith the Lord that formed me from the womb +to be a Servant to himself, to bring Jacob again to Him, and Israel which is not +gathered, and I am honoured in the eyes of the Lord, and my God was my strength.</i> +Ver. <span class="pagenum">[Pg 239]</span>6. <i>And He saith: It is too light a +thing that thou shouldest be my Servant only to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and +to restore the preserved of Israel, and I give thee for a light to the Gentiles, +that thou mayest be my Salvation unto the ends of the earth.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">The confidence which the Servant of the Lord has placed in Him +has not been put to shame by the result, but rather has been gloriously justified +by Him. He who was, in the first instance, sent to Israel, is appointed to be the +Saviour of the Gentiles, in order to compensate Him for the unbelief of those to +whom His mission was in the first instance directed. <i>And now</i>, <i>i.e.</i>, +since the matter stands thus (Gen. xlv. 8),--since Israel, to whom my mission is, +in the first instance, directed, reject me. <i>Saith the Lord</i>--That which the +Lord spoke follows in ver. 6 only, which, on account of the long interruption, again +begins with: "And He saith," equivalent to: I say. He hath spoken. The declaration +of the Lord has reference to the destination of His Servant to be the Saviour of +the Gentiles. This declaration is, in ver. 5, based upon two reasons:--<i>first</i>, +the frustration of the original mission of the Servant of the Lord to the Jews; +and <i>secondly</i>, on the intimate relation in which He stands to the Lord, who +cannot withhold from Him the reward which He deserves for His work. In the New Testament, +also, the mission of Christ appears as being at first directed to the Jews only. +The Lord says, in Matt. xv. 24: <span lang="el" class="Greek">οὐκ ἀπεστάλην εἰ μὴ +εἰς τὰ πρόβατα τὰ ἀπολωλότα οἴκου Ἰσραήλ</span>. He says, in Matt. x. 6, to the +Apostles, after having forbidden them to go to the heathens, and to the Samaritans, +who were nothing but disguised heathens: <span lang="el" class="Greek">πορεύεσθε +δὲ μᾶλλον πρὸς τὰ προβατα τὰ ἀπολωλότα οἴκου Ἰσραήλ.</span> Paul and Barnabas say, +in Acts xiii. 46: <span lang="el" class="Greek">ὑμῖν ἦν ἀναγκαῖον πρῶτον λαληθῆναι +τὸν λόγον τοῦ θεοῦ· ἐπειδὴ δε ἀπωθεῖσθε αὐτὸν καὶ οὐκ ἀξίους κρίνετε ἑαυτοὺς τῆς +αἰωνίου ζωῆς, ἰδοὺ στρεφόμεθα εἰς τὰ ἔθνη.</span> It is rather an idle question +to ask what would have happened, if the Jews as a nation had accepted the offered +salvation. But so much is certain that here, in the prediction, as well as in history, +the rejection of Christ, on the part of the Jews, appears to have been a necessary +condition of His entering upon His vocation as the Saviour of the Gentiles. Those +who understood the people by the Servant of the Lord refer +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">לשיבב</span> to Jehovah, and consider it as a Gerund. +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 240]</span> <i>reducendo</i>, or <i>qui reducit ad se +Jacobum</i>. In the same way they explain also the Infinit. with +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ל</span> in the following verse, as also in chap. +li. 16. But although the Infinit. with <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ל</span> is +sometimes, indeed, used for the Gerund., yet this is neither the original nor the +ordinary use; and nowhere does it occur in such accumulation. Moreover, by this +explanation, this verse, as well as the following ones, are altogether broken up, +and the words <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">לשובב יעקב אליו</span> must indicate +the destination for which He was formed. And it is not possible that Jehovah's bringing +Jacob back to himself should be a display of Israel's being formed from the womb +to be the Servant, inasmuch as the bringing back would not, like the formation, +belong to the first stage of the existence of the people.--"<i>And Israel, which +is not gathered.</i>" Before <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">אשר</span>, +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">לא</span> must be supplied. According to the parallel +words: "To bring Jacob again to Him," the not gathering of Israel is to be referred +to its having wandered away from the Lord. It was appropriate that this should be +expressly mentioned, and not merely supposed, as is the case in: "To bring Jacob +again to Him." The image which lies at the foundation, is that of a scattered flock; +comp. Mic. ii. 12. Parallel is Isaiah liii. 6: "All we <i>like sheep</i> have gone +astray, we have turned every one to his own way."--To the words under consideration +the Lord alludes in Matt. xxiii. 37: <span lang="el" class="Greek">Ἰερουσαλήμ ... +ποσάκις ἠθέλησα ἐπι συναγαγεῖν τὰ τέκνα σου ὃν τρόπον ἐπισυναγει ὄρνις τὰ νοσσία +ἐαὐτῆς ὑπὸ τὰς πτέρυγας καὶ οὐκ ἠθελήσατε.</span>; comp. also Matt. ix. 36: +<span lang="el" class="Greek">ἰδὼν δὲ τοὺς ὄχλους ἐσπλαγχνίσθη περὶ αὐτῶν ὅτι ἦσαν +ἐσκυλμένοι καὶ ἐρριμμένοι ὡσεὶ πρόβατα μὴ ἔχοντα ποιμένα.</span> On account of chap. +xi. 12, it will not do to take <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">אסף</span> in the +signification of "to snatch away," "to carry off," as is done by <i>Hitzig</i>. +Moreover <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">נאסף</span> means, indeed, "to be gathered," +but never "to be carried off" The Mazoreths would read +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">לא</span> for <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">לו</span>: +"And that Israel might be gathered to <i>Him</i>." Thus it is rendered, among the +ancient translators, by <i>Aquila</i> and the Chaldee; while <i>Symmachus</i>, +<i>Theodoret</i>, and the Vulgate express the negation. Most of the modern interpreters +have followed the Mazoreths. But the assumption of several of these, that +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">לא</span> is only a different writing for +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">לו</span>, is altogether without foundation, compare +the remarks on chap. ix. 2; and the reading of the Mazoreths is just like all the +<i>Kris</i>, a mere conjecture, owing its origin, as has already been +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 241]</span> remarked by <i>Jerome</i>, only to a bad Jewish +patriotism. The circumstance that, with the sole exception, of 2 Chron. xxx. 3,--an +exception which, from the character of the language of that book, is of no importance--the +verb <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">אסף</span> in the signification "to gather" +has the person to whom it is gathered never joined to it by means of +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ל</span>, but commonly by means of +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">אל</span>, is of so much the greater importance, +that <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ל</span> has nothing to do with +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">אל</span>. When <i>Stier</i> remarks that ver. 6, +where Jacob and Israel were again beside each other in a completely parallel clause, +proves that Israel's gathering can be spoken of positively only, he has overlooked +the essential difference of ver. 5, which refers to the position of the Servant +of God towards the whole people and ver. 6, which refers to His destination for +the <i>election</i>.--The words: "And I am honoured in the eyes of the Lord, and +my God is my strength," <i>i.e.</i>, my protection and helper, recapitulate what, +in ver. 2 and 3, was said about the high dignity of the Servant of God, of which +the effect appears, in ver. 6, in His appointment to be the Saviour of the Gentiles, +after the mission to Israel has been fruitless. In ver. 6, it is not the decree +of the salvation of the Gentiles through Christ which forms the subject (that decree +is an eternal one), but rather that this decree should be carried out. It is for +this that Israel's unbelief offers an occasion "As the salvation of the elect among +Israel (in reference to the great mass, the Servant of God had laboured in vain, +ver. 4) would be too small a reward for thee, I assign to thee in addition to them, +an infinitely larger inheritance, viz., the whole heathen world." +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">שוב</span> in <i>Hiphil</i> frequently means "to +lead back," in the ordinary sense, but sometimes also "to lead back into the former, +or <i>normal</i> condition," "to restore," compare remarks on Dan. ix. 25; Ps. lxxx. +4. The parallel, "to raise up," which is opposed to the <i>lying down</i> (Ps. xli. +9), shows that here it stands in the sense of "to restore." The local leading back +belongs to the sphere of Koresh, to whom the first book is dedicated; but, with +that, the abnormal condition of misery and abasement, which is so much opposed to +the idea of the people of God, is not completely and truly removed. That which the +Servant of God bestows upon the elect of Israel, viz., <i>raising up and restoration</i>, +is, in substance, the same which, according to what follows, He becomes to the +<i>Gentiles</i>, <span class="pagenum">[Pg 242]</span> viz., <i>light and salvation</i>. +By becoming light and salvation to the elect of Israel, He raises them up and leads +them back, inasmuch as this was the normal, natural condition of the covenant-people, +from which they had only fallen by their sins. It is to that, that the election +is restored by the Servant of God. By the <i>tribes of Jacob</i>, the better part +only of the people is to be understood, to the exclusion of those souls who are +cut off from their people, because they have broken the covenant of the Lord, comp. +ver. 4. This appears from the addition: "And the preserved of Israel" (the <i>Kethibh</i> +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">נעירי</span> is an adjective form with a passive +signification; the marginal reading <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">נצורי</span> +is the Part. Pass.); just as, similarly in Ps. lxxiii. 1, Israel is limited to the +true Israel by the explanatory clause: "Such as are of a clean heart." The verb +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">נצר</span>, "to watch," is, according to <i>Gesenius</i>, +especially used <i>de Jehova homines custodiente et tuente.</i> Hence, the preserved +of Israel are those whom God keeps under His gracious protection and care, in contrast +to the great mass of the covenant-breakers whom He <i>gives up</i>. Chap. lxv. 13, +14: "Behold my servants shall eat, but ye shall be hungry; behold my servants shall +drink, but ye shall be thirsty; behold my servants shall rejoice, but ye shall be +ashamed; behold my servants shall sing for joy of heart, but ye shall cry for sorrow +of heart, and shall howl for vexation of spirit," likewise points to a great separation +which shall take place in the Messianic time. <i>Light</i> (compare remarks on chap. +xlii. 6), and <i>salvation</i> are related to one another, as the image to the thing +itself From the circumstance that the point here in question is the reward for the +Servant of God, who is to be indemnified for the loss which He suffered by Israel +(comp. ver. 4), it is obvious that we must not explain: "that my salvation be," +but: "that thou mayest be my salvation;" for it is only when He is the salvation +that such an indemnification is spoken of Moreover, the Infinitive with +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ל</span> can here not well be understood otherwise +than in the preceding clause. The servant of God is the personal salvation of the +Lord for the heathen world; comp. chap. xlii. 6, and, in the chapter under consideration, +ver. 8, where He is called the <i>covenant</i> of the people, because this covenant +finds in Him its truth; compare also the expression: "This man is <i>peace</i>," +in Mic. v. 4 (5). <i>Gesenius</i> rightly remarks, that <span class="pagenum">[Pg +243]</span> there is here an allusion to the promises given to the Patriarchs, Gen. +xii. 3, &c. In Christ, the Shiloh to whom the people adhere, the old promise of +the future extension of salvation to all the Gentiles is to be fulfilled.</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 7. "<i>Thus saith the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, his Holy +One, to Him that is despised by every one, to the abhorrence of the people, to the +servant of rulers: Kings shall see and rise up, princes, and prostrate themselves +because of the Lord that is faithful, the Holy One of Israel that hath chosen thee.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">Hitherto, the Servant of the Lord has spoken: here, the Prophet +speaks of Him. He gives a short and comprehensive summary of the contents of ver. +1-6, the rejection of the Servant of God by the people to whom His mission was, +in the first instance, directed, and His appointment to be the Saviour of the Gentiles. +The matter is traced back to the Redeemer of Israel and their Holy One, <i>i.e.</i>, +the high and glorious God, because the Servant of God is, in the first instance, +sent to Israel as <span lang="el" class="Greek">διάκονος περιτομῆς ὑπὲρ ἀληθείας +θεοῦ εἰς τὸ βεβαιῶσαι τὰς ἐπαγγελίας τῶν πατέρων</span>, Rom. xv. 8; but still more, +because He himself is the concentration of Israel (ver. 3), the +<span lang="el" class="Greek">κεφαλὴ τοῦ σώματος τῆς ἐκκλησίας</span>, Col. i. 18,--He +in whose glorification the true Israel, as opposed to the darkened refuse, attain +to their right. According to the context, the contempt, &c., must proceed chiefly +<i>from the apostate portion of the covenant-people</i>: The <i>princes and kings</i> +must, according to ver. 6 (comp. chap. lii. 15), be conceived of as heathenish ones. +The verse under consideration merely exhibits, in short outlines, the contrast already +alluded to in the preceding context. It cannot appear at all strange that the Prophet +foresees the reproach of Christ, and His sufferings from the ungodly world. In those +Psalms which refer to the suffering righteous one, righteousness and the hostility +of the wicked world are represented as being inseparably connected with each other. +Hence it cannot be conceived of otherwise, but that the Servant of God, who, in<!--deleted dupl. 'in'--> +His person, represented the <i>ideal</i> of righteousness, should, in a very special +manner, have been liable to this hostility. Moreover, it can be proved that, in +some Psalms which refer to the suffering righteous one, David has, besides the individual +and the whole people, in view, at the same time, his own <span class="pagenum">[Pg +244]</span> family, and Him in whom it was to centre; comp. my commentary on Ps. +Vol. iii. p. lxxx. ff. There seems here to be a special reference to Ps. xxii. 7, +8: "And I am a worm and no man, a reproach of man and despised of the people. All +they that see me laugh me to scorn, open their lips, shake their heads;" and it +is the more natural to assume this reference that, in chap. lii. 14; liii. 3, this +passage also is referred to <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">בְּזֹה</span> is, after +the example of <i>Kimchi</i>, viewed by several interpreters as an infinitive form +standing in place of a Noun, "despising or contemning," instead of "contempt," and +this again instead of "object of contempt." Others view it as the <i>Stat. construct.</i> +of an adjective <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">בָּזֹה</span> with a passive signification. +This latter view is more natural; and the reason which <i>Stier</i> adduces against +it, viz., that of verbs <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">לה</span> no such forms are +found, cannot be considered as conclusive. <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">בזה־נפש</span>, +literally the "despised one of the <i>soul</i>" might, according to Ezek. xxxvi. +5: "Against Edom who have taken my land into their possession with the joy of all +their heart, with the contempt of their soul," mean, "who is inwardly and deeply +despised," the soul being viewed as the seat of the affections. But we are led to +another explanation by the fundamental passage, Ps. xxii. 7, and by the circumstance +that <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">נפש</span> is <i>here</i> parallel to +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">נוי</span>, and that the latter corresponds to the +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">עם</span> in Ps. xxii. "The despised one of the soul" +must, accordingly, be he who is despised of every one. The soul corresponding to +<i>man</i> in Ps. xxii. is, as it were, conceived of as a great concrete body. In +a similar manner, "soul" is used for all that has a soul, in Gen. xiv. 21, where +the king of Sodom says to Abraham: "Give me the <i>soul</i>, and take the goods +to thyself."--"<i>To the abhorrence of the people.</i>" +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">תעב</span> in <i>Piel</i> never has another signification +than "to abhor." Such is the signification in Job ix. 31 also, where the clothes +abhor Job plunged in the dirt, resist being put on by him; likewise in Ezek. xv. +25, where Judah abhors his beauty, disgracefully tramples under feet his glory, +as if he hated it. In favour of the signification: "To cause to abhor" (<i>Rödiger</i>: +<i>horrorem incutiens populo, qui abominationi est populo</i>), interpreters cannot +adduce even one apparent passage, except that before us. We are, therefore, only +at liberty to explain, after the example of <i>Kimchi</i>: "to the ... people abhorring," +<i>i.e.</i>, to him against whom the <span class="pagenum">[Pg 245]</span> people +feel an abhorrence. <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">גוי</span><!--see 1856 ed, p 244--> +is used of the Jewish people in Is. i. 4 also. <i>Hofmann</i> is of opinion that +it ought to have the article, if it were to refer to the Jewish people. But no one +asserts a direct reference to them; it designates, in itself, the mass only, in +contrast to single individuals, just as <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">עם</span> +in Ps. xxii. The abhorrence is felt by the masses--is popular. The fact that it +is among Israel that the Servant of God meets this general abhorrence, is not implied +in the word itself, but is suggested by the whole context. While +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">נפש</span> and <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">גוי</span> +designate the generality of this hatred, <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">משלים</span> +points to the highest places of it. Of heathen rulers this word occurs in chap. +xiv. 5; of native rulers, in chap. lii. 5; xxviii. 14. The heathen rulers can here +come into consideration, in so far only as they are the instruments of the native +ones; comp. John xix. 10: <span lang="el" class="Greek">λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ Πιλᾶτος· ἐμοὶ +οὐ λαλεῖς; οὐκ οἶδας ὅτι ἐξουσίαν ἔχω σταυρῶσαί σε καὶ ἐξουσίαν ἔχω ἀπολῦσαί σε</span> +The <i>servant of rulers</i> forms the contrast to the servant of the Lord. But +in the words: "Kings shall see," &c., it is described how the original dignity finally +breaks forth powerfully, and reacts against the momentary humiliation. It was especially +at the crucifixion that Christ presented himself as "He that was despised by every +one, as the abhorrence of the people, as the servant of rulers." The historical +commentary on these words we have in Matt. xxii. 39 ff.: +<span lang="el" class="Greek">οἱ δε παραπορευόμενοι ἔβλασφήμουν αὐτὸν κ.τ.λ. ὁμοίως +δέ καὶ οἱ ἀρχιερεῖς ἐμπαίζοντες μετὰ τῶν γραμματέων καὶ πρεσβυτέρων ἔλεγον· ἄλλους +ἔσωσεν κ.τ.λ. τὸ δ᾽ αὐτὸ καὶ οἱ λῃσταὶ οἱ συσταυρωθέντες αὐτῷ ὠνείδιζον αὐτόν.</span>--After +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">יראו</span> "they shall see," the object must be +supplied from ver. 6, viz., the brilliant turn which, under the Lord's direction. +His destiny shall take,--His being constituted the light and salvation of the Gentiles. +The kings who sit on their thrones rise up; the nobles who stand around the throne +prostrate themselves. The Servant of God is the concentration of Israel, ver. 3. +Hence His glorification is, at the close, once more traced back to the <i>Holy One +of Israel</i>; and that so much the rather, because the glorification which is bestowed +upon Him is bestowed upon Him for the benefit of the Congregation, whom He elevates +along with himself out of the condition of deep abasement; comp. vers. 8 and 9. +The verse before us forms the germ of that which, in chap. lii. 13, is carried out +and expanded.</p> +<p class="continue"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 246]</span></p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 8. "<i>Thus saith the Lord: In the time of favour have I +heard thee, and in the day of salvation have I helped thee; and I will preserve +thee, and give thee for the Covenant of the people, that thou mayest raise up the +land, divide desolate heritages.</i> Ver. 9. <i>That thou mayest say to the prisoners: +Go forth; to them that are in darkness: Come to light; they shall feed in the ways, +and on all bare hills shall be their pasture.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal"><i>The time of favour</i> may be either the time when God shows +His delight in, and favour to His Servant, and, in Him, to the Church, <i>q. d.</i>, +of delight in thee, mercy for thee,--in which case chap. lx. 10 would be parallel: +"In my <i>wrath</i> I smote thee, and in my favour have I had mercy on thee;" or, +"in the time of favour," may be equivalent to: "at the agreeable, acceptable time" +(LXX., which Paul follows in 2 Cor. vi. 1, 2, <span lang="el" class="Greek">καιρῷ +δεκτῷ</span>, Vulg. <i>tempore placito</i>); in contrast to a preceding unacceptable +time, in which the Lord seemed to have forsaken His Servant, in which it appeared +as if He had laboured in vain, and spent His strength for nought and vanity. Acceptable +is the time to all parties, not only to the Servant of God, but also to those who +are to be redeemed through Him; and not less to God, to whom it is a joy to pour +out upon His Servant the rivers of His salvation. The Preterites in ver. 8 must +be viewed as prophetic Preterites. Concerning "Covenant of the people," compare +remarks on chap. xlii. 6. The idea of the people is more closely defined and qualified +by ver. 6 and 7. The souls who have been cut off from their people, because they +have broken the covenant of the Lord, and despised His Servant, are justly passed +by. But since <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">עם</span> can here be understood of +the better portion of the people only, of the invisible Church in the midst of the +visible, the Servant of God cannot be the better portion of the people.--In the +words: "That thou mayest raise up the land, divide desolate heritages," the bestowal +of salvation is described under the image of the restoration of a devastated country. +In ver. 9, the misery of the Congregation of God is described under the image of +pining away in a dark prison; comp. remarks on chap. xlii. 7. With the second half +of the verse, there begins a more general description of the glorious salvation +which the Lord will giant to His people; and the person of the Mediator +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 247]</span> steps into the back-ground, in order afterwards +to come forth more prominently. The <i>ways</i> and <i>bare hills</i> have come +into consideration as places which, in themselves, are completely barren, and which +the wonderful grace of God can alone cause to bud and flourish.</p> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="div2_247" href="#div2Ref_247">CHAPTER L. 4-11.</a></h2> +<p class="normal">The Servant of God here also appears as speaking. In ver. 4, He +intimates His vocation: God has bestowed upon Him the gift of comforting those who +are weary and heavy laden. He then at once turns to His real subject,--the sufferings +which, in fulfilment of this vocation he has to endure. The Lord has inwardly manifested +to Him that, in the exercise of His office. He shall experience severe trials; and +willingly has He borne all these sufferings, all the ignominy and shame, ver. 5, +6. With this willingness and fortitude He is inspired by His firm confidence in +the Lord, who, he certainly knows, will help Him and destroy His enemies, ver. 7-9. +The conclusion, in ver. 10 and 11, forms the prophetic announcement of the different +fates of the two opposing parties among the people. At the foundation of this lies +the foresight of heavy afflictions which, after the appearance of the Servant of +God, will be laid upon the covenant-people. That portion of the people who are devoted +to the Servant of God, are told to hope in the midst of the misery, and may hope; +their sorrows shall be turned into joy. But the ungodly who, without regarding the +Lord, and without hearkening to His Servant, would help themselves, will bring destruction +upon themselves by their self-willed doings, and shall be visited by the avenging +hand of the Servant of God.</p> +<p class="normal">An intimation of the lowliness of Christ at His first appearance +occurs as early as in chap. xi. 1. In chap. xlii. 4, the words: "He shall not fail +nor run away," intimate that the Servant of God has to struggle with great obstacles +and difficulties in the exercise of His calling. According to chap. xlix. 4, He +will labour in vain among the great mass of the covenant-people, +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 248]</span> and spend his strength for nought and vanity. +In ver. 7, it is expressly intimated that severe sufferings shall be inflicted upon +Him by the people. That which was there alluded to, is here <i>carried out and expanded</i>. +But the suffering of the Servant of God is here described from that aspect only +which is common to Christ with His members. It is first in chap. liii. that its +vicarious power is pointed out. The Servant of God comes here before us in His deepest +humiliation. Even in the description of His vocation in ver. 4, the most unassuming +aspect, the prophetic office only, is brought forward. It is only quite at the close +that a gentle intimation is given of the glory concealed behind the lowliness: He +there appears as the judge of those who have rejected Him.</p> +<p class="normal">In the Messianic explanation of this Section, the Lord himself +has gone before His Church. We read in Luke xviii. 31, 32, +<span lang="el" class="Greek">παραλαβὼν δὲ τοὺς δώδεκα εἶπε πρὸς αὐτούς· ἰδοὺ ἀναβαίνομεν +εἰς Ἰεροσόλυμα καὶ τελεσθήσεται πάντα τὰ γεγραμμένα διὰ τῶν προφητῶν τῷ υἱῷ τοῦ +ἀνθρώπου· παραδοθήσεται γὰρ τοῖς ἔθνεσι καὶ ἐμπαιχθήσεται καὶ ὑβρισθήσεται καὶ ἐμπτυσθήσεται +καὶ μαστιγώσαντες ἀποκτενοῦσιν αὐτόν.</span> There cannot be any doubt that the +Lord here distinctly refers to ver. 6 of the prophecy under consideration. There +is, at all events, no other passage in the whole of the Old Testament, except that +before us, in which there is any mention made of being spat upon. But in other respects, +too, the reference is visible: "I gave my back to the smiters (<span lang="el" class="Greek">μαστιγώσαντες</span>, +LXX. <span lang="el" class="Greek">εἰς μαστιγας</span>), and my cheeks to those +plucking (<span lang="el" class="Greek">ἐμπαιχθήσεται</span>--the plucking of the +beard, an act of degrading wantonness), my face I hid not from shame (<span lang="el" class="Greek">ὑβρισθήσεται</span>) +and spitting." <i>Bengel</i> draws attention to the fact of how highly Christ, in +the passage quoted, placed the prophecy of the Old Testament: "Jesus most highly +valued that which was written. The word of God which is contained in Scripture is +the rule for all which is to happen, even for that which is to happen in eternal +life." If, in respect of the high estimation of prophecy, our age were to follow +in the steps of Jesus, it would also most readily agree with Him as regards the +subject of the prophecy before us. This alone is the cause of the aberration from +Him, that people confined and shut up the prophet within the horizon of his time, +and then imagined that he could not know anything of the suffering of Christ. It +was altogether different in the <span class="pagenum">[Pg 249]</span> ancient Christian +Church. In it, the Messianic interpretation prevailed throughout; and <i>Grotius</i>, +who in a lower sense would refer the prophecy to Isaiah, and, in a higher sense +only, to Christ, met with general opposition, even on the part of <i>Clericus</i>.</p> +<p class="normal">In favour of the Messianic explanation there is the remarkable +agreement existing between prophecy and fulfilment, comp. Matt. xxvi. 67, 68: +<span lang="el" class="Greek">Τότε ἐνέπτυσαν εἰς τὸ πρόσωπον άὐτοῦ<!--see 1856 ed; αὐτοῦ--> +καὶ ἐκολάφισαν αὐτόν, Οἱ δὲ ἐῤῥάπισαν λέγοντες· προφήτευσον ἡμῖν, χριστέ, τίς ἐστιν +ὁ παίσας σε</span>; xxvii. 30: <span lang="el" class="Greek">καὶ ἐμπτύσαντες εἰς +αὐτὸν ἔλαβον τὸν κάλαμον καὶ ἔτυπτον εἰς τὴν κεφαλὴν αὐτοῦ</span>,--an agreement, +the significance and importance of which are only enhanced by the circumstance that +one of the most individualizing features of the prophecy, viz., the plucking off +of the beard, is not met with in the history of Christ; for it is just thereby that +this agreement is proved to be a free and spontaneous one. <i>Farther</i>--The exactness +with which, in ver. 10 and 11, the destinies of Israel, after the rejection of Christ, +are drawn; and the destruction which the mass of the people, who did not believe +in the Servant of God, prepared for themselves, by their attempts to help themselves +by their own strength, by enkindling the flame of war, whilst those who fear the +Lord and listen to the voice of Hs Servant, obtain salvation. <i>Farther</i>--Ver. +11, where the Servant of God ascribes to himself the judgment upon the unbelieving +mass of the people: "From <i>my</i> hand is this to you," in harmony with Matt. +xxvi. 64 and other passages, where the Son of Man appears as executing judgment +upon Jerusalem. <i>Finally</i>--The parallel passages.</p> +<p class="normal">Most of the modern interpreters assume that the Prophet himself, +Isaiah, or Pseudo-Isaiah, is the subject of the prophecy. <i>Jerome</i> mentions +that this explanation was the prevailing one among the Jews of his time. The explanation +which refers it to the better portion of the people, found only one defender, viz., +<i>Paulus</i>. The explanation which refers it to the <i>whole</i> of the Jewish +people, or to the collective body of the prophets, has been entirely abandoned, +although it is maintained in reference to the parallel passages.</p> +<p class="normal">Since it is undeniable that this Section is related to the other +prophecies which treat of the Servant of God,--and hence an identity of subject +is necessarily required--those who, in the <span class="pagenum">[Pg 250]</span> +Section under consideration, are compelled to give up their former hypothesis, themselves +bear witness against the correctness of it, at the same time, also against the soundness +of their explanation of the passage before us. For an explanation which compels +to the severance of what is necessarily connected, cannot be right and true. It +is only then that Exegesis has attained its object, when it has arrived at a subject +in whom all those features, which occur in the single prophecies which are connected +with each other, are found at the same time. <i>Knobel</i>, in saying: "This small +unconnected Section, is the only one in the whole collection, in which the Prophet +speaks of himself only, and represents his suffering's and hopes," has thereby himself +pronounced judgment upon his own interpretation of this Section, and at the same +time, of the other prophecies of the Servant of God.</p> +<p class="normal">Moreover, the Prophet would here form rather a strange figure; +he would appear as it were, as if he had been blown in by a snow-storm. According +to <i>Hofmann</i>, he describes how he is rewarded for his activity and zeal in +his vocation. But how does this suit the contents of the second part, which evidently +is a whole, the single parts of which must stand in a close relation to its fundamental +idea! <i>It is only a person of central importance that is suitable to this context.</i> +It is only when we refer it to Christ, that the expectations are satisfied which +were called forth by the words: Comfort ye, comfort ye my people. This call is answered +only by pointing to the future Saviour of the world.</p> +<p class="normal">One element of truth, indeed, there is in the explanation which +makes the Prophet the subject. It is revealed to him, indeed, that the Servant of +God shall undergo persecution, shame, and ignominy; but he has the natural substratum +for this knowledge in the experience of himself and his colleagues, comp. Matt. +xxiii. 29-37; Heb. xi. 36, 37. The divine, wherever it enters into the world of +sin, as well as the servant of truth who upholds it in the face of prevailing falsehood, +must undergo struggles, shame, and ignominy. This truth was confirmed in the case +of the prophets as types, in the case of Christ as the antitype. All that which +the prophets had to experience in their own cases was a prophecy by deeds of the +sufferings of Christ; and we should the less have any difficulty +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 251]</span> in admitting their knowledge of this, that +it would be rather strange if they were destitute of such knowledge.</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 4. "<i>The Lord Jehovah hath given me a disciples tongue, +that I should know to help the weary with a word: He awakeneth morning by morning, +wakeneth mine ear, that I may hear as the disciples.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">The greater number of expositors explain a disciple's tongue by: +"A tongue such as instructed people or scholars possess,--an eloquent tongue." But +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">למד</span>, everywhere else in Isaiah, means "pupil," +"disciple," and is used especially of the disciples of the Lord, those who go to +His school, are instructed by Him; comp. chaps. viii. 16; liv. 13. A disciple's +tongue is such as the disciples of the Lord possess. Its foundation is formed by +the disciple's <i>ear</i> mentioned at the close of the verse. He who hears the +Lord's words, speaks also the Lord's words. The signification, "learned," is not +suitable in the last clause of the verse, and its reference to the first does not +permit of our assuming a different signification in either clause. Just as here +the Servant of God traces back to God that which He speaks, so Jesus says, in John +viii. 26: <span lang="el" class="Greek">κᾀγὼ ἃ ἤκουσα παρʼ αὐτοῦ ταῦτα λαλῶ εἰς +τὸν κόσμον</span>, comp. iii. 34: <span lang="el" class="Greek">ὃν γὰρ ἀπέστειλεν +ὁ θεὸς τὰ ῥήματα τοῦ θεοῦ λαλεῖ</span>. The verb <span lang="he" class="Hebrew"> +סמך</span>, which occurs only here, means, according to the Arabic, "to help," "to +support;" <i>Aquila</i>: <span lang="el" class="Greek">ὑποστηρίσαι</span>, Vulg. +<i>sustentare</i>. Like other similar verbs, <i>e.g.</i>, +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">סמך</span>, in Gen. xxvii. 37, it is construed with +a double accusative: "that I may help the weary, word," <i>i.e.</i>, may support +him by comforting words. The weary or fatigued are, like the bent reed, the faintly +burning wick, in chap. xlii. 3; the blind, the prisoners sitting in darkness, <i> +ibid.</i>, ver. 7; the broken-hearted, chap. lxi. 1; them that mourn, <i>ibid.</i>, +ver. 2. Just as here the Servant of God represents the suffering and afflicted ones +as the main objects of His mission, so Christ announces, that His mission is specially +directed to these, comp. <i>e.g.</i>, Matt. v. 4; xi. 28. In order to be able to +fulfil this mission. He must be able to draw from the fulness of God, who looketh +to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, chap. lxvi. 2, and who alone understands +to heal the broken in heart, and to bind up their wounds, Ps. cxlvii. 3.--In the +words: "He wakeneth, &c." we are told in what manner the Lord gives to His Servant +the disciple's tongue. <i>To waken</i> <span class="pagenum">[Pg 252]</span> <i> +the ear</i> is equivalent to: to make attentive, to make ready for the reception +of the divine communications. The expression "morning by morning" indicates that +the divine wakening is going on uninterruptedly, and that the Servant of God unreservedly +surrenders himself to the influences which come from above, in which He has become +an example to us.</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 5. "<i>The Lord Jehovah hath opened mine ear, and I was not +rebellious, and have not turned back.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">The phrases "to open or uncover the ear" have always the signification, +"to make known something to some one," "to reveal to him something." "to inform +him," both in ordinary circumstances (comp. 1 Sam. xx. 12; Ruth iv. 4), and on the +religious territory, comp. 2 Sam. vii. 27: "For thou, Lord of Hosts, God of Israel, +hast opened the ear of thy servant, saying: I will build thee an house;" Isa. xlviii. +8: "Thou heardest not, thou knewest not, nor was formerly thine ear opened;" chap. +xlii. 20: "The ear was opened to him." According to this well established <i>usus +loquendi</i>, "The Lord hath opened mine ear," can only mean: The Lord hath revealed +to me, hath informed me inwardly; <i>Abenezra</i>: +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">גלה סודו לי</span> "He has made known to me His secret." +What the Lord has made known to His Servant, we are not here expressly told; but +it may be inferred from ver. 6, where the Servant declares that which, in consequence +of the divine manifestation, He did, viz., that He should give His back to the smiters, +&c. The words: "The Lord hath opened mine ear" here are connected with: "The Lord +wakeneth mine ear, that I may hear," in the preceding verse: The Lord has specially +made known to me that, in carrying out my vocation, I shall have to endure severe +sufferings. <i>To this subject the Servant of God quickly passes over, after having, +in the introduction, described, by a few features, the vocation, in the carrying +out of which these sufferings should befal Him.</i> As the authors of these sufferings, +we must conceive of the party opposed to the weary, viz., the proud, secure, unbroken +sinners. On "I was not rebellious," compare what, in Deut. xxi. 20, is written of +the stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey the voice of his father; and farther, +the words: <span lang="el" class="Greek">πλὴν οὐχ ὡς ἐγὼ θέλω ἀλλʼ ὡς σύ</span>, +Matt. xxvi. 39.</p> +<p class="continue"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 253]</span></p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 6. "<i>I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to the +pluckers, I hid not my face from shame and spitting.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">The words express in an individualizing manner the thought, that +the Servant of God, in His vocation as the Saviour of the <i>personae miserabiles</i>, +would experience the most shameful and ignominious treatment, and would patiently +bear it. In God's providence, part of the contents was literally fulfilled upon +Christ. But the fact that this literal agreement is not the main point, but that +it serves as a hint and indication only of the far more important <i>substantial</i> +conformity which would take place, although the hatred of the world against the +Saviour of the poor and afflicted should have manifested itself in forms altogether +different,--this fact is evident from the circumstance that regarding the fulfilment +of the words: "and my cheeks to the pluckers"--plucking the cheeks, or plucking +off of the beard being the greatest insult and disgrace in the East, comp. 2 Sam. +x. 4--there is no mention in the New Testament history.</p> +<p class="normal">In vers. 7-9 we have the future glory, which makes it easy for +the Servant of God to bear the sufferings of the Present. If God be for Him, who +may be against Him?</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 7. "<i>But the Lord Jehovah helpeth me, therefore I am not +confounded, therefore I make my face like a flint, and I know that I am not put +to shame.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal"><span lang="he" class="Hebrew">נכלמתי</span> refers to +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">כלמות</span> in the preceding verse. He whom the +Lord helps is not confounded or put to shame by all the ignominy which the world +heaps upon him. The expression: "I make my face like a flint" denotes the "holy +hardness of perseverance" (<i>Stier</i>); comp. Ezek. iii. 8. In that passage it +is especially the assailing hardness which comes into consideration; here, on the +contrary, it is the suffering one. There is an allusion to the passage before us, +in Luke ix. 51: <span lang="el" class="Greek">ἐγένετο δὲ τῷ συμπληροῦσθαι τὰς ἡμέρας +τῆς ἀναλήψεως αὐτοῦ, καὶ αὐτὸς τὸ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ ἐστήριξε τοῦ πορεύεσθαι εἰς Ἱερουσαλήμ.</span></p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 8. "<i>He is near that justifieth me; who will contend with +one? Let us stand together; who has a right upon me, let him come near me.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">In the confidence and assurance of Christ, His redeemed ones, +too, partake,--those that hear the voice of the Servant of God, ver. 10, comp. Rom. +viii. 33, 34, where this and the <span class="pagenum">[Pg 254]</span> following +verse are intentionally alluded to. The justification is one by <i>deeds</i>. It +took place and was fulfilled, in the first instance, in the resurrection and glorification +of Christ, and, then, in the destruction of Jerusalem.--<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">בעל +משפטי</span> literally, "the master of my right," <i>i.e.</i>, he who according +to his opinion or assertion which, by the issue is proved to be false, has a right +over me, comp. the <span lang="el" class="Greek">ἐν ἐμοὶ οὐκ ἔχει οὔδέν</span> which, +in John xiv. 30, the Lord says in reference to the chief of His enemies.</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 9. "<i>Behold the Lord Jehovah will help me; who is he that +shall condemn me? Lo, they shall wax old as a garment, the moth shall eat them.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">That which is said herein reference to the enemies of Christ is, +in chap. li. 8, with a reference to our passage, said of the opponents of those +who know righteousness, and in whose heart is the law: "The moth shall eat them +up like a garment." Enmity to Christ and His Church is, to those who entertain it, +a prophecy of sure destruction. The words: "The moth shall eat them," are farther +expanded in ver. 11, where it is described how the people who ventured to <i>condemn</i> +the Servant of God, become a prey to destruction.</p> +<p class="normal">The Servant of God closes with a double address; first, to the +godly; and then, to the ungodly.</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 10. "<i>Who is among you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth +the word of His Servant? When he walketh in darkness, in which there is no light +to him, let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">From the words: "Of mine hand," in ver. 11, it appears that the +Servant of God is continuing the discourse. Hence "the voice of His Servant," <i> +q.d.</i>, the voice of me who am His Servant. By the words: "Among you," the address +is directed to the whole of the people. In this two parties are distinguished. The +first is formed by those who fear the Lord, and obey the voice of His Servant. Both +of these things appear as indissolubly connected. The fear of God must necessarily +prove itself in this, that He whom He has sent is obeyed. It is a mere imagination +on the part of the people to think that they can fear God without obeying the voice +of His Servant; comp. John v. 23. There is in this an allusion to the emphatic "Unto +him ye shall hearken," which, in Deut. xviii. 15, had been said in reference to +<i>the</i> Prophet. <span class="pagenum">[Pg 255]</span> From ver. 11 it appears +that the darkness in which those walk who fear the Lord, is not to be understood +of personal individual calamity which befals this or that godly one, nor of the +sufferings which happen to the pious godly <i>party</i>, in contrast to the ungodly +wicked, but rather that we have before us the foresight of a dark period of sufferings +which, after the appearance of the Servant of God, shall be inflicted upon the whole +people; so that both of the parties,--that devoted to the Servant of God, and that +opposed to Him,--are thereby affected, but with a different issue. For in ver. 11, +it is described how the ungodly, who likewise walk in darkness, endeavour to light +up their darkness by a fire which they have kindled, but do so to their own destruction. +Behind the exhortation: "Let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his +God," there is concealed the promise: he <i>may</i> trust, his darkness shall be +changed into light, his sorrow into joy. When the destruction of Jerusalem approached, +the cry came to believing Israel: "Lift up your heads, for your redemption draweth +nigh," Luke xxi. 28. In the destruction of apostate Israel, not obeying the Servant +of God, but persecuting His faithful ones, they beheld the beginning of the victory +of the true people of God over the world.</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 11. "<i>Behold all ye that kindle a fire, that gird sparks,--walk +in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled. From mine hand +is this to you; ye shall lie down in pain.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">The image begun in the preceding verse is continued. The pious +walk in confidence and patience through the lightless darkness, until the Lord kindles +a light to them. Those who do not hear the Lord, who do <i>not</i> obey the voice +of His Servant, kindle a fire which is to light up their darkness; but instead of +that, they are consumed by the fire. Thus the Servant of God, who brings this destruction +upon them, obtains His right upon them.--The <i>fire</i> is often in Scripture the +fire of war, chap. ix. 18; Jer. li. 5; Rev. viii. 7-10. According to several interpreters +(<i>Hitzig</i>, <i>Ewald</i>, <i>Knobel</i>), it is assumed that the discourse is +here not of "self-assistance by rebellion," but "of the attacks of the wicked upon +the godly, and of the destruction, into which these attacks turn out for their authors." +But this view is opposed by the circumstance that the darkness +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 256]</span> is common to both parties; hence, it must +come from some other quarter. The fire which the wicked kindle is destined to enlighten +the darkness in which they also are, which is especially evident from the words: +"Walk in the <i>light</i> of your fire." They now have a light which enlightens +their darkness; but this self-created light consumes them.--To <i>gird</i> stands +for, "to surround one's self with a girdle," "to put on a girdle." In substance +it is equivalent "to provide one's self with it."--The +<span lang="el" class="Greek">ἅπαξ λεγόμενον</span> +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">זיקות</span> cannot with certainty be explained from +the dialects. The connection and parallelism are in favour of the signification +"sparks," "flames," which is found as early as in the Septuagint (<span lang="el" class="Greek">φλόγα</span>), +and Vulg. (<i>flammas</i>). In Syriac <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">זיקא</span> +has the signification "lightning." Those who explain it by "fiery darts" are not +at liberty to refer it to the <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">זקים</span> in Prov. +xxvi. 18. The signification "flames" (not "sparks," as <i>Stier</i> holds), is, +in that passage, quite suitable; simple arrows could there not be mentioned after +the fiery darts without making the discourse feeble.--<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">לכו</span> +"walk ye," is equivalent to: "ye shall walk," yet with an intimation of the fact +that this result, as we are immediately afterwards expressly told, proceeds from +the speaker: <i>sic volo, sic jubeo.</i> The words: "From mine hand is this to you," +are, by those who make the Prophet the subject of this prediction, supposed to be +spoken by Jehovah. But throughout the whole section, the Lord is always only spoken +of, and never appears as speaking. The words are in harmony with the exalted dignity +which, elsewhere also, is attributed by the Prophet to the Servant of God who plants +the heavens, and lays the foundation of the earth, chap. li. 16; whose mouth the +Lord makes like a sharp sword, chap. xlix. 2; who is the personal salvation, the +Saviour for the whole earth, chap. xlix. 6; and the embodied Covenant for the covenant-people, +chaps. xlii. 6; xlix. 8. The last passages, especially, are of no small importance. +The saving and judging activity go hand in hand, and cannot be separated. We have +here thus the Old Testament beginnings and preparation for the doctrine of the New +Testament, that the Father has given all judgment to the Son, The Servant of God, +in the highest sense, is Lord and judge of the fellow servants.--The +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ל</span> in <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">למעצבה</span> +serves for designating the condition: so that you belong to pain, +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">שכב</span> occurs in <span class="pagenum">[Pg 257]</span> +chap. xliii. 17 of the Egyptians lying down; comp. Ps. xli. 9: "He that <i>lieth</i> +shall rise up no more." In the announcement that Israel's attempt to help themselves +would turn out to their destruction, the Song of Solomon, in chap. iii. 1-3; v. +7, has preceded our Prophet: "The daughter of Zion, in her restlessness, endeavours +to bring about, by worldly, rebellious doings, the Messianic salvation. It is in +vain; what she is seeking she does not find, but the heavenly watchmen find her."</p> +<h3><a name="div2_257" href="#div2Ref_257">CHAPTER LI. 1-16.</a></h3> +<p class="normal">Ver. 1. "<i>And I put my words in thy mouth, and cover thee in +the shadow of mine hand, that thou mayest plant the heaven and lay the foundation +of the earth, and say unto Zion: Thou art my people.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">The discourse in chap. li. to lii. 12 is not addressed to the +whole of Israel, but to the <i>election</i>. They are, in chap. li. 1, called those +that follow after righteousness, that seek the Lord; in ver. 7, those who know righteousness, +in whose heart is the law of the Lord. These the Prophet seeks to comfort and strengthen +by pointing to the future glorious mercies of the Lord.</p> +<p class="normal">The Section chap. li. 4-8 comforts the elect by the coming of +the salvation, by the dominion of the people of God over the whole world; points +to the foundation of these successes, viz., the eternity of the salvation and righteousness +for the Church; and exhorts them that, having this eternal salvation before them, +they might patiently bear the temporal reproach of the world given over to destruction.</p> +<p class="normal">In vers. 9-11, the Church calls upon the Lord to do as He had +promised; and this prayer, founded upon His almighty love, which in times past had +so gloriously manifested itself, passes over, at the close, into hope and confidence.</p> +<p class="normal">In vers. 12-16 follows the answer of the Lord, who exhorts the +Church to be stedfast, by reminding her that her opponents are weak mortals, while +the omnipotent God is her protector; and announces that, with the same omnipotence +which He manifests in nature, He would soon bring about her deliverance, +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 258]</span> and that Ho would do so by His Servant, in +whom all His promises should be Yea and Amen, and whom at the close Ho addresses, +committing to Him the work of redemption. According to the current opinion, the +discourse in ver. 16 is addressed to the people. But, in that case, we must also +make up our minds to view the Infinitive with <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ל</span> +a Gerund, "planting," or "by planting,"--a supposition which is beset with great +difficulties. It was only by an inconsistency that <i>Stier</i>, who, in chap. xlix. +rejects this view, could here agree to it. And, farther, it is obvious that the +words at the close: "Thou art my people," are the <i>words</i> which, according +to the commencement of the verse, are put into the mouth of the speaker, and that +hence, the planting of heaven and earth, which prepares for this speaking, belongs +to Him. If this be not supposed, one does not at all see to what the: "I put my +words in thy mouth," is to refer. What farther militates against this explanation +is the unmistakable relation of the passage before us to chaps. xlix., l., which +it is impossible to refer to the people. The same reason is also against the supposition +of <i>Gesenius</i> and <i>Umbreit</i>, that the discourse is addressed to the prophetical +order. Nor is it defensible to explain: "to plant the heaven and lay the foundation +of the earth," by: to establish the new state of Israel. To these arguments it may +be added that, according to this explanation, the words: "Thou art my people," are +unsuitable; for Israel was not the people of the Prophet, but the people of God +and of His Servant. The discourse is addressed rather to the Messiah, compare the +parallel passages, chap. xlix., especially ver. 2, and chap. l., especially vers. +4 and 5. Considering the dramatic character of the whole section, the change of +the person addressed is a circumstance of very little importance; and chap. lix. +21, where the word of God is put into the mouth of Jacob, is parallel in appearance +only. Even <i>a priori</i> we could not expect that, in this context, treating, +as it does, of the personal Messiah, the whole section, chap. li. 1 to lii. 12, +should lack all reference to the Messiah. By the words: "I put my word in thy mouth," +the Messiah is appointed to be, in the highest sense, the speaker of God; the realization +of the divine counsels is committed to Him. For the fact that it is not mere words +which are here treated of, but such as are living <span class="pagenum">[Pg 259]</span> +and powerful, like those which God spoke at the creation, becomes evident by the +circumstance that the planting of heaven and earth is attributed to the Servant +of God as bearer of His words,--a thing which cannot be done by the ordinary word; +comp. Isa. xl. 4, according to which the Messiah smites the earth with the rod of +His mouth, and slays the wicked with the breath of His lips.--<i>I cover thee in +the shadow of mine hand</i>, designates the divine protection and providence which +are indispensable in order that the Servant of God may fulfil His vocation to be +God's speaker. The words form an accessory thought only: I appoint thee my speaker +whom, as such, I will keep and protect in order that thou, etc.;--for that which +follows is that which the Servant of God is to <i>perform</i> as His Speaker. By +the word of Omnipotence committed to Him, He plants a new heaven, and lays the foundation +of a new earth, and invests Zion with the dignity of the people of God.--To plant +the heaven and lay the foundation of the earth, is equivalent to founding a <i>new</i> +heaven, a <i>new</i> earth; comp. chaps. lxv. 17, lxvi. 22; Rev. xxii. For, as long +as the old heaven and the old earth exist, a planting and founding activity cannot +take place in reference to heaven and earth. All that is created, in so far as it +opposes the Kingdom of God, is unfit for being an abode of the glorified Kingdom +of God, and must be shaken and broken to pieces, in order that this Kingdom may +enter into its natural conditions, and find a worthy abode. The activity of God +and His Servant, necessary for this purpose, will most completely take place at +the end of days, at the <span lang="el" class="Greek">παλιγγενεσία</span> announced +by the Lord, Matt. xix. 28; compare what is said in chap. xi., in reference to the +entire change of the conditions of the earth. But in a preparatory manner, this +activity pervades all history. The heaven, according to the <i>usus loquendi</i> +of Scripture, and also of Isaiah, is not only the natural heaven, but also the heaven +of princes, the whole order of rulers and magistrates, (comp. my remarks on Rev. +vi. 13), whose form and relation to the Kingdom of God underwent a great change, +even at the first appearance of Christ.--The <i>saying</i>, according to the preceding: +That thou mayest plant, &c., is not to be referred to the mere announcing; but, +according to the frequent <i>usus loquendi</i>, it includes the performing also, +just as <i>e.g.</i>, in ver. 12, the <span class="pagenum">[Pg 260]</span> comforting +is effected by a discourse <i>in deeds</i>. The distinction between, and separation +of word and deed belongs to human weakness. God speaks and it is done; and what +holds true of His word, applies also to the word of His Servant, which he has put +into His mouth.</p> +<h3><a name="div2_260" href="#div2Ref_260">CHAPTERS LII. 13-LIII. 12.</a></h3> +<p class="normal">This section forms the climax of the prophecies of Isaiah, of +prophetism in general, of the whole Old Testament, as appears even from the circumstance +that the Lord and His Apostles refer to no part of the Old Testament so frequently +and so emphatically as to this,--a section which, according to <i>Luther's</i> demand, +every Christian should have committed <i>verbatim</i>. Christ is here, with wonderful +clearness, described to us in His highest work--His atoning suffering.</p> +<p class="normal">In vers. 13-15 of chap. lii. Jehovah speaks. These verses contain +a short summary of what is enlarged upon in chap. liii. The very deepest humiliation +of the Servant of God shall be followed by His highest glorification. In consequence +of the salvation wrought out and accomplished by Him, the nations of the earth and +their kings shall reverently submit to Him. In chap. liii. 1-10, the Prophet utters +the sentiments of the <i>elect</i> in Israel. At first, in His humiliation, they +had not recognized the Redeemer; but now they acknowledged Him as their Redeemer +and Saviour, and saw that He had taken upon Him His sufferings for our salvation, +and that they had a vicarious character. The commencement forms, in ver. 1, the +lamentation that so many do not believe in the report of the Servant of God, that +so many do not behold the glory of God manifested in Him. In vers. 2 and 3, we have +the cause of this fact, viz., the appearance of the Divine, in the form of a Servant--the +offence of the cross. In lowliness, without any outward splendour, the Servant of +God shall go about. Sufferings, heavier than ever befel any man, shall be inflicted +upon Him. In vers. 4-6, the vicarious import of these sufferings is pointed out. +The people, seeing his sufferings, <span class="pagenum">[Pg 261]</span> and not +knowing the cause of them, imagined that they were the well-merited punishment of +His own transgressions and iniquities. But the Church, now brought to believe in +Him, see that they were wrong in imagining thus. It was not His own transgressions +and iniquities which were punished in Him, but ours. His sufferings were voluntarily +undergone by Him, and for the salvation of mankind, which else would have been given +up to destruction. God himself was anxious to re-unite to himself those who were +separated from Him, and who walked in their own ways. To the vicarious import of +the sufferings of the Servant of God corresponds, according to ver. 7, His conduct: +He suffers quietly and patiently. In vers. 8-10 we have the reward which the Servant +of God receives for His passive obedience. God takes Him to himself, and He receives +an unspeakably great generation, ver. 8, the ominous burial with the rich, ver. +9, numerous seed and long life, and that the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper +in His hand; ver. 10. In vers. 11 and 12, the Lord again appears as speaking, and +confirms that which has been declared by the faithful Church.</p> +<p class="normal">The two verses of the close, together with the exordium, chap. +lii. 13-15, occupy five verses--five being the signature of the half and incomplete. +The main body, ten verses, is divided into seven referring to the humiliation and +suffering, and three referring to the exaltation of the Servant of God. The seven +are, as usual, divided into three and four. In the three verses, the suffering of +the Servant of God is exhibited; in the four, its cause and vicarious import.</p> +<p class="normal">By the "<i>Behold</i>," with which the prophecy opens, the Prophet +intimates that we have here before us a vision beheld by him in the spirit. As the +period in which the Prophet beholds the vision, we have to suppose the time between +the suffering and the glorification of the Servant of God. The glorification is +described chiefly by Futures, the suffering by Preterites; but, from the fact that +this stand-point is not strictly adhered to, it is evident that we have to do with +a stand-point which is purely ideal.</p> +<p class="normal">The section forms, in a formal and material point of view, a whole +by itself; but, notwithstanding its absolute independence, it must stand in a certain +connection with what precedes and what follows. Let us, therefore, now consider +the relation <span class="pagenum">[Pg 262]</span> in which it stands to the portions +surrounding it. Its relation to what goes before is thus strikingly designated by +<i>Calvin</i>: "After Isaiah had spoken of the restoration of the Church, he passes +over to Christ, in whom all things are gathered together. He speaks of the prosperous +success of the Church, at a time when it was least to be expected, which calls them +back to their King, by whom all things are to be restored, and exhorts them to expect +Him." The preceding section begins with chap. li. 1. We have already stated the +contents up to li. 16. Vers. 17-23 are closely connected with the preceding, in +which salvation and mercy were announced to the Church of God. This announcement +is here continued in new forms. Chap. lii. 1-6: As the Lord had formerly delivered +His people out of the hand of Egypt and Asshur, so, now too, He will deliver them. +Zion appears under the image of a woman imprisoned, fettered, lying powerlessly +in a miserable garment, on a dirty floor, and is called upon to arise, to strengthen +herself, to throw off her bands, to put on festive garments, inasmuch as the time +of her deliverance from the misery is at hand. Vers. 7-10: In the last words of +ver. 6, the Lord had announced that He was already at hand for the redemption of +His Church. This salvation now presents itself vividly to the spiritual eye of the +Prophet, and is graphically described by him. He beholds a messenger hastening with +the glad tidings to Jerusalem; <i>watchmen</i>, who are standing on the ruins of +Jerusalem in longing expectation, discover him at a distance, and exultingly call +upon the ruins to shout aloud for joy.<sup class="ftnRef"><a name="ftnRef_262a" href="#ftn_262a">[1]</a></sup> +"How beautiful"--so verse 7 runs--"upon the mountains the feet of the Messenger +of joy, that announceth peace, that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth salvation, +that saith unto Zion: Thy God reigneth." In Rom. x. 15, the Apostle refers this +passage to the preaching of the Gospel. That is more than mere application; it is +real explanation. The deliverance from Babylon is only the first faint beginning +of the salvation, which the Prophet has before his eye in its +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 263]</span> whole extent. As the substance of the salvation, +the circumstance that Zion's God reigneth, is intimated. There is, in this, an allusion +to the formula which was used in proclaiming the ascension of earthly kings to the +throne. Even this allusion shows that the point here in question is not the continuous +government of the Lord, but a new, glorious manifestation of His government, as +it were a new ascension to the throne. This "the Lord reigneth," found a faint beginning +only of its confirmation and fulfilment in the destruction of Babylon, and the deliverance +of Israel; but as to its full import, it is Messianic. In Christ, the Lord has truly +assumed the government, and will still more gloriously reign in future.--Ver. 8: +"The <i>voice</i> of thy watchmen! they lift up the voice, they shout together; +for they see eye to eye that the Lord returneth to Zion." The watchmen are ideal +persons, representatives of the truth that the Lord is around His people, and that +the circumstances of His Church are to Him a constant call to help; or they may +be viewed as the holy angels who, as the servants of the watchmen of Israel, form +the protecting power for the Church. These watchmen continue to stand even on the +destroyed walls; for, even in her misery, the Lord is Zion's God. The anxious waiting +eye of the watchmen, and the mercy-beaming eye of God returning to Zion meet one +another. The returning here is opposed to the forsaking, over which Zion had lamented +in chap. xlix. 14. Instead of the concealed presence of the Lord during the misery, +which, to the feeling, so easily appears as entire absence, there comes the presence +of God manifested in the salvation. This return of the Lord to Zion truly took place +in Christ only, Luke i. 68.--Ver. 9: "Break forth into joy, shout together, ye ruins +of Jerusalem, for the Lord comforteth Jerusalem, redeemeth His people." This call +goes far beyond the time of the restoration of Jerusalem after the exile; for, even +at that time, the spiritual eye still beheld ruins, where the bodily eye saw firm, +walled buildings. The condition of the Kingdom of God was still miserable, the eye +of the faithful remained still fixed, with hopes and longings, upon the Future which +was to bring, and has brought, <i>true</i> comfort and consolation.--Ver. 10: "The +Lord maketh bare His Holy arm in the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of +the earth see the salvation of our God." The making bare of the arm of the Lord +designates the manifestation, by deeds, of <span class="pagenum">[Pg 264]</span> +the divine power and glory, such as took place by the sending of Christ, and by +the wonderful elevation of the Church over the world,--an elevation which has it +roots in Him; comp. chap. liii. 1. In vers. 11 and 12 there is still the exhortation +to the Church of the Lord that, by true repentance, she should worthily prepare +for the impending salvation.</p> +<p class="normal">After the Prophet has, in chap. li. 1 to lii. 12, described the +transition of the Church of God from humiliation and sorrow to glorification, it +is quite natural that he should now turn from the members to the Head, through whose +mediation this transition was to be accomplished, after the same contrast had been +exhibited in Himself There is the most intimate connection between the Church of +God and His Servant; for, all that He does and suffers. He does and suffers for +her; and all that befals her is prefigured by the way in which He has been led by +the Lord.</p> +<p class="normal">With what follows, too, the section before us stands in a close +relation. The glorification of the Servant of God described at the close of chap. +liii., is, in Him, bestowed at the same time, upon the Church. Thus chap. liv., +in which the Church is comforted by pointing to her future glorification, is connected +with the preceding. The Church of the Lord appears here as a woman who, after having +been put away by her husband, and after having, for a long time, lived in a childless, +sorrowful solitude, is again received by him, and sees herself surrounded by numerous +children. The time of punishment is now at an end, and the time of mercy is breaking.</p> +<p class="normal">Chap. lii. 13. "<i>Behold, my Servant shall act wisely, He shall +be exalted and extolled, and be very high.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal"><span lang="he" class="Hebrew">השכיל</span> always means "to act +wisely" (LXX. <span lang="el" class="Greek">συνήσει</span>; <i>Aquil. Sym.</i>: +<span lang="el" class="Greek">ἐπισθημονισθήσεται</span>), never "to be successful" +(the Chaldean, whom most of the modern interpreters follow, renders it by +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">יצלח</span>), and this ascertained sense (comp. Remarks +on Jer. iii. 15; xxiii. 5, where the verb is used of the Messiah, just as it is +here), must here be maintained so much the more, that our passage evidently refers +to David, the former servant of God. Of him it is said in 1 Sam. xviii. 14, 15: +"And David was acting wisely in all his ways, and the Lord was with him. And Saul +saw that he was acting very wisely, and was afraid of him;" comp. 1 Kings ii. 3, +where David says to Solomon: "And keep the charge of the Lord thy God ... in order +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 265]</span> that thou mayest act wisely in all that thou +doest, and whithersoever thou turnest thyself;" Ps. ci. 2, where David, speaking +in the name of his family, says: "I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way;" +and 2 Kings xviii. 7, where it is said of Hezekiah: "And the Lord was with him, +and whithersoever he went forth, he acted wisely." According to these fundamental +and parallel passages, the expression, "He shall act wisely" refers to the administration +of government, and is equivalent to: He shall rule wisely like his ancestor David. +<i>Stier</i> is wrong in opposing the view, that the Messiah here presents himself +as King. He says: "The King has here stepped behind the Prophet, Witness, Martyr, +Saviour;" but in chap. liii. 12, the royal office surely comes out with sufficient +distinctness. We must never forget that the different offices of Christ are intimately +connected with one another by the unity of the person. The <i>prosperity and success</i> +which the Servant of God enjoys, are first brought before us and detailed in what +follows; and appear, just as in the fundamental passages quoted, as the consequence +of acting wisely: "My Servant shall, after having, through the deepest humiliation, +attained to dominion, administer it well, and thereby attain to the highest glory." +To the words: "He shall act wisely" correspond, afterwards, the words: "The pleasure +of the Lord shall prosper by His hand," chap. liii. 10. The fact that a person acts +wisely is, in a twofold aspect, a fruit of his connection with God: <i>first</i>, +because God is the source and fountain of all wisdom, and, <i>secondly</i>, because +from God the blessing proceeds which always accompanies his doings. The ungodly +is by God involved in circumstances which, notwithstanding all his wisdom, make +him appear as a fool. Compare only chap. xix. 11: "The princes of Zoan become fools, +the counsel of the wise counsellors of Pharaoh is become brutish; how can ye say +unto Pharaoh: a son of the wise am I, a (spiritual) son of the (wise) kings of ancient +times?" comp. ver. 13; Job xii. 17, 20; Eccles. ix. 11. In the second clause the +Prophet puts together the verbs which denote elevation, and still adds +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">מאד</span> "very" in order most emphatically to point +out the glory of the exaltation of the Servant of God.</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 14. "<i>As many were shocked at thee--so marred from man +was His look, and His form from the sons of man</i>--Ver. 15. <i>So shall He sprinkle +many nations; kings shall shut their</i> <span class="pagenum">[Pg 266]</span> +<i>mouths on account of Him, for they who had not been told, they see, and they +who did not hear, they perceive.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 14 contains the <i>protasis</i>, ver. 15 the <i>apodosis</i>. +The former describes the deep humiliation, the latter the highest glorification +of the Servant of God. The <i>so</i> in ver. 14 begins a parenthesis, in which the +reason why many were shocked is stated, and which goes on to the end of the verse. +In keeping with the dramatic character of the prophetic discourse, the Lord addresses +His Servant in ver. 14: "At thee;" while, in ver. 15, He speaks of Him in the third +person: "He shall sprinkle;" "on account of <i>Him</i>" This change has been occasioned +by the parenthetical clause which contains a remark of the Prophet, and in which, +therefore, the Servant of God could not but be spoken of in the third person. <i> +Hävernick</i> and <i>Stier</i> refuse to admit the existence of a parenthesis. Their +reasons: "Parentheses are commonly an ill-invented expedient only," and: "It is +not likely that the same particle should have a different signification in these +two clauses following immediately the one upon the other," are not entirely destitute +of force, but are far-outweighed by counter-arguments. They say that the <i>apodosis</i> +begins with the first <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">כן</span>, and that in ver. +15 a second <i>apodosis</i> follows. But no tolerable thought comes out in this +way;--it is hard to co-ordinate two <i>apodoses</i>,--and the transition from the +2d to the 3d person remains unaccounted for. <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">שמם</span> +"to be desolated" is then transferred to the spiritual desolation and devastation, +and receives the signification "to be horrified," "to be shocked."--Who the many +are that are shocked and offended at the miserable appearance of the Servant of +God, appears from chap. xlix. 4, according to which the opposition to the Servant +of God has its seat among the covenant people; farther, from the contrast in ver. +15 of the chapter before us, according to which the respectful surrender belongs +to the <i>Gentiles</i>; and farther, from chap. liii. 1, where the unbelief of the +former covenant-people is complained of; from vers. 2-4, where even the believers +from among Israel complain that they had had difficulty in surmounting the offence +of the Cross. <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">משחת</span>, properly "corruption," +stands here as <i>abstractum pro concreto</i>, in the signification, "corrupted," +"marred." As to its form, it is in the <i>status constructus</i> which, in close +connections, can stand even <span class="pagenum">[Pg 267]</span> before Prepositions. +From the corresponding <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">חדל אישים</span> in chap. +liii. 3, it appears that the Preposition stands here only for the sake of distinctness, +and might as well have been omitted. The <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">מן</span> +serves for designating the distance, "from man," "from the sons of men," so that +He is no more a man, does no more belong to the number of the sons of men. The correctness +of this explanation appears from chap. liii. 3, and Ps. xxii. 7: "I am a worm and +no man." As regards the sense of the whole parenthesis, many interpreters remark, +that we must not stop at the bodily disfiguration of the Servant of God, but that +the expression must, at the same time, be understood figuratively. Thus, Luther +says: "The Prophet does not speak of the form of Christ as to His person, but of +the political and royal form of a Ruler, who is to become an earthly King, and does +not appear in royal form, but as the meanest of all servants; so that no more despised +man than He has been seen in the world." But the Prophet evidently speaks, in the +first instance, of the bodily appearance only; and we can the less think of a figurative +sense, that bodily disfiguration forms the climax of misery, and that, in this +<i>part</i>, the <i>whole</i> of the miserable condition is delineated. Even the +severe inward sufferings are a matter of course, if the outward ones have risen +to such a pitch. How both of these go hand in hand is seen from Ps. xxii. These +interpreters are, farther, wrong in this respect, that they refer the pretended +figurative expression solely to the lowliness and humility of the Messiah, and not, +at the same time, to His <i>sufferings</i> also. Thus, among the ancient interpreters, +it was viewed by <i>Jerome</i>: "The horrid appearance of His form is not thereby +indicated, but that He came in humility and poverty;" and among recent interpreters +by <i>Martini</i>: "The sense of the passage does not properly refer to the deformity +of the face, but to the whole external weak, poor, and humble condition." But, for +that, the expression is by far too strong. Mere lowliness is no object of horror +(comp. 1 Cor. i. 23, according to which it is the <i>Cross</i> which offends the +Jews); it does not produce a deformity of the countenance; it cannot produce the +effect that the Servant of God should, as it were, cease to be a man. All this suggests +an unspeakable <i>suffering</i> of the Servant of God, and that, moreover, a suffering +which, in the first instance, <span class="pagenum">[Pg 268]</span> manifested itself +upon His own holy body. <i>Farther</i>--We must also take into consideration that +the <i>sprinkling</i>, in ver. 15, has for its background the shedding of blood, +and is the fruit of it, at first concealed. If any doubt should yet remain, it would +be removed by the subsequent detailed representation of that which is here given +in outline merely. The sole reason of that narrow view is, that interpreters did +not understand the fundamental relation of the section under consideration to the +subsequent section; that they did not perceive that, here, we have in a complete +sketch what there is given in detail and expansion.--Ver. 15. The verb +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">נזה</span> occurs in very many passages, and signifies +in <i>Hiphil</i>, everywhere, "to sprinkle." It is especially set apart and used +for the sprinkling with the blood of atonement, and the water of purification. When +"the anointed priest" had sinned, he took of the blood of the <i>sacrifice</i>, +and <i>sprinkled</i> it before the vail of the sanctuary, Lev. iv. 6; comp. v. 16, +17. The high priest had, every year, on the great day of atonement, to sprinkle +the <i>blood</i> before the Ark of the Covenant, in order to obtain forgiveness +for the people. Lev. xvi. 14, comp. also vers. 18, 19: "And he shall sprinkle of +the blood upon it (the altar) with his finger seven times, and cleanse it, and hallow +it from the uncleanness of the children of Israel." In the same manner the verb +is used of the sprinkling of blood upon the healed leper, Lev. xiv. 7, and frequently. +According to Numb. xix. 19, the <i>clean</i> person shall <i>sprinkle</i> upon the +unclean, on the third day, and on the seventh day, "with the water in which are +the ashes of the red heifer" when any one has become unclean by touching a dead +body. The outward material purification frequently serves in the Old Testament to +denote the spiritual purification. Thus, <i>e.g.</i>, in Ps. i. 9: "Purge me with +hyssop, and I shall be clean;" Ezek. xxxvi. 