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diff --git a/30608.txt b/30608.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a6e46d3 --- /dev/null +++ b/30608.txt @@ -0,0 +1,18488 @@ +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: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHRISTOLOGY OF OLD TESTAMENT, V2 *** + + + + +Produced by Charles Bowen, from images obtained from Google Books. + + + + +Transcriber's Note: Images taken from the 1861 edition, found at +Books.Google.com., are the source of the text used for this ebook. This +original book was from Harvard University and digitized in 2006. + +Unclear or missing punctuation marks were corrected by reference to the +1856 edition of this work. + +The Latin diphthong oe is expressed by [oe]. + +Greek words are directly transliterated using the English equivalents +of the Greek; the Greek eta is transliterated as e and omega as o. +Diacritic marks are omitted with the exception of the initial hard +breathing mark which is indicated by an "h" before the initial vowel of +the word. + +Hebrew words, which in this book are mainly represented without +the vowel and pronunciation points, are transcribed as follows: + +Alef = a Lahmed = l +Bet = b Mem = m (final = M) +Gimel = g Nun = n (final = N) +Dalet = d Samekh = s +He = h Ahyin = i +Vav = v Peh = p (final = P) +Zayin = z Tsadi = c (final = C) +Het = H Qof = q +Tet = T Resh = r +Yod = i Shin = w +Kahf = k (final = K) Tav = t + + + + +[Pg i] + + + + + + + + CLARK'S + + + FOREIGN + + + THEOLOGICAL LIBRARY + + + + NEW SERIES. + VOL. II. + + + + Hengstenberg's Christology of the Old Testament. + VOL. II. + + + + EDINBURGH: + T. & T. CLARK, 38, GEORGE STREET. + LONDON: J. GLADDING; WARD AND CO.; AND JACKSON AND WALFORD + DUBLIN: JOHN ROBERTSON + + MDCCCLXI. + + +[Pg ii] +[Blank Page] + + +[Pg iii] + + + + + CHRISTOLOGY + + OF + + THE OLD TESTAMENT, + + AND A + + COMMENTARY ON THE MESSIANIC PREDICTIONS + + + + BY + E. W. HENGSTENBERG, + DR. AND PROF. OF THEOL. IN BERLIN. + + + + SECOND EDITION GREATLY IMPROVED. + + + + TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN + BY THE + THE REV. THEODORE MEYER. + HEBREW TUTOR IN THE NEW COLLEGE, EDINBURGH. + + + VOLUME II. + + + EDINBURGH: + T. AND T. CLARK, 38, GEORGE STREET. + LONDON: HAMILTON, ADAMS, AND CO.; SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, AND CO.; + WARD AND CO.; JACKSON AND WALFORD, ETC. DUBLIN: + JOHN ROBERTSON, AND HODGES AND SMITH. + + MDCCCLXI. + + +[Pg iv] + + + + + NOTICE. + _This Work is copyright in this country by arrangement with the + Author._ + + +[Pg v] + + + + + LIST OF CONTENTS. + + + Page +MESSIANIC PREDICTIONS IN THE PROPHETS. + THE PROPHET ISAIAH. + General Preliminary Remarks, 1 + Chap. ii.-iv.--The Sprout of the Lord, 10 + Chap. vii.--Immanuel, 26 + Chap. viii. 23-ix. 6--Unto us a Child is born, 66 + Chap. ix. 1-7, 75 + Chap. xi., xii.--The Twig of Jesse, 94 + On Matthew ii. 23, 106 + Chap. xii., 133 + Chaps. xiii. 1-xiv. 27, 135 + Chaps. xvii., xviii., 137 + Chap. xix., 141 + Chap. xxiii.--The Burden upon Tyre, 146 + Chaps. xxiv.-xxvii., 149 + Chaps. xxviii.-xxxiii., 154 + Chap. xxxv., 158 + General Preliminary Remarks on Chaps, xl.-lxvi., 163 + Chap. xlii. 1-9, 196 + Chap. xlix. 1-9, 226 + Chap. 1. 4-11, 246 + Chap. li. 16, 256 + Chaps. lii. 13-liii. 12, 259 + I. History of the Interpretation. + A. With the Jews, 311 + B. History of the Interpretation with the Christians, 319 + II. The Arguments against the Messianic Interpretation, 327 + III. The Arguments in favour of the Messianic + Interpretation, 330 + IV. Examination of the Non-Messianic Interpretation, 334 + Chap. lv. 1-5, 343 + Chap. lxi. 1-3, 351 + THE PROPHET ZEPHANIAH, 356 + THE PROPHET JEREMIAH. + General Preliminary Remarks, 362 + Chap. iii. 14-17, 373 + Chap. xxiii. 1-8, 398 + Chap. xxxi. 31-40, 424 + Chap. xxxiii. 14-26, 459 + + +[Pg vi] +[Blank Page] + + +[Pg 1] + + + + + THE PROPHET ISAIAH. + + + + + GENERAL PRELIMINARY REMARKS. + + +Isaiah is the principal prophetical figure in the first period of +canonical prophetism, _i.e._, the Assyrian period, just as Jeremiah is +in the second, _i.e._, the Babylonian. With Isaiah are connected in the +kingdom of Judah: Joel, Obadiah, and Micah; in the kingdom of Israel: +Hosea, Amos, and Jonah. + +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. _Jerome_ 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 +_Augustine_ says, _De Civ. Dei_, 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, _Augustine_ applied to +_Ambrose_ 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." (_Aug. Conf._ ix. 5.) With the Fathers of +the Church _Luther_ 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 [Pg 2] 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, _e. g._, 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. + +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 [Pg 3] 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 _Koresh_ (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. + +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 [Pg 4] +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 [Pg 5] 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." + +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 _second_ 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 _election_ shall become partakers of the +Messianic salvation. + +The Prophet clearly sees that, by the _Syrico-Ephraemitic_ 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." + +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 [Pg 6] 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." + +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 +[Pg 7] closely and intimately interwoven with the historical context, +that even _Gesenius_ 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. + +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. + +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 _usus loquendi_ 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.[1] 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. + +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. + +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. + +This great change shall be accomplished by the Messiah, chaps. iv., +ix., xi., xxxiii. 17, who proceeds from the house of [Pg 8] 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. + +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 [Pg 9] 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 _Witness_, 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. + + + +[Footnote 1: _Vitringa_: 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.] + + + +[Pg 10] + + + + + THE PROPHECY--CHAP. II.-IV. + THE SPROUT OF THE LORD. + + +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 [Pg 11] 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. + +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 _Kleinert_ and _Ewald_, 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 _indeed_, but _only_ 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,"[1] the prophet gives an +_express declaration_ as to the object of the description which he has +placed in front, and expresses himself in regard to it in perfect +harmony [Pg 12] with Heb. iv. 1: [Greek: phobethomen oun mepote +kataleipomenes epangelias ... doke tis ex humon husterekenai.] 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 [Greek: engike he +basileia ton ouranon] of the first part serves as a foundation to the +[Greek: metanoeite oun] of the second. + +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. + +It is with the third part only that we have here more particularly to +employ ourselves. + +Ver. 2. "_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._" + +Ver. 3. "_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._" + +Ver. 4. "_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._" + +Ver. 5. "_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._" + +Ver. 6. "_And a tabernacle shall be for a shadow by day from the heat, +and, for a refuge and covert from storm and from rain._" + +Ver. 2. "_In that day_" _i.e._, not by any means _after_ the suffering, +but _in the midst of it_, comp. chap. iii. 18; iv. 1, where, by [Pg 13] +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 "_Sprout +of the Lord_" the Messiah is designated,--an explanation which we meet +with so early as in the Chaldee Paraphrast ([Hebrew: bedna hhva ihi +mwiHa dii lHdvh vliqr]), from which even _Kimchi_ 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, _a priori_, 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. _Farther_--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 +[Hebrew: cmH] 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 _interpretation_ 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 [Pg 14] +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 _Zemach_," and vi. +12: "Behold, a man whose name is _Zemach_" are of so much the greater +consequence that in them _Zemach_ (_i.e._, Sprout) occurs as a kind of +_nomen proprium_, the sense of which is supposed as being known from +former prophecies to which the Prophet all but expressly refers; or as +_Vitringa_ 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, _finally_, 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 +[Hebrew: cbi] and [Hebrew: tpart] 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.e._, the Son of +God. Against the latter interpretation it is objected by _Hoffmann_ +(_Weissagung und Erfuellung._ Th. 1, S. 214): "[Hebrew: cmH] is an +intransitive verb, so that [Hebrew: cmH] 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 +[Hebrew: cmH] 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 [Pg 15] 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 _Zemach_; 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 _sprout_ forth."--As the words "Sprout of the Lord" denote +the heavenly origin of the Redeemer, so do the words [Hebrew: pri harC] +the earthly one, the soil from which the Lord causes the Saviour to +sprout up. These words are, by _Vitringa_ and others, translated: "the +fruit of the earth," but the correct translation is "the fruit of the +_land_." 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 [Hebrew: pri harC] 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 [Hebrew: harC] +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 _David_, and Zech. vi. 12, where the man +whose name is _Zemach_ (Sprout) grows up out of its soil; comp. Heb. +vii. 14, where, in allusion to the Old Testament passages of the +Sprout--the verb [Greek: anatellein] is commonly used of the sprouting +forth of the plants (see _Bleek_ on this passage)--it is said: [Greek: +ex Iouda anatetalken ho Kurios hemon], _Bengel_: _ut germen justitiae_; +farther, Mic. v. 1 (2), where the eternal existence of the Messiah, [Pg +16] and His birth in Bethlehem are contrasted with one another; Is. ix. +5, (6), where the words: "Unto _us_ a child is born, unto _us_ 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 _beauty_ and _glory_, for _exaltation_ and +_ornament_. The passages to be compared are 2 Sam. i. 19, where Saul +and Jonathan are called [Hebrew: cbi iwral]; _farther_, 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 +[Hebrew: cbi] and [Hebrew: tpart] are likewise used; _finally_, 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 ( +[Hebrew: cbi]) 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 _Drechsler_ 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 _taking away_; He takes those seeming blessings, only in order +to be able to give the true ones. Every taking away is a prophecy of +giving.--"_To the escaped of Israel_," who, according to the idea of a +people of God, and according to [Pg 17] 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 _mass_ of the +people; sifting judgments must necessarily go before and along with it. +True prophetism everywhere knows of salvation for a remnant only. On +[Hebrew: pliTh], 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. + +All which now remains is to examine those explanations of this verse +which differ from the Messianic interpretation. 1. Following the +interpretation of _Grotius_ and others, _Gesenius_, 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." _Fruit of the land_ +he takes in its literal sense, and understands it to mean the product +of the land. The same view is held by _Knobel_: "_He becomes for beauty +and glory_, _i.e._, the people, having reformed, prosper and form a +splendid, glorious state." And _Maurer_ 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, _first_, the circumstance, that according to it the [Hebrew: +l] before [Hebrew: lcbi] and [Hebrew: lkbvr] must be understood +differently from what it is in [Hebrew: lgavN], and [Hebrew: ltpart] +which immediately follow and exactly correspond with them. There are, +_secondly_, the parallel passages chap. xxviii. 5, xxiv. 16, according +to which [Hebrew: cbi] "beauty" is conferred upon the escaped, but they +themselves do not become beauty. _Finally_--It is always most natural +to suppose that [Hebrew: cmH ihvh] and [Hebrew: pri harC] correspond +with one another, and denote the same subject which is here described +after his various aspects only. For in the same manner as [Hebrew: cmH] +and [Hebrew: pri] go hand in hand, both being taken from the territory +of botany, so [Hebrew: ihvh] and [Hebrew: harC] also stand in a +contrast which is not to be mistaken. 2. _Hitzig_, _Ewald_, _Meier_, +and others not only refer "the fruit of the land," but also the "Sprout +of Jehovah" to that which Jehovah makes to sprout forth.[2] It is true +that, in the prophetic [Pg 18] 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, _in +addition_, the circumstance that the barrenness of the country is not +at all pointed out in the preceding context. _Finally_--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 _Hendewerk_, 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 _person_ in favour of a +_personification_. 4. _Umbreit_ acknowledges that, in the case of +[Hebrew: cmH ihvh], 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 [Pg +19] contrast between the Sprout of the Lord, and the fruit of the land, +by which evidently the same thing is designated from different aspects. + +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. _Zion_ and _Jerusalem_, 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 _Israel_ 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 +"_shall be called holy_." 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. _Believers_ 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 _reward_ 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 [Pg 20] 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 _horas_ and _moras_. 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 +_nomen proprium_ 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.--"_To be called_" is more than merely "to be;" it +indicates that the _being_ is so marked as to procure for itself +acknowledgment.