25: "And I sprinkle clean water upon +you, and you shall be clean from all your filthiness." In all those passages there +lies, everywhere, at the foundation an allusion to the Levitical purifications (the +two last quoted especially refer to Numb. xix.); and this allusion is by no means +so to be understood, as if he who makes the allusion were drawing the material into +the spiritual sphere. On the contrary, he uses as a figure that which is, in the +law, used symbolically. All the laws of purification in the Pentateuch +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 269]</span> have a symbolical and typical character. That +which was done to the outward impurity was, in point of fact, done to the <i>sin</i> +which the people of the Old Testament, well versed in the symbolical language, beheld +under its image. Hence, here also, the <i>sprinkling</i> has the signification of +<i>cleansing</i> from sin. The expression indicates that Christ is the true High +Priest, to whom the ordinary priesthood with its sprinklings typically pointed. +The expression is a summary of that which, in the following chapter, we are told +regarding the expiation through the suffering and death of the Servant of God. The +words: "When His soul maketh a sin-offering," in ver. 10, and: "He shall justify," +in ver. 11, correspond. Among the ancient expositors, this translation is followed +by the Syriac and Vulgate, the <i>asperget</i> of which <i>Jerome</i> thus explains: +"He shall sprinkle many nations, cleansing them by His blood, and in baptism consecrating +them to the service of God." In the New Testament, it is alluded to in several passages. +Thus, in 1 Pet. i. 2, where the Apostle speaks of the +<span lang="el" class="Greek">ῥαντισμὸς αἵματος Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ</span>.<!--see 1856 ed, p. 268, ῥαντισμὸν--> +Farther, in Heb. x. 22: <span lang="el" class="Greek">ἐῤῥαντισμένοι τὰς καρδίας +ἀπὸ συνειδήσεως πονηρᾶς</span>; xii. 24: <span lang="el" class="Greek">καὶ αἵματι +ῥαντισμοῦ κρεῖττον λαλοῦντι παρὰ τὸν Ἅβελ</span>, and also in chap. ix. 13, 14. +Among Christian interpreters, this view was always the prevailing one, was indeed +the view held by the Church. <i>Schröder observ. ad origin. Hebr.</i> c. viii. § +10, raised some objections which were eagerly laid hold of, and increased by the +rationalistic interpreters. Even some sound orthodox expositors allowed themselves +to be thereby dazzled. <i>Stier</i> declares "that, for this time, he must take +the part of modern Exegesis against the prevailing tradition of the Church." Yet +his disrelish for the doctrine of the atonement held by the Church has no doubt +exercised a considerable influence in this matter; and <i>Hofmann</i>, too, in so +decidedly rejecting this explanation, which rests on such strong arguments, and +is not touched by any weighty counter-arguments, seems not to have been guided by +exegetical reasons only. But let us submit these objections to a closer examination. +1. "The verb ought not to be construed with the Accusative of the thing to be sprinkled, +but with <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">על</span>." <i>Reinke</i> (in his Monograph +on Is. liii.) brings forward, against this objection, the passage Lev. iv. 16, 17; +but he is wrong in this, inasmuch as <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">את</span> is +there not the <span class="pagenum">[Pg 270]</span> sign of the Accusative, but +a Preposition. <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">את ףני</span> in the signification +"before," is, elsewhere also, very frequently used. But even <i>Gesenius</i> is +compelled to agree with <i>Simonis</i>.<sup class="ftnRef"><a name="ftnRef_270a" href="#ftn_270a">[2]</a></sup> +and to acknowledge that, in the proper name <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">יזיה</span> +the verb is connected with an Accusative. The deviation is there still greater, +inasmuch as the <i>Kal</i> is, at the same time, used transitively. But even apart +from that, such a deviation cannot appear strange. It has an analogy in chap. liii. +11, where <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">הצדיק</span>, which everywhere else is +construed with the Accusative, is followed by <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ל</span>; +and likewise in <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">רפא</span>, followed by +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ל</span> in chap. liii. 5. The signification of the +verb, in such cases, undergoes a slight modification. +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">הזה</span> with <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">על</span> +means "to sprinkle;" with the Accusative, "to sprinkle upon." This modification +of the meaning has the analogy of other languages in its favour. In the Ethiopic, +the verb <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">נזח</span>, which corresponds to the Hebrew +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">נזה</span>, is used of the sprinkling of both persons +and things; Heb. ix. 19, xi. 28; Ps. li. 9. In Latin, we may say: <i>spargere aquam</i>, +but also <i>spargere corpus aqua</i>; <i>aspergere quid alicui</i>, but also <i> +re aliquem</i>, <i>conspergere</i>, <i>perspergere</i>, <i>respergere quem</i>. +"Why should not this be allowed to the Jews also,"--remarks <i>Köcher</i>--"who +have to make up for the defect of compound verbs by the varied use of simple verbs?" +But the Prophet had a special reason, in the liberty specially afforded by the higher +style, for deviating from the ordinary connection. The +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">על</span> had to be avoided, because, had it been +put, the perception of the correspondence of the subsequent +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">עליו</span> with the +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">עליך</span>, in ver. 14, would have become more difficult.--2. +It is asserted that it is against the connection; that the contrast to +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">משם</span><!--see 1856 ed, p. 270; Isa 52:14--> induces +us to expect something corresponding. <i>Beck</i> says: "A change in those who formerly +abhorred the Servant is to be expressed here, not <i>a deed by the Servant himself</i>." +If there were here, indeed, a contrast intended to the many who formerly were shocked, +we might answer that, indirectly, the words: "He shall sprinkle," suggest, indeed, +an opposite conduct of the "many Gentiles." No one is cleansed by the Servant of +God, who does not allow himself to be cleansed by <span class="pagenum">[Pg 271]</span> +Him. But no one will desire to be cleansed by Him, who does not put his whole trust +in Him, who does not recognize Him as his King and Lord. To the contempt and horror +with which the Jews shrink back from the Messiah in His humiliation, would thus +be opposed the faithful, humble confidence, with which the heathens draw near to +the glorified Messiah. But the fact that the real contrast to the +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">שממו</span> is not <span lang="he" class="Hebrew"> +יזה</span>, but rather <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">יקפצו</span>, is clearly shown +by <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">עליו</span>, which corresponds with +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">עליך</span>. The <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">יזה</span> +corresponds rather to: "He was disfigured." Just as this states the cause of their +being shocked, so in: "He shall sprinkle," the cause of the shutting of the mouth +is stated. This is also seen from a comparison of chap. liii. 3, 4. His sufferings +appeared formerly as the proof that He was hated by God. Now that the vicarious +value of His suffering manifests itself, it becomes the reason of humble, respectful +submission. Just as, formerly, many were shocked at Him, because he was so disfigured, +so, now, even kings shall shut their mouth at Him on account of His atonement. Moreover, +one does not exactly see how this reason could be brought forward, as, in a formal +point of view, there is, at all events, "a deed by the Servant himself" before us, +in whatever way we may view the <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">יזה</span>.--3. "If +<i>sprinkling</i> were meant to be equivalent to cleansing by blood, the matter +of purification could not be omitted. If it were objected to this, that the noun +'blood' might easily be supplied from the verb's being ordinarily used of cleansing +with blood, the objection would be of no weight, inasmuch as sprinkling was done +not only with blood, but also with water and oil." But the sprinkling with <i>oil</i>, +denoting sanctification, appears only quite isolated, and has for its foundation +the sprinkling with blood, comp. Exod. xxix. 21: "And thou shalt take of the blood +which is upon the altar, and of the anointing oil, and sprinkle it upon Aaron, and +he shall be hallowed." The sprinkling with <i>water</i> has likewise the shedding +of blood for its foundation. It was done with such water only, as had in it the +ashes of the sin-offering of the red heifer. But the Prophet has certainly on purpose +made no express mention of the blood, because that water, too, should be included. +This fact, that the sprinkling here comprehends both, was perceived by the author +of the Epistle to the Hebrews, in chap. ix. 13, 14: +<span lang="el" class="Greek">εἰ γὰρ τὸ αἷμα</span> <span class="pagenum">[Pg 272]</span> +<span lang="el" class="Greek">ταύρων καὶ τράγων καὶ σποδὸς δαμάλεως ῥαντίζουσα τοὺς +κεκοινωμένους ἁγιάζει πρὸς τὴν τῆς σαρκὸς καθαρότητα· μᾶλλον τὸ αἷμα τοῦ Χριστοῦ +... καθαριεῖ τὴν συνείδησιν ἡμῶν ἀπὸ νεκρῶν ἔργων εἰς τὸ λατρεύειν θεῷ ζῶντι.</span> +The defilement by dead bodies, against which the water of purification was specially +used, is the most significant symbol of sinners and sins.--4. "It is, in general, +not probable that the Servant of God, who farther down is described as a sacrificial +beast (!),--who, by taking upon Himself the sins of His people, dies for them, should +here appear as the High Priest justifying them." Thus <i>Umbreit</i> argues. But +in opposition to this view, it is sufficient to refer to: "He shall justify," in +chap. liii. 11, which is parallel to "He shall sprinkle." That which, in the typical +sacrifices, is separated, is, in the antitypical, most closely connected. Even at +the very first beginnings of sacred history, it was established for all times, that +the difference between him who offers up, and that which is offered up, should not +go beyond the territory of animal sacrifice. But there is the less ground for setting +aside the reference to the priestly office of the Messiah, that, even before Isaiah, +David, in Ps. cx. 4, designates Christ as the true High Priest on account of the +atonement to be made by Him; and, after Isaiah, Zechariah says in chap. vi. 13: +"And He sitteth and ruleth upon the throne, and He is a Priest upon His throne."--It +has now become current to derive <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">יזה</span> from +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">נזה</span> in the signification "to leap"--"He shall +cause to leap. This explanation made its appearance at first in a very cautious +way." <i>Martini</i> says: "I myself feel how very far from a right and sure interpretation +that is, which I am now, but very timidly, to advance, regarding the sense of the +received reading <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">יזה</span>." By and by, however, +expositors hardened themselves against the decisive objections which stand in the +way of it. These objections are the following. 1. The Hebrew <i>usus loquendi</i> +is in <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">נזה</span> so sure, that we are not entitled +to take the explanation from the Arabic. The verb is, in Hebrew, never used except +of <i>fluids</i>. In <i>Kal</i>, it does not mean "to leap," but "to spatter," Lev. +vi. 20 (27): "And upon whose garment is <i>spattered</i> of the blood;" 2 Kings +ix. 33; Is. lxiii. 5. In <i>Hiphil</i>, it is set apart and used exclusively for +the holy sprinklings; and the more frequently it occurs in this signification, the +less are we at liberty to deviate from it. 2. "He shall make to leap" would be far +too indefinite,--a circumstance <span class="pagenum">[Pg 273]</span> which appears +from the vague and arbitrary conjectures of the supporters of this view. <i>Gesenius</i>, +in his Commentary, <i>Stier</i>, and others, think of a leaping for joy, in support +of which they have quoted the <i>Kamus</i>, according to which the verb is used +of wanton asses! According to <i>Gesenius</i> in the <i>Thesaurus</i>, <i>Hofmann</i>, +and others, the Gentiles are to leap up, in order to show their <i>reverence</i> +for the Servant of God. According to <i>Hitzig</i> and others, it is to leap for +<i>astonishment</i>, while, according to <i>Umbreit</i> and others, it is for <i> +joyful admiration</i>. One sees that the mere "He shall make to leap" is in itself +too meaningless; and interpreters are obliged to make the best addition which they +can.--3. According to this explanation, no cause is assigned by which the homage +of the Gentiles is called forth; and that cause can the less be omitted, that the +horror of the Jews is traced back to its cause. The parenthesis in ver. 14 lacks +its antithesis; and that this antithesis must lie in +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">יזה</span>, is rendered probable even by the circumstance, +that this word signifies, in a formal point of view, something which the Servant +of God does, and not something which the Gentiles do, while we should, by the antithesis +to <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">שממו</span>, be led to expect just this.<sup class="ftnRef"><a name="ftnRef_273a" href="#ftn_273a">[3]</a></sup>--In +the <i>protasis</i>, the discourse is only of many; here, it is of many nations +(<i>Gousset</i>: "It is emphatic, so that it comprehends all, and denotes, at the +same time, that they are numerous"), and of kings. This is quite natural; for it +was only members of the covenant-people who felt shocked, while the reverence is +felt by the whole Gentile world.--The <i>shutting of the mouth</i> occurs elsewhere, +too, repeatedly, as a sign of reverence and humble submission. The reference of +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">עליו</span> to <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">עליך</span>, +shows that <i>Ewald</i> is wrong in explaining it by "besides Him." Since the preceding +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">על</span> designated the object of the horror,--the +substratum of it--it must here, too, designate the substratum of the shutting of +the mouth, and "over Him," be equivalent to: "on account of Him," "out of reverence +for Him."--In the exposition of the last words, the old translations differ. We +may explain them either: "They to whom it had not been <span class="pagenum">[Pg +274]</span> told, see;" thus the LXX.: <span lang="el" class="Greek">οἷς οὐκ ἀνηγγέλη +περὶ αὐτοῦ, ὄψονται, καὶ οἱ οὔκ ἀκηκόασι, συνήσουσι</span>, whom Paul follows in +Rom. xv. 21. (In that context, however, the difference of the two explanations is +of no consequence; the passage would be equally suitable, even according to the +other interpretation.) Or, we may explain them: "That which had not been told them, +they see," &c. Thus the other ancient translations explain. According to the first +view, the connection would be this: For, in order that ye may not wonder at my speaking +to you of nations and kings, they who, &c. According to the second view, the ground +of the reverence of the heathen kings and their people is stated. That which formerly +had not been told to them, had not been heard by them, is the expiation by the Servant +of God. By Him they receive a blessing not formerly hoped for or expected, and are +thereby filled with silent reverence towards the Author of the gift. We decide in +favour of the former view, according to which chap. lxvi. 19: "That have not heard +my fame, neither have seen my glory," is parallel. The contrast, in our verse, to +those who did not hear and who now perceive, is, in the subsequent verse, formed +by those who do hear, and do not believe. The words: "Who had not been told, who +did not hear," refer to the Messianic announcement which was given to Israel only, +and from which the Gentiles were excluded.<sup class="ftnRef"><a name="ftnRef_274a" href="#ftn_274a">[4]</a></sup></p> +<p class="normal">Upon this sketch, there follows in chap. liii. 1-10, the enlargement. +First, in vers. 1-3 that is expounded which, in ver. 14 had been said of the many +being <i>shocked</i>, and of the <i>cause</i>. The commentary upon +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">שממו</span> "they were shocked," is given in ver. +1: a great portion of the Jews do not believe in the salvation which had appeared. +The enlargement of: "so marred," &c., is given in vers. 2, 3. The cause of the +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 275]</span> unbelief is, that the glory of the Servant +of God is concealed behind humiliation, misery, and shame.</p> +<p class="normal">Chap. liii. 1: "<i>Who believes that which we hear, and the arm +of the Lord, to whom it is revealed?</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">The Prophet, whose spiritual eye is just falling upon the large, +the enormously large number of unbelievers, overlooks, at the moment, the other +aspect, and, in his grief, expresses that which took place in a large <i>portion</i> +only, in such a manner as if it were general. Similar representations we elsewhere +frequently meet with, <i>e.g.</i>, Ps. xiv. 3 (compare my Commentary); Jer. v. 1--<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">שמועה</span> +is commonly understood in the signification, "message" or "discourse." But in favour +of the explanation: "That which is heard by us," <i>q.d.</i>, "that which we hear," +there is, in the first instance, the <i>usus loquendi</i>. The word never occurs +in any other than its original signification, "that which is heard," and in the +signification, "rumour," which is closely connected with the former. In Isa. xxviii. +9, a passage which is most confidently referred to in proof of the signification, +<i>institutio</i>, <i>doctrina</i>, <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">שמועה</span> +is that which the Prophet hears from God. The mockers who exclaim: "Whom will he +make to understand <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">שמועה</span>?" take, with a sneer, +out of his mouth the word upon which chap. xxi. 10: "That which I have heard of +the Lord of Hosts, I declare unto you," forms a commentary, +<span lang="el" class="Greek">Ἀκοή</span> too, by which, in the New Testament, +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">שמועה</span> is rendered, has not at all the signification, +"discourse," "preaching." <span lang="el" class="Greek">Ἀκοή</span> in Rom. x. 16, +17, is not the preaching, but the hearing, as is shown by the +<span lang="el" class="Greek">μὴ οὐκ ἤκουσαν</span> in ver. 18. The +<span lang="el" class="Greek">ἀκοή</span>, according to ver. 17: +<span lang="el" class="Greek">ἡ δὲ ἀκοὴ διὰ ῥήματος Θεοῦ</span>, is the passive +to the active to the word of God. "Who believes our +<span lang="el" class="Greek">ἀκοή</span>, our hearing," <i>i.e.</i>, that which +we hear, which is made known to us by the Word of God. In a passive sense, +<span lang="el" class="Greek">ἀκοή</span> stands likewise in the passages Matt. +iv. 24, xiv. 1, xxiv. 6, which <i>Stier</i> cites in support of the signification +"discourse," "preaching;" it is that which has been heard by some one, "rumour," +"report." In Heb. iv. 2 (as also in 1 Thess. ii. 13) +<span lang="el" class="Greek">λόγος ἀκοῆς</span>, is the word which they heard. +That passage: <span lang="el" class="Greek">οὐκ ὠφέλησεν ὁ λόγος τῆς ἀκοῆς ἐκείνους, +μὴ συγκεκεραμένους τῇ πίστει τοῖς ἀκούσασι</span>, may simply be considered as a +paraphrase of our: Who believes that which we hear. A second argument in favour +of our explanation: "That which we hear" lies in the relation +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 276]</span> to the preceding, which, only when thus explained, +arranges itself suitably: "Those understand what they formerly did not hear; Israel, +on the contrary, does not believe that which they have heard." Of great importance, +<i>finally</i>, is the circumstance, that it is only with this interpretation that +the unity of the speaker in vers. 1-10 can be maintained. In the sequel, the <i> +we</i> everywhere refers to the <i>believing Church</i>. But, for this reason, it +is difficult to think here of the order of the teachers, which must be the case +when we translate: "Who believes our preaching." It has been objected that, even +in this case, no real change of subject takes place, but that, in both cases, the +Prophet is speaking, with this difference only, that, in ver. 1, he numbers himself +among the proclaimers of the message, while, in ver. 2 ff., he reckons himself among +the believing Congregation. But we shall be obliged not to bring in the Prophet +at all. In ver. 2 ff., the speaker is the believing Church of the <i>Future</i>, +in the time after the appearance of the Saviour, and just so, in ver. 1, the preaching, +if it should be spoken of at all, cannot belong to the Prophet and his contemporaries, +but to those only who came forward with the message of the manifested Saviour; just +as in John xii. 38; Rom. x. 16, our verse is referred to the unbelief of the Jews +in the manifested Saviour. The cause of the unbelief over which ver. 1 laments is +indeed, according to vers. 2 and 3, the appearance of the Saviour in the form of +a Servant, and His bitter suffering. That, then, must first have taken place, before +the unbelief manifested itself.<sup class="ftnRef"><a name="ftnRef_276a" href="#ftn_276a">[5]</a></sup> +<i>Stier</i> rightly remarks: "Between 'the arm of God,' and ourselves, a +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">שמועה</span>] is placed as the medium, and the point +is to believe in it." It is the gospel, the tidings of the manifested Saviour. By +the side of the joy over the many Gentiles who with delight hear and understand +the message of the Servant of God, there is the sorrow over the many in Israel who +do not believe this message.--The <i>arm of the Lord</i> comes into consideration +as the seat of His divine power; comp. chap. xl. 10, li. 5-9, lii. 10. +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 277]</span> According to the context, the manifestation +of this power in Christ is here spoken of <i>Stier</i> says: "In this Servant, the +redeeming arm manifests itself, personifies itself Christ himself is, as it were, +the outstretched arm of the Lord." In Rom. i. 16, the Gospel is designated as +<span lang="el" class="Greek">δύναμις θεοῦ εἰς σωτηρίαν παντὶ τῷ πιστεύοντι.</span> +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">גלה</span> is elsewhere commonly construed with +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">אל</span> or <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ל</span>, +here with <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">על</span>. This indicates that the revealing +of the arm of the Lord is of a <i>supernatural</i> kind, such an one as conies down +from above. The Lord has revealed His arm, His power and glory, as He has manifested +them in the mission of His servant, <i>in the eyes of all</i> (comp. chap. lii. +10: "The Lord hath made bare His holy arm in the eyes of all the nations, and all +the ends of the earth see the salvation of our God"); but it is really seen by those +only whose eyes God opens. The deeds of God, even the most manifest, always retain +the nature of a mystery which remains concealed to the worldly disposition. God +can be recognised only by God. Of the ungodly it holds true: "With seeing eyes they +do not see, and with hearing ears they do not hear." What was the <i>cause</i> of +this unbelief in the Son of God, we are told in the sequel. It is the appearance +of the Divine in the form of a servant, which the gross carnal disposition cannot +understand, and by which it is offended. This offence which, according to the sequel, +even the God-fearing had to overcome, is, for the ungodly, a lasting one.</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 2. "<i>And He grew up as the sprout before Him, and as the +root from a dry ground. He had no form nor comeliness: and we see Him, but there +is no appearance that we should desire Him.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">The relation of this verse to the preceding one was correctly +seen by <i>Michaelis</i>: "The cause of the offence is this, that He does not rise +or stand out like the cedar, but He grows up gradually," &c. The subject, the Servant +of God, is easily inferred from <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">עליו</span> in ver. +15. This is the more admissible that ver. 1, too, indirectly refers to Him. He is +the subject of the report in whose appearance the arm of the Lord has been revealed. +The <i>sprout</i>, the twig, designates, even in itself, the poor condition; and, +notwithstanding <i>Stier's</i> counter-remarks, it is the pointing to such a poor +condition alone which suits the connection, and there is no reason why we should +here already <span class="pagenum">[Pg 278]</span> supply "from a dry ground." A +member of the royal house before its fall resembled, at his very origin, a proud +tree, or, at least, a proud branch of such a tree. The sprout, here, supposes the +stump, <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">גזע</span>. in chap. xi. 8. +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">יונק</span> elsewhere always signifies "suckling;" +comp. here chap. xi. 8. Of the sprout, elsewhere, the feminine +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">יונקת</span> is used. According to <i>Stier</i>, +this deviation from the common use is here not a matter of accident. Supposing a +double sense, he finds it an indication of the helpless infancy of the Redeemer, +and in this a representation of His lowliness. The LXX.: +<span lang="el" class="Greek">ὡς παιδίον</span>. The suffix in +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">לפניו</span> "before Him" refers to the immediately +preceding <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">יהוה</span>, not to the people. <i>Before +Him</i>, the Lord--known to Him, watched by Him, standing under His protection, +comp. Gen. xvii. 18; Job viii. 16. The lowliness here, and the contempt of men in +ver. 3, form the contrast; He is low, but He will not remain so; for the eye of +the Most High is directed towards Him. Before the eyes of men who are not able to +penetrate to the substance through the appearance, He is concealed; but God beholds +Him, beholds His concealed glory, beholds His high destination; and because He beholds, +He also takes care, and prepares His transition from lowliness to glory. But the +"before Him" does not by any means here form the main thought; it only gives a gentle +and incidental hint.--The <i>root</i> denotes here, as in chap. xi. 1, 10, the product +of the root, that whereby it becomes visible, the sprout from the root. In reference +to this parallel passage, <i>Stier</i> strikingly remarks: "It is, by our modern +interpreters, put aside as quietly as possible; for, with a powerful voice, it proclaims +to us two truths: that the same Isaiah refers to his former prophecy,--and that +this Servant of the Lord here is none other than the Messiah there." A twig which +grows up from a dry place is insignificant and poor. Just as the Messiah is here, +in respect to His state of humiliation, and specially in reference to His origin +from the house of David, sunk into complete obscurity, compared to a weak, insignificant +twig, so He is, in Ezek. xvii. 23, in reference to His state of glorification, compared +to a lofty, splendid cedar tree, under which all the fowls of heaven dwell. The +Jews, in opposition even to ver. 22 of Ezekiel, expected that He should appear so +from the very beginning; and since He did not appear so, they +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 279]</span> despised Him. The +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ונראהו</span> is, by most of the modern interpreters, +in opposition to the accents, connected with the first member: "He had no form nor +comeliness that <i>we should have seen Him</i>." But from internal reasons, this +explanation must be rejected. "To see," in the sense of "to perceive," would not +be suitable. For, how could they have such views of the condition of the Servant +of God, if they overlooked Him? But it is not possible to adduce any real demonstrative +parallel passage in support of <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ראה</span> with the +Accusat., without <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ב</span>, ever having the signification, +"to look at," "to consider with delight." The circumstance that the Future is used +in the sense of the Present: "and we see Him," is explained from the Prophet's viewing +it as present.--The statement that the Servant of God had no form, nor comeliness, +nor appearance, must not be referred to His lowliness before His sufferings only; +we must, on the contrary, perceive, in His sufferings and death, the completion +of this condition; in the <i>Ecce Homo</i>, the full historical realization of it. +<i>Calvin</i> rightly points out that that which here, in the first instance, is +said of the Head, is repeated upon the Church; He says: "This must not be understood +of Christ's person only, who was despised by the world, and was at last given up +to an ignominious death, but of His whole Kingdom which, in the eyes of men, had +no form, nor comeliness, nor splendour."</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 3. "<i>Despised and most unworthy among men, a man of pains +and an acquaintance of disease, and like one hiding His face from us, despised, +and we esteemed Him not.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">In the preceding verse, we are told what the Servant of God had +<i>not</i>, viz., anything which could have attracted the natural man who had no +conception of the inward glory, and as little of the cause why the Divine appears +in the form of a Servant and a sufferer. Here we are told what He had, viz.: everything +to <i>offend</i> and <i>repulse</i> him to whom the arm of the Lord had not been +revealed,--the full measure of misery and the cross. Instead of "the most unworthy +among men," the text literally translated has: "one ceasing from among men" (<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">חדל</span> +in the signification "ceasing" in Ps. xxxix. 5), <i>i.e.</i>, one who ceases to +belong to men, to be a man, exactly corresponding to "from man," and "from the sons +of men," in the sketch, ver. 14, and to: "I am a worm and no man," in Ps. xxii. +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 280]</span> The explanation: "Forsaken by men, rejected +of men," is opposed by the <i>usus loquendi</i>, and by these parallel passages.--"A +man of pains"--one who, as it were, possesses pains as his property. There is a +similar expression in Prov. xxix. 1: "A man of chastenings"--one who is often chastened. +"An acquaintance of disease,"--one who is intimately acquainted with it, who has, +as it were, entered into a covenant of friendship with it. The passive Participle +has no other signification than this, Deut. i. 13, 15, and does not occur in the +signification of the active Participle "knowing."--There is no reason for supposing +that disease stands here <i>figuratively</i>. It comprehends also the pain arising +from wounds, 1 Kings xxii. 34; Jer. vi. 7, x. 19; and there is so much the greater +reason for thinking of it here, that <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">החלי</span> +in ver. 10, evidently refers to the <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">חלי</span> in +this place. As an acquaintance of disease, the Lord especially showed himself in +His <i>passion</i>. And then <i>every sorrow</i> may be viewed as a disease; every +sorrow has, to a certain degree, disease in its train. On Ps. vi., where sickness +is represented as the consequence of hostile persecution, Luther remarks: "Where +the heart is afflicted, the whole body is weary and bruised; while, on the other +hand, where there is a joyful heart, the body is also so much the more active and +strong." <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">הסתיר</span> always means "to hide;" the +whole phrase occurs in chap. l. 6, in the signification "to hide the face." +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">מסתר</span> is the Participle in <i>Hiphil</i>. In +the singular, it is true, such a form is not found any where else; but, in the Plural, +it is, Jer. xxix. 8. In favour of the interpretation: "Like one hiding His face +from us," is the evident reference to the law in Lev. xiii. 45: "The leper in whom +the plague is, his clothes shall be rent and his head bare, <i>and the beard he +shall have covered over</i>, and shall cry: Unclean, unclean,"--where that which +the leper crieth forms the commentary upon the symbolical act of the covering. They +covered themselves, as a sign of shame, as far as possible, in order to allow of +breathing, up to the nose; hence the mention of the beard. In my Commentary on the +Song of Solomon i. 7, it was proved that covering has every where the meaning of +being put to shame--of being in a shameful condition. The leper was by the law condemned +to be a living representation of <i>sin</i>. No horror was like that which was felt +in his presence. <i>Hence</i> <span class="pagenum">[Pg 281]</span> <i>it is the +highest degree of humiliation and abasement which is expressed by the comparison +with the leper, who must hide his face, whom God has marked.</i> It is the more +natural to suppose this reference to the leper, that probably, the +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">חדל אישים</span> likewise pointed to the leper. The +leper was "one ceasing from men." In 2 Kings xv. 5; 2 Chron. xxvi. 21, a house in +which lepers dwell is called a "house of liberty," <i>i.e.</i>, of separation from +all human society; compare the expression "free among the dead," in Ps. lxxxviii. +6. Lepers were considered as dead persons. Uzziah, while in his leprosy, was, according +to the passage in Chronicles already cited, cut off from the house of the Lord, +and forfeited his place there, where all the servants of the Lord dwell with Him. +To leprosy, the term <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">נגוע</span> in ver. 4 likewise +points. <i>Beck's</i> objection: "The point in question here is not that which the +unfortunate man does but that which others do in reference to him," is based upon +a misconception. Neither the one nor the other is spoken of The comparative +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">כ</span> must not be overlooked. The comparison with +the leper, the culminating point of all contempt, is highly suitable to the parallelism +with <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">נבזה</span>. Ordinarily +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">מסתר</span> is now understood as a <i>substantivum +verbale</i>: "He was like hiding of the face before Him," <i>i.e.</i>, like a thing +or person before which or whom we hide our face, because we cannot bear its horrible +and disgusting appearance. But with one before whom we hide our face, the Servant +of God could not be compared; the comparison would, in that case, be weak.--<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">נבזה</span> +is not the 1st pers. Fut. but Partic. Niph., "despised."--The close of the verse +returns to its beginning, after having been, in the middle, established and made +good.</p> +<p class="normal">The second subdivision from ver. 4 to ver. 7 furnishes us with +the key to the sufferings of the Servant of God described in what precedes, by pointing +to their <i>vicarious character</i>, to which (ver. 7) the conduct of the Servant +of God under His sufferings corresponds.</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 4. "<i>But our diseases He bore, and our pains He took upon +Him: and we esteemed Him plagued, smitten of God, and afflicted.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">The words <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">חלי</span> and +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">מכאב</span> of the preceding verse here appear again. +He was laden with disease and pains; but these sufferings, the wages of sin, were +not inflicted upon Him on account <span class="pagenum">[Pg 282]</span> of His own +sins, but on account of our sins, so that the horror falls back upon ourselves, +and is changed into loving admiration of Him. <i>Beck</i> remarks: "Properly speaking, +they had not become sick or unfortunate at all; this had <i>a priori</i> been rendered +impossible by the vicarious suffering of the Son of God; but since they deserved +the sickness and calamity, the averting of it might be considered as a healing." +But this view is altogether the result of embarrassment. Disease is the inseparable +companion of sin. If the persons speaking are subject to the latter, the disease +cannot be considered as an evil merely threatening them. If they speak of their +diseases, we think, in the first instance, of sickness by which they have already +been seized; and the less obvious sense ought to have been expressly indicated. +In the same manner, the healing also suggests hurts already existing. But quite +decisive is ver. 6, where the miserable condition clearly appears to have already +taken place.--According to the opinion of several interpreters, by diseases, all +inward and outward sufferings are figuratively designated; according to the opinion +of others, <i>spiritual</i> diseases, sins. But even from the relation of this verse +to the preceding, it appears that here, in the first instance, diseases and pains, +in the ordinary sense, are spoken of; just as the blind and deaf in chap. xxxv. +are, in the first instance, they who are naturally blind and deaf.--Disease and +pain here cannot be spoken of in a sense different from that in which it is spoken +of there. Diseases, in the sense of <i>sins</i>, do not occur at all in the Old +Testament. The circumstance that in the parallel passage, vers. 11 and 12, the bearing +of the <i>transgressions</i> and <i>sins</i> is spoken of, does not prove anything. +The Servant of God bears them also in their consequences, in their punishments, +among which sickness and pains occupy a prominent place. Of the bearing of outward +sufferings, <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">נשא חלי</span> occurs in Jer. x. 19 also. +If the words are rightly understood, then at once, light falls upon the apostolic +quotation in Matt. viii. 16, 17: <span lang="el" class="Greek">πάντας τοὺς κακῶς +ἔχοντας ἐθεράπευσεν, ὅπως πληρωθῇ τὸ ῥηθὲν διὰ Ἠσαΐου τοῦ προφήτου λέγοντος· αὐτὸς +τὰς ἀσθενείας ἡμῶν ἔλαβε καὶ τὰς νόσους ἐβάστασε</span>; and this deserves a consideration +so much the more careful, that the Evangelist here intentionally deviates from the +Alexandrine version (<span lang="el" class="Greek">οὗτος τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἡμῶν φέρει +καὶ περὶ ἡμῶν ὀδυνᾶται</span>). In doing so, "we <span class="pagenum">[Pg 283]</span> +do not give an external meaning to that which is to be understood spiritually;" +but when the Saviour healed the sick, He fulfilled the prophecy before us in its +most proper and obvious sense. And this fulfilment is even now going on. For him +who stands in a living faith in Christ, sickness, pain, and, in general all sorrow, +have lost their sting. But it has not yet appeared what we shall be, and we have +still to expect the complete fulfilment. In the Kingdom of glory, sickness and pain +shall have altogether disappeared.--Some interpreters would translate +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">נשא</span> by "to take away;" but even the parallel +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">סבל</span> is conclusive against such a view; and, +farther, the ordinary use of <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">נשא</span> of the bearing +of the punishment of sin, <i>e.g.</i>, Ezek. xviii. 19; Num. xiv. 33; Lev. v. 1, +xx. 17. But of conclusive weight is the connection with the preceding verse, where +the Servant of God appears as the intimate acquaintance of sickness, as the man +of pains. He has, accordingly, not only <i>put away</i> our sicknesses and pains, +but He has, as our substitute, <i>taken them upon Him</i>; He has healed us by His +having himself become sick in our stead. This could be done only by His having, +in the first instance, as a substitute, appropriated our <i>sins</i>, of which the +sufferings are the consequence; compare 1 Peter ii. 24: +<span lang="el" class="Greek">ὃς τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἡμῶν αὐτὸς ἀνήνεγκεν ἐν τῷ σώματι +αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τὸ ξύλον</span>.--<i>Plagued</i>, <i>smitten of God</i>, <i>afflicted</i>, +are expressions which were commonly used in reference to the visitation of sinful +men. It is especially in the word <i>plagued</i>, which is intentionally placed +first, that the reference to a self-deserved suffering is strongly expressed, compare +Ps. lxxiii. 14: "For all the day long am I <i>plagued</i>, and my chastisement is +new every morning." Of Uzziah, visited on account of his sin, it is said in 2 Kings +xv. 5: "And the Lord inflicted a <i>plague</i> upon the king, and he was a leper +unto the day of his death." <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">נגע</span> "plague" is +in Lev. xiii., as it were, <i>nomen proprium</i> for the leprosy, which in the law +is so distinctly designated as a punishment of sin.--<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">הכה</span> +too, is frequently used of the infliction of divine punishments and judgments. Num. +xiv. 12; Deut. xxviii. 22. The people did not err in considering the suffering as +a punishment of sin, but only in considering it as a punishment for the sins committed +by the Servant of God himself. According to the view of both the Old and New Testament, +every suffering is <span class="pagenum">[Pg 284]</span> punishment. The suffering +of a perfect saint, however, involves a contradiction, unless it be vicarious. By +his completely stepping out of the territory of sin, he must also step out of the +territory of evil, which, according to the doctrine established at the very threshold +of revelation, is the wages of sin, for otherwise God would not be holy and just. +Hence, as regards the Servant of God, we have only the alternatives: either His +sinlessness must be doubted, or the vicarious nature of His sufferings must be acknowledged. +The persons speaking took up, at first, the former position; after their eyes had +been opened, they chose the latter.</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 5, "<i>And He was pierced for our transgressions, crushed +for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and by His wounds +we are healed.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal"><span lang="he" class="Hebrew">הוא</span> "He" stands in front, +in order emphatically to point out Him who suffered as a substitute, in contrast +to those who had really deserved the punishment: "He, on account of our transgressions." +There is no reason for deviating:, in the case of <span lang="he" class="Hebrew"> +חלל</span>, from the original signification "to pierce," and adopting the general +signification "to wound;" the LXX. <span lang="el" class="Greek">ἐτραυματίσθη</span>. +<i>The chastisement of our peace</i> is the chastisement whereby peace is acquired +for us. Peace stands as an individualizing designation of salvation; in the world +of contentions, peace is one of the highest blessings. Natural man is on all sides +surrounded by enemies; <span lang="el" class="Greek">δικαιωθέντες ἐκ πίστεως εἰρήνην +ἔχομεν πρὸς τὸν θεὸν διὰ τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ</span>, Rom. v. 1, and peace +with God renders all other enemies innocuous, and at last removes them altogether. +The peace is inseparable from the substitution. If the Servant of God has borne +our sins, He has thereby, at the same time, acquired peace; for, just as He enters +into our guilt, so we now enter into His reward. The justice of God has been satisfied +through Him; and thus an open way has been prepared for His bestowing peace and +salvation. The <i>chastisement</i> can, according to the context, be only an actual +one, only such as consists in the infliction of some <i>evil</i>. It is in misconception +and narrowness of view that the explanation of the followers of <i>Menke</i> originated: +"The instruction for our peace is with Him." This explanation militates against +the whole context, in which not the <i>doctrine</i> but the <i>suffering</i> of +the Servant of God is spoken of; against the parallelism <span class="pagenum">[Pg +285]</span> with: "By His wounds we are healed;" against the +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">עליו</span>, "upon Him," which, according to a comparison +with: "He bore our disease, and took upon Him our pains," must indicate that the +punishment lay upon the sufferer like a pressing <i>burden</i>. It is only from +aversion to the doctrine of the vicarious satisfaction of Christ, that we can account +for the fact, that that doctrine could be so generally received by that theological +school. More candid are the rationalistic interpreters. Thus <i>Hitzig</i> remarks: +"<i>The chastisement of our peace</i> is not a chastisement which would have been +salutary for our morality, nor such as might serve for our salvation, but according +to the parallelism, such as has served for our salvation, and has allowed us to +come off safe and unhurt." <i>Stier</i>, too, endeavours to explain the "chastisement +of our peace," in an artificial way. According to him, there is always implied in +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">מוסר</span> the tendency towards setting right and +healing the chastised one himself; but wherever this word occurs, a retributive +pain and destruction are never spoken of But, in opposition to this view, there +is the fact that <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">מוסר</span> does not by any means +rarely occur as signifying the punishments which are inflicted upon stiff-necked +obduracy, and which bear a destructive character, and which, therefore, cannot be +derived from the principle of correction, but from that of retribution only. Thus, +<i>e.g.</i>, in Prov. xv. 10: "Bad <i>chastisement</i> shall be to those that forsake +the way, and he that hateth chastisement shall die," on which <i>Michaelis</i> remarks: +"<i>In antanaclasi ad correptionem amicam et paternum, mortem et mala quaelibet +inferens, in ira</i>," Ps. vi. 2. Of destructive punishment, too, the verb is used +in Jer. ii. 19. But one does not at all see how the idea of "setting right" should +be suitable here; for surely, as regards the Servant of God himself, the absolutely +Righteous, the suffering here has the character of chastisement. It is not the mere +suffering, but the chastisement, which is upon Him; but that necessarily requires +that the punishment should proceed from the principle of <i>retribution</i>, and +that the Servant of God stands forth as our Substitute.--<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">נרפא</span>, +Preter. Niph., hence "healing has been bestowed upon us;"--<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">רפא</span> +with <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ל</span>, in the signification "to bring healing," +occurs also in chap. vi. 10, but nowhere else. The healing is an individualising +designation of deliverance from the punishments of sin, called forth by the +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 286]</span> circumstance that disease occupied so prominent +a place among them, and had therefore been so prominently brought forward in what +precedes. In harmony with the Apostolic quotation, the expression clearly shows +that the punitive sufferings were already lying upon the persons speaking; that +by the Substitute they were not by any means delivered from the future evils, but +that the punishment, the inseparable companion of sin, already existed, and was +taken away by Him.</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 6. "<i>All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned +every one to his own way, and the Lord hath made the iniquities of us all to fall +upon Him.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal"><i>Calvin</i> remarks: "In order the more strongly to impress +upon the hearts of men the benefits of Christ's death, the Prophet shews how necessary +is that healing which was mentioned before. There is herd an elegant antithesis; +for, in ourselves we are scattered, but, in Christ collected; by nature we go astray +and are carried headlong to destruction,--in Christ we find the way in which we +are led to the gate of salvation; our iniquities cover and oppress us,--but they +are transferred to Christ by whom we are unburdened."--<i>All we</i>--in the first +instance, members of the covenant-people,--not, however, as contrasted with the +rest of mankind, but as partaking in the general human destiny.--<i>We have turned +every one to his own way</i>; we walked through life solitary, forsaken, miserable, +separated from God and the good Shepherd, and deprived of His pastoral care. According +to <i>Hofmann</i>, the going astray designates the <i>liability</i> to punishment, +but not the misery of the speakers; and the words also: "We have turned," &c., mean, +according to him, that they chose their own ways, but not that they walked sorrowful +or miserable. But the ordinary use of the image militates against that view. In +Ps. cxix. 176: "I go astray like a lost sheep, seek thy servant," the going astray +is a figurative designation of being destitute of salvation. The misery of the condition +is indicated by the image of the scattered flock, also in 1 Kings xxii. 17: "I saw +all Israel scattered upon the hills as sheep that have not a shepherd." <i>Michaelis</i> +pertinently remarks: "Nothing is so miserable as sheep without a shepherd,--a thing +which Scripture so often repeats, Num. xxvii. 17," &c. As a commentary upon our +passage, Ezek. xxxiv. 4-6 may serve; <span class="pagenum">[Pg 287]</span> and according +to that passage we shall be compelled to think of their being destitute of the care +of a shepherd: "And they are scattered, because there is no Shepherd; and they become +meat to all the beasts of the field. My sheep wander on all the mountains, and on +every high hill, and over the whole land my sheep are scattered, and there is none +that careth for them, or seeketh them." The point of comparison is very distinctly +stated in Matt. ix. 36 also: <span lang="el" class="Greek">ἰδὼν δὲ τοὺς ὄχλους ἐσπλαγχνίσθη +περὶ αὐτῶν, ὅτι ἦσαν ἐσκυλμένοι καὶ ἐῤῥιμένοι ὡσεὶ πρόβατα μὴ ἔχοντα ποιμένα.</span> +Without doubt, turning to one's own ways is sinful, comp. chap. lvi. 11; but here +it is not so much the aspect of sin, as that of misery, which is noticed. As the +chief reason of the sheep's wandering and going astray, the bad condition of the +shepherd must be considered, comp. Jer. l. 6: "Perishing sheep were my people; their +shepherds led them astray," John x. 8: <span lang="el" class="Greek">πάντες ὅσοι +πρὸ ἐμοῦ ἦλθον, κλέπται εἰσὶ καὶ λῃσταί</span>--<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">פגע</span> +with <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ב</span> signifies "to hit;" hence <i>Hiphil</i>, +"to cause to hit." The iniquities of the whole community <i>hit</i> the Servant +of God in their punishments; but according to the biblical view, their punishments +can come upon Him only as such, only by His coming forward as a substitute for sinners, +and not because He suffers for the guilt of others to which He remained a stranger. +By this throwing the guilt upon the Servant of God, the condition of being without +a shepherd is <i>done</i> away with, the flock is gathered from its scattered condition. +The wall of separation which was raised by its guilt, and which separated it from +God, the fountain of salvation, is now removed by His substitution, and the words: +"The Lord is my Shepherd," now become a truth, comp. John x. 4.</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 7. "<i>He was oppressed, and when He was plagued, He does +not open His mouth, like a lamb which is brought to the slaughter, and as a sheep +which is dumb before her shearers, and He does not open his mouth.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">In these words, we have a description of the manner in which the +Servant of God <i>bore</i> such sufferings. It flows necessarily from the circumstance, +that it was a vicarious suffering. The substitution implies that He took them upon +Him spontaneously; and this has patience for its companion. First, the contents +of ver. 6 are once more summed up in the word <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">נגש</span>, +"He was oppressed:" then, this condition of the Servant <span class="pagenum">[Pg +288]</span> of God is brought into connection with His <i>conduct</i>, which, only +in this connection, appears in its full majesty.--<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">נגש</span> +is the Preterite in <i>Niphal</i>, and not, as <i>Beck</i> thinks, 1st pers. Fut. +<i>Kal</i>. For the Future would be here unusual; the verb has elsewhere the Future +in <i>o</i>; the suffix is wanting, and the sense which then arises suits only the +untenable supposition that, in vers. 1-10, the <i>Gentiles</i> are speaking. The +<i>Niphal</i> occurs in 1 Sam. xiii. 6, of Israel oppressed by the Philistines; +and in 1 Sam. xiv. 24, of those borne down by heavy toil and fatigue. +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">נגש</span> and <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">נענה</span> +"to be humbled, oppressed, abused," do not, in themselves essentially differ; it +is only on account of the context, and the contrast implied in it, that the same +condition is once more designated by a word which is nearly synonymous. The words +"and He" separate <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">נענה</span> from what precedes, +and connect it with what follows. The explanation: "He was oppressed, but He suffered +patiently," has this opposed to it, that the two <i>Niphals</i>, following immediately +upon one another, cannot here stand in a different meaning. The idea of patience +would here not be a collateral, but the main idea, and hence, could not stand without +a stronger designation.--In <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">יפתח</span>, the real +Future has taken the place of the ideal Past; it shows that the preceding Preterites +are to be considered as prophetical, and that, in point of fact, the suffering of +the Servant of God is no less future than His glorification. The <i>lamb</i> points +back to Exod. xii. 3, and designates Christ as the true paschal lamb. With a reference +to the verse under consideration, John the Baptist calls Christ the Lamb of God, +John i. 29; comp. 1 Pet. i. 18, 19; Acts viii. 32-35. But since it is not the vicarious +character of Christ's sufferings which here, in the first instance, comes into consideration, +but His patience under them, the lamb is associated with the female sheep, and that +not in relation to her slayers, but to her shearers. The last words: "And He does +not open His mouth," are not to be referred to the lamb, as some think, (even the +circumstance that the preceding <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">רחל</span> is a feminine +noun militates against this view), but, like the first: "He does not open His mouth," +to the Servant of God. It is an expressive repetition, and one which is intended +to direct attention to this feature; comp. the close of ver. 3; Gen. xlix. 4: Judges +v. 16. The fulfilment is shown by 1 Pet. ii. 23: <span class="pagenum">[Pg 289]</span> +<span lang="el" class="Greek">ὃς λοιδορούμενος οὐκ ἀντελοιδόρει, πάσχων οὐκ ἠπείλει, +παρεδίδου δὲ τῷ κρίνοντι δικαίως</span>; and likewise Matt. xxvii. 12-14: +<span lang="el" class="Greek">καὶ ἐν τῷ κατηγορεῖσθαι αὐτὸν ὑπὸ τῶν ἀρχιερέων καὶ +πρεσβυτέρων οὐὲν ἀπεκρίνατο. Τότε λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ Πιλᾶτος· οὐκ ἀκούεις πόσασου καταμαρτυροῦσιν; +καὶ οὐκ ἀπεκρίθη αὐτῷ πρὸς οὐδὲν ἓν ῥῆμα, ὥστε θαυμάζειν τὸν ἡγεμόνα λίαν.</span> +Comp. xxvi. 62; Mark xv. 5; Luke xxiii. 9; John xix. 9.</p> +<p class="normal">The third subdivision of the principal portion, vers. 8-10, describes +<i>the reward of the Servant of God</i>, by expanding the words: "Kings shall shut +their mouths on account of Him," in chap. lii. 15, and "He shall be exalted," in +ver. 13.</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 8. "<i>From oppression and from judgment He was taken, and +His generation who can think it out; for He was cut of out of the land of the living +for the transgression of my people, whose the punishment.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">God--such is the sense--takes Him to himself from heavy oppression, +and He who apparently was destroyed without leaving a trace, receives an infinitely +numerous generation (compare John xii. 32: <span lang="el" class="Greek">κᾀγὼ ἑὰν +ὑψωθῶ ἐκ τῆς γῆς πάντας ἑλκύσω πρὸς ἐμαυτόν</span>), as a deserved reward for having, +by His violent death, atoned for the sins of His people, delivered them from destruction, +and acquired them for His property.--<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">עצר</span> "oppression," +as Ps. cvii. 39, properly, according to the signification of the verb: "Shutting +up," "restraining," "hindering." From what goes before, where the evils from which +the Servant of God is here delivered are described more in detail, it appears that +here we have not to think of a prison properly so called; for there, it is not a +prison, but abuse and oppression which are spoken of.--<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">משפט</span> +is commonly referred to the judgment which the enemies of the Servant of God passed +upon Him, The premised <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">עצר</span> then furnishes +the distinct qualification of the judgment, shows that that which, in a formal point +of view, presents itself as a judicial proceeding, is, in point of fact, heavy oppression. +But, at the same time, <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">משפט</span> serves as a limitation +for <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">עצר</span>. We learn from it that the hatred +of the enemies moved within the limits of judicial proceedings,--just as it happened +in the history of Christ. But behind the human judgment, the <i>divine</i> is concealed, +Jer. i. 16; Ezek. v. 8; Ps. cxliii. 2. This is shown by what precedes, where the +suffering of the Servant of God is so emphatically and repeatedly designated as +the punishment of sin inflicted upon <span class="pagenum">[Pg 290]</span> Him by +God.--<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">לקח</span> with +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">מן</span> "to be taken away from;" according to +<i>Stier</i>: "taken away from suffering, being delivered from it by God's having +taken Him to himself, to the land of eternal bliss." This view, according to which +the words refer to the glorification of the Servant of God, has been adopted by +the Church. It is adopted by the Vulgate: "<i>De angustia et judicio sublatus est</i>;" +by <i>Jerome</i>, who says on this passage: "From tribulation and judgment He ascended, +as a conqueror, to the Father;" and by <i>Michaelis</i> who thus interprets it: +"He was taken away, and received at the right hand of the Majesty." By several interpretations, +the words are still referred to the state of humiliation of the Servant of God: +"<i>Through</i> oppression and judgment He was <i>dragged to execution</i>." But +the Prophet has already, in ver. 3, finished the description of the mere sufferings +of the Servant of God--vers. 4-7 exhibit the cause of His sufferings and His conduct +under them; <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">לקח</span> cannot, by itself, signify +"to be dragged to execution"--in that case, as in Prov. xxiv. 11, "to death" would +have been added; <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">מן</span> must be taken in the signification, +"from," "out of," as in the subsequent <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">מארץ</span>, +compare 2 Kings iii. 9, where <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">לקח</span> with +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">מן</span> signifies "to take from." In the passage +under consideration, as well as in those two passages which refer to the ascension +of Elijah, there is a distinct allusion to Gen. v. 24, where it is said of Enoch: +"And he was no more, for God had <i>taken</i> him."--<i>And His generation who can +think it out?</i> <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">דור</span>, properly "circle," +is not only the communion of those who are connected by co-existence, but also of +those who are connected by disposition, be it good or bad.<sup class="ftnRef"><a name="ftnRef_290a" href="#ftn_290a">[6]</a></sup> +Thus, the generation of the children of God in Ps. lxxiii. 15; the generation of +the righteous, Ps. xiv. 5; the generation of the upright, in Ps. cxii. 2. Here, +the generation of the Servant of God is the communion of those who are animated +by His Spirit, filled with His life. This company will, after His death, increase +to an infinite greatness. <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">שוח</span> and +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">שיח</span> "to meditate," is commonly connected with +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ב</span> of the object, but occurs also with +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 291]</span> the simple Accusative, in the signification +"to meditate upon something," in Ps. cxlv. 5. There is, as it appears, an allusion +to the promise to Abraham, Gen. xiii. 16: "And I make thy seed as the dust of the +earth, so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also +be numbered,"--a promise which received its complete fulfilment just by the Servant +of God. The explanation which we have given was adopted by the LXX.: +<span lang="el" class="Greek">τὴν γενέαν αὐτοῦ τίς διηγήσεται.</span> Next to it, +comes the explanation: "Who can think out His <i>posterity</i>;" but against this, +it is conclusive that <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">דור</span> never occurs in +the signification "posterity." The parallel passage in ver. 10: "He shall see seed," +or "posterity," holds good even for our view; for since the posterity is a <i>spiritual</i> +one, it is substantially identical with <i>generation</i> here. But it may, <i>a +priori</i>, be expected that the same thing shall be designated from various aspects. +If "generation" be taken in the signification "posterity," then the words: "He shall +see seed" would be a mere repetition. The appropriateness of the sense which, according +to our explanation, comes out, will become especially evident, if we consider that, +in vers. 8-10, we have the carrying out of that which, in the sketch, was said of +the respectful homage of the many nations and kings. A whole host of explanations +assigns to <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">דור</span> significations which cannot +be vindicated. Thus, the translation of <i>Luther</i>: "Who shall disclose the length +of His life?" that of <i>Hitzig</i>: His destiny; that of <i>Beck</i>: His importance +and influence in the history of the world; that of <i>Knobel</i>: His dwelling place, +<i>i.e.</i>, His grave, who considered? The signification, "dwelling place," does +not at all belong to <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">דור</span>. In Isaiah xxxviii. +12, <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">דור</span> are the cotemporaries from whom the +dying man is taken away, and who are withdrawn from him: "My <i>generation</i> is +taken away, and removed from me like a shepherd's tent"--dying Hezekiah there laments. +Inadmissible, likewise, is the explanation: "Who of His cotemporaries will consider, +or considered, it" for <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">את</span>, the sign of the +Accusative, cannot stand before the <i>Nomin. Absol.</i> In Nehem. ix. 34, this +use is by no means certain, and, at all events, we cannot draw any inference from +the language of Nehemiah as to that of Isaiah. The Ellipses: "the true cause of +His death," "the importance and fruit of His death," "the salvation lying behind +it" (<i>Stier</i>), are very <span class="pagenum">[Pg 292]</span> hard, and the +sense which is purchased by such sacrifices is rather a common-place one, little +suitable to this context, and to the relation to chap. lii. 15.--"<i>For He was +cut off from the land of the living, for the transgression of my people, whose the +punishment.</i>" The reason is here stated why the Servant of God receives so glorious +a reward; why, after He has been removed to God, a generation so infinitely great +is granted to Him. <i>He has deserved this reward by His having suffered for the +sins of His people, as their substitute.</i> The first clause must not be separated +from the second: "for the transgression," &c. For it is not the circumstance, that +the Servant of God suffered a violent death at all, but that for the sin of His +people He took it upon Him, which is the ground of His glorification. +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">נגזר</span> "to be cut off" never occurs of a quiet, +natural death; not even in the passage, quoted in support of this use of the word, +viz., Psa. lxxxviii. 6; Lam. iii. 54, but always of a violent, premature death. +The cognate <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">נגרז</span> also has, in Psa. xxxi. 23, +the signification of extermination. <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">למו</span>, poetical +form for <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">להם</span>, refers to the collective +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">עם</span>. Before it, the relative pronoun is to +be understood: for the sin of my people, whose the punishment, <i>q.d.</i>, whose +property the punishment was, to whom it belonged. <i>Stier</i> prefers to adopt +the most violent interpretation rather than to conform and yield to this so simple +sense, which, as he says, could be entertained only by that obsolete theory of substitution +where one saves the other from suffering. Several interpreters take the suffix in +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">למו</span> as a Singular: "on account of the transgression +of my people, punishment was to Him." And passages, indeed, are not wanting where +the supposition that <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">מו</span> designates the Singular, +has some appearance of probability; but, upon a closer examination, this appearance +everywhere vanishes.<sup class="ftnRef"><a name="ftnRef_292a" href="#ftn_292a">[7]</a></sup> +Moreover, as we have already remarked, it is, on account of the sense, inadmissible +to separate the two clauses.--By <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">עמי</span> "my people," +the hypothesis of the non-Messianic interpreters is set aside, that in +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 293]</span> vers. 1-10 the <i>Gentiles</i> are speaking. +It is a single people to which the speakers belong, the covenant-people, for whose +benefit the atonement and substitution of the Servant of God were, <i>in the first +instance</i>, intended (comp. <span lang="el" class="Greek">σώσει τὸν λαὸν αὑτοῦ +ἀπὸ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν αὐτῶν</span>, Matth. i. 21) yea, were, to a certain degree, exclusively +intended, inasmuch as the believing Gentiles were received into it as adopted children. +It is a forced expedient to say: every single individual of the Gentiles, or of +their princes, says that the Servant of God has suffered for the sin of His people, +hence also for His own. And just as inadmissible is the supposition that a representative +of the heathen world is speaking; the whole heathen world cannot be designated as +a people.</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 9. "<i>And they gave Him His grave with the wicked, and with +a rich in His death, because He had done no violence, neither was any deceit in +His mouth.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal"><span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ויתן</span> is intentionally without +a definite Subject, <i>q.d.</i>: it was given to Him, <i>Ewald</i> § 273a. The acting +subject could not be at all more distinctly marked out, because there was a <i>double</i> +subject. Men fixed for Him the ignominious grave with criminals; by the providence +of God, He received the honourable grave with a rich, and that for the sake of His +innocent sufferings, as a prelude to the greater glorification which, as a reward, +was to be bestowed upon Him, as an example of what is said in ver. 12: "He shall +divide spoil with the strong." The <i>wicked</i> who are buried apart from others, +can be the real criminals only, the transgressors in ver. 12. Criminals received, +among the Jews, an ignominious burial. Thus <i>Josephus</i>, Arch. iv. 8, § 6, says: +"He who has blasphemed God shall, after having been stoned, be hung up for a day, +and be buried quietly and without honour." <i>Maimonides</i> (see <i>Iken</i> on +this passage in the Biblia Hagana ii. 2) says: "Those who have been executed by +the court of justice are not by any means buried in the graves of their ancestors; +but there are two graves appointed for them by the court of justice,--one for the +stoned and burnt; the other for the decapitated and strangled." Just as the Prophet +had, in the preceding verse, said that the Servant of God would die a violent death +like a criminal, so he says here, that they had also fixed for Him a grave in common +with executed criminals. <i>And with a rich</i> <span class="pagenum">[Pg 294]</span> +(they gave Him His grave) <i>in His death</i>: they gave Him His grave, first with +the wicked; but, indeed, He received it with a rich, since God's providence was +watching over the dead body of His Servant. <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ויתן</span>, +in so far as it refers to the first clause, receives its limitation by the second. +Before their fulfilment, the words had the character of a holy riddle; but the fulfilment +has solved this riddle. The designation of Joseph of Arimathea as +<span lang="el" class="Greek">ἄνθρωπος πλούσιος</span> in Matt. xxvi. 57, is equivalent +to an express quotation. Although it was by a special divine providence that the +Singular was chosen, yet we may suppose that, in the first instance, the rich man +here is contrasted with the wicked men, and is an ideal person, the personified +idea of the species. <i>In His death</i> is, in point of fact, equivalent to: "after +He had died;" but, notwithstanding, there is no necessity for giving to the +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ב</span> the signification "after." Death rather +denotes the <i>condition of death</i>; <i>in death</i> is contrasted with: <i>in +life</i>. Altogether in the same manner we find in Lev. xi. 31: "Whosoever doth +touch them in their death," for, "after they have died." <i>Farther</i>--1 Kings +xiii. 31: "In my death you shall bury me in the sepulchre." The Plural +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">מותים</span> "the deaths," "conditions of death," +cannot be adduced as a proof that the subject of the prophecy must be a collective +person; for, in that case, rather the Plural of the suffix would be required (Ps. +lxxviii. 64 is a rare exception); and in Ezek. xxviii. 8, 10, death is likewise +spoken of in the Plural. The Plural is formed after the analogy of +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">חיים</span>, for which reason it commends itself +to explain <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ארץ חיים</span> in the preceding verse, +"land of life," instead of "land of the living." But the Plural can here the less +occasion any difficulty, that it is not dying which is spoken of, but the continuing +condition of death.--<i>Because He had done no violence</i>, &c. +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">על</span> very frequently denotes the cause upon +which the effect depends, <i>e.g.</i>, in 1 Kings xvi. 7; Ps. xliv. 23, lxix. 8; +Jer. xv. 15; Job xxxiv. 6. The whole following clause is treated as a noun. Ordinarily, +it is explained: Although, &c. But this use of <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">על</span> +is quite isolated; it occurs only in two passages of the Book of Job, in x. 7 and +xxxiv. 6. The former explanation is found in the Alexand. version: +<span lang="el" class="Greek">ὅτι ἀνομίαν οὐκ ἐποίησε</span>. The innocence is designated +negatively, and in an external manner (<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">חמס</span> +and <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">מרמה</span> are gross sins). The reason of this +is <span class="pagenum">[Pg 295]</span> in the intention of His enemies, which +is expressed in the preceding words, to give Him His grave with the wicked. Since +He had not acted like them, God took care that He did not receive their ignominious +burial, but an honourable one. In reference to the passage under consideration, +it is said in 1 Pet. ii. 22: <span lang="el" class="Greek">ὃς ἁμαρτίαν οὐκ ἐποίησε +οὐδὲ εὑρέθε δόλος ἐν τῷ στόματι αὐτοῦ</span>. Instead of "violence," Peter intentionally +employs "sin."--<i>Hofmann</i> has advanced the following arguments against the +explanation which we have given. 1. "By what is this contrast (which, according +to our explanation, is contained in the words: They gave Him His grave with the +wicked, and with a rich man in His death) to be recognized in the text? There remains +no trace of a contrast, unless it be contained in <span lang="he" class="Hebrew"> +רשעים</span> and <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">עשיר</span>. Are these really two +ideas so contradictory, that they alone are sufficient to bring into contrariety +two clauses which have altogether the appearance of being intended for the same +purpose?" But in this argument, <i>Hofmann</i> overlooks the circumstance, that +the wicked are specially <i>criminals</i>--for they alone had a peculiar grave--and +that it is not the general relation of the wicked and rich to one another which +comes into consideration, but especially the relation in which they stand to one +another as regards the <i>burial</i>. If this be kept in view, it is at once evident +that the contrariety is expressed with sufficient clearness. From Isa. xxii. 16; +Job xxi. 32; Matt. xxvii. 57, it appears that the rich man, and the honourable grave, +are closely connected with each other. Hence, it must have been by an opposite activity +that to the Servant of God a grave was assigned with the wicked, and with a rich. +2. "To be rich is not in itself a sin which deserved an ignominious burial, far +less received it, but on the other hand, to find his grave with a rich man is not +an indemnification to the just for the disgrace of having died the death of a criminal." +But the fact that the first Evangelist reports it so minutely (Matt. xxvii. 57-61) +clearly enough shows the importance of the circumstance; comp. also how John, in +chap. xix. 33 ff., points out the circumstance that Christ's legs were not broken, +as were those of the malefactors. In the little, the great is prepared and prefigured. +And although the burial with a rich man is, in itself, of no small importance when +viewed as the first point where the exaltation <span class="pagenum">[Pg 296]</span> +began--in the connection with the preceding and following verses, we cannot but +look upon it as being symbolically significant and important. And how could it be +otherwise, since the burial of the Servant of God with a rich man implies that the +rich man himself has been gained for Him? It has, farther, been objected that Christ +was not buried <i>with</i> Joseph, but in his grave only, but in an ideal point +of view <i>with</i> has its full right. Comp. chap. xiv. 19, where it is said to +the king of Babylon: "But thou art cast out of thy grave," although, bodily, he +had not yet been in the grave; but he had a right to come like his ancestors; he +had, in an ideal point of view, taken his place there.--<i>Beck</i> says: "The orthodox +expositors are strongly embarrassed with these words." That is indeed a remarkable +interchange of positions. Embarrassment!--that is the sign of everything which unscriptural +exegesis advances on this verse. It is concentrated in the +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">עשיר</span>. The most varied conjectures and freaks +are here so many symptoms of helpless embarrassment. According to the opinion of +several interpreters, the rich man here stands in the sense of the ungodly. In this, +even <i>Luther</i> (marginal note: "rich man, one who in his doings founds himself +on riches," <i>i.e.</i>, an ungodly man), and <i>Calvin</i> had preceded them. The +assertion that the rich, can simply stand for the wicked, can neither be proved +from Job xxvii. 19 (for there, according to the context, the rich is equivalent +to "he who is wicked, notwithstanding his riches"), nor from the word of the Lord +in Matt. xix. 23: <span lang="el" class="Greek">δυσκόλως πλούσιος εἰσελεύσεται εἰς +τὴν βασιλείαν τῶν οὐρανῶν.</span> For that which, on a special occasion, the Lord +here says of the rich, applies to the poor also. Poverty, not less than wealth, +is encompassed with obstacles to conversion, which can be removed only by the omnipotence +of divine grace. According to Matt. xiii. 22, the word is not only choked by the +deceitfulness of riches, but is as much so by care also, the dangers of which are +particularly set forth by our Lord in Matt. vi. 25 ff. In Prov. xxx. 8, 9 it is +said: "Give me neither poverty nor riches, lest I be full and deny thee, and say: +Where is the Lord? or lest I be poor and steal, and take the name of my God in vain." +The dangers of riches are more frequently pointed out in Scripture than those of +poverty; but this fact is accounted for by the circumstance, that riches are surrounded +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 297]</span> with a glittering appearance, and that it +is therefore necessary to warn those who are apt to choose them for their highest +good. <i>Stier</i> rightly calls to mind the promise of earthly blessings to those +who fear God. But the circumstance must not be overlooked that the rich comes here +into consideration, chiefly as to his <i>burial</i>. The Prophet would then not +only proceed from the idea that all rich people are wicked, but also would simply +suppose that all the rich receive an ignominious burial. But of that, the parable +of the rich man in Luke xvi. 22, knows nothing: <span lang="el" class="Greek">ἀπέθανε +δὲ καὶ ὁ πλούσιος καὶ ἐτάφη</span>, according to his riches; it is in hell only +that he receives his reward. In opposition to <i>Gesenius</i>, <i>Hitzig</i> remarks: +"That transition of the signification is a fable." Following the example of <i>Martini</i> +he derives <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">עשיר</span> from the Arabic. But in opposition +to that, <i>Gesenius</i> again remarks in the <i>Thesaurus</i>: "<i>Sed haud minoribus +difficultatibus laborat ea ratio, qua improbitatis significatum voluerunt Martinius +et Hitzigius, collata nimirum radice</i> <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">עשר</span> +"<i>caespitavit</i>." <i>Tum enim haec radix nullam prorsum cum verbo</i> +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">עשר</span> <i>necessitudinem habet, ita ut</i> +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">עשיר</span> <i>h. l.</i> +<span lang="el" class="Greek">απ. λεγ.</span> <i>esset; tum caespitandi vis nusquam +ad peccatum, licet ad fortunam adversam, translata est.</i>" If, with words of such +frequent occurrence, it were allowable to search in the dialects, the business of +the expounder would be a very ungrateful one. Nor does the form, which is commonly +passive, favour this interpretation. According to <i>Beck</i>, +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">עשיר</span> is another form for +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">עריץ</span>. Others would change the reading. <i> +Ewald</i> proposes <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">עשיק</span>; Böttcher, +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">עשי רע</span>. Against all those conjectures, moreover, +the circumstance militates, that, according to them, the verse would still belong +to the humiliation of the Servant of God; whereas the description of the glorification +had already begun in the preceding verse. For <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">בְמותיו</span> +"in His death," <i>Gesenius</i> and others propose to read +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">בָמותיו</span>, to which they assign the signification +"His tomb-hill." But, altogether apart from this arbitrary change of the vowels, +there is opposed to this conjecture the circumstance, that +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">במה</span> never occurs of the grave. According to +<i>Gesenius</i>, <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">במות</span>, in Ezek. xliii. means +"tombs;" but the common signification "high places," must be retained there also. +In a spiritual point of view the sanctuaries of the Lord had become "high places."</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 10. "<i>And the Lord was pleased painfully to crush</i> +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 298]</span> <i>Him: when His soul hath given restitution, +He shall see seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall +prosper through His hand.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal"><i>And the Lord was pleased</i>--This pleasure of the Lord is +not such an one as proceeds from caprice. The ground on which it rests has already +been minutely exhibited in what precedes. By the vicarious influence of this suffering, +peace is to be acquired for mankind; and since this object is based upon the divine +nature, upon God's mercy, the choice of the means also, by which alone it could +be attained (for, without a violation of the divine character, sin could not remain +unpunished), must be traced to the divine character. <i>Here</i> the ground on which +the pleasure rests is stated in the words immediately following,--a connection which +is clearly indicated by the obvious relation in which the +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">חפץ יהוה</span> of the close stands to +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">יהוה חפץ</span> of the beginning; so that the sense +is: It was the pleasure, &c., and this for the purpose that, after having made an +offering for sin, He should see seed, &c. Hence the pleasure of the Lord has this +in view:--that the will of the Lord should be realized, His Servant glorified, and +the salvation of mankind promoted. <i>Painfully to crush Him.</i> +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">חלה</span> "to be sick," "to suffer pains." In this +sense the <i>Niphal</i> occurs in Amos vi. 6, and the participle +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">נחלה</span> in the signification "painful," "grievous," +in Nah. iii. 19; Jer. xiv. 17, and other passages, In <i>Hiphil</i> it means: "to +make painful," Mic. vi. 13. The common explanation, "The Lord was pleased to crush +Him, He has made Him sick," has this against it, that Copula and Suffix are wanting +in <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">החלי</span>, and that the word would come in unconnected, +and in a very disagreeable manner. And then the passage in Micah, which we have +quoted, decides against it.--<i>When His soul hath given restitution.</i> There +cannot be any doubt that, in a formal point of view, it is the soul which gives +restitution. <i>Knobel's</i> explanation: "His soul gives itself," is not countenanced +by the <i>usus loquendi</i>; <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">שים</span> is not a +reflective verb. As little can we suppose with <i>Hofmann</i> that +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">תשים</span> is the second person, and an address +to Jehovah. In opposition to this view, there is not only the circumstance that +Jehovah is spoken <i>of</i> before and afterwards, but, in a material point of view, +the circumstance also, that offerings for sin, and, generally, all sacrifices, were +never offered up <i>by</i> God, <span class="pagenum">[Pg 299]</span> but always +<i>to</i> God. The fact also, that according to the sequel, the Servant of God receives +the reward for His meritorious work, proves that it is He who offers up the sacrifice. +But, on the other hand, it is, in point of fact, the soul only which can be the +<i>offering</i>, the <i>restitution</i>; for it could scarcely be imagined that, +just here, that should be omitted on which everything mainly depends. It is sufficiently +evident, from what precedes, <i>who</i> it is that offers the restitution; what +the restitution was, it was necessary distinctly to point out. <i>Farther</i>--In +the case of sacrifices, it is just the soul upon which every thing depends; so that +if the soul be mentioned in a context which treats of sacrifices, it is, <i>a priori</i>, +probable that it will be the object offered up. In Lev. xvii. 11, it is said: "For +the soul of the flesh is in the blood, and I give it to you upon the altar, to atone +for your souls, for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul," viz., +by the soul "<i>per animam, vi animae in eo sanguine constantis</i>" (<i>Gussetius</i>).<sup class="ftnRef"><a name="ftnRef_299a" href="#ftn_299a">[8]</a></sup> +The soul, when thus considered as the passive object, is here therefore in a high +degree in its proper place; and there can the less be any doubt of its occurring +here in this sense, that it occurs twice more in vers. 11 and 12, of the natural +psychical life of the Servant of God, which was given up to suffering and death. +But, on the other hand, if the soul be considered as the active object, it stands +here at all events rather idle,--a circumstance which is sufficiently apparent from +the supposition of several interpreters, that <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">נפש</span> +"soul," stands here simply for the personal pronoun,--"His soul," for "He," a <i> +usus loquendi</i> which occurs in Arabic, but not in Hebrew. And, strictly speaking, +the offering of the sacrifice does not belong to the soul, but to the spirit of +the Servant of God, compare Heb. ix. 14, according to which passage, Christ +<span lang="el" class="Greek">διὰ πνεύματος αἰωνίου ἑαυτὸν προσήνεγκεν ἄμωμον τῷ +θεῷ</span>; and on the subject of the difference between soul and spirit, compare +my Commentary on Ps. iv. p. lxxxvii. But how will it now be possible to reconcile +and harmonize <span class="pagenum">[Pg 300]</span> our two results, that, in a +formal point of view, the soul is that which offers up, and, in a material point +of view, that which is offered up? By the hypothesis that, <i>in a rhetorical way +of speaking, that is here assigned to the soul as an action which, in point of fact, +is done upon it.</i> All that is necessary is to translate: "If His soul puts or +gives a trespass-offering;" for, "to put," stands here, as it does so frequently, +in the sense of "to give," compare Ezek. xx. 28, where it is used in this sense +in reference to sacrifice. But, in point of fact, this is equivalent to: "If it +is made a trespass-offering," or, "If He, the Servant of God, offers it as a trespass-offering." +It is analogous to this when, in Job xiv. 22, the soul of the deceased laments; +and a cognate mode of representation prevails in Rev. vi. 9, where, to the souls +of the slain, life is assigned for the sole purpose of their giving utterance to +that which was the result of the thought regarding them, in combination with the +circumstances of the time. To a certain degree analogous is also chap. lx. 7, where +it is said of the sacrificial animals: "They ascend, for my pleasure, mine altar." +The fact that it is in reality the soul which is offered up, is confirmed also by +the remarkable reference to the passage before us in the discourses of our Lord. +Our Lord says in John x. 12: <span lang="el" class="Greek">ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ποιμὴν ὁ καλός· +ὁ ποιμὴν ὁ καλὸς τὴν χυχὴν αὑτοῦ τίθησιν ὑπὲρ τῶν προβάτων.</span> Ver. 15: +<span lang="el" class="Greek">καὶ τὴν χυχήν μου τίθημι ὑπὲρ τῶν προβάτων.</span> +Vers. 17, 18: <span lang="el" class="Greek">διὰ τοῦτο ὁ πατὴρ με ἀγαπᾷ, ὅτι ἐγὼ +τίθημι τὴν ψυχήν μου ἵνα πάλιν λάβω αὐτήν. Οὐδεὶς αἴρει αὐτὴν ἀπʼ ἐμοῦ, ἀλλʼ ἐγὼ +τίθημι αὐτὴν ἀπʼ ἐμαυτοῦ· ἐξουσίαν ἔχω θεῖναι αὐτήν, καὶ ἐξουσίαν ἔχω πάλιν λαβεῖν +αὐτήν.</span> In John xv. 13: <span lang="el" class="Greek">μείζονα ταύτης ἀγάπην +οὐδεὶς ἔχει ἵνα τὶς τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ θῇ ὑπὲρ φίλων αὑτοῦ.</span> The expression: +"To put one's soul for some one," does not, independently and by itself, occur anywhere +else in the New Testament; in John xiii. 37, 38, Peter takes the word out of the +mouth of the Saviour, and in 1 John iii. 16, it is used in reference to those declarations +of our Lord. The expression is nowhere met with in any profane writers, nor in the +Hellenistic <i>usus loquendi</i>. The following reasons prove that it refers to +the Old Testament, and especially to the passage under consideration. 1. Its Hebraizing +character. <i>De Wette</i> and <i>Lücke</i> erroneously take +<span lang="el" class="Greek">θεῖναι</span> in the sense of laying down; but that +is too negative. It is evident that the Hebraism "to put," instead of "to give," +has been <span class="pagenum">[Pg 301]</span> transferred into Greek, as is proved +by the synonymous <span lang="el" class="Greek">δοῦναι τὴν ψυχὴν αὑτοῦ</span> in +Mark x. 45; Matt. xx. 28.--2. The fact that the same uncommon expression occurs +not fewer than five times in the same discourse of Christ, and that so intentionally +and emphatically, is explicable only when it was thereby intended to point to an +important fundamental passage of the Old Testament.--3. In the discourses of our +Lord, the expression is, no less than in the passage before us, used of His sacrificial +death.--If, then, it be established that those passages in which our Lord speaks +of a <i>putting</i> of His soul, refer to the passage under consideration, this +must be acknowledged of those also in which He speaks of a <i>giving</i> of His +soul, as in Matt. xx. 28: <span lang="el" class="Greek">δοῦναι τὴν ψυχὴν αὑτοῦ λύτρον +ἀντὶ πολλῶν</span>, where the <span lang="el" class="Greek">λύτρον</span> clearly +points to the <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">אשם</span> here. In all those utterances, +the Saviour simply has reduced the words to what they signify, just as, in quoting +the passage Zech. xiii. 7, in Matt. xxvi. 31, He likewise drops the rhetorical figure, +the address to the sword. He himself appears simply as He who offers up; the soul +is that which is offered up.--<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">אשם</span> is, in Numb. +v. 5, called that of which some one has unjustly robbed another, and which he is +bound to <i>repay</i> to him. An essential feature of sin is the <i>robbing of God</i> +which is thereby committed, the debt thereby incurred, which implies the necessity +of <i>recompence</i>. All sin-offerings are, in the Mosaic economy, at the same +time debt-offerings; and this feature is very intentionally and emphatically pointed +out in them. If, besides the sin-offerings, there is still established a kind of +trespass-offerings, the <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">אשם</span>, for sins in which +the idea of incurring a debt comes out with special prominence, this is done only +with the view, that this feature, thus brought forward by itself and independently, +may be so much the more deeply impressed, in order that, in the other sin-offerings +too, it may be the more clearly perceived. Compare the investigation on the sin-offerings +and trespass-offerings in my work on the <i>Genuineness of the Pentateuch</i>, ii. +p. 174 ff. But the sin- and trespass-offerings of the Old Testament typically point +to a true spiritual sin- and trespass-offering; and their chief object was to awaken +in the people of God the consciousness of the necessity of substitution (compare +my Book: <i>Die Opfer der Heil. Schrift</i>, Berlin 1852). This antetypical sacrifice +will be offered up by the true High-Priest. For the sins of the human race which +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 302]</span> without compensation, cannot be forgiven, +He furnishes the restitution which could not be paid by the sinners, and thereby +works out the justification of the sinner before God.--To the trespass-offering +here, all those passages of the New Testament point, in which Christ is spoken of +as the sacrifice for our sins, especially 2 Cor. v. 21, where the apostle says that +God made Christ to be <span lang="el" class="Greek">ἁμαρτρία</span> for us, that +in Him we might be made righteous before God; Rom. viii. 3, according to which God +sent Christ <span lang="el" class="Greek">περὶ ἁμαρτρίας</span>, as a sin-offering; +Rom. iii. 25, where Christ is called <span lang="el" class="Greek">ἱλαστήριον</span>, +propitiation; 1 John ii. 2: <span lang="el" class="Greek">καὶ αὐτὸς ἱλασμός ἐστι +περὶ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ἡμῶν</span>, iv. 10; Heb. ix. 14.--The +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">אִם</span> at the beginning must not be explained +by "<i>as</i>" a signification, which it never has; it has its ordinary signification +"when," and the Future is to be understood as a real Future: the offering of the +trespass-offering is the <i>condition</i> of His seeing, &c., and, according to +the context, indeed, the absolutely <i>necessary</i> condition. The translation: +"Even if" could proceed from one only who had not understood this context. It is +not death in general, but sacrificial death, which is specially spoken of; and to +such a death, which is a necessary foundation of the glorification, and especially +the foundation of "He shall see seed," "when" only is suitable, and not "even if."--In +the words: "He shall see seed, prolong His days," that is, in a higher sense, promised +to this Servant of God, which, under the Old Testament, was considered as a distinguished +divine blessing. The spiritual interpretation has the less difficulty, that it must +necessarily be granted in the case of <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">אשם</span>, +immediately preceding. Just in the same relation in which the sin-offering of the +Servant of God stands to the sin-offering of the bullocks and goats, does His posterity, +the length of His days, stand to the ordinary posterity and length of days. The +<i>seed</i> of the Servant of God, identical with His generation, in ver. 8, are +just those for whom, according to the words immediately preceding, He offers His +soul as a trespass-offering--the many who, according to ver. 12, are assigned to +Him as His portion; who, according to chap. lii. 15, are to be sprinkled by Him; +who, according to ver. 11, are to be justified by Him; they whose sins He has taken +upon Him (ver. 5), and for whom He intercedes before God, ver. 12. Even in the Old +Testament, the word "children" is frequently used in a spiritual +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 303]</span> sense. In Gen. vi. 2, believers appear as +the children of God. The Israelites are not unfrequently designated as sons of Jehovah. +Those prophets who were endowed with specially rich gifts, were surrounded by a +crowd of <i>sons</i> of the prophets. The wise man, too, looks upon his disciples +as his spiritual sons, Prov. iv. 20, xix. 27; Eccles. xii. 12. In the New Testament, +the Lord addresses the man sick of the palsy by <span lang="el" class="Greek">τέκνον</span>. +Matt. ix. 2; and with special emphasis. His apostles as <i>little children</i>, +<span lang="el" class="Greek">τεκνία ἔτι μικρὸν μεθʼ ὑμῶν εἰμι</span>, John xiii. +33; and the Apostles, too, consider those who have been awakened by their ministry +as their spiritual children, 1 Cor. iv. 17; 1 Tim. i. 2; 1 Pet. v. 13. <i>The thought +is this--that in the sacrificial death of the Servant of God there will be an animating +power; that, just thereby, He will found His Church.</i> The words: "He shall prolong +His days," allude, as it appears, to the promise which was given to David and his +seed, comp. Ps. xxi 5: "He asked life of thee, and thou gavest it to him, even length +of days for ever and ever;" 1 Sam. vii. 13: "I will establish the throne of His +kingdom for ever," comp. ver. 16; Ps. lxxxix. 5, cxxxii. 12,--a promise which found +its final fulfilment in Christ. But the long life here must not be viewed as <i> +isolated</i>, but must be understood in close connection both with what precedes +and what follows. It is the life of the Servant of God in communion with His seed, +in carrying out the will of God. <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">חפץ</span> never +means "business," but always "pleasure;" and this signification, which occurs in +chap. xliv. 28 also, is here the less to be given up, that the +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">חפץ</span> here, at the close, evidently refers to +the <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">חפץ</span> at the beginning. By this reference, +the reason is stated why it was the <i>pleasure</i> of the Lord to crush Him. According +to vers. 11 and 12, it is the pleasure of God that sinners should be justified through +Him, on the foundation of His vicarious suffering; according to chap. xlii. and +xlix., that Israel should be redeemed, and the Gentiles saved. While the pleasure +of the Lord is prospering through His hand, he, at the same time, sees seed.</p> +<p class="normal">In vers. 11 and 12, we have the closing words of the Lord.</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 11. "<i>On account of the sufferings of His soul He seeth, +He is satisfied; by His knowledge He, the Righteous One, my Servant, shall justify +the many, and He shall bear their iniquities.</i>"</p> +<p class="continue"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 304]</span></p> +<p class="normal">The <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">מן</span> in +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">מעמל</span> is "on account of." In ver. 10, to which +the discourse of the Lord is, in the first instance, connected, the suffering likewise +appears as the cause of the glorification. The Vulgate translates: "<i>Pro eo quod +laboravit anima ejus</i>;" the LXX. rather feebly: <span lang="el" class="Greek"> + ἀπὸ του̂ πόνου τη̂ς ψυχη̂ς αὐτου̂</span>. With <span lang="he" class="Hebrew"> +יראה</span> the object is omitted, and that purposely, in order that the words of +God may be immediately connected with ver. 10. We must supply: the fruits and rewards +of His sufferings announced there (just as, in a manner quite similar, in chap. +xlix. 7, "they shall see," refers to the preceding verse), specially that the pleasure +of the Lord shall prosper through His hand,--which, in the sequel, is enlarged upon. +The words: "He is satisfied," point out that the blissful consequences of the atoning +suffering will take place in the highest fulness. <span lang="he" class="Hebrew"> +בדעתו</span> must, according to the accents, be connected with the subsequent words. +The knowledge does not belong to the Servant of God, in so far as it dwells in Him, +but as it concerns Him; just as the <span lang="el" class="Greek">ἀγάπη τοῦ θεοῦ</span> +in Luke xi. 42, and in other passages does not mean the love which dwells in God, +but the love which has God for its object. "By His knowledge" is thus equivalent +to: by their knowing Him, getting acquainted with Him, This knowledge of the Servant +of God according to His principal work, as it was described in what precedes, viz., +mediatorial office, or <i>faith</i>, is the subjective condition of justification. +As the efficient cause of it, the vicarious suffering of the Servant of God was +represented in the preceding context. It is just this, which is subjectively appropriated +by the knowledge of the Servant of God, and which must be conceived of as essential +and living. Thus <i>J. H. Michaelis</i> says: <i>Per scientiam sui</i> (<i>Clericus</i>: +<i>Cognitione sui</i>), <i>non qua ipse cognoscit, sed qua vera fide et fiducia +ipse tanquam propitiator cognoscitur.</i> The explanation: "By His knowledge (in +the sense of understanding) or wisdom," gives a sense unsuitable to the context. +In the whole prophecy, the Servant of God does not appear as a Teacher, but as a +Redeemer; and the relation of <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">צדיק</span> to +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">הצדיק</span> shows that here, too, He is considered +as such. To supply, as is done by some interpreters: "in which (knowledge) He perceived +the only possible means of redemption and reconciliation, and gave practical effect +to this knowledge," is, after all, too unnatural; the <span class="pagenum">[Pg +305]</span> discourse would in that case be so incomplete that we should have been +shut up to conjectures. Others translate: "By His doctrine;" but +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">דעת</span> never means "doctrine." The explanation: +"By His full, absolute knowledge of the divine counsel" (<i>Hävernick</i>), or, +"by the absolute knowledge of God" (<i>Umbreit</i>), puts into the simple word, +which only means "knowledge," more than is implied in it. According to the parallelism +with the subsequent words: "He shall bear their iniquities." and according to the +context (for, in the whole section, the Servant of God is not described as a <i> +Teacher</i>, but as a <i>Priest</i>, as He who, in order to expiate our sin, has +offered himself up as a sacrifice), <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">הצדיק</span> +must not be translated "to convert," but to "justify." In favour of this translation +is also the construction with <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ל</span>, which is +to be accounted for from a modification of the signification: "to bring righteousness." +But it is specially the position of <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">צדיק</span> which +is decisive in favour of it. It is for the justification only that the personal +righteousness of the Servant of God has that significant meaning which is, in this +manner, assigned to it. Moreover, in the <i>usus loquendi</i>, the meaning <i>to +justify</i> only occurs. In it, the verb is used, chap. v. 23, l. 8; and there is +no reason for deviating from it in the only passage which can be adduced in favour +of the signification "to convert," viz., Dan. xii. 3: "And the wise, +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">משכילים</span>, shall shine as the brightness of +the firmament, and <i>justify</i> many as the stars, for ever and ever." In this +passage, that is applied to believers which, in chap. liii., was ascribed to Christ. +Even a certain strangeness in the style makes us suppose such a transference; and +the fact, that Daniel had our passage specially in view, cannot be doubted, if we +compare the <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">משכילים</span> of Daniel with the +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ישכיל</span> with which the prophecy under consideration +opens (chap, lii, 13), and Daniel's: "justify many," with the passage before us. +The justification, which in its full sense belongs to Christ the Head only, is by +Daniel ascribed to the "wise," because they are the instruments through whom many +attain justification; <i>Calvin</i>: <i>Quia causa sunt ministerialis justitiae +et salutis multorum.</i> <i>Hävernick</i> refers, for a comparison, to 1 Tim. iv. +16: "For, in doing this, thou shalt save both thyself and them that hear thee." +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">עדיק</span> must not be immediately connected with +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">עבדי</span>; for, in that case, it ought to have +stood after it, and been qualified <span class="pagenum">[Pg 306]</span> by the +article. On the contrary, <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">עדיק</span> stands first, +because it stands by itself and substantively: "The righteous One, My Servant." +A similar construction occurs, Jer. iii., vii. 10: "And she does not turn unto me, +the treacherous one, <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">בגירה</span>, her sister Judah." +By thus making <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">צדיק</span> prominent, and connecting +it immediately with <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">הצדיק</span>, it is intended +to point out the close connection in which the righteousness of the Servant of God, +who, although altogether innocent and sinless, ver. 9, yet suffered the punishment +of sin, stands with the justification to be bestowed by Him. <i>Maurer</i> thus +pertinently expresses this: "To many, for righteous is my Servant, shall He procure +righteousness." By these words thus the <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">יזה</span>, +in chap. lii. 15, is explained; and the seal of the divine confirmation is impressed +upon that which, in vers. 4-6, the believing Church had said, especially upon the +words: "By His wounds we are healed," ver. 5. The "many" points back to chap. liii. +15, and forms the contrast not to <i>all</i> (<i>Stier</i>: "Because He cannot, +overturning all laws, save all by coercion, or arbitrary will,"--a limitation which +would in this context be out of place), but to <i>few</i>: The one, the many, Rom. +v. 15.--"And He shall bear their iniquities;" the iniquities and their punishment, +as a heavy burden which the Servant of God lifts off from those who are groaning +under their weight, and takes upon himself <i>Jerome</i> says: "And He himself shall +bear the iniquities which they could not bear, and by the weight of which they were +borne down." <i>Calvin</i> expresses himself thus: "A wonderful change indeed! Christ +justifies men by giving them His righteousness, and in exchange. He takes upon Him +their sins, that He may expiate them." In opposition to those who translate: "He +<i>bore</i> their iniquities," (the Future might, in that case, he accounted for +from the Prophet's viewing the whole transaction as present), even <i>Gesenius</i> +has remarked that the preceding and subsequent Futures all refer to the state of +glorification. Even the parallelism with <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">יצדיק</span> +shows that we must translate as the LXX. do: <span lang="el" class="Greek">καὶ τὰς +ἁμαρτίας αὐτω̂ν αὐτὸς ἀνοίσει</span>. Moreover, the subject of discourse in the +whole verse is not the <i>acquiring</i> of the righteousness, which was done in +the state of humiliation, but the <i>communication</i> of it, as the subjective +condition of which the knowledge of the Servant of God was mentioned in the preceding +clause. <span class="pagenum">[Pg 307]</span> In the case of every one who, after +the exaltation of the Servant of God, fulfils this condition, He takes upon Himself +their sins, <i>i.e.</i>, He causes His vicarious suffering to be imputed to them, +and grants them pardon. The expression: "He shall bear their iniquities" is, in +point of fact, identical with: "He shall <i>justify</i> them." The Servant of God +has borne the sin once for all; by the power of His substitution, effected by the +shedding of His blood, He takes upon himself the sins of every individual who <i> +knows</i> Him. The "taking away" is implied in <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">וסבל</span> +in so far only, as it is done by <i>bearing</i>. It was only because he was misled +by his rationalistic tendencies, that <i>Gesenius</i> explains: "And He lightens +the burden of their sins, <i>i.e.</i>, by His doctrine He shall correct them, and +thereby procure to them pardon." By such an explanation he contradicts himself, +inasmuch as, in ver. 4, he referred the bearing of the diseases and pains to the +vicarious satisfaction. It cannot, in any way, be said of the Teacher, that he takes +upon himself iniquities.</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 12. "<i>Therefore will I give Him a portion in the many, +and He shall divide the spoil with the strong, because He hath poured out His soul +unto death and was numbered with the transgressors, and He beareth the sin of many, +and for the transgressors He shall make intercession.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">The first words are thus explained by many interpreters: "Therefore +I will give Him mighty ones for His portion, and strong ones He shall divide as +a spoil." But <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">חלק</span> with +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ב</span> cannot mean simply "to allot," (although, +indeed, this explanation is given by the LXX.; <span lang="el" class="Greek"> διὰ +του̂το αὐτὸς κληρονομήσει πολλοὺς</span>; Vulg.: <i>ideo dispertiam ei plurimos</i>); +it only signifies "to give a portion in," Job xxxix. 17. From the comparison with +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">רבים</span> in ver. 11 and at the close of this verse, +as well as from the reference to the <i>many nations</i> in the sketch, ver. 15, +it is evident that <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">רבים</span> here, too, cannot +mean "mighty ones," but "many." Even elsewhere, the signification "great ones," +"mighty ones," appears oftentimes to be only forced upon +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">רבים</span>. In Job xxxv. 9, the "many" are the many +evil-doers; and in Job xxxii. 9, the utterance: "Not the <i>many</i> are wise," +is explained from the circumstance, that the view given by Job's friends was that +of the great mass. The fact that the <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">את</span> in +the second clause is not the sign of the Accusative, but a Preposition, +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 308]</span> is probable even from the circumstance, that +the former <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">את</span> commonly stands before qualified +nouns only; and, farther from the corresponding; "with the transgressors." But what +is conclusive is, that the phrase <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">חלק שלל</span> +always means "to divide spoil," never "to distribute as spoil," and that the phrase +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">חלק שלל את גאים</span> "to divide spoil with the +proud" occurs in Prov. xvi. 19. The reason of the use of this expression lies in +the reference to ordinary victors and conquerors of the world, especially to Cyrus. +By His sufferings and death, the Servant of God shall secure to himself the same +successes as they do by sword and bow. Although participating in the government +of the world, and dividing spoil are here ascribed to the Servant of God, yet the +participation in worldly triumphs is not spoken of On the contrary, behind the +<i>equality</i> which has given rise to the secular-looking expression (the thought +is merely this, that through Christ and His sacrificial death, the Kingdom of God +enters into the rank of world-conquering powers), a contrast lies concealed,--as +appears, 1. From what is stated, in the preceding verses, about the manner in which +the Servant of God has attained to this glory. Worldly triumphs are not acquired +by the deepest <i>humiliation</i>, by sufferings and death voluntarily undergone +for the salvation of mankind. 2. From that which the Servant of God, in the state +of glory, is to do to those who turn to Him. According to chap. lii. 15, He is to +sprinkle them with His blood; and this sprinkling is there expressly stated as the +reason of the reverential homage of the Gentile world. He is to justify them and +to bear their sins, ver. 11, and to make intercession for them, ver. 12. All that +does not apply to a worldly conqueror and ruler.--The merits of the Servant of God +are then once more pointed out,--the merits by which He has acquired so exalted +and all-important a position to himself, and, at the same time, to the Kingdom of +God, of which He is the Head. "Because He hath poured out His soul unto death," +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ערה</span> in the <i>Niphal</i>, "to be poured out," +means in <i>Piel</i> "to pour out," Gen. xxiv. 20, and Ps. cxli. 8, where it is +said of the soul: "Do not pour out my soul," just as here the <i>Hiphil</i> is used. +The term has been transferred to the <i>soul</i> from the <i>blood</i>, in which +is the soul. Gen. ix. 4: "Flesh with its soul (namely with its blood) you shall +not eat." Ver. 5: "Your blood in <span class="pagenum">[Pg 309]</span> which your +souls." <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">נמנה</span>, "He was numbered," is here, +according to the context, equivalent to: He caused himself to be numbered; for it +is only that which was undergone voluntarily which can be stated as the reason of +the <i>reward</i>. This voluntary undergoing, however, is not implied in the word +itself, but only in the connection with: "He hath poured out His soul;" for that +signifies a voluntary act. The <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">פשעים</span> here, +just as the <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">רשעים</span> in ver. 9, are not sinners, +but criminals. This appears from the connection in which the being "numbered with +the transgressors" stands with the "pouring out of the soul unto death." We can +hence think of executed criminals only. The pure, innocent One was not only numbered +with sinners, such as all men are, but He was numbered with <i>criminals</i>. It +is in this sense also that our Lord understands the words, in His quotation of them +in Luke xxii. 37: <span lang="el" class="Greek">λέγω γὰρ ὑμῖν, ὅτι ἕτι τοῦτο τὸ +γεγραμμένον δεῖ τελεσθῆναι ἐν ἐμοί, τό· καὶ μετὰ ἀνόμων ἐλογίσθη, καὶ γὰρ τὸ περὶ +ἐμοῦ τέλος ἔχει</span>; Compare Matt. xxvi. 54, where the Lord strengthens His disciples +against the offence of His being taken a prisoner, by saying, with a view to the +passage before us: <span lang="el" class="Greek">πῶς οὖν πληρωθῶσιν αἱ γραφαὶ, ὅτι +οὕτω δεῖ γενέσθαι</span>; ver. 56, where, after having reproached the guards for +having numbered Him with criminals: <span lang="el" class="Greek">ὡς ἐπὶ λῃστὴν +ἐξήλθετε μετὰ μαχαιρῶν καὶ ξύλων συλλαβεῖν με</span>, He says to them: +<span lang="el" class="Greek">τοῦτο δὲ ὅλον γέγονεν ἵνα πληρωθῶσιν αἱ γραφαὶ τῶν +προφητῶν.</span>. Mark, in chap. xv. 28, designates the fact that two robbers were +crucified with Christ, as the most perfect fulfilment of our prophecy. It was in +this fact that it came out most palpably, that Christ had been made like criminals. +The rulers of the people caused two common criminals to be crucified with Him, just +that they might declare that they put Him altogether among their number.--"And He +beareth the sin of many, and for the transgressors He shall make intercession." +By <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">והוא</span>, it is indicated that the subsequent +words are no more to be viewed as depending on <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">תחת +אשר</span>.--<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">יפגיע</span> must not, as is done by +the LXX., be referred to the state of humiliation; for the Future in the preceding +verses has reference to the exaltation. The parallel +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">נשא</span> must therefore be viewed as a <i>Praeteritum +propheticum</i>. It corresponds with <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">יסבל</span> +in ver. 11, and, like it, does not designate something done but once by the Servant +of God, but something which He does constantly. The intercession is +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 310]</span> here brought into close connection with the +bearing of the sin, by which Christ represents himself as being the true <i>sin-offering</i> +(comp. ver. 10, where He was designated as the true <i>trespass-offering</i>), and +hence it is equivalent to: He will make intercession for sinners, by taking upon +himself their sin,--of which the thief on the cross was the first instance. This +close connection, and the deep meaning suggested by it, are overlooked and lost +by those expositors who, in the intercession, think of prayer only. <i>The servant +of God, on the contrary, makes intercession, by pleading before God His merit, as +the ground of the acceptance of the transgressors, and of the pardon of their sins.</i> +This is evident from the connection also in which: "For the transgressors He shall +make intercession," stands with: "He was numbered with the transgressors." The vicarious +suffering is thereby pointed out as the ground of the intercession. <i>Calvin</i> +says: "Under the Old Testament dispensation, the High-priest, who never went in +without blood, made intercession for the people. What was there foreshadowed has +been fulfilled in Christ. For, in the first place. He offered up the sacrifice of +His body, and shed His blood, and thus suffered the punishment due to us. And, in +the second place, in order that the expiation might profit us. He undertakes the +office of an advocate, and makes intercession for all who, by faith, lay hold of +this sacrifice." Comp. Rom. viii. 34: <span lang="el" class="Greek">ὃς καὶ ἐντυγχάνει +ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν</span>; Hebr. ix. 24, according to which passage Christ is entered into +the holy places <span lang="el" class="Greek">νῦν ἐμφανισθῆναι τῷ προσώπῳ τοῦ θεοῦ +ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν</span>; 1 John ii. 1: <span lang="el" class="Greek">παράκλητον ἔχομεν +πρὸς τὸν πατέρα Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν δίκαιον</span>.</p> +<hr class="W20"> +<p class="normal">We have hitherto expounded the passage before us without any regard +to the difference of the interpretation as to the whole, and have supposed the reference +to Christ to be the correct one. But it is still incumbent upon us: I. to give the +history of the interpretation; II. to refute the arguments against the Messianic +interpretation; III. to state the arguments in favour of it; and IV. to show that +the non-Messianic interpretation is untenable.</p> +<hr class="ftn"> +<div class="ftn"> + <p class="ftnText"><a name="ftn_262a" href="#ftnRef_262a"> + <sup class="ftnRef">[1]</sup></a> One needs only to consider passages such as + this, to be enabled to distinguish between the ideal and real Present, and to + be convinced of the utter futility of the chief argument against the genuineness + of the second part, viz., that the Babylonish exile appears as present. "Proceeding + from the certainty of deliverance"--so <i>Hitzig</i> remarks--"the Prophet here + <i>beholds</i> in spirit that going on, to which, in chap. xl. 9, he exhorts." + If the Prophet beholds at all in the spirit, why should he not see in spirit + the misery also?</p> +</div> +<div class="ftn"> + <p class="ftnText"><a name="ftn_270a" href="#ftnRef_270a"> + <sup class="ftnRef">[2]</sup></a> <i>Simonis. Onom.</i>: + <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">יזיה</span>, <i>quem aspergat</i>, <i>i.e.</i>, + <i>purificet et expiet Domimus</i>; <i>Gesenius</i>: <i>quod vix aliter explicari + potest quam</i>: <i>quem consperget</i>, <i>i.e.</i>, <i>expiabit Jehova.</i> + <i>Fürst</i> gives a different derivation; but it at once shows itself to be + untenable.</p> +</div> +<div class="ftn"> + <p class="ftnText"><a name="ftn_273a" href="#ftnRef_273a"> + <sup class="ftnRef">[3]</sup></a> In order to defend this explanation, interpreters + have referred to the LXX: <span lang="el" class="Greek">οὕτω θαυμάσονται ἔθνη + πολλὰ ἐπʼ αὐτῳ̂</span>; but even <i>Martini</i> remarks: "From a dark passage, + they have tried, by ingenious conjecturing, to bring out any sense whatsoever."</p> +</div> +<div class="ftn"> + <p class="ftnText"><a name="ftn_274a" href="#ftnRef_274a"> + <sup class="ftnRef">[4]</sup></a> Thus <i>Theodoret</i> says: "For they who + did not receive the prophetic promises and announcements, but served idols, + shall, through the messengers of the truth, see the power of the promised One, + and perceive His greatness." <i>Jerome</i>: "The rulers of the world, who had + not the Law and the Prophets, and to whom no prophecies concerning Him were + given, even they shall see and perceive. By the comparison with them, the hardness + of the Jews is reproved, who, although they saw and heard, yet verified Isaiah's + prophecy against them." <i>Calvin</i>: "The Jews had, through the Law and the + Prophets, heard something of Christ, but to the Gentiles He was altogether unknown. + Hence it follows that these words properly refer to the Gentiles."</p> +</div> +<div class="ftn"> + <p class="ftnText"><a name="ftn_276a" href="#ftnRef_276a"> + <sup class="ftnRef">[5]</sup></a> According to <i>Knobel</i>, the author is + supposed to speak, in chap. liii. 1, in his own name and that of the other prophets; + in vers. 2-6, in the name of the whole people; in vers. 7-10, in his own name. + An explanation which is compelled to resort to such changes, without their being + in any way clearly and distinctly intimated, pronounces its own condemnation.</p> +</div> +<div class="ftn"> + <p class="ftnText"><a name="ftn_290a" href="#ftnRef_290a"> + <sup class="ftnRef">[6]</sup></a> <i>Gesenius</i>: <i>Neglecta actatis notione + saepe est genus hominum, in bonam partem--in malam partem</i>;--and in reference + to the passage under consideration: <i>Genus ejus, Servi Jehovae, sunt homines + qui iisdem cum illo studiis tenentur.</i> In the same manner it is explained + by <i>Maurer</i>, who refers to Ps. xiv. 5, xxiv. 6.</p> +</div> +<div class="ftn"> + <p class="ftnText"><a name="ftn_292a" href="#ftnRef_292a"> + <sup class="ftnRef">[7]</sup></a> The double <span lang="he" class="Hebrew"> + למו</span> in Deut. xxxiii. 2 refers to Israel, not to God. In reference to + the <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">למו</span> in Is. xliv. 15, <i>J. H. Michaelis</i> + remarks: <i>iis talibus diis.</i> ver. 7. But the suffix rather refers to the + trees, ver. 14; comp. <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">מהם</span> in ver. 15. + If construed thus, the sense is much more expressive. In Job xxii. 2, + <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">משכיל</span> is used collectively. In Ps. xi. + 7, the plural suffix is to be explained from the richness and fulness of the + Divine Being. These are all the passages which <i>Ewald</i> quotes in § 247 + d.</p> +</div> +<div class="ftn"> + <p class="ftnText"><a name="ftn_299a" href="#ftnRef_299a"> + <sup class="ftnRef">[8]</sup></a> Thus <i>Bähr</i>, <i>Symbolik</i>, ii. S. + 207, says: It is not the material elements of the blood which make it a means + of expiation, but it is the <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">נפש</span> which + is connected with it, which is in it, whose instrument and bearer it is, which + gives to it atoning power. The <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">נפש</span> is + thus the centre around which, in the last instance, everything moves. This is + especially confirmed by the circumstance, that the object of the expiation to + be effected by the <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">נפש</span> in the sacrificial + blood, is, according to this passage, the <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">נפש</span> + of him who offers up the sacrifice.</p> +</div> +<p class="continue"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 311]</span></p> +<h3><a name="div2_311" href="#div2Ref_311">I. HISTORY OF THE INTERPRETATION.</a></h3> +<h4><a name="div3_311" href="#div3Ref_311">A. WITH THE JEWS.</a></h4> +<p class="normal">1. There cannot be any doubt that, in those earlier times, when +the Jews were still more firmly attached to the tradition of their Fathers,--when +the carnal disposition had not yet become so entirely prevalent among them,--and +when controversy with the Christians had not made them so narrow-minded in their +Exegesis, the Messianic explanation was pretty generally received, at least by the +better portion of the people. This is admitted even by those later interpreters +who pervert the prophecy, <i>e.g.</i>, <i>Abenezra</i>, <i>Jarchi</i>, <i>Abarbanel</i>, +<i>Moses Nachmanides</i>. <i>Gesenius</i> also says: "It was only the later Jews +who abandoned this interpretation,--no doubt, in consequence of their controversies +with the Christians." We shall here collect, from the existing Jewish writings, +the principal passages in which this interpretation occurs. The whole translation +of the Chaldee Paraphrast, <i>Jonathan</i>, notwithstanding the many perversions +in which he indulges, refers the prophecy to Christ. He paraphrases the very first +clause: <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">הא יצלח עבדי משיהא</span><!--See 1856 ed and following quote for word sequence--> +"behold my Servant Messiah shall prosper." The <i>Medrash Tanchuma</i>, an old commentary +on the Pentateuch (ed. Cracov. f. 53, c. 3, l. 7), remarks on the words: +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">הֵנִּה יַשְֹכִּיל עַבְדִּי</span><!--See 1856 ed and following quote for word sequence--> +(ed. Cracov. f. 53, c. 3, l. 7): <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">המשיח ירום וגבה +ונשא מאוד ורים מן אברהם ונשא ממשה וגדה מן מלאכי השרת זה מלך</span> ("this is the +King Messiah who is high and lifted up, and very exalted, more exalted than Abraham, +elevated above Moses, higher than the ministering angels"). This passage is remarkable +for this reason also, that it contains the doctrine of the exaltation of the Messiah +above all created beings, and even above the angels themselves, and, hence, the +doctrine of His divinity,--a doctrine contested by the later Jews. Still more remarkable +is a passage from the very old book <i>Pesikta</i>, cited in the treatise <i>Abkath +Rokhel</i> (<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">אבקת רוכל</span>, printed separately +at Venice in 1597, and reprinted in <i>Hulsii Theologia Judaica</i>, where +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 312]</span> this passage occurs p. 309): "When God created +His world He stretched out His hand under the throne of His glory, and brought forth +the soul of the Messiah. He said to Him: 'Wilt thou heal and redeem my sons after +6000 years?' He answered Him: 'I will.' Then God said to Him: 'Wilt thou then also +bear the punishment in order to blot out their sins, as it is written: '<i>But he +bore our diseases</i>' (chap. liii. 4)? And He answered Him: I will joyfully bear +them." In this passage, as well as in several others which will be afterwards cited, +the doctrine of the vicarious sufferings of the Messiah is contained, and derived +from Is. liii., although the later Jews rejected this doctrine. In a similar manner, +Rabbi <i>Moses Haddarshan</i> expresses himself on Gen. i. 3 (Latin in <i>Galatinus</i>, +<i>De Arcanis Cath. ver.</i> p. 329; in the original in <i>Raimund Martini Pug. +Fid.</i> fol. 333; comp. <i>Wolf</i>, <i>Bibl. Hebr.</i> i. p. 818): "Jehovah said: +Messiah, thou my righteous One, those who are concealed with thee will be such that +their sins will bring a heavy yoke upon thee.--The Messiah answered: Lord of the +universe, I cheerfully take upon myself all those plagues and sufferings; and immediately +the Messiah, out of love, took upon himself all those plagues and sufferings, as +is written in Is. liii.: He was abused and oppressed." Compare another passage, +in which ver. 5 is referred to the Messiah, in <i>Raim. Martin</i>, fol. iv. 30. +In the Talmud (<i>Gemara</i>, <i>tract. Sanhedrim</i>, chap. xi.), it is said of +the Messiah: "He sits before the gates of the city of Rome among the sick and the +leprous" (according to ver. 3). To the question: What is the name of the Messiah, +it is answered: He is called <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">חיוורא</span> "<i>the +leper</i>," and, in proof, ver. 4 is quoted according to the erroneous interpretation +of <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">נגוע</span> by <i>leprosus</i>,--an interpretation +which is met with in <i>Jerome</i> also.--In the work <i>Rabboth</i> (a commentary +on the Pentateuch and the five <i>Megilloth</i>, which, as to its principal portions, +is very old, although much interpolated at later periods, and which, according to +the statements of the Jews, was composed about the year of our Lord 300, comp. +<i>Wolf</i>, I. c. II., p. 1423, sqq. in commentary on Ruth ii. 14 [p. 46, <i>ed. +Cracov.</i>]), the fifth verse is quoted, and referred to the sufferings of the +Messiah.--In the <i>Medrash Tillim</i> (an allegorical commentary on the Psalms, +printed at Venice in 1546), it is said in Ps. ii. 7, (fol. 4): "The things of King +Messiah and His mysteries are announced <span class="pagenum">[Pg 313]</span> in +the Law, the Prophets, and the Hagiographa. In the Prophets, <i>e.g.</i>, in the +passage Is. lii. 13, and xlii. 1; in the Hagiographa, <i>e.g.</i>, Ps. cx. and Dan. +vii. 13." In the book <i>Chasidim</i> (a collection of moral tales, printed at Venice +and Basle in 1581) p. 60, the following story is to be found: "There was, among +the Jews, a pious man, who in summer made his bed among fleas, and in winter put +his feet into cold water; and when it froze, his feet froze at the same time. When +asked why he did so, he answered, that he too must make some little expiation, since +the Messiah bears the sin of Israel (<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">משיח סובל עונות +ישראל</span>)." The ancient explanation is, from among the later interpreters, assented +to by <i>Rabbi Alschech</i> (his commentary on Is. liii. is given entire in <i>Hulsii +Theologia Judaica</i>, p. 321 sqq.). He says: "Upon the testimony of tradition, +our old Rabbins have unanimously admitted that King Messiah is here the subject +of discourse. For the same reason, we, in harmony with them, conclude that King +David, <i>i.e.</i>, the Messiah, must be considered as the subject of this prophecy,--a +view which is indeed quite obvious." We shall see, however, subsequently, that he +adheres to the right explanation only in the first three verses, and afterwards +abandons it. But passages especially remarkable are found in the cabbalistic book +<i>Sohar</i>. It is true that the age of the book is very uncertain; but it cannot +be proved to have been composed under Christian influence. We shall here quote only +some of the principal passages. (<i>Sohar</i>, ed. Amstelod. p. ii. fol. 212; ed. +<i>Solisbac.</i> p. ii. f. 85; <i>Sommeri</i> theol. <i>Sohar</i> p. 94.) "When +the Messiah is told of the misery of Israel in their captivity, and that they are +themselves the cause of it, because they had not cared for, nor sought after the +knowledge of their Lord, He weeps aloud over their sins; and for this reason it +is written in Scripture (Isa. liii. 5): He was wounded for our transgressions, He +was smitten for our iniquities."--"In the garden of Eden there is an apartment which +is called the sick chamber. The Messiah goes into this apartment, and summons all +the diseases, all the pains, and all the chastisements of Israel to come upon Him, +and they all come upon Him. And unless He would take them away from Israel, and +lay them upon himself, no man would be able to bear the chastisements of Israel, +which are inflicted upon them on account of the Law, as it is +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 314]</span> written: But He took upon himself our sicknesses," +&c. In another passage (<i>Sohar</i>, <i>ed. Amstelod</i> p. iii. f. 218; <i>Solisbac.</i> +iii. f. 88; <i>Sommeri theol. Sohar</i> p. 89; <i>Auszüge aus dem Buche Sohar, mit +Deutscher Uebersetzung</i>, Berlin 52, S. 32), it is said: "When God wishes to give +to the world a means of healing. He smites one of the pious among them, and for +his sake He gives healing to the whole world. Where, in Scripture, do we find this +confirmed? In Isa. liii. 5, where it is said: He was wounded for our transgressions. +He was crushed for our sins."</p> +<p class="normal">What has been said will be a sufficient proof that the ancient +Jews, following tradition, referred the passage to the Messiah; and, as it appears +from the majority of the passages quoted, referred it indeed to the suffering Messiah. +But it would really have been a strange phenomenon, if this interpretation had remained +the prevailing one among the Jews. According to the declaration of the Apostle, +the Cross of Christ is to the Jews a stumbling-block, and to the Greeks foolishness. +The idea of a suffering and expiating Messiah was repugnant to the carnally minded +Jews. And the reason why it was repugnant to them is, that they did not possess +that which alone makes that doctrine acceptable, viz., the knowledge of sin, and +the consciousness of the need of salvation,--because, not knowing the holiness of +God, and being ignorant of the import of the Law, they imagined that through their +own strength, by the works of the Law, they could be justified before God. What +they wished for was only an outward deliverance from their misery and their oppressors, +not an internal deliverance from sin. For this reason, they looked exclusively to +those passages of the Old Testament in which the Messiah in glory is announced; +and those passages they interpreted in a carnal manner. In addition to this, there +were other reasons which could not fail to render them averse to refer this passage +to the suffering Messiah. As they could not compare the prophecy with the fulfilment,--the +deep abasement of the Messiah which is here announced, the contempt which He endures, +His violent death, appeared to them irreconcileable with those passages in which +nothing of the kind is mentioned, but, on the contrary, the glorified Messiah only +is foretold. They had too little knowledge of the nature <span class="pagenum">[Pg +315]</span> of prophetic vision to enable them to perceive that the prophecies are +connected with the circumstances of the time, and, therefore, exhibit a one-sided +character,--that they consist of separate fragments which must be put together in +order that a complete representation of the subject may be obtained. They imagined +that because, in some passages, the Messiah is at once brought before us in glory, +just because He, in this way, represented Himself to the prophets. He must also +appear at once in glory. And, lastly, by their controversy with Christians, they +were led to seek for other explanations. As long as they understood the passage +as referring to a suffering Messiah, they could not deny that there existed the +closest agreement between the prophecy and the history of Christ. Now since the +Christians, in their controversies with the Jews, always proceeded from the passages, +which by <i>Hulsius</i> is pertinently called a <i>carnificina Judaeorum</i>, and +always returned to it,--since they saw what impression was, in numerous cases, produced +by the controversy of the Christians founded upon this passage, nothing was more +natural, than that they should endeavour to discover an expedient for remedying +this evil. And the discovery of such an expedient was the more easy to them, the +more that, in general, they were destitute of a sense of truth, and especially of +exegetical skill, so that they could not see any reason for rejecting an interpretation +on the ground of its being forced and unnatural.</p> +<p class="normal">In proof of what we have said, we here briefly present the arguments +with which <i>Abarbanel</i> opposes the explanation of a suffering and expiating +divine Messiah. In the first place, by the absurd remark that the ancient teachers +did not intend to give a literal, but an allegorical explanation, he seeks to invalidate +the authority of the tradition on which the later Jewish interpreters laid so great +a stress, whensoever and wheresoever it agrees with their own inclination; and, +at the same time, he advances the assertion that they referred the first four verses +only to the Messiah,--an assertion which the passages quoted by us show to be utterly +erroneous. Then, after having combatted the doctrine of original sin, he continues: +"Suppose even that there exists such a thing as original sin,--when God, whose power +is infinite, was willing to pardon, was His hand too short to redeem (Isa. l. 2), +so <span class="pagenum">[Pg 316]</span> that, on this account, He was obliged to +take flesh, and to impose chastisements upon himself? And even although I were to +grant that it was necessary that a single individual of the human race should bear +this punishment, in order to make satisfaction for all, it would, at all events, +have been at least more appropriate that some one from among ourselves, some wise +man or prophet, had taken upon him the punishment, than that God himself should +have done so. For, supposing even that He became incarnate, He would not be like +one of us.--It is altogether impossible and self-contradictory that God should assume +a body; for God is the first cause, infinite, and omnipotent. He cannot, therefore, +assume flesh, and subsist as a finite being, and take upon himself man's punishment, +of which nothing whatsoever is written in Scripture.--If the prophecy referred to +the Messiah, it must refer either to the Messiah ben Joseph, or the Messiah ben +David (compare the Treatises at the close of this work). The former will perish +in the beginning of his wars; neither that which is said of the exaltation, nor +that which is said of the humiliation of the Servant of God applies to him; much +less can the latter be intended." (There then follows a quotation of several passages +treating of the exalted Messiah.)</p> +<p class="normal">That it was nevertheless difficult for the carnally-minded among +the Jews to reject the tradition, is seen from the paraphrase of <i>Jonathan</i>. +This forms a middle link between the ancient interpretation--which was retained, +even at a later period, by the better portion of the nation--and the recent interpretation. +<i>Jonathan</i> (see his paraphrase, among others, in <i>Lowth's</i> comment, edited +by <i>Koppe</i>, on the passage; and in <i>Hulsii Theol. Judaica</i>) acknowledges +the tradition, in so far, that he refers the whole prophecy to the Messiah. On the +other hand, he endeavours to satisfy his repugnance to the doctrine of a suffering +and expiating Messiah, by referring, through the most violent perversions and most +arbitrary interpolations, to the state of glory, every thing which is here said +of the state of humiliation. A trace of the right interpretation may yet perhaps +be found in ver. 12, where <i>Jonathan</i> says that the Messiah will give <i>His</i> +soul unto death; but it may be that thereby he understands merely the intrepid courage +with which the Messiah will expose himself to all <span class="pagenum">[Pg 317]</span> +dangers, in the conflict with the enemies of the covenant-people.</p> +<p class="normal">This mode of dealing with the text, however, could satisfy only +a few. They, therefore, went farther, and sought for an entirely different subject +of the prophecy. How very little they were themselves convinced of the soundness +of their interpretation, and satisfied with its results, may be seen from the example +of <i>Abarbanel</i>, who advances two explanations which differ totally, viz., one +referring it to the Jewish people, and the other to king Josiah, and then allows +his readers to make their choice betwixt the two. It is in truth only, that there +is unanimity and certainty; error is always accompanied by disagreement and uncertainty. +This will appear from the following enumeration of the various interpretations of +this passage, which, at a subsequent period, were current among the Jews. (The principal +non-Messianic interpretations of this passage are found in the Rabbinical Bibles, +and also in <i>Hulsius</i>, <i>l.c.</i>, p. 339, both in the original and translation.) +The interpreters may be divided into two main classes: 1. Those who by +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">עבד יהוה</span> understand some collective body; +and, 2. Those who refer the prophecy to a single individual. The first class again +falls into two subdivisions, (<i>a</i>), those who make the whole Jewish people +the subject, in contrast to the Gentiles; and (<i>b</i>) those who make the better +portion of the Jewish people the subject, in contrast to the ungodly portion. These +views, and their supporters, we shall now proceed to submit to a closer examination.</p> +<p class="normal">1. (<i>a.</i>) Among the non-Messianic interpreters, the most +prevalent opinion is, that the Jewish people are the subject of the prophecy. This +opinion is found at an early period. At this we need not be surprised, as the cause +which produced the deviation from the Messianic interpretation existed at a period +equally early. When <i>Origen</i> was making use of this passage against some learned +Jews, they answered: that "that which here was prophesied of one, referred to the +whole people, and was fulfilled by their dispersion." This explanation is followed +by <i>R. Salomo Jarchi</i>, <i>Abenezra</i>, <i>Kimchi</i>, <i>Abarbanel</i>, <i> +Lipmann</i> (<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ספר נצחון</span>, fol. 131). The main +features of this view are the following: The prophecy is supposed to describe the +misery of the people in their present exile, the firmness with +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 318]</span> which they bear it for the glory of God, and +resist every temptation to forsake His law and worship; and the prosperity, power, +and glory which shall be bestowed upon them at the time of the redemption. In vers. +1-10, the Gentiles are supposed to be introduced as speaking, and making a humble +and penitent confession that hitherto they had adopted an erroneous opinion of the +people of God, and had unjustly despised them on account of their sufferings, inasmuch +as their glory now shows, that it was not for the punishment of their sins that +these sufferings were inflicted upon them. Some of these interpreters, <i>e.g.</i>, +<i>Abenezra</i> and <i>Rabbi Lipmann</i>, understand, indeed, by the +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">עבד יהוה</span>, the pious portion only of the people +who remained faithful to Jehovah; but this makes no material difference, inasmuch +as they, too, contrast the <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">עבד יהוה</span> with the +heathen nations, and not with the ungodly, or less righteous portion of the nation, +as is done by the interpreters of the following class.</p> +<p class="normal">(<i>b</i>). Others consider the appellation +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">עבד יהוה</span> as a collective designation of the +pious, and find in this section the idea of a kind of vicarious satisfaction made +by them for the ungodly. Those interpreters come nearer the true explanation, in +so far as they do not, like those of the preceding class, set aside the doctrine +of vicarious satisfaction, either by a figurative explanation, or, like <i>Kimchi</i>, +by the absurd remark, that this doctrine is an error put into the mouth of the Gentiles. +On the other hand, they depart from the true explanation, in so far that they generalize +that which belongs to a definite subject, and that, flattering the pride of the +natural man, they ascribe to mere man what belongs only to the God-man. Most distinctly +was this view expressed by the Commentator on the book +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">עין יעקב</span> or <span lang="he" class="Hebrew"> +עין ישראל</span>, which has been very frequently printed, and which contains all +sorts of tales from the Talmud. He says: "It is right to suppose that the whole +section contains a prophecy regarding the righteous ones who are visited by sufferings." +He then makes two classes of righteous men:--those who in general must endure many +sufferings and much misery: and those who are publicly executed, as <i>Rabbi Akiba</i> +and others. He supposes that the Prophet shows the dignity of both of these classes +of righteous men, to both of which the name of a Servant of God is justly due. A +similar opinion is held by <i>Rabbi</i> <span class="pagenum">[Pg 319]</span> <i> +Alshech</i>. As we have already seen, he refers only chap. lii. 13–15 to the Messiah, +and to His great glory acquired by His great sufferings. Then the Prophet speaks, +as he supposes, in the name of all Israel, approves of what God had said, and confesses +that, by this declaration of God regarding the sufferings of the Messiah, they have +received light regarding the sufferings of the godly in general. They perceive it +to be erroneous and rash to infer guilt from suffering; and, henceforth, when they +see a righteous man suffering, they will think of no other reason, than that he +bears their diseases, and that his chastisements are for their salvation. The Servant +of God is thus supposed to be as it were, a personification of the righteous ones.--A +similar view probably lies at the foundation of those passages of the Talmud, where +some portions of the prophecy under consideration are referred to Moses, and others +to <i>Rabbi Akiba</i>, who is revered as a martyr by the Jews. It does not appear +that the prophecy was confined to Moses or Akiba; but it was referred to them, only +in so far as they belonged to the collective body which is supposed to be the subject +of it.</p> +<p class="normal">2. That view which makes a single individual other than the Messiah +the subject of the prophecy, has found, with the Jews, comparatively the fewest +defenders. We have already seen, that, besides the explanation which makes the Jewish +people the subject, <i>Abarbanel</i> advances still another, which refers it to +king Josiah. <i>Rabbi Saadias Haggaon</i> explained the whole section of Jeremiah.</p> +<p class="normal">Notwithstanding all these efforts, however, the Rabbins have not +succeeded in entirely supplanting the right explanation, and in thus divesting the +passage of all that is dangerous to their system. Among the Cabbalistical Jews, +it is even still the prevailing one. In numerous cases, it was just this chapter +which formed, to proselytes from Judaism, the first foundation of their conviction +of the truth of Christianity.</p> +<h3><a name="div3_319" href="#div3Ref_319">B. HISTORY OF THE INTERPRETATION WITH +THE CHRISTIANS.</a></h3> +<p class="normal">Among Christians, the interpretation has taken nearly the same +course as among the Jews. Similar causes have produced <span class="pagenum">[Pg +320]</span> similar effects in both cases. By both, the true explanation was relinquished, +when the prevailing tendencies had become opposed to its results. And if we descend +to particulars, we shall find a great resemblance even between the modes of interpretation +proposed by both.</p> +<p class="normal">1. Even, <i>a priori</i>, we could not but suppose otherwise than +that the Christian Church, as long as she possessed Christ, found Him here also, +where He is so clearly and distinctly set before our eyes,--that as long as she +in general still acknowledged the authority of Christ, and of the Apostles, she +could not but, here too, follow their distinct, often-repeated testimony. And so, +indeed, do we find it to be. With the exception of a certain Silesian, called <i> +Seidel</i>--who, given up to total unbelief, asserted that the Messiah had never +yet come, nor would ever come, (comp. <i>Jac. Martini l.</i> 3, <i>de tribus Elohim</i>, +p. 592)--and of <i>Grotius</i>, both of whom supposed Jeremiah to be the subject, +no one in the Christian Church has, for seventeen centuries, ventured to call in +question the Messianic interpretation. On the contrary, this passage was always +considered to be the most distinct and glorious of all the Messianic prophecies. +Out of the great mass of testimonies, we shall quote a few. <i>Augustine</i>, <i> +De Civitate Dei</i>, i. 18, c. 29, says: "Isaiah has not only reproved the people +for their iniquity, and instructed them in righteousness, and foretold to the people +calamities impending over them in the Future; but he has also a greater number of +predictions, than the other prophets, concerning Christ and the Church, <i>i.e.</i>, +concerning the King, and the Kingdom established by Him; so that some interpreters +would rather call him an Evangelist than a Prophet." In proof of this assertion, +he then quotes the passage under consideration, and closes with the words: "Surely +that may suffice! There are in those words some things too which require explanation; +but I think that things which are so clear should compel even enemies, against their +will, to understand them." In a similar manner he expresses himself in: <i>De consensu +Evangelistarum</i> l. i. c. 31. <i>Theodoret</i> remarks on this passage (<i>opp. +ed. Hal.</i> t. ii. p. 358): "The Prophet represents to us, in this passage, the +whole course of His (Christ's) humiliation unto death. Most wonderful is the power +of the Holy Spirit. For that which was to take place after many generations. He +showed <span class="pagenum">[Pg 321]</span> to the holy prophets in such a manner +that they did not merely hear Him declare these things, but saw them." In a similar +manner, <i>Justin</i>, <i>Irenaeus</i>, <i>Cyril</i> of Alexandria, and <i>Jerome</i>, +express themselves. From the Churches of the Reformation, we shall here quote the +testimonies of two of their founders only. <i>Zwingle</i>, in <i>Annot. ad h. l.</i> +(opp. t. iii. Tur. 1544, fol. 292) says: "That which now follows is so clear a testimony +of Christ, that I do not know whether, anywhere in Scripture, there could be found +anything more consistent, or that anything could be more distinctly said. For it +is quite in vain that the obstinacy and perversity of the Jews have tried it from +all sides." <i>Luther</i> remarks on the passage: "And, no doubt, there is not, +in all the Old Testament Scriptures, a clearer text or prophecy, both of the suffering +and the resurrection of Christ, than in this chapter. Wherefore it is but right +that it should be well known to all Christians, yea should be committed to memory, +that thereby we may strengthen our faith, and defend it, chiefly against the stiff-necked +Jews who deny their only promised Christ, solely on account of the offence of His +cross."</p> +<p class="normal">It was reserved to the last quarter of the last century to be +the first to reject the Messianic interpretation. <i>At a time when Naturalism exercised +its sway, it could no longer be retained.</i><sup class="ftnRef"><a name="ftnRef_321a" href="#ftn_321a">[1]</a></sup> +For, if this passage contains a Messianic prophecy at all, its contents offer so +striking an agreement with the history of Christ, that its origin cannot at all +be accounted for in the natural way. Expedients were, therefore, sought for; and +these were so much the more easily found, that the Jews had, in this matter, already +opened up the way. All that was necessary, was only to appropriate their arguments +and counter-arguments, and to invest them with the semblance of solidity by means +of a learned apparatus.</p> +<p class="normal">The non-Messianic interpretation among Christians, like those +among the Jews, may be divided into two main classes: 1. Those which are founded +upon the supposition that a collective <span class="pagenum">[Pg 322]</span> body +is the subject of the prophecy; and 2, those which, by the Servant of God, understand +any other single individual except the Messiah. The first class, again, falls into +several sub-divisions: (<i>a.</i>), those interpretations which refer the prophecy +to the whole Jewish people; (<i>b.</i>), those which refer it to the Jewish people +in the abstract; (<i>c.</i>), those which refer it to the pious portion of the Jewish +people; (<i>d.</i>), those which refer it to the order of the priests; (<i>e.</i>), +those which refer it to the order of the prophets.</p> +<p class="normal">1. (<i>a.</i>) Comparatively the greatest number of non-Messianic +interpreters make the whole Jewish people the subject of the prophecy. This hypothesis +is adopted, among others, by <i>Doederlein</i>, (in the preface and annotations, +in the third edition of Isaiah, but in such a manner that he still wavers betwixt +this and the Messianic interpretation, which formerly he had defended with great +zeal); by <i>Schuster</i> (in a special treatise, Göttingen 1794); by <i>Stephani</i> +(<i>Gedanken über die Entstehung u. Ausbildung der Idee von inem Messias</i>, <i> +Nürnberg</i> 1787); by the author of the letters on Isaiah liii., in the 6th vol. +of <i>Eichhorn's Bibliothek</i>; by <i>Eichhorn</i> (in his exposition of the Prophets); +by <i>Rosenmüller</i> (in the second edition of his Commentary, leaving to others +the interpretation which referred the prophecy to the prophetic order, although +he himself had first recommended it), and many others. The last who defend it are +<i>Hitzig</i>, <i>Hendewerk</i>, and <i>Köster</i> (<i>de Serv. Jeh.</i> Kiel, 38). +Substantially, it has remained the same as we have seen it among the Jews. The only +difference is, that these expositors understand, by the sufferings of the Servant +of God, the sufferings of the Jewish people in the Babylonish captivity; while the +Jewish interpreters understand thereby the sufferings of the Jewish people in their +present exile. They, too, suppose that, from vers. 1 to 10, the Gentile nations +are introduced as speaking, and make the penitent confession that they have formed +an erroneous opinion of Israel, and now see that its suffering's are not the punishment +of its own sins, but that it had suffered as a substitute for their sins.</p> +<p class="normal">(<i>b.</i>) The hypothesis which makes the Jewish people in the +abstract--in antithesis to its single members--the subject of this prophecy, was +discovered by <i>Eckermann</i>, <i>theol. Beiträge</i>, <span class="pagenum">[Pg +323]</span> Bd. i. H. i. S. 192 ff. According to <i>Ewald</i>, the prophecy refers +to "Israel according to its true idea." According to <i>Bleek</i>, the Servant of +God is a "designation of the whole people, but not of the people in its actual reality, +but as it existed in the imagination of the author,--the ideal of the people."</p> +<p class="normal">(<i>c.</i>) The hypothesis, that the pious portion of the Jewish +people--in contrast to the ungodly--are the subject, has been defended especially +by <i>Paulus</i> (<i>Memorabilien</i>, Bd. 3, S. 175-192, and <i>Clavis</i> on Isaiah). +His view was adopted by <i>Ammon</i> (<i>Christologie</i>, S. 108 ff.). The principal +features of this view are the following:--It was not on account of their own sins +that the godly portion of the nation were punished and carried into captivity along +with the ungodly, but on account of the ungodly who, however, by apostatising from +the religion of Jehovah, knew how to obtain a better fate. The ungodly drew from +it the inference that the hope of the godly, that Jehovah would come to their help, +had been in vain. But when the captivity came to an end, and the godly returned, +they saw that they had been mistaken, and that the hope of the godly was well founded. +They, therefore, full of repentance, deeply lament that they had not long ago repented +of their sins. This view is adopted also by <i>Von Cölln</i> in his <i>Biblische +Theologie</i>; by <i>Thenius</i> in <i>Wiener's Zeitschrift</i>, ii. 1; by <i>Maurer</i> +and <i>Knobel</i>. The latter says: "Those who were zealous adherents of the Theocracy +had a difficult position among their own people, and had to suffer most from foreign +tyrants." The true worshippers of Jehovah were given up to mockery and scorn, to +persecution and the grossest abuse, and were in a miserable and horrible condition, +unworthy of men and almost inhuman. The punishments for sin had to be endured chiefly +by those who did not deserve them. Thus the view easily arose that the godly suffered +in substitution for the whole people.</p> +<p class="normal">(<i>d.</i>) The hypothesis which makes the priestly order the +subject, has been defended by the author of: <i>Ausführliche Erklärung der sämmtlichen +Weissagungen des A. T.</i> 1801.</p> +<p class="normal">(<i>e.</i>) The hypothesis which makes the collective body of +the prophets the subject, was first advanced by <i>Rosenmüller</i> in the treatise: +<i>Leiden und Hoffnungen der Propheten Jehovas</i>, <span class="pagenum">[Pg 324]</span> +in <i>Gablers Neuestes theol. Journal</i>, vol. ii. S. 4, p. 333 ff. From him it +came as a legacy to <i>De Wette</i> (<i>de morte Jes. Chr. expiatoria</i>, p. 28 +sqq.), and to <i>Gesenius</i>. According to <i>Schenkel</i> (<i>Studien und Kritiken</i> +36) "the prophetic order was the quiet, hidden blossom, which early storms broke." +According to <i>Umbreit</i> the Servant of God is the collective body of the prophets, +or the prophetic order, which is here plainly represented as the sacrificial beast +(!) taking upon itself the sins of the people. He finds it "rather strange that +the Prophet who, in chap. lxvi. 3 (of course according to a false interpretation), +plainly rejects sacrifice altogether, should speak of the shedding of the blood +of a man, and, moreover, of a pure, sinless man, in the room of the guilty." The +manner in which <i>Umbreit</i> seeks to gain a transition to the Messianic interpretation, +although not in the sense held by the Christian Church, has been pointed out by +us on a former occasion, in the remarks on chap. xlii. <i>Hofmann</i> (<i>Schriftbeweis</i>, +ii. 1 S. 89 ff.) has got up a mixture composed of these explanations which refer +the prophecy to the people, to the godly, to the prophetic order, and, if one will, +of that also which refers it to the Messiah. He says: "The people as a people are +called to be the servant of God; but they do not fulfil their vocation as a congregation +of the faithful; and it is, therefore, the work of the prophets to restore that +congregation, and hence also the fulfilment of its vocation.