--The words: "_Every one that is written to life in +Jerusalem_" anew point out that judgment will go before, and by the +side of grace. The meaning of [Hebrew: HiiM] is, according to the +fundamental passage in Ps. lxix. 29, "not living ones" (_Hoffmann_, +_Weiss._ 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.e._ +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 [Pg 21] 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.e._ a participation in the blessings +of the Kingdom of Christ, is pointed out by Isaiah himself in chap. +xxvi. 19: "Thy dead men shall _live_, my dead bodies shall arise, for a +dew of light is thy dew." + +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, "_When the Lord has washed away the filth of the +daughters of Zion._" 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. "_And shall remove the blood of Jerusalem._" 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 +[Pg 22] 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 _alone_; +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 _judgment_, 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 +[Hebrew: mwpT], 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 _right_ 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: [Greek autos humas +baptisei en pneumati hagio kai puri], 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 _usus +loquendi_ 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 [Pg 23] very natural that the spirit of destruction has +been brought in by the spirit of right only.--The word [Hebrew: ber] +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 [Hebrew: ber] is, in Deuteronomy, used as the _terminus technicus_ +of the extirpation of the wicked. If the Church does not comply with +the command: [Greek: exareite ton poneron ex humon auton], 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. + +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 _Sprout_, 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 +_Sprout_ 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 [Pg 24] for and imagined; that which Israel hitherto +possessed only very imperfectly, a _praesens numen_, 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: +"_Over her assemblies_," 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." +[Hebrew: mqra] 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: _Ueber +den Tag des Herrn S_. 32. The same phenomenon is, according to its +appearance by day, designated, at the same time, as _clouds_ and +_smoke_. Smoke is never "vapour, vapoury clouds" (_Knobel_); and here +the smoke by day corresponds with the _flaming fire_ 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: "_For +above all glory is a covering_," 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 [Hebrew: kl-kbvd] +the whole glory mentioned in the preceding context; but in that case we +should expect the article. One may also supply the limitation: For, _in +the Kingdom of God_, there is a covering over all glory. + +[Pg 25] + +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 "_Sun_" comes into consideration in its scorching +quality; and the "_heat_" 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 "_rain_" +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. + + + +[Footnote 1: 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 [Hebrew: lkv vnlkh] there is a +clear reference to [Hebrew: lkv vnelh] 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 _forsaken_ 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.] + +[Footnote 2: So _Gesenius_ also in the _Thesaurus_: "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." _Gesenius'_ wavering clearly shows how little +satisfaction the non-Messianic explanation affords to its own abettors. +Besides the explanations of [Hebrew: cmH ihvh] 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 [Hebrew: pri +harC], according to which the Genitive can have a reference to the +_origin_ only.] + + + +[Pg 26] + + + + + THE PROPHECY, CHAP. VII. + IMMANUEL. + + +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 _Caspari_, 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 [Pg 27] 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." + +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. + +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. + +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 [Pg 28] +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. _In a political point of view it did not make +any great difference whether Ahaz sought help from the Assyrians, or +not_; on the contrary, the king of Asshur could not but be more +favourably disposed towards him for so doing. _Isaiah, throughout, +rather occupies the position of the man of God._ 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 _de +facto_ 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. + +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 [Pg 29] 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."[1] 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 [Pg 30] 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. + +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 _thy servant_ and _thy son_ (a word as ominous +as that: 'We have no king but Caesar,'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,[2] from which he might have been spared by [Pg 31] 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. (_Caspari_, 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. + +Ver. 1. "_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._" + +In thus tracing back the pedigree of Ahaz to Uzziah, there is a +reference to chap. vi. 1: "In the year that King Uzziah [Pg 32] 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 +_going up_ 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: +"_And could not fight against it_," (the singular [Hebrew: ikl] 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, _e. g._, in the Old Testament, such as have a name +little known are spoken of as being without a name. + +Ver. 2, "_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._" + +The representative of the house of David was, according to [Pg 33] ver. +1, Ahaz, to whom the suffix in [Hebrew: lbbv] 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 +[Hebrew: nvH] 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. + +Ver. 3. "_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._" + +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." 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, _per se_, 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 [Pg 34] 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 [Hebrew: wvb] 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.e._, 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. + +Ver. 4. "_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._" + +[Pg 35] + +The words "_Take heed_" point to the dangerous consequences of fear; +comp. ver. 9: "If ye do not believe, ye shall not be established." On +the words "_be quiet_," 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 _quietness_ 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 _faith_. 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 +_ends_ of firebrands, which no longer blaze, but only glimmer. He calls +them thus because he considers them with the eye of _faith_; 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. _Chrysostom_ +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.e._, that they were near +being altogether extinguished." + +Vers. 5, 6. "_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._" + +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 (_Hitzig_ and _Ewald_).--[Hebrew: qvC] always means +"to loathe," "to experience disgust;" here, [Pg 36] in Hiph., "to cause +disgust," "to drive to extremity;" comp. my work on Balaam, Rem. on +Num. xxii. 3.--[Hebrew: bqe] means always: "to cleave asunder," "to +open," "to conquer."--The words: "_For us_," 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. + +Ver. 7. "_Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: It shall not stand, neither +shall it come to pass._" (A plan stands when it is carried out.) + +Ver. 8. "_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._" + +Ver. 9. "_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._" + +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 [Pg 37] 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.[3] + +[Pg 38] + +Vers. 10, 11. "_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._" + +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: [Greek: ei arnoumetha, +kakeinos arnesetai hemas. ei apistoumen, ekeinos pistos +menei--arnesasthai gar heauton ou dunatai] came into application. +According to Deut. vii. 9 ff. the truth and faithfulness of God must +now manifest itself in the [Pg 39] infliction of severe visitations +upon the house of David.--The character of a _sign_ 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 +_sign_ 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, _e.g._, 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 _signs_ to Saul, that God had +destined him to be king, _e.g._, 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 +_sign_ of the divine vengeance breaking in upon the Jews in Egypt. Even +before the [Pg 40] 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: "_Behold_, 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, _e.g._, 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 _sign_ 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 _two last +classes_. 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 _Meier_ 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 _water_, as a _miraculous sign_ 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? +_Hendewerk_ 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 +_free choice_ to the king. _Hitzig_ says: "Without knowing it, Isaiah +here plays a very dangerous game. For if Ahaz had accepted his +proposition, Jehovah would [Pg 41] 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 _miracles_, then, in their own +convictions, _prophecies_, 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,--[Hebrew: hemq] and [Hebrew: hgbh] are _Infin. absol._ +"going high," "going low." The Imperat. [Hebrew: walh] must be +understood after [Hebrew: hgbh] also. Some explain [Hebrew: walh] 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. _Theodoret_ 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 _heaven_ which affected the going back of the shadow on +the sun-dial of Ahaz; and on _earth_, inasmuch as He, in a wonderful +manner, destroyed the Assyrians, and restored the king to health. +_Jerome_ 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. + +[Pg 42] + +Ver. 12. "_And Ahaz said: I will not ask, neither will I tempt the +Lord._" + +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 _Calvin_, "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! + +Ver. 13. "_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?_" + +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, _God himself_ was provoked by him, and his wickedness came +evidently to light. It is substantially the same difference as that +between the sin against the _Son of Man_, the Christ coming outwardly +and as a man only (Bengel: _quo statu conspicu, quatenus aequo tum loco +cum hominibus conversabatur_), and the sin against the Holy Ghost who +powerfully glorifies Him outwardly and inwardly. It is the antithesis +[Pg 43] 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 _relative_ 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, "_My God_," _i.e._, 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. + +Ver. 14. "_Therefore the Lord himself giveth you a sign: Behold the +Virgin is with child, and heareth a Son, and thou callest his name +Immanuel._" + +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. _Reinke_, in the ably written Monograph on this passage, assigns +to [Hebrew: lkN] the signification, "nevertheless," which is not +supported by the _usus loquendi_.--[Hebrew: itN] must be translated as +a Present; for the pregnancy of the Virgin and birth of Immanuel are +present to [Pg 44] 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.--[Hebrew: hva] _He_, _i.e._, +of His own accord without any co-operation, such as would have taken +place if Ahaz had asked the sign.--[Hebrew: lkM] 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.--[Hebrew: hnh] "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 _Chrysostom_: [Greek: monon gar ouk horontos en ta ginomena +kai phantazomenou kai pollen echontos huper ton eiremenon plerophorian, +ton gar hemeteron ophthalmon ekeinoi saphesteron ta me horomena +eblepon.]--The article in [Hebrew: helmh] cannot refer to _the_ virgin +_known_ 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 _virgin_. In +harmony with [Hebrew: hnh], the article in [Hebrew: helmh] 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 _generic_ sense is so general, it +is most natural to understand "the virgin" as forming a contrast to the +married or old woman, and hence, in substance, as here equivalent to +_a_ virgin. To this view we are led also by the circumstance that, in +the parallel passage, Mic. v. 2 (3) [Hebrew: ivldh] "a bearing woman" +is used without the article.--[Hebrew: elmh] is, by old expositors, +commonly derived from [Hebrew: elM] in the signification "to conceal" A +virgin, they assume, is called a _concealed_ one, with reference to the +customs of the East, where the virgins are obliged to lead a concealed +life. Thus it was understood by _Jerome_ also: "_Almah_ 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 [Hebrew: elM], 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, _Luther's_ remark is even now in full force: "If [Pg +45] a Jew or a Christian can prove to me that in any passage of +Scripture _Almah_ means 'a married woman,'I will give him a hundred +florins, although God alone knows where I may find them." It is true +that [Hebrew: elmh] is distinguished from [Hebrew: btvlh], 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 [Hebrew: elmh] 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 _unmarried_ 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 [Hebrew: elM], "to grow up," "to become marriageable," +[Hebrew: elmh] can denote nothing else than _puella nubilis_. But still +more decisive is the _usus loquendi_. In Arabic and Syriac the +corresponding words are never used of married women, and _Jerome_ +remarks, that in the Punic dialect also a virgin proper is called +[Hebrew: elmh]. 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 [Hebrew: elmvt] 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 _brides_, +expressly contrasted with the _wives_ of the first and second class. +Marriage forms the boundary; the _Almah_ 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 [Hebrew: elmh] 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 [Pg 46] +eateth, and wipeth her mouth and saith: I have done no wickedness." +According to _De Wette_, _Bertheau_, and others, the _tertium +comparationis_ 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 _incomprehensible_. 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 _to point out the mystery of sin_. In +the case of the _eagle_, 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 +_serpent_, 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 _ship_, it is the +circumstance that she safely passes over the abyss which, as it would +appear, could not fail to swallow her up. _The way of a man with a +maid_ occupies the last place in order to intimate that [Hebrew: drK], +as in the case of the adulteress, denotes the _spiritual_ way. What is +here meant is the relation of the man to the virgin, _generally_, for +if any _particular_ aspect had been regarded, _e. g._, that of +boldness, cunning, or secrecy, it [Pg 47] 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 _young_ love which +specially bears the character of the mysterious; after the relation has +been established, it attracts less wonder.--[Hebrew: hrh] is the femin. +of the verbal adj. [Hebrew: hrh]. 