--Prophetism itself +is represented not in its present condition only, when it exists in a number of +messengers and witnesses of Jehovah, in the first instance in Isaiah himself, but +also in the final result, into which the fulfilment of its vocation will lead, when +the Servant of Jehovah unites in His person the offices of a proclaimer of the impending +work of salvation, and of its Mediator, and, from the shame and suffering attached +to His vocation as a witness, passes over into the glory of the salvation realised +in Him." In order to render such a mixture possible, everything is tried in order +to remove the vicarious character of the sufferings of the Servant of God, since +that character is peculiar to Christ, and excludes every comparison. "Of a priestly +self-sacrifice of the Servant of God"--says <i>Hofmann</i>, S. 101, 2--"I cannot +find anything. The assertion that the words <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">יזה גוים</span>,<!--see 1856 ed. for comma--> +denote a priestly work, no longer requires a refutation. His +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 325]</span> vocation is to be the mediator of a revelation +of God in words; and although the fulfilment of this vocation brings death upon +Him, without His endeavouring to escape, this is not a proof nor a part of His priestly +vocation. In just the same case is the assertion that the Messiah appears here as +a King also." As long as we proceed from the supposition that the Prophet predicts +truth, we are, by that very supposition, forbidden to distribute the property of +the one among the many; but that is thus violently set aside. The Rationalistic +interpreters have in this respect an easier task. They allow the substitution to +stand; but they consider it as a vain fancy. The fact that <i>Hofmann</i> does not +recoil from even the most violent interpretations, in order to remove the exclusive +reference to Christ, appears, <i>e.g.</i>, from his remark, S. 132, that "the chastisement +of our peace" designates an actual chastisement, which convinces them of their sin, +and of the earnestness of divine holiness, and thus serves for their salvation. +Surely <i>Gesenius</i> and <i>Hitzig's</i> explanations are far more unbiassed.</p> +<p class="normal">2. Among the interpretations which refer the prophecy to a single +individual other than the Messiah, scarcely any one has found another defender than +its own author. They are of importance only in so far, as they show that most decidedly +does the prophecy make the impression, that its subject is a real person, not a +personification; and, farther, that it could not by any means be an exegetical interest +which induced rationalism to reject the interpretation which referred it to Christ. +The persons that have been guessed at are the following: King Uzziah, (<i>Augusti</i>), +King Hezekiah, (<i>Konynenburg</i> and <i>Bahrdt</i>), the Prophet Isaiah himself, +(<i>Stäudlin</i>), an unknown prophet supposed to have been killed by the Jews in +the captivity (an anonymous author in <i>Henke's Magazin</i>, Bd. i. H. 2), the +royal house of David, which suffered innocently when the children of the unhappy +king Zedekiah were killed at the command of Nebuchadnezzar (<i>Bolten</i> on Acts +viii. 33), the Maccabees (an anonymous writer in the <i>Theologische Nachrichten</i>, +1821, S. 79 ff.) Even at this present time, this kind of explanation is not altogether +obsolete. <i>Schenkel</i> thinks that "the chapter under consideration may, perhaps, +belong to the period of the real Isaiah, whose language equals that of the description +of the Servant of God now <span class="pagenum">[Pg 326]</span> under consideration, +in conciseness and harshness, and may have been originally a Psalm of consolation +in sufferings, which was composed with a view to the hopeful progeny of some pious +man or prophet innocently killed, and which was rewritten and interpreted by the +author of the book, and embodied in it." <i>Ewald</i> (Proph. ii. S. 407) says: +"Farther, the description of the Servant of God is here altogether very strange, +especially v. 8 f., inasmuch as, notwithstanding all the liveliness with which the +author of the book conceives of Him, He is nowhere else so much and so obviously +viewed as an historical person, as a single individual of the Past. How little soever +the author may have intended it, it was very obvious that the later generations +imagined that they would here find the historical Messiah. We are therefore of opinion, +that the author here inserted a passage, which appeared to him to be suitable, from +an older book where really a single martyr was spoken of.--It is not likely that +the modern controversy on chap. liii. will ever cease as long as this truth is not +acknowledged;--a truth which quite spontaneously suggested itself, and impressed +itself more and more strongly upon my mind." These are, no doubt, assertions which +cannot be maintained, and are yet of interest, in so far as they show, how much +even those who refuse to acknowledge it are annoyed by a two-fold truth, viz., that +Isaiah is the author of the prophecy, and that it refers to a personal Messiah.</p> +<p class="normal">At all times, however, that explanation which refers the prophecy +to Christ has found able defenders; and at no period has the anti-Messianic explanation +obtained absolute sway. Among the authors of complete Commentaries on Isaiah, the +Messianic explanation was defended by <i>Dathe</i>, <i>Doederlein</i> (who, however, +wavers in the last edition of his translation), <i>Hensler</i>, <i>Lowth</i>, <i> +Kocher</i>, <i>Koppe</i>, <i>J. D. Michaelis</i>, <i>v. d. Palm</i>, <i>Schmieder</i>. +In addition to these we may mention: <i>Storr</i>, <i>dissertatio qua Jes. liii. +illustratur</i>, Tübingen, 1790; <i>Hansi Comment. in Jes. liii.</i>, Rostock 1791 +(this work has considerably promoted the interpretation, although its author often +shows himself to be biassed by the views of the time, and especially, in the interest +of Neology, seeks to do away with the doctrine of satisfaction); <i>Krüger</i>, +<i>Comment. de Jes. liii., interpret</i>; <i>Jahn</i>, <i>Append. ad Hermen. fasc +ii.</i>; <i>Steudel</i>, <span class="pagenum">[Pg 327]</span> <i>Observ. ad Jes. +liii.</i>, <i>Tübingen</i> 1825, 26; <i>Sack</i>, in the <i>Apologetik</i>; <i>Reinke</i>, +<i>exegesis in Jes. liii.</i>, Münster 1836; <i>Tholuck</i>, in his work: <i>Das +A. T. in N. T.</i>; <i>Hävernick</i>, in the lectures on the Theology of the Old +Testament; <i>Stier</i>, in the Comment. on the second part of Isaiah.</p> +<hr class="ftn"> +<div class="ftn"> + <p class="ftnText"><a name="ftn_321a" href="#ftnRef_321a"> + <sup class="ftnRef">[1]</sup></a> The author of the article: <i>Ueber die Mess. + Zeiten</i> in <i>Eichhorn's Bibliothek d. bibl. Literatur</i>, Bd. 6, p. 655, + confesses quite candidly, that the Messianic interpretation would soon find + general approbation among Bible expositors, had they not, in recent times, obtained + the conviction, "that the prophets do not foretel any thing of future things, + except what they know and anticipate without special divine inspiration."</p> +</div> +<hr class="W20"> +<h3><a name="div2_327" href="#div2Ref_327">II. THE ARGUMENTS AGAINST THE MESSIANIC +INTERPRETATION.</a></h3> +<p class="normal">The arguments against the Messianic interpretation cannot be designated +in any other way than as <i>insignificant</i>. There is not one among them which +could be of any weight to him who is able to judge. It is asserted that the Messiah +is nowhere else designated as the Servant of God. Even if this were the fact, it +would not prove anything. But this name is assigned to the Messiah in Zech. iii. +8--a passage which interpreters are unanimous in referring to the Messiah--where +the Lord calls the Messiah His Servant <i>Zemach</i>, and which the Chaldee Paraphrast +explains by <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">משיחא ויתגלי</span> "<i>Messiam et revelabitur</i>;" +farther, in Ezek. xxxiv. 23, 24, not to mention Is. xlii. 1, xlix. 3, 6, l. 10.--It +is farther asserted that in the Messianic interpretation everything is viewed as +<i>future</i>; but that this is inadmissible for grammatical and philological reasons. +The suffering, contempt, and death of the Servant of God are here, throughout, represented +as past, since in chap. liii. 1–10, all the verbs are in the Preterite. It is the +glorification only which appears as future, and is expressed in the Future tense. +The writer, therefore, occupies a position between the sufferings and the glorification, +and the latter is still impending. But the stand-point of the Prophet is not an +actual, but a supposed one,--not a real, but an ideal one. In order to distinguish +between condition and consequence,--in order to put sufferings and glorification +in the proper relation, he takes his stand between the sufferings and the glorification +of the Servant of God, and from that position, that appears to him as being already +past which, in reality, was <span class="pagenum">[Pg 328]</span> still future. +It is only an interpreter so thoroughly prosaic as <i>Knobel</i> who can advance +the assertion: "No prophet occupies, in prophecy, another stand-point than that +which in reality be occupies." In this, <i>e.g.</i>, <i>Hitzig</i> does not by any +means assent to him; for be (<i>Hitzig</i>) remarks on chap. lii. 7: "Proceeding +from the certainty of the salvation, the Prophet sees, in the Spirit, that already +coming to pass which, in chap. xl. 9, he called upon them to do." And the same expositor +farther remarks on Jer. vi. 24-26: "This is a statement of how people would then +speak, and, thereby, a description of the circumstances of that time." But in our +remarks on chap. xi. and in the introduction to the second part, we have already +proved that the prophets very frequently occupy an ideal stand-point, and that such +is the case here, the Prophet has himself expressly intimated. In some places, he +has passed from the prophetical stand-point to the historical, and uses the Future +even when he speaks of the sufferings,--a thing which appears to have been done +involuntarily, but which, in reality, is done intentionally. Thus there occurs +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">יפתח</span> in ver. 7, +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">תשים</span> in ver. 10, and, according to the explanations +of <i>Gesenius</i> and others, also <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">יפגיע</span> +in ver. 12 while, on the other hand, he sometimes speaks of the glorification in +the Preterite.<sup class="ftnRef"><a name="ftnRef_328a" href="#ftn_328a">[1]</a></sup> +Compare <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">לקח</span> in ver. 8, +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">נשא</span> in ver. 12. This affords a sure proof +that we are here altogether on an ideal territory. The ancient translators too have +not understood the Preterites as a designation of the real Past, and frequently +render them by Futures. Thus the LXX. ver. 14: <span lang="el" class="Greek">ἐκστήσονται--ἀδοξήσει</span>; +<i>Aqui.</i> and <i>Theod.</i>, ver. 2, <span lang="el" class="Greek">ἀναβήσεται</span>.--It +is farther asserted, that the idea of a suffering and expiating Messiah is foreign +to the Old Testament, and stands in contradiction even to its prevailing views of +the Messiah. But this objection cannot be of any weight; nor can it prove anything, +as long as, in the Church of Christ, the authority of Christ is still acknowledged, +who Himself declares that His whole suffering had been foretold in the books of +the Old Testament, and explained to His disciples the prophecies concerning it. +Even the fact, that at <span class="pagenum">[Pg 329]</span> the time when Christ +appeared the knowledge of a suffering Messiah was undeniably possessed by the more +enlightened, proves that the matter stands differently. This knowledge is shown +not only by the Baptist, but also by Simeon, Luke ii. 34, 35. An assertion to the +contrary can proceed only from the erroneous opinion, that every single Messianic +prophecy exhibits the whole view of the Messiah, whereas, indeed, the Messianic +announcements bear throughout a fragmentary, incidental character,--a mode of representation +which is generally prevalent in Scripture, and by which Scripture is distinguished +from a system of doctrines. But even if there had existed an appearance of such +a contradiction, it would long ago have been removed by the fulfilment. But even +the appearance of a contradiction is here inadmissible, inasmuch as the Servant +of God is here not only represented as suffering and expiating, but, at the same +time, as an object of reverence to the whole Gentile world; and the <i>ground</i> +of this reverence is His suffering and expiation. As regards the other passages +of the Old Testament where a suffering Messiah is mentioned, we must distinguish +between the Messiah simply suffering, and the Messiah suffering as a substitute. +The latter, indeed, we meet with in this passage only. But to make up for this isolated +mention, the representation here is so full and exhaustive, so entirely excludes +all misunderstanding, except that which is bent upon misunderstanding, or which +is the result of evil disposition, is so affecting and so indelibly impressive, +is indeed so exactly in the tone of doctrinal theology, and therefore different +from the ordinary treatment, which is always incidental, and requires to be supplemented +from other passages, that this single isolated representation, which sounds through +the whole of the New Testament, is quite sufficient for the Church. The suffering +and dying Messiah, on the other hand, we meet with frequently in other passages +of the Old Testament also, although, indeed, not so frequently as the Messiah in +glory. In this light He is brought before us, <i>e.g.</i>, in chap. xlix. 50; in +Dan. ix.; in Zech. ix. 9, 10, xi. 12, 13. The fact that the humiliation of Christ +would precede His exaltation is distinctly pointed out in the first part of Isaiah +also, in chap. xi. 1,--a passage which contains, in a germ, all that, in the second +part, <span class="pagenum">[Pg 330]</span> is more fully stated regarding the suffering +Messiah, and which has many striking points of contact specially with chap. liii. +And just so it is with Isaiah's contemporary, Micah, who, in chap. v. 1 (2), makes +the Messiah proceed, not from Jerusalem, the seat of the Davidic family after it +was raised to the royal dignity, but from Bethlehem, where Jesse, the ancestor, +lived as a peasant,--as a proof that the Messiah would proceed from the family of +David sank back into the obscurity of private life. This knowledge, that the Messiah +should proceed from the altogether abased house of David,--a knowledge which appears +as early as in Amos, and which pervades the whole of prophecy--touches very closely +upon the knowledge of His sufferings. Lowliness of origin, and exaltation of destination, +can hardly be reconciled without severe conflicts. But it is <i>a priori</i> impossible, +that the idea of the suffering Messiah should be wanting in the Old Testament. Since, +in the Old Testament, throughout, righteousness and suffering in this world of sin +are represented as being indissolubly connected, the Messiah, being +<span lang="el" class="Greek">κατʼ ἐξοχήν</span> the Righteous One, must necessarily +appear also as He who suffers in the highest degree. If that were not the case, +the Messiah would be totally disconnected from all His types, especially from David, +who, through the severest sufferings, attained to glory, and who in his Psalms, +everywhere considers this course as the normal one, both in the Psalms which refer +to the suffering righteous in general, and in those which especially refer to his +family reaching their highest elevation in the Messiah; compare my Commentary on +the Psalms, Vol. iv., p. lxxx. ff. </p> +<hr class="ftn"> +<div class="ftn"> + <p class="ftnText"><a name="ftn_328a" href="#ftnRef_328a"> + <sup class="ftnRef">[1]</sup></a> The same thing occurs also in the parallel + passages, chap. xlix. 9, on which <i>Gesenius</i> was constrained to remark: + "As the deliverance was still impending, the Preterites cannot well be understood + in any other way than as Futures."</p> +</div> +<hr class="W20"> +<h3><a name="div2_330" href="#div2Ref_330">III. THE ARGUMENTS IN FAVOUR OF THE MESSIANIC +INTERPRETATION.</a></h3> +<p class="normal">Even the fact that this is among the Jews the original interpretation, +which was given up from their evil disposition only, makes us favourably inclined +towards it. The authority of tradition is here of so much the greater consequence, +the more that the Messianic interpretation was opposed to the disposition +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 331]</span> of the people. How deeply rooted was this +interpretation, appears even from the declaration of John the Baptist, John i. 29: +<span lang="el" class="Greek">ἴδε ὁ ἀμνὸς τοῦ θεοῦ ὁ αἴρων τῆν ἁμαρτίαν τοῦ κόσμου</span>. +There cannot be any doubt that, in this declaration, he points to the prophecy under +consideration, inasmuch as this passage is the first in Holy Scripture in which +the sin-bearing lamb is spoken of in a spiritual sense. <i>Bengel</i>, following +the example of <i>Erasmus</i>, remarks, in reference to the article before +<span lang="el" class="Greek">ἀμνὸς</span>: "The article looks back to the prophecy +which was given concerning Him under this figure, in Is. liii. 7." As regards +<span lang="el" class="Greek">θεοῦ</span>, compare ver. 10: "It pleased the Lord +painfully to crush Him," and ver. 2: "Before Him;" as regards +<span lang="el" class="Greek">ὁ αἴρων</span>, &c. comp. ver. 4, rendered by the +LXX.: <span lang="el" class="Greek">οὗ̂τος τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἡμω̂ν φέρει</span>; comp. +ver. 11.</p> +<p class="normal">An external argument of still greater weight is the testimony +of the New Testament. Above all, it is the declarations of our Lord himself which +here come into consideration. In Luke xxii. 37, He says that the prophecies concerning +Him were drawing near their perfect fulfilment (<span lang="el" class="Greek">τὰ +περὶ ἐμοῦ τέλος ἔχει</span>), comp. Matt. xxvi. 51, and that therefore the declaration: +"And He was reckoned among the transgressors" must be fulfilled in Him. In Mark +ix. 12, the Lord asks: <span lang="el" class="Greek">πῶς γέγραπται ἐπὶ τὸν υἱὸν +τοῦ ἀνθρώπου, ἵνα πολλὰ πάθῃ καὶ ἐξουδενηθῇ</span>, with a reference to "from man," +and "from the sons of man" in lii. 14,--to "He had no form nor comeliness" in ver. +2,--to "despised," <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">נבזה</span>, which, by <i>Symmachus</i> +and <i>Theodotian</i> is rendered by <span lang="el" class="Greek">ἐξουδενωμένος</span>, +in ver. 3. In the Gospel of John, the Lord emphatically and repeatedly points out, +that the words: "When His soul hath given restitution," are written concerning Him; +compare remarks on ver. 10. After these distinct quotations and references, we shall +be obliged to think chiefly of our passage, in Luke xxiv. 25-27, 44-46 also. The +opponents themselves grant that, if in any passage of the Old Testament the doctrine +of a suffering and atoning Messiah is contained, it is in the passage under review. +The circumstance also, that the disciples of the Lord refer, on every occasion, +and with such confidence, the passage to the Lord, likewise proves that Christ especially +interpreted it of His sufferings and exaltation. Of Matt. viii. 17, and Mark xv. +28, we have already spoken. John, in chap. xii. 37, 38, and Paul in Rom. x. 16, +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 332]</span> find a fulfilment of chap. liii. 1 in the +unbelief of the Jews. In Acts viii. 28-35, Philip, on the question of the eunuch +from Ethiopia, as to whom the prophecy referred, explained it of Christ. After the +example of <i>De Wette</i>, <i>Gesenius</i> lays special stress on the circumstance, +that the passage was never quoted in reference to the atoning death of Christ. But +Peter, when speaking of the vicarious satisfaction of Christ, makes a literal use +of the principal passages of the prophecy under consideration, 1 Pet. ii. 21-25; +and it is, in general, quite the usual way of the New Testament to support its statements +by our passage, whensoever the discourse falls upon this subject; comp. <i>e.g.</i>, +besides the texts quoted at ver. 10, Mark ix. 12; Rom. iv. 25; 1 Cor. xv. 3; 2 Cor. +v. 21; 1 John iii. 5; Pet. i. 19; Rev. v. 6, xiii. 8. Even <i>Gesenius</i> himself +acknowledges elsewhere, that we have here the text for the whole Apostolic preaching +on the atoning death of Jesus. "Most Hebrew readers"--so he says, Th. iii. S. 191--"who +were so familiar with the ideas of sacrifice and substitution, could not by any +means understand the passage in any other way; and there is no doubt that the whole +apostolic notion of the atoning death of Christ is chiefly based upon this passage." +The circumstance, that the reference to this passage appears commonly only in the +form of an allusion, and not of express quotation, proves only so much the more +clearly, that its reference to the atoning death of Christ was a point absolutely +settled in the ancient Church.</p> +<p class="normal">In favour of the Messianic interpretation are not only the passages +from the second part, chap. xlii., &c., but also, from the first part, the passage +chap. xi. 1, which so remarkably agrees with chap. liii. 2, that both must be referred +to the same subject.</p> +<p class="normal">To these external reasons, the internal must be added. The Christian +Church--the best judge--has at all times recognised in this prophecy the faithful +and wonderfully accurate image of her Lord and Saviour in His atoning sufferings +and the glory following upon them, in His innocence and righteousness, in His meekness +and silent patience (the New Testament, in speaking of them, frequently points back +to our passage), and in the burial with a rich man, ver. 9. The most characteristic +feature is the atoning character of the suffering of the <span class="pagenum">[Pg +333]</span> Servant of God, and of the shedding of His blood. Several interpreters +have endeavoured to explain away this feature which they dislike. <i>Kimchi</i> +says: "One must not imagine that the case really stands thus, that in Israel the +captivity actually bears the sins and diseases of the heathens (for that would be +opposed to the justice of God), but that the Gentiles at that time, when seeing +the glorious deliverance of Israel, would thus judge concerning it." A futile evasion! +It is not the Gentiles who speak in chap. liii. 1–10, but the believing Church. +Every sincere reader will at once feel, that it is not the foolish fancies of others +which the Prophet communicates in these verses, but the divine truth made known +to him. The doctrine of the substitution, the Prophet, moreover, states in his own +name, by saying, "He shall sprinkle many nations;" and so likewise in the name of +God, in chap. liii. 11, 12. According to <i>Martini</i>, <i>De Wette</i>, and others, +the expressions are to be understood figuratively, and the contents and substance +to be this only, that those severe calamities which that divine minister would have +to sustain would be useful and salutary to His compatriots. But the fact that the +same doctrine constantly returns under the most varied expressions, is decidedly +in favour of the literal interpretation. Thus, it is said in chap. lii. 15, that +the Servant of God should sprinkle many nations; in liii. 4, that He bore our diseases +and took upon Him our pains; in ver. 5, that He was pierced for our transgressions; +in ver. 8, that He bore the punishment which the people ought to have borne; in +ver. 10, that He offered his soul as a sin-offering; in ver. 11, that by His righteousness +many should be justified; in ver. 12, that He bore the sins of many, and poured +out His soul unto death, and that He could make intercession for transgressors, +because He was numbered with them. To this it may still be added that in chap. lii. +15 (<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">יזה</span>), liii. 10 (<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">אשם</span>), +and ver. 12: "He bears the sins of many," (compare Levit. xvi. 21, 22; <i>Michaelis</i>: +"<i>Ut typice hircus pro Israëlitis</i>") the Servant of God appears as the antitype +of the Old Testament sin-offerings in which, as has been proved (compare my pamphlet: +<i>Die Opfer der heil. Schrift</i>, S. 12 ff.), the idea of substitution in the +doctrine of the Old Testament finds its foundation. There cannot be the least doubt, +that the Prophet could not express himself more clearly, strongly, +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 334]</span> and distinctly, if his intention was to state +the doctrine of substitution; and those who undertake to explain it away, would +not, by so doing, leave any thing firm and certain in Scripture. <i>Rosenmüller</i> +(<i>Gabler's</i> Journal, ii. S. 365), <i>Gesenius</i>, <i>Hitzig</i> have indeed +candidly confessed that the passage contained the doctrine of vicarious satisfaction, +after <i>Alshech</i> had, among the Jews, given the honour to truth.</p> +<hr class="W20"> +<h3><a name="div2_334" href="#div2Ref_334">IV. EXAMINATION OF THE NON-MESSIANIC +INTERPRETATIONS.</a></h3> +<p class="normal">Passing over mere whims, three explanations present themselves +which require a closer examination, viz.--(1), that which makes the whole Jewish +people the subject; (2), that which refers it to the godly portion of the Jewish +people; and (3), that which refers it to the collective body of the Prophets. The +following reasons militate against all the three interpretations simultaneously.</p> +<p class="normal">1. According to them, the contents of the section in question +present themselves as a mere <i>fancy</i>; and its principal thought, the vicarious +suffering of the Servant of God is an absurdity. According to them, the prophets +can no longer be considered as godly men who spake as they were moved by the Holy +Spirit; and their name <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">נביא</span>, by which they +claimed divine inspiration, is a mere pretence. And this reflection is, at the same +time, cast upon the Lord, who, throughout, treats these visionaries as organs of +immediate divine communications.</p> +<p class="normal">2. According to all the three explanations, the subject is not +a real person, but an ideal one, a personified collective. But not one sure analogous +instance can be quoted in favour of a personification carried on through a whole +section, without the slightest intimation, that it is not a single individual who +is spoken of. In ver. 3, the subject is called <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">איש</span>; +in vers. 10 and 12 a soul is ascribed to Him; grave and death are used so as to +imply a subject in the Singular. Scripture never leaves any thing to be guessed. +If we had an allegory before us, distinct hints as to the interpretation would certainly +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 335]</span> not be wanting. It is, <i>e.g.</i>, quite +different in those passages where the Prophet designates Israel by the name of the +Servant of the Lord. In them, all uncertainty is prevented by the addition of the +names of Jacob and Israel, xli. 8, 9; xliv. 1, 2, 21; xlv. 4; xlviii. 20; and in +them, moreover, the Prophet uses the Plural by the side of the Singular, to intimate +that the Servant of the Lord is an ideal person, a collective, <i>e.g.</i>, xlii. +24, 25; xlviii. 20, 21; xliii. 10–14.</p> +<p class="normal">3. The first condition of the vicarious satisfaction which, according +to our prophecy, is to be performed by the Servant of God, is, according to ver. +9 ("Because He had done no violence, neither was any deceit in His mouth"), but +more especially still, according to ver. 11 ("He, the righteous one, my Servant, +shall justify the many") the absolute righteousness of the suffering subject. He +who is himself sinful cannot undergo punishment for the sins of others. He is, on +the contrary, visited for his own sins, both as a righteous retribution, and for +sanctification. Of such an one that would indeed be true which, according to the +second clause of ver. 4, was only erroneously supposed in reference to the Servant +of God. All the three interpretations, however, are unable to prove that this condition +existed. All the three interpretations move on the purely human territory; but on +that, absolute righteousness is not to be found. At the very threshold of Holy Writ, +in Gen. ii. and 3, compare v. 3, the doctrine of the universal sinfulness of mankind +meets us; and how deep a knowledge of sin pervades the Old Testament, is proved +by passages such as Gen. vi. 5, viii. 21; Job xiv. 4, xv. 14–16; Ps. xiv., li. 7; +Prov. xx. 9. That is not a soil on which ideas of substitution could thrive.--The +doctrine of a substitution by men is indeed nowhere else found in the Old Testament; +and <i>Gesenius</i>, who (l. c., S. 189) endeavoured to prove that "it is very general" +has not adduced any arguments which are tenable or even plausible. The guilt of +the fathers is visited upon the children, only when the latter walk in the steps +of their fathers, and the latter are first punished; comp. <i>Genuineness and Authenticity +of the Pentateuch</i>, Vol. ii. p. 446 ff. The same holds true in reference to 2 +Sam. xxi. 1–14, The evil spirit which filled Saul, pervaded his family, at the same +time, as we here see in the instance of Michal. It was probably in the +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 336]</span> interest of his family, and with their concurrence, +that the wicked deed had been perpetrated. (<i>Michaelis</i> says: "In order that +he might appropriate their goods to himself and to <i>his family</i>, under the +pretext of a pious zeal for Judah and Israel.") As Saul himself was already overtaken +by the divine judgment, the crime was punished in the family who were accomplices. +In 2 Sam. xxiv. the people do not suffer as substitutes for the sin, which David +had committed in numbering the people; but the spirit of pride which had incited +the king to number the people, was widely spread among them. But the fact, that +the king himself was punished in his subjects, is brought out by his beseeching +the Lord, in 2 Sam. xxiv. 17, that He might rather visit the sin directly upon himself +The sin of David and Bathsheba is not atoned for by the death of the child (2 Sam. +xii. 15–18), for David had already obtained pardon, ver. 13. It is not the child +which suffers, but David, whose repentance was to be deepened by this visitation. +In the fact, that the whole army must suffer for what Achan has committed (Josh. +vii. 1), a distinct intimation is implied, that the criminal does not stand alone, +but that, to a certain degree, the whole community was implicated in his guilt. +Substitution is quite out of the question, inasmuch as Achan himself, with his whole +family and posterity, was burnt. Least of all, finally, can Dan. xi. 35 come into +consideration. According to <i>Gesenius</i>, it is there said: "And they of understanding +shall fall, in order to purge, purify, and make white those (the others)." But +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">בהם</span> refers rather to the +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">משכילים</span> themselves. Thus, nowhere in the Old +Testament, is even the slightest trace found of a satisfaction to be accomplished +by man for man; nor can it be found there, because, from its very commencement. +Scripture most emphatically declares: <span lang="el" class="Greek">πάντας ὑφʼ ἁμαρτίαν +εἶναι</span>, Rom. iii. 9.</p> +<p class="normal">The explanation, which makes the <i>Jewish people</i> the subject, +has already been overthrown by the parallel passages, before arriving: at the section +under consideration. "Even so far back as chap. xlii. 1, difficulties are met with," +remarks <i>Beck</i>. "How is it possible that the people who, in ver. 19 of that +chapter, are described as blind and deaf, should here appear as being altogether +penetrated by the Spirit, so as to become the teachers of the Gentiles?" "Chap. +xlix. is a true <span class="pagenum">[Pg 337]</span> cross for the interpreters." +"Finally, the section, chap. l., <i>Hitzig</i> himself is obliged to explain as +referring to the Prophet; and thus this interpretation forfeits the boast of most +strictly holding fast the unity of this notion."</p> +<p class="normal">But still more decisively is the interpretation overthrown by +the contents of the section under discussion. The Servant of God has, according +to it, voluntarily taken upon Himself His sufferings (according to ver. 10, He offers +himself as a sacrifice for sin; according to ver. 12, He is crowned with glory because +He has poured out His soul unto death). Himself sinless, He bears the sins of others, +vers. 4-6, 9. His sufferings are the means by which the justification of many is +effected. He suffers quietly and patiently, ver. 7. Not one of these four signs +can be vindicated for the people of Israel. (a). The Jews did not go voluntarily +into the Babylonish exile, but were dragged into it by force. (b). The Jewish people +were not without sin in suffering; but they suffered, in the captivity, the punishment +of their own sins. Their being carried away had been foretold by Moses as a punitive +judgment. Lev. xxvi. 14 ff.; Deut. xxviii. 15 ff. xxix. 19 ff., and as such it is +announced by all the prophets also. In the second part, Isaiah frequently reminds +Judah that they shall be cast into captivity by divine justice, and be delivered +from it by divine mercy only; comp. chaps. lvi.-lix., especially chap. lix. 2: "Your +iniquities separate between you and your God, and your sins hide His face from you +that He doth not hear. For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with +iniquity, your lips speak lies, and your tongue meditates perverseness. Their feet +run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood, their thoughts are thoughts +of iniquity, wasting and destruction are in their paths. The way of peace they know +not, and there is no right in their paths; they pervert their paths; whosoever goeth +therein doth not know peace. Apostacy and denying the Lord, and departing away from +our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart +words of falsehood." Comp. chap. xlii. 24: "Who gave Jacob for a spoil, and Israel +to the robbers? Did not the Lord, He against whom we have sinned, and in whose ways +they would not walk, neither were they obedient unto His law." Farther, +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 338]</span> chap. xliii. 26, 27, where the detailed proof +that Israel's merits could not be the cause of their deliverance, inasmuch as they +did not exist at all, is, by the Prophet, wound up by the words: "Put me in remembrance, +let us plead together, declare then that thou mayest be justified. Thy first father +hath sinned, and thy mediators have transgressed against me. Therefore I profane +the princes of the sanctuary, and give Jacob to the destruction, and Israel to reproaches." +It is solely to the mercy of God that, according to chap. xlviii. 11, Israel owes +deliverance from the severe suffering into which they fell in the way of their sins. +One may confidently assert there is not a single page in the whole book, which does +not offer a striking refutation of this view. And most miserable are the expedients +to which, in the face of such facts, the defenders of this view betake themselves. +<i>Rosenmüller</i> was of opinion, that the Prophet introduced those Gentiles only +as speaking, who, by this flattery, wished to gain the favour of the Jews,--without +considering that it is just in the words of the Lord, in ver. 11, that the absolute +righteousness of the Servant of God is most strongly expressed. <i>Hitzig</i> is +of opinion, that the people had indeed suffered for their sins; but that the punishment +had been greater than their sins, and that by this surplus the Gentiles were benefited. +But the Prophet expressly contradicts such a gross view. He repeatedly declares +that the punishment was still mitigated by mercy; that, in the way of their works, +Israel would have found total destruction. Thus, <i>e.g.</i>, chap. xlviii. 9: "For +my name's sake will I be long-suffering, and for my praise will I moderate mine +anger unto thee, that I cut thee not off;" chap. i. 9: "Except the Lord of Hosts +had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom; we should have +been like unto Gomorrah." In order to be fully convinced how much this view of Israel, +enforced upon the godly men of the Old Testament, is in contradiction to their own +view, the prayer of Ezra may still be compared in Neh. ix., especially ver. 20 ff.--(c.) +The sufferings of the Jewish people cannot be vicarious, because they are destitute +of the very first condition of substitution, viz., sinlessness and righteousness. +That even <i>Hitzig</i> does not venture to claim for them. But how can an ungodly +man, even supposing that his punishment is too severe, justify others +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 339]</span> by a righteousness of his which does not exist? +<i>Finally</i>--The fourth sign, patience, so little belongs to the Jewish people, +that it is one of the main tasks of our Prophet himself to oppose their murmuring +impatience; comp. <i>e.g.</i>, chap. xlv. 9 ff.</p> +<p class="normal">Against the hypothesis that the people are the subject of the +prophecy, there is the circumstance that it carries along with it the unnatural +supposition that, in chap. liii. 1–10, the heathens are introduced as speaking. +Decisive against this supposition are specially the designation +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">עמי</span> in ver. 8, and the most forced explanation +to which it compels us, in some verses, especially ver. 2.</p> +<p class="normal">The interpretation which considers the godly portion of the people +to be the subject of the prophecy, is overthrown by the fact that, according to +the view of Scripture, even those who, in the ordinary sense, are righteous, are +unable to render a vicarious satisfaction for others. For such, absolute righteousness +is required. But the "righteous ones" are begotten by sinful seed (Ps. li.), and +they have need daily to pray that God would pardon their secret sins, Ps. xix. 13; +they themselves live only by the pardoning mercy of God, and cannot think of atoning +for others, Ps. xxxii. Even for believers, the captivity is, according to chap. +xlii., the merited punishment of their sins. In that passage, the greatness of the +mercy of God is pointed out, who grants a twofold salvation for sins, while infinite +punishment should be their natural consequence. It is not to a single portion of +the people, but to the whole, that, in the passages formerly quoted, every share +in effecting deliverance and salvation is denied. How little an absolute righteousness +existed in the elect, sufficiently appears from the fact, that, in the second part, +it forms a main object of the Prophet to oppose their want of courage, their despair +and distrust of God. <i>Farther</i>--The ungodly could not by any means consider +the sufferings of the righteous ones as vicarious, because they themselves suffered +as much; and as little could they despise the godly on account of their sufferings. +It is a mere invention, destitute of every historical foundation, to assert that +it was especially the God-fearing who had to suffer so grievously in the captivity. +On the contrary, their fear of God gained for them the respect of the Gentiles; +and among <span class="pagenum">[Pg 340]</span> their own people also, whose sinful +disposition was broken by the punishment, they occupied an honourable position. +Ezekiel we commonly find surrounded by the elders of the people, listening to his +words; and Daniel, Esther, and Mordecai, Ezra, and Nehemiah, richly furnished with +the goods of this world, enjoyed high esteem in the Gentile world. The fact that +the supporters of this hypothesis are compelled to have recourse to such an unhistorical +fiction, which has been carried to the extreme, especially by <i>Knobel</i>, sufficiently +proves it to be untenable.</p> +<p class="normal">In opposition to the interpretation which refers the prophecy +to the collective body of the Prophets, <i>Hitzig</i> very justly remarks: "The +supposition that, by the Servant of God, the prophetic order is to be understood, +is destitute of all foundation and probability." In commenting on chap. xlii. we +remarked, that there are no analogous cases at all in favour of such a personification +of the prophetic order. Moreover, the defenders of this view commonly deny, at the +same time, the genuineness of the second part. From this stand-point it becomes +still more evident, how untenable this hypothesis is. A prophetic order can, least +of all, be spoken of during the time of the Babylonish captivity. With the captivity, +Prophetism began to die out. Jeremiah in Jerusalem, and Ezekiel among the exiled, +already stood very much isolated. Jeremiah, during the last days of the Jewish state, +stands out everywhere as a single individual, opposed to the whole mass of the false +prophets. "There is no more any prophet," is, at the time of the destruction by +the Chaldeans, the lamentation of the author of Ps. lxxiv. in ver. 9. According +to an unanimous tradition (comp. 1 Maccab. ix. 27, iv. 46, xiv. 41, and the passages +from the Talmud and other Jewish writings in <i>Knibbe's</i> history of the Prophets, +S. 347 ff., and in <i>Joh. Smithi Dissert. de Prophetis</i>, in the Appendix to +<i>Clericus'</i> Commentary on the Prophets, chap. xii.), Haggai, Zechariah, and +Malachi were the last of the prophets, and according to the historical books and +their own prophecies, the only prophets of their time. How, now, were it possible +that the Prophet should speak of a great corporation of the prophets, who become +not only the founders and rulers of the new state, but who are to enlighten all +the other nations of the earth with the light of the time religion, +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 341]</span> and incorporate them into the church of God? +Of all that is characteristic of the vocation of the prophets, nothing is found +here; while, on the other hand, almost everything which is said of the Servant of +God is in opposition to the vocation and destination of the prophets. That which +here, above everything, comes into consideration is the <i>vicarious satisfaction</i>. +Chap. vi., where the Prophet when, after having administered the prophetic office +for several years, he beheld the Lord, exclaims: "Woe is unto me for I am undone, +because I am a man of unclean lips, and dwell in the midst of a people of unclean +lips," is sufficient to show how far the thoughts of such a vicarious satisfaction +were from the prophets. Such is surely not the ground from which the delusion of +being substitutes for others can grow up. All those who entertained such a delusion, +such as <i>Gichtel</i>, <i>Bourignon</i>, <i>Guyon</i>, were misled into it by proudly +shutting their eyes to their own sinfulness. It would surely be abasing the prophets +without any cause, if we were to assign to them that delusion. Moreover, the hopes +which here, according to these interpreters, are uttered in reference to the prophetic +order, contradict its idea, and institution. A prophetic pride would here come out, +such as is not equalled by priestly pride in all history. <i>Schenkel</i>, no doubt, +is right in remarking against the interpretation which makes the Jewish people the +subject of the prophecy,--an interpretation of which <i>Hitzig</i> is the representative: +"Is it to believed that the prophets, whose object all along it was to suppress +the moral pride of the people, should wantonly have awakened it by such a thought?" +But <i>Hitzig</i> is equally in the right when, in opposition to <i>Schenkel</i> +and others who refer this prediction to the prophetic order, he remarks: "It is +quite obvious, how very unsuitable it would be to limit the hitherto wretched condition +and the future glory of the people to the prophets, as if they alone, as true +<span lang="el" class="Greek">κατακυριεύοντες τῶν κληρων</span>, constituted the +people." According to this hypothesis, the prophets are supposed to flatter themselves +with the hope that they would be the rulers of the state again flourishing, and +would celebrate worldly triumphs. Altogether apart from the folly of this hope, +it was entirely opposed to the destiny of the prophetic order. By divine institution, +the dominion in the Kingdom of God had for ever been given over to David +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 342]</span> and his family. By usurping it, the prophets +would have rebelled against God, whose lights they were called to uphold.--<i>Farther</i>, +As the principal sphere of the ministry of the Servant of God, the heathen world +here appears. But with it, the prophets have, nowhere else, any thing to do; their +mission is everywhere to Israel only.--The sufferings which the prophets had to +endure during the captivity, were not different from those of the people. Every +proof, yea, even every probability, is wanting that, during the time of the captivity, +the prophets--and history mentions and knows only Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel--were +pre-eminently afflicted. On the contrary, they occupy an honourable position. Jeremiah +receives, after the capture of Jerusalem, proofs of esteem from Nebuchadnezzar. +Daniel is entrusted with the highest public offices. Ezekiel is held in honour by +his compatriots. How then could the people despise the prophets on account of their +sufferings? How could they imagine that they had been smitten by God? How could +they afterwards conceive the idea that the sufferings of the prophets had a vicarious +character?--To what quarter soever we look, impossibilities present themselves; +and if, moreover, we also look at the parallel passages, we must indeed wonder, +that a hypothesis altogether so untenable should ever have been listened to.</p> +<hr class="W20"> +<h3><a name="div2_342" href="#div2Ref_342">CHAPTER LV. 1-5.</a></h3> +<p class="normal">The Lord exhorts those who are anxious to be saved, to appropriate +the blessings of salvation which are so liberally offered, and which, although bestowed +without money and price, can alone truly satisfy the soul, vers. 1 and 2. For He +is to make with them a covenant of everlasting duration, in which the eternal mercy +promised to the family of David is to be realized, ver. 3. David--such is the salvation +in store for the Church--is to be a witness, prince, and lawgiver of all the Gentiles +who, with joyful readiness, shall unite themselves to Israel.</p> +<p class="continue"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 343]</span></p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 1. "<i>Ho, all ye that thirst, come ye to the water, and +ye that have no silver, come ye, buy and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without +silver and without price.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">The discourse is addressed to the members of the Church pining +away in misery. By the water, salvation is denoted, as is not unfrequently the case, +comp. chap. xii. 3: "And with joy ye shall draw water out of the wells of salvation," +xliv. 3; Ps. lxxxvii. 7, lxxxiv. 7, cvii. 35. The thirsty one is he who stands in +need of salvation. To the words: "Ho, all ye that thirst, come ye to the water," +the Lord refers in John vii. 37: <span lang="el" class="Greek">ἐάν τις διψᾷ ἐρχέσθω +πρός με καὶ πινέτω</span>, where the <span lang="el" class="Greek">πρός με</span> +had been added from ver. 3. It is to be observed that Christ there appropriates +to himself what Jehovah is here speaking. <i>Michaelis</i> says: "Christ, in consequence +of the highest identity, makes the words of the Father His own." There is an evident +reference to the same words in Rev. xxi. 6 also: <span lang="el" class="Greek">ἐγὼ +τῷ διψῶντι δώσω ἐκ τῆς πηγῆς τοῦ ὕδατος τῆς ζωῆς δωρεάν</span>. Similarly in Rev. +xxii. 17: <span lang="el" class="Greek">καὶ ὁ διψῶν ἐρχέσθω, ὁ θέλων λαβέτω ὕδωρ +ζωῆς δωρεάν</span>. In a somewhat more distant relation to the words before us, +but yet undeniably depending upon them, is John iv. 10: +<span lang="el" class="Greek">σὺ ἂν ᾔτησας αὐτὸν καὶ ἔδωκεν ἄν σοι ὕδωρ ζῶν</span>. +Vers. 13, 14: <span lang="el" class="Greek">πᾶς ὁ πίνων ἐκ τοῦ ὕδατος τούτου διψήσει +πάλιν· ὃς δʼ ἂν πίῃ ἐκ τοῦ ὕδατος, οὗ ἐγὼ δώσω αὐτῷ οὐ μὴ διψήσῃ εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα</span>. +And so does, in another aspect. Matt. xi. 28: <span lang="el" class="Greek">δεῦτε +πρός με οἱ κοπιῶντες καὶ πεφορτισμένοι κᾀγὼ ἀναπαύσω ὑμᾶς</span>, which, however, +has still nearer points of resemblance to ver. 3; for +<span lang="el" class="Greek">δεῦτε πρός με</span> corresponds to +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">לכו אלי</span> in that verse; the words +<span lang="el" class="Greek">κᾀγὼ ἀναπαύσω ὑμᾶς</span>, to: "Your soul shall live" +there, but yet in such a way that there is, at the same time, a reference to Jer. +vi. 16; the <span lang="el" class="Greek">κοπιῶντες καὶ πεφορτισμένοι</span> are +the thirsty ones in the verse before us. It is remarkable to see how important this +unassuming declaration was to our Lord, and how much He had it at heart. We are +thereby urgently called upon, by means of deep and earnest study and meditation, +to arrive at the full meaning of the Old Testament, which is everywhere connected +with the New Testament, not only by the strong and firm ties of express quotations, +but also by the nicest and most tender threads of gentle allusions. Even Matt. v. +6: <span lang="el" class="Greek">μακάριοι οἱ πεινῶντες καὶ διψῶντες τὴν δικαιοσύνην</span> +comes into a close relation to our passage, as soon as it is recognized that +<span lang="el" class="Greek">δικαιοσύνην</span> is not the subjective righteousness +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 344]</span> which is excluded from that context, but rather +righteousness as a gift of God, the actual justification, such as takes place in +the bestowal of salvation; so that, hence, the righteousness there corresponds with +the <i>water</i> here. The subsequent "eat" furnishes the foundation for the fact, +that the need of and desire for salvation, is designated by <i>hunger</i> also,--"<i>Come +ye, buy and eat.</i>" <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">שבר</span> "to break," is used +of the appeasing of thirst (comp. Ps. civ. 11), and hunger (comp. Gen. xlii. 19); +and corn is called <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">שֶׁבֶר</span> for this reason +that it breaks the hunger. The verb never means "to buy" in general, but only such +a buying as affords the means of appeasing hunger and thirst. Nor does it, in itself, +stand in any relation to corn, except in so far only as the latter is a chief moans +of appeasing hunger. This we see not only from Ps. civ. 11, but also from that which +here immediately follows, where it is used of the buying of wine and milk. The buying +of necessary provisions is commonly designated by the <i>Kal</i>; the selling by +the <i>Hiphil</i>. In Gen. xli. 26, the selling too is designated by the <i>Kal</i>. +He who causes that one can break or appease, may himself also be designated as he +who breaks or appeases. This verb, so very peculiar, and the noun +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">שֶׁבֶר</span>, occur in a certain accumulation, in +the history of Joseph only; elsewhere, their occurrence is sporadic only. It is +then to the hunger of Israel in ancient times, and to its being appeased by Joseph, +that the double <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">שברו</span> alludes; and from this +circumstance also the fact is to be explained, that it is first used in reference +to food; comp. <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">שברו ואכלו</span> in our verse, with +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">שבר אכל</span> in Gen. xlii. 7-10. Christ is the +true Joseph, who puts an end to the hunger and thirst of the people of God, by offering +true food and true drink.--The word "eat" suggests substantial food, bread in contrast +to the drink by which it is surrounded on both sides; compare John vi. 35: +<span lang="el" class="Greek">ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ἄρτος τῆς ζωῆς· ὁ ἐρχόμενος πρὸς με οὐ +μὴ πεινάσῃ</span> (<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">שברו</span>) +<span lang="el" class="Greek">καὶ ὁ πιστεύων εἰς ἐμὲ οὐ μὴ διψήσῃ πώποτε</span>. +Ver. 55: <span lang="el" class="Greek">ἡ γὰρ σάρξ μου ἀληθῶς ἐστι βρῶσις, καὶ τὸ +αἷμά μου ἀληθῶς ἐστι πόσις</span>. From the sequel (comp. vers. 6, 7), it appears +that the thrice repeated <i>coming</i> and the <i>buying</i> are accomplished by +true repentance, the <span lang="el" class="Greek">μετάνοια</span>, which is the +indispensable condition of the participation in the salvation. In John vi. 35, the +words: <span lang="el" class="Greek">ὁ ἐρχόμενος πρὸς με</span> are explained by: +<span lang="el" class="Greek">ὁ πιστεύων εἰς ἐμὲ</span>. Faith is the soul of repentance.--The +circumstance that the <span class="pagenum">[Pg 345]</span> buying is done without +money, intimates that the blessings of salvation are a pure gift of divine grace. +These blessings of salvation are first designated by water; afterwards, by <i>wine</i> +and <i>milk</i>,--thus approximating to those passages in which the blessings of +the Kingdom of Christ appear under the image of a rich repast, to which the members +of the Kingdom are invited as guests, Ps. xxii. 26-30; Matt. viii. 11, xxii. 2; +Luke xiv. 16; Rev. xix. 9.--Some Rationalistic interpreters understand, by the offered +blessings, the salutary admonitions of the Prophet; but decisive against these are +vers. 3 and 11, according to which it is not present, but future blessings, not +words, but real things which are spoken of, viz., the salvation which is to be brought +through Christ. What that is which constitutes the substance of this salvation, +we learn from chap. liii. It is the redemption and reconciliation by the Servant +of God. Yet we must not, after the manner of several ancient interpreters, limit +ourselves to the "evangelical righteousness." On the contrary, the whole fulness +of the salvation in Christ is comprehended in it; and according to vers. 4 and 5, +this includes the dominion over the world by the Kingdom of God,--its dominion over +the Gentile world, and the investiture of its members with the full liberty and +glory of the children of God.</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 2. "<i>Wherefore do ye weigh money for that which is not +bread, and your labour for that which satisfieth not? Hearken, hearken unto me, +and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">From ver. 3, we see that it is not the Prophet, but the Lord who +speaks. "That which is not bread," and "that which satisfieth not," is something +which outwardly has the appearance of good and nutritious food, and to obtain which +the hungry ones therefore strive, and exert themselves with all their might, but +which afterwards shows itself to be food in appearance only, and which has not the +power of satisfying. "That which is not bread," is, in the first instance, the imagined +salvation which they sought to obtain from idols for much money. This appears from +the intentional literal reference to chap. xlvi. 6, where the Prophet reproves the +folly of those who, in the face of the living God, "lavish gold out of the bag, +and <i>weigh silver</i> in the balance, and hire a goldsmith, +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 346]</span> that he make it a god, work also and fall +down." With perfect justice <i>Stier</i> remarks: "Notwithstanding the connection +with, and allusion to, the circumstances of that time, the word of the Prophet is +to be understood in a general, spiritual way, as a melancholy, bitter lamentation +over the general misery, and man's deep-rooted perverseness in running with effort +and exertion, after that which is pernicious to the soul, and in serving some Baal +better than Jehovah."<!--inserted quote--> "Fatness" occurs as a figurative designation +of the glorious gifts of God, in Ps. xxxvi. 9 also.</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 3. "<i>Incline your ears and come unto me, hear and your +soul shall live, and I will grant to you an everlasting covenant, the constant mercies +of David.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">The introductory words allude, in a graceful manner, to two Messianic +psalms, and remind us of the fact, that the prophecy before us moves on the same +ground as these psalms. On "incline your ear, and come unto me, hear," comp. Ps. +xlv. 11: "Hear, O daughter, and see, and <i>incline thine ear</i> (from the fundamental +passage, the Singular is here retained), and forget thy people and thy father's +house." On "your soul shall live," comp. Ps. xxii. 27: "The meek shall eat and be +satisfied, they shall praise the Lord that seek Him, <i>your heart shall live for +ever</i>." Analogous are the references to Ps. lxxii. in chap. xi. The soul <i>dies</i> +in care and grief In the words: "I will grant to you," &c., there follow the glad +tidings which are to heal the dying hearts. <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">כרת ברית</span> +is used of God, even where no reciprocal agreement takes place, but where He simply +confers grace; because every grace which He bestows imposes, at the same time, an +obligation, and may hence be considered as a covenant. The onesidedness is, in such +a case, indicated by the construction with <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ל</span>, +comp. chap. lxi. 8: "And I give them their reward in truth, and I make (grant) to +them an everlasting covenant," Jer. xxxii. 40; Ezek. xxxiv. 25; Ps. lxxxix. 4. Since +<i>to make a covenant</i> is here identical with <i>granting mercy</i>, +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">אכרתה</span> may also be connected with the subsequent +"the constant mercies of David," and there is no necessity for supposing a Zeugma. +The everlasting covenant here, is the new covenant in Jer. xxxi. 31-34; for the +words "I <i>will</i> make" show that, here too, a new covenant is spoken of. The +substance of the covenant to be made is expressed in the words: +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 347]</span> "The constant mercies of David," &c. By "David," +many interpreters here understand the descendant of David, the Messiah, who, in +other passages also, <i>e.g.</i>, Jer. xxx. 9, bears the name of His type. Even +<i>Abenezra</i> refers to the fact that, in ver. 4, the Messiah is necessarily required +as the subject. The <i>constant</i> mercies of David are, according to this view--in +parallelism with the "everlasting covenant"--the mercies constantly continuing, +in contrast to the merely transitory mercies, such as had been those of the first +David. According to the opinion of other interpreters, David designates here, as +in Hos. iii. 5, the family of David who, in Ps. xviii., and in a series of other +psalms, speaks in the name of his whole family. As regards the sense, this explanation +arrives at the same result. For, according to it, the Messiah is He in whom the +Davidic house attains to its fall destiny, the channel through which the mercies +of David flow in upon the Church. For the latter interpretation, however, is decisive +the evident reference to the divine promise to David, in 2 Sam. vii., especially +vers. 15, 16: "And my mercy shall not depart from him (thy race) ... and constant +(<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">נאמן</span>) is thine house, and thy kingdom for +ever before thee, thy throne shall be firm for ever;"<!--inserted quote--> compare +Ps. lxxxix. 29: "My mercy will I keep for him for evermore, and my covenant is constant +in him." Ps. lxxxix. 2, 50: "Lord, where are thy former mercies which thou swarest +unto David in thy truth?" likewise suggest that, by David, not simply Christ is +to be understood, but the Davidic family. The constant mercies of David are, accordingly, +the mercies which have been sworn to the Davidic house as <i>constant</i>, which, +therefore, can never rest until Christ has appeared with His everlasting Kingdom, +in which they find their true and full realization. In the expectation of the Messiah +from the house of David, the prophecy under consideration goes hand in hand with +chap. xi. 1, where the Messiah appears as a twig which proceeds from the cut-down +tree of Jesse; and with chap. ix. 6, according to which He sits on the throne of +David. This passage alone is fully sufficient against those (<i>Ewald</i>, <i>Umbreit</i>, +and others) who advance the strange assertion, that the Prophet had altogether given +up the idea of a Messiah from the house of David, and had distributed His property +between Cyrus and the prophetic order, <span class="pagenum">[Pg 348]</span> or +the pious portion of the people. It is of the greatest importance for the explanation +of those passages which treat of the Servant of God, and forms a point of union +for the Messianic passages of the first and second part. The passage before us is +quoted in Acts xiii. 34: <span lang="el" class="Greek">ὅτι δὲ ἀνέστησεν αὐτὸν ἐκ +νεκρῶν, μηκέτι μέλλοντα ὑποστρέφειν εἰς διαφθοράν οὕτως, εἴρηκεν · ὅτι δώσω ὑμῖν +τὰ ὅσια Δαυὶδ τὰ πιστά</span>. <span lang="el" class="Greek">Ὅσια Δαυὶδ</span>, +<i>sancta Davidis</i>, are the sacred, inviolable, inalienably guaranteed mercies +and blessings which have been promised to the house of David. As certainly as these +must be granted, so certainly Christ, who was to bring them, could not remain in +the power of death.</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 4. "<i>Behold, I give him for a witness to the people, for +a prince and lawgiver of the people.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">Here, and in ver. 5, we have the expansion of the mercies of David. +Their greatness and glory appear from the circumstance that, around his scion, the +whole heathen world, which hitherto was hostile and pernicious to the Church of +God, will gather. The Suffix in <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">נתתיו</span> can +refer only to David, or the family of David. From the connection with chap. liii., +it appears that it is in his descendant, the righteous One, to whom the heathen +and their kings do homage, that David will attain to the dignity here announced. +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">עד</span> has no other signification than "witness." +Every true doctrine bears the character of a witness. The teacher sent by God does +not teach on his own authority, <span lang="el" class="Greek">α μὴ ἑώρακεν ἐμβατεύων</span>, +but only witnesses what he has seen and heard. With a reference to, and in explanation +of the passage before us, Christ says to Pilate, in John xviii. 37: "For this end +was I born, and for this cause I came into the world, that I should bear <i>witness</i> +unto the truth." And the passages, Rev. i. 5: "And from Jesus Christ who is the +faithful witness," and Rev. iii. 14: "These things says the Amen, the faithful and +true witness," likewise point back to the passage before us; compare farther, John +iii. 11, 32, 33. In John xviii. 37, Rev. i. 5, His being a witness is, just as in +the passage before us, connected with His being a King; so that the reference to +this passage cannot be at all doubtful. It is intentionally that +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">עד</span> is put at the head. It is intended to intimate +that the future dominion of the Davidic dynasty over the heathen world shall be +essentially different from that which, in former times, it exercised +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 349]</span> over some neighbouring people. It is not based +upon the power of arms, but upon the power of truth. He in whom the Davidic dynasty +is to centre shall connect the prophetic with the regal office; just as already, +in the prophecy of the Shiloh, in Gen. xlix. 10, the prophetic office is concealed +behind the royal. The contrast to the first David can the less be doubtful, that, +while <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">עד</span> is never applied to him, it is just +the subsequent <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">נגיד</span> which, in a series of +passages, is ascribed to him. In 2 Sam. vi. 21, David himself says that the Lord +appointed him to be <i>ruler</i> over the people of the Lord, over Israel; in 2 +Sam. vii. 8, Nathan says: "I took thee from the sheep-cot to be <i>ruler</i> over +my people, over Israel;" comp. 1 Sam. xxv. 30; 2 Sam. v. 5. In those passages, however, +David is always spoken of as a ruler over Israel; so that even as regards the +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">נגיד</span>, the second David, the prince of the +<i>people</i>, is not only placed on a level with the first David, but is elevate +d above him. For the dominion by force which David exercised over some heathen nations, +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">נגיד</span> was the less appropriate designation, +inasmuch as it designates the ruler as the chief of his people.</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 5. "<i>Behold, thou shall call a nation that thou knowest +not, and nations that knew not thee shall run unto thee, because of the Lord thy +God, and of the Holy One of Israel, for He adorneth thee.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">The words here are addressed to the true Israel, to the exclusion +of those souls who are cut off from among their people, compare Ps. lxxiii. 1, where +Israel and those that are of a clean heart go hand in hand,--and, in substance, +they also were addressed in vers. 1 and 2. For the thirsty ones, who are there called +upon to partake of the blessings so liberally offered by the Lord, are just the +members of the Church. In connection with that glorification of David, the Church +shall invite nations from a great distance, who were hitherto unknown to it, to +its communion; and those nations who hitherto scarcely knew by name the Church of +God shall joyfully and willingly comply with the invitation; comp. chap. ii. 2. +This great change proceeds from the Lord, the Almighty and Holy One, who, as the +protector and Covenant-God of His Church, has resolved to glorify it; for <i>He +adorneth thee</i>. This glorification consists, according to chap. iv. 2, in the +appearance of <span class="pagenum">[Pg 350]</span> Christ, the immediate consequence +of which is the conversion of the heathen world.</p> +<p class="normal">We must now review that exposition by which Rationalism has endeavoured +to deprive our passage of its Messianic import,--an attempt in which <i>Grotius</i> +led the way. <i>Gesenius</i>, whom <i>Hitzig</i>, <i>Maurer</i>, <i>Ewald</i>, and +<i>Knobel</i> follow, translates in vers. 3 and 4: "That I may make with you an +everlasting covenant, may show to you constant mercies, as once to David. Behold, +I have made him a ruler of the nations, a prince and lawgiver of the nations," and +refers both of the verses to the first David. In ver. 5, then, the mercy is to follow +which, in some future time, God will bestow upon the whole people, as gloriously +as once upon the single David. But this explanation proves itself to be, in every +aspect, untenable.<sup class="ftnRef"><a name="ftnRef_350a" href="#ftn_350a">[1]</a></sup></p> +<p class="normal">We are the less entitled to put "mercies <i>like</i> David's" +instead of "the mercies of David," that these mercies are, elsewhere also, mentioned +in reference to the eternal dominion promised to David for his family; comp. Ps. +lxxxix. 2, 50. With the epithet, "constant," these interpreters do not know what +to do. Apart from the promise of the eternal dominion of his house, no constant +mercies can, in the case of David, be pointed out which would be equally bestowed +upon the people, and upon him. Moreover, <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">נאמנים</span> +distinctly points back to 2 Sam. vii. Ver. 4 forms, according to this explanation, +"a historical reminiscence, most unsuitable in the flow of a prophetic discourse" +(<i>Umbreit</i>). But what in itself is quite conclusive is the circumstance, that +the first David could not by any possibility be designated as the <i>witness</i> +of the Gentile nations. It indeed sounds rather <i>naïve</i> that <i>Knobel</i>, +after having endeavoured to explain <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">עב</span> of +the "opening up of the law," feels himself obliged to add: "The word does not, however, +occur anywhere else in this signification." Nor could David, without farther limitation, +be designated as "the prince and lawgiver of the <i>peoples</i>;" and that so much +the more <span class="pagenum">[Pg 351]</span> that, in ver. 5, there is an invitation +to the Gentile world, and that, in ver. 4, too, the Gentile world, in the widest +sense, is to be thought of.</p> +<p class="normal">After the promise, there follows, in vers. 6–13, the admonition +to repentance based upon it. Repent ye, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand, vers. +6, 7. Do not doubt that the Kingdom of heaven is at hand, because it does not seem +probable to you. For the counsels of God go beyond all the thoughts of men; and, +therefore. He and His work must not be judged by a human measure, vers. 8, 9. With +Him, word and deed are inseparably connected, vers. 10, 11. This will be manifested +in your redemption and glorification, vers. 12, 13.</p> +<hr class="ftn"> +<div class="ftn"> + <p class="ftnText"><a name="ftn_350a" href="#ftnRef_350a"> + <sup class="ftnRef">[1]</sup></a> <i>Vitringa</i> already remarked in opposition + to it: "This exposition is rather far fetched, and is the weakest of all that + can be advanced. I add, that the constancy of the promises given to David does + not appear, if we exclude the Kingdom of the Messiah. But are any other promises + of constant and eternal blessings, such as are here promised, to be thought + of?"</p> +</div> +<hr class="W20"> +<h3><a name="div2_351" href="#div2Ref_351">THE PROPHECY--CHAP. LXI. 1–3.</a></h3> +<p class="normal">As in chaps. xlix. and l., so here, the Servant of God is introduced +as speaking, and announces to the Church what a glorious office the Lord had bestowed +upon Him, namely, to deliver them from the misery in which they had hitherto been +lying, and to work a wonderful change in their condition. In vers. 4–9, the Prophet +takes the word, and describes the salvation to be bestowed by the Servant of God. +In vers. 10 and 11, the Church appears, and expresses her joy and gratitude.</p> +<p class="normal">According to the Jewish and Rationalistic interpreters, the Prophet +himself is supposed to be speaking in vers. 1–3. That opinion was last expressed +by <i>Knobel</i>: "The author places before his promises a remembrance of his vocation +as a preacher of consolation." In favour of the Messianic interpretation, in which +our Lord himself preceded His Church (Luke iv. 17–19), are conclusive, not only +the parallel passages, but also the contents of the prophecy itself, which go far +beyond the prophetic territory, and the human territory generally. The speaker designates +himself as He who is called, not merely to announce the highest blessings to the +Church, <span class="pagenum">[Pg 352]</span> but actually to grant them. He does +not represent himself as a mere Evangelist, but rather as a Saviour.</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 1. "<i>The Spirit of the Lord Jehovah is upon me, because +the Lord hath anointed me to preach glad tidings unto the meek; He hath sent me +to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and opening +to them that are bound.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">On the words: "The Spirit of the Lord Jehovah is upon me," compare +chap. xi. 2, xlii. 1. <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">יען</span> always means "because +of" The whole succeeding clause stands instead of a noun, so that, in substance, +"because of" is equivalent to "because;" but it never can mean "therefore." Nor +would the latter signification afford a good sense. The verb +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">משח</span> must, in that case, be subjected to arbitrary +explanations. The anointing, whether it occurs as a symbolical action really carried +out, or as a mere figure, is always a designation of the gifts of the Holy Spirit; +compare 1 Sam. x. 1, xvi. 13, 14, and remarks on Dan. ix. 24. Since, then, the anointing +is identical with the bestowal of the Spirit, the words: "because the Lord hath +anointed me" must not be isolated, but must be understood in close connection with +the subsequent words; so that the sense is: And He hath, for this reason, endowed +me with His Spirit, in order that I may preach good tidings, &c. The +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ענוים</span> are the +<span lang="el" class="Greek">πρᾳεῖς</span> in Matt. v. 5; +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">עני</span> and <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ענו</span> +are never confounded with one another. The LXX., whom Luke follows, have +<span lang="el" class="Greek">πτωχοῖς</span>. This rendering does not differ so +much from the original text as to make it appear expedient to give up the version +at that time received. In the world of sin, the meek are, at the same time, those +who are suffering; and the glad tidings which imply a contrast to their misery, +show that, here especially, the meek are to be conceived of as sufferers. The +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ענוים</span>, in contrast to the wicked, appear, +in chap. xi. also, as the people of the Messiah.--"The binding up"--<i>Stier</i> +remarks--"already passes over into the actual bestowal of that which is announced." +The term <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">קרא דרור</span> is taken from the Jubilee +year, which was a year of general deliverance for all those who, on account of debts, +had become slaves; compare Lev. xxv. 10: "And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, +and proclaim liberty throughout the land for all the inhabitants thereof; it shall +be a jubilee year unto you, and ye <span class="pagenum">[pg 353]</span> shall return +every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family." Such +a great year of liberty is both to be proclaimed and to be brought about by the +Servant of God. For He does not announce any thing which He does not, at the same +time, grant, as is clearly shown by ver. 3. His saying is based upon His being and +nature; He delivers from the service of the world, and brings into the glorious +liberty of the children of God.--Most of the modern interpreters agree with the +ancient versions in declaring it to be wrong to divide the word +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">פקחקוח</span>, although this writing is found in +most of the manuscripts. The word is, "by its form of reduplication, the most emphatic +term for the most complete opening," and designates, "opening, unclosing of every +kind, of the eyes, ears, and heart, of every barrier and tie from within, or from +without." The LXX., proceeding upon the fact that <span lang="he" class="Hebrew"> +פקח</span> occurs, with especial frequency, of the opening of the eyes, translate: +<span lang="el" class="Greek">καὶ τυφλοι̂ς ἀνάβλεψιν</span>. Luke does not wish +to set aside this version, because it gives one feature of the sense; and partly +also because of the close resemblance to the parallel passage, chap. xlii. 7, which, +in this way, was brought in and connected with the passage under consideration. +But since outward deliverance and redemption are, in the first instance, to be thought +of, when opening to the captives is spoken of, be, in order to complete the sense, +adds: <span lang="el" class="Greek">ἀποστεῖλαι τεθραυσμένους ἐν ἀφέσει</span>, borrowing +the expression from the Alexand. Vers. itself in chap. lviii. 6.</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 2. "<i>To proclaim a year of acceptance to the Lord, and +a day of vengeance to our God, to comfort all that mourn.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">"A year ... to the Lord" is a year when the Lord shows himself +gracious and merciful to His people; compare chap. xlix. 8. The words farther still +allude to the Jubilee year; and it is in consequence of this allusion, that we can +account for its being a <i>year</i> instead of a <i>time</i>, indefinitely. In that +year, a complete <i>restitutio in integrum</i> took place. It was, for all in misery, +a year of mercy, a type of the times of refreshing (Acts iii. 19) which the Lord +grants to His Church, after it has been exercised by the Cross. Hand in hand with +the year of mercy goes the day of vengeance. When the Lord shows mercy to the meek, +and to them that mourn, this shall, at the same time, be accompanied by a manifestation +of anger <span class="pagenum">[Pg 354]</span> against the enemies of God, and of +His Church. The one cannot be thought of without the other. The mercy of the Lord +towards His people is, among other things also, manifested in His sitting in judgment +upon His and their enemies, upon the proud world which afflicts and oppresses them. +It is only in this respect that the vengeance here comes into consideration; and +it is for this reason also, that the first feature at once reappears in the third +verse. The Lord, in quoting the verse, limits himself to the first clause, "His +first coming into the world was in the form of meekness," and, therefore, in the +meantime, the bright side only is brought out.</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 3. "<i>To put upon them that mourn in Zion,--to give them +a crown for ashes, oil of joy for mourning, garment of praise for a spirit of heaviness; +and they shall be called terebinths of righteousness, planting of the Lord for glorifying.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">It is in this verse that it comes clearly out, that the speaker +is not merely to announce the mercy of God, but, at the same time, to bestow it; +that the announcement is not an empty one, but one which brings along with it that +which is promised; that it is not a Prophet or Evangelist who speaks, but the Saviour. +Such a change cannot be effected by merely <i>announcing</i> it. Everywhere, in +the second part, it is brought about, not by words, but by deeds. How were it possible +that by mere words, as long as the reality stood in glaring contrast to them, the +believers could become terebinths of righteousness, a glorious planting of the Lord?--The +connection of the two verbs <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">שום</span> and +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">נתן</span> is to be accounted for from the circumstance, +that the pronoun suited the first noun only--the ornament for the head. It is only +when <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">שום</span> is understood in the sense, "to put +upon," or, "to put on," that there is a sufficient reason for adding +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">נתן</span>; but that is not the case when it is taken +in the signification "to grant," "to appoint." <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">פאר</span> +"crown," and <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">אפר</span> "ashes," are connected with +one another, because mourners were accustomed to strew ashes on their heads. The +expression "oil of joy," which is to be explained from the custom of people anointing +themselves with oil in cases of joy, is taken from Ps. xlv. 8. As the Messiah there +appears as the possessor of the oil of joy, so, here, He appears as the bestower. +In chap. lv. 3, there is <span class="pagenum">[Pg 355]</span> likewise an allusion +to Ps. xlv., and along with it, to Ps. xxii. The "spirit of heaviness" refers to +chap. xlii. 3. The fact that, instead of it, they receive "garments of praise," +intimates that they shall be altogether clothed with praise, songs of praise for +the divine goodness which manifested itself in them; on the garments as symbols +of the condition, compare remarks on Rev. vii. 14. The "righteousness" which is +appropriate to the spiritual terebinths, is the actual justification, which the +Lord grants to His people at the appearance of the Messiah. There is in it an allusion +to the planting of paradise; God now prepares for himself a new paradisaical plantation, +consisting of living trees.</p> +<p class="continue"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 356]</span></p> +<h2><a name="div1_356" href="#div1Ref_356">THE PROPHET ZEPHANIAH.</a></h2> +<hr class="W20"> + +<p class="normal">By the inscription, the Prophet's origin is, in a way rather uncommon, +traced back to his fourth ancestor, Hezekiah,--no doubt the king. He appeared as +a prophet under the reign of Josiah--before the time, however, at which the reforms +of that king had attained their completion, which took place in the 18th year of +his reign--and, hence, prophesied, like his predecessor Habakkuk, in the view of +the Chaldean catastrophe. The prophecy begins with threatening judgment upon the +sinners, and closes with announcing salvation to the believers,--a circumstance +which proves that it forms one whole. The threatening is distinguished from that +of Habakkuk by the circumstance, that it has more of a general comprehensive character, +and does not, as is done in Habakkuk, view the Chaldean catastrophe as a particular +historical event. It is not an incidental circumstance, that the Chaldeans are not +expressly mentioned by Zephaniah, as is done by Habakkuk, and was done by Isaiah. +The Prophet can, therefore, have had them in view as being, <i>in the first instance</i> +only, the instruments of Divine punishment.</p> +<p class="normal">The prophecy begins, in chap. i. 2, 3, with announcing the judgment +impending over the whole world. Then, the Prophet shows how it manifests itself +in Judah; first, in general outlines, vers. 4–7; then, in detail, vers. 8–18. In +close connection, this is followed by a call to repent, in chap. ii. 1–3. This call +is founded on the fearful character of the impending judgment which, according to +vers. 4–15, will be inflicted not only upon Judah, but also upon the world, and +will especially bring destruction upon all the neighbouring nations: in the +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 357]</span> West, upon the Philistines; in the East, upon +Ammon and Moab; in the South, on Cush; in the North, upon Nineveh, upon whose destruction +the Prophet especially dwells, since, up to that time, it had been the bearer of +the world's power.</p> +<p class="normal">In chap. iii., in the first instance, the threatening against +Judah is resumed. Apostate Jerusalem, corrupt in its head and members, irresistibly +hastens on towards judgment. But, notwithstanding, "the afflicted and poor people +of the land" shall not despair. On the contrary, as salvation cannot proceed from +the midst of the people, they are to put their trust in the Lord. By His judgments +(viz., those declared in chap. ii., which at last shall bring forth the peaceable +fruits of righteousness, compare Isa. xxvi. 9: "For when thy judgments are in the +earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness") will He break the pride +of the Gentile world, and bring about their conversion,--and the converted Gentile +world will bring back to Jerusalem the scattered Congregation. Being purified and +justified, it will then enjoy the full mercy of the Lord.</p> +<p class="normal">The principal passage is chap. iii. 8–13.</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 8. "<i>Therefore wait ye upon me, saith the Lord, until the +day that I rise up to the prey; for my right is</i> (<i>i.e.</i>, the exercise of +my right consists in this) <i>to gather the nations, and to assemble the kingdoms, +to pour out upon them mine indignation, all the heat of mine anger; for all the +earth shall be devoured by the fire of my jealousy.</i> Ver. 9. <i>For then will +I turn unto the nations a clean lip, that they may all call upon the name of the +Lord, to serve Him with one shoulder.</i> Ver. 10. <i>From beyond the rivers of +Ethiopia shall they bring my suppliants, the daughter of my dispersed for a meat-offering +to me.</i> Ver. 11. <i>In that day shall thou not be ashamed for all thy doings +wherein thou hast transgressed against me; for then will I take away out of the +midst of thee them that proudly rejoice in thee, and thou shall no more be haughty +on mine holy mountain.</i> Ver. 12. <i>And I leave in the midst of thee an afflicted +and poor people, and they trust in the name of the Lord.</i> Ver. 13. <i>The remnant +of Israel shall not do iniquity nor speak lies; neither shall a deceitful tongue +be found in their mouth; for they shall feed and lie down, and none shall make them +afraid.</i>"</p> +<p class="continue"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 358]</span></p> +<p class="normal">Zephaniah, who opens the series of the prophets who are preeminently +dependent upon other prophets, just as Habakkuk closes the series of those pre-eminently +independent, leans, in this section, chiefly upon Isaiah; and it is from this circumstance +that it appears, that the person of the Messiah, although not appearing here, stands +in the background and forms the invisible centre.</p> +<p class="normal">"<i>Therefore</i>" ver. 8: Since the salvation cannot proceed +from the midst of the people, inasmuch as, in the way of their works, they receive +nothing but destructive punishment. On the words: "Wait ye upon me," compare Hab. +ii. 3. "The day that the Lord rises up to the prey" is the time when He will begin +His great triumphal march against the Gentile world. With the words: "For my right," +&c., a new argument for the call "Wait ye upon me," commences. But this does not +by any means close with the 8th verse, but goes on to the end of ver. 10. First: +Wait, for I will judge the nations. It is not without meaning that, as regards your +hope, I refer you to the judgment upon the Gentiles; for, in consequence of this +judgment, their conversion will take place, and a consequence of their conversion +is, that they bring back to Zion her scattered members. In the thought, that the +judgments upon the Gentile world will break their hardness of heart, and prepare +them for their conversion, Zephaniah follows Isaiah, who, <i>e.g.</i> in chap. xix., +exemplifies it in the case of Egypt, and in chap. xxiii. in that of Tyre. The bruised +reed and the faintly burning wick is not merely a designation of the single individuals +who have been endowed with the right disposition for the kingdom of God, but of +whole nations. "The clean lip" in ver. 9 forms the contrast to the unclean lips +in Is. vi. With unclean lips they had, in the time of the long-suffering of God, +invoked their idols, Ps. xvi. 4. On the words: "To serve Him with one shoulder," +comp. Is. xix. 23: "And Egypt serves with Asshur." The words: "From beyond the rivers +of Ethiopia," in ver. 10, rest on Is. xviii. 1. In both of the passages, Ethiopia +is the type of the whole Gentile world to be converted in future. In Is. xviii. +Ethiopia offers itself and all which it has to the Lord; here it brings the scattered +members of the community of the Israelitish people to the Kingdom of God. +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">עתר</span> always means "to supplicate," +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 359]</span> never "to burn incense." Ezek. viii. 11 must +thus be translated: "Every man, his censer in his hand, and the <i>supplication</i> +of the cloud of incense went up;"<!--inserted quote--> compare remarks on Rev. v. +8. The dispersed members of the Church <i>supplicate</i> that the Lord would again +receive them into His communion (compare Hos. xiv. 3; Jer. xxxi. 9, 18; Zech. xii. +10); and these supplications cannot remain without an answer, since they from whom +they proceed stand in a close relation to the Lord. "The daughter of my dispersed" +is the daughter or communion, consisting of the dispersed of the Lord, just as in +the phrase "the daughter of the Chaldeans," the Chaldeans themselves are the daughter +or virgin. The designation, in itself, plainly suggests the dispersed members of +the old Congregation, inasmuch as they only can be designated as the dispersed of +the Lord. To this, moreover, must be added the reference to Deut. iv. 27: "And the +Lord <i>disperses</i> you among the nations;" xxviii. 64: "And the Lord <i>disperses</i> +thee among all the nations from the one end of the earth even unto the other,"--an +announcement which, at the time of Zephaniah, had already been fulfilled upon the +ten tribes, and the fulfilment of which was soon to commence upon Judah. It is only +when the members of the old Congregation are understood by the suppliants and dispersed, +that the call, "Wait ye upon me" is here established and confirmed. The offering +of the meat-offering signifies, in the symbolism of the Mosaic law, diligence in +good works, such as is to be peculiar to the redeemed. A single manifestation of +it is the missionary zeal which is here shown by the converted Gentiles.</p> +<p class="normal">In harmony with the Song of Solomon, Isaiah announces in several +passages, that the converted Gentiles shall, at some future period, labour for the +restoration of Israel; compare the remarks on Is. xi. 12. Zephaniah here specially +refers to the remarkable passage, Is. lxvi. 18–21, which we must here subject to +a somewhat closer examination: Ver. 18. "And I ... their works and their thoughts; +<i>the time cometh to gather</i> all Gentiles and tongues, and they come and <i> +see</i> my glory." The first hemistich still belongs to the threatening. The holy +God and unholy men, the unholy members of the Church to which the Lord spake: "Ye +shall be holy, for I am holy," and their sinful thoughts and words are simply placed +beside one another, <span class="pagenum">[Pg 360]</span> other, and it is left +to every one to draw from it the inference as to the fate awaiting them. "I and +their works"--what an immense contrast, a contrast which must be adjusted by the +judgment! With the threatening, the Prophet then connects, by a suitable contrast +to the rejection of a great part of the covenant-people, the calling of the Gentiles. +The glory of the Lord, which the Gentiles see, is His glory which, up to that time, +was concealed, but is now manifested; compare Is. xl. 5, lx. 2, lii. 10, liii. 1. +Ver. 19. "And I set a sign among them, and send from among them escaped ones unto +the nations, to Tarshish, &c., to the isles afar off that have not heard my fame, +neither have seen my glory, and they declare my glory among the Gentiles,"--The +suffix in <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">בהם</span> can refer to those only from +among the nations and tongues who have come and seen the glory of God. They are +sent out to bring the message of the living God, the message of salvation to those +also who hitherto have not come. By the demonstration of the Spirit and power, they +are marked out as blessed of the Lord, as His servants, separated from the world +given up to destruction. Just as the wicked, the servants of the prince of this +world, have their <i>mark</i>, Gen. iv. 50, so have the servants of God theirs also, +which may be recognised by all who are well disposed. It is only by one's own fault, +and at one's own risk, that the sign is not understood. The fact that "unto the +nations" forms the beginning, and the "isles afar off"--isles in the sea of the +world, kingdoms--the close, shows that the single names, Tarshish, &c., are only +individualizations. In the following verse, too, all the heathens are spoken of +Ver. 20: "And they bring, out of all nations, your brethren for a meat-offering +unto the Lord, upon horses, &c., to my holy mountain to Jerusalem, as the children +of Israel bring the meat-offering in a clean vessel unto the house of the Lord." +It is in this verse that it clearly appears, that Zephaniah depends upon it; and +it is by the offering of the spiritual meat-offering that his dependence is recognized. +The subject in "they bring" is the Gentiles, to whom the message of salvation has +been brought. They, having themselves attained salvation, offer to the Lord, as +a meat-offering, the former members of His Kingdom who were separated from it. It +is they, not the Gentiles who have become believers, who in the second +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 361]</span> part of Isaiah, are throughout designated +as the <i>brethren</i>. Salvation is first to pass from Israel to the Gentiles, +and shall then, from them, return to Israel. The two verses before us thus contain +a sanction for the mission among the heathens and among Israel. Vers. 18 and 19 +divide the conversion of the Gentiles into two main stations; it is only when the +Church has arrived at the second, that the missionary work among Israel will fully +thrive and prosper. To the <i>clean vessel</i> in which the outward sacrifice was +offered, correspond the faith and love with which they, who were formerly heathens, +offer the spiritual meat-offering. Ver. 21: "And of them also will I take for Levitical +priests, saith the Lord." Of them, <i>i.e.</i>, of those who formerly were heathens; +for it is to them that, in the words preceding, a priestly function, viz., the offering +of the meat-offering, is assigned. Of them <i>also</i>; not merely from among the +old covenant-people, to whom, under the former dispensation, the priestly office +was limited. The fact that the priests are designated as Levitical priests, is intended +to keep out the thought that the point in question related only to priests in a +lower sense, beside whom the Levitical priesthood, attached to natural descent, +would continue to exist in full vigour. Priests with full dignities and rights are +here so much the more required, that, according to what precedes, the point in question +does not refer merely to a personal relation to the Lord, to immediate access to +the throne of grace, but to the priestly office proper.</p> +<p class="normal">Vers. 11–13 describe the internal condition of the redeemed Church +of the future,--a condition so different from the present one. The expression, "they +that proudly rejoice in them," is from Is. xiii. 3. +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">כי</span> in ver. 13 is to be accounted for from +the fact, that wherever there exists the blessing promised by the Law of God (Lev. +xxvi. 6) to faithfulness, faithfulness itself must exist.</p> +<p class="normal">In ver. 14 ff., the Jerusalem of the future is addressed; compare +the expression, "at that time," ver. 20.</p> +<p class="continue"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 362]</span></p> +<h3><a name="div1_362" href="#div1Ref_362">THE PROPHET JEREMIAH.</a></h3> +<h4><a name="div2_362" href="#div2Ref_362">GENERAL PRELIMINARY REMARKS.</a></h4> +<p class="normal">In Malachi iii. 1, the Lord promises that He would send His messenger +who should prepare the way before <i>Him</i>, who was to come to His temple, judging +and punishing; vers. 23, 24 (iv. 5, 6): that before the coming of His great and +dreadful day, before He smites the land with a curse, He would send another Elijah, +who should bring back the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of +the children to their fathers. Even before this prophecy was expressed in words, +it had <i>actually</i> been given in the existence of Jeremiah, who, during the +whole long period of forty-one years, before the destruction, announced the judgments +of the Lord,--who, with burning zeal and ardent love to the people, preached repentance,--and +who, even after the destruction, sought the small remnant that had been left, and +was anxious to secure it against the new day of the Lord, which, by its obstinate +impenitence, it was drawing down upon itself. It is this typical relation of Jeremiah +to John the Baptist and Christ, of which the Jewish tradition had an anticipation, +although it misunderstood and expressed it in a gross, outward manner, by teaching +that, at the end of days, Jeremiah would again appear on earth,--it is this, which +invests with a peculiar charm the contemplation of his ministry, and the study of +his prophecies.</p> +<p class="normal">The name of the Prophet is to be explained from Exod. xv. 1, from +which it is probably taken. It signifies "The Lord throws." He who bore it was consecrated +to that God who with an almighty hand throws to the ground all His enemies. From +chap. i. 10: "See, I set thee to-day over the nations <span class="pagenum">[Pg +363]</span> and over the kingdoms, to root out and to pull down, to destroy and +to throw down, to build and to plant," it appears that it was by a dispensation +of divine providence, that the Prophet bore this name with full right, and that +the character of his mission is thereby designated. The judging and destructive +activity which the Prophet, as an instrument of God, is to exercise, is here not +only placed at the commencement, but four appellations are also devoted to it, whilst +only two are devoted to his healing and planting activity. As the object of the +<i>throwing</i>, we have to conceive, not of the unfaithful covenant-people only. +This appears from the mention of the <i>nations and kingdoms</i> here, and farther, +from ver. 14, where the Lord says to the Prophet: "Out of the North the evil breaks +forth upon all the inhabitants of the earth." To be the herald of the judgment to +be executed upon the whole world by the Chaldeans, was so much the destiny of the +Prophet, that, in chap. i. 3, the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in which this judgment +was brought to a close, as far as Judah was concerned, is mentioned as the closing +point of his ministry. The Prophet, as is reported by the book itself, still continued +his ministry even among the remnant of the people; but that is lost sight of The +"carrying away of Jerusalem" is treated as the great closing point; just as, in +a manner altogether similar, it is, in the case of Daniel, in chap. i. 21, the year +of Israel's deliverance, although, according to chap. x. 1, his prophetic ministry +extended beyond that period.</p> +<p class="normal">Jeremiah was called to his office when still a youth, in the 13th +year of king Josiah, and hence one year after the first reformation of this king, +who, as early as in the 16th year of his life, and the 8th of his reign, which lasted +31 years, began to seek the Lord. A king such as he, unto whom no king before him +was like, who turned to the Lord with all his heart, and with all his soul, and +with all his might, (2 Kings xxiii. 25), in the midst of an evil and adulterous +generation, is a remarkable phenomenon, as little conceivable from natural causes +as the existence of Melchizedec without father, without descent--isolated from all +natural development--in the midst of the Canaanites who, with rapid strides and +irresistibly, hastened on to the completion of their sin. His existence has the +same root as that of Jeremiah,--a fact which becomes the <span class="pagenum">[Pg +364]</span> more evident when we take into consideration the connection of the Regal +and Prophetical offices in Christ for the salvation of the people hastening anew +to its destruction, and the faithfulness of the Covenant-God, and His long-suffering +which makes every effort to lead the apostate children to repentance. The zeal of +both, of Josiah and Jeremiah,--although supported by manifold assistance from other +quarters, as <i>e.g.</i> by the prophetess Huldah and the prophet Zephaniah--was +unable to stem the tide of prevailing corruption, and, hence, to stop the tide of +the divine judgments. The corruption was so deeply rooted, that only single individuals +could be saved, like brands from the burning. It had made fearful progress under +the protracted reign of Manasseh, whose disposition must be regarded as a product +of the spirit of the time then prevailing, of which he must not be considered as +the creator, but as the representative only, 2 Kings xxiii. 26, 27, xxiv. 3, 4. +The scanty fruits of his late conversion had been again entirely consumed under +the short reign of his wicked son Amon; it had indeed so little of a comprehensive +or lasting influence, that the author of the Book of Kings thought himself entitled +altogether to pass it over. It was even difficult to put limits to outward idolatry; +and how imperfectly he succeeded in this, is seen from the prophecies of Jeremiah +uttered after the reformation. And even where he was successful in his efforts; +even where an emotion was manifested, a wish to return to the living fountain which +they had forsaken, even there, the corruption soon broke forth again, only in a +different form. With deep grief, Jeremiah reprovingly reminds the people of this, +whose righteousness was like the morning dew, in chap. iii. 4, 5: "Hast thou not +but lately called me: My Father, friend of my youth, thou? Will He reserve His anger +for ever, will He keep it to the end? Behold, thus thou spakest, and soon thou didst +the evil, didst accomplish"--an <i>accomplishment</i> quite different from that +of the ancestor. Gen. xxxii. 29. Since the disease had not been healed, but had +only been driven out from one part of the diseased organism, the foolish inclination +to idolatry was followed by as foolish a confidence in the miserable righteousness +by works, in the divine election,--the offering up of sacrifices, &c., being considered +as the sole condition of its validity. "Trust ye not in lying words"--so +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 365]</span> the Prophet is obliged to admonish them in +chap. vii. 4--"saying, The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple +of the Lord are they" (the people imagined that they could not be destroyed, because +the Lord had, according to their opinion, for ever established His residence among +them; compare 1 Cor. iii. 17; 1 Tim. iii. 15). "Thou sayest, I am innocent; His +anger hath entirely turned from me; behold I plead with thee, because thou sayest: +I have not sinned," chap. ii. 35. "To what purpose shall there come for me incense +from Sheba, and sweet cane, the goodly, from a far country? Your burnt-offerings +are not acceptable, nor your sacrifices pleasant unto me," chap. vi. 20. Towards +the end of Josiah's reign, the approaching judgment of God upon Judah became more +perceptible. The former Asiatic dominion of the Assyrians passed over entirely to +the Chaldeans, whose fresh and youthful strength so much the more threatened Judah +with destruction, that from the Assyrians they had inherited the enmity to Egypt, +on account of which Judah obtained great importance in their eyes. According to +the announcement of the prophets generally, and of Jeremiah especially, who, at +his very vocation, had it assigned to him as his main task to announce the calamity +from the North, it was by the Chaldeans that the deadly stroke should be inflicted +upon the people implicated in the conflicts of these hostile powers; but it was +the Egyptians who inflicted upon them the first severe wound. Josiah fell in the +battle with Pharaoh Necho. The people, conscious of guilt, were, by his death, filled +with a fearful expectation of the things that were to come. They had forebodings +that they were now standing at the boundary line where grace and anger separate +(compare remarks on Zech. xii. 11); and these forebodings were soon converted into +bitter certainty by experience. Jehoiakim ascended the throne, after Jehoahaz or +Shall um, had, after a short reign, been carried away by the Egyptians. He stood +to his father Josiah in just the same relation as did the people to God, in reference +to the mercy which He had offered to them in Josiah. A more glaring contrast (see +its exhibition in chap. xxii.) can hardly be imagined. Throughout, Jehoiakim shows +himself to be entirely destitute not only of love to God, but also of the fear of +God; he furnishes the complete image of a king whom God had given in anger. He +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 366]</span> is a blood-thirsty tyrant, an exasperated +enemy to truth. At the beginning of his reign, some influence of Josiah's spirit +is still seen. The priests and false prophets, rightly understanding the signs of +the time, came forward with the manifestation of their long restrained hatred against +Jeremiah, in whom they hate their own conscience. They bring against him a charge +of life and death, because he had prophesied destruction to the city and temple; +but the rulers of the people acquit him, chap. xxvi. This influence, however, soon +ceased. The king became the centre around whom gathered all that was ungodly, which, +under Josiah, had timorously withdrawn into concealment. Soon it became a power, +a torrent overflowing the whole country; and that the more easily, the weaker were +the dams which still existed from the time of Josiah. One of the first victims for +truth who fell, was the prophet Urijah. The king, imagining that he was able to +kill truth itself in those who proclaimed it, could not bear the thought that he +was still living, although it was in distant Egypt, and caused him to be brought +thence (see l. c). The fact that Jeremiah escaped every danger of death during the +eleven years of this king's reign, although he ever anew threatened death to the +king and destruction to the people, was a constant miracle, a glorious fulfilment +of the divine promise given to him when he was called (i. 19): "They shall fight +against thee, and they shall not prevail against thee; for I am with thee, saith +<i>the Lord</i>, to deliver thee." The threatened divine punishment advanced, under +Jehoiakim, several steps towards its completion. In the fourth year of his reign, +Jerusalem was, for the first time, taken by the Chaldeans (compare "<i>Dissertations +on the Genuineness of Daniel</i>," p. 45 ff.), after the power of the Egyptian Empire +had been for ever broken by the battle at Carchemish on the Euphrates. The victor +this time acted with tolerable mildness; the sin of the people was to appear in +its full light by the circumstance, that God gave them time for repentance, and +did not at once proceed to the utmost rigour, but advanced, step by step, in His +judgments. But here too it was seen that crime, in its highest degree, becomes madness; +the more nearly that people and king approached the abyss, the greater became the +speed with which they hastened towards it. It is true that they +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 367]</span> did not remain altogether insensible when +the threatenings of the Prophet began to be fulfilled. This is seen from the day +of fasting and repentance which was appointed in remembrance of the first capture +by the Chaldeans (compare "<i>Dissertations on the Genuineness of Daniel</i>," p. +49); but fleeting emotions cannot stop the course of sin. Soon it became worse than +it had been before; and therefore the divine judgments also reached a new station. +Even political wisdom advised the king quietly to submit to dependence on the Chaldeans, +which was, comparatively, little oppressive. It was obvious that, unsupported, he +could effect nothing against the Chaldean power; and, to the <i>unprejudiced</i> +eye, it was as obvious that the Egyptians could not help him; and even had it been +possible, he would only have changed masters. But, according to the counsel of God, +who takes away the understanding of the wise, these political reasons, obvious though +they were, should not exercise any influence upon him, because his obdurate heart +prevented him from listening to the religious arguments which Jeremiah brought before +him. <i>Melancthon</i> (opp. ii., p. 407 ff.) points it out as a remarkable circumstance +that, while other prophets, <i>e.g.</i>, Samuel, Elisha, Isaiah, exhort to a vigorous +opposition to the enemies, and, in that case, promise divine assistance, yea that, +to some extent, they even took an active part in the deliverance, Jeremiah, on the +other hand, always preaches unconditional submission. The issue, which is as different +as the advice, shows that this difference has not, by any means, its foundation +in the persons, but in the state of things. The seventy years of Chaldean servitude +were irrevocably decreed upon Judah; even the exact statement of years, which else +is so uncommon in reference to the fate of the covenant-people, shows how firm and +determined was that decree. They had altogether, and more fully than at any other +time, given themselves over to the internal power of heathenism; according to a +divine necessity, they must therefore also be given over to the external power of +the heathen, both for punishment and reform. God himself could not change that decree, +for it rested on His nature. Hence, it would be in vain though even the greatest +intercessors, Moses and Samuel, should stand before Him, Jer. xv. 1 ff. Intercessory +prayer can be effectual, only if it be offered in <span class="pagenum">[Pg 368]</span> +the name of God. But if such were the case, how foolish was it to rebel against +the Chaldean power; to attempt to remove the effect, while they allowed the cause +to remain; to stop the brook, while the source still continued to send forth its +waters. It would have been foolish, even if the relative power of the Jews and Chaldeans +had been altogether reversed. For when the Lord sells a people, one can chase a +thousand, and two can put ten thousand to flight (Deut. xxxii. 30). But the shepherd +of the people had become a fool, and did not enquire after the Lord. He could not, +therefore, act wisely; and the whole flock was scattered, Jer. x. 21. Jehoiakim +rebelled against the Chaldeans, and for some years he was allowed to continue in +the delusion of having acted very wisely, for Nebuchadnezzar had more important +things to mind and to settle. But then he went up against Jerusalem, and put an +end to his reign and life, Jer. xxii. 1–12; 2 Kings xxiv. 2; "<i>Dissertations on +the Genuineness of Daniel</i>," p. 49. As yet, the long-suffering of God, and, hence, +the patience of the Chaldeans, were not at an end. Jehoiachin or Jeconiah was raised +to the throne of his father. Even the short reign of three months gave to the youth +sufficient occasion to manifest the wickedness of his heart, and his enmity to God. +Suspicions against his fidelity arose; a Chaldean army anew entered the city, and +carried away the king, and, along with him, the great mass of the people. This was +the first great deportation. In the providence of God it was so arranged that, among +those who were carried away, there was the very flower of the nation. The apparent +suffering was to them a blessing. They were, for their good, sent away from the +place over which the storms of God's anger were soon to discharge themselves, into +the land of the Chaldeans, and formed there the nucleus for the Kingdom of God, +in its impending new form, Jer. xxiv. Nothing now seemed to stand in the way of +the divine judgment upon the wicked mass that had been left behind, like bad figs +that no one can eat for badness,--they whom the Lord had threatened that He would +give them over to hurt and calamity in all the kingdoms of the earth, to reproach, +and a proverb, and a taunt, and a curse, in all places whither He would drive them, +Jer. xxiv. 9. And still the Lord was waiting before He carried out this +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 369]</span> threatening, and smote the land to cursing. +Mattaniah or Zedekiah, the son of Josiah, the uncle of Jehoiachin, who was given +to them for a king, might, at least partially, have averted the evil. But he too +had to learn that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. From various +quarters, attempts have been made to exculpate him, on the plea that his fault was +only weakness, which made him the tool of a corrupt party; but Scripture forms a +different estimate of him, and he who looks deeper will find its judgment to be +correct,--will be able to grant to him that preference only over Jehoiakim which +<i>C. B. Michaelis</i> assigned to him in the words: "Jehoiakim was of an obdurate +and wild disposition; Zedekiah had some fear of God, although it was a servile, +hypocritical fear, but Jehoiakim had none at all." And even this preference, when +more narrowly examined, amounts to nothing, for it belongs to nature, and not to +grace. Whether corruption manifests itself as weakness, or as a carnal, powerful +opposition to divine truth, is accidental, and depends upon the diversity of mental +and bodily organization. The fact that Zedekiah did not altogether put away from +himself the truth and its messengers (<i>Dahler</i> remarks: "He respected the Prophet, +without having the power of following his advice; he even protected his life against +his persecutors, but he did not venture to secure him against their vexation") cannot +be put down to his credit; <i>he was, against his will, forced to do so</i>; and +indeed he could not resist a powerful impression of any kind. In a man of Jehoiakim's +character, the same measure of the fear of God would induce us to mitigate our opinion; +for in such a one it could not exist without some support from within. Confiding +in the help of the neighbouring nations, especially the Egyptians; persuaded by +the false prophets and the nobles; himself seized by that spirit of giddiness and +intoxication which, with irresistible power, carried away the people to the abyss, +Zedekiah broke the holy oath which he had sworn to the Chaldeans, and, after an +obstinate resistance, Jerusalem was taken and destroyed. As yet, the long suffering +of God, and, hence, also that of man, was not <i>altogether</i> at an end. The conquerors +left a comparatively small portion of the inhabitants in the land. The grace of +God gave them Gedaliah, an excellent man, for their civil superior, and Jeremiah +for their ecclesiastical <span class="pagenum">[Pg 370]</span> superior. The latter +preferred to remain in the smoking ruins, rather than follow the brilliant promises +of the Chaldeans, and was willing to persevere to the last in the discharge of his +duty, although he was by this time far advanced in life, and oppressed with deep +grief But it appears as if the people had been bent upon emptying, to the last drop, +the cup of divine wrath. Gedaliah is assassinated. Even those who did not partake +in the crime fled to Egypt, disregarding the word of the Lord through the Prophet, +who announced a curse upon them if they fled, but a blessing if they remained.</p> +<p class="normal">What the Prophet had to suffer under such circumstances, one may +easily imagine even without consulting history. Even although he had remained free +from all personal vexations and attacks, it could not but be an immeasurable grief +to him to dwell in the midst of such a generation, to see their corruption increasing +more and more, to see the abyss coming nearer and nearer, to find all his faithful +warnings unheeded, and his whole ministry in vain, at least as far as the mass of +the people were concerned. "O that they would give me in the wilderness a lodging-place +for wayfaring men"--so he speaks as early as under Josiah, chap. ix. 1 (2)--"and +I would leave my people and go from them; for they are all adulterer, an assembly +of treacherous men." But from these personal vexations and attacks, he neither was, +nor could be exempted. Mockery, hatred, calumny, ignominy, curses, imprisonment, +bonds were his portion. To bear such a burden would have been difficult to any man, +but most of all to a man of his disposition. "The more tender the heart, the deeper +the smart." He was not a second Elijah; he had a soft disposition, a lively sensibility; +his eyes were easily filled with tears. And he who would have liked so much to live +in peace and love with all, having entered into the service of truth, was obliged +to become a second Ishmael, his hand against every man, and every man's hand against +him. He who so ardently loved his people, must see this love misconstrued and rejected; +must see himself branded as a traitor to the people, by those men who were themselves +traitors. All these things were to him the cause of violent struggles and conflicts, +which he candidly lays before us in various passages, especially in chap. xii. and +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 371]</span> xx., because, by the victory, the Lord, who +alone could give it, was glorified.</p> +<p class="normal">He was sustained by inward consolations, by wonderful deliverances, +by the remarkable fulfilment of his prophecies which he himself lived to witness; +but especially by the circumstance that the Lord caused him to behold His future +salvation with the same clearness as His judgments; so that he could consider the +latter only as transient, and, even by the most glaring contrast between the appearance +and the idea, never lost the firm hope of the final victory of the former. This +hope formed the centre of his whole life. For a long series of years, he is somewhat +cautious in giving utterance to it; for, just as Hosea in the kingdom of the ten +tribes, so he too has to do with secure and gross sinners, who must be terrified +by the preaching of the Law, and the message of wrath. But, even here, single sunbeams +everywhere constantly break through the dark clouds. But towards the close, when +the total destruction is already at hand, and his commission to root out and destroy +draws to an end, because now the Lord himself is to speak by deeds, he can, to the +full desire of his heart, carry out the second part of his calling, viz., to plant +and to build (compare chap. i.); and it is now, that his mouth is overflowing, that +it is seen how full of it his heart had always been. The whole vocation of the Prophet, +<i>Calvin</i> strikingly expresses in these words: "I say simply that Jeremias was +sent by God to announce to the people the last defeat, and, farther, to proclaim +the future redemption, but in such a manner, that he always puts in the seventy +years' exile." That, according to him, this redemption is not destined for Israel +only, but that the Gentiles also partake in it, appears not incidentally only in +the prophecies to his own people; but it is also prominently brought out in the +prophecies against the foreign nations themselves, <i>e.g.</i>, in the prophecy +against Egypt, chap. xlvi. 26; against Moab, chap. xlviii. 47; against Ammon, xlix. +6.</p> +<p class="normal">In announcing the Messiah from the house of David (chap, xxii. +5, xxx. 9, xxxiii. 15), Jeremiah agrees with the former prophets. The Messianic +features peculiar to him are the following:--The announcement of a revelation of +God, which by far outshines the former one from above the Ark of the Covenant, and +by which the Ark of the Covenant, with every <span class="pagenum">[Pg 372]</span> +thing attached to it, shall become antiquated, chap. iii. 14–17; the announcement +of a new covenant, distinguished from the former by greater richness in the forgiveness +of sins, and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit: "I give my law in their inward parts, +and I will write it in their hearts," chap. xxxi. 31–34; the intimation of the impending +realization of the promise of Moses: "Ye shall be to me a kingdom of priests," with +which the abolition of the poor form of the priesthood hitherto is connected, chap. +xxxiii. 14–26.</p> +<p class="normal">As regards the style of Jeremiah, <i>Cunaeus</i> (<i>de repub. +Hebr.</i> i. 3, c. 7) pertinently remarks: "The whole majesty of Jeremiah lies in +his negligent language; that rough diction becomes him exceedingly well." It is +certainly very superficial in <i>Jerome</i> to seek the cause of that <i>humilitas +dictionis</i> of the Prophet, whom he, at the same time, calls <i>in majestate sensuum +profundissimum</i>, in his origin from the <i>viculus Anathoth</i>. It would be +unnatural if it were otherwise. The style of Jeremiah stands on the same ground +as the hairy garment and leather girdle of Elijah. He who is sorrowful and afflicted +in his heart, whose eyes fail with tears (Lament. ii. 11), cannot adorn and decorate +himself in his dress or speech.</p> +<p class="normal">From chap. xi. 21, xii. 5, 6, several interpreters have inferred, +that the Prophet first came forward in his native place Anathoth, and that, because +they there said to him: "Thou shalt not prophecy in the name of the Lord, else thou +shalt die by our hand," he then went to Jerusalem. But those passages rather refer +to an experience which the Prophet made at an incidental visit in his native place, +quite similar to what our Saviour experienced at Nazareth, according to Luke iv. +24. For in chap. xxv. 3, Jeremiah says to "all the inhabitants of Jerusalem," that +he had spoken to <i>them</i> since the thirteenth year of Josiah. As early as in +chap. ii. 2, at the beginning of a discourse which bears a general introductory +character, and which immediately follows, and is connected with his vocation in +chap. i., he receives the command: "Go, and cry into the ears of Jerusalem." The +opening speech itself cannot, according to its contents, have been spoken in some +corner of the country, but in the metropolis only, in the temple more specially, +the centre of the nation and its spiritual dwelling place. It was there that that +must be delivered which was to be told to the whole people as such.</p> +<p class="continue"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 373]</span></p> +<h3><a name="div2_373" href="#div2Ref_373">THE SECTION, CHAP. III, 14-l7.</a></h3> +<p class="normal">The whole Section, from chap. iii. 6, to the end of chap. vi., +forms one connected discourse, separated from the preceding context by the inscription +in chap. iii. 6, and from the subsequent context, by the inscription in chap. vii. +1. This separation, however, is more external than internal. The contents and tone +remain the same through the whole series of chapters which open the collection of +the prophecies of Jeremiah, and that to such a degree, that we are compelled to +doubt the correctness of the proceeding of those interpreters, who would determine +the chronological order of the single portions, and fix the exact period in the +reign of Josiah to which every single portion belongs. If such a proceeding were +admissible, why should the Prophet have expressed himself, in the inscription of +the Section before us, in terms so general as: "And the Lord said unto me in the +days of Josiah the king?" Every thing on which these interpreters endeavour to found +more accurate determinations in regard to the single Sections, disappears upon a +closer consideration. Thus, <i>e.g.</i>, the twofold reference to the seeking of +help from Egypt, in chap. ii. 16 ff., xxxvi., xxxvii., on which <i>Eichhorn</i> +and <i>Dahler</i> lay so much stress. We are not entitled here to suppose a reference +to a definite historical event, which, moreover, cannot be historically pointed +out in the whole time of Josiah, but can only be supposed on unsafe and unfounded +conjectures. In both of the passages something future is spoken of, as is evident +from vers. 16 and 19. The thought is this:--that Asshur, <i>i.e.</i>, the power +on the Euphrates (compare 2 Kings xxiii. 29), which had. for a long time opened +its mouth to swallow up Judah, just as it had already swallowed up the kingdom of +the ten tribes, would not be conciliated, and that Egypt could not grant help against +him. This thought refers to historical circumstances which had already existed, +and continued to exist for some centuries, and which, in reference to Israel, is +given utterance to as early as by Hosea, compare Vol. i. p. 164, f. Our view is +this: We have here before us, not so much a series of prophecies, each of which +had literally been so uttered at some particular <span class="pagenum">[Pg 374]</span> +period in the reign of Josiah, as rather a <i>resumé</i> of the whole prophetic +ministry of Jeremiah under Josiah; a collection of all which, being independent +of particular circumstances of that time, had, in general, the destiny to give an +inward support to the outward reforming activity of Josiah, a specimen of the manner +in which the Prophet discharged the divine commission which he had received a year +after the first reformation of Josiah. Even the manner in which chap ii. is connected +with chap. i. places this relation to his call beyond any doubt. We have thus before +us here the same phenomenon which we have already perceived in several of the minor +prophets; comp. <i>e.g.</i>, the introduction to Micah.</p> +<p class="normal">In the section before us, the Prophet is engaged with a two-fold +object,--first, with the proclamation of salvation for Israel, chap. iii. 6–iv. +2; secondly, with the threatening for Judah, chap. iv. 3, to the end of chap. vi. +It is only incidentally, in chap. iii. 18, that it is intimated that Judah also, +after the threatening has been fulfilled upon them, shall partake in the salvation. +It is self-evident that these two objects must not be considered as lying beside +one another. According to the whole context, the announcement of salvation for Israel +cannot have any other object than that of wounding Judah. This object even comes +out distinctly in ver. 6–11, and the import of the discourse may, therefore, be +thus stated: Israel does not continue to be rejected as pharisaical Judah imagined; +Judah does not continue to be spared.--When the Prophet entered upon his ministry, +ninety-four years had already elapsed since the divine judgment had broken in upon +Israel; every hope of restoration seemed to have vanished. Judah, instead of being +thereby warned; instead of beholding, in the sin of others, the image of its own; +instead of perceiving, in the destruction of the kingdom of its brethren, a prophecy +of its own destruction, was, on the contrary, strengthened in its obduracy. The +fact that it still existed, after Israel had, long ago, hopelessly perished, as +they imagined, appeared to them as a seal which God impressed upon their ways. They +rejoiced at Israel's calamity, because, in it, they thought that they saw a proof +of their own excellency, just as, at the time of Christ, the blindness of the Jews +was increased by the circumstance that they still considered themselves as the sole +members of <span class="pagenum">[Pg 375]</span> the Kingdom of God, and imagined +the Gentiles to be excluded from it. The Saviour's announcement of the calling of +the Gentiles stands in the same relation as the Prophet's announcement of the restoration +of Israel.</p> +<hr class="W20"> +<p class="normal">Ver. 14. "<i>Turn, O apostate children, saith the Lord, for I +marry myself unto you, and I take one of a city, and two of a family, and bring +you to Zion.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">The question here is:--To whom is the discourse here addressed,--to +the members of Israel, <i>i.e.</i>, the kingdom of the ten tribes, as most of the +interpreters suppose (<i>Abarbanel</i>, <i>Calvin</i>, <i>Schmid</i>, and others), +or, as others assume, to the inhabitants of Judea? The decision has considerable +influence upon the exposition of the whole passage; but it must unhesitatingly and +unconditionally be given in favour of the first view. There is not one word to indicate +a transition; the very same phrase, "turn, O apostate children," occurs, in ver. +22, of Israel. Apostate Israel is, in the preceding verses (6, 8, 11,) the standing +expression, while Judah is designated as treacherous, ver. 8–11. The measure of +guilt is determined by the measure of grace. The relation of the Lord to Judah was +closer, and hence, her apostacy was so much the more culpable. <i>Farther</i>--A +detailed announcement of salvation for Judah would here not be suitable, inasmuch +as no threatening preceded; and ver. 18 ("In those days, the house of Judah shall +come by the side of [literally, 'over'] the house of Israel," according to which +the return of Judah is, in the meantime, a subordinate point which has here been +mentioned incidentally) clearly shows that that announcement of salvation, contained +in vers. 14–17, refers to Israel. To Israel the Prophet immediately returns in ver. +19; for, from the contrast to the house of Judah in ver. 18, and to Judah and Jerusalem +in chap. iv. 3, it is evident that by the house of Israel in ver. 20, and by the +sons of Israel in ver. 21, Israel, in the stricter sense, is to be understood. +<i>Finally</i>--It will be seen from the exposition, that it is only on the supposition +that Israel is addressed, that the contents of ver. 16, 17, become intelligible.--In +our explanation of the words <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">כי אנכי בעלתי אתכם</span>, +we follow the precedent of the Vulgate (<i>quia ego vir vester</i>), of <i>Luther</i> +("I will <span class="pagenum">[Pg 376]</span> marry you to me"), of <i>Calvin</i>, +<i>Schimd</i>, and others. On the other hand, others, especially <i>Pococke</i>, +<i>ad P.M.</i> p. 2, <i>Schultens</i> on Prov. xxx. 22, <i>Venema</i>, <i>Schnurrer</i>, +<i>Gesenius</i>, <i>Winer</i>, <i>Bleek</i>, have made every endeavour to prove +that <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">בעל</span> is used <i>sensu malo</i> here, as +well as in chap. xxxi. 32, where it occurs in a connection altogether similar; so +that the decision must be valid for both of the passages at the same time. This +signification they seek to make out in a twofold way. Some altogether give up the +derivation from the Hebrew <i>usus loquendi</i>, and refer solely to the Arabic, +where <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">בעל</span> means <i>fastidire</i>. Others derive +from the Hebrew signification, "to rule," that of a tyrannical dominion, and support +their right in so doing, by referring, with <i>Gesenius</i>, to other verbs in which +the signification, <i>to subdue</i>, <i>to be distinguished</i>, <i>to rule</i>, +has been changed into that of <i>looking down</i>, <i>despising</i>, and <i>contemning</i>. +As regards the <i>first</i> derivation, even if the Arabic <i>usus loquendi</i> +were proved, we could not from it make any certain inference as regards the Hebrew +<i>usus loquendi</i>. But with respect to this Arabic <i>usus loquendi</i>, it is +far from being proved and established. It is true that such would not be the case +if there indeed occurred in Arabic the expression +<img border="0" src="images/376a.png" alt="Arabic"> <i>fastidivit vir mulierem eamque +expulit, s. repudiavit</i>; but it is only by a strange <i>quid pro quo</i> that +interpreters, even <i>Schultens</i> among them, following the example of <i>Kimchi</i>, +have saddled this expression upon the Arabic. The error lies in a hasty view of +<i>Adul Walid</i>, who, instead of it, has +<img border="0" src="images/376b.png" alt="Arabic"> <i>any one is embarrassed in +his affair</i>. The signification <i>fastidire</i>, <i>rejicere</i>, is, in general, +quite foreign to the Arabic. The verb +<img border="0" src="images/376c.png" width="36" height="24" alt="Arabic"> denotes +only: <i>mente turbatus</i>, <i>attonitus fuit</i>, <i>i.e.</i>, <i>to be possessed</i>, +<i>deprived of the use of one's strength</i>, <i>to be embarrassed</i>, <i>not to +know how to help one's self</i>: compare the <i>Camus</i> in <i>Schultens</i> and +<i>Freytag</i>. As soon as the plain connection of this signification with the ordinary +one is perceived, it is seen at once, that it is here out of the question. As regards +the second derivation, we must bring this objection against it, that the fundamental +signification of <i>ruling</i>, from which that of <i>ruling tyrannically</i> is +said to have arisen, is entirely foreign to the Hebrew. More clearly than by modern +Lexicographers it was seen by <i>Cocceius</i>, that the fundamental, yea the only +signification of <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">בעל</span>, is that of <i>possessing</i>, +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 377]</span> <i>occupying</i>. It may, indeed, be used +also of rulers, as, <i>e.g.</i> Isa. xxvi. 13, and 1 Chron. iv. 22; but not in so +far as they rule, but in so far as they possess. On the former passage: "Jehovah +our God, <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">בעלונו אדונים זולתיך</span>, Lords beside +thee have dominion over us," <i>Schultens</i>, it is true, remarks: "Every one here +easily recognizes a severe and tyrannical dominion;" but it is rather the circumstance +that the land of the Lord has at all foreign possessors, which is the real sting +of the grief of those lamenting, and which so much occupies them, that they scarcely +think of the way and manner of the possessing.--Passages such as Is. liv. 1,<sup class="ftnRef"><a name="ftnRef_377a" href="#ftn_377a">[1]</a></sup> +lxii. 4, compare Job i. 8, where a relation is spoken of, founded on most cordial +love, show that the signification "<i>to marry</i>," does not by any means proceed +from that of ruling, and is not to be explained from the absolute, slavish dependence +of the wife in the East, but rather from the signification "to possess." And this +is farther proved by passages such as Deut. xxi. 10–13, xxvi. 1, where the <i>copula +carnalis</i> is pointed out as that by which the <span lang="he" class="Hebrew"> +בעל</span> is completed. And, finally, it is seen from the Arabic, where the wife +is also called, <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">בעלה</span>, +<img border="0" src="images/377a.png" width="39" height="25" alt="Arabic">, just +as the husband is called <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">בעל</span>, +<img border="0" src="images/377b.png" width="33" height="23" alt="Arabic">.---It +is farther obvious that, in the frequent compositions of +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">בַּעַל</span> with other nouns, in order, by way +of paraphrasis, to form adjectives, the signification "lord" is far less suitable +than that of "possessor," <i>e.g.</i>, <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">בעל חלמות</span>, +<i>the dreamer</i>, <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">בעל אף</span>, <i>the angry one</i>, +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">בעל נפש</span>, <i>the covetous one</i>, +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">בעל מזמזת</span>, <i>the deceitful one</i>, +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">בעלי עיר</span> <i>oppidani</i>, +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">בעלי ברית</span>, <i>the members of the covenant</i>, +etc. We arrive at the same conclusion, if we look to the dialects. Here, too, the +signification "to possess" appears as the proper and original signification. In +the Ethiopic, the verb signifies <i>multum possedit, dives fuit.</i> In Arabic, +the significations are more varied; but they may all be traced back to one root. +Thus, <i>e.g.</i> <img border="0" src="images/377c.png" alt="Arabic">, +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">בעל</span>, according to the <i>Camus</i>, "a high +and elevated land which requires only one annual rain; farther, a palm-tree, or +any other tree or plant which is not watered, or which the sky alone irrigates;" +<i>i.e.</i>, a land, a tree, a plant which themselves <i>possess</i>, which do not +require to <i>borrow</i> from others. This reason of the appellation clearly appears +in <i>Dsheuhari</i> (compare <span class="pagenum">[Pg 378]</span> <i>Schultens</i> +l. c.): "It is used of the palm-tree, which, by its roots, provides for itself drink +and sap, so that there is no need for watering it."<!--inserted quote--> In favour +of the signification "to rule" in this verb, the following gloss from the <i>Camus</i> +only can be quoted: "Both (the 1st and 10th conjugations) when construed with +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">עליה</span> <i>super illum</i>, denote: he has taken +possession of a thing, and behaved himself proudly towards it." But the latter clause +must be struck out; for it has flowed only from the false reading +<img border="0" src="images/378a.png" width="32" height="27.5" alt="Arabic"> in +<i>Schultens</i>, for which (compare <i>Freytag</i>) +<img border="0" src="images/378b.png" width="34" height="28" alt="Arabic"> <i>noluit</i> +must be read, <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">בעל</span> with +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">על</span> accordingly signifies "to be the possessor +of a thing, and, as such, not to be willing to give it up to another." And thus +every ground has been taken from those who, from the Hebrew <i>usus loquendi</i>, +would interpret <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">בעל</span> in a bad sense,--The same +result, however, which we have reached upon philological grounds, we shall obtain +also, when we look to the context. From it, they are most easily refuted, who, like +<i>Schultens</i>, understand the whole verse as a threatening. That which precedes, +as well as that which follows, breathes nothing but pure love to poor Israel. She +is not terrified by threatenings, like Judah who has not yet drunk of the cup of +God's wrath, but allured by the call: "Come unto me all ye that are weary and heavy +laden, <i>for</i> I will give you rest." But they also labour under great difficulties +who, after the example of <i>Kimchi</i> ("<i>ego fastidivi vos, eo scil. quod praeteriit +tempore, ac jam colligam vos</i>"), refer the <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">כי</span> +not so much to <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">בעלתי</span>, as rather to +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">לקהתי</span>: "For I have, it is true, rejected you +formerly, but now I take," &c. This is the only shape in which this interpretation +can still appear; for it is altogether arbitrary to explain +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">כי</span> by "although," an interpretation still +found in <i>De Wette</i>. If it had been the intention of the Prophet to express +this sense, nothing surely was less admissible, than to omit just those words, upon +which everything depended--the words <i>formerly</i> and <i>now</i>. +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">לקחתי</span> and <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">בעלתי</span> +evidently stand here in the same relation; both together form the ground for the +return to the Lord. To these reasons we may still add the circumstance that, according +to our explanation, we obtain the beautiful parallelism with ver. 12: "Return thou, +apostate Israel, saith the Lord; I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you; +<i>for</i> I am merciful; I do not keep anger for ever,"--a circumstance which has +already been <span class="pagenum">[Pg 379]</span> pointed out by <i>Calvin</i>. +Israel's haughtiness is broken; but despondency now keeps them from returning to +the Lord. He, therefore, ever anew repeats His invitation, ever anew founds it upon +the fact, that He delights in showing mercy and love to those who have forsaken +Him. The rejection of Israel had, in ver. 8, been represented under the image of +divorce: "Because apostate Israel had committed adultery, I had put her away, and +given her the bill of divorce." What, therefore, is more natural, than that her +being received again, which was offered to her out of pure mercy, should appear +under the image of a new marriage; and that so much the more, that the apostacy +had, even in the preceding verse, been represented as adultery and whoredom? ("<i>Thou +hast scattered thy ways</i>,<!--deleted quote--> <i>i.e.</i>, thou hast been running +about to various places after the manner of an impudent whore seeking lovers"--<i>Schmid</i>; +compare ver. 6.) Farther to be compared is ver. 22: "Return ye apostate children, +(for) I will heal your apostacy. Behold we come unto thee, <i>for</i> thou art the +Lord our God." The objection that <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">בעל</span>, in +the signification "to take in marriage" is construed with the Accusative only, is +of no weight. In a manner altogether similar, <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">זכר</span>, +which else is connected with the simple Accusative, is, in ver. 16, followed by +the Preposition <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ב</span>. +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">בעל</span> with <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ב</span> +altogether corresponds to our "to join onesself in marriage;" and the construction +has perhaps a certain emphasis, and indicates the close and indissoluble connection. +Of still less weight is another objection, viz., that, in that case, the <i>Suffix +Plur.</i> is inadmissible. It is just the Israelites who are the wife; and this +is so much the more evident that, in the preceding verses, and even still in ver. +13, they had been treated as such. Hence nothing remains but to determine the sense +of our passage, as was done by <i>Calvin</i>: "Because despair might take hold of +them, in such a manner that they might be afraid of approaching Him.... He saith +that He would marry himself to them, and that He had not yet forgotten that union +which He once had bestowed upon them." This is the only correct view; and by thus +determining the sense, we at the same time obtain the sure foundation for the exposition +of chap. xxxi. 32; just as, <i>vice versa</i>, the sense which will result from +an independent consideration of that passage, <span class="pagenum">[Pg 380]</span> +will serve to confirm that which was here established.<sup class="ftnRef"><a name="ftnRef_380a" href="#ftn_380a">[2]</a></sup> +In the right determination of the sense of the subsequent words, too, <i>Calvin</i> +distinguishes himself advantageously from the earlier, and most of the later interpreters: +"God shows that there was no reason why some should wait for others; and farther, +although the very body of the people might be utterly corrupted in their sins, yet, +if even a few were to return. He would show himself merciful to them. The covenant +had been entered into with the <i>whole</i> people. The single individual might, +therefore, have been disposed to imagine that his repentance was in vain. But in +opposition to such fears, the Prophet says: 'Although only one of a town should +come to me, he shall find an open door; although only two of one tribe come to me, +I will admit even them.'" After him <i>Loscanus</i> too (in his Dissertation on +this passage, Frankf. 1720) has thus correctly stated the sense: "The small number +shall not prevent God from carrying out His counsel." Thus it is seen--and this +is alone suitable in this context--that the apparent limitation of the promise is, +in truth, an extension of it. How great must God's love and mercy be to Israel, +in how wide an extent must the declaration be true: +<span lang="el" class="Greek">ἀμεταμέλητα τὰ χαρίσματα καὶ ἡ κλῆσις τοῦ θεοῦ</span>, +Rom. xi. 29, if even a single righteous Lot is by God delivered from the Sodom of +Israel; if Joshua and Caleb, untouched by the punishment of the sins of the thousands, +reach the Holy Land; if every penitent heart at once finds a gracious God! Thus +it appears that this passage is not by any means in contradiction to other passages +by which a complete restoration of Israel is promised. On the contrary, the +<span lang="el" class="Greek">ἐπιτυγχάνειν</span> of the +<span lang="el" class="Greek">ἐκλογή</span> (Rom. xi. 7) announced here, is a pledge +and guarantee for the more comprehensive and general mercy.--Expositors are at variance +as to the historical reference of the prophecy. Some, <i>e.g.</i> <i>Theodoret</i>, +<i>Grotius</i>, think exclusively of the return from the Babylonish captivity. Others +(after the example of <i>Jerome</i> and the Jewish interpreters) think of the Messianic +time. It need <span class="pagenum">[Pg 381]</span> scarcely be remarked, that here, +as in so many other passages, this alternative is out of place. The prophecy has +just the very same extent as the matter itself, and, hence, refers to all eternity. +It was a commencement, that, at the time of Cyrus, many from among the ten tribes, +induced by true love to the God of Israel, joined themselves to the returning Judeans, +and were hence again engrafted by God into the olive-tree. It was a continuation +of the fulfilment that, in later times, especially those of the Maccabees, this +took place more and more frequently. It was a preparation and prelude of the complete +fulfilment, although not the complete fulfilment itself, that, at the time of Christ, +the blessings of God were poured upon the whole <span lang="el" class="Greek">δωδεκάφυλον</span>, +Acts xxvi. 7. The words: "I bring you to Zion," in the verse under consideration, +and: "They shall come out of the land of the North to the land that I have given +for an inheritance unto their fathers," in ver. 18, do not at all oblige us to limit +ourselves to those feeble beginnings; the idea appears here only in that form, in +which it must be realised, in so far as its realisation belonged to the time of +the Old Testament. Zion and the Holy Land were, at that time, the seat of the Kingdom +of God; so that the return to the latter was inseparable from the return to the +former. Those from among Israel who were converted to the true God, either returned +altogether to Judea, or, at least, there offered up their sacrifices. But Zion and +the Holy Land likewise come into consideration, as the seat of the Kingdom of God +<i>only</i>; and, for that very reason, the course of the fulfilment goes on incessantly, +even in those times when even the North has become Zion and Holy Land.--The circumstance +that two are assigned to a family, while only one is assigned to a town, shows that +we must here think of a larger family which occupied several towns; and the circumstance +that the town is put together with the family, shows that it is cities of the land +of Israel which are here spoken of, and not those which the exiled ones inhabited.</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 15. +<!--inserted quote-->"<i>And I give you shepherds according to mine heart, and they +feed you with knowledge and understanding.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">The question is:--Who are here to be understood by the shepherds? +<i>Calvin</i> thinks that it is especially the prophets and priests, inasmuch as +it was just the bad condition of these <span class="pagenum">[Pg 382]</span> which +had been the principal cause of the ruin of the people; and that it is the greatest +blessing for the Church, when God raises up true and sincere teachers. Similar is +the opinion of <i>Vitringa</i> (<i>obs.</i> lib. vi., p. 417), who, in a lower sense, +refers it to Ezra and the learned men of that time, and, in a higher sense, to Christ. +Among the Fathers of the Church, <i>Jerome</i> remarked: "These are the apostolical +men who did not feed the multitude of the believers with Jewish ceremonies, but +with knowledge and doctrine." Others refer it to leaders of every kind; thus <i> +Venema</i>: <i>Pastores sunt rectores, ductores.</i> Others, finally, limit themselves +to rulers; thus <i>Kimchi</i> (<i>gubernatores Israelis cum rege Messia</i>), <i> +Grotius</i>, and <i>Clericus</i>. The latter interpretation is, for the following +reasons, to be unconditionally preferred. 1. The image of the shepherd and of feeding +occurs sometimes, indeed, in a wider sense, but ordinarily of the ruler specially. +Thus, in the fundamental passage, 2 Sam. v. 2, it occurs of David, compare Micah +v. 3. Thus also in Jeremiah ii. 8: "The <i>priests</i> said not. Where is the Lord, +and they that handle the law knew me not, and the shepherds transgressed against +me, and the prophets prophesied in the name of Baal;" comp. ver. 26: "They, their +kings, their princes, and their priests, and their prophets." 2. The word +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">כלבי</span> contains an evident allusion to 1 Sam. +xiii. 14, where it is said of David: "The Lord hath sought him, a man after His +own heart, and the Lord hath appointed him to be a prince over His people." 3. All +doubt is removed by the parallel passage, chap. xxiii. 4: "And I raise shepherds +over them, and they feed them, and they fear no more, nor are dismayed." That, by +the shepherds, in this verse, only the rulers can be understood, is evident from +the contrast to the bad rulers of the present, who were spoken of in chap. xxii., +no less than from the connection with ver. 5, where that which, in ver. 4, was expressed +in general, is circumscribed within narrow limits, and the concentration of the +fulfilment of the preceding promise is placed in the Messiah: "Behold, days come, +saith the Lord, and I raise unto David a righteous <i>Branch</i>, and He reigneth +as a king and acteth wisely, and setteth up judgment and justice in the land." This +parallel passage is, in so far also, of importance, as it shews that the prophecy +under consideration likewise had its final reference to the +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 383]</span> Messiah. The kingdom of the ten tribes was +punished by bad kings for its apostacy from the Lord, and from His visible representative. +In the whole long series of Israelitish kings, we do not find any one like Jehoshaphat, +or Hezekiah, or Josiah. And that is very natural, for the foundation of the Israelitish +throne was rebellion. But, with the cessation of sin, punishment too shall cease. +Israel again turns to that family which is the medium and channel through which +all the divine mercies flow upon the Church of the Lord; and so they receive again +a share in them, and particularly in their richest fulness in the exalted scion +of David, the Messiah. The passage under consideration is thus completely parallel +to Hosea iii. 5: "And they seek Jehovah their God, and David their king;" and that +which we remarked on that passage is here more particularly applicable; compare +also Ezek. xxxiv. 23: "And I raise over them one Shepherd, and He feedeth them, +my servant David, he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd." The antithesis +to the words: "According to mine heart," is formed by the words in Hos. viii. 4: +"They have set up kings not by me, princes whom I knew not,"--words which refer +to the past history of Israel. Formerly, the rebellious chose for themselves kings +according to the desires of their own hearts. Now, they choose Him whom God hath +chosen, and who, according to the same necessity, must be an instrument of blessing, +as the former were of cursing.--<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">דֵּעָה</span> and +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">הַשְׂכֵּיל</span> stand adverbially. +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">הִשְכִּיל</span> "to act wisely" is, in appearance +only, intransitive in <i>Hiphil</i>. The foundation of wisdom and knowledge is the +living communion with the Lord, being according to His heart, walking after Him. +The foolish counsels of the former rulers of Israel, by which they brought ruin +upon their people, were a consequence of their apostacy from the Lord. The two fundamental +passages are, Deut. iv. 6: "And ye shall keep and do (the law); for this is your +wisdom and understanding;"<!--inserted quote--> xxix. 8 (9): "Ye shall keep the +words of this covenant and do them, that ye may act wisely." Besides the passage +under consideration, the passages Josh. i. 7; 1 Sam. xviii. 14, 15; 1 Kings ii. +3; Is. lii. 13; Jer. x. 21, xxiii. 5, are founded upon these two passages. If all +these passages are compared with one another, and with the fundamental passages, +one cannot but wonder at the arbitrariness <span class="pagenum">[Pg 384]</span> +of interpreters and lexicographers who, severing several of these passages from +the others, have forced upon the verb <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">השכיל</span> +the signification "to prosper,"--a signification altogether fanciful <i>God's</i> +servants act wisely, because they look up to God; and he who acts wisely finds prosperity +for himself and his people. Hence, it is a proof of the greatest mercy of God towards +His people, when He gives them His <i>servants</i> for kings.</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 16. "<i>And it cometh to pass, when ye be multiplied and +fruitful in the land, in those days, saith the Lord, they shall say no more: The +Ark of the Covenant of the Lord! And it will not come into the heart, neither shall +they remember it, nor miss it, nor shall it be made again.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">First, we shall explain some particulars. The words: "When ye +be," &c. refer to Gen. i. 28, As it is God's general providence which brings about +the fruitfulness of all creatures, so it is His special providence which brings +about the increase of His Church whose ranks have been thinned by His judgments; +and it is thus that His promise to the patriarchs is carried on towards its fulfilment; +compare remarks on Hos, ii. 1. God's future activity in this respect, has an analogy +in His former activity in Egypt, Exod. i. 12. The words: "The Ark of the Covenant" +must be viewed as an exclamation, in which an ellipsis, in consequence of the emotion, +must be supposed, <i>q.d.</i> it is the aim of all our desires, the object of all +our longings. The mere mention of the object with which the whole heart is filled, +is sufficient for the lively emotion. <i>Venema's</i> exposition; <i>Arca fœderis +Jehovae</i> sc. <i>est</i>, and that of <i>De Wette</i>: "They shall no more speak +of the Ark of the Covenant of Jehovah," are both feeble and un philological. How +were it possible that <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">אמר</span> with the Accusative +should mean "to speak of something?"--<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">עלה על־לב</span> +is, in a similar context, just as it is here, connected with +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">זכר</span> in Is. lxv. 17: "For behold I create a +new heaven and a new earth, and the former shall not be remembered nor come into +the heart," comp. also Jer. li. 50, vii. 31; 1 Cor. ii. 9. +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">זכר</span> with <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ב</span> +does not simply stand instead of the usual connection with the Accusative; it signifies +a remembering connected with affection, a recollection joined with ardent longings. +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">פקד</span> is, by many interpreters, understood in +the sense of "to visit," but the signification "to miss" (Is. xxxiv. 16; 1 Sam. +xx. 6-18, xxv. 15; 1 Kings <span class="pagenum">[Pg 385]</span> xx. 39) is recommended +by the connection with the following clause: "Nor shall it be made again." This +supposes that there shall come a time when the Ark of the Covenant shall no more +exist, the time of the destruction of the temple, which was so frequently and emphatically +announced by the prophets.<sup class="ftnRef"><a name="ftnRef_385a" href="#ftn_385a">[3]</a></sup> +God, however, will grant so rich a compensation for that which is lost, that men +will neither long for it, nor, urged on by this longing, make any attempt at again +procuring it for themselves by their own efforts. The main question now arises:--In +what respect does the Ark of the Covenant here come into consideration? The answer +is suggested by ver. 17. The Ark of the Covenant is no more remembered, because +Jerusalem has now, in a perfect sense, become the throne of God. The Ark of the +Covenant comes into consideration, therefore, as the throne of God, in an imperfect +sense. It can easily be proved that it was so, although there have been disputes +as to the manner in which it was so. The current view was this, that God, as the +Covenant God, had <i>constantly</i> manifested himself above the Cherubim on the +Ark of the Covenant, in a visible symbol, in a cloud. The first important opposition +to this view proceeded from <i>Vitringa</i> who, in the <i>Obs. sac.</i> t. i. p. +169, advances, among other arguments, the following: "It is not by any means necessary +to maintain that, in the holy of holies, in the tabernacle or the temple of Solomon, +there was constantly a cloud over the Ark; but it may be sufficient to say, that +the Ark was the symbol of the divine habitation, and it was for this reason said +that God was present in the place between the Cherubim, because from thence proceeded +the revelation of His will, and He thus proved to the Jews that He was present." +But this view of <i>Vitringa</i>, that it was <span class="pagenum">[Pg 386]</span> +merely in an invisible manner that God was present over the Ark of the Covenant, +met with strong opposition; and a note to the second edition shows, that he himself +afterwards entertained doubts regarding it. By <i>Thalemann</i>, a pupil of <i>Ernesti</i>, +it was afterwards advanced far more decidedly, and evidently with the intention +of carrying it through, whether it was true or not, in the <i>Dissertatio de nube +super arcam foederis</i> (Leipzig, 1756). He, too, declared, however, that he did +not deny the matter, but only disputed the sign. He found a learned opponent in +<i>John Eberhard Rau</i>, Professor at Herborn (<i>Ravius</i>, <i>de nube super +arcam foederis</i>, Utrecht, 1760; it is a whole book, in which <i>Thalemann's</i> +Treatise is reprinted). The matter is, indeed, very simple; both parties are right +and wrong, and the truth lies between the two. From the principal passage, in Lev. +xvi. 2, it is evident that, at the annual entry of the High Priest into the holy +of holies, the invisible presence of God embodied itself in a cloud, as formerly +it also did, on extraordinary occasions, during the journey through the wilderness, +and at the dedication of the tabernacle and temple. In that passage, Aaron is exhorted +not to enter the holy of holies at all times, for that would prove a want of reverence, +but only once a year, "for in the cloud I shall appear over the lid of expiation," +(this is the right explanation of <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">כַּפּרֶת</span> +compare <i>Genuineness of the Pentateuch</i>, p. 525 f.) The place where God manifests +himself in so visible a manner when the High Priest enters into it, cannot fail +to be a most holy place to him. It is true that <i>Vitringa</i> (S. 171), and still +more <i>Thalemann</i> (S. 39 in <i>Rau</i>), have endeavoured to remove this objection +by their interpretation; but with so plain a violation of all the laws of interpretation, +that it is scarcely worth while to enter farther upon this exposition, (compare +the refutation in <i>Rau</i>, S. 40 ff.), although <i>J. D. Michaelis</i>, <i>Vater</i>, +<i>Rosenmüller</i>, and <i>Bähr</i>, (<i>Symbol. des Mos. Cultus</i>, i. S. 395), +have approved of it.