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 _is_ 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 _Almah_ 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 [Hebrew: qrat] may be 3d fem. for [Hebrew: +qrah], comp. Jer. xliv. 23; but the fundamental passage in Gen. xvi. 11 +is decisive for considering it as the 2d fem.: "_thou_ 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. [Greek: kalesousi], _Jerome_: _vocabitur_. The name is, of +course, not to be considered as an ordinary _nomen proprium_, but as a +designation of his nature and character. It may be understood in +different ways. Several interpreters, _e. g._, _Jerome_, referring to +passages such as Ps. xlvi. 8, lxxxix. 25, Is. xliii. 2, Jer. i. 8, see +[Pg 48] 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 _Theodoret_ 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 _Irenaeus_, _Tertullian_, +_Chrysostom_, _Lactantius_, _Calvin_, 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 _God-hero_, +(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.") + +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.e._, Him +in whom God will be with us in the truest manner--"They call Him [Pg +49] 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 _world's power_, which in the +meantime, and in the first place, was represented by _Asshur_: "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 _His_ land? The +signification "native country" which [Hebrew: arC], 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 _belongs_ 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 _virgin_ +here, we have, _she who is bearing_. 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 ("_of +eternity_"), who, hence, cannot have been begotten by any mortal. Both +of the prophecies mutually illustrate one another. "Micah designates +the Divine origin of the Promised One; Isaiah, the miraculous +circumstances of His birth" (_Rosenmueller_) 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 [Pg 50] 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. + +The arguments which the Jews, and, following their example, the +rationalistic interpreters, especially _Gesenius_, and with them +_Olshausen_, have advanced against the Messianic explanation, prove +nothing. They are these: + +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. _It +would be valid against Messianic prophecies in general_, 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 [Pg 51] 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. + +2. "The ground of consolation is too _general_. 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 _extreme_ 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 +_Saviour_ 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. + +3. "The sense in which [Hebrew: avt] is elsewhere used in Scripture, is +altogether disregarded by this interpretation. For, according to it, +[Hebrew: avt] would refer to a future event; but according to the _usus +loquendi_ elsewhere observed, [Hebrew: avt] '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.'" +But, in opposition to this, it is sufficient to [Pg 52] 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.[4] 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 _commonly_ [Hebrew: avt] is not used of future +things; but this has its reason not in the idea of [Hebrew: avt], 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 _could_ 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. + +(4.) "The passage, chap. viii. 3, 4, presents the most marked +resemblance to the one before us. If _there_ the Messianic explanation +be decidedly inadmissible, it must be so _here_ also. The name and +birth of a child serves, there as here, for a sign of the deliverance +from the Syrian dominion. If then _there_ the mother of the child be +the wife of the Prophet, and the child a son of his, the same must be +the case _here_ also." But it is _a priori_ improbable that the Prophet +should have given [Pg 53] to two of his sons names which had reference +to the same event. To this must be added the circumstance, that the +_time is wanting_ 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 (_Gesenius_, _Hitzig_, _Hendewerk_,) +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 [Hebrew: helmh], 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 [Pg 54] is the +father of the child designated; and, farther, in the correspondence of +Immanuel with [Hebrew: al gbvr], God-Hero. + +(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, _in the first instance only_, 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 +_salvation_ to the prostrate _people of God_, so the second name +announces near _destruction_ to the triumphing _world_ hostile to God; +so that both the names supplement one another. As _signs_, 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. + +Ver. 15. _Cream and honey shall he eat, when he knows to refuse the +evil and choose the good._ Ver. 16. _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._ + +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 _Jerome_ 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." _Calvin_ 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 _Irenaenus_, _Chrysostom_, _Basil_, and, in our century, +_Kleuker_ and _Rosenmueller_ speak.--But this explanation [Pg 55] is +altogether overthrown by ver. 16. Most interpreters assume, in the +latter verse, a change of subject; by [Hebrew: ner], 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 +[Hebrew: ner]; 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 +_Calvin's_ 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 _J. H. Michaelis_, refer ver. 16 +also to the Messiah, and seek to get out of the difficulty by a _jam +dudum_. 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 _Vitringa_, 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 _ideal +anticipation of the real incarnation_, 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, _that, +in the space of about a twelvemonth, the overthrow of the hostile +kingdoms would already have taken place_. As the representative of the +cotemporaries, he brings forward the wonderful child who, as it were, +formed the soul of the popular life. _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,_ ver. +15, _for before he has entered upon this stage, the land of_ [Pg 56] +_the two hostile kings shall be desolate._ 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. _What is indicated +by the eating of cream and honey?_ The erroneous answer to this +question, which has become current ever since _Gesenius_, has put +everything into confusion, and has misled expositors such as _Hitzig_ +and _Meier_ 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 _condition of plenty and +prosperity_. "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 _cream_ is, +as it were, a gradation of _milk_. 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 _Hofmann_ +(_Weiss_, 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 _ray of light_ to fall upon the dark picture of +the [Pg 57] calamity which threatens from Asshur; and it could, indeed, +_a priori_, 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, [Hebrew: ldetv] by "(only) until he +knows" (comp. against this interpretation _Drechsler's Comment._). +[Hebrew: ldetv] can only mean: "belonging to his knowledge, _i.e._, +when he knows." _Good_ and _evil_ 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: "_rerum omnium ignari_." The parallel +expression, "not to be able to discern between the right hand and the +left hand," in Jonah iv. 11 (Michaelis: "_discretio rationis et +judicii, ut sciant utra manus sit dextra aut sinistra_") 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 _precedes_, which must so much the rather have a meaning, +that nowhere else is this the case with this phrase. The evil, the [Pg +58] 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.e._, 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 [Hebrew: mas] and [Hebrew: bHr] +with [Hebrew: b] points to the affection which accompanies the +action.--[Hebrew: ki] 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); +_for_, even before the year has expired, devastation shall be inflicted +upon the land of the enemies. [Hebrew: hadmh] comprehends at the same +time the Syrian and Ephraimitish land. + +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 _saving_ influence, +obtained an _accusing_ 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 _beginning_ only of the calamities here indicated can accordingly +be sought for,--the _germ_ from which all that followed [Pg 59] 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. + + + * * * * * * * * * * + + +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. + +1. _Rosenmueller_ 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 _Bruno Bauer_ (_Critik der Synopt._ 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 +_Ewald_. "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 _real_ Present instead of the +_ideal_, and thinks that the Prophet imagined that the conception and +birth of the Messiah would take place at once. By [Hebrew: elmh] 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 +[Pg 60] 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 _real_ 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. _Farther_--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: [Pg +61] "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. + +2. Several interpreters do not indeed deny the reference to the +Messiah, but suppose that, _in the first instance_, 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 +_Grotius_, _Richard Simon_, and _Clericus_; and then, in our century, +by _Olshausen_, who says: "The unity of the reference lies in the name +Immanuel; the son of Isaiah had the _name_ but Christ the _essence_. He +was the visible God whom the former only represented." In a modified +form, this view is held by _Lowth_, _Koppe_, and _von Meyer_, 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 _von Meyer_, +"was this: If now a girl was to marry, to become [Pg 62] 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 _Lowth_, "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 +_Lowth_; but he, as little as any other of these interpreters, has been +able to vindicate the assumption of a _double sense_. 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 _sanctum artificium_ 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 [Hebrew: elmh] +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. + +[Pg 63] + +3. Many interpreters deny every reference to Christ. This +interpretation remained for a long time the exclusive property of the +Jews, until _J. E. Faber_ (in his remarks on _Harmar's_ observations on +the East, i. S. 281), tried to transplant it into the Christian +soil.[5] He was followed by the Roman Catholic, _Isenbiehl_ (_Neuer +Versuch ueber die Weissagung vom Immanuel_, 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 _J. D. Michaelis_. In their views about the _Almah_, who is +to bear Immanuel, these interpreters are very much at variance. + +(a) The more ancient Jews maintained that the _Almah_ was the wife of +Ahaz, and Immanuel, his son Hezekiah. According to the _Dialog. c. +Tryph._ 66, 68, 71, 77, this view prevailed among them as early as the +time of _Justin_. But they were refuted by _Jerome_, who showed that +Hezekiah must, at that time, have already been at least nine years old. +_Kimchi_ and _Abarbanel_ then resorted to the hypothesis of a second +wife of Ahaz. + +(b) According to the view of others, the _Almah_ 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 _Isenbiehl_, +_Steudel_ (in a Programme, Tuebingen, 1815), and others. + +(c) According to the view of others, the _Almah_ is not a _real_ but +only an _ideal_ virgin. Thus _J. D. Michaelis_: "At the time when one, +who at this moment is still a virgin, can bear," &c. _Eichhorn_, +_Paulus_, _Staehelin_, and others. The sign is thus made to consist in a +mere poetical figure. + +(d) A composition of the two views last mentioned is the view of +_Umbreit_. The virgin is, according to him, an actual virgin whom the +Prophet perceived among those surrounding him; but the pregnancy and +birth are imaginary [Pg 64] merely, and the virgin is to suggest to the +Prophet the idea of pregnancy. But this explanation would saddle the +Prophet with something indecent. _Farther_: 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 + +(e) The explanation of _Meier_, 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 _Meier_ +to get up this hypothesis, altogether unfounded, and undeserving of any +minute refutation, is this: "_The mother is, in the passage before us, +called a virgin, and yet is designated as being with child._ The words, +when understood physically and outwardly, contain a contradiction." But +this fact is rather in favour of the Messianic explanation. + +(f) Others, farther, conjecture that the wife of the Prophet is meant +by the _Almah_. This view was advanced as early as by _Abenezra_ and +_Jarchi_. By the authority of _Gesenius_, 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 [Hebrew: +elmh] 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. +_Olshausen_, _Maurer_, _Hendewerk_, 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. _There_ [Pg 65] _is an entire absence of every +intimation whatsoever of a nearer relation of the Almah to the +Prophet_; 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 _Plueschke_ 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 _Hendewerk_: "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." _Hitzig_ 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 _Gesenius_ himself admitted to be untenable, that +[Hebrew: elmh], "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. _Hitzig_ +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.--_Farther_,--In all these suppositions, [Hebrew: avt] 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 [Pg 66] +surely not come up to the demand which in this context must be made in +reference to this _sign_. And if the Prophet had announced so solemnly, +and in words so sublime, the birth _of his own_ child, he would have +made himself ridiculous. _Farther_,--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. +_Plueschke_, 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 _Worms_, +(_Eisenmenger_, _entdecktes Judenthum_ 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. + + + +[Footnote 1: _Meyer_, _Blaetter fuer hoehere Wahrheit_, iii. S. 101.] + +[Footnote 2: _Caspari_ 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 _Caspari_ 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, _both_ 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.] + +[Footnote 3: 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 _spurious_. 