<sup class="ftnRef"><a name="ftnRef_386a" href="#ftn_386a">[4]</a></sup> +On the other hand, <span class="pagenum">[Pg 387]</span> there is nothing to favour +the supposition of an ordinary and constant presence of the cloud in the holy of +holies. With such a view, questions at once arise, such as: Whether it came also +to the Philistines? All that <i>Rau</i> advances in favour of it, merely proves +the invisible presence of God, which surely cannot be considered and called a merely +imaginary thing, as is done by him, p. 35. For what, in that case, would be the +Lord's presence in the hearts of believers, and in the Lord's supper? It is true +that Ezekiel, in chap. xi. 22, beholds the glory of the Lord over the cherubim as +being lifted up, and forsaking the temple before its destruction; but how can we +draw any reference, as to the actual state of things, from visions which, according +to their nature, surround with a body all that is invisible? Still, as we already +remarked, this whole controversy has reference to the <i>manner</i> only, and not +to the <i>fact</i> of God's presence over the Ark of the Covenant; and the Ark of +the Covenant stands here in a wider sense, and comprehends the cherubim, and "the +glory of the Lord dwelling over them." From a vast number of passages, it can be +proved that this glory of the Lord was constantly and really present over the Ark +of the Covenant, although it was in extraordinary cases only that it manifested +itself in an outward, visible form; compare, besides Lev. xvi. 2, Lev. ix. 24, where, +after Aaron's consecration to the priesthood, the glory of the Lord appeared to +the whole people in confirmation of his office. To these passages belong all those +in which God is designated as dwelling over the cherubim, such as 1 Chron. xiii. +6; Ps. lxxx. 2; 1 Sam. iv. 4. To it refers the designation of the ark of the covenant, +in a narrower sense, as the footstool of God; comp. 1 Chron. xxviii. 2, where David +says: "I had in mine heart to build an house of rest for the Ark of the Covenant +of the Lord, and for the footstool of our God;" Ps. xcix. 5, cxxxii. 7; Lam. ii. +1. From this circumstance the fact is explained, that the prayer in distress, as +well as the thanks for deliverance, were offered up before, or towards +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 388]</span> the Ark of the Covenant. After the defeat +before Ai (Josh. vii. 5 ff.), Joshua "rent his clothes, and fell to the earth upon +his face, before the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord, until the eventide, he and +the elders of Israel, and put dust upon their heads, and Joshua said: Alas, O Lord +God, wherefore hast thou at all brought this people over Jordan?" After the Lord +had appeared to Solomon at Gibeah, and had given him the promise, he went before +the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord, and offered burnt-offerings, and thank-offerings, +1 Kings iii. 15. In 2 Sam. xv. 32, we are told that David went up the Mount of Olives +very sorrowfully, and when he was come to the place, <i>where people were accustomed +to worship God</i>, Hushai met him. According to that passage, it was the custom +of the people, when on the top of the Mount of Olives, they gained, for the first +or last time, a view of the sanctuary, to prostrate themselves before the God of +Israel who dwelt there. To the Ark of the Covenant, all those passages refer in +which it is said that God dwelleth in the midst of Israel; that He dwelleth in the +temple; that He dwelleth at Zion or Jerusalem, compare <i>e.g.</i>, the promise +in Exodus xxix. 45: "I dwell in the midst of the children of Israel,"<!--inserted quote--> +and farther, Ps. ix. 12, cxxxii. 13, 14; 1 Kings vi. 12, 13, where God promises +to Solomon that if he should only walk in His commandments, and execute His judgments, +then would He dwell among the children of Israel; and afterwards fulfils this promise +by solemnly entering into his temple. Indissolubly connected with this, was the +deep reverence in which the Ark of the Covenant was held in Israel. It was considered +as the most precious jewel of the people, as the centre of their whole existence. +Being the place where the glory of God dwelt (Ps. xxvi. 8), where He manifested +himself in His most glorious revelation, it was called <i>the glory of Israel</i>, +compare 1 Sam. iv. 21, 22; Ps. lxxviii. 61. The High Priest Eli patiently and quietly +heard all the other melancholy tidings--the defeat of Israel, and the death of his +sons. But when he who had escaped added: "And the Ark of God is taken," he fell +from off the seat backward by the side of the gate; and his neck brake, and he died. +When his daughter-in-law heard the tidings that the Ark of the Covenant was taken, +she bowed herself and travailed; for her pains came upon her. And about the time +of <span class="pagenum">[Pg 389]</span> her death, the women that stood by her +said unto her: Fear not, for thou hast borne a son. But she answered not, neither +did she take it to heart, and she named the child Ichabod, and said. The glory is +departed from Israel, because the Ark of the Covenant was taken, and said again: +"The glory is departed from Israel, for the Ark of God is taken." But in what manner +may this dwelling of God over the Ark of the Covenant be conceived of? Should the +Most High God, whom all the heavens, and the heaven of heavens cannot contain (1 +Kings viii. 27), whose throne is the heaven, and whose footstool is the earth (Is. +lxvi. 1), dwell in a temple made by the hands of men? (Acts vii. 48, ff.) Evidently +not in the manner in which men dwell in a place, who are <i>in</i> it only, not +<i>out</i> of it. Nor in such a manner as the carnally minded suppose, who, to the +warnings of the prophets, opposed their word: "Is not the Lord among us? none evil +can come upon us" (Micah iii. 11), or: "Here is the temple of the Lord, here is +the temple of the Lord, here is the temple of the Lord" (Jer. vii. 4), imagining +that God could not forsake the place which he had chosen, could not take away the +free gift of His grace. The matter rather stands thus: That which constitutes the +substance and centre of the whole relation of Israel to God, is, that the God of +the heavens and the earth became the God of Israel; that the Creator of heaven and +earth became the Covenant-God, that His general providence in blessing and punishing +became a special one. In order to make the relation familiar to the people, and +thus to make it the object of their love and fear, God gave them a <i>praesens numen</i> +in His sanctuary, as a prefiguration, and, at the same time, a prelude of the condescension +with which He whom the whole universe cannot contain, rested in the womb of Mary. +And in so doing, He gave them not a symbolical representation merely, but an embodiment +of the idea, so that they who wished to seek Him as the God of Israel, could find +Him in the temple, and over the Ark of the Covenant only. The circumstance that +it was just there that He took His seat, shows the difference between this truly +<i>praesens numen</i>, and that merely imaginery one of the Gentiles. There was +in this no partial favour for Israel, nothing from which careless sinners could +derive any comfort, God's dwelling among Israel rested on <span class="pagenum"> +[Pg 390]</span> His holy Law. According as the Covenant is kept or not, and the +Law is observed or not, it manifests itself by increased blessing, or by severer +punishment. If the Covenant be entirely broken, the consequence is that God leaves +His dwelling, and it is only the curse which remains, and which is greater than +the curse inflicted upon those among whom He never dwelt, and which, by its greatness, +indicates the greatness of the former grace.--Now, if this be the case with the +Ark of the Covenant; if it be the substance and centre of the whole former dispensation, +what, and how much would not fall along with it, if it fell; and how infinitely +great must the compensation be which was to be granted for it, if, in consequence +of it, no desire and longing after it was to rise at all, if it was to be regarded +as belonging to the <span lang="el" class="Greek">πτωχὰ στοιχεῖα</span>, and was +to be forgotten as a mere image and shadow! The fact that the Ark of the Covenant +was made before any thing else, sufficiently shows that every thing sacred under +the Old Testament dispensation depended upon it. <i>Witsius Misc. t.</i> i. p. 439, +very pertinently remarks: "The Ark of the Covenant being, as it were, the heart +of the whole Israelitish religion, was made first of all." Without Ark of the Covenant--no +temple; for it became a sanctuary by the Ark of the Covenant only; for holy, so +Solomon says in 2 Chron. viii. 11, is the place whereunto the Ark of the Covenant +hath come. Without Ark of the Covenant, no priesthood; for what is the use of servants +when there is no Lord present? Without temple and priesthood, no sacrifice. We have +thus before us the announcement of the entire destruction of the previous form of +the Kingdom of God, but such a destruction of the form as brings about, at the same +time, the highest completion of the substance,--a perishing like that of the seed-corn, +which dies only, in order to bring forth much fruit; like that of the body, which +is sown in corruption, in order to be raised in incorruption. <i>Dahler</i> remarks: +"Because a more sublime religion, a more glorious state of things will take the +place of the Mosaic dispensation, there will be no cause for regretting the loss +of the symbol of the preceding dispensation, and people will no more remember it."--It +is quite natural that the prophecy should give great offence, and prove a stumbling-block +to Jewish interpreters. Its subject, its high dignity, just +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 391]</span> consists in the announcement that, at some +future period, the shadow should give way to the substance; but it is just the confounding +of the shadow with the substance, the rigid adherence to the former, which characterises +Judaism, which considers even the Messiah as a minister of the old dispensation +only, and views the great changes to be effected by Him, mainly as external ones. +The embarrassment arising from this, is very clearly expressed in the following +words of <i>Abarbanel</i>: "This promise is, then, bad, and uproots the whole Law. +How is it then that Scripture mentions it as good?" Rabbi <i>Arama</i>, in his commentary +on the Pentateuch, fol. 101, says, in reference to this prophecy, +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">נבוכו כל המפרשים</span> "all interpreters have been +perplexed by it." The interpretations by means of which they endeavour to rid themselves +of this embarrassment (see the collection of them in <i>Frischmuth's</i> dissertation +on this passage, Jena; reprinted in the <i>Thes. Ant.</i>) are only calculated plainly +to manifest it. <i>Kimchi</i> gives this explanation: "Although ye shall increase +and be multiplied on the earth, yet the nations shall not envy you, nor wage war +against you; and it shall no more be necessary for you to go to war with the Ark +of the Covenant, as was usual in former times, when they took the Ark of the Covenant +out to war. In that time, there will be no necessity for so doing, as they shall +not have any war." The weak points of this explanation are at once obvious. That +which, in the verse under consideration, is, in a general way, said of the Ark of +the Covenant, is, by it, referred to an altogether special use of it, a regard to +which is excluded by the evident antithesis in ver. 17. <i>Abarbanel</i> rejects +this explanation. He says: "For there is, in the text, no mention at all of war; +and therefore I cannot approve of this exposition, although <i>Jonathan</i>, too, +inclines towards it." He himself brings out this sense: The Ark of the Covenant +would then, indeed, still continue to exist, and be the seat of the Lord; but no +more the exclusive one, no longer the sole sanctuary. "The whole of Jerusalem shall, +as regards holiness and glory, equal the Ark of the Covenant. For there shall cease +with them every evil thing, and every evil imagination; and there shall be such +holiness in the land, that in the same manner as formerly the Ark was the holiest +of all things, so at that time, Jerusalem shall be <span class="pagenum">[Pg 392]</span> +the throne of the Lord." But, by this explanation, justice is not done to the text. +For it is an entire doing away with the Ark of the Covenant which is spoken of in +it, not a mere diminution of its dignity, produced by the circumstance, that that +which formerly was low shall be exalted. This is particularly evident from the words: +"They will not miss it, neither shall it be made again." To this argument we may +still add that, by this exposition, not even the object is gained for the sake of +which it was advanced. The nature and substance of the Ark of the Covenant is destroyed, +as soon as it is put on a level with anything else. It is then no more <i>the</i> +throne of the Lord; and for this reason, the previous form can no longer continue +to exist, and, along with it, the temple and priesthood too must fall. If every +place in Jerusalem, if every inhabitant of it, be equally holy, how then can institutions +still continue, which are based on the difference between holy and unholy?--Here +a question still arises. There was no Ark of the Covenant in the second temple. +In what relation to the prophecy under consideration stands this absence of the +Ark of the Covenant, the restoration of which the Jews expect at the end of the +days? There cannot be any doubt that it was really wanting. Every proof of its existence +is wanting. <i>Josephus</i>, in enumerating the catalogue of the <i>spolia Judaica</i>, +borne before in the triumph, does not mention it. He says expressly (de Bell. Jud. +v. 5, § 5), that the holy of holies had been altogether empty. Some of the Jewish +writers assert that it had been carried away to Babylon; while most of them, following +the account given in 2 Maccabees, tell us that Josiah or Jeremiah had concealed +it; compare the Treatise by <i>Calmet</i>, Th. 6, S. 224-258, <i>Mosh.</i> In asking +<i>why</i> such was the case, other analogous phenomena, the absence of the <i>Urim +and Thummim</i>, the cessation of prophetism soon after the return from the captivity, +must not be lost sight of. Every thing was intended to impress upon the people the +conviction that their condition was provisional only. It was necessary that the +Theocracy should sink beneath its former glory, in order that the future glory, +which was far to outshine it, should so much the more be longed for. After having +thus determined <i>why</i> it was that the Ark of the Covenant was wanting, at the +second temple, it is easy to <span class="pagenum">[Pg 393]</span> determine the +relation of this absence to the prophecy under consideration. It was the beginning +of its fulfilment. In the Kingdom of God, nothing perishes, without something new +arising out of this decay. The extinction of the old was the guarantee, that something +new was approaching. On the other hand, the absence of the Ark of the Covenant was, +it is true, at the same time, a matter-of-fact prophecy of a sad character. To those +who clung to the form, without having in a living manner laid hold of the substance, +and who, therefore, were not able to partake in the more glorious display of the +substance,--to these it announced that the time was approaching when the form, to +which they had attached themselves with their whole existence, was to be broken. +Since already one of the great privileges of the covenant-people, the +<span lang="el" class="Greek">δόξα</span> (Rom. ix. 4), had disappeared, surely +all that might and would soon share the same fate, which existed only for the sake +of it, and in it only had its significance. In this respect, the non-restoration +of the Ark of the Covenant showed that the Chaldean destruction and that by the +Romans were connected as commencement and completion; while, in the other aspect, +it declared that, with the return from the captivity, the realization of God's great +plan of salvation was being prepared. Inasmuch as the most complete <i>fuga vacui</i> +is peculiar to the Covenant-God, the emptiness in that place where formerly the +glory of God dwelt, proclaimed aloud the future fulness.--<i>Finally</i>, we have +still to determine the special reference of our verse to Israel, <i>i.e.</i>, the +former kingdom of the ten tribes. This reference is, by most interpreters, entirely +lost sight of, and is very superficially and erroneously determined by those who, +like <i>Calvin</i>, pay attention to it. In the preceding verse, it had been promised +to Israel, that those blessings should again be bestowed upon them, which they had +forfeited by their rebellion against the Davidic house, and that they should be +restored to them with abundant interest. For David's house is to attain to its completion +in its righteous Sprout. This Shepherd, who is, in the fullest sense, what His ancestor +had only imperfectly been--a man according to the heart of God--shall feed them +with knowledge and understanding. <i>Here</i>, a compensation is promised for the +second, infinitely greater loss, which <span class="pagenum">[Pg 394]</span> had, +at all times, been acknowledged as such by the faithful in the kingdom of the ten +tribes. The revelation of the Lord over the Ark of the Covenant was the magnet which +constantly drew them to Jerusalem. Many sacrificed all their earthly possessions, +and took up their abode in Judea. Others went on a pilgrimage from their natural +to their spiritual home, to the "throne of the glory exalted from the beginning," +Jer. xvii. 12. In vain was every thing which the kings of Israel did in order to +stifle their indestructible longing. Every new event by which "the glory of Israel" +manifested itself as such, kindled their ardour anew. But here also the great blessing +and privilege, which the believers missed with sorrow, the unbelievers without it, +is to the returning ones given back, not in its previous form, but in a glorious +completion. The whole people have now received eyes to recognise the value of the +matter in its previous form; and yet this previous form is now looked upon by them +as nothing, because the new, infinitely more glorious form of the same matter occupied +their attention.</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 17. "<i>At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne +of the Lord; and all the nations shall be gathered into it, because the name of +the Lord is at Jerusalem; neither shall they walk any more after the wickedness +of their evil heart.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">Many interpreters, proceeding upon the supposition that the emphasis +rests upon Jerusalem, have been led to give an altogether erroneous explanation. +It is no more the Ark of the Covenant which will then be the throne of the Lord, +but <i>all</i> Jerusalem. Thus, <i>e.g.</i>, after the example of <i>Jarchi</i> +and <i>Abarbanel</i>, <i>Manasseh ben Israel</i>, <i>Conciliator</i>, p. 196: "If +we keep in mind that, in the tabernacle or temple, the Ark was the place where the +Lord dwelt (hence Ex. xxv. 22: 'I will speak with thee from above the mercy-seat, +from between the two cherubim'), we shall find that the Lord here says, that the +Ark indeed had formerly been the dwelling-place of the Godhead, but that, at the +time of Messiah, not some one part of the temple only would be filled with the Godhead, +but that this glory should be given to all Jerusalem; so that whosoever would be +in her would have the prophetic spirit." If it had been the intention of the Prophet +to convey this meaning, the word <i>all</i> could not have been omitted. The throne +of the <span class="pagenum">[Pg 395]</span> Lord, Jerusalem had been even formerly, +in so far as she possessed in her midst the Ark of the Covenant, and hence was the +residence of Jehovah, the city of the great King, Ps. xlviii. 3. The words in the +parallel member: "Because the name of the Lord is at Jerusalem," show that Jerusalem +is called the throne of the Lord, because there is now in her the true throne of +the Lord, just as, formerly, the Ark of the Covenant. The antithesis to what precedes +leads us to expect a gradation, not in point of quantity, but of quality. The emphasis +rests rather on: "The throne of the Lord;" and these words receive from the antithesis +the more definite qualification: the true throne of the Lord. Quite similarly, those +who boasted that over the Cherubim was the throne of God, and that the Ark of the +Covenant was His footstool, are told in Is. lxvi. 1: "The heaven is my (true) throne, +and the earth my (true) footstool;" comp. the passages according to which the Ark +of the Covenant is designated as the footstool of God, and, hence, the place over +the Cherubim of the Ark of the Covenant as the throne of the Lord, p. 387; and farther, +Is. lx. 13; Ezra i. 26.--The highest prerogative of the covenant-people, their highest +privilege over the world, is to have God in the midst of them; and this prerogative, +this privilege, is now to be bestowed upon them in the most perfect manner; so that +idea and reality shall coincide. Perfectly parallel in substance are such passages +as Ezek. xliii., in which the Shechinah which, at the destruction of the temple +had withdrawn, returns to the new temple, the Kingdom of God in its new and more +glorious form. Ver. 2. "And behold the glory of the God of Israel came from the +way of the East; and its voice was like the voice of great waters, and the earth +shone with its splendour." Ver. 7. "And He said unto me, son of man, behold the +place of <i>my throne</i>, and the place of the soles of my feet, where I will dwell +in the midst of the children of Israel for ever, and the house of Israel shall no +more defile my holy place." Zech. ii. 14 (10): "Sing and rejoice, O daughter of +Zion; for, lo, I come and dwell in the midst of thee," with an allusion to Exod. +xxix. 45: "And I dwell among the children of Israel, and will be their God." The +Prophet declares that the full realization of this promise is reserved for the future; +but it could not be so, unless it had already been realised, throughout all past +history, in God's <span class="pagenum">[Pg 396]</span> dwelling over the Ark of +the Covenant; compare Zech. viii. 3: "Thus saith the Lord, I return unto Zion, and +dwell in the midst of Jerusalem."--If we enquire after the fulfilment, we are at +once met by the words in John i. 14: <span lang="el" class="Greek">καὶ ὁ λόγος σὰρξ +ἐγένετο καὶ ἐσκήνωσεν ἐν ἡμῖν, καὶ ἐθεασάμεθα τὴν δόξαν αὐτοῦ, δόξαν ὡς μονογενοῦς +παρὰ πατρός</span>; and that so much the more that these words contain an evident +allusion to the former dwelling of God in the temple, of which the incarnation of +the Logos is looked upon as the highest consummation. It is true that the dwelling +of God among His people by means of the <span lang="el" class="Greek">πνεῦμα Χριστοῦ</span> +must not be separated from the personal manifestation of God in Christ, in whom +dwelt the fulness of the Godhead bodily, <span lang="el" class="Greek">σωματικῶς</span>. +The former stands to the latter in the same relation, as does the river to the fountain; +it is the river of living water flowing forth from the body of Christ. Both together +form the true tabernacle of God among men, the new true Ark of the Covenant; for +the old things are the <span lang="el" class="Greek">σκιὰ τῶν μελλόντων, τὸ δὲ σῶμα +Χριστοῦ</span>, Col. ii. 17; comp. Rev. xxi. 22: <span lang="el" class="Greek">καὶ +ναὸν οὐκ εἶδον ἐν αὐτῇ· ὁ γὰρ Κύριος, ὁ Θεὸς ὁ παντοκράτωρ ναὸς αὐτῆς ἐστι, καὶ +τὸ ἀρνίον</span>. The typical import of the Ark of the Covenant is expressly declared +in Heb. ix. 4, 5, and that which was typified thereby is intimated in chap. iv. +16: <span lang="el" class="Greek">προσερχώμεθα δὲ μετὰ παῤῥησίας τῷ θρόνῳ τῆς χάριτος</span>, +where Christ is designated as the true mercy-seat, as the true Ark of the Covenant. +Just as, formerly, God could be found over the Ark of the Covenant only, by those +from among his people who sought Him; so we have now, through Christ, boldness and +access with confidence in God (Eph. iii. 12); and it is only when offered in His +name, in living union with Him, that our prayers are acceptable, John xvi. 23. A +consequence of that highest realization of the idea of the kingdom of God, and, +at the same time, a sign that it has taken place, and a measure of the blessings +which Israel has to expect from its re-union with the Church of God, is the gathering +of the Gentiles into it, such as, by way of type and prelude, took place even at +the lower manifestations of the presence of God among the people; compare, <i>e.g.</i>, +Josh. ix. 9: "And they (the Gibeonites) said unto him: From a very far country thy +servants are come, because of the name (<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">לשם</span>) +of Jehovah thy God, for we have heard the fame of Him, and all that He did in Egypt, +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 397]</span> and all that He did to the two kings of the +Amorites," &c. In a manner quite similar it is, in Zech. ii. 15 (11) also, connected +with the Lord's dwelling in Jerusalem: "And many nations shall be joined to the +Lord in that day; and they shall be my people; and I dwell in the midst of thee."--<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">לשם +יהוה לירושלים</span> must be literally translated: "On account of the name of the +Lord (belonging) to Jerusalem," for: because the name of the Lord belongs to Jerusalem--is +there at home The name of the Lord is the Lord himself, in so far as He reveals +His invisible nature, manifests himself In the name, His deeds are comprehended; +and hence it forms a bridge betwixt existing and knowing. A God without a name is +a <span lang="el" class="Greek">θεὸς ἄγνωστος</span>, Acts xviii. 23. There is an +allusion to Deut. xii. 5: "But unto the place which the Lord your God shall choose +out of all your tribes <i>to put His name there</i>, to dwell in it, unto it ye +shall seek, and thither ye shall come." Formerly, when God put His name in an imperfect +manner only, Israel only assembled themselves; but now, all the Gentiles.--The last +words: "Neither shall they walk any more," &c., are not by any means to refer to +the Gentiles, but to the members of the kingdom of Israel, or also to the whole +of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to all the members of the Kingdom of God, including +the subjects of the kingdom of Israel. This appears from a comparison of the fundamental +passage of the Pentateuch, as well as of the parallel passages in Jeremiah. Wherever +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">שרירות</span> occurs, the covenant-people are spoken +of; everywhere the walking after <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">שרירות</span> of +the heart is opposed to the walking after the revealed law of Jehovah, which Israel +alone possessed. <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">שרירות</span>, which properly means +"firmness," is then used of hardness in sin, of wickedness.<sup class="ftnRef"><a name="ftnRef_397a" href="#ftn_397a">[5]</a></sup></p> +<hr class="ftn"> +<div class="ftn"> + <p class="ftnText"><a name="ftn_377a" href="#ftnRef_377a"> + <sup class="ftnRef">[1]</sup></a> <i>Vitringa</i> very correctly remarks on + this passage: "<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">בעל</span>, properly + <span lang="el" class="Greek">ὁ ἔχων</span>, he who has any thing in his possession + is, by an ellipsis, applied to the husband who, in Exod. xxi. 3, is rightly + called <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">בעל אשה</span> <i>one who has a wife</i>."</p> +</div> +<div class="ftn"> + <p class="ftnText"><a name="ftn_380a" href="#ftnRef_380a"> + <sup class="ftnRef">[2]</sup></a> Against the explanation of <i>Maurer</i>: + "For I am your Lord;" and that of <i>Ewald</i>: "I take you under my protection," + it is decisive that <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">בעל</span> never means "to + be Lord," far less "to take under protection." + <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">בעל</span>, which properly means "to possess," + is very commonly used of marriage;--as early as in the Decalogue, the wife appears + as the noblest <i>possession</i> of the husband--so that <i>a priori</i> this + signification is suggested and demanded.</p> +</div> +<div class="ftn"> + <p class="ftnText"><a name="ftn_385a" href="#ftnRef_385a"> + <sup class="ftnRef">[3]</sup></a> It is from the circumstance that modern Exegesis + is unable to comprehend the prophetic anticipation of the Future, that the assertion + has proceeded (<i>Movers</i>, <i>Hitzig</i>) that, even before the Chaldean + destruction, the Ark "must have disappeared in a mysterious manner." In the + view of the Chaldean destruction the Lord is, in Ps. xcix. 1 (comp. Ps. lxxx. + 2), designated as He who sitteth over the Cherubim. In 2 Chron. xxxv. 3, we + have a distinct historical witness for the existence of the Ark, so late as + the 18th year of Josiah. The fable in 2 Maccab. ii. 4, ff., supposes that the + Ark was at its ordinary place, down to the time of the breaking in of the Chaldean + catastrophe. One might as well infer from chap. iii. 18, that, at the time when + these words were spoken, Judah must already, "in a mysterious manner," have + come into the land of the North.</p> +</div> +<div class="ftn"> + <p class="ftnText"><a name="ftn_386a" href="#ftnRef_386a"> + <sup class="ftnRef">[4]</sup></a> <i>Bähr</i> advances the assertion, "In a + (the) cloud" is equivalent to: "in darkness." But the parallel passages, Exod. + xl. 34 ff., Numb. ix. 15, 16, quoted by <i>J. H. Michaelis</i>, are quite sufficient + to overthrow this assertion. And these parallel passages are so much the more + to the point, that by the article the cloud is designated as being already known; + compare <i>Hofmann</i>, <i>Schriftbeweis</i> ii. 1, S. 36. The cloud in ver. + 13 is not identical with that in ver. 2, but is its necessary parallel. The + cloud in ver. 2 symbolises the truth that the Lord is a consuming fire (compare + my remarks on Rev. i. 7); that in ver. 13 is an embodied <i>Kyrie eleison</i>, + compare remarks on Rev. v. 8. Cloud with cloud,--that is a noble advice for + the Church when she is threatened by the judgments of God. A thorough refutation + of <i>Bähr</i> has been given by <i>W. Neumann</i>: <i>Beiträge zur Symbolik + des Mos. Cultus</i>, <i>Zeitschr. f. Luth. Theol.</i>, 1851, i.</p> +</div> +<div class="ftn"> + <p class="ftnText"><a name="ftn_397a" href="#ftnRef_397a"> + <sup class="ftnRef">[5]</sup></a> In a certain sense, one may say that + <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">שרירות לב</span> is a + <span lang="el" class="Greek">ἅπαξ λεγόμενον</span>. It occurs independently + in one single passage only, in Deut. xxix. 18; in the other passages (eight + times in Jeremiah, and besides, in Ps. lxxxi. 13), it was evidently not taken + from the living <i>usus loquendi</i> from which it had disappeared, but from + the fundamental passage in the written code of law. This fact will, <i>a priori</i>, + appear probable, when we keep in mind that, among all the books of the Pentateuch, + Jeremiah has chiefly Deuteronomy before his eyes; and among all the chapters + of Deuteronomy, none more than the 29th; and that Ps. lxxxi. is pervaded by + literal allusions to the Pentateuch. But it is put beyond all doubt, when we + enter upon a comparison of the passage in Deuteronomy with the parallel passages. + Here we must begin with Jer. xxiii. 17, where the verbal agreement comes out + most strongly, and then we shall, in the other passages also (vii. 24, ix. 13, + xi. 8, xvi. 12, xviii. 12, and the passage under consideration), easily perceive + that the word has been borrowed. From a comparison with the fundamental passage, + it appears that it is the intention of the Prophet to convey here the promise + of an eternal duration of the regained blessing, and to keep off the thought + that possibly the people might again, as formerly, fall from grace. Of him who + walks after the <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">שרירות</span> of his heart, it + is said in Deut. xxix. 19 (20): "The Lord will not be willing to forgive him; + for then the anger of the Lord and His jealousy shall smoke against that man, + and all the curses that are written in this book shall lie upon him, and the + Lord blots out his name from under heaven."</p> +</div> +<p class="continue"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 398]</span></p> +<h3><a name="div2_398" href="#div2Ref_398">CHAPTER XXIII. 1-8.</a></h3> +<p class="normal">These verses form a portion only of a greater whole, to which, +besides the whole of chap. xxii., chap. xxiii. 9-40 also belongs. For these verses +contain a prophecy against the false prophets, and by the way also, against the +degenerated priesthood (comp. ver. 11); and this prophecy easily unites itself with +the preceding prophecy against the kings, so as to form one prophecy against the +corrupt leaders of the people of God. But, for the exposition of the verses before +us, it is only the connection with chap. xxii. which is of importance, and that +so much so that, without carefully attending to it, they cannot at all be thoroughly +understood. For this reason, we shall confine ourselves to bring it out more clearly.</p> +<p class="normal">The Prophet reproves and warns the kings of Judah, first, in general, +announcing to them the judgments of the Lord upon them and their people,--the fulfilment +of the threatenings, Deut. xxix. 22 ff.--if they are to continue in their hitherto +ungodly course, chap. xxii. 1–9. In order to make a stronger impression, he then +particularizes the general threatening, showing how God's recompensing justice manifests +itself in the fate of the individual apostate kings. First, Jehoahaz is brought +forward, the son and the immediate successor of Josiah, whom Pharaoh-Necho dethroned +and carried with him to Egypt, vers. 10-12. The declaration concerning him forms +a commentary on the name Shallum, <i>i.e.</i>, the recompensed one, he whom the +Lord recompenses according to his deeds,--which name the Prophet gives to him instead +of the meaningless name Jehoahaz, <i>i.e.</i>, God holds. His father, who met his +death in the battle against the Egyptians, may be called happy when compared with +him; for he never returns to his native <span class="pagenum">[Pg 399]</span> land; +he lives and dies in a foreign land. The next whom he brings forward is Jehoiakim, +vers. 13–19. He is a despot who does every thing to ruin the people committed to +him. There is, therefore, the most glaring contrast between his beautiful name and +his miserable fate. The Lord, instead of raising him up, will cast him down to the +lowest depth; not even an honourable burial is to be bestowed upon him. No one weeps +or laments over him; like a trodden down carcass, he lies outside the gates of Jerusalem, +the city of the great King, which he attempted to wrest from him, and make his own. +Then follows a parenthetical digression, vers. 20–23. Apostate Judah is addressed. +The judgment upon her kings is not one with which she has nothing to do, as little +as their guilt belongs to them as individuals only. It is, at the same time a judgment +upon the people which, by the Lord's anger which they have called forth by their +wickedness, is thrown down into the depth, from the height on which the Lord's mercy +had raised them.--Next follows Jehoiachin, vers. 24-30. In his name "The <i>Lord</i> +will establish," the word <i>will</i> has no foundation; the Lord <i>will</i> reject +him, cast him away, and break him in pieces like a worthless vessel. With his mother, +he shall be carried away from his native land, and die in exile and captivity. Irrevocable +is the Lord's decree, that none of his sons shall ascend the throne of David, so +that he, having begotten children in vain, is to be esteemed as one who is childless.</p> +<p class="normal">At the commencement of the section under consideration (vers. +1 and 2), the contents of chap. xxii. are comprehended into one sentence. "Woe to +the shepherds that destroy and scatter the flock of the Lord." Woe, then, to those +shepherds who have done so. With this is then, in vers. 3–8, connected the announcement +of salvation for the poor scattered flock. For the same reason, that the Lord visits +upon those who have hitherto been their shepherds, the wickedness of their doings--viz., +because of His being the chief Shepherd, or because of His covenant-faithfulness, +He will in mercy remember them also, gather them from their dispersion, give, instead +of the bad shepherds, a good one, viz., the long promised and longed for great descendant +of David, who, being a <i>righteous</i> King, shall diffuse justice and righteousness +in the land, and thus <span class="pagenum">[Pg 400]</span> acquire for it righteousness +and salvation from the Lord. So great shall the mercy of the Future be, that thereby +the greatest mercy in the people's past history--their deliverance out of Egypt--shall +be altogether cast into the shade.</p> +<p class="normal">There cannot be any doubt that the whole prophecy belongs to the +reign of Jehoiakim; for the end of Jehoiakim and the fate of Jehoiachin are announced +as future events.</p> +<p class="normal"><i>Eichhorn</i> asserts that this section was composed under Zedekiah; +but he could do so only by proceeding from his erroneous fundamental view, that +the prophecies are veiled descriptions of historical events. "When Jeremiah"--so +he says--"delivered this discourse, Jehoiakim had not only already met his ignominious +end (xxii. 19), but Jeconiah also was, with his mother, already carried away captive +to Babylon." It is matter of astonishment that <i>Dahler</i>, without holding the +same fundamental view, could yet adopt its result. He specially refers to the circumstance +that, in ver. 24, Jehoiachin is addressed as king,--a circumstance by which <i>Berthold</i> +also supports his view, who, cutting the knot, advances the position that vers. +1–19 belong to the reign of Jehoiakim, but vers. 20--xxxii. 8 to the time when Jehoiachin +was carried away to Babylon. (<i>Maurer</i> and <i>Hitzig</i> too suppose that vers. +20 ff. were added at a later period, under the reign of Jehoiachin). But what difficulty +is there in supposing that the Prophet transfers himself into the time, when he +who is now a hereditary prince will be king,--of which the address is then a simple +consequence? It is undeniable that a connection with chap. xxi. takes place, in +which chapter Jeremiah announces to Zedekiah, threatened by the Chaldeans, the fall +of the Davidic house, and the capture and destruction of the city. And this connection +is to be accounted for by the fact that Jeremiah here connects with this announcement +a former prophecy, in which, under the reign of Jehoiakim, he had foretold the fall +of the Davidic house. The fate of the house of David is the subject common to both +the discourses. <i>Küper</i> (<i>Jeremias</i>, <i>libror. Sacror. interpres</i>, +p. 58), supposes that, in the message to Zedekiah, Jeremiah had, at that time, repeated +his former announcement; but this supposition is opposed by the circumstance that, +in chaps. xxii., xxiii., there is no trace of a reference to Zedekiah and his embassy. +<i>Ewald</i> asserts that Jeremiah <span class="pagenum">[Pg 401]</span> here only +puts together what "perhaps" he had formerly spoken regarding the three kings; but +the words in chap. xxii. 1: "Go down into the house of the king of Judah and speak +there this word," is conclusive against this assertion. For, according to these +words, we have here not something put together, but a discourse which was delivered +at a distinct, definite time; although nothing prevents us from supposing that the +going down was done in the Spirit only.</p> +<p class="normal">We have here still to make an investigation concerning the names +of the three kings occurring in chap. xxii., the result of which is of importance +for the exposition of ver. 5.--It cannot but appear strange that the same king who, +in the Book of the Kings, is called Jehoahaz, is here called Shallum only; that +the same who is there called Jehoiachin, has here the name of Jeconias, which is +abbreviated into Conias. The current supposition is, that the two kings had two +names each. But this supposition is unsatisfactory, because, by the context in which +they stand, the names employed by Jeremiah too clearly appear as <i>nomina realia</i>, +as new names given to them by which the contrast between the name and thing was +to be removed, and hence are evidently of the same nature with the <i>nomen reale</i> +of the good Shepherd in chap. xxiii. 6, which, with quite the same right, could +have been changed into a <i>nomen proprium</i> in the proper sense, as has, indeed, +been done by the LXX. The numerous passages in the prophets, where the name occurs +as a designation of the nature and character, <i>e.g.</i>, Is. ix. 5, lxii. 4; Jer. +xxxiii. 16; Ezek. xlviii. 35, plainly show that a name which has merely a prophetical +warrant (and such an one alone takes place here, although the name Shallum occurs +also in 1 Chron. iii. 15 [in the historical representation itself, however, Jehoahaz +is used in the Book of Kings, and 2 Chron. xxxvi. 1], and the name Jeconias likewise +in 1 Chron. iii. 16, while Jehoiakim is found not only in the Book of Kings, but +also in Ezek. i. 2; for it is quite possible that those later writers may have drawn +from Jeremiah), cannot simply be considered as a <i>nomen proprium</i>; but, on +the contrary, that there is a strong probability that it is not so. And this probability +becomes certainty when that name occurs, either <i>alone</i>, as <i>e.g.</i>, Shallum, +or <i>first</i>, as Jeconiah, (which occurs again in chap. xxiv. 1, xxvii. 20; the +abbreviated <span class="pagenum">[Pg 402]</span> Coniah in xxxvii. 1, while, which +is well to be observed, we have in the historical account, chap. lii. 31, Jehoiachin) +in a context, such as that under consideration; especially when this phenomenon +occurs in a prophet such as Jeremiah, in whom, elsewhere also, many traces of holy +wit, and even punning, can be pointed out.--With reference to the calamity which +more and more threatened Judah, pious Josiah had given to his sons names, which +announced salvation. According to his wish, these names should be as many actual +prophecies, and would, indeed, have proved themselves to be such, unless they who +bore them had made them of no avail by their apostacy from the Lord, and had thus +brought about the most glaring contrast between idea and reality. That comes out +first in the case of Jehoahaz. He whom the Lord should <i>hold</i>, was violently +and irresistibly carried away to Egypt. The Prophet, therefore, calls him Shallum, +<i>i.e.</i>, the <i>recompensed</i>,--not <i>retribution</i>, as <i>Hiller</i>, +<i>Simonis</i>, and <i>Roediger</i> think, nor <i>retributor</i> according to <i> +Fürst</i> (comp. <i>Ewald</i> § 154d); the same who, in 1 Chron. v. 38, is called +Shallum, is in 1 Chron. ix. 11, called Meshullam--he upon whom the Lord has visited +the wickedness of his deeds.--As regards the name Jehoiakim and Jehoiachin, we must, +above all things, keep in view the relation of these names to the promise given +to David. In 2 Sam. vii. 12 it is said: "And I cause to rise up (<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">והקימתי</span>) +thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish +(<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">והכינתי</span>) his kingdom." This passage contains +the ground of <i>both</i> names; and this is the more easily explained, since both +of them have one author, Jehoiakim. Even his former name Eliakim had probably been +given to him by his father Josiah with a view to the promise. When Pharaoh, however, +desired him to change his name--as the name itself shows, we cannot but supply, +in 2 Kings xxiii. 31, such a request to a proposal which was afterwards approved +of by Pharaoh--he performed that change in such a manner as to bring it into a still +nearer relation to the promise, in which, not El, but Jehovah, is expressly mentioned +as He who promised; and indeed the matter proceeded from Jehovah, the God of Israel. +As, however, from the whole character of Jehoiakim, we cannot suppose that the twofold +naming proceeded from true piety, nothing is more natural <span class="pagenum"> +[Pg 403]</span> than to account for it from an opposition to the prophets. The centre +of their announcements was formed by the impending calamity from the North, and +the decline of the Davidic family. The promise given to David shall indeed be fulfilled +in the Messiah; but not till after a previous deep abasement. Jehoiakim mocking +at these threatenings, means to transfer the salvation from the future into the +present. In his own name, and that of his son, he presented a standing protest to +the prophetic announcement; and this protest could not but call forth a counter-protest, +which we find expressed in the prophecy under consideration. The Prophet first overthrows +the false interpretation: Jehoiakim is not Jehoiakim, and Jehoiachin is not Jehoiachin, +chap. xxii.; he then restores the right interpretation: the true Jehoiakim is, and +remains, the Messiah, chap. xxiii. 5. As regards the first point, he. in the case +of Jehoiakim, contents himself with the <i>actual</i> contrast, and omits to substitute +a truly significant name for the usurped one, which may most easily be accounted +for from the circumstance, that he thought it to be unsuitable to exercise any kind +of wit, even holy wit, against the then reigning king. But the case is different +with regard to Jehoiachin. The first change of the name into Jeconiah has its cause +not in itself; the two names have quite the same meaning; it had respect to the +second change into Coniah only. In Jeconiah we have the Future; and this is put +first, in order that, by cutting off the <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">י</span>, +the sign of the Future, he might cut off hope; a Jeconiah without the +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">י</span> says only God establishes, but not that +He <i>will</i> establish. In reference to these names, <i>Grotius</i> came near +the truth; but he erred in the nearer determination, because he did not see the +true state of the matter; so that, according to him, it amounts to a mere play: +"The Jod," he says, "with which the name begins, is taken away, to intimate that +his head shall be diminished; and a Vav is added at the end as a sign of contempt, +<i>q.d.</i> that Coniah!" <i>Lightfoot</i> comes nearer to the truth; yet even he +was not able to gain assent to it (compare against him <i>Hiller</i> and <i>Simonis</i> +who thought his views scarcely worth refuting), because he took an one-sided view. +He remarks (<i>Harmon.</i> p. 275): "By taking away the first syllable, God intimated +that He would not establish to the progeny of Solomon the <span class="pagenum"> +[Pg 404]</span> uninterrupted government and royal dignity, as Jehoiakim, by giving +that name to his son, seems to have expected." Besides these two, compare farther, +<i>Alting</i>, <i>de Cabbala sacra</i> § 73.</p> +<p class="normal">In conclusion, we must still direct attention to chap. xx. 3. +Who, indeed, could infer from that passage, that, by way of change, <i>Pashur</i> +was called also <i>Magor-Missabib</i>?</p> +<p class="normal">Chap. xxiii. 1. "<i>Woe to shepherds that destroy and scatter +the sheep of my pasture, saith the Lord.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">It must be well observed that <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">רֹעִים</span> +is here without the article, but, in ver. 2, with it. <i>Venema</i> remarks on this: +"A general woe upon bad shepherds is premised, which is soon applied to the shepherds +of Judah, <i>q.d.</i>, since Jehovah has denounced a woe upon all bad shepherds, +therefore ye bad shepherds," &c. By the "shepherds," several interpreters would +understand only the false prophets and priests. Others would at least have them +thought of, along with the kings. This view has exercised an injurious influence +upon the understanding of the subsequent Messianic announcement, inasmuch as it +occasioned the introduction into it of features which are altogether foreign to +it. It is only when it is perceived, that the bad shepherds refer to the kings exclusively, +that it is seen that, in the description of the good Shepherd, that only is applicable +which has reference to Him as a King. But the very circumstance that, according +to a correct interpretation, nothing else is found in this description, is a sufficient +proof that, by the bad shepherds, the kings only can be understood. But all doubt +is removed when we consider the close connection of the verses under consideration +with chap. xxii. In commenting upon chap. iii. 15, we saw that, ordinarily, rulers +only are designated by the shepherds; compare, farther, chap. xxv. 34-36, and the +imitation and first interpretation of the passage under review by Ezekiel, in chap. +xxxiv. Ps. lxxviii. 70, 71: "He chose David his servant, and took him from the sheep-folds. +He took him from behind the ewes to feed Jacob, His people, and Israel, His inheritance," +shows that a typical interpretation of the former circumstances of David lies at +the foundation of this <i>usus loquendi</i>; compare Ezek. xxxiv. 23, 24: "And I +raise over them one Shepherd, and he feedeth them, my servant David; he shall feed +them, and he shall be <span class="pagenum">[Pg 405]</span> their shepherd."--What +is to be understood by the destroying and scattering, must be determined partly +from ver. 3 and vers. 13 ff. of the preceding chapter; partly from ver. 3 of the +chapter before us. The former passages show that the acts of violence of the kings, +their oppressions and extortions, come here into consideration (compare Ezek. xxxiv. +2, 3: "Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! Should not the +shepherds feed the flocks? Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ye kill +them that are fed, &c., and with force and with cruelty ye rule them"), while the +latter passage shows that it is chiefly the heaviest guilt of the kings which comes +into consideration, viz., all that by which they became the cause of the people's +being carried away into captivity. To this belonged, besides their foolish political +counsels, which were based upon ungodliness (comp. chap. x. 21), the negative (<i>Venema</i>: +"It was their duty to take care that the true religion, the spiritual food of the +people, was rightly and properly exercised"), and positive promotion of ungodliness, +and of immorality proceeding from it, by which the divine judgments were forcibly +drawn down. It is in this contrast of idea and reality (<i>Calvin</i>: "It is a +contradiction that the shepherd should be a destroyer"), that the woe has its foundation, +and that the more, that it is pointed out that the flock, which they destroy and +scatter, is <i>God's</i> flock. (<i>Calvin</i>: "God intimates that, by the unworthy +scattering of the flock, an atrocious injury had been committed against himself") +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">צאן מרעיתי</span> must not be explained by: "the +flock of my feeding," <i>i.e.</i>, which I feed. For, wherever +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">מרעית</span> occurs by itself, it always has the +signification "pasture," but never the signification <i>pastio</i>, <i>pastus</i> +commonly assigned to it. This signification, which is quite in agreement with the +form of the word, must therefore be retained in those passages also where it occurs +in connection with <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">צאן</span>, when it always denotes +the relation of Israel to God. Israel is called the flock of God's pasture, because +He has given to them the fertile Canaan as their possession, compare my remarks +on Ps. lxxiv. 1. It is, at first sight, strange that a guilt of the rulers only +is spoken of, and not a guilt of the people; for every more searching consideration +shows that both are inseparable from one another; that bad rulers proceed from the +development of the nation, and are, at the same time, a punishment +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 406]</span> of its wickedness sent by God. But the fact +is easily accounted for, if only we keep in mind that the Prophet had here to do +with the kings only, and not with the people. To them it could not serve for an +excuse that their wickedness was naturally connected with that of the people. This +<i>natural</i> connection was not by any means a necessary one, as appears from +the example of a Josiah, in whose case it was broken through by divine grace. Nor +were they justified by the circumstance, that they were rods of chastisement in +the hand of God. To this the Prophet himself alludes, by substituting, in ver. 3: +"I have driven away," for "you have driven away," in ver. 2. All which they had +to do, was to attend to their vocation and duty; the carrying out of God's counsels +belonged to Him alone. From what we have remarked, it plainly follows that we would +altogether misunderstand the expression "flock of my pasture," if we were to infer +from it a contrast of the <i>innocent</i> people with the guilty kings. <i>Calvin</i> +remarks: "In short, when God calls the Jews the flock of His pasture, He has no +respect to their condition, or to what they have deserved, but rather commends His +grace which He has bestowed upon the seed of Abraham." The kings have nothing to +do with the moral condition of the people; they have to look only to God's covenant +with them, which is for them a source of obligations so much the greater and more +binding than the obligations of heathen kings, as Jehovah is more glorious than +Elohim. The moral condition of the people does, to a certain degree, not even concern +God; how bad soever it is, He looks to His covenant; and when more deeply viewed, +even the outward scattering of the flock is a gathering.</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 2. "<i>Therefore thus saith the Lord the God of Israel, against +the shepherds that feed my people: Ye have scattered my flock and driven them away, +and have not visited them; behold, I visit upon you the wickedness of your doings, +saith the Lord.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">In the designation of God as Jehovah the God of Israel, there +is already implied that which afterwards is expressly said. Because God is Jehovah, +the God of Israel, the crime of the kings is, at the same time, a <i>sacrilegium</i>; +they have desecrated God. It was just here that it was necessary prominently to +point out the fact, that the people still continued to <span class="pagenum">[Pg +407]</span> be God's people. In another very important aspect, they were indeed +called <i>Lo-Ammi</i> (Hos. i. 9); but that aspect did not here come into consideration. +<i>Calvin</i>: "They had estranged themselves from God; and He too had, in His decree, +already renounced them. But, in one respect, God might consider them as aliens, +while, in respect to His covenant, He still acknowledged them as His, and hence +He calls them His people."--The words "that feed my people," render the idea still +more prominent and emphatic than the simple "the shepherds" would have done, and +hence serve to make more glaring the contrast presented by the reality. The words +"you have not visited them," seem, at first sight, since graver charges have been +mentioned before, to be feeble. But that which they did, appears in its whole heinousness +only by that which they did not, but which, according to their vocation, they ought +to have done. This reference to their destination imparts the greatest severity +to the apparently mild reproof Similar is Ezek. xxxiv. 3: "Ye eat the fat, and ye +clothe you with the wool, ye kill them that are fed, and ye feed not the flock." +The visiting forms the general foundation of every single activity of the shepherd, +so that the <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">לא פקדתם</span> comprehends within itself +all that which Ezekiel particularly mentions in chap. xxxiv. 4: "The weak ye strengthen +not, and the sick ye heal not, and the wounded ye bind not up, and the scattered +ye bring not back, and the perishing ye seek not."--The words: "the wickedness of +your doings," look back to Deut. xxviii. 20: "The Lord shall send upon thee curse, +terror, and ruin in all thy undertakings, until thou be destroyed, and until thou +perish quickly, <i>because of the wickedness of thy doings</i>, that thou hast forsaken +me." The gentle allusion to that fearful threatening in that portion of the Pentateuch, +which was the best known of all, was sufficient to make every one supplement from +it that, which was there actually and expressly uttered. Such an allusion to that +passage of Deuteronomy can be traced out, wherever the phrase +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">רע מעללים</span> occurs, which, in later times, had +become obsolete; compare chap. iv. 4 and xxi. 12 (in both of these passages +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">מפני</span>, too, is introduced); Is. i. 16; Ps. +xxviii. 4; Hos. ix. 15.</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 3. "<i>And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all +the countries whither I have driven them away, and I</i> <span class="pagenum">[Pg +408]</span> <i>bring them back again to their folds, and they are fruitful and increase.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">Compare chap. xxix. 14, xxxi. 8, 10; Ezek. xxxiv. 12, 13: "As +a shepherd looketh after his flock in the day that he is in the midst of his flock, +the scattered, so will I look after my flock, and I deliver them out of all the +places, where they have been scattered in the day of clouds and of darkness. And +I bring them out from the nations, and gather them from the countries, and bring +them to their land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel, in the valleys, +and in all the dwelling places of the land."--A spiritless clinging to the letter +has, here too, led several interpreters to suppose, that the Prophet had here in +view merely the return from the Babylonish captivity, and perhaps, also, the blessings +of the times of the Maccabees, besides and in addition to it. Altogether apart from +the consideration that, in that case, the fulfilment would very little correspond +to the promise,--for, to the returning ones, Canaan was too little the land of God +to allow of our seeing, in this return, the whole fulfilment of God's promise--we +can, from the context, easily demonstrate the opposite. With the gathering and bringing +back appears, in ver. 4, closely connected the raising of the good shepherds; and +according to ver. 5, that promise is to find, if not its sole fulfilment, at all +events its substance and centre, in the raising of David's righteous Branch, the +Messiah. And from vers. 7, 8, it appears that it is here altogether inadmissible +to suppose that these events will take place, one after the other. The particle +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">לכן</span> with which these verses begin, and which +refers to the whole sum and substance of the preceding promises, shows that the +bringing back from the captivity, and the raising of the Messiah, cannot, by any +means, be separated from one another; and to the same result we are led by the contents +of the two verses also. How indeed could it be said of the bodily bringing back +from the captivity, that it would far outshine the former deliverance from Egypt, +and would cause it to be altogether forgotten? The correct view was stated as early +as by <i>Calvin</i>, who says: "There is no doubt that the Prophet has in view, +in the first instance, the free return of the people; but Christ must not be separated +from this blessing of the deliverance, for, otherwise, it would be difficult to +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 409]</span> show the fulfilment of this prophecy." The +right of thus assuming a concurrent reference to Christ is afforded to us by the +circumstance, that Canaan had such a high value for Israel, not because it was its +fatherland in the lower sense, but because it was the land of God, the place where +His glory dwelt. From this it follows that a bodily return was to the covenant-people +of value, in so far only as God manifested himself as the God of the land. And since, +before Christ, this was done in a manner very imperfect, as compared with what was +implied in the idea, the value of such a return could not be otherwise than very +subordinate. And in like manner, it follows from it, that the gathering and bringing +back by Christ is included in the promise. For wherever God is, there is Canaan. +Whether it be the old fold, or a new one, is surely of very little consequence, +if only the good Shepherd be in the midst of His sheep. <i>As a rule</i>, such externalities +lie without the compass of prophecy, which, having in view the substance, refers, +as to the way of its manifestation, to history. Into what ridiculous assertions +a false clinging to the letter may lead, appears from remarks such as those of +<i>Grotius</i> on the second hemistich of the following verse: "They shall live +in security under the powerful protection of the Persian kings."<!--inserted quote--> +Protection by the world, and oppression by the world, differed very slightly only, +in the case of the covenant-people. The circumstance that Gentiles ruled over them +at all, was just that which grieved them; and this grief must therefore continue +(compare Neh. ix. 36, 37), although, by the grace of God, a mild rule had taken +the place of the former severe one; for this grace of God had its proper value only +as a prophecy and pledge of a future greater one. The circumstance that it is to +the <i>remnant</i> only that the gathering is promised (compare Is. x. 22; Rom. +ix. 27), points to the truth, that the divine mercy will be accompanied with justice. +<i>Calvin</i> remarks on this point: "The Prophet again confirms what I formerly +said, viz., mercy shall not be exercised until He has cleansed His Church of filthiness, +so great and so horrid, in which she at that time abounded." One must beware of +exchanging the Scriptural hope of a conversion of Israel on a large scale, in contrast +to the small <span lang="el" class="Greek">ἐκλογή</span> at the time of Christ and +the Apostles, for the hope of a <i>general</i> conversion in the strict sense. +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 410]</span> When considering the relation of God to the +free human nature, the latter is absolutely impossible. When consistently carried +out, it necessarily leads to the doctrine of universal restoration. It is beyond +doubt, that God <i>wills</i> that all men should be saved; and it would necessarily +follow that all men could be saved, if all the members of one nation could be saved. +There is no word of Scripture in favour of it, except the +<span lang="el" class="Greek">πᾶς</span> in Paul, which must just be interpreted +and qualified by the contrast to the <i>small</i> <span lang="el" class="Greek"> +ἐκλογή</span>, while there are opposed to it a number of declarations of Scripture,--especially +all those passages of the prophets where, to the remnant, to the escaped ones of +Israel only, salvation is promised. And, besides the Word of God, there are opposed +to it His deeds also,--especially the great typical prefiguration of things spiritual +by things external at the deliverance of the people from Egypt, when the <i>remnant</i> +only came to Canaan, while the bodies of thousands fell in the wilderness; and no +less at the deliverance from Babylon, when by far the greatest number preferred +the temporary delight in sin to delight in the Lord in His land.</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 4. "<i>And I raise shepherds over them, and they feed them; +and they shall fear no more, nor be terrified, neither be lost, saith the Lord.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">Even here, the reference to 2 Sam. vii. 12, and to the name of +Jehoiakim, is manifest, although, in the subsequent verse, it appears still more +distinctly, compare p. 401. This reference also is a proof in favour of this prophecy's +having been written under Jehoiakim. The reference was, at that time, easily understood +by every one; even the slightest allusion was sufficient. This reference farther +shows that <i>Venema</i>, and several others who preceded him in this view, are +wrong in here thinking of the Maccabees. These are here quite out of the question, +inasmuch as they were not descended from David. Besides the contrast between the +people's apostacy and God's covenant-faithfulness, the Prophet evidently has still +another in view, viz., that between the apostacy of the Davidic house, and God's +faithfulness in the fulfilment of the promise given to David. The single apostate +members of this family are destroyed, although, appropriating to themselves the +promise, they, in their names, promise deliverance and salvation to +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 411]</span> themselves. But from the family itself, God's +grace cannot depart; just because Jehovah is God, a true Jehoiakim and Jehoiachin +must rise out of it. It thus appears that the Maccabees are here as little referred +to as Ezra and Nehemiah, of whom <i>Grotius</i> thinks. Much stronger ground is +there for thinking of Zerubbabel, for his appearance had really some reference to +the promise to David, although as a weak type and prelude only of the true fulfilment, +to which he occupies the same relation, as does the gathering from the Babylonish +captivity to the gathering by Christ. If, after all, we wish to urge the Plural, +we must not, by any means, sever our verse from ver. 5, and declare this to be the +sense: <i>first</i> will I raise up to you shepherds; <i>then</i>, the Messiah. +We must, in that case, following <i>C. B. Michaelis</i>, rather supplement: specially +one, the Messiah. In <i>none</i> of Jeremiah's prophecies are there different stages +and degrees in the salvation; everywhere he has in his view the whole in its completion. +Where this is overlooked, the whole interpretation must necessarily take a wrong +direction, as is most clearly seen in the case of <i>Venema</i>. But there is no +reason at all for laying so much stress on the Plural. Every Plural may be used +for designating the idea of the whole species; and this kind of designation was +here so much the more obvious, that the bad species, with which the good is here +contrasted, consisted of a series of individuals. With the bad pastoral office, +the Prophet here <i>first</i> contrasts the good one; <i>then</i> he gives, in ver. +5, a more detailed description of the individual who is to represent the species, +in whom the idea of the species is to be completely realised. The correctness of +this interpretation is confirmed by the comparison of the parallel passage in chap. +xxxiii. 15, which, almost <i>verbatim</i>, agrees with that under consideration, +and in which only one descendant of David, viz., the Messiah, is spoken of And that +is quite natural; for, in that passage, there is no antithesis to the bad shepherds, +which was the cause that here, at first, the species was made prominent. And another +confirmation is afforded by Ezek. xxxiv. With him, too, one good shepherd is mentioned +in contrast with the bad shepherds.--The words: "And they feed them" stand in contrast +to "Who feed my people," in ver. 2. The shepherds mentioned in ver. 2 ought to feed +the flock; but, instead of doing <span class="pagenum">[Pg 412]</span> that, they +feed themselves (compare Ezek. xxxiv. 2); the shepherds, however, mentioned in our +verse, really feed. The former are shepherds in name only, but, in reality, wolves; +the latter are shepherds, both in name and reality. +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">פקד</span> must be taken in the signification "to +be missing," "lacking." (Compare the Remarks on chap. iii. 16.) There is an allusion +to <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">לא פקדתם</span> in ver. 2. Because the bad shepherd +does not visit, the sheep are not sought, <i>q.d.</i>, they are lost; but those +who did not visit, are now, in a very disagreeable manner, visited by God (<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">פקד +עליכם</span>); the good shepherd visits, and, therefore, the sheep need not be sought. +The clause: "They shall fear no more, nor be terrified," receives its explanation +from Ezek. xxxiv. 8: "Because my flock are a prey, and meat to every beast of the +field, because they have no shepherd, and because my shepherds do not concern themselves +with the flock."</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 5. "<i>Behold the days come, saith the Lord, and I raise +unto David a righteous Branch, and He ruleth as a King, and acteth wisely, and worketh +justice and righteousness in the land.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">The expression: "Behold the days come," according to the constant +<i>usus loquendi</i> of Jeremiah, does not designate a progress in time, in reference +to what precedes, but only directs attention to the greatness of that which is to +be announced. It contains, at the same time, an allusion to the contrast presented +by the visible state of things, which affords no ground for such a thing. How dark +soever the present state of things may be, the time is <i>still</i> coming; although +the heart may loudly say. <i>No</i>, the word of <i>God</i> must be more certain. +Concerning <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">צמח</span>, compare Isa. iv. 2, and the +passages of Zechariah there quoted, <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">צדיק</span> stands +here in the same signification as in Zech. ix. 9,--different from that which it +has in Isa. liii. 11. In the latter passage, where the Servant of God is described +as the High Priest and sin-offering. His righteousness comes into consideration +as the fundamental condition of justification; here, where He appears as King only,--as +the cause of the diffusion of justice and righteousness in the land. That there +is implied in this a contrast to the former kings, was pointed out as early as by +<i>Abarbanel</i>: "He shall not be an unrighteous seed, such as Jehoiakim and his +son, but a righteous <span class="pagenum">[Pg 413]</span> one." <i>Calvin</i> also +points out "the obvious antithesis between Christ and so many false, and, as it +were, adulterous sons. For we know for certain that He alone was the righteous seed +of David; for although Hezekiah and Josiah were legitimate successors, yet, when +we look to others, they were, as it were, monsters. Except three or four, all the +rest were degenerate and covenant-breakers." The words: "I raise unto David a righteous +Branch" are here, as well as in chap. xxxiii. 15, not by any means equivalent to: +a righteous Branch of David. On the contrary, David is designated as he to whom +the act of raising belongs, for whose sake it is undertaken. God has promised to +him the eternal dominion of his house. How much soever, therefore, the members of +this family may sin against the Lord,--how unworthy soever the people may be to +be governed by a righteous Branch of David, God, as surely as He is God, must raise +Him for the sake of David. The word <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">מֶלֶךְ</span> +must not be overlooked. It shows that <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">מָלַךְ</span>, +which, standing by itself, may designate also another government than by a king, +such as, <i>e.g.</i>, that of Zerubbabel, is to be taken in its full sense. And +this qualification was so much the more necessary, that the deepest abasement of +the house of David, announced by the Prophet in chap. xxii., compare especially +ver. 30, was approaching, and that thereby every hope of its rising to <i>complete</i> +prosperity seemed to be set aside. Since, therefore, the faith in this event rested +merely on the word, it was necessary that the word should be as distinct as possible, +in order that no one might pervert, or explain it away. <i>Calvin</i> remarks: "He +shall rule as a King, <i>i.e.</i>, He shall rule gloriously; so that there do not +merely appear some relics of former glory, but that He flourish and be powerful +as a King, and attain to a perfection, such as existed under David and Solomon; +and even much more excellent."--As regards <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">השכיל</span>, +we have already, in our remarks on chap. iii. 15, proved that it never and nowhere +means "to prosper," "to be prosperous," but always "to act wisely." It has been +shown by <i>Calvin</i> that even the context here requires the latter signification. +He says: "The Prophet seems here rather to speak of right judgment than of prosperity +and success; for we must read this in connexion with one another: He shall act wisely, +and then work justice and <span class="pagenum">[Pg 414]</span> righteousness. He +shall be endowed with the spirit of wisdom, as well as of justice and righteousness; +so that he shall perform all the offices and duties of a king." Yet <i>Calvin</i> +has not exhausted the arguments which may be derived from the context. The <i>whole</i> +verse before us treats of the endowments of the King; the whole succeeding one, +of the prosperity which, by these endowments, is imparted to the people. To this +may still be added the evident contrast to the folly of the former shepherds, which +was the consequence of their wickedness, and which, in the preceding chapter, had +been described as the cause of their own, and the people's destruction; compare +chap. x. 21: "For the shepherds are become brutish, and do not seek the Lord; therefore +they do not act wisely, and their whole flock is scattered." But if here the signification +"to act wisely" be established, then it is also in all those passages where +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">השכיל</span> is used of David; compare remarks on +chap. iii. For the fact, that the Prophet has in view these passages, and that, +according to him, the reign of David is, in a more glorious manner, to be revived +in his righteous Branch, appears from the circumstance that every thing else has +its foundation in the description of David's reign, in the books of Samuel. Thus +the words: "And he ruleth as a king, and worketh justice and righteousness in the +land," refer back to 2 Sam. viii. 15: "And David reigned over all Israel, and David +wrought justice and righteousness unto all his people." The foundation of the announcement +of ver. 6 is formed by 2 Sam. viii. 14 (compare ver. 6): "And the Lord gave prosperity +(<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ויושע</span>) to David in all his ways." But if +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">השכיל</span>, wherever it occurs of David, must be +taken in this sense, then the LXX. are right also in translating Is. lii. 13 by +<span lang="el" class="Greek">συνήσει</span>: for, in that passage, just as in the +verse under consideration, David is referred to as the type of the Messiah. The +phrase <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">עשה משפט וצדקה</span> is by <i>De Wette</i> +commonly translated: "to <i>exercise</i> justice and righteousness." But the circumstance +that, in Ps. cxlvi. 7, he is obliged to give up this translation, proves that it +is wrong. <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">עשה</span> must rather be explained by +"to work," "to establish." <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">משפט</span> is here, as +everywhere else, the objective right and justice; <span lang="he" class="Hebrew"> +צדקה</span>, the subjective righteousness. The <i>working</i> of justice is the +means by which <i>righteousness</i> is wrought. The forced dominion of justice is +necessarily followed by the voluntary, <span class="pagenum">[Pg 415]</span> just +as the judgments of God, by means of which He is sanctified <i>upon</i> mankind, +are, at the same time, the means by which He is sanctified <i>in</i> them. The high +vocation of the King to work justice and righteousness rests upon His dignity, as +the bearer of God's image; comp. Ps. cxlvi. 7; chap. ix. 23: "For I the Lord work +love, justice, and righteousness in the land." Chap. xxii. 15 is, moreover, to be +compared, where it is said of Josiah, the true descendant of David, "he wrought +justice and righteousness," and chap. xxii. 3, where his spurious descendants are +admonished: "Work justice and righteousness, and deliver the spoiled out of the +hand of the oppressor, and do not oppress the stranger; the fatherless and the widow +do not wrong, neither shed innocent blood in this place." Farther, still, is the +progress to be observed: the King is righteous, his righteousness passeth over from +him to the subjects; then follows salvation and righteousness from the Lord.--To +explanations, such as that of <i>Grotius</i>, who, by the righteous Branch, understands +Zerubbabel, we here need the less to pay any attention, that the fact of his being +in this without predecessors or followers palpably proves it to be erroneous. If, +indeed, we could rely on <i>Theodoret's</i> statement ("The blinded Jews endeavour, +with great impudence, to refer this to Zerubbabel"--then follows the refutation), +the older Jews must have led the way to this perverted interpretation. But we cannot +implicitly rely on <i>Theodoret's</i> statements of this kind. In the Jewish writings +themselves, not the slightest trace of such an interpretation is to be found. The +Chaldean Paraphrast is decidedly in favour of the Messianic interpretation: +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">אתן אמר יי ואקים הא יומיא לדוד משיח דצדקה</span> +"Behold the days shall come, and I will raise up to David the righteous Messiah, +(not <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">דצדקיא</span> 'the Messiah of the righteous,' +as many absurdly read), saith the Lord." <i>Eusebius</i> (compare <i>Le Moyne</i>, +<i>de Jehova justitia nostra</i>, p. 23), it is true, refutes the interpretation +which refers it to Joshua, the son of Josedech; but we are not entitled to infer +from this circumstance, that this view found supporters in his time. His intention +is merely to guard against the erroneous interpretation of +<span lang="el" class="Greek">Ἰωσεδέκ</span> of the following verse in the Alexandrian +version (<span lang="el" class="Greek">καὶ τοῦτο τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ, ὃ καλέσει αὐτὸν +κύριος, Ἰωσεδέκ</span>). It can scarcely be imagined that the translators themselves +proceeded from this erroneous view. For <span class="pagenum">[Pg 416]</span> Josedech, +the father of Joshua the high-priest, is a person altogether obscure. All which +they intended, by their retaining the Hebrew form, was certainly only the wish, +to express that it was a <i>nomen proprium</i> which occurred here; and they were +specially induced to act thus by the circumstance, that this name was, in their +time, generally current, as one of the proper names of the Messiah.