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 _the complete destruction of the national +existence of Israel_; 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. _Chrysostom_ remarks: "The king, hearing that they +should be destroyed after sixty-five years, might say within himself: +What about that? Although they be _then_ 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 _utterly_ destroyed; but even now, they shall +not have any more than their own land, for 'the head of Ephraim,'" &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 _His servant_ 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 _Ewald_, "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.e._, 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.] + +[Footnote 4: 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 _completely_ cultivated.] + +[Footnote 5: _Gesenius_ mentions _Pellicanus_ as the first defender of +the Non-Messianic interpretation. But this statement seems to have +proceeded from a cursory view of an annotation by _Cramer_ on _Richard +Simon's Kritische Schriften_ i. S. 441, where the words: "this +historical interpretation _Pellicanus_ too has preferred," do not refer +to Isaiah but to Daniel. Nor is there any more ground for the +intimation that _Theodorus_ a Mopsuesta rejected the Messianic +interpretation.] + + + + + THE PROPHECY, CHAP. VIII. 23-IX. 6. + (Chap. ix. 1-7.) + UNTO US A CHILD IS BORN. + + +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 [Pg 67] 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, _he +ought to have fixed more distinctly the limits between the two +termini._ 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 +_Vav convers._ the same rule applies as in reference to [Hebrew: vicr], +in Gen. ii. 19. The progress lies first in [Hebrew: vtld]; the event +falling into that time is the birth. + +Chap. viii. 1-ix. 6 (7), forms the necessary _supplement_ 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.e._, +_the whole world's power first represented by Asshur._ 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, _exhorting_, +_comforting_, _promising_, so that thus the two sections form one whole +in two divisions. _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._ As in chap. vii. 14, the [Pg 68] 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 _present occasion_, 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. + +After these preliminary remarks, we must enter still more in detail +upon the arrangement and construction of the section before us. + +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 _Asshur_, of whom Ahaz and the unbelieving portion of the +people expected nothing but deliverance. _Up to this, there is a +recapitulation only, and a confirmation of chap. vii._ 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 +_fade_ before the bright image of Immanuel, which calls to the people: +"Be ye of good cheer, I have overcome the world." _Calvin_ 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. [Pg 69] 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 +_partaking_ 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., _darkness_, _i.e._, +the absence of deliverance, will, as the Prophet, according to vers. +21, 22, foresees, really befal them in future, as [Pg 70] 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 _darkness_, 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 _light_ 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. + + + * * * * * * * * * * + + + + +Chap. viii. 23 (ix. 1). "_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._" + +[Hebrew: ki] 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: [Pg 71] "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 _help of the Lord_ already alluded +to in vers. 9 and 10, and to the _light of His grace_ 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 [Hebrew: +ki] with the verse immediately preceding instead of referring it to the +main contents of the preceding section, have proved futile. [Hebrew: +ki] 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 _burden_ of Moab, _for_ in the +night the city of Moab is laid waste;" for only in that case is +[Hebrew: ki] without any meaning at all, if [Hebrew: mwa] be falsely +interpreted.--Ver. 22, where the phrase [Hebrew: mevP Cvqh] "darkness +of distress" is equivalent to "darkness which consists in distress" +(compare also: "behold trouble and darkness" in the same verse), shows +that [Hebrew: mveP] and [Hebrew: mvcq] 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 _removal_ of it +called forth by the grace of the Lord.--[Hebrew: la] 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, [Hebrew: aiN] +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 [Hebrew: lh] +refers, just as the suffix, in [Hebrew: bh] in ver. 21, to the omitted +[Hebrew: arC].--The [Hebrew: k] in [Hebrew: ket] is, by many +interpreters, asserted to stand in the signification of [Hebrew: kawr]: +"Just as the former time has brought disgrace," &c. But as it cannot be +proved that [Hebrew: k] has ever the meaning, "just as;" and as, on the +other hand, [Hebrew: ket] 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 [Hebrew: k] as a temporal +particle, and to supply, as the subject, Jehovah, who [Pg 72] 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 [Hebrew: aHrvN], either [Hebrew: ket] may be +supplied,--and this is simplest and most natural--or it may be taken as +an Accusative, "for the whole after-time."--[Hebrew: hql] means +properly to "make light," then "to make contemptible," "to cover with +disgrace," and [Hebrew: hkbid] properly then, "to make heavy," "to +honour,"--a signification which indeed is peculiar to _Piel_, but in +which the _Hiphil_, too, occurs in Jer. xxx. 19; the two verbs thus +form an antithesis. The [Hebrew: h] _locale_ in [Hebrew: arch] (the +word does not occur in Isaiah with the [Hebrew: h] _paragog._) shews +that a certain modification of the verbal notion must be assumed: "to +bring disgrace and honour." [Hebrew: arch] thus would mean "towards +the land." The scene of the disgrace and honour, which at first was +designated in general only, is afterwards _extended_. 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.--[Hebrew: iM] can, in this context +which serves for a more definite qualification, mean the sea of +Gennesareth only ([Hebrew: iM knrt] Numb. xxxiv. 11, and other +passages), just as, in Matt. iv. 13, the designation of Capernaum as +[Greek: he parathalassia] receives its definite meaning from the +context.--[Hebrew: drK] occurs elsewhere also in the signification of +_versus_, _e.g._, Ezek. viii. 5, xl. 20, 46; it will be necessary to +supply after it [Hebrew: arC], just as in the case of the [Hebrew: ebr +hirdN] following. It is without any instance that [Hebrew: drK] "way" +should stand for "region," "country." The region on the sea is then +divided into its two parts [Hebrew: ebr hirdN], [Greek: peran tou +Iordanou], 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 _usus loquendi_, many would understand +[Hebrew: ebr hirdN] as meaning the land "on the side," _i.e._, 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. [Pg 73] +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 _Galil_, 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 _Theodoret_ 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, +_but according to what it was to become in future_. The distress by the +Gentiles appears in chap. vii. and viii. everywhere as a _future one_. +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 _future one_; 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; _Keil_ on 1 Kings ix. +11. But very soon after this, [Pg 74] 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. _At a +later period_, 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. _Ewald_, _Geschichte Israels_, 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 _expression_ 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 _metropolis_, 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 +_honour_ or the _glorification_ 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 _Redeemer_, 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 _miracles_; 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. _Theodoret_ strikingly +remarks: "Galilee was the native country of the holy Apostles; there +the [Pg 75] 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 +_Gesenius_ 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. _Sohar_, p. 1. fol. 119 ed. Amstelod.; fol. 74 ed. +Solisbae: [Hebrew: baret dglil itgli mlka mwita]. "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. + + + + +Chap. ix. 1 (2). "_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._" + +"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 [Pg 76] according to +chap. viii. 22, darkness is to cover the whole of it--but only as that +portion which comes chiefly into consideration. _Light_ is, in the +symbolical language of Scripture, salvation. That in which the +_salvation_ 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 _deliverance_ 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 _spiritual_ misery of the inward dependence +upon it. _Farther_,--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 _then_ 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 _addition_ 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 _outward_ 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 [Pg 77] +place, which are here, in the first instance, looked at, is easily +accounted for from the historical cause of this prophetic discourse +which, _in the first instance, is directed against the fears of the +destruction of the kingdom of God by the world's power_. 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.--[Hebrew: clmvt], "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 _real_ Present instead of the +_ideal_, yet even _Ewald_ 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 _darkness_ 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. + +It now merely remains for us to view more particularly the quotation of +these two verses in Matt. iv. 12-17. [Greek: Akousas de]--thus the +section begins--[Greek: hoti Ioannes paredothe, anechoresen eis ten +Galilaian.] Since, in these words, we are told that Jesus, after having +received the intelligence of the imprisonment of [Pg 78] 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 [Greek: anachorein] +denotes, on the contrary, the withdrawing into the _angulus terrae_ +Galilee, as contrasted with the civil and ecclesiastical centre. The +_time_ 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 _the place_, +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.--[Greek: +Kai katalipon ten Nazaret]--it is said in ver. 13--[Greek: elthon +katokesen eis Kapernaoum ten parathalassian, en horiois Zaboulon kai +Nephthaleim.] 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 [Greek: ten parathalassian] +stands in reference to [Greek: hodon thalasses], in ver. 15. [Greek: En +horiois], &c., may either mean: "In the borders of Zebulun and +Naphtali," _i. e._ in that place where [Pg 79] the borders of both the +countries meet,--or [Greek: ta horia] may, according to the analogy of +the Hebrew [Hebrew: gbvliM], denote the borders in the sense of +"territory," as in Matt. ii. 16. From a comparison of [Greek: ge +Zaboulon kai Nephthaleim] 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 [Greek: hina plerothe] does not, according to +the very sound remark of _De Wette_, point to the intention, but to the +objective aim. The question, however, is to what the [Greek: hina +plerothe] 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 [Greek: anechoresen eis ten Galilaian]. 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 [Greek: +hodon thalasses] of the prophecy was found again, and that, therefore, +thence the [Greek: peran tou Iordanou] 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 [Greek: ge--ton ethnon] +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 [Greek: ho laos], which has +become an apposition, they form [Pg 80] the subject of the following +sentence. At all events, [Greek: hodon] takes here the place of the +adverb, although it may not be possible to adduce instances and proofs +altogether analogous from the Greek _usus loquendi_.--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 _Gesenius_ 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. _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._ 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. + +Ver. 2 (3). "_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._" + +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 [Pg 81] 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, _e.g._, 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" ([Hebrew: gvi] as in the passage before us, and not [Hebrew: +eM]), 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, _e. g._ +_Calvin_, _Vitringa_, 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. _Vitringa_ 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 _prelude_ to the real fulfilment; [Pg 82] 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 _Umbriet_: "Thou hast multiplied the +_heathen_, 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 _people_, O Lord, thou art glorified, thou +removest all the boundaries of the land," where, just as in the verse +before us, by [Hebrew: hgvi] "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.--"_Thou didst not increase the +joy_" 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 _light_ is +rendered brighter by being contrasted with the former _darkness_. The +contrast of the present _increase_ 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 _decrease_. 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 [Hebrew: lv], "_to +him_" hast thou increased the joy. According to many modern +interpreters, [Hebrew: la] is supposed to be a different mode of +writing for [Hebrew: lv]. But no _proof_ that could stand the test can +be brought forward for [Pg 83] such a mode of writing; nor is there any +reason for supposing that [Hebrew: la] stands here in a different sense +from what it does in chap. viii. 23, and it would indeed be strange +that [Hebrew: lv] should have been placed before the verb. At most, it +might be supposed that the Prophet intended an ambiguous and double +sense: not/(to him) 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: [Greek: me phobeisthe, idou +gar euangelizomai humin charan megalen hetis estai panti to lao hoti +etechthe humin semeron soter, hos esti Christos Kurios]; 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 _before God_, 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 _before the Lord_, 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 _the dividing of the spoil_, the joy is +compared only to show its greatness, just as with the joy _in the +harvest_; and it is in vain that Knobel tries here to bring in a +dividing of spoil. + +Vers. 3, (4). "_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._" + +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 _yoke_ and the _staff_, the +_driver_, (an allusion to the Egyptian taskmasters, masters, comp. +Exod. iii. 7; v. 10), is Asshur, and the _whole_ 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 +[Pg 84] 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: [Greek: +tharseite, ego nenikeka ton kosmon], 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.--[Hebrew: +wkM] "shoulder" does not suit as the _membrum cui verbera infliguntur_; +it comes, as is commonly the case, into consideration as that member +with which burdens are borne. The _staff_ or tyranny is a heavy +_burden_, comp. chap. x. 27: "His burden shall be taken away from +off thy shoulder." "_As in the day of Midian_" 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 (_thou_ 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." + +Vers. 4, (5). "_For every war-shoe put on with noise, and the garment +rolled in blood: it is for burning, food of fire._" + +We have here the reason why the tyranny is broken: _for_ 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 [Pg 85] the conquerors. Nor can we, +according to these passages, entertain, for a moment, the idea of +_Meier_, that those bloody garments belong to _Israel_. + +Vers. 5 (6). "_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._" + +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 [Hebrew: ild] and [Hebrew: ntN]. 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. _Hitzig_ correctly remarks: +"Because He is still _future_, the Prophet in His first appearance, +beholds Him as a child, and as the son of another." _Whose_ 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: [Greek: houto gar egapesen ho theos ton kosmon] +("The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this,") vers. 6 [7], +[Greek: hoste ton huion autou ton monogene edoken].--When grown up, the +Son has the government upon His shoulder. The Prophet contrasts Christ +with the _world's power_, which threatened destruction to the people of +God. This, then, refers to the _Kingly office_ of Christ, and the state +of glory. Parallel is the declaration of Christ in Matt. xxviii. 18, +[Greek: edothe moi pasa exousia]. The Lord has also, in John xviii. 37, +confirmed the truth that He is _King_; 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 [Pg 86] this world, John xviii. 36, it +is, just for that very reason, so much the more all-governing. The +[Greek: enteuthen] 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.--"_The shoulder_" comes, +here also, as in vers. 3 (4), chap. x. 27, into consideration in so far +as on it we _bear_; 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 [Hebrew: wmv qra] 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 _four_,--the mark of that which +is complete and finished. _They form two pairs, and every single name +is again compounded of two names._ The first name is [Hebrew: pla +iveC]. That these two words must be _connected_ with one another +(_Theodor._--[Greek: thaumastos bouleuon]) appears from the analogy of +the other names, especially of [Hebrew: al gbvr] with whom [Hebrew: pla +iveC] forms one pair; and then from the circumstance that [Hebrew: +iveC] alone would, in this connection, be too indefinite. The words do +not stand in the relation of the _Status constructus_, but are +connected in the same manner as [Hebrew: pra adM] in Gen. xvi. 12. +[Hebrew: iveC] designates the attribute which is here concerned, while +[Hebrew: pla] 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 [Pg 87] a King. As a +_Counsellor_, He is a _Wonder_, absolutely elevate d above everything +which the earth possesses in excellency of counselling. As [Hebrew: +pla] 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 [Hebrew: al] 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 [Hebrew: pla iveC] +"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," [Hebrew: plai], +_i.e._, my whole nature is wonderful, of unfathomable depth, and +cannot, therefore, be expressed by any human name. _Farther_--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 [Hebrew: hplia ech], "He shows himself wonderful in His +counsel."--The second name is [Hebrew: al gbvr] "God-Hero." Besides the +ability of giving good counsel, a good government requires also +[Hebrew: gbvrh] 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 _human measure_ of heroic strength, but +who is also a _God-Hero_, and a _Hero-God_, so that with His appearance +there _disappears_ 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 _limited_, [Hebrew: al gbvr] can signify God-Hero +only, a Hero who is infinitely exalted above all human heroes [Pg 88] +by the circumstance that He is _God_. To the attempts at weakening the +import of the name, chap. x. 21, where [Hebrew: al gbvr] is said of the +Most High, appears a very inconvenient obstacle,--a parallel passage +which does not occur by chance, but where [Hebrew: war iwvb] 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 _Gesenius_. This explanation, against which +chap. x. 21 should have warned, has been for ever set aside by the +remark of _Hitzig_: "Commonly, in opposition to all the _usus +loquendi_, the word is translated by: _strong hero_. But [Hebrew: al] +is always, even in passages such as Gen. xxxi. 29, "God," and in all +those passages which are adduced to prove that it means "_princeps_," +"_potens_," the forms are to be derived not from [Hebrew: al], but from +[Hebrew: ail], 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 [Hebrew: ali gbvriM] of that passage are "rams of +heroes." Rationalistic interpreters now differ in their attempts at +getting rid of the troublesome fact. _Hitzig_ says, "Strong God"--he +erroneously views [Hebrew: gbvr], 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 _Knobel_: "Strong God the Messiah is called, +because in the wars with the Gentiles He will prove himself as a hero +equipped with divine strength." 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 [Hebrew: alhiM], "gods, _Like_ God, to be compared +to Him, a worthy representative of Him, and hence, likewise, called +God." It is true that there is one [Hebrew: al gbvr] only, and that, +according to chap. x. 21, the Messiah cannot be [Hebrew: al gbvr] +beside the Most High God, excepting _by partaking in his nature_. Such +a participation in the nature, not His being merely filled with the +power of [Pg 89] 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; _e.g._, a court of justice is of God, and he who appears before +it appears before God. But the name _Elohim_ is there given _in general +only to the judicial court_, which represents God--to the _office_, not +to the single individuals who are invested with it. In Ps. lxxxii. 1, +the name _Elohim_ 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 [Hebrew: al +gbvr] 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 _Elohim_, and sons of the Most +High ye all;" and, finally, that there _Elohim_ is used as the most +vague and general name of God, while here _El_, a personal name, is +used. _Hendewerk_, _Ewald_, and others, finally, explain "_God's +hero_," _i.e._, "a divine hero, who, like an invincible God, fights and +conquers." But in opposition to this view, it has been remarked by +_Meier_ that then necessarily the words ought to run, [Hebrew: gbvr +al]. It is farther obvious that by this explanation the [Hebrew: gbvr +al] 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. + +The third name is _Father of eternity_. That admits of a double +explanation. Several interpreters refer to the Arabic _usus loquendi_, +according to which he is called the father of a thing who possesses it; +_e.g._, Father of mercy, _i.e._, the merciful one. This _usus +loquendi_, according to the supposition formerly very current, occurs +in Hebrew very frequently, especially in proper names, _e.g._, [Hebrew: +Tvb abi]. "Father of goodness," _i.e._, 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 _he who will ever be a +Father_, _an affectionate provider_, comp. chap. xxii. 21, where +Eliakim [Pg 90] is called "_Father_ to the inhabitants of Jerusalem;" +Job xxix. 16; Ps. lxviii. 6. _Luther_, too, thus explains: "Who at all +times feeds His Kingdom and Church, in whom there is a fatherly love +without end." The _latter_ 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 _Ewald_, that that +_usus loquendi_ in Arabic always belongs to the artificial, often to +jocular discourse. Whether it occur in Hebrew at all is still a matter +of controversy; _Ewald_, Sec. 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 _wisdom_, and divine _heroic strength_. The rationalistic +interpreters labour very hard to _weaken_ the idea of _eternity_. But +the "Provider for life" agrees very ill with the _Wonder-Counsellor_, +and the _God-hero_. 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 _divine Majesty_, comp. chap. xlv. 17: "Israel is saved by the Lord +with an _everlasting_ salvation; ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded +in all _eternity_" chap. lvii. 15, where God is called [Hebrew: +wkN ed] "the ever dwelling;" farther, Ps. lxviii. 6: "A _Father_ of +the fatherless, and a judge of the widows is God in His holy +habitation," where the providence of God for the _personae miserabiles_ +is praised with a special reference to that which He does for His poor +people.--_Hitzig's_ 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 +[Hebrew: ed] must be taken in its ordinary signification "eternity." + +The fourth name, _Prince of peace_, 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, [Pg 91] 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 _God-Hero_? 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 _obtains by force_ 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. + +Ver. 6 (7.) "_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._" + +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." _For_ chap. ii. 7; Nah. ii. 10; Job. xvi. +3--in which [Hebrew: l] with [Hebrew: qC] occurs in the very same +sense--clearly show that the [Hebrew: l] in [Hebrew: lwlvM] and +[Hebrew: lmrbh] may very well be understood as a mere sign of the +Dative. And the objection that the following [Hebrew: lhkiN], &c. +would, in that case, be unsuitable, is removed if it be explained: so +that He establisheth, &c., or: by His establishing, &c.; comp. _Ewald_, +_Lehrbuch der Hebr. Sprache_ Sec. 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 _extent_, and, +along with it, perfect _peace_ 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 [Pg 92] +government and peace, far from being always connected, are, on the +contrary, irreconcilable opponents, but by _justice_ and +_righteousness_. 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." _Decrease_ of government and _war_ 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 _peace_ 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 [Hebrew: l] 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.--[Hebrew: hkiN] "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 _Umbreit_ 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. +_Michaelis_ says: "So that that promise to David shall never fail." The +[Hebrew: eth] does not refer to the _actual_, but to the _ideal_ +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 [Pg 93] by the +_zeal_ of the Lord who raises this glorious King to His people; comp. +John iii. 16. The zeal in itself is only _energy_; 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. + +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 _Breshith Rabbah_ in the exposition of Genesis xli. 44 (see +_Raim. Martini Pugio fidei_, Vol. iii. sec. 3, chap. xiv. Sec. 6), by +Rabbi _Jose Galilaeus_ in the book _Ekha Rabbati_, a Commentary on +Lamentations (see _Raim. Matt._ iii. 3 chap. 4, Sec. 13). _Ben Sira_ (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, _Rabbi Lipmann_ 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, _Grotius_ was the first to abandon the Messianic +explanation. Even _Clericus_ acknowledges that the predicates are +applicable to Hezekiah "_sensu admodum diluto_" only. At the time when +Rationalism had the ascendancy, it became pretty current to explain +them of Hezekiah. _Gesenius_ modified this view by supposing that the +Prophet had connected his Messianic wishes and expectations with +Hezekiah, and [Pg 94] expected their realization by him. At present +this view is nearly abandoned; after _Gesenius_, _Hendewerk_ is the +only one who still endeavours to defend it. + +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. _Farther_--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? _Finally_--The undeniable agreement of the prophecy +before us with other Messianic passages, especially with Ps. lxxii. and +Is. xi., where even _Gesenius_ did not venture to maintain the +reference to Hezekiah, is decidedly in opposition to the reference to +Hezekiah. + + + + + THE TWIG OF JESSE. + (Chap. xi., xii.) + + +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 [Pg +95] 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 +_ideal_ Present with the _actual_, 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. + +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 _begin_ 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 [Pg 96] 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. + +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," _refers to him as the representative of the whole +world's power_; that the defeat of Sennacherib before Jerusalem is to +be considered as the nearest fulfilment only, but not as the _full_ and +_real_ fulfilment. + +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 [Pg 97] 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. + +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: [Hebrew: vipq mlka mbnvhi diwi vmwiHa +mbni bnvhi itrbi]. 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 _Jarchi_, _Abarbanel_, and +_Kimchi_.[1] It is professed even by most of the rationalistic +interpreters, by the modern ones especially, without any exception +(_Eichhorn_, _De Wette_, _Gesenius_, _Hitzig_, _Maurer_, _Ewald_), +although, it is true, they distinguish between Jesus Christ and the +Messiah of the Old Testament,--as, _e.g._, _Gesenius_ 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 _Hitzig_: "A +political Messiah whose attributes, especially those assigned to him +ver. 3 and 4, are not applicable to Jesus." + +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.[2] Interpreters more numerous and distinguished +have referred it to Hezekiah. This interpretation is mentioned as early +as by _Ephraem Syrus_; among the Rabbis it was held by _Moses +Hakkohen_, and _Abenezra_; among Christian interpreters, _Grotius_ 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 _Dathe_. The exclusive reference to Hezekiah was maintained +by _Hermann v. d._ [Pg 98] _Hardt_, 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 +_Bahrdt_. Among the expositors of the last decade, this interpretation +is held by _Hendewerk_ alone. + +The reasons for the Messianic interpretation, and against making +Hezekiah the subject of the prophecy, are, among others, the +following:-- + +1. _The comparison of the parallel passages._ 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. + +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 _whole earth_ appears as the sphere of His +dominion. Still more distinctly is the human sphere overstepped by the +announcement that, under His government, _sin_, 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 _God_ only; and according to +ver. 10, the heathen shall render Him religious reverence. + +3. A _future_ scion of David is here promised. For [Hebrew: vica] in +ver. 1 must be taken as a _praeteritum propheticum_, 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 [Pg 99] at the time when this prophecy was +composed, Hezekiah had long ago entered upon the government. + +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. _Farther_: 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 _Ewald_, +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. + +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," [Pg 100] 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. + +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 _Son of Man_ +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. + +In the whole section, the Redeemer appears as a _King_. This is +altogether a matter of course, for He forms the antithesis to the king +of Asshur. It is quite in vain that _Umbreit_ 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 [Pg 101] in their eyes they +could not avoid laughing at themselves for having stood so much in awe +of him. + +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. + +Ver. 1. "_And there cometh forth a twig from the stump of Jesse, and a +branch from his roots shall bear fruit._" + +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? _Luther_ 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 [Hebrew: gze] does not mean "stem" in +general, as several rationalistic interpreters, and _Meier_ last, have +asserted, but rather stump, _truncus_, [Greek: kormos], as _Aquila_, +_Symmachus_, _Theodotion_, translate. This is proved from the following +reasons: (1) the derivation from [Hebrew: gze], in Arabic _secuit_, +equivalent to [Hebrew: gde], "to cut off," chap. ix. 9; x. 33. The +[Hebrew: gdeiM] in latter passage clearly refers to the [Hebrew: gze] +here. The proud trees of Asshur shall be _cut down_; from the cut down +trunk of David there shall grow up a _new_ tree overshadowing the +earth, and offering glorious fruits to them that dwell on it.