</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 6. "<i>And in His days Judah is endowed with salvation, and +Israel dwelleth safely; and this is the name whereby they shall call him: The Lord +our righteousness.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">It has already been pointed out that the first words here look +back to David. That which Jeremiah here expresses by several words, Zechariah expresses +more briefly, by calling the Sprout of David <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">צדיק +ונושע</span> "righteous, and protected by God." It makes no difference that, in +that passage, the salvation, the inseparable concomitant of righteousness, is ascribed +to the King, its possessor; while, here, it is ascribed to the people. For, in that +passage, too, it is for his subjects that salvation is attributed to the King who +comes for Zion, just as he is righteous for Zion also. Israel must here be taken +either in the restricted sense, or in the widest, either as the ten tribes <i>alone</i>, +or as the ten tribes along with Judah. It is a favourite thought of Jeremiah, which +recurs in all his Messianic prophecies, that the ten tribes are to partake in the +future prosperity and salvation. He has a true tenderness for Israel; his bowels +roar when he remembers them, who were already, for so long a time, forsaken and +rejected. His lively hope for Israel is a great testimony of his lively faith. For, +in the case of Israel, the visible state of things afforded still less ground for +hope than in the case of Judah. There is here an allusion to Deut. xxxiii. 28: ("And +He thrusteth out thine enemy from before thee, and saith: Destroy") "And Israel +dwelleth in safety (<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">וישכן ישראל בטח</span>), alone, +Jacob looketh upon a land of corn and wine, and his heavens drop dew." There can +be the less doubt of the existence of this allusion, that this expression occurs, +besides in Deuteronomy, and in the verse under consideration, only once more in +chap. xxxiii. 16,--that a reference to the majestic close of the blessing of Moses, +which certainly was in the hearts and mouths of all the pious, was very natural, +and that the word <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">תושע</span> has there its analogy +in ver. 29: <span class="pagenum">[Pg 417]</span> "Happy art thou, O Israel, who +is like unto thee, a people saved (<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">נֹושַׁע</span>) +by the Lord, the shield of thy help, thy proud sword; and thine enemies flatter +thee, and thou treadest upon their high places." This glorious destination of the +covenant-people, which, hitherto, had been so imperfectly only realized (most perfectly +under David, compare 2 Sam. viii. 6, 14), shall, under the reign of the Messiah, +be carried out in such a manner that idea and reality shall fully coincide. The +covenant-people is to appear in its full dignity.--In the second hemistich of the +verse, the reading requires first to be established. Instead of the reading +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">יִקְרְאוֹ</span> which is found in the text, and +which is the third pers. Sing. with the Suffix, several MSS. (compare <i>De Rossi</i>), +have the third pers. Plur. <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">יִקְרְאוּ</span>. Several +controversial writers, such as <i>Raim. Martini</i>, <i>Pug. Fid.</i> p. 517, and +<i>Galatinus</i>, iii. 9, p. 126, (The Jews of our time assert that here Jeremiah +did not say "they shall call," <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">יִקְרְאוּ</span>, +as we read it, but "he shall call him," <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">יִקְרְאוֹ</span>; +and they declare this to be the sense: "This is the name of Him who shall call him, +viz., the Messiah: Our righteous God,") declare the latter to be unconditionally +correct, and assert that the other had originated from an intentional Jewish corruption, +got up for the purpose of setting aside the divinity of the Messiah, which, to them, +was so offensive. This allegation, however, is certainly unfounded. It is true, +that some Jewish interpreters availed themselves of the reading +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">יִקְרְאוֹ</span> for the purpose stated. Thus <i> +Rabbi Saadias Haggaon</i>, according to <i>Abenezra</i> and <i>Manasseh Ben Israel</i>, +who explain: "And this is the name by which the Lord will call him: Our righteousness." +But it by no means follows from this, that they invented the reading; it may have +existed, and they only connected their perversion with it. That the latter was indeed +the case, appears from the circumstance that by far the greater number of Jewish +interpreters and controversialists rejected this perversion, because it was in opposition +to the accents (compare especially <i>Abenezra</i> and <i>Norzi</i> on the passage), +and acknowledged <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">יהוה צדקנו</span> to be the name +of the Messiah. The reading <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">יִקְרְאוּ</span> must +be unconditionally rejected, because it has by far the smallest external authority +in its favour. It is true, that its supporters (comp. especially <i>Schulze</i>, +<i>vollst. Critik der gewöhnlichen</i> <span class="pagenum">[Pg 418]</span> <i> +Bibelausgaben</i>, S. 321) have endeavoured to make up for its deficiency in manuscript +authority, by appealing to the authority of the ancient translators, all of whom, +with the sole exception of the Alexandrian version, according to them, express it. +But this assertion is entirely without foundation. The <i>vocabunt eum</i> of <i> +Jonathan</i> and the Vulgate is the correct translation of +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">יִקְרְאוֹ</span>. And when <i>Jerome</i>, in opposition +to the Alex., remarks that, according to the Hebrew, the translation ought to be: +<i>Nomen ejus vocabunt</i>, he does not contend against their use of the Singular +<i>per se</i>, but only against their arbitrarily supplying "Jehovah" as the subject; +against their explaining "The Lord shall call," instead of "one" shall call. The +manner in which the false reading <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">יִקְרְאוּ</span> +first arose, is clearly seen from the reasons by which its later defenders endeavour +to support it; compare especially <i>Schulze</i> l. c. The chief argument is the +erroneous supposition that the third Plur. only could be used impersonally. To this +was farther added the use of the rarer Suffix <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">וֹ</span> +instead of the common <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">־ֵהוּ</span>--But from internal +reasons, too, the reading <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">יִקְרְאוּ</span> is objectionable; +the designation of the object of calling cannot be omitted.--There cannot be any +doubt that we are not allowed to refer the Suffix in +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">יִקְרְאוֹ</span> to Israel, (<i>Ewald</i>: "And this +is their name by which they call them,") but to the Messiah. For it is only in this +case, that those who call, viz., Judah or Israel, the Members of the Church, are +indirectly mentioned in the preceding words; and the Messiah is, in both verses, +the chief person to whom all the other clauses refer. At all events, the <i>then</i> +could not, in that case, have been omitted, as in this context every thing depends +upon the connection of the salvation with the person of the King; and this connection +must be clearly and distinctly expressed. We now come to +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">יהוה צדקנו</span>. Great difference of opinion prevails +as to the explanation of these words. The better portion of the Jewish interpreters, +indeed, likewise consider them as names of the Messiah, but not in such a manner +that He is called "Jehovah," and then, in apposition to it, "Our righteousness," +but rather in such a manner that <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">יהוה צדקנו</span> +is an abbreviation of the whole sentence. Thus the Chaldean, who thus paraphrases: +"And this is the name by which they shall call him: Righteousness +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 419]</span> will be bestowed upon us from the face of +the Lord;" <i>Kimchi</i>, "Israel shall call the Messiah by this name: The Lord +our righteousness, because at His time, the righteousness of the Lord will be to +us firm, continuous, everlasting;" the <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ספר עקרים</span> +(in <i>Le Moyne</i>, p. 20): "Scripture calls the name of the Messiah: The Lord +our righteousness, because He is the Mediator of God, and we obtain the righteousness +of God by His ministry." Besides to chap. xxxiii. 16, they refer to passages such +as Exod. xvii. 15, where Moses calls the altar "Jehovah my banner;" to Gen. xxxiii. +20, where Jacob calls it <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">אל אלהי ישראל</span>. <i> +Grotius</i> follows these expositors, only that he dilutes the sense still more. +The other Christian expositors, (the Vulgate excludes every other interpretation, +even by its translation: <i>Dominus justus noster</i>) on the contrary, contend +with all their might for the opinion, that the Messiah is here called Jehovah, and +hence must be truly God. That which <i>Dassov</i> i. h. 1. remarks: "Since then +the Messiah is called Jehovah, we have firm ground for inferring, that He is truly +God, inasmuch as that name is peculiar and essential to the true God," is the argument +common to all of them. <i>Le Moyne</i> wrote in defence of this explanation a whole +book, which we have already quoted, but from which little is to be learned. Even +<i>Calvin</i>, who elsewhere sometimes erred from an exaggerated dread of doctrinal +prejudice, decidedly adopts it. He remarks: "Those who judge without prejudice and +bitterness, easily see that that name belongs to Christ, in so far as He is God, +just as the name of the Son of David is assigned to Him in reference to His human +nature. To all those who are just and unprejudiced, it will be clear that Christ +is here distinguished by a twofold attribute; so that the Prophet commends Him to +us, both as regards the glory of His deity, and his true human nature." By righteousness +he, too, understands justification through the merits of Christ, "for Christ is +not righteous for himself, but received righteousness in order to communicate it +to us" (1 Cor. i. 30). We have the following observations to make in reference to +this exposition. 1. The principal mistake in it is this, that it has been overlooked +that the Prophet here expresses the nature of the Messiah and of His time in the +form of a <i>nomen proprium</i>. If the words were thus: "And this is Jehovah our +righteousness," we should be fully <span class="pagenum">[Pg 420]</span> entitled +to take Jehovah as a personal designation of the Messiah. But in reference to a +name, it is as common, as it is natural, to take from a whole sentence the principal +words only, and to leave it to the reader or hearer to supply the rest. In the case +of all <i>naming</i>, brevity is unavoidable, as is proved by the usual abbreviation +of even those proper names which consist of one word only. The two cases mentioned +by <i>Kimchi</i> will serve as instances. "Jehovah my Banner" is a concise expression +for: "This altar is consecrated to Jehovah my Banner;" +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">אל אלהי ישראל</span> for: "This altar belongs to +the Almighty, the God of Israel." A number of other instances might easily be quoted; +one need only compare, in <i>Hiller's</i> and <i>Simonis'</i> Onomastica, the names +which are compounded with Jehovah. Thus, <i>e.g.</i>, Jehoshua, <i>i.e.</i>, Jehovah +salvation, is a concise expression for: Jehovah will grant me salvation; Jehoram, +<i>i.e.</i>, <i>Jehovah altus</i>, for: I am consecrated to the exalted God of Israel. +Most perfectly analogous, however, is the name Zedekiah, <i>i.e.</i>, the righteousness +of the Lord, for: He under whose reign the Lord will grant righteousness to His +people. This name, moreover, seems to refer directly to the prophecy before us. +Just as Eliakim, by changing his name into Jehoiakim, intended to represent himself +as he in whom the prophecy in 2 Sam. vii. would be fulfilled; so he who was formerly +called Mattaniah changed, at the instance of Nebuchadnezzar (who had, indeed, no +other object in view than that, as a sign of his supremacy, his name should be different +from that by which he was formerly called, and who left the choice of the name to +Mattaniah himself), his name into Zedekiah, imagining that in a manner so easy, +he would become the Jehovah Zidkenu announced by Jeremiah, and longed for by the +people. 2. The preceding argument only showed that there is nothing opposed to the +exposition: He by whom and under whom Jehovah will be our righteousness. A positive +proof, however, in favour of it is offered by the parallel passage, chap. xxxiii. +15, 16: "In those days and at that time will I cause a righteous Branch to grow +up unto David; and He worketh justice and righteousness in the land. In those days +shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely, and this is the name which +they shall give to <i>her</i>: Jehovah our righteousness." Here Jehovah Zidkenu +by no means <span class="pagenum">[Pg 421]</span> appears as the name of the Messiah, +but as that of Jerusalem in the Messianic time. In vain are all the attempts which +have been made to set aside this troublesome argument. They only serve to show, +that it cannot be invalidated. <i>Le Moyne</i>, "in order that no way of escape +may be left to the enemies," brings forward, p. 298 ff., five different expedients +among which the reader may choose. But their very difference is a plain sign of +arbitrariness; and that appears still more clearly, when we begin to examine them +individually. Several interpreters assume an <i>enallage generis</i> +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">לה</span> = <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">לו</span>, +"and thus shall they call <i>him</i>." <i>Le Moyne</i> thinks that we need have +no difficulty in assuming such an <i>enallage</i>. Others explain: "And he who shall +call, <i>i.e.</i>, invite her, is Jehovah our righteousness." A simple reference +to the passage before us is decisive against it; the parallelism of the two passages +is too close to admit of <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">יקרא</span> in the second +passage being understood in a sense altogether different. By the same argument, +the explanations by <i>Hottinger</i> (Thesaur. Philolog. p. 17l), and <i>Dassov</i>: +"This shall come to pass when the Lord, the Lord our righteousness, shall call her," +are also refuted, quite apart from the consideration, that +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">אשר</span> cannot by any means signify <i>when</i>. +The most recent defender of the old orthodox view, <i>Schmieder</i>, cuts the knot +by simply severing our passage from chap. xxxiii. 16–3. The ancient explanation, +which refers <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">צדקנו</span>, "our righteousness," to +the remission of sins, does not even correctly understand this word. It is true +that the remission of sins is often represented as one of the chief blessings of +the Messianic time; but here it is out of place. According to the context, it is +actual justification, <i>i.e.</i>, salvation according to another mode of viewing +it, which is here spoken of (compare remarks on Mal. iii. 20). Righteousness in +this sense implies, of course, the forgiveness of sins; but, besides, the righteousness +of life is comprehended in it. Righteousness stands here in parallelism with salvation, +and the order and progress is this: righteousness of the king, righteousness of +the subjects, then salvation and righteousness as a reward from God, To this argument +may still be added the contrast to the former time. Connected with the unrighteousness +of the kings was that of the people; and hence it was that the country was deprived +of salvation, and smitten by the divine judgments. That <span class="pagenum">[Pg +422]</span> which Jeremiah comprehends in the name <i>Jehovah Zidkenu</i>, Ezekiel, +in the parallel passage, chap. xxxiv. 25-31, farther carries out and expands. The +Lord enters into a covenant of peace with them; rich blessing is bestowed upon them; +He breaks their yoke and delivers them from servitude; they do not become a prey +to the Gentiles.--<i>Schmieder</i> has objected, that the name would be without +meaning for the promised King, unless the name Jehovah belonged to him. But the +King, by being called <i>Jehovah Zidkenu</i>, is designated as the channel, through +which the divine blessings flow upon the Church, as the Mediator of Salvation, as +the Saviour. We must not, however, omit to remark that this ancient explanation +was wrong only in endeavouring to draw out from the word that which, no doubt, is +contained in the matter itself No one born of a woman is <i>righteous</i>, in the +full sense of the word; and if there be anything wanting in the personal righteousness +of the King, the working of justice and righteousness, too, will at once be deficient; +and salvation and righteousness are not granted in their full extent from above. +To no one among all the former kings did the attribute +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">צדיק</span> belong in a higher degree than to David; +and yet in how imperfect a degree did even he possess it! The calamity which, by +this imperfection, was inflicted upon the people, is, <i>e.g.</i>, seen in the numbering +of the people. And it was not only the <i>will</i> to work justice and righteousness +which was imperfect, but the power also was imperfect, and the knowledge limited. +He only who truly rules as a king, and is truly wise (compare the words +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">וּמָלַךְ מֶלֶךְ וְהִשְׂכִּיל</span>) can come up +to, and realize the idea, after which David was striving in vain. All the three +offices of Christ, the royal no less than the prophetic and priestly, imply His +divinity; and the conviction that, in the way hitherto pursued, nothing was to be +effected; that it was only by the divine entering into the earthly, that such splendid +promises could be fulfilled,--this conviction surely must have been plain to a Jeremiah, +whose fundamental sentiment is, "all flesh is grass," and who lived at a time which, +more than any other, was fitted to cure that Pelagianism which always seeks to gather +grapes from thorns. If then, farther, we keep in mind that Jeremiah had before him +the clear announcements of the former prophets, as regards the divinity of the Messiah +(compare <span class="pagenum">[Pg 423]</span> remarks on Mic. v. 1; Is. ix. 5), +we can account for the fact, that he does not expressly speak of it, only because +it was not suitable in this context, in which only the fact itself comes into consideration, +but not the particular way.</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 7. "<i>Wherefore, behold days come, saith the Lord, that +they shall no more say: As the Lord liveth who brought up the children of Israel +out of the land of Egypt</i>; ver. 8, but: <i>As the Lord liveth, who brought up, +and who led the seed of the house of Israel out of the North country, and from all +the countries whither I have driven them; and they dwell in their land.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">The sense is this: The future prosperity and salvation shall by +far outshine the greatest deliverance and salvation of the Past. <i>Calvin</i> remarks: +"If the first deliverance be valued by itself, it will be worthy of everlasting +remembrance; but if it be compared with the second deliverance, it will almost vanish;" +compare, besides chap. xvi. 14, 15, where the verses now under consideration already +occurred almost <i>verbatim</i> (Jeremiah is fond of such repetitions, which are +any thing but vain repetitions; and this fondness forms one of his peculiarities); +chap. iii. 16, where, in the same sense, it is said of the Ark of the Covenant that +it shall be forgotten in future; Is. xliii. 18, 19, lxv. 17.--<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">חי־יהוה</span> +"living (is) Jehovah," for: "As Jehovah liveth." It is quite natural that, when +God is invoked as a witness and judge, He should be designated as the <i>living +one</i>; and it is as natural that, on such an occasion, the greatest sign of life +which He gave should be pointed to. But that, under the Old Testament dispensation, +was the deliverance from Egypt, the strongest and most impressive of all those deeds +by which the delusion was dissipated, that God was walking upon the vault of heaven, +and did not judge through the clouds. In future, a still stronger manifestation +of life is to take place. Hence the formula of the oath is altogether general; the +deliverance from Egypt comes into consideration as a manifestation of life, and +not as an act of grace. This was overlooked by <i>Calvin</i> when he remarked: "Whensoever +they saw themselves so oppressed, that they did not see any other end to their evils +than in the grace of God, they said that the same God, who, in former times, had +been the deliverer of His people, was still living, and His power undiminished."</p> +<p class="continue"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 424]</span></p> +<h3><a name="div2_424" href="#div2Ref_424">CHAP. XXXI. 31-40.</a></h3> +<p class="normal">The 30th and 31st chapters may rightly be called the grand hymn +of Israel's deliverance. They are connected into one whole, not only a material, +but also by a formal unity; so that we must indeed wonder at views such as those +of <i>Venema</i> and <i>Rosenmüller</i>, who assume that the section is composed +of fragments loosely connected, and written at different times; but still more at +the views of <i>Movers</i> and <i>Hitzig</i>, who assert that a whole number of +strange interpolations had been introduced into the text; compare <i>Küper</i>, +Jerem. S. 170 ff.</p> +<p class="normal">With respect to the time of the composition, we must not allow +ourselves to be deceived by the circumstance that, as a rule, Judah appears no less +that Israel, already far away from the land of the Lord, in captivity. The Prophet, +taking his stand in the time when the catastrophe has already taken place, speaks +from an ideal Present. The fact that the destruction of Jerusalem was indeed imminent, +and immediately in view, but had not yet taken place, becomes probable even from +the inscriptions in chap. xxxii. and xxxiii., according to which these two chapters, +which are so closely related to the two before us, belong to the tenth year of Zedekiah, +when Jerusalem was besieged by the Chaldeans. This is rendered certain by chap. +xxx. 5-7, where the final catastrophe upon the covenant-people, which belongs to +the time of Jeremiah, is represented as still impending. Hitherto the threatening +had prevailed in the predictions of the Prophet; but now, in the view of their fulfilment, +when the thunders of the judgment were already heard from the heavens, the promise +flows in full streams. The false prophets had prophesied prosperity and salvation, +at a time when, to the human eye, there was no. cause for fear; but Jeremiah just +steps forth to announce salvation, at a time when all human hope had vanished.</p> +<p class="normal">The Prophet begins, in chap. xxx., with the promise of salvation +for <i>all</i> Israel; and after a detailed description, he comprehends and sums +it up, in ver. 22, in the words, brief but infinitely rich and comprehensive: "And +ye shall be my people <span class="pagenum">[Pg 425]</span> and I will be your God."<sup class="ftnRef"><a name="ftnRef_425a" href="#ftn_425a">[1]</a></sup> +The majestic close of the promise for the true Israel is, in vers. 23, 24, formed +by the threatening against those who are Israel in appearance only,--analogous to +the words of Isaiah: "There is no peace to the wicked." Let them not, in their foolish +delusion, seize the promise for themselves. The time of the highest blessing for +the godly, and for those who are willing to become godly, the +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">אחרית הימים</span>. will be for them, at the same +time, a time of the highest curse. The climax of the manifestation of grace has +the climax of the manifestation of justice as its inseparable companion. "Behold +the storm of the Lord, glowing fire, goeth forth, a <i>continuing</i> storm, on +the head of the wicked it shall remain. The fierce anger of the Lord shall not return, +until He have done, and until He have performed the intents of His heart; at the +end of days ye shall consider it." Formerly, in chap. xxiii. 19, 20, in a threatening +prophecy which referred to the exile, the Prophet had uttered the same words. By +their verbal repetition, he intimates that the matter was not by any means settled +with the exile; that the latter must not be considered as the absolute and final +punishment for the sins of the whole nation, but that, as truly as God is Jehovah, +so surely His words will revive, as often as the circumstances again exist, to which +they originally referred.</p> +<p class="continue"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 426]</span></p> +<p class="normal">The more specific the consolation is, the more impressive is it, +and the more does it reach the heart. After having announced salvation, therefore, +to <i>all</i> Israel, the Prophet now proceeds to the consolation for the two divisions +of Israel. He begins with Israel in the restricted sense--the ten tribes (chap. +xxxi. 1–22), and with them he continues longest, because, when looking to the outward +appearance, they seemed to be lost beyond all hope of recovery, to be for ever rejected +by the Lord. The thought, that we have here an original and independent announcement +of salvation for Israel, is set aside even by the relation of ver. 1 to ver. 22 +of the preceding chapter. For it is to this verse that the Prophet immediately connects +his discourse; vers. 23 and 24 are only a parenthetical remark, an <i>Odi profanum +vulgus et arceo</i>, addressed to those to whom the promise did not belong. Upon +the words: "You shall be my people, and I will be your God," follow in an inverted +order, the words: "At that time, saith the Lord, I will (specially) be the God of +all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people." Rachel, the mother of +Joseph and Benjamin, weeping over her sons, vers. 15–17, is so much the more suited +to represent Israel, that the tribe of Benjamin also, as to its principal portion, +belonged to the kingdom of the ten tribes; compare my commentary on Ps. lxxx. Upon +Israel there follows, in vers. 23–26, Judah. The announcement closes in ver. 26 +with the words so often misunderstood: "Upon this I awaked, and I beheld, and my +sleep was sweet unto me." The Prophet has lost sight of the Present; like a sleeping +man, he is not susceptible of its impressions, compare remarks on Zech. iv. 1. Then +he awakes for a moment from his sweet dream (an allusion to Prov. iii. 24), which, +however, is not, like ordinary dreams, without foundation. He looks around; every +thing is dark, dreary, and cold; nowhere is there consolation for the weary soul. +"Ah," he exclaims, "I have sweetly dreamed,"--and immediately the hand of the Lord +again seizes him, and carries him away from the scenes of the Present.</p> +<p class="normal">There is not by any means a different salvation destined for Israel +and Judah; it is one salvation to be partaken of by both, who are in future to be +re-united into one covenant-people, into a nation of brethren. From the parts, therefore, +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 427]</span> the description returns, in vers. 27–40, to +the whole from which it had proceeded, and is thus completely rounded off, especially +by the circumstance that, just in this close, there is contained the crown of the +promises, the substance and centre of the declaration recurring here in ver. 33: +"And I will be their God, and they shall be my people."</p> +<p class="normal">The whole description in both chapters is Messianic; and after +what we have already had frequent occasion to remark, no farther proof is necessary +to show how inadmissible is a proceeding like that of <i>Venema</i>, who cuts it +all up into small pieces, and here assumes an exclusive reference to the return +from the captivity; there, to the Maccabees, whom he almost raises to Saviours; +in another place, to Christ and His Kingdom. We ought therefore, indeed, to give +an exposition of the whole section; but, for external reasons, we are obliged to +limit ourselves to an exposition of the principal portion, chap. xxxi. 31–40.</p> +<p class="normal">It is chap. xxxi. 22 only which we shall briefly explain, because +that passage was, in former times, understood by many interpreters to contain a +personal Messianic prophecy. "<i>How long wilt thou turn aside, O thou apostate +daughter? for the Lord createth a new thing in the land, woman shall compass about +man.</i>" The last words of the verse are, by the ancient interpreters, commonly +explained as referring to Christ's birth by a virgin. Thus, <i>e.g.</i>, <i>Cocceius</i>: +"It could not be said more distinctly, at least not without ceasing to be enigmatical, +unless he had said that a virgin has born Christ the Son of God." But quite apart +from other arguments, this explanation is opposed by the obvious consideration, +in that case, just that would here be stated which, in the birth of Christ by a +virgin, is <i>not</i> peculiar. For <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">גבר</span> and +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">נקבה</span> are a designation of the sex; the fact +that the woman brings forth the man (since <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">גבר</span> +is asserted to designate <i>proles mascula</i>), is something altogether common; +but the important feature is wanting, that the woman is to be a virgin, and the +man, the Son of God. But certainly not a whit better than this explanation is that +which modern interpreters (<i>Schnurrer</i>, <i>Gesenius</i>, <i>Rosenmüller</i>, +<i>Maurer</i>), have advanced in its stead: "The woman shall protect the man, shall +perform for him the <i>munus excubitoris circumeuntis</i>." This, surely, is a "<i>ridiculus</i> +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 428]</span> <i>mus</i>"--an argument quite unique. We +must fully agree with <i>Schnurrer</i>, who remarks: "This, surely, is something +new, uncommon, unheard of;" but not every thing <i>new</i> is, for that reason, +suitable for furnishing an effectual motive for conversion. The sense at which +<i>Ewald</i> arrives: "A woman transforming herself into a man," is surely not worthy +of being entertained at the expense of a change in the reading. The correct view +is the following:--The Prophet founds his exhortation to return to the Lord upon +the most effectual argument possible, viz., upon the fact that the Lord was to return +to them, that the time of wrath was now over, that they might hasten back into the +open arms of God's love. Without hope of mercy, there cannot be a conversion. The +perverse and desponding heart of man must, by His preventing love, be allured to +come to God. How important and valuable the "new thing" is which the Lord is to +create, the Prophet shows by the terms which he has selected. It is just the <i> +nomina sexus</i> which here are suitable; the omission of the article also is intentional. +The relation is represented in its general aspect; and thereby the look is more +steadily directed to its fundamental nature and substance. "Woman shall compass +about (Ps. xxxii. 7, 10) man;" the strong will again take the weak and tender into +His intimate communion, under His protection and loving care. The woman art thou, +O Israel, who hitherto hast sufficiently experienced, what a woman is without the +man, how she is a reed exposed to, and a sport of, all winds. The man is the Lord. +How foolish would it be on thy part, if thou wert to persevere any longer in thine +independence and dissoluteness, and if thou didst refuse to return into the sweet +relation of dependence and unconditional surrefender, which alone, being the only +natural relation, can be productive of happiness! In favour of this explanation +is also the clear reference of <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">תסובב</span> to +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">תתחמקין</span>, and to +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">השובבה</span>, which, in the case of the latter word, +is even outwardly expressed by the alliteration. How foolish would it be still farther +to <i>depart</i>, as now the time is at hand when the Lord is approaching.--It is +obvious that, even according to our interpretation, the prophecy retains its Messianic +character.</p> +<p class="continue"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 429]</span></p> +<p class="normal">The contents of the section, vers. 31–40, are as follows:--The +Lord is far from punishing with entire rejection the contempt of His former gifts +and blessings. On the contrary, by increased grace, He will renew the bond between +Him and the people, and render it for ever indissoluble. The foundation of this +is formed by the remission of sins, of which the richer outpouring of the Spirit +is a consequence; and it is now, when the Law no more comes to Israel as an outward +letter, but is written in their hearts, that Israel attain their destination; they +will truly be the people of God, and God will be truly their God, vers. 31–34. To +the people conscious of their guilt, and still groaning under the judgments of God, +such a manifestation of God's continuous grace appears incredible; but God most +emphatically assures them, that this election is still in force, and must continue +for ever, as truly as He is God, vers. 31–37. The city of God shall gloriously arise +out of its ashes. While formerly the unholy abomination entered into her, the holy +one, even into her innermost parts, she <i>now</i> shall extend her boundaries beyond +the territory of the unholy; and the Lord, who is sanctified <i>within</i> her, +will sanctify himself <i>upon</i> her also. There shall be no more destruction.</p> +<hr class="W20"> +<p class="normal">Ver. 31. "<i>Behold, days come, saith the Lord, and I make a new +covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 32. "<i>Not as the covenant that I made with their fathers, +in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, +which my covenant they brake; but I marry them to me, saith the Lord.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">The first question which we have here to examine is: What is to +be understood by the making of a covenant? We cannot here think of a formal transaction, +of a mutual contract, such as the covenant made on Sinai. This appears from ver. +32, according to which the old covenant was concluded on the day when the Lord took +Israel by the hand, in order to bring them out of Egypt; but at that time a covenant-transaction +proper was not yet mentioned. Most interpreters erroneously suppose that by the +words: "In the day," &c., the abode at Sinai is <span class="pagenum">[Pg 430]</span> +designated. But since the <i>day</i> of the deliverance from Egypt is commonly thus +spoken of (comp. Exod. xii. 51 ff.); since this <i>day</i> was, as such, marked +out by the annually returning feast of the Passover, we must, here also, take +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">יום</span>, "day," in its proper sense. And there +is the less reason for abandoning this most obvious sense that, in Exod. vi. 4; +Ezek. xvi. 8; Hag. ii. 5, a covenant with Israel is spoken of, which was not first +concluded on Sinai, but was already concluded when they went out from Egypt. <i> +Farther</i>--No obligation is spoken of in reference to the new covenant; blessing +and gifts are mentioned, and nothing but these. But are we to adopt the opinion +of <i>Frischmuth</i> (<i>de foedere nov.</i> in the <i>Thes. Ant.</i> i. p. 857), +and of many other interpreters and lexicographers, and say that +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ברית</span> "does not only signify a covenant entered +upon by two or several parties, but also <span lang="el" class="Greek">πρόθεσιν</span>, +<i>propositum Dei</i>, <span lang="el" class="Greek">ἐπαγγελίας</span>, His gratuitous +and unconditional promises, as well as His constant ordinances?" That might after +all be objectionable. <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">כרת ברית</span> cannot <i>signify</i> +any thing but to make a covenant.<sup class="ftnRef"><a name="ftnRef_430a" href="#ftn_430a">[2]</a></sup> +But the question is, whether the making of a covenant cannot be spoken of in passages, +where there is no mention of transactions of a mutual agreement between two parties. +The substance of the covenant evidently precedes the outward conclusion of the covenant, +and forms the foundation of it. The conclusion of the covenant does not first form +the relation, but is merely a solemn acknowledgment of the relation already existing. +Thus it is ever in human relations; the contract, as a rule, only fixes and settles +outwardly, a relation already existing. And that is still more the case in the relation +between God and man. By every benefit from God, an obligation is imposed upon him +who receives it, whether it may, in express words, have been stated by God, and +have been outwardly acknowledged by the recipient or not. This is clearly seen in +the case under consideration. At the giving of the Law on Sinai, the obligatory +power of the commandments of <span class="pagenum">[Pg 431]</span> God is founded +upon the fact, that God brought Israel out of the land of Egypt, the house of bondage. +Hence, it appears that the Sinaitic covenant existed, in substance, from the moment +that the Lord led Israel out of Egypt. By apostatizing from the Lord, the people +would have broken the covenant, even if it had not been solemnly confirmed on Sinai; +just as their apostacy, in the time between their going out and the transactions +on Sinai, was treated as a violation of the covenant. It would have been a breach +of the covenant, if the people had answered, in the negative, the solemn questions +of God, whether they would enter into a covenant with Him. This appears so much +the more clearly, when we keep in mind, that the New Covenant was not at all sanctioned +by such an external solemn act. But if, nevertheless, it is a covenant in the strictest +sense; if, here, the relation is independent upon its acknowledgment,--then, under +the Old Testament too, this acknowledgment must be a secondary element. The same +is the case with all the other passages commonly quoted in proof, that +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">כרת ברית</span> may also be used of mere blessings +and promises. Thus, <i>e.g.</i>, Gen. ix. 9: "Behold, I establish my covenant with +you, and with your seed after you." That which is here designated as a covenant +is not the promise <i>per se</i>, that in future the course of nature should, on +the whole, remain undisturbed, but in so far only, as it imposes upon them who receive +it, the obligation to glorify, by their walk, the Lord of the order of nature. In +part, this obligation is afterwards outwardly fixed in the commandments concerning +murder, eating of blood, &c. Gen. xv. 18: "In the same day God made a covenant with +Abraham, saying: Unto thy seed I give this land." In what precedes, a promise only +is contained; but this promise itself is, at the same time, an obligation; and this +obligation existed even then, although it was at a later period only, solemnly undertaken +by receiving the sign of the covenant, circumcision. Exod. xxxiv. 10: "And He said: +Behold I make a covenant; before all thy people I will do marvels such as have not +been done in all the earth, nor in any nation; and all the people among whom thou +art, shall see the work of the Lord; for it is a terrible thing that I will do with +thee." The covenant on Sinai is here already made; the making of the new covenant +here spoken of consists <span class="pagenum">[Pg 432]</span> in the mercies by +which God will manifest himself to His people as their God. Every one of these mercies +involves a new obligation for the people; every one is a question in deeds: This +I do to thee, what doest thou to me?--It will now be possible to determine in what +sense the Old Covenant is here contrasted with the New, The point in question cannot +be a new and more perfect revelation of the Law of God; for that is common to both +the dispensations. No jot or tittle of it can be lost under the New Testament, and +as little can a jot or tittle be added. God's law is based on His nature, and that +is eternal and unchangeable, compare Mal. iii. 22 (iv. 4). The revelation of the +Law does not belong to the going out from Egypt, to which the making of the former +covenant is here attributed, but to Sinai. As little can the discourse be of the +introduction of an entirely new relation, which is not founded at all upon the former +one. On this subject, <i>David Kimchi's</i> remark is quite pertinent: "It will +not be the newness of the covenant, but its stability." The covenant with Israel +is an everlasting covenant. Jehovah would not be Jehovah, if an entirely new commencement +could take place; <span lang="el" class="Greek">λέγω δε</span>--so the Apostle writes +in Rom. xv. 8--<span lang="el" class="Greek">Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν διάκονον γεγενῆσθαι +περιτομῆς ὑπὲρ ἀληθείας θεοῦ εἰς τὸ βεβαιῶσαι τὰς ἐπαγγελίας τῶν πατέρων· τὰ δε +ἔθνη ὑπὲρ ἐλέους δοξάσαι τὸν θεόν</span>. The sending of Christ with His gifts and +blessings, the making of the New Covenant, is thus the consequence of the covenant-faithfulness +of God. If then the Old and New Covenants are here contrasted, the former cannot +designate the relation of God to Israel <i>per se</i>, and in its whole extent, +but it must rather designate the former mode only, in which this relation was manifested,--that +whereby the Lord had, up to the time of the Prophet, manifested himself as the God +of Israel. With this former imperfect form, the future more perfect form is here +contrasted, under the name of the New Covenant. The New Covenant which is to take +the place of the Old, when looking to the form (comp. Heb. viii. 13: +<span lang="el" class="Greek">ἐν τῷ λέγειν· Καινὴν, πεπαλαίωκε τὴν πρώτην· τὸ δὲ +παλαιούμενον καὶ γηράσκον, ἐγγὺς ἀφανισμοῦ</span>), is, in substance, the realization +of the Old. These remarks are in perfect harmony with that which was formerly said +concerning the meaning of <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">כרת ברית</span>. We saw +that this expression does not designate an act only once done, +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 433]</span> by which a covenant is solemnly sanctioned, +but rather that it is used of every action, by which a covenant-relation is instituted +or confirmed.--If, then, the Old Covenant is the former form of the covenant with +Israel; and the New Covenant the future form of it, another question is:--Which +among the manifold differences of those two forms are here specially regarded by +the Prophet? The answer to this question is supplied by that which the Prophet declares +concerning the New Covenant. For since it is <i>not</i> to be like the former covenant, +the excellences of the New must be as many defects of the Old. These excellences, +however, are all of a spiritual nature,--first, the forgiveness of sins, and then +the writing of the Law in the heart. It follows from this, that the blessings of +the Old Covenant were <i>pre-eminently</i> (for we shall afterwards see that an +entire absence of these spiritual blessings cannot be spoken of, and that the difference +between the Old and the New Covenant is, in this respect, a relative one only, not +an absolute one) of an external nature; and this is also suggested by the circumstance, +that it is represented as being concluded when the people were led out of Egypt; +in which fact, all the later similar deliverances and blessings are comprehended. +The Prophet, if any one, had learned that, in the way hitherto pursued, they could +not successfully continue. The sinfulness of the people had, at his time, manifested +itself in such fearful outbreaks, that, even when looking at the matter from a human +point of view, he could not but feel most deeply that, with outward blessings and +gifts, with an outward deliverance from servitude, the people were very little benefited. +What is the use of a mercy which, according to divine necessity, must be immediately +followed by a punishment so much the more severe? The necessary condition for the +true and lasting bestowal of outward salvation, is the bestowal of the internal +salvation; without the latter the former is only a mockery. It is this internal +salvation, therefore, which is the highest aim of the Prophet's longings; to it +he here points as the highest blessing of the Future; compare also chap. xxxii. +40: "And I make an everlasting covenant with them, and I will no more turn away +from them to do them good, and I will put my fear in their hearts that they shall +not depart from me."--The closing words of ver. 32 are frequently misunderstood. +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 434]</span> The erroneous interpretation of +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">אשר</span> by "<i>quia</i>," which is found with +most expositors, is of less consequence. <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">אשר</span> +indicates, in general, the connection with what precedes. We may explain it either +by: "which my covenant they brake," as is done by <i>Ewald</i>; or, "since (Deut. +iii. 24) they brake my covenant," in which latter case, +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">אשר</span> refers at the same time to "I marry them +unto me." We have here farther carried out and detailed that which previously was +said of the making of a new covenant; and the sense is: Although they have broken +my former covenant, yet I marry them unto me, or make a new covenant with them. +Of greater importance is the difference in the interpretation of +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">בעלתי</span>. By far the greater number of interpreters +understand this <i>sensu malo</i>; the ancient interpreters in doing so refer to +the words <span lang="el" class="Greek">κᾳγὼ ἠμέλησα αὐτῶν</span>, (Heb. viii. 9); +but these can scarcely prove anything. For the author of that epistle, whose sole +object it is to show that the new covenant stands higher than the old--the insufficiency +of the latter was, as the Prophet's expressions show, sufficiently felt even by +those who lived under it--has, in these words, which do not stand in any relation +to the object which he has in view, followed the LXX. But it is a rather doubtful +and suspicious circumstance that, in determining the sense, these interpreters greatly +vary. Some, referring to the Arabic, explain <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">בעל</span> +by "<i>fastidire</i>;" others, as they allege, from the Hebrew <i>usus loquendi</i>, +by "to tyrannize." Thus, <i>e.g.</i> <i>Buddeus</i> (<i>de praerogat. fidelium N. +T.</i> in the Miscell. p. 106): "We may readily understand thereby every severe +chastisement by the neighbouring nations, such as frequently happened: they did +not remain in my covenant, therefore I made them to bear the yoke of others, +<span lang="el" class="Greek">ἠμέλησα αὐτῶν</span>, <i>neglexi eos</i>." But we +have already seen (comp. remarks on chap. iii. 14), that for neither of these significations +is there any foundation; and this has been felt by those also who, in order to bring +out a bad signification, such as, according to their view, the text requires, undertook +to change the reading, as <i>e.g.</i> <i>Cappellus</i>, who would read +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">געלתי</span>, and <i>Grotius</i>, who would read +<span dir="ltr"><sup class="ftnRef"><a name="ftnRef_434a" href="#ftn_434a">[3]</a></sup></span> +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew" dir="rtl">בהלתי</span>. +The signification "to betroth onesself," "to <span class="pagenum">[Pg 435]</span> +take in marriage," which in that passage we vindicated for +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">בעל</span> with <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ב</span>, +is, here too, quite applicable; comp. Jer. ii. 1. This signification the Chaldee +Paraphrast too seems to have had in view; for he translates +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">אתרעיתי</span> "<i>cupio vos</i>," "<i>delector vobis</i>." +And is there anything to indicate, that here the reason is to be stated, why the +old covenant is abolished? That reason can be brought in only by very forced explanations +(comp. <i>e.g.</i> <i>Maurer</i> and <i>Hitzig</i>); and it is, moreover, sufficiently +expressed, as the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews has shown. Even in the announcement +of a <i>new</i> covenant, the declaration is implied that the old covenant was insufficient: +<span lang="el" class="Greek">εἰ γὰρ ἡ πρώτη ἐκείνη ἦν ἄμεμπτος, οὐκ ἂν δευτέρας +ἐζητεῖτο τόπος</span> (Heb. viii. 7), as well as the reason why it was so, viz., +on account of human sinfulness and hardness of heart, which are not helped and remedied +by pre-eminently outward blessings and benefits, be they never so great. This their +former greatness is indicated by the words: "When I took them by the hand,"--words +which imply the most tender love. To this subjective cause of the insufficiency +of the old covenant there is a reference in the words: +<span lang="el" class="Greek">μεμφόμενος γὰρ αὐτοῖς λέγει</span>, in Heb. viii. +8, which by <i>De Wette</i> and <i>Bleek</i> are erroneously translated: "For reprovingly +He says to them." The Dative <span lang="el" class="Greek">αὐτοῖς</span> belongs +to <span lang="el" class="Greek">μεμφόμενος</span> (comp. <i>Mathiae</i>, S. 705); +if it were otherwise it would be redundant, and would the less be in its place, +that the discourse is not addressed to the children of Israel. The reason why a +better covenant was required, such a one <span lang="el" class="Greek">ἥτις ἐπὶ +κρείττοσιν ἐπαγγελίαις νενομοθέτηται</span>, Heb. viii. 6, appears sufficiently +from that which, in vers. 33, 34, is said of this new covenant in contrast to the +old. Here, however, it is rather the infinite love of God, the greatness of His +covenant-faithfulness which are pointed out; and this thought is, from among all +others, best suited to the context. <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">המה</span> and +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">אנכי</span> form an emphatic contrast. <i>They</i>, +in wicked ingratitude, have broken the former covenant, have shaken off the obligations +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 436]</span> which God's former mercies imposed upon them. +God too--so it might be expected--ought now to annul the old covenant, and for ever +withdraw from them the old mercies. But, instead of doing so, He grants the new +covenant, the greater mercy. He anew takes in marriage apostate Israel, and in such +a manner that now the bond of love becomes firm and indestructible. <i>Bleek</i> +objects to our interpretation: "The object is not the city of Jerusalem, or even +the Congregation of Israel, but the single Israelites, who may indeed be designated +as the children of Jehovah, but not as His spouse." But, in such personifications, +it is quite a common thing that the real plurality should take the place of the +ideal unity. In Exod. xxxiv. 15, for instance, it is said: "And they go a whoring +after their gods,"--instead of the congregation, to which the <i>whoring</i> properly +belongs, (comp. Is. lvii. 7), the individual members are mentioned; comp. Hos. ii. +1, 2 (i. 10, ii. 19).</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 33. "<i>For this is the covenant that I will make with the +house of Israel after these days, saith the Lord: I give my law in their inward +parts, and will write it in their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall +be my people.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal"><span lang="he" class="Hebrew">כי</span> is, by some interpreters, +here supposed to mean "but;" so much, only, however, is correct that "but" might +<i>also</i> have been put; <i>for</i> is here quite in its place. The words: "Not +as the covenant," &c., in the preceding verse, are here vindicated, and expanded +by a positive definition of the nature and substance of the New Covenant. It is +just because it is of such a nature, that it is not like the former covenant. +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ההם</span> does not, by any means, as is erroneously +supposed by <i>Venema</i> and <i>Hitzig</i>, refer to the days mentioned in ver. +31, in which the New Covenant was to be made. "These days," on the contrary, are +a designation of the Present; "after these days," equivalent to +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">באחרית הימים</span> "at the end of days." The Prophet +so repeatedly and emphatically points to the Future, because unbelief and weak faith +imagined that, with the Present, the history of the covenant-people was finished, +and that no Future was in store for them. <i>Calvin</i> pertinently remarks: "It +is just as if the Prophet had said, that the grace of which he was prophesying could +not be apprehended, unless they, believers, kept their minds composed, and patiently +waited until the <span class="pagenum">[Pg 437]</span> time of the promised salvation +had come." As regards the following enumeration of the blessings, in and by the +bestowal of which the new covenant-relation is to be established, <i>Venema</i> +very correctly remarks: "The blessings are distinguished into radical or causal +ones, and subsequent or derived ones." The second <span lang="he" class="Hebrew"> +כי</span>, in ver. 34: "<i>For</i> I will forgive their sin," proves the correctness +of this division, which is also pointed out by the <i>Athnach</i>.--<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">תורה</span> +is, by many interpreters, here understood to signify "doctrine." Thus <i>Buddeus</i>: +"By the word <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">תורה</span>, the whole New Testament +doctrine is to be understood." This interpretation, however, is objectionable, and +destructive of the sense, <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">תורה</span> never means +"doctrine," but always "law;" and the fact that it is only <i>the</i> law of God, +the eternal expression of His nature, and common, therefore, to both the Old and +New Covenants, which can be here spoken of, and not a new constitution for the latter, +is seen from the reference in which the giving in the inward parts and the writing +on the heart (the tables of the heart, 2 Cor. iii. 3), stands to the outward communication +and the writing on the tables of stone on Sinai. The law is the same; the relation +only is different in which God places it to man, ("<i>lex cum homine conciliatur +quasi</i>," <i>Michaelis</i>.) One might easily infer from the passage before us +a confirmation of the error, that the law under the Old Covenant was <i>only</i> +an outward dead letter. Against this error <i>Buddeus</i> already contended, who, +S. 117, acknowledges that it is a relative difference and contrast only, which are +here spoken of He says: "This, of course, was the case with the Old Testament believers +also; here, however, God promises a richer fulness and higher degree of this blessing." +<i>Calvin</i> declares the opinion that, under the Old Testament dispensation, there +did not exist any regeneration, to be absurd, and says: "we know that, under the +Law, the grace of God was rare and dark; but that, under the Gospel, the gifts of +the Spirit were <i>poured</i> out, and that God dealt much more liberally with His +Church." The idea of a purely outward giving of the Law is indeed one which is quite +inconceivable. God would, in that case, have done nothing else towards Israel than +He did to the traitor Judas, in whose conscience He proclaimed His holy Law, without +communicating to him strength for repentance. But such a proceeding can be conceived +of, only where there is a subjective impossibility <span class="pagenum">[Pg 438]</span> +of <span lang="el" class="Greek">ἀνακαινίζειν εἰς μετάνοιαν</span>. Every outward +manifestation of God <i>must</i>, according to the constitution of human nature, +be accompanied by the inward manifestation, since it is inconceivable that He who +knows our nature, should mock us by the semblance of a blessing. As soon as we know +the outward fact of the deliverance from Egypt, we know, at the same time, that +God has then powerfully touched the heart of Israel. As soon as it is established +that the Law on Sinai was written on tables of stone by the finger of God, it is +also established that He, at the same time, wrote it on the tables of Israel's heart. +But that which is thus implied in the matter itself, is confirmed by the testimony +of history. In the Law itself, circumcision is designated as the pledge and seal +of the bestowal, not merely of outward blessings, but of the circumcision of the +heart, of the removal of sin attaching to every one by birth; so that man can love +God with all his heart, all his sold, and all his powers, Deut. xxx. 6. This circumcision +of the heart which, in the outward circumcision, was at the same time <i>required</i> +and promised by God (comp. Deut. l. c. with x. 16), is not substantially different +from the writing of the Law on the heart. <i>Farther</i>--If the Law of the Lord +had, for Israel, been a mere outward letter, how could the animated praise of it +in the Holy Scriptures, <i>e.g.</i>, in Ps. xix., be accounted for? Surely, a bridge +must already have been formed between the Law and him who can speak of it as rejoicing +the heart, as enlightening the eyes, as converting the soul, as sweeter than honey +and the honeycomb. That is no more the Law in its isolation which worketh wrath, +but it is the Law in its connection with the Spirit, whose commandments are not +grievous; comp. my commentary on Ps. xix. 8 ff. A <i>new</i> heart was created under +the Old Testament also, Ps. li. 12; and not to know the nature of this creation +was, for a teacher in Israel, the highest disgrace, John iii. 10. Yea, that which +is here promised for the Future, a pious member of the Old Covenant expresses, in +Ps. xl. 9, <i>in the same form</i>, as being already granted to him as his present +spiritual condition: "I delight to do thy will, O my God, and thy Law is in the +midst of my bowels,"<!--inserted quote-->--words which imply the same contrast to +the Law as outward letter, as being written on tables of stone, comp. Prov. iii. +1–3: "My son, <span class="pagenum">[Pg 439]</span> forget not my law, and let thine +heart keep my commandments ... bind them about thy neck, write them upon the table +of thine heart;" compare my commentary on Psalms, Vol. iii. p. lxvii.--But how is +it to be explained that the contrariety which, in itself, is relative, appears here +under the form of the absolute contrariety,--the difference in degree, as a difference +in kind? Evidently in the same manner as the same phenomenon must be explained elsewhere +also, <i>e.g.</i> John i. 17, where it is said that the Law was given by Moses, +but mercy and truth by Christ. By overlooking this fact, so many errors have been +called forth. The blessings of the Old Covenant which, when considered in themselves, +are so important and rich, appear, when compared with the much fuller and more important +blessings of the New Covenant, to be so trifling that they vanish entirely out of +sight. It is quite similar when, in chap. iii. 16, the Prophet represents the highest +sanctuary of the Old Covenant, the Ark of the Covenant, as sinking into entire oblivion +in future; when, in chap. xxiii. 7, 8, he describes the deliverance from Egypt as +no longer worthy of being mentioned. Parallel to the passage under consideration +is the promise of Joel of the pouring out of the Spirit, chap. iii. 1, 2 (ii. 28, +29); so that that which we remarked on that passage, is applicable here also. But, +in that passage, the relative nature of the promise appears more clearly than it +does here, just because, in general, under the New Covenant, in its relation to +the Old, there is nowhere an absolutely new beginning, but always a completion only +(just in the same manner as, on the other hand, under the New Covenant itself, it +is in the relation of the <i>regnum gloriae</i> to the <i>regnum gratiae</i>). Joel, +in reference to the communication of the Spirit, puts the abundance in the place +of the scarcity; the many in the place of the few. Compare, moreover, chap. xxiv. +7: "And I give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord; and they shall be my +people, and I will be their God;" xxxii. 39: "And I give them one heart and one +way, that they may fear me for ever, for the good of them and of their children +after them;" but especially Ezek. xi. 19, 20, xxxvi. 26, 27.--The remarks of Jewish +interpreters on the passage under consideration, in which they cannot avoid seeing +that, in it, a purely moral revelation is prophesied, <span class="pagenum">[Pg +440]</span> in contrast to a mere external one, clearly show how strongly the Old +Testament is opposed to that carnal Jewish delusion of the condition of the Messianic +Kingdom (as it is most glaringly expressed in the Talmudic passage <i>Massechet +Sanhedrim</i>, fol. 119: "There is no other difference between the days of the Messiah +and the present state of things, excepting only that the kingdoms shall be our slaves),"--a +delusion which is quite analogous to the expectations which are entertained by revolutionists +concerning the Future, and which flow from the same source. Thus Rabbi <i>Bechai</i> +(see <i>Frischmuth</i>) remarks: "This means that every evil concupiscence shall +be taken away, and every desire to covet any thing;" <i>Moses Nachmanides</i> (<i>ibid.</i> +S. 861): "And this is nothing else than that every evil concupiscence shall be taken +away, so that the heart, by an internal impulse, does what is right.--In the days +of Messiah there will not exist any evil desire, but, from the impulse of his nature, +man will do what is right. And there will, therefore, not be innocence and guilt, +inasmuch as these depend upon concupiscence." But if once bent upon it, pre-conceived +opinions will overcome every, even the strongest,<!--inserted presumed missing comma--> +contradiction offered by the matter itself This may be seen from the example of +<i>Grotius</i>, who here explains: "I will cause that all of them keep my Law in +memory,--in the first instance, by the multitude of synagogues which, at that time, +were built, and in which the Law was taught thrice a-week." Thrice a-week! Surely +that will produce first-rate men, viz., such as are described in Isa. lviii. 2. +It is not without meaning, that the words: "And I will be their God," &c., follow +upon: "And I give my Law in their inward parts," &c. The Law is the expression of +God's nature; it is only by the Law being written in the heart that man can become +a partaker of God's nature; that His name can be sanctified in him. And it is this +participation in the nature of God, this sanctification of God's name, which forms +the foundation of: "I will be their God, and they shall be my people." Without this, +the relation cannot exist at all, as truly as God is not an idol, but the True and +Holy One. These words express, as <i>Buddeus</i>, S. 94, rightly remarks: "That +He will impart himself altogether to them." But how were it possible that God, with +His blessings and gifts, should <span class="pagenum">[Pg 441]</span> impart himself +entirely and unconditionally to them who are not of His nature? Of all unnatural +things, this would be the most unnatural. Here, however, likewise the relative character +of the promise most clearly appears. As early as to Abraham, God had promised that +He would be a God to <i>him</i>, and to his seed after him; and this promise he +had afterwards repeated to the whole people, Lev. xxvi. 12, comp. Exod. xxix. 45: +"And I dwell in the midst of the children of Israel and will be their God." In the +consciousness that this promise was fulfilled in the time then present, David exclaims +in Ps. xxxiii. 12: "Blessed is the nation whose God is Jehovah, the generation whom +He hath chosen for His inheritance." Hence, here too, there is nothing absolutely +new. If such were the subject of discourse, then the whole Kingdom of God under +the Old Testament dispensation would be changed into a mere semblance and illusion. +But the small measure of the condition--with which even God himself cannot dispense, +but of which He may vouchsafe a larger measure, viz., the writing of the Law in +the heart, whereby man becomes a copy of God, the personal Law--was necessarily +accompanied by the small measure of the consequence, The perfect fulfilment of God's +promise to Abraham and Israel, to which the prophet here alludes, could, therefore, +be expected from the future only.</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 34. "<i>And they shall teach no more a man his neighbour, +and a man his brother, saying: Know the Lord; for they all shall know me, small +and great, saith the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember +their sin no more.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">Even from ancient times, the first hemistich of the verse has +created great embarrassment to interpreters, from which very few of them, not excepting +even <i>Calvin</i>, manage to extricate themselves skilfully. The declaration that, +because all will be taught by God, human instruction in things divine is to cease, +has, at first sight, something fanatical in it, and, indeed, was made use of by +Anabaptists and other enthusiasts in vindication of their delusion.<sup class="ftnRef"><a name="ftnRef_441a" href="#ftn_441a">[4]</a></sup> +Many interpreters attempt an evasion, <span class="pagenum">[Pg 442]</span> by referring +the words to the future life; thus <i>Theodoret</i>, <i>Augustine</i>, (<i>de Spirit. +et lit.</i> c. 24) and <i>Este</i>, who, in a manner almost <i>naïve</i>, remarks: +"This difficulty, it seems, is very simply avoided by those who refer this promise +to the future world, where, no doubt, all care about teaching will cease." But the +matter is, indeed, not at all difficult. All that is necessary is to keep in mind +that human instruction is here excluded, in so far only as it is opposed to divine +instruction concerning God himself; that hence, that which is here spoken of, is +<i>mere</i> human instruction, by which men are trained and drilled in religion, +just as in every other branch of common knowledge,--a result of which is, that they +may learn for ever without ever coming to the knowledge of the truth. Such an instruction +may be productive of historical faith, of belief in human authority; but it is just +by this, that the nature of religion will be altogether destroyed. Even the true +God becomes an idol when He is not known through himself, when He himself does not +prepare the heart as a place to dwell in. He is, and remains a mere idea that can +impart no strength in the struggle against sin which is a real power, and no comfort +in affliction. Now, such a condition was very frequent under the Old Testament dispensation. +The mass of the people possessed only a knowledge of God, which was chiefly, although +not exclusively, obtained through human instrumentality. By the New Covenant, richer +gifts of the Spirit were to be bestowed, and along with them, the number of those +was to be increased who were to partake in them, just as Isaiah, in chap. vii. 16, +represents believers under the Old Testament as being taught by the Lord, while +in chap. liv. 13, in reference to the Messianic time, he announces: "And all thy +children shall be taught of the Lord." Under the New Covenant, the antithesis of +teaching by God, and teaching by man, is to cease. The teachers do not teach in +their own strength, but as servants and instruments of the Lord. It is not they +who speak, Init the Holy Spirit in them. Those who are taught by them hear the word +that comes to them through men, not as man's word, but as God's word; and they receive +it, not because it satisfies their limited human reason, but because the Spirit +testifies that the Spirit is truth. How this antithesis is done away with, and reconciled +in a higher unity, is, among other passages, <span class="pagenum">[Pg 443]</span> +shown by 2 Cor. iii. 3: "You are an epistle of Christ ministered by us, written +not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God." They are +<span lang="el" class="Greek">θεοδίδακτοι</span>, but through the ministry of the +Apostle who, in so far as he performs this service, is not different from God, but +only a conductor of His power, a channel through which the oil of the Holy Spirit +flows to the Church of God; compare remarks on Zech. iv. The same is taught in 1 +John ii. 20: <span lang="el" class="Greek">Καὶ ὑμεῖς χρῖσμα ἔχετε ἀπὸ τοῦ ἁγίου, +καὶ οἴδατε πάντα. Οὐκ ἔγραψα ὑμῖν, ὅτι οὐκ οἴδατε τὴν ἀληθείαν, ἀλλ’ ὅτι οἴδατε +αὐτήν.</span> Ver. 27: <span lang="el" class="Greek">Καὶ ὑμεῖς τὸ χρῖσμα, ὃ ἐλάβατε +ἀπ’ αὐτοῦ, ἐν ὑμῖν, μένει καὶ οὐ χρείαν ἔχετε, ἵνα τις διδάσκῃ ὑμᾶς, ἀλλ’ ὡς τὸ +αὐτὸ χρῖσμα διδάσκει ὑμᾶς περὶ πάντων κ. τ. λ.</span> The +<span lang="el" class="Greek">διδάσκειν</span> here signifies the human teaching +in contrast to that which is divine, such an one as undertakes by its own power +to work knowledge in him who is taught. Such a teaching cannot take place under +the new covenant. A fundamental knowledge is already imparted to all its members; +the <span lang="el" class="Greek">παρὰκλητος</span>, the Holy Ghost, alone teaches +them, John xiv. 26; He leads them into all truth, John xvi. 13. But, just because +this is the case, the teaching by means of those whom God has given, in His Church, +as apostles, prophets, evangelists, teachers (Eph. iv. 11), to whom He has communicated +His <span lang="el" class="Greek">χαρίσματα</span>, is quite in its place. The apostle +writes just <i>because</i> they know the truth. If it were otherwise, his efforts +would be altogether in vain. Of what use is it to give instruction about colours +to him who is blind? In things divine, the truth becomes truth to the single individual, +only because his knowledge of God is founded on his being in God; and that can be +accomplished only by his being connected to God through God. Being, life, and hence, +also, real living knowledge, can proceed only from the fountain of all being and +life. But in the case of those who are in God, who possess the fundamental knowledge, +this knowledge must be developed, carried on, and brought to full consciousness +through the instrumentality of those to whom God has granted the gifts for it. A +glance into the deep meaning of our passage was obtained by the author of the book +<i>Jelammedenu</i>, which is quoted by <i>Abarbanel</i> (in <i>Frischmuth</i>, S. +863); he says: "Under the present dispensation, Israel learns the Law from mortal +men, and therefore forgets it; for as flesh and blood pass away (comp. +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 444]</span> Matt. xvi. 17, where the antithesis existing +between a knowledge of divine things which rests on human ground, and that which +rests on divine ground, is brought before us in its strictest form), so also its +instruction passes away. But a time shall come when a man shall not learn from the +mouth of a man, but from the mouth of the blessed God, for it is written: 'All thy +children shall be taught by God.' In these words, it is implied that hitherto the +knowledge of the Law was an artificial one obtained by mortal men. But for that +reason, it cannot stand long, for the effect stands in proportion to its cause. +At the time of the deliverance, however, the knowledge of the Law will be obtained +in a miraculous manner." It is, however, quite obvious that this promise, too, must +be understood relatively only. All the pious men of the Old Covenant were +<span lang="el" class="Greek">θεοδίδακτοι</span>; and under the New Covenant, the +number of those is infinitely great who, through their own guilt, stand to truth +in a relation which is entirely or preeminently mediate.--Instead of the "small," +by way of individualization, servants and handmaids are mentioned in Joel iii. 2 +(ii. 29); compare remarks on Rev. xi. 18.--We have already seen that in the last +words of the verse, the fundamental blessing is promised. But whether +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">כי</span> be referred only to that which immediately +precedes, or to every thing which goes before (<i>Venema</i>: <i>vocala</i> +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">כי</span> <i>non ad proxime praecedentia referenda, +sed ad totam pericopam, qua bona foederis recensita sunt, extenda</i>), amounts +to nearly the same thing; for that which immediately precedes includes all the rest. +We have before us nothing but designations of the same thing from various aspects; +everything depends upon the richer bestowal of the gifts of the Spirit. This has +the forgiveness of sins for its necessary foundation; for, before God can give, +He must first take. The sins which separate the people and their God from one another, +must first be taken away; it is then only that the inward means can be bestowed, +so that the people may become truly God's people, and God's name may be sanctified +in them. It is obvious that, here too, a relative difference only between the Old +and New Covenant can be spoken of A covenant-people without forgiveness of sins +is no covenant-people; a God with whom there is not forgiveness, in order that He +may be feared, who does not heal the bones <span class="pagenum">[Pg 445]</span> +which He has broken, who in this respect gives promises for the Future only, is +no God, and no blessing. For if He does not grant this, He cannot grant any thing +else, inasmuch as every thing else implies this, and is of no value without it. +Forgiveness of sins is the essence of the Passover as the feast of the covenant. +On the Ark of the Covenant, it was represented by the <i>Capporeth</i> (see <i>Genuineness +of the Pentateuch</i>, Vol. ii., p. 525 f.). Without it the sin-offerings appointed +by God are a lie; without it, all that is untrue which God says of himself as the +covenant-God, that He is gracious and merciful, Exod. xxxiv. 6. The holy Psalmists +often acknowledge with praise and thanks that God <i>has</i> forgiven sins; comp. +<i>e.g.</i> Ps. lxxxv. 3: "Thou hast taken away the iniquities of thy people, thou +hast covered all their sins." In the same manner they are loud in praising the high +blessing bestowed upon the individual by the forgiveness of sins; comp. Ps. xxxii. +51. The consciousness that their sins are forgiven, forms the foundation of the +disposition of heart which we perceive in the Psalmists; see Commentary on the Psalms, +Vol. iii. p. lxv. f. "What a <span lang="el" class="Greek">πληροφορία</span>"--so +<i>Buddeus</i> remarks, p. 109--"what a confidence, what a joy of a tranquil and +quiet conscience shines forth in the psalms and prayers of David!" We have thus +before us merely a difference in degree. To the believers of that time, the sin +of the covenant-people appeared to be too great to admit of its being forgiven. +Driven away from the face of the Lord, so they imagined, it would close its miserable +existence in the land of Nod; never would the <span lang="el" class="Greek">καιροὶ +ἀναψύξεως</span> return. But, in opposition to such fears, the Prophet declares, +in the name of the Lord, that they would not only return, but come, for the first +time, in the true and full sense; that where they imagined to behold the end to +the forgiveness of sins, there would be its real beginning; that where sin abounded, +the grace of God should there so much the more abound. Only, they should not despair, +and thus place a barrier in the way of God's mercy. Your God is not a mere hard +task-master; He himself will sow and then reap, as surely as He is God, the gracious +and merciful One.</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 35. "<i>Thus saith the Lord, giving the sun for a light by +day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for</i> +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 446]</span> <i>a light by night, agitating the sea, and +the waves thereof roar, the Lord of hosts is His name.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 36. "<i>If these ordinances will cease before me, saith the +Lord, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for +ever.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">Interpreters commonly assume that, already in ver. 35, the discourse +is of the firm and immutable divine laws which every thing must obey. But opposed +to this view are the words: "Agitating the sea, and the waves thereof roar," in +which no definite perceptible rule, no uninterrupted return takes place. To this +argument may be added the comparison of the fundamental passage, Isa. li. 15, in +which the omnipotence only of God is to be brought out: "And I am the Lord thy God, +who agitates the sea, and its waves roar, the Lord of hosts is His name;" comp. +also Amos. ix. 5, 6. It thus appears that, in ver. 35, God's omnipotence only is +spoken of, which establishes that He is God and not man; and this forms the foundation +for the declaration set forth in ver. 36, which is so full of comfort for the despairing +covenant-people,--the proposition, namely, that, while all men are liars, He does +not lie; that He can never repent of His covenant and promises. The "ordinances" +(moon and stars are, in their regular return, themselves, as it were, embodied ordinances), +are mentioned already in ver. 35, because just the circumstance that, according +to eternal and inviolable laws, sun and moon must appear every day at a fixed time, +and have done so for thousands and thousands of years, testifies more strongly for +His omnipotence and absolute power, never liable to any foreign influence or interference, +than if they at one time appeared, and, at another, failed to appear. God's omnipotence, +as it is testified by a look to nature (<i>Calvin</i>: "The Prophet contents himself +with pointing out what even boys knew, viz., that the sun makes his daily circuit +round the whole earth, that the moon does the same, and that the stars in their +turn succeed, so that, as it were, the moon with the stars exercises dominion by +night, and, afterwards, the sun reigns by day"), results from the fact that He is +the pure, absolute, being (Jehovah His name, comp. remarks on Mal. iii. 6); and +it is just because He is this, that His counsels, which He declared without any +condition attached to them, must be <span class="pagenum">[Pg 447]</span> unchangeable. +To believe that He has for ever rejected Israel, is to degrade Him, to make Him +an idol, a creature.