--(2) The +_usus loquendi_. The signification, "stump," is, by [Pg 102] the +context, required in the two passages in which the word [Hebrew: gze] +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 _cut down_ it will +sprout again, and its tender branch does not cease. Though the root +thereof wax old in the earth, and the _stump_ 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 [Hebrew: gze] 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 _stump_ 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 _Hendewerk_ +who remarks: "An indirect shoot from the root which comes forth from +the root through the stem;" and against _Meier's_ 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 [Hebrew: wrw] +"a shoot from the root." Farther, chap. liii. 2, where the Messiah +is represented [Pg 103] as a shoot from the root out of a dry +ground.--(4.) It is only when [Hebrew: gze] has the meaning, "stump," +that it can be accounted for why the [Hebrew: gze] 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.--_Hitzig_ is obliged to confess that [Hebrew: +gze] 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 [Hebrew: gze] with [Hebrew: gdeiM] 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. _Finally_--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 [Pg 104] 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 _supposition_ 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? +_Umbreit_ 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 _very old_ 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 [Hebrew: gze]: Jesse is mentioned and not David, +because the Davidic dignity had become a [Hebrew: gze]. 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 [Pg 105] +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.e._, 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 _King_ shall arise who, at first humble and +unheeded,[3] 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 _usus loquendi_. [Hebrew: prh] is +never equivalent to [Hebrew: prH] "to break forth;" it has only the +signification "to bear," "to bear fruit," "to be fruitful." _Gesenius_ +who, in the later editions of his translation, here explains [Hebrew: +prh] by, "to break forth," knows, in the _Thesaurus_, of no other +signification. In the passage of Ezekiel referred to, which may be +considered as a commentary on the verse before us, [Hebrew: ewh pri] +corresponds to the [Hebrew: iprh] here. The change of the tense, too, +suggests that [Hebrew: iprh] 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. [Hebrew: iprh] 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. + +We here subjoin the discussion of the New Testament passage which +refers to this verse. + + + +[Footnote 1: Their testimony is collected by _Seb. Edzardi_ in the +treatise: _Cap. xi. Esaiae Christo vindicatum adversus Grotium et +sectatores ejus, imprimos Herm. v. d. Hardt._ Hamburg 1696.] + +[Footnote 2: "The madness of the Jews is indeed to be lamented who +refer this prophecy to Zerubbabel."] + +[Footnote 3: Although _Umbreit_ 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.] + + + +[Pg 106] + + + + + ON MATTHEW II. 23. + + +[Greek: Kai elthon katokesen eis polin legomenen Nazaret. hopos +plerothe to rhethen dia ton propheton, hoti Nazoraios klethesetai.] + +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 [Hebrew: ncr]. Being the +name of a town, it received, in Aramean, in addition, the feminine +termination [Hebrew: a]. And, finally, on account of the original +appellative signification of the word, a [Hebrew: t], the designation +of the _status emphaticus_ of feminine nouns in [Hebrew: a], was +sometimes added. We have an analogous case in the name _Dalmanutha_, +the same place which, with the Talmudist, is called [Hebrew: clmvN]. +Compare _Lightfoot decas chorog. Marc. praem., opp._ II., p. 411 sqq. +So it is likewise probably that [Greek: gabbatha], [Hebrew: gbta] is +formed from the masculine [Hebrew: gb], _dorsum_. Our view is that the +original name was _Nezer_, that this form of the name was in use along +with that which received a [Hebrew: t] added, and that this [Hebrew: t] +served for the designation of the _status emphaticus_ only; or also, if +we wish to take our stand upon the Hebrew form, was a mere hardening of +the [Hebrew: h] 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. _David de Pomis_ (in _De +Dieu_, _critic. sacr._ on M. II. 23) says: [Hebrew: ncri mi wnvld beir +ncr hglil rHvq mirvwliM drK wlwt imiM] "A Nazarene is he who is born in +the town of _Nezer_, in Galilee, three days'journey from Jerusalem." +In the Talmud, in _Breshith Rabba_, and in _Jalkut Shimeoni_ on Daniel, +the contemptuous name of _Ben Nezer_, _i.e._, the Nazarene, is given to +Christ; compare the passages in _Buxtorf_, _lex. c._ 1383; in +_Lightfoot_, _disquis. chorog. Johan. praem. opp._ II., 578 sqq.; +_Eisenmenger_, I., p. 3139. It is true, _Gieseler_ (on Matth. ii. 23, +and in the _Studien u. Kritiken_, 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 [Pg 107] their Messiah [Hebrew: bN +ncr], 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 [Hebrew: ncr] announced by +Isaiah, just as, for the very same reason, they also assign to Him the +names [Hebrew: ncr napvP] "adulterous branch," and [Hebrew: ncr nteb] +"abominable branch" (from Is. xiv. 19); comp. _Eisenmenger_ I. S. 137, +138. But _Gieseler_ 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 _Nezer_ only, and not _Ben-Nezer_. _Gieseler_, 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 _usus +loquendi_ he refers to the circumstance that the pseudo-Messiah under +Hadrian assumed, with a reference to the [Hebrew: kvkb] in Numb. xxiv. +17, the name [Hebrew: bN kvkb] or [Hebrew: bN kvkba], 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 _Ben-Nezer_ because He was He in whom the prophecy of the +_Nezer_ was fulfilled, as it can be proved from the appellation _Ben +Nezer_ that that pseudo-Messiah could be called _Bar Cochba_, only +because it was believed that in him the prophecy of the star was +fulfilled. _Reland_ has already proved (Geogr. II. p. 727) that +_Barcochba_ 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, _e.g._, 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 _Ben-Nezer_ is opposed by the constant +interpretation of the Jews. _Jarchi_, in a gloss on that passage of the +Talmud referred to, explains _Ben Nezer_ by: "He who has come from the +town of Nazareth." _Abarbanel_ [Pg 108] in his book _Majenehajeshua_, +after having quoted from _Jalkut Shimeoni_ the passage in question, +observes: "Remark well how they have explained the little horn in +Daniel vii. 8, of the _Ben Nezer_ who is Jesus the _Nazarene_." From +the Lexicon _Aruch_ which forms a weighty authority, Buxtorf quotes: +"[Hebrew: ncr ncri hmqll] Nezer, (or Ben Nezer), is the accursed +_Nazarene_." _Finally_--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. + +2. The result which we have obtained is confirmed by the statements of +Christian writers. Even at the time of _Eusebius_ (Hist. Eccles. i. 7), +and of _Jerome_, the place was called _Nazara_. The latter says: +"_Nazareth_: there exists up to this day in Galilee a village opposite +Legio, fifteen miles to the east of it, near Mount Tabor, called +_Nazara_" (comp. _Reland_ i. S. 497). In _Epistol._ xvii. ad +_Marcellum_ he expressly identifies the name with _Nezer_, by saying: +"Let us go to Nazareth, and according to a right interpretation of that +name, we shall see there the flower of Galilee." + +3. To this may be added, that the _Gentilitia_ formed from Nazareth can +be explained only when the [Hebrew: t] is not considered as belonging +to the original form of the name. For, in that case, it must +necessarily be found again in the _Gentilitia_, just as, _e.g._, from +[Hebrew: entt] we could not by any means form [Hebrew: enti], but only +[Hebrew: entti]. In the New Testament the two forms [Greek: Nazoraios] +and [Greek: Nazarenos] only occur, never the form [Greek: Nazaretaios]. +_Gieseler_ 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 [Hebrew: ncr] which the first Christians were +accustomed to bring into connection with [Hebrew: ncrt]. But this +conjecture would, at most, be admissible, only if, with the Jews too, +the form [Hebrew: ncri] were not found throughout without a [Hebrew: +t], and if the Arabic form also were not entirely analogous.[1] + +[Pg 109] + +The question now is:--In what sense was [Hebrew: ncr] assigned as a +_nomen proprium_ to a place in Galilee? Certainly, we must at once +reject the supposition of _Jerome_ that Nazareth was thus called, as +being "the flower of Galilee," partly because [Hebrew: ncr] never +occurs in this signification; partly because it is not conceivable that +the place received a name which is due to it [Greek: kat'anti phrasin] +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 [Hebrew: ncr] occurs in Is. xi. 1, xiv. 19, and +in the Talmudical _usus loquendi_ where [Hebrew: ncrim] signifies +"_virgulta salicum decorticata, vimina ex quibus corbes fiunt._" 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. + +This _nomen_ given to the place on account of its small beginnings, +resembling, in this respect, the name of Zoar, _i.e._, a small town, +was, at the same time, an _omen_ 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 _Josephus_. 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 [Pg 110] was removed by the +circumstance that the most celebrated Jewish academy, that of Tiberias, +belonged to it. + +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 _Quenstedt_, in his +_Dissertatio de Germine Jehovae_, in the _Thesaurus theol. philol._ I. +p. 1015: "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 [Hebrew: ncr], in chap. xi., corresponds [Hebrew: ivnq] in +chap. liii.; to [Hebrew: HTr] the [Hebrew: wrw]; 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; +[Pg 111] 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. + +We have hitherto considered prophecy and fulfilment independently of +the quotation by St. Matthew. Let us now add a few remarks upon the +latter. + +1. It seems not to have been without reason that the wider formula of +quotation: [Greek: to rhethen dia ton propheton] is here chosen, +although _Jerome_ 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 +_nomen_ and _omen_ of his native place. This appears especially from +the circumstance that, if it were otherwise, the quotation: in [Greek: +hoti Nazoraios klethestai], would be inexplicable, since it is very +forced to suppose that "Nazarene" here designates generally one low and +despised.[2] But he chose the general formula of [Pg 112] quotation +(comp. _Gersdorf_, _Beitraege zur Sprachcharacteristik_ 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. + +2. The phrase [Greek: hoti klethesetai] 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," that the phrase [Greek: hoti +klethesetai] flowed. There is hence no necessity for explaining this +circumstance solely from the custom of the later Jews,[3] 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. + +[Pg 113] + +Ver. 2. "_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._" + +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 _seven_ 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 _divine nature_, which is intimated by his being +born of the Virgin, chap. vii. 14, by the name [Hebrew: al gbvr] 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, _implies_ 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 [Pg +114] 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: +[Greek: kai eide to pneuma tou theou katabainon hosei peristeran kai +erchomenon ep'auton], 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: [Greek: houtos estin ho huios mou ho agapetos +en ho eudokesa]. But a reference to the passage before us we meet most +decidedly in John i. 32, 33: [Greek: Tetheamai to pneuma katabainon +hosei peristeran ex ouranou, kai emeinen ep'auton. Kago ouk edein +auton. all'ho pempsas me baptizein en hudati, ekeinos moi eipen. eph'hon +an ides to pneuma katabainon kai menon ep'auton, houtos estin ho +baptizon en pneumati hagio]. The word [Hebrew: nvH], which in Numb. xi. +25 also is used of the Spirit, combines in itself both the [Greek: +katabainein] and the [Greek: menein]; it is _requiescere_. 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: [Greek: kai ophthesan autois diamerizomenai glossai hosei puros, +ekathise te eph'hena hekaston auton]; comp. 1 Pet. iv. 14: [Greek: +hote to tes doxes kai to tou theou pneuma eph'humas anapauetai] (this +most exactly answers [Hebrew: nvH]). 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 _all_ 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, _e.g._, _justice_, which is +mentioned immediately afterwards in ver. 5, is omitted here.--The first +pair are wisdom and understanding. _Wisdom_ is that excellency of +knowledge which rests on moral perfection. It is opposed to [Hebrew: +nblh], foolishness in a moral sense, which may easily be combined with +the greatest ingenuity and cleverness. The excellence of knowledge +resting [Pg 115] on a moral basis manifests itself in the first +instance, and preeminently, in the [Hebrew: binh], 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, _counsel_ is of no +less consequence than _might_. 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). + +Ver. 3. "_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._" + +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 +[Pg 116] 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, +[Hebrew: hriH] with the accusative is "to smell something;" with +[Hebrew: b], 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 +_usus loquendi_ (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: [Greek: autos de Iesous, ouk episteuen heauton +autois, dia to auton ginoskein pantas, kai hoti ou chreian eichen hina +tis marturese peri tou anthropou. autos gar eginoske ti en hen +anthropo.] Farther--chap. xxi. 17 where Peter says to Christ: [Greek: +Kurie su panta oidas. su ginoskeis hoti philo se.] 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." + +Ver. 4. "_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._" + +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 _will_ He is infinitely exalted above all former rulers, so is +He also by the excellency of _might_. Where, as in His case, the +highest [Pg 117] 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 +[Hebrew: arC] does not by any means stand in contrast to [Hebrew: dliM] +and [Hebrew: enviM], and, in parallelism to [Hebrew: rwe], designate +the wicked ones; but [Hebrew: arC] "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 [Hebrew: arC] 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.--[Hebrew: wbT], 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 _Omnipotence_. 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 [Pg 118] to "mere words," "mere +command;" compare "breath of His mouth," in Ps. xxxiii. 6. _Hitzig's_ +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 _God_: 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): +[Greek: akouon de Ananias tous logous toutous peson exepsuxe], comp. +ver. 10; xiii. 11. The Chaldee translates: "And by the word of His lips +wicked Armillus shall die." He refers [Hebrew: rwe] not to the ideal +person of the wicked, but to an individual, _Armillus_, ([Greek: +eremolaos], corresponding to the name of Balaam, compounded of [Hebrew: +ble] "devouring," "destruction," and [Hebrew: eM] "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 _Buxtorf_, _Lex. Chald._ +cap. 221-224: _Eisenmenger_, _entdecktes Judenthum_ ii. S. 705 ff. In 2 +Thess. ii. 8, in the description of Antichrist's destruction by Christ: +[Greek: hon ho Kurios Iesous analosei to pneumati tou stomatos autou], +there is an intentional and significant allusion to the passage before +us, Antichrist there being, like [Hebrew: rwe] here, an ideal person; +for the arguments in proof, see my Comment, on Revelation, vol. ii. + +Ver. 5. "_And righteousness is the girdle of His loins, and +faithfulness the girdle of His reins._" + +[Pg 119] + +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. + +In ver. 6, the Prophet passes from the _person_ 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 _Theodoret_ 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. _Jerome_ 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 +_Theodoret_, from whom he sometimes differs in the allegorical +explanation of the details only. In a similar manner _Luther_ also +explains it, who, _e.g._, 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." _Calvin_ +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, _e.g._ compare Ps. xxii., where the enemies of +the righteous are represented under the image of dogs, lions, bulls, +and unicorns; [Pg 120] 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" (_Hendewerk_, +_Knobel_), 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 _good_. 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. [Pg 121] Now, as it is by sin that outward discord, +and contention, and destruction _arose_ 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 [Greek: palingenesia], +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 _Clericus_, _Lowth_, +and _Gesenius_, we quote a few only. In the description of the +golden age, _Virgil_ says, _Ecl._ iv. 21 sqq.; v. 60: _Occidet et +serpens et fallax herba veneni occidet._--_Nec magnos metuent armenta +leones._--_Nec lupus insidias pecori._ _Horat. Epod._ xiv. 53: _Nec +vespertinus circumgemit ursus ovile nec intumescit alta viperis +humus._--_Theocrit. Idyll._ 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 +_poets_), 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 +_Vitringa_, 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 [Pg 122] 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, _J. H. Michaelis_ 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 _human +territory_; 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. + +Ver. 6. "_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._" + +Ver. 7. "_The cow and bear go to the pasture; their young ones lie down +together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox._" (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.) + +Ver. 8. "_And the sucking child playeth on the hole of the asp, and the +weaned child putteth his hand into the den of the basilisk._" + +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. + +Ver. 9. "_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._" + +[Pg 123] + +The subject are the dwellers in the Holy Mountain. The Holy Mountain +can, according to the _usus loquendi_, be Mount Zion only, and not, as +was last maintained by _Hofmann_, 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 _for_, 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 _ideal_ 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 +_ideal_ sense only, that under its image the _Church_ 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 _idea_ necessarily +must manifest its power and right in opposition to the _reality_.--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 +_consequence_ 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;" liv. 13; Joel iii. +1; ii. 28; Jer. xxxi. 34, That [Hebrew: harC] is here not the "land," +or "country," but the "_earth_" is sufficiently evident from the +antithesis of the _sea_: as the _sea_ is full of water, so the _earth_ +is full of the knowledge of the Lord. To this [Pg 124] 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 [Greek: palingenesia] +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 _Finally_,--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 [Hebrew: +harC] 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. + +_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._" + +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 +_Gentile world_; and in ver. 11 ff., what He grants to the _old +covenant-people_, 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 _first spoken of_ appears from +ver. 12; the Gentiles gathered to the Lord are the medium of His +salvation to the old covenant-people.--The _root_ designates here (and +likewise in chap. liii. 2), and in the passages founded upon this, +viz., in Rev. v. 5, xxii. 16, the _product_ 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. _Bengel_ 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, [Pg 125] the ensign +rises uppermost; so that even the nations farthest off may behold +it."--[Hebrew: drw] with [Hebrew: l], [Hebrew: al], and [Hebrew: at], +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 _Gesenius'Thesaurus_. 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 _seek_ Him, that +from him they may obtain _light_ (chap. xlii. 6), that He may +communicate to them His _law_ (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 [Greek: ep'auto ethne +elpiousi], 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.--[Hebrew: mnvHh] "resting place," +"dwelling place," "habitation;" comp. Ps. cxxxii. 13, 14: "For the Lord +hath chosen Zion; He hath desired it for His _habitation_. This is my +_rest_ ([Hebrew: mnvHti]) for ever; here will I _dwell_, 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 [Hebrew: emiM] and [Hebrew: gviM] +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 [Hebrew: emiM] are to adhere to +Shiloh; compare Vol. i. p. 62. + +Ver. 11: "_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._" + +[Pg 126] + +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. +[Hebrew: ivsiP] must be connected with [Hebrew: lqnvt], comp. 2 Sam. +xxiv. 1: "And the Lord continued to kill," [Hebrew: lhrg]. It is +unnecessary and arbitrary to supply [Hebrew: lwlH]. [Hebrew: idv] 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 _doing_, is repeatedly +mentioned in the account of the deliverance from Egypt; comp. Exod. +iii. 20, vii. 4, xiii. 9. The expression: "_He shall continue_," 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 +_second time_," points more distinctly to the type of the _deliverance +from Egypt_ with which the redemption to be effected by Christ is +frequently paralleled; comp. vers. 15, 16; Vol. i. p. 218, 219. "_From +Asshur_," &c., must not be connected with [Hebrew: lqnvt], but with +[Hebrew: iwar], comp. v. 16, those who have remained from Asshur, &c., +_i.e._, 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 [Hebrew: lqnvt]; 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 [Pg 127] 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 +_comprehensive_ 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 Ph[oe]nicians, 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 _suppose_ 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, [Pg 128] 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, _Egypt_ is connected in one pair. +Egypt is the _African_ world's power struggling for dominion with the +_Asiatic_. 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 _second_ pair presents +itself, representing the uttermost _South_; 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. _Gesenius_ 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 _Gesenius_ in +his Commentary on chap. xxi. 2 remarks, "in the pre-exilic writers, +used for Persia in general, for which afterwards [Hebrew: prs] 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 [Pg 129] 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. + +Ver. 12: "_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._" + +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 [Pg 130] 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: [Greek: kai ouch huper tou +ethnous monon, all'hina kai ta tekna tou Theou ta dieskorpismena +sunagage eis hen.] 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. + +Ver. 13. "_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._" + +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; _and this realization has_, for its necessary consequence, +the _removal for ever_ of the separation; comp. Ezek. xxxvii. 22. It +was a _prelude_ 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 [Pg 131] +joined Judah and the restored sanctuary; comp. Acts xxvi. 7; Luke ii. +36. The name of "_Jews_" 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. + +Ver. 14. "_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._" + +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 _grace_, the +relation will be just the reverse.--[Hebrew: mwlH id] 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 _Noli me tangere_ +for them. + +Ver. 15. "_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._" + +[Pg 132] + +Ver. 16. "_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._" + +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, +_Egypt_, 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, [Hebrew: hHrvM], 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 _persons_ 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.--_With the violence or terror of His wind_, _i.e._, 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 _Drechsler_, who thinks of "God's breathing of anger," first, +this reference to Exod. xiv. 21, and farther, the circumstance that the +[Hebrew: rvH] 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. + + + +[Footnote 1: Notwithstanding the arguments which we stated in favour of +our proposition, that the original form of the name is [Hebrew: ncr]. +_Ebrard_ without even attempting to refute them, assumes, in favour of +a far-fetched conjecture, that the name of the place was written +[Hebrew: nzrt] (_Kritik. d. Ev. Geschichte_ S. 843, 1st Ed.), and has +introduced this opinion even into the text of the new edition of +_Olshausen's_ Commentary, edited by him. The circumstance that +elsewhere _commonly_ the Hebrew [Hebrew: z] is, in Greek, rendered by +[Greek: z], [Hebrew: c] by [Greek: s] is, in this case, where the +special arguments in favour of [Hebrew: ncr] are so strong, of no +consequence.] + +[Footnote 2: _Hofmann_ (_Weissagung und Erfuellung._, 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 +[Greek: Nazoraios] 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, _Hofmann_ advances the +assertion that neither [Hebrew: ncr] nor [Hebrew: HTr] 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 _stump_ and _roots_, as well as by +the contrast to [Hebrew: iprh]] + +[Footnote 3: The following passage, which we take from _Raim. Martini +Pug. Fid._ III. 3, 19 p. 685, will fully illustrate that custom: R. +_Abba_ said: His name is [Hebrew: ihvh] Lord, according to the word in +Jerem. xxiii. 6; R. _Josua ben Levy_ 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. _Siloh_ said: His name will be +_Shiloh_, as is written in Gen. xlix. 10: 'Until Shiloh come.'Those +from the School of R. _Chanina_ said: His name will be the Gracious +one, as Jerem. said in chap. xvi. 13. Those from the School of R. +_Jannai_ said: Jinnon shall be His name, according to Ps. lxxii. 17, +&c."] + + +[Pg 133] + + + + + CHAP. XII. + + +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 _jubilus_ of the congregation. + +Ver. 1. "_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._ Ver. 2. _Behold, God is my salvation; I trust, and am +not afraid; for my strength and song is the Lord, and He became my +Saviour._" + +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 [Hebrew: ki] 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. + +Ver. 3. "_And ye draw water in joy out of the wells of salvation._" + +During the journey through the wilderness, the bestowal of salvation +had been represented under the form of granting [Pg 134] water. It is +to it that we have here an allusion. The spiritual water denotes +salvation. + +Ver. 4. "_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._ Ver. 5. _Praise the Lord, for He hath done great things; this +is known in all the earth._" + +Ver. 6. "_Cry out and shout thou inhabitant of Zion; for great is the +Holy One of Israel in thy midst._" + + + * * * * * * * * * * + + +There now follows a cycle of ten prophecies, which, in the +inscriptions, have the name [Hebrew: mwa] "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 +_repetition_ must be distinguished. That took place, as is just shewn +by the prophecy's being received in the cycle of the _burdens_, at the +time when the invasion of Sennacherib was immediately impending. The +Assyrians were the power from the _North_, [Pg 135] 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. + +From the series of these _burdens_, we shall very briefly comment upon +those which are of importance for our purpose. First, + + + + + CHAPTERS XIII. l.-XIV. 27. + + +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. + +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. + +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 [Pg 136] 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 _inferences_, +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. + +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 _announced_ as such, but _supposed_: 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. + +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. _e.g._ 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. + +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 _Gesenius_ cannot avoid remarking: "The prophetic eye of [Pg +137] 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." + + + + + CHAPTERS XVII., XVIII. + + +These two chapters form one whole, as, generally, the series of the +ten _burdens_ 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. + +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. + +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 [Pg 138] 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. + +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. + +"_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_ (has been) _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._" + +[Pg 139] + +The expression, "shall be brought as a present," (the word [Hebrew: wi] +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 _over_ +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 _Gesenius_, and other interpreters, +the [Hebrew: mN] from the second clause is to be supplied before +[Hebrew: eM mmwK]. 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. _Gesenius_ 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 _Gesenius_ 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.--[Hebrew: mmwK] properly "_drawn +out_," "_stretched_," Prov. xiii. 12, corresponds to the [Hebrew: anwi +mdh] "men of extension or stature," in chap. xlv. 14. High stature +appears, in classical writers also, as a characteristic sign of the [Pg +140] Ethiopians.--On [Hebrew: mvrT] "_closely shorn_," comp. chap. l. +6, where [Hebrew: mrT] 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 [Hebrew: mimi hia] 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--[Hebrew: qv qv] "law-law" is explained from chap. xxviii. 