--In ver. 36, the immutability of God's counsel of grace is +put on a level with the immutability of God's order of nature; but this is done +with a view to the weakness of the people, who receive, for a pledge of their election, +that which is most firm among visible things; so that every rising of the sun and +moon is to them a guarantee of it; compare Ps. lxxxix. 37, 38. But considered in +itself, the counsels of God's grace are <i>much firmer</i> than the order of nature. +The heavens wax old as a garment, and as a vesture He changes them and they are +changed (Ps. cii. 27-29); heaven and earth shall pass away, but the word of God +shall not pass away.--From chap. xxxiii. 24: "They despise my people (<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">עמי</span>) +that they should be still a nation (<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">גוי</span>) before +them" it appears why it is that <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">גוי</span> is here +used, and not <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">עם</span>. The covenant-people in their +despair imagined that their national existence, which, in the Present, was destroyed, +was gone for ever. If only their national existence was sure, then also was their +existence as a covenant-people. For, just as their national existence had ceased, +because they had ceased to be the covenant-people, so they could again obtain a +national existence as the covenant-people only.</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 37. "<i>Thus saith the Lord: If the heavens above be measured, +and the foundations of the earth beneath be searched out, I will also cast off all +the seed of Israel, for all that they have done, saith the Lord.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">It is not without meaning that the Prophet so frequently repeats: +Thus saith the Lord. This formed the <span lang="el" class="Greek">Α</span> and +<span lang="el" class="Greek">Ω</span>; His word was the <i>sole</i> ground of hope +for Israel. Apart from it, despair was as reasonable, as now it was unreasonable. +The measuring of heaven, and the searching out of the innermost parts of the earth, +come here into consideration as things impossible. The words: "All the seed of Israel," +take from the hypocrites that consolation which they might be disposed to draw from +these promises. It is as much in opposition to the nature of God that He should +permit all the seed of Israel, the faithful with the unbelievers, to perish, as +that He should save all the seed of Israel, unbelievers as well as believers. The +promise, as well as the threatening, always leaves a remnant. All that the covenant +grants is, that the whole cannot <span class="pagenum">[Pg 448]</span> perish (the +discourse is here, of course, of definite rejection); but it gives no security to +the individual sinner. The words: "For all that they have done," are added intentionally, +because the greatness of the sins of the people was the <i>punctum saliens</i> in +the believers' despair of the mercy of God. <i>Calvin</i> says: "The Prophet here +intentionally brings forward the sins of the people, in order that we may know that +the grace of God is greater still, and that the multitude of so many wicked men +would not be an obstacle to God's granting pardon."</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 38. "<i>Behold, days, saith the Lord, and the city is built +to the Lord from the tower of Hananeel unto the gate of the corner.</i> Ver. 39. +<i>And the measuring line goeth yet farther over against it, over the hill Gareb</i> +(the leper), <i>and turneth towards Goah</i> (place of execution). Ver. 40. <i>And +the whole valley of the carcasses and of the ashes, and all the fields unto the +brook of Kidron, and from thence unto the horsegate, towards the East,</i> (all +this is) <i>holiness unto the Lord. No more shall it be destroyed, nor shall it +be laid waste for ever.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">This prophecy embraces two features: <i>first</i>, the restoration +of the Kingdom of God, represented under the figure of a restoration of Jerusalem, +which, under the Old Covenant, was its seat and centre (it is this aspect only which +Zechariah, in resuming this prophecy, has brought forward in chap. xiv. 10); and, +<i>secondly</i>, the glorification of the Kingdom of God, which now is so strengthened +and increased, that it can undertake to attack and assail the dark kingdom of evil, +and subject it to itself, while formerly it was attacked and assailed by it, and +often could not prevent the enemy from penetrating into the innermost heart of its +territory. This thought the Prophet graphically clothes in a perceptible form, and +in such a manner that he describes how the unholy places, by which Jerusalem, the +holy city, was surrounded on all sides, are included in its circumference, and become +holiness unto the Lord. In former times, the victory of the world over the Kingdom +of God had been embodied in the fact, that the abominations of sin and idolatry +had penetrated into the very temple; compare chap. vii. 11: "Is then this house, +which is called by the name of the Lord, a den of robbers, saith the Lord?" Other +passages will be mentioned when we come to comment upon Dan. ix. 27. This inward +victory must, according to divine necessity, <span class="pagenum">[Pg 449]</span> +be followed by the outward one. The covenant-people which, inwardly, had submitted +to the world, which, by its own guilt, had profaned itself, was, outwardly also, +given up to the world, and was profaned in punishment. And this profanation, inflicted +upon it as a punishment, again manifested itself just at that place, where the profanation +by the guilt had chiefly manifested itself, viz., in the holy city, and in the holy +temple. It is with a view to the former manifestation of the victory of the world +over the Kingdom of God, that here the victory of the Kingdom of God over the world +is described; and the imagery is just simple imagery. To the outward holiness of +the city and of the temple, the outward unholiness of the places around Jerusalem +is opposed. While the victory of the world over the Kingdom of God had been manifested +by the profanation of these places, the victory of the Kingdom of God now appears +under the image of the sanctification of these formerly unholy places. By what means +that great change had been brought about; by what means the Kingdom of God, which +now lay so powerlessly prostrate, should again obtain powers which it had never +before possessed; by what means the servant was to be changed into a lord, it was +unnecessary for the Prophet here to point out; it had been already mentioned in +vers. 32–34. The difference consists in this, that the New Covenant is not like +the Old, but that it first furnishes the right weapons by which sin and the world +can be overcome, viz., an infinitely richer measure of the forgiveness of sins, +of the graces of the Spirit.--We must still premise a general remark concerning +the determination of the boundaries of the New Jerusalem here given, because this +must guide us in determining the single doubtful places which are here mentioned. +The correct view has been already given by <i>Vitringa</i> in his Commentary on +Isaiah xxx. 33: "The Prophet promises to the returning ones the restoration of the +city of Jerusalem in its whole circumference; and he describes it in this way, that +he begins from the Eastern wall, passes on thence, through the North side, to the +West side, and thence, by the South side, returns to the East." For the Prophet +begins with the tower of Hananeel which was situated at the East side of the town, +near the sheep-gate; compare remarks on Zech. xiv. 10. Thence he proceeds to +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 450]</span> the corner-gate, which was situated in that +corner where the North and East met (compare l. c.), and hence comprehends the whole +North side. He closes with the horse-gate, of which he expressly states that it +was situated towards the East, and hence points out that he had again arrived at +the place from which he set out. We have thus gained a firm foundation for determining +those among the places mentioned, the situation of which is, in itself, doubtful.--Let +us now proceed to the consideration of particulars. After +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ימים</span>, the <i>Keri</i> inserts +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">באים</span>. It is true that this fuller expression +is commonly used by the Prophet; but, for that very reason, the more concise one +is to be preferred, which alone has the authority of the MSS. in its favour, while +the <i>Keri</i> is nothing but a conjecture, perhaps not even that. The full expression +having already occurred so frequently in the passage under consideration, the Prophet +here, at the close, and for a change, contents himself with the mere intimation. +The Prophet says intentionally: "The city is built to the Lord," so that "to the +Lord" must be connected with "is built;" not "the city of the Lord." The latter +expression had become so much a <i>nomen proprium</i> of Jerusalem, that the full +depth of its meaning was no more thought of. This new city is no more to be called +simply the city of the Lord; it is truly to be built to the Lord, so that it belongs +to Him.--In the first two points of the boundary, the tower of Hananeel and the +Corner-gate, the second main idea of the passage does not yet come out so prominently. +This is to be accounted for simply by the circumstance, that on the whole North +side of the town there was not any unholy places. The Suffix in +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">נגדו</span> refers to the Corner-gate; the measuring +line, <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">קֶוֶה</span> according to the <i>Kethibh</i>, +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">קו הַּמִּדָּה</span>, which is the common form, according +to the <i>Keri</i>, goes yet farther over against it, &c. By the words "over against," +it is intimated that it now goes beyond the former dimensions of the town. +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">על</span> "over" (<i>Hitzig</i> erroneously translates +it "towards," or "by the side of it"), shows that the hill Gareb is included within +the circumference of the new city. From the remarks formerly made, it appears that +the hill Gareb, and Goah, places which are nowhere else mentioned, must have been +situated on the West side; and, moreover, Gareb on the North-west +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 451]</span> side<sup class="ftnRef"><a name="ftnRef_451a" href="#ftn_451a">[5]</a></sup> +and Goah on the South-west side, <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">גרב</span> has no +other signification than "the leper;" and "the hill of the leper" can be the hill +only, where the lepers had their abode. For, as early as in the second year after +the Exodus from Egypt, these lepers were obliged to remain without the camp (comp. +Numb. v. 3: "Without the camp shall ye send them, and not shall they defile their +camp in the midst whereof I dwell"); and this law was so strictly enforced, that +even Moses' sister was removed out of the camp. When they had come to Canaan, the +provisions of the law in reference to the camp were transferred to the towns; comp. +farther Lev. xiii. 46: "All the days that he has the leprosy, he shall be defiled; +he shall dwell alone, without the camp shall his habitation be;" Luke xvii. 12. +Even Uzziah could not be released from it; he lived without the city in Beth Chofshith, +2 Kings xv. 5, which is commonly translated "house of the sick," instead of "house +of emancipation," viz., place where they lived, whom the Lord had manumitted, who +no more belonged to His servants; compare remarks on Psa. lxxxviii. 6. Even in the +kingdom of Israel they were so strict in the execution of this Mosaic ordinance +(one from among the numberless proofs which are opposed to the current views of +the religious condition of this kingdom, and of its relation to the Law of Moses), +that, even during the siege of Samaria, the lepers were not allowed to leave the +place before the gate assigned to them, 2 Kings vii. 3.--In order more fully to +understand the meaning of our passage, it is indispensable that we should inquire +into the causes of that regulation. <i>J. D. Michaelis</i> (Mos. Recht. iv. § 210) +has his answer at once in readiness, and is so fully convinced of its being right +and to the point, that he does not think it worth while to mention any other view. +Because <i>to him</i> the temporal objects and aims are the highest, he at once +supposes them everywhere in the Law of the Holy God also. The ordinance is to him +nothing but a sanitary measure intended to prevent contagion. But that would surely +be a degree of severity against the sick which could the less be excused by a regard +to the healthy, that leprosy, <span class="pagenum">[Pg 452]</span> if contagious +at all, is so, at all events, very slightly only, and is never propagated by a single +touch. (<i>Michaelis</i> himself remarks: "Except in the case of cohabitation, one +may be quite safe.") But this severity against the sick must appear in a still more +glaring light, and the concern for the healthy becomes even ridiculous, when we +take into consideration the other regulations concerning the lepers. They were obliged +to go about in torn clothes, bare-headed, and with covered chin, and to cry out +to every that came near them, that they were unclean. Even <i>Michaelis</i> grants +that those regulations could not be designed to guard against infection. He remarks: +"But the leper should not cause disgust to any one by his really shocking appearance, +or terror by an accidental, unexpected touch." But such a sentimental, unmerciful +regard to the tender nerves is surely elsewhere not to be perceived in the Law, +which regulates all the relations of man to his neighbour, by the principle: Thou +shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. <i>Farther</i>--From mere sanitary or police +considerations, the law in reference to the leprosy of the clothes and houses, which +is closely connected with the law about the leprosy of men, cannot be accounted +for. The reason which <i>Michaelis</i> advances for the law in reference to the +clothes, is of such a nature, that not even the most refined politicians have ever +yet thought of a similar one. The leprosy of the houses is, according to him, the +dry-rot, which, although not contagious, was so hateful to Moses, that, out of concern +for the health of the possessor, and for the goods kept in them, he ordered them +to be altogether pulled down. If Moses had entertained the views on the power of +the magistrates which lie at the foundation of this, he could not have been an ambassador +of God,--even apart altogether from the absurdity of the measure. But the shallowness +and untenableness of <i>Michaelis'</i> view will appear still more strongly, when +we state the positive argument for our view. It is this: Leprosy is the outward +image of sin; that, therefore, which is done upon the leper, is, in reality, done +upon the sinner. Every leper, therefore, was a living sermon, a loud admonition +to keep unspotted from the world. The exclusion of the lepers from the camp, from +the holy city, conveyed figuratively quite the same lesson, as is done in Words +by John, in Revel. xxi. 27: <span lang="el" class="Greek">Καὶ οὐ μὴ εἰσέλθῃ εἰς +αὐτὴν</span> <span class="pagenum">[Pg 453]</span> <span lang="el" class="Greek"> +πᾶν κοινὸν καὶ ποιοῦν βδέλυγμα καὶ ψεῦδος</span>, and by Paul, in Ephes. v. 5: +<span lang="el" class="Greek">τοῦτο γὰρ ἴστε γινώσκοντες, ὅτι πᾶς πόρνος, ἢ ἀκάθαρτος, +ἢ πλεονέκτης ... οὐκ ἔχει κληρονομίαν ἐν τῇ βασιλείᾳ τοῦ Χριστοῦ καὶ Θεοῦ</span>; +comp. Gal. v. 19, 21. Now it is clearly seen what is the Prophet's meaning in including +the hill of the lepers in the holy city. That which hitherto was unclean becomes +clean; the Kingdom of God now does violence to the sinners, while, hitherto, the +sinners had done violence to the Kingdom of God. It is only when we take this view +of leprosy, that we account for the fact, that just this disease so frequently occurs +as the theocratic punishment of sin. The image of sin is best suited for reflecting +it; he who is a sinner before God, is represented as a sinner in the eyes of man +also, by the circumstance that he must exhibit before men the image of sin. God +took care that ordinarily the image and the thing itself were perfectly coincident; +although, no doubt, there were exceptions,--cases where God, according to His wise +and holy purposes, allowed that one relatively innocent (in the case of a perfectly +innocent man, if such an one existed, that would not be possible, except in the +case of Christ who bore <i>our</i> disease), had to bear the image of sin, <i>e.g.</i>, +in the case of such as were in danger of self-righteousness. As a theocratic punishment, +leprosy is found especially with such as had secretly sinned, or had surrounded +their sin with a good appearance, which, in the eyes of men, prevents them from +appearing as sinners, <i>e.g.</i>, in the case of Miriam, Uzziah, Gehazi, 2 Kings +v. 27. In the Law, there are many warnings against it, <i>e.g.</i>, Deut. xxiv. +8; and David wishes, 2 Sam. iii. 29, that the threatening of the Law might be fulfilled +upon the house of wicked Joab. The leprosy of houses, too, comes into consideration +only as an image of spiritual leprosy, as is seen from the command in Lev. xiv. +49: "And he shall take to cleanse the house two birds, and cedar wood, and scarlet, +and hyssop; ver. 53: and make an atonement for the house, and it shall be clean." +The procedure here is quite the same as that which was applied in the case of sin +and sinners; and since the house cannot sin, it follows that a symbolical action +only can here be spoken of.--Goah, in this context, in the midst of unclean places, +can hardly be anything else than some unclean place; and it is a very obvious supposition +that this nature is expressed in the very <span class="pagenum">[Pg 454]</span> +name. This signification interpreters usually endeavour to obtain by deriving the +word from <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">געה</span> "to roar," of which it is properly +the Partic. Fem., hence "the roaring one;" but it is more easily obtained by adopting +the derivation from <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">גָוַע</span>, just as +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">שׁוֹעַ</span> is derived from +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">שָׁוַע</span>, a derivation which was first proposed +by <i>Hiller</i>, S. 127. <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">גוע</span> is used of a +violent death, no less than of a natural death; thus Numb. xvii. 27, 28, of a death +like that of the company of Korah, Datham, and Abiram; comp. Zech. xiii. 8. This +derivation being assumed, Goah would denote "expiring," "hill<sup class="ftnRef"><a name="ftnRef_454a" href="#ftn_454a">[6]</a></sup> +of expiring," which would be a very suitable name of the place for the execution +of criminals. <i>Vitringa</i>, in commenting upon Is. xxx. 33, already expressed +the conjecture that Goah, <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">גל גועתה</span> might perhaps +be identical with Golgotha, but retracted it, because the Evangelists explain Golgotha +by <span lang="el" class="Greek">κρανίου τόπος</span>. But this is no sufficient +and conclusive reason. When the Aramean became the prevailing language, the name +of the place may have received a new etymology, just as the Fathers of the Church +derive <span lang="el" class="Greek">πάσχα</span>, from +<span lang="el" class="Greek">πάσχειν</span>, and many similar instances. It has +already been observed that the appellation, "place of skulls," is rather strange, +inasmuch as the skulls did not remain in the place of execution.<sup class="ftnRef"><a name="ftnRef_454b" href="#ftn_454b">[7]</a></sup> +The use of "skull" for "the place of skulls," as well as the omission of the <i> +L</i>, have been found strange. But all that is easily accounted for, if the new +signification, which substantially agreed with the former, was merely transferred +to the word. The identity of Goah and Golgotha cannot be disputed,--at least, not +from the situation. From Heb. xiii. 12, it is certain that Golgotha, as an unclean +place, was situated outside the city; that it was situated on the West side is, +it is <span class="pagenum">[Pg 455]</span> true, testified by tradition only; comp. +<i>Krafft</i>, S. 168 ff.; <i>Ritter</i>, <i>Erdk.</i> xvi. 1, S. 422 ff.--We now +come to the valley of carcasses and of ashes. Even from the position, it becomes +probable that this is the valley of Hinnom. The North and West sides are already +done, and hence the South and East sides only remain. But the valley of Hinnom was +situated towards the South, or South-east of Jerusalem, comp. <i>Krafft</i>, S 2; +v. <i>Raumer</i>, S. 269. The valley of the carcasses is here brought into immediate +connection with <i>all</i> the fields (<i>q.d.</i>, all the other fields), unto +the brook Kidron, and is hence designated as a portion of the valley of Kidron. +But the valley of Hinnom was the Southern, or South-eastern continuation of the +valley of Kidron, which extended on the East side. To this it may be added that, +in this context, we must necessarily expect the mention of the valley of Hinnom, +but that otherwise it would be wanting. Among all the unclean places around Jerusalem, +this was the most unclean. There could be no greater victory of the Kingdom of God +over the world, than if this strictest antithesis to the holy city, this image of +hell, was included within the Holy City. It is only with respect to the cause of +the appellation, that some doubt may exist, <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">פגרים ,פגר</span> +is a common designation of dead bodies, +of carcasses. There is not one among the twenty-two passages in which it occurs, +where it refers to deceased righteous ones. It is used of the dead bodies of animals, +of idols, Lev. xxvi. 30; of the dead bodies of those whom the Lord has smitten in +His anger and wrath, Jer. xxxiii. 5; 1 Sam. xvii. 46; Amos viii. 3; Neh. iii. 3; +Is. lxvi. 24; of such as are, after death, treated like beasts, Jer. i. 49. Hence, +opinions such as that of <i>Venema</i> fall to the ground, who supposes that the +valley had that name, because it was the public burying-ground. But there is, nevertheless, +scope for difference of opinion. One may understand by +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">פגרים</span> the carcasses of animals;--the valley +of Hinnom would, in that case, be the public flaying-ground. It is in itself probable, +and it is generally held<sup class="ftnRef"><a name="ftnRef_455a" href="#ftn_455a">[8]</a></sup> +that, after the defilement by Josiah (2 Kings xxiii. 10), it received this designation. +But there are not wanting evident traces that, <span class="pagenum">[Pg 456]</span> +even in former times, the valley served this purpose. In Is. xxx. 33, it is said +in reference to the Assyrians: "For Tophet (<i>Gesenius</i> arbitrarily changes +the <i>nomen proprium</i> into an <i>appellativum</i>, and translates: the place +for burning) is ordained of old; yea, for the king it is prepared, made deep and +large; the pile thereof has fire and wood in abundance." This passage supposes that, +even at that time, the valley of Hinnom, or Tophet (which properly is only a part +of it, but is sometimes, however, used for the whole), had that destination; that +piles were constantly burning in it, on which the carcasses of animals were burned. +Such a place of execution and burial is already prepared for the carcasses of the +Assyrians rebelling against God. Even the existence of the name Tophet, <i>i.e.</i>, +<i>horror</i>, <i>abomination</i>, bears witness to the impure destination. The +second passage is Is. lxvi. 24. Outside the Holy City, the place where formerly +the carcasses of the beasts were lying, there now lie the dead bodies of the transgressors. +As the former were, in times past, food both for the worms and fire, so they are +now. It is true, that <i>Vitringa's</i> objection, that it can scarcely be imagined +that the idolators should have chosen a place so unclean, is very plausible. But +how plausible soever such an argument may appear, it cannot invalidate distinct +historical testimonies; and it might very well be set aside, although it would lead +us too far away from our purpose, to do so here. But it may also be supposed that +the Prophet looks back to his own declarations, chap. vii. 31, and xix. 4 ff.; and +that by <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">פגרים</span> here the corpses of transgressors +are to be understood, who are destined to destruction, and therefore are to be buried +in the flaying-ground. But this reference is, after all, too far-fetched; and it +is more natural to say, that the nature of Tophet, as the flaying-ground, forms +the foundation, which is common to those passages and that before us.--But, besides +the arguments already advanced, there is still a grammatical reason, which shows +that it is really the valley of Hinnom which is meant. The article in +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">העמק</span> forbids us to view it as being in the +<i>Stat. construct.</i> and connected with the following words. We must translate: +"And the whole valley, (viz. the valley of) the carcasses and ashes." The place +is, hence, first designated as "the valley," without any further qualification, +and receives this qualification only afterwards. But it is just the valley of Hinnom +which, in Jer. ii. 23, is <span class="pagenum">[Pg 457]</span> designated as the +valley <span lang="el" class="Greek">κατʼ ἐξοχήν</span>, and the gate leading to +it, as the gate of the valley, in Neh. ii. 13, 15; comp. remarks on Zech. xi. 13.--In +reference to <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">דּשׁן</span>, <i>Gousset</i> Lex. p. +368, remarks: "The words <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">דֶּשֶׁן</span>, and +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">דִּשֵׁן</span> are used only of the ashes of the +sacrificial animals, and their removal." This observation is confirmed by every +careful examination of the passages in question. Never are +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">דֶּשֶׁן</span> and <span lang="he" class="Hebrew"> +דִּשֵׁן</span> used otherwise than of the ashes of sacrificial animals; comp. Lev. +i. 16; vi. 3, 4; 1 Kings xiii. 5; Numb. iv. 13; Exod. xxvii. 3. The derivation of +the signification "ashes," from the fundamental signification "fat," as advanced +by <i>Winer</i> and others (<i>cinis</i> = <i>pinguefactio agrorum</i>), is therefore +wrong. On the contrary, even the burnt fat was still considered as fat; the ashes +of the fat are the <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">שארית</span>, the residuum of +the fat. By this determination of the word, the explanation is very much facilitated. +In Lev. vi. 3, 11, it is said: "And he (the priest, after having offered up the +burnt-offering) shall put off his garments, and put on other garments, and carry +forth the ashes without the camp into a clean place." According to this regulation, +the ashes of the sacrificial animals were considered as relatively unclean. The +priest had to put off his holy garments, and to put on common garments, and to carry +the ashes without the camp,--afterwards without the Holy City. Hence, in contrast +to the sacrifices themselves, the ashes were considered as the impure residuum which +is found in everything which men do in relation to God, as the image of sinful contamination +attaching to all, even the best works, and to the holiest elevation of the heart. +If, then, the place where the ashes are deposited is to be included within the boundaries +of the Holy City; is, in holiness, to be equal to the place where the sacrifices +themselves are offered,--what else can be signified thereby, than that the unholy +is to be overpowered by the holy, the earthly by the divine, by means of a more +glorious communication of the Holy Spirit? It is quite analogous, when Zechariah +represents the horses as being in future adorned by the Lord with the symbol of +holiness, which formerly the High-priest only wore; compare remarks on Zech. xiv. +20. This one argument might be brought forward against the explanation which we +have given, viz., that we cannot well imagine that this was the destination of +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 458]</span> the valley of Hinnom, because, according to +the Law, the ashes of the sacrifices were to be carried to a <i>clean</i> place; +because that which once stood in connection with that which is most holy and pure, +although, in itself, it may be unclean, must not be mingled with that which is absolutely +and constantly unclean. But in opposition to this we remark, that it was not this +whole valley that was unclean, but only the place Tophet in it; and that if sometimes +the whole is designated as unclean, it is only because it included this most unclean +among all unclean places; comp. chap. vii. 31, xxxii. 35; 2 Kings xxiii. 10.--There +cannot be any doubt that "the <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">שְׁרמוֹת</span> unto +the brook Kidron" are identical with the fields of Kidron, +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">שַׁדְמוֹת קִדִרוֹן</span>, mentioned in 2 Kings xxiii.; +but much to be doubted is the correctness of the common supposition (after the example +of <i>Kuypers</i>, <i>ad varia V. T. loca</i>, in the <i>Syll. Dissert. sub praes. +Schultens, et Schroederi</i>, t. 1. p. 537), that <span lang="he" class="Hebrew"> +שְׁרמוֹת</span> is identical with <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">שְׁדֵמוֹת</span>. +If that were the case, we could not see why Jeremiah should have exchanged the common +word for an uncommon one, which elsewhere does not occur. Jeremiah is fond of exchanging +words of similar sounds, and especially words differing from one another merely +by one letter, and especially by <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ד</span> and +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ר</span>; but these exchanges are always significant. +(Compare <i>Küper</i>. Jerem. p. xiv. and 43, and <i>History of Balaam</i>, p. 447 +f.) Although we cannot, with certainty, fix the meaning of +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">שרמות</span>, yet so much seems to be sure, that +this word was one which more accurately designated the nature of those places than +the current <i>nomen proprium</i>, inasmuch as it would be absurd to substitute +for it another name, if there had not been deeper reasons. One need only compare +the <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">הר המשחית</span> itself which, in the simple +historical prose, is used of the Mount of Olives, 2 Kings xxiii. 13. The most simple +and natural supposition is the following. All the significations of the verbs +<img border="0" src="images/458.png" width="117" height="23" alt="Arabic"> in Arabic +run together in that of <i>cutting off</i>. <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">שַׁדְמוֹת</span> +the Plural of the Feminine of the Adjective <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">שָׁרֵמ</span> +are, accordingly, <i>loca abscissa</i>, places which are cut off and excluded [from +the Holy City] outwardly (<i>Aq.</i>: <span lang="el" class="Greek">προάσπεια</span>), +and, at the same time, inwardly. Thus we obtain a striking contrast between their +present nature and future destination. What is now distinctly separated from the +holy, <span class="pagenum">[Pg 459]</span> then become holiness, +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">קדש</span>. From 2 Kings xxiii. it appears, moreover, +that the fields of Kidron were unclean. It was thither as to an unclean place, that +Josiah caused all the abominations of idolatry to be carried, and to be burnt; comp. +ver. 4 (Josiah commanded all the vessels which had been made to Baal and Ashera +to be brought forth out of the temple): "And he burned them <i>without Jerusalem</i> +in the fields of Kidron." Ver. 6: "And he brought out the Ashera out of the house +of the Lord, <i>without Jerusalem</i>, unto the brook Kidron, and he burned them +in the valley of Kidron.... And cast the powder thereof upon the graves of the children +of the people." These last words (the children of the people = the mob, high and +low, who had polluted themselves by idolatry, comp. 2 Chron. xxxiv. 4: "And he strewed +the dust upon the graves of them that had sacrificed unto them")<!--see 1856 ed of placement of quotese--> +enable us perhaps to conjecture the cause of the uncleanness of these fields. They +served as a burying ground to the adherents of the worship of Moloch, who were anxious +to rest in the neighbourhood of their idol, which dwelt in the neighbouring Tophet; +and this is the more easily accounted for, that it is very probable that the sacrifices +offered up to the idol were, in a great measure, sacrifices offered for the dead.--<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">קדש +ליהוה</span> refers to every thing mentioned in the verse before us. As regards +the last words, comp. Remarks on Zech. xiv. 11.</p> +<hr class="ftn"> +<div class="ftn"> + <p class="ftnText"><a name="ftn_425a" href="#ftnRef_425a"> + <sup class="ftnRef">[1]</sup></a> The person of the Messiah meets us as the + living centre of the salvation in ver. 9: "And they serve the Lord their God, + and David their King, whom I will raise up unto them;" on which words <i>Jonathan</i> + remarks: "And the Messiah the Son of David;" and <i>Abarbanel</i>: "This is + King Messiah, who is of the house of David, and is therefore called by his name." + From the parallel passages, Hos. iii. 5; Is. lv. 3, our passage differs in this, + that David here does not, as in those passages, designate the family of David + which centres in Christ, but the person of the Messiah. The commentary is furnished + by chap. xxiii. 5: "I raise unto David a righteous Sprout." The circumstance, + that it is not the Sprout of David, but David, that is spoken of here, is explained + from a reference to the words which the ten tribes spoke at their rebellion, + 1 Kings xii. 16: "We have no portion in David, neither have we inheritance in + the Son of Jesse. To your tents, O Israel." To the person of the Messiah the + Prophet reverts once more towards the close also: "And their glorious one shall + be out of themselves, and their governor shall proceed from the midst of them + (compare Mic. v. 1, 2, [2, 3]), and I cause him to draw near, and he approacheth + unto me; for who is surety for his heart to approach unto me, saith the Lord?" + God himself receives the King of the Future into the closest communion with + Him,--"I and the Father are one"--a communion which no one can usurp by his + own power, and which, in the case of the former kings, even in that of David, + was frequently disturbed by their sinful weakness.</p> +</div> +<div class="ftn"> + <p class="ftnText"><a name="ftn_430a" href="#ftnRef_430a"> + <sup class="ftnRef">[2]</sup></a> <i>Hofmann</i> (<i>Weiss. u. Erf.</i> 1 S. + 138) assigns to the phrase the meaning: "to make an arrangement." But decisive + against this is not only the derivation, (comp. <i>Gesenius Thesaurus</i>), + but the circumstance also, that it is almost exclusively and quite manifestly + used of a relation resting on reciprocity, of the making of a covenant in the + ordinary sense; and that the few instances where there is apparently a reference + to one party, form an exception only to the rule.</p> +</div> +<div class="ftn"> + <p class="ftnText"><a name="ftn_434a" href="#ftnRef_434a"> + <sup class="ftnRef">[3]</sup></a> Even the most recent interpreters, who take + <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">בעל</span> <i>sensu malo</i>, still greatly differ,--a + proof that this interpretation has a very insufficient foundation on which to + rest. <i>Gesenius</i>, <i>De Wette</i>, <i>Bleek</i> (on Heb. viii. 9), retain + the explanation by <i>fastidire</i>, <i>rejicere</i>; <i>Maurer</i> translates: + <i>dominarer</i>, <i>domini partes sustinerem</i>, contrasting tyrannical dominion + with a relation of love; <i>Ewald</i>: "Seeing that I am her master and protector;" + <i>Hitzig</i>: "And I got possession of her." All these interpretations are + opposed by the <i>usus loquendi</i>, according to which + <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">בעל</span> has only the two significations: "to + possess," and "to take for a wife," the latter being the ordinary and prevailing + one.</p> +</div> +<div class="ftn"> + <p class="ftnText"><a name="ftn_441a" href="#ftnRef_441a"> + <sup class="ftnRef">[4]</sup></a> Not less than these, <i>Hitzig</i> too has + allowed himself to be carried away by the appearance. He says: "Then, indeed, + the office of religious instructors must cease."</p> +</div> +<div class="ftn"> + <p class="ftnText"><a name="ftn_451a" href="#ftnRef_451a"> + <sup class="ftnRef">[5]</sup></a> According to <i>Krafft</i> (<i>sur Topographie + Jerus.</i> S. 158), it is only the hill Bezetha which, by the third wall of + Agrippa, was added to the town, that can correspond to the situation of Gareb.</p> +</div> +<div class="ftn"> + <p class="ftnText"><a name="ftn_454a" href="#ftnRef_454a"> + <sup class="ftnRef">[6]</sup></a> <i>Thenius</i>, in the appendix to the Commentary + on the Books of Kings, S. 24, remarks: "<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">גל</span> + does not, in any of the dialects, denote the natural hill of rocks, but merely + stones heaped up." Hence, the hill would be an artificial hill for the execution + of criminals. (Compare the German word <i>Rabenstein</i>, lit. "raven-stone," + for: place of execution.)</p> +</div> +<div class="ftn"> + <p class="ftnText"><a name="ftn_454b" href="#ftnRef_454b"> + <sup class="ftnRef">[7]</sup></a> This objection would be removed if, following + <i>Thenius</i> and <i>Krafft</i>, S. 158, we were to explain the name from the + form of the hill, which is that of a skull. But <i>none</i> of the Evangelists + at least have advanced this explanation. The fact that three of them add the + Greek explanation to the name (Matt. xxvii. 33; Mark xv. 22; John xix. 17), + and one translated it into Greek (Luke xxiii. 33) shows that it stood in connection + with the event in question. But this circumstance is quite decisive, that three + Evangelists explain it by <span lang="el" class="Greek">κρανίου τόπος</span>, + "place of a skull."</p> +</div> +<div class="ftn"> + <p class="ftnText"><a name="ftn_455a" href="#ftnRef_455a"> + <sup class="ftnRef">[8]</sup></a> Compare the Book <i>Kosri</i>, p. 72. <i>Buxtorff</i> + says: "Gehenna was a well-known place near Jerusalem, viz., a valley in which + the fire was never extinguished, and where unclean bones, carcasses, and other + unclean things, were burned."</p> +</div> +<h3><a name="div2_459" href="#div2Ref_459">CHAPTER XXXIII. 14-26.</a></h3> +<p class="normal">Still before the destruction, but in the view of it, the Prophet, +while in the outer court of the prison, was favoured with the revelation contained +in chap. xxxii., and with that revelation of which our section forms a portion. +It may appear strange that, in the introduction, the revelation of great things +hitherto unknown to him is promised to the Prophet, and which he is told to seek +by calling unto the Lord; while, after all, the subsequent prophecy contains scarcely +any prominent, peculiar feature. But this is easily explained, when we take into +consideration that, throughout Scripture, dead <span class="pagenum">[Pg 460]</span> +knowledge is not regarded as knowledge; that the hope of<!--dup 'of' deleted--> +restoration had, in the natural man, in the Prophet as well as in all believers, +an enemy that strove to darken and extinguish it; that, therefore, the promise of +restoration was ever new, and the word of God always great and exalted. In the first +part of the revelation, after the destruction had been represented as unavoidable, +and all human hope had been cut oft, the restoration is described more in general +terms. In the second part, the Lord meets a two-fold special grief of the believers. +The time was approaching when the house of David was to be most deeply humbled, +when every trace of its former glory was to be done away with. With it, the hopes +of the people seem to be buried. God himself had declared this house to be the medium, +through which all the mercies were to come, which He, as the King, had promised +to bestow upon His people. But what was to become of the mercies, if the channel +was destroyed, through which they were to be bestowed upon the people? The temple +which, through the guilt of the people, had been changed into a den of robbers, +was to be destroyed. But, with the existence of the temple, the existence of the +Levitical priesthood was bound up, and if the latter was done away with, how was +to be obtained forgiveness of sins, which, in the Law, had been connected with the +mediation of the Levitical priesthood? These fears and cares the Lord now meets +by declaring that, in both respects, the perishing would be an arising, that life +should arise from death.</p> +<p class="normal">The genuineness of this section has been assailed by <i>Jahn</i> +(<i>Vaticinia Mess.</i> iii. p. 112, ff.<sup class="ftnRef"><a name="ftnRef_460a" href="#ftn_460a">[1]</a></sup>), +after the example of <i>J. D. Michaelis</i>, who, in the German translation of the +Bible, inclosed it within brackets. For the present, we mention only the internal +reason--deferring the refutation till we come to the exposition of particulars--because +we require it in order to set aside the external reason. Jahn, p. 121, sums it up +in these words: "The matter stands in opposition to all the prophecies of Jeremiah +and all the other Prophets. For all of them limit themselves to the one David who +was to come <span class="pagenum">[Pg 461]</span> after the captivity, and do not +mention any successor to him, far less such a multitude of descendants of David +and of Levites, which is promised to the people under the name of a blessing, but +which would, in reality, have been a very heavy burden to the people, at whose expense +they were to be splendidly maintained." The external reason is the omission of the +section in the Alexandrian version. Proceeding upon the altogether gratuitous assumption +of a double recension of the prophecies of Jeremiah, people imagine that, by the +omission in the Alexandrian version, they are entitled to suppose that, in that +recension which the LXX. followed, this section was not contained. But the arguments +are most unsatisfactory, by which the attempt is made to establish that many portions, +not translated by the LXX., were not found by them in their manuscripts. Where there +notoriously prevail negligence, ignorance, arbitrariness, entire want of a clear +conception of the task of a translator, those inferences are out of place which +suppose just the opposite of all these (comp. <i>e.g.</i>, the inferences in <i> +Jahn</i>, S. 116 ff.) Although we cannot sometimes discover and state the reason +which induced the LXX. to make any omission, in case that that which was omitted +was really in the text, what is it that is thereby proved? Could we, <i>a priori</i>, +expect anything else, since we are on the territory of accident and whim? It is +quite sufficient that in a multitude of passages we can point out the most insufficient +reasons which induced them to make omissions, alterations, transpositions; for it +is just these which show that we are in the territory of accident and whim, where +it is unreasonable every where to expect reasons. Now, to these passages, that before +us likewise belongs; so that, even supposing that the ground of the deviation sometimes +lies in a different recension, our passage cannot be regarded as belonging to this +class; and, hence, from its omission, nothing can be inferred against its genuineness. +A twofold reason here presents itself, which may have induced them to the omission: +1. Important elements of the prophecy under consideration have already occurred, +vers. 15, 16, almost <i>verbatim</i>, in chap. xxiii. 3, 6; vers. 20–25, as regards +the thought, altogether, and as regards the words, partly agree with chap. xxxi. +35–37; and it is certain that the LXX. often omitted <span class="pagenum">[Pg 462]</span> +that which had occurred previously, because they were unable to perceive the deeper +meaning of the repetition, and transferred their own ignorance to the Prophet. 2. +In that which was peculiar to the passage before us, it was just the principal thought--the +same which <i>J. D. Michaelis</i> and <i>Jahn</i> advance against the genuineness--which +must have been most objectionable to the LXX., who were incapable of perceiving +the deeper meaning. An increase of the Levites and of the family of David as the +stare of the heavens and the sand of the sea, is a thought of which the Prophet +must be freed, whether he entertained it or not. The omission in the Alexandrian +version, therefore, does not prove any thing, except that even 2000 years before +<i>J. D. Michaelis</i>, <i>Jahn</i>, <i>Hitzig</i>, and <i>Movers</i>, there were +men who were as little able to understand the text as these expositors.</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 14. "<i>Behold days come, saith the Lord, and I perform the +good word which I leave spoken unto the house of Israel, and concerning the house +of Judah.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">The "good word" may, in a more general way, be understood of all +the gracious promises of God to Israel, in contrast to the evil word, the threatenings +which hitherto had been fulfilled upon Israel; comp. 1 Kings viii. 56, where Solomon, +in the prayer at the consecration of the temple, says: "Blessed be the Lord, that +has given rest unto His people Israel, according to all which He spoke; there has +not failed (the opposite of <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">קום</span>) one word +of all His good word which He spoke through Moses His servant." In Deut. xxviii. +the <i>good</i> word and the <i>evil</i> word are placed beside one another; and +the former is blessed, from vers. 1–14; afterwards, the curse is declared. The centre +and substance of this good word was the promise to David, through whose righteous +Sprout all the promises to Israel should find their final fulfilment. But we may +also suppose that, by the "good word," the Prophet specially denotes this promise +to David, which he had repeated in chap. xxiii. 5, 6. This latter supposition is +preferable, since, in vers. 15, 16, that repetition of it is quoted, and ver. 17 +contains an allusion to the fundamental promise. The change of +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">אל</span> and <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">על</span> +is significant; Judah is considered as the object of the proclamation of salvation, +because salvation cometh from the Jews. The correctness of this view is proved by +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 463]</span> vers. 15, 16, where that only is spoken of, +which, in the first instance, belongs to Judah; so that Israel is only received +into the communion of the salvation, in the first instance, destined for Judah.</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 15, 16. "<i>In those days and at that time will I cause a +righteous Sprout to grow up unto David, and he worketh justice and righteousness +in the land. In those days Judah is endowed with salvation, and Jerusalem dwelleth +safely; and this is the name by which she shall be called: The Lord our righteousness.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">It is intentionally that the promise is here repeated in the former +shape, in order to show that it still existed; that the glaring contrast presented +by the present state of things was not able to annul it; that even in the view of +the destruction, of the deepest abasement of the house of David, it still retained +its right and power. Instead of <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">הקימותי</span>, the +more suitable <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">אצמיח</span> is here used, because +the reference to Jehoiakim does not take place in this passage, as it did in the +previous one. Instead of Israel, which is found there, we have here Jerusalem, because +it was just the restoration of Jerusalem, which it was so difficult for the faithful +to believe, after its destruction had been described in ver. 4 ff. For the same +reason, the Prophet here assigns the same name to Jerusalem which he did there to +the Sprout of David. The same city, which as yet is groaning under the wrath of +God, shall, in future, be endowed with righteousness by the Lord.</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 17. "<i>For thus saith the Lord: There shall not be cut of +from David a man sitting upon the throne of the house of Israel.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">The connection with what precedes is pertinently brought out by +<i>Calvin</i>: "The Prophet had spoken of the restoration of the Church; that doctrine +he now confirms by promising, that both the kingly and priestly office should be +perpetual; and it was just these two things which constituted the salvation of the +people. For, without a king, they were just like a cut-off tree, or a mutilated +body; without a priest they were in a state of dispersion. For the priest was the +mediator between God and the people, but the king represented the person of God." +The expression <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">לא יכרת</span>, "there shall not be +cut off," &c., is a simple repetition of the promise to David, in +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 464]</span> that form in which it had been quoted by David +himself, shortly before his death, in his address to Solomon, 1 Kings ii. 4, and +afterwards twice by Solomon, 1 Kings viii. 25, ix. 5. It does not designate an uninterrupted +succession, but forms the contrast only to a breaking off for ever. This appears +even from the circumstance that, in the fundamental promise, God reserves to himself +the punishment of the apostate members of the Davidic house, and that in Jeremiah +the announcement of its utter abasement is so frequently repeated.</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 18, "<i>And to the Levitical priests there shall not be cut +off before me a man, offering burnt-offerings, and kindling meat-offerings, and +doing sacrifice all days.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">In order rightly to understand these words, it is necessary to +go back to their cause; for it is from the grief only that the comfort receives +its explanation. The Prophet has here not by any means to do with members of the +tribe of Levi mourning over the loss of the prerogatives of their tribe. If such +were the case, it would be necessary to hold fast by the letter, inasmuch as it +is only when the letter is adhered to, that the promise can afford consolation for +such grief. The Prophet's consolations, on the contrary, are destined for all the +believers, who were mourning over the destruction of the relation to God, which +hitherto had existed through the mediation of the tribe of Levi. If only the relation +remained, it was of little importance whether it was realised by the tribe of Levi, +as heretofore, or in some other way. Just as the grief has respect to the substance +only, so has the consolation also. Israel, in future too, shall retain free access +to his reconciled God,--that is the fundamental thought; and every thing by which +this thought was manifested and realised in history, in what form soever it might +be, must be viewed as comprehended in it. We thus obtain a threefold fulfilment: +1. In the time after the return from the captivity, the consolation was realised +in the form in which it is here expressed. The fact, that God admitted and promoted +the rebuilding of the temple, was an actual declaration that the Levitical priesthood +was reinstated in its mediatorial office. 2. In the highest degree the idea of the +Levitical priesthood was realised through Christ, who, as a High-Priest and Mediator, +bore the sins of His people, and made intercession for the transgressors, and +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 465]</span> in whom the Levitical priesthood ceased, just +as the seed-corn disappears in the stalk. 3. Through Christ, the believers themselves +became priests, and obtained free access to the Father.--The following reasons show +that we have a right to maintain this independence of the thought upon the form: +1. The Prophet is so penetrated with the thought of the glory of the New Dispensation +far outshining that of the Old, that, <i>even a priori</i>, we could not suppose +that, as regards the priesthood, he expected an eternal duration of its form, hitherto +so poor. It is the substance only which, in his view, is permanent. One need only +compare the section, chap. xxxi. 31 ff. How intentionally does he here bring forward +the idea that the New Covenant would not be like the Old; how does he point from +the shadow to the substance! But it is especially chap. iii. 16 which, in this respect, +is to be regarded. In that passage, the ceasing of the former dignity of the Ark +of the Covenant is announced repeatedly, and in the strongest terms; and we have +already seen that, along with the Ark of the Covenant, the temple, the Levitical +priesthood, the whole sacrificial service stands in the closest and most indissoluble +connection; so that all this must fall along with it. 2. A very important proof +is furnished by ver. 22, which must be regarded as a declaration, by the Prophet +himself, as to the manner in which he wishes to be understood. Now, in that verse, +it is promised that all the descendants of Abraham shall be changed into Levites; +and this is declared to form a part of the eternal acceptance of the tribe of Levi, +promised in the verse under consideration. This shows then, that, in the verse under +review, the Levites cannot come into consideration as descendants of Levi after +the flesh, but only as regards their destination and vocation. 3. As the most ancient +and authentic interpreter of Jeremiah, Zechariah must be considered. He was most +anxious to obviate the same fears which Jeremiah here meets; and, in him, the first +two of the three features which Jeremiah comprehends in the unity of the idea, appear +separated, but in such a manner that the connecting unity of the idea is not lost +sight of In Zech. iii., God assures the people that, notwithstanding the greatness +of their sins, He would not only allow the office of High-priest to continue as +heretofore, and accept his mediation, but that, at some future period, +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 466]</span> He would also send the true High-priest, who +should make a complete and everlasting atonement. In ver. 8, the High-priest and +his colleagues in the priestly office are designated as types of Christ who, putting +most completely to shame the people's despair in God's mercy, should fully accomplish +the expiation and atonement which the former had effected only imperfectly. In chap. +iv. the priestly is, along with the royal order, designated as one of the two sons +of the oil, the two anointed ones of the Lord, whose anointing remaineth for ever; +and from chap. vi. 13, where the Messiah appears as the true High-priest and King +at the same time, it appears that, here too, the shadow only belongs to the Levitical +priesthood, but the substance to Christ. 4. Elsewhere, too, plain examples are not +wanting, in which the idea of the priesthood only is regarded, while the peculiar +form of its manifestation under the Old Testament is lost sight of. Among those +is Is. lxi. 6, where, in reference to all Israel, it is said: "And ye shall be named +priests of Jehovah, ministers of our God shall they call you." Here the change of +all Israel into the tribe of Levi is announced; and the objection which, perhaps, +might be brought forward, that here only priests in general are spoken of, while +Jeremiah speaks of Levitical priests, is met by the second passage, chap. lxvi. +21: "And from them also will I take for <i>Levitical</i> priests saith the Lord." +It makes no difference for our purpose whether "from them" be referred to the Gentiles +(which is the correct view, compare p. 360), as is done by <i>Vitringa</i> and +<i>Gesenius</i>, or to the Israelites living in exile. For, although the latter +interpretation be received, yet so much is certain, that such shall be taken for +Levitical priests as were not descendants of Levi: for, otherwise, no <i>taking</i>, +no special divine mercy would have taken place. Even the Law already knows an <i> +ideal</i> priesthood by the side of the ordinary one; and such an one meets us also +in Ps. xcix. 6; compare my Commentary on that passage.--After having thus fixed +the sense of the promise referring to the Levitical priesthood, it will not be difficult +to discover the right view in reference to the family of David. Here, too, a threefold +fulfilment takes place. 1. It was realized in the times immediately after the captivity, +when Zerubbabel, a scion of the Davidic house, became the mediator of the mercies +which God <span class="pagenum">[Pg 467]</span> as King, vouchsafed to His people. +To a certain degree, that mercy too comes in here which, at a later period, God, +in His capacity as King, bestowed upon the people by means of civil rulers, who +were not from the house of David. For, since the dominion had been for ever transferred +to the house of David, these rulers can be considered only as being engrafted into +it, as representatives and vice-regents,--much in the same way as the blessing, +which was bestowed upon the people by the priestly office of the non-priest Samuel, +must be considered as being included in the promise in reference to the Aaronic +priesthood. For all that God vouchsafed through those rulers, was for the sake of +the Davidic house only, which for ever had been destined to be the channel of His +regal blessings. If the kingdom of David had really been at an end, He would not +have given to the people even those rulers, and the deliverance and prosperity granted +to them,--as is clearly seen from a comparison of the times, after the great Hero +of David's race ascended the throne, when every trace of the regal grace of God +in raising other rulers ceased; for now, that the race of David itself rules again, +and for ever, no representation of it can any more take place. But, in the passage +under consideration, it would the less be suitable to separate everything which +does not, in the strictest sense, belong to it, that here the promise to David is +not viewed with reference to him and his house, but solely with reference to the +people. Hence, the manifestation of the regal grace of God forms the centre; and +the house of David comes into consideration, only in so far as it was destined to +be the mediator of this grace. 2. It was fulfilled in Christ; and from vers. 15, +16, it appears that the Prophet had this fulfilment chiefly in view. These two fulfilments +are connected with one another by Zechariah also, in chap. iv.--3. It was realized +by the raising of the whole true posterity of Abraham to the royal dignity, through +Christ. This most striking antithesis to the despair--the despair saying: there +is no king in Israel; the consolation: all Israel are kings--is expressly brought +forward in ver. 22.--We still remark that we must not, by any means, as is commonly +done, translate: "To the priests and Levites," but, as also in Is. lxvi. 21: To +the Levitical priests; compare the arguments in proof in <i>Genuineness of the Pentateuch</i>, +p. 329 ff. The epithet, <span class="pagenum">[Pg 468]</span> "Levitical," is added +in order to prevent the thought that, perhaps, priests in another than the literal +sense are spoken of, compare p. 360. It serves therefore the same purpose as the +expression: "He ruleth as a king," in chap. xxxiii. 5.--As regards the sacrifices, +we must not by any means suppose, as is done by the ancient interpreters, that spiritual +sacrifices are here simply spoken of. The correct view rather is, that the Prophet +represents the substance under its present form, in and with which it would now +soon be lost for a season; and as he has to do with the substance only, he does +not say anything as to whether this substance would, in future, rise again in the +same form, and whether it was to continue for ever in that form. History has answered +the first in the affirmative, and the second in the negative; and from chap. iii. +16, it appears that the Prophet, too, would, upon <i>inquiry</i>, have answered +in the negative as regards the last point. Moreover, how well they knew, even under +the Old Testament dispensation, to distinguish, in reference to the sacrifices, +between the substance and the form, considering the latter as a thing merely accidental, +is seen from passages such as Hosea xiv. 3 (2): "Take with you words, and turn to +the Lord and say unto Him: <i>Take</i> all iniquity, and <i>give</i> good, and we +will recompense to thee bulls, our lips." Here the thanks are represented as the +substance of the thank-offering, and, indeed, so perfectly, that the thank-offering, +the bullocks, is <i>entirely</i> where only thanks, the lips, are. The outward sacrifice +is the vessel only in which the gift is presented to God. <i>Farther</i>--Ps. iv. +14, where, in contrast to the merely external sacrifices, it is said: "Offer unto +God thanksgivings;" Mal. i. 11, and many other passages.</p> +<p class="normal">Vers. 19, 20. "<i>And the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying: +Thus saith the Lord, If ye will make void my covenant, the day, and my covenant, +the night, so that there shall be no more day and night in their season</i>; Ver. +21. <i>Then also shall be void my covenant with David, my servant, that he shall +not have one who reigns on his throne, and with the Levitical priests, my servants.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal" dir="ltr">The word <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">תפרו</span> +is very significant. <i>Calvin</i> says: "The Prophet indirectly reproves the wickedness +of the people, because, as much as lay with them, they destroyed the covenant +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 469]</span> of God by their obstreperous cries.... This +incredulity, therefore, the Prophet blames, and it is as if he were saying: To what +are these complaints to lead? It is just as if you were trying to draw down sun +and moon from heaven, and to do away with the difference between day and night, +and overturn all the laws of nature, because it is I, the same God, whose will it +was that the night should follow the day, who have also promised, &c."--<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">היום</span> +and <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">הלילה</span> are appositions to: My covenant. +The day and night in their regular succession are the covenant which is here spoken +of The phrase <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">יומם ולילה</span>, which signifies +"by day and night," "daily and nightly," stands here for: <i>tempus diurnum et nocturnum</i>. +"The covenant," <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ברית</span>, does not by any means +stand here in the signification <i>stabilis ordinatio</i>; nor is it be considered +as being entered into with the day and night; these, on the contrary, are the covenant-blessings. +God, who vouchsafed <i>them</i>, and all that is connected with them, that the sun +shines by day, and the moon by night, enters thereby, according to the explanation +given on chap. xxxi. 32, into a covenant with man. By the inviolable maintenance +of the course of nature, He binds himself to the inviolable maintenance of the moral +order. This clearly appears when we consider that, after the great flood, the covenant +with nature is anew entered into, and its inviolability anew established; comp. +Gen. ix. 9: "Behold, I establish my covenant <i>with you</i>, and with your seed +after you;" viii. 22: "All the days of the earth, seed time and harvest, and heat +and cold, and summer and autumn, and day and night shall not cease any more." With +these covenant-promises, covenant-laws and obligations are connected, which the +covenant imposes. With this covenant of nature, which is common to all men, and +which, at Noah's time, was not made for the first time, but only renewed, the covenant +of grace, which is peculiar to Israel only, stands on a level. To assert that the +latter has become void, is nothing else than to attempt to pull sun and moon down +from heaven. For it is one and the same God who has made both covenants.</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 22. "<i>As the host of heaven is not numbered, and as the +sand of the sea is not measured, so will I increase the seed of David, my servant, +and the Levites that minister unto me.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">Even considered in itself, the literal fulfilment of this verse +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 470]</span> involves an absurdity. Such an increase of +the bodily descendants of David lies beyond the bounds of possibility; and even +if this were not the case, yet this increase, just as the similar increase of the +Levites, would not have the nature of a promise, but that of a threatening. At all +events, the consolation would have no relation to, or connection with, the grief +For the latter did not refer to the number of the descendants of David, and that +of the Levites, but to their acceptance with God, and, in them, to the acceptance +of the people; but that acceptance has nothing to do with number. To this, another +reason is still to be added. It cannot be denied that there is a verbal reference +to the promise to Abraham in Gen. xv. 5, xxii. 17. Since, then, these words, which +originally referred to all Israel, are here transferred to the family of David, +and to the Levites, it is thereby sufficiently intimated that all Israel shall be +changed into the family of David, and into the tribe of Levi. This idea need not +at all surprise us. It has its foundation in the Law itself All that is announced +here is, that the vocation and destination of the covenant-people, which is already +expressed in the Law, but which hitherto was realised only very imperfectly, is, +at some future period, to be perfectly realised. In Exod. xix. 6, God says of Israel: +"Ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">ממלכת +כהנים</span>."<sup class="ftnRef"><a name="ftnRef_470a" href="#ftn_470a">[2]</a></sup> +Hence, first a kingdom. The nature of a kingdom is, not to have any power over it +other than the Divine power, and to have everything else under its authority. By +this declaration, the dominion of the world was secured to the people of God. This +high prerogative always remained with the covenant-people so long as they had not, +by their guilt, spontaneously got under a moral servitude to the world. The outward +servitude was always a reflection of the inward only. It never was inflicted upon +the covenant-people as such, but always upon that covenant-people which had become +like the world. And even when this <i>unnatural</i> condition took place, this high +dignity was not forfeited by the single individuals who, knowing that they were +purchased at a high price, had kept themselves inwardly free from the bondage of +the world. Although in fetters and bonds, they yet remained inwardly free. World, +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 471]</span> sin, death, and hell, could do them no harm. +Yea, notwithstanding all outward appearance of victory, those enemies were, in reality, +ruled by them; and even their outward servitude was, when more deeply considered, +a sign of their dominion. For the Law of the Lord of Hosts was in their inward parts; +it was the living principle of their existence. It was according to this Law that +the whole world was governed; and it was according to it that the servitude of their +people also took place. They were thus co-regents with God, and, as such, ruled +over their rulers.--All the single members of this kingdom, which consists entirely +of kings, were, at the same time, to be priests. In these words it was already implied +and declared, that the Levitical priesthood, which was instituted at a later period, +could not have that importance which the priesthood had with other nations of antiquity, +where priests and people stood in an absolute antithesis, which admitted of no mediation, +and where it was the priests only who stood in an immediate relation to God. It +was thereby implied and declared, that the priests, in one aspect, (in other respects, +they were types and foreshadowings of Christ) possessed rights that were only transferred +to them; that they were representatives of Christ, and that, hence, their mediation +would, at some future period, disappear altogether. And in order that the people +might always remain fully conscious of this; in order that they might know that +they themselves were the real bearers of the priestly dignity, they retained, even +after the institution of the Levitical priesthood, that priestly function which +formed the root and foundation of all others, viz., the slaying of the covenant-sacrifice, +of the paschal lamb, which formed the centre of all other sacrifices, inasmuch as +the latter served only as a supplement to it. That, even under the Old Testament +dispensation, this importance of the paschal rite was duly recognized, is seen from +<i>Philo</i>, <i>de vita Mos.</i> (p. 686, Francf.): "In offering up the paschal +lamb, the office of the laymen is by no means simply to bring the sacrificial animals +to the altar, that they may be slain and offered up by the priests; but, according +to the regulations of the Law, the whole people exercise priestly functions, inasmuch +as every one in his own behalf offers up the prescribed sacrifice."--We have thus +here before <span class="pagenum">[Pg 472]</span> us the highest completion of the +comfort for the mourning covenant-people. They are not merely to receive back their +king, their priests; nay, they are altogether to be changed into a kingly and priestly +generation. It must not be overlooked that, in substance, this was already contained +in the promise to Abraham. We have already proved in Vol. i. p. 211, ff., that this +promise to Abraham does not refer to a great number of bodily descendants, <i>tales +quales</i>, but that, on the contrary, it refers only to such sons of Abraham as +are, at the same time, sons of God; hence, to a royal and priestly generation.--If +now we look to the fulfilment, the passage which, above all, presents itself, is +1 Pet. ii. 9: <span lang="el" class="Greek">ὑμεῖς δὲ γένος ἐκλεκτόν, βασίλειον ἱεράτευμα +κ.τ.λ.</span> Here that passage of Exodus is represented as a prophecy which, in +the present only, was fulfilled. Israel has now become that which, according to +its destiny, it ought always to have been, a host of royal priests,--priests who +at the same time have a royal nature and character. That which now already exists +perfectly in the germ, shall, at some future period, come forth in full development, +according to Rev. v. 10: <span lang="el" class="Greek">καὶ ἐποίησας αὐτοὺς τῷ θεῷ +ἡμῶν βασιλεῖς καὶ ἱερεῖς, καὶ βασιλεύσουσιν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς</span> Believers, when sin +has been extirpated in them, shall have the freest access to God. When His will +shall have become theirs, and when, at the same time, His dominion over the whole +world appears more visibly, they shall unconditionally rule with Him. How this dignity +of theirs has its foundation in Christ, is seen from Rev. i. 5, 6, where the words: +<span lang="el" class="Greek">καὶ ἐποίησεν ἡμᾶς βασιλείαν, ἱερεῖς τῷ θεῷ καὶ πατρὶ +αὑτοῦ</span>, stand in close connection to <span lang="el" class="Greek">ὁ ἄρχων +τῶν βασιλέων τῆς γῆς</span>, and to <span lang="el" class="Greek">καί λύσαντι ἡμᾶς +ἀπὸ τῶν ἁμρτιῶν ἡμῶν ἐν τῷ αἵματι αὑτοῦ</span>.</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 23. "<i>And the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying:</i> +Ver. 24. <i>Dost thou not see what this people are speaking, and say: The two families +which the Lord hath chosen, He hath now rejected them, and my people they despise, +that they should still be a people before them.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">It is scarcely conceivable how modern interpreters can assert +that by "this people," not the Israelites, but Gentiles, the Egyptians or Chaldeans, +or the "neighbours of the Jews on the Chaboras," (<i>Hitzig</i>), or the Samaritans +(<i>Movers</i>), are to be understood. In advancing such assertions, it is overlooked +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 473]</span> that the Prophet has here quite the same persons +in view as in the whole remaining section, and as in these chapter's throughout, +viz., those among Israel--and to them more or less all belonged, even those most +faithful--who, because they saw Israel prostrate, for ever despaired of its deliverance +and salvation; and, indeed, for the most part, in such a manner as to give to this +despair a good aspect, viz., that of humility. They imagined, and said that the +people had sinned in such a manner against God, that He was free from all his obligations, +and could not at all receive them again. To those the Prophet shows that such a +thought is, notwithstanding the fair appearance, blasphemy. All despair abases God +into an idol, into a creature. Faith holds fast by the word, by the promise. It +says: Although sin abounds with us, the grace of God does much more abound. As truly +as God always remains God, so surely His people will always remain His people. He +indeed chastises them, but He does not give them over to death. One need only consider +the <span lang="he" class="Hebrew">תפרו</span> in ver. 20.--The expression "this +people," is contemptuous, comp. Is. viii. 11. The Prophet thereby intimates that +those who use such language, cease thereby to be members of the people of God. The +"two families" are Judah and Israel. These had, in the preceding verses, likewise +been, in substance, the subject of discourse; for the election and rejection of +the tribe of Levi, and of the house of David, had been treated of in so far only, +as they stood in relation to the election or rejection of the people; so that here +only the same thing is repeated in a different form, in consideration of the fact, +that weak faith and despair are so slow to hear. The words: "He hath now rejected +them," were, in a certain sense, true; but not in the sense of the speakers. They, +on the contrary, maintained, in opposition to the election, a rejection for ever, +which was tantamount to: Jehovah, the eternal and unchangeable One, is no more Jehovah; +He is a man that He lieth, and a son of man that He repenteth. As surely as God +is Jehovah, so surely also <span lang="el" class="Greek">ἀμεταμέλητα τὰ χαρίσματα +καὶ ἡ κλῆσις τοῦ θεοῦ</span>, Rom. xi. 29. The expression "<i>my</i> people," directs +attention to how God is now despised in Israel. On the contrast between "<i>my</i> +people" and "a people," compare remarks on chap. xxxi. 36.</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 25. "<i>Thus saith the Lord: If not my covenant daily</i> +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 474]</span> <i>and nightly, if I have not appointed the +ordinances of heaven and earth</i>;"--</p> +<p class="normal">Compare ver. 20. The covenant daily and nightly, <i>i.e.</i>, +the covenant which refers to the constant and regular alternation of day and night. +The ordinances of heaven and earth denote the whole course of nature,--especially +the relations of sun, moon, and stars, to the earth, comp. chap. xxxi. 35--in so +far as it is regulated by God's ordinance, and is, therefore, a lasting one.</p> +<p class="normal">Ver. 26. "<i>So will I also cast away the seed of Jacob, and of +David, my servant, that I do not take farther from his seed rulers over the seed +of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For I will turn to their captivity, and have mercy +upon them.</i>"</p> +<p class="normal">The casting away of the seed of Jacob, and that of the seed of +David, are inseparably connected. For since, by the promise to David, the kingdom +had been for ever bound together with his race, Israel was no more the people of +God, and no more a people at all, if David was no more the servant of God. The Plural +<span lang="he" class="Hebrew">משלים</span> is easily accounted for, from the circumstance +that it was not the number, but only the <i>fact</i> that was here concerned (comp. +remarks on chap. xxiii. 4, and, at the same time, those on ver. 18); but it is beyond +any doubt, that the Prophet has here in view the revival of the dominion of David +in the Messiah,--has it, at least, chiefly in view. The enumeration of the three +Patriarchs recalls to mind the whole series of the promises granted to them. The +words: "I will turn to their captivity" (not: "I will turn their captivity," compare +remarks on Ps. xiv. 7; captivity is an image of misery), rest on Deut. xxx. 3.</p> +<hr class="ftn"> +<div class="ftn"> + <p class="ftnText"><a name="ftn_460a" href="#ftnRef_460a"> + <sup class="ftnRef">[1]</sup></a> They have been joined by <i>Movers</i> (<i>de + utriusque recens. Jerem. indole</i>), who declares ver. 18 and 21–24 to be a + later interpolation (comp. against this view <i>Küper</i>, S. 173, and <i>Wichelhaus</i>, + de Jerem. Vers. Alex., p. 170), and <i>Hitzig</i>, according to whom the whole + portion, vers. 14–26, consists of "a series of single additions from a later + period."</p> +</div> +<div class="ftn"> + <p class="ftnText"><a name="ftn_470a" href="#ftnRef_470a"> + <sup class="ftnRef">[2]</sup></a> Compare the discussions on this passage in + my Commentary on Rev. i. 6.</p> +</div> +<br> +<br> +<h4>END OF VOLUME SECOND.</h4> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Christology of the Old Testament: And +a Commentary on the Messianic Predictions. 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