10, 13, +where it stands beside [Hebrew: cv cv], 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, _Gesenius_ 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"--_Gesenius_ 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. + +[Pg 141] + + + + + CHAPTER XIX. + + +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 _Gesenius_ 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., [Greek: nomos +epi nomon], of provinces only. Further,--According to _Gesenius_, 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 [Hebrew: zriM], 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 _burdens_, 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 _e.g._ Jer. xlvi. 25, +26: "And behold, I visit Pharaoh and Egypt, and their gods and their +kings, Pharaoh [Pg 142] 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." + +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 (_Jonathan_: _potens_, +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. [Greek: +basileis skleroi]. For, the fact that the unity is merely an _ideal_ +one, is most distinctly and intentionally pointed at by the [Hebrew: +adniM] 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. + +[Pg 143] + +Ver. 18. "_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._" + +_Five_, as usual, here comes into consideration as the half of _ten_, +which number represents the whole; "_five_ cities," therefore, is +equivalent to: a goodly number of cities. On the words: "Who speak the +language of Canaan," _Gesenius_ remarks: "With the spreading of a +certain religion resting on certain documents of revelation, as _e.g._ +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, _e.g._ +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: +_Juramento se Domino obstringent_; comp. chap. xlv. 23: "Unto me every +knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear." In the words: "City of +destruction," [Hebrew: hrs], one shall be called, there is contained an +allusion to [Hebrew: qir hrs], "_city of the Sun_" (Heliopolis) which +was peculiar to one of the chief seats of Egyptian idolatry. It is the +celebrated _On_ or _Bethshemish_ 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 +_Jonathan_, who thus paraphrases: "_Urbs domus solis quae destruetur._" +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. + +[Pg 144] + +Ver. 19. "_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._" + +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, _e.g._, chap. lxvi. 23, we must +distinguish between the thought and the embodiment. The _pillar_ 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. + +Ver. 20. "_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._" + +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 _Gesenius_, 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 [Pg 145] than of Him; and it is He who is +suggested by the Messianic character of the whole description. + +Ver. 21. "_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._" + +Ver. 22. "_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._" + +We have here simply a recapitulation. The prophet describes anew the +transition from the state of wrath to that of grace--not, as +_Drechsler_ thinks, what they experience in the latter. Upon Egypt is +fulfilled what, in Deut. xxxii. 39, has been said in reference to +Israel. + +Ver. 23. "_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._" + +[Hebrew: ebd] with [Hebrew: at] has commonly the signification "to +serve some one;" here, however, [Hebrew: at] is used as a preposition: +Egypt serves God _with_ Asshur. Yet there is an allusion to the +ordinary use of [Hebrew: ebd] with [Hebrew: at] in order to direct +attention to the wonderful change: First, Egypt serves Asshur, and the +powers that follow its footsteps; then, it serves _with_ 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. + +Ver. 24. "_In that day Israel shall be the third with Egypt and with +Asshur, a blessing in the midst of the earth._" + +The "blessing" is not "that union of people formerly separated," but it +is _Israel_ 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: [Greek: he soteria ek ton Ioudaion esti], John iv. 22. + +Ver. 25. "_For the Lord of Hosts blesseth him, saying: Blessed be Egypt +my people, and Asshur the work of mine hands, and Israel mine +inheritance._" + +The suffix in [Hebrew: brm] 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." + +It is scarcely necessary to point out how gloriously this, [Pg 146] +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 ("_Satanas in hac gente sevit zizania_"--_Vitringa_), +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. + + + + + + CHAPTER XXIII. + THE BURDEN UPON TYRE. + + +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. + +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 _Delitzsch_ 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. + +[Pg 147] + +Upon the threatening there follows the promise. Ver. 15. "_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._ Ver. 16. _Take the harp, go about +the city, forgotten harlot, make sweet melody, sing many songs, that +thou mayest be remembered._ Ver. 17. _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._ Ver. 18. _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._" + +On the "70 years, like the days of one king," _Michaelis_ very +pertinently remarks: "Not of one individual, but of one reign or +empire, _i.e._ 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 _ideal_ persons; not individuals, but personifications of +their kingdoms. _Gesenius'_ 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 _round_ designation of the time. From a comparison of +Jeremiah we learn that the Chaldean dominion will last 70 years _in +all_. 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 [Pg 148] Tyre +by the Chaldeans, which is here announced, really took place, has been +more thoroughly established in my book: _De rebus Tyriorum_; and +afterwards by _Drechsler_ in his Commentary on Isaiah, and by +_Haevernick_ in his Commentary on Ezekiel. + +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. + +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: [Greek: ei hemeis humin ta pneumatika +espeiramen, mega, ei emeis humon ta sarkika therisomen]; 1 Cor. ix. 11. +Converted Tyre offers, in these gifts, its thanks for the noble gift +which it received from the sanctuary. + +_Vitringa_, 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 _Drechsler_, 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. _First_, +she resumes her old whorings; _then_, 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. + +The announcement of the future conversion of Tyre received, [Pg 149] in +the time of Christ, a symbolical representation as it were, in the +Canaanitish woman. _Vitringa_ 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." At a subsequent period, there +existed at Tyre a flourishing and wealthy church. _Eusebius_ and +_Jerome_ describe to us, from their own experience, the fulfilment of +this prophecy. + + + + + CHAPTERS XXIV.-XXVII. + + +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. + +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 +_laws_, violated the _ordinances_, broke the everlasting _covenant_," +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. + +The judgment upon Judah bears a comprehensive character. [Pg 150] 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 +_burdens_, Asshur in chap. xiv. 25; Babylon in chap. xiii., xiv., xxi., +(the circumstance that the first _burden_ of the first half of the +_burdens_, and likewise the first _burden_ of the second half of the +_burdens_--the ten _burdens_ 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 +_per se_, and irrespective of the particular forms of its realisation. + +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 [Hebrew: ariM] denotes the _fulness_ of light or salvation, +comp. chap. xxvi. 19; [Hebrew: b] is, in both instances, used in a +local sense. The light is the spiritual territory; the isles of the +sea, the natural. + +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. + +In ver. 21, ff. the promise breaks forth anew. Ver. 21: [Pg 151] "_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._ Ver. +22. _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._ Ver. 23. _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._" + +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. [Hebrew: mrvM] 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 _ideal_ representatives of the Church; compare +remarks on Rev. iv. 4. Before them is glory, inasmuch as the Lord +imparts to them of His glory. + +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. _Gesenius_ [Pg +152] 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. + +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: + +Ver. 6. "_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._ Ver 7. _And destroyeth in the +mountain the surface of the vail covering all the nations, and the +covering cast upon all the nations._ Ver. 8. _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._" + +"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: [Greek: lego de humin hoti polloi apo anatolon kai dusmon +hexousi kai anaklithesontai meta Abraam kai Isaak kai Iakob en te +basileia ton ouranon]; 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 [Hebrew: ble] is +intentionally resumed. We cannot, therefore, agree with _Drechsler_ 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), [Pg 153] so it ceases when sin is completely overcome; +compare 1 Cor. xv. 54, where our passage is expressly quoted. Besides +death, _tears_ 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. + +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 _Gesenius_ 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. + +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. + +Ver. 19. "_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._" + +The saints are raised from the earth; the giants are sunk into the +earth. The [Hebrew: rpaiM] "giants" are identical with the [Hebrew: +iwbi tbl] 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. [Hebrew: rpaiM], it is true, is there used of the +dead; but the signification of the word remains the same: The bodiless +spirits were called _giants_, because they were objects of terror to +the living; comp. remarks on Ps. lxxxviii. 11. The word is, in ver. 14, +used [Pg 154] 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. + +In chap. xxvii., it is especially ver. 1 which attracts our attention: +"_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._" + +We have here three designations of one and the same monster. +_Gesenius_, 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. + + + * * * * * * * * * * + + + + +After the single discourses out of the Assyrian time, from chap. +vii-xxvii., there follows in chap. xxviii.-xxxiii. 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, _e.g._ +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 [Pg 155] which attracts our attention; +since, in the New Testament, it is referred to Christ. + +"_Behold I have laid for a foundation in Zion a stone, a tried_ +(stone), _a precious corner stone of perfect foundation; he that +believeth need not make haste_," 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, _that which, in the first instance, is said of the kingdom of +God refers, at the same time, to its head and centre_. Parallel is Is. +xiv. 32; "The Lord hath founded Zion, and the poor of His people trust +in it." The [Hebrew: hamiN] here corresponds with the [Hebrew: Hsh] +with [Hebrew: b] there. The difference is, that there Zion itself is +the object of confidence, while here it is the stone which is in Zion. +_There_, Zion is the _spiritual_ 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. _Here_, +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 [Pg 156] 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 _here_ is the Church; _there_ 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." + +A simple quotation of the passage before us is found in Rom. x. 11: +[Greek: legei gar he graphe. pas ho pisteuon ep'auto ou +kataischunthesetai.] In chap. ix. ver. 3, we have chap. viii. 14, and +the passage under consideration blended in a remarkable manner: [Greek: +idou tithemi en Sion lithon prokommatos kai petran skandalou. kai pas +ho pisteuon ep'auto ou kataischunthesetai], 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: +[Greek: dioti periechei en te graphe: idou tithemi en Sion lithon +akrogoniaion, eklekton, entimon, kai ho pisteuon ep'auto ou me +kataischunthe. humin houn he time tois pisteuousin. apeithousi de +lithon hon apedokimasan hoi oikodomountes, houtos egenethe eis kephalen +gonias, kai lithos proskommatos kai petra skandalou], on which _Bengel_ +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. + +The second Messianic passage of the section which is of importance for +our purpose, is chap. xxxiii. 17. + +"_Thine eyes shall see the King in His beauty; they shall see the land +that is far off._" + +[Pg 157] + +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 _fair_, 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, +_Michaelis_ 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." +_Farther_--Hezekiah could not be designated simply by [Hebrew: mlK] +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 _Vitringa_, +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 [Hebrew: mlK rb]. 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, [Pg 158] +in the truest manner, revealed and manifested himself as the Teacher of +His people. + +The close of the whole of the first part of Isaiah is, in chaps. +xxxiv., xxxv. formed by a comprehensive announcement, _on the one +hand_, 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, _on the other +hand_, of the mercy and salvation which should be bestowed upon the +Church trampled upon by the world. + +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. + + + + +The description of the salvation in store for the Church, in chap. +xxxv., 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. + +Ver. 1. "_The wilderness and dry land shall be glad for it, and the +desert shall rejoice and sprout like the bulb._" + +The wilderness is Zion--the Church to be devastated by the world.--"For +it,"--_i.e._ for the judgment upon the world, as it was described in +chap. xxxiv. with which the changed fate of the Church is indissolubly +connected. + +Ver. 2. "_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._" + +"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. _Michaelis_ says: "The Lebanon excels among the +forests; the Carmel among the fruitful hills; the [Pg 159] Sharon among +the lovely fields or valleys."--To "see the glory of the Lord, the +excellency _of God_" 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. + +Ver. 3. "_Strengthen ye the slack hands, and confirm ye the tottering +knees._" The words are addressed to all the members of the people of +God; they are to strengthen and confirm _one another_ by pointing to +the future revelation of the glory of the Lord. + +Ver. 4. "_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._" + +"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 _respice finem_.--[Hebrew: mqM] and [Hebrew: gmvl] are +Accusatives, used in the same manner as in verbs of motion, to +designate the object of the motion.--On [Hebrew: gmvl], "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 _as if_ +they were healed" (_Knobel_, after the example of _Gesenius_), 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. + +[Pg 160] + +Ver. 5. "_Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of +the deaf shall be unstopped._" + +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 _personae miserabiles_; 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 _species_ in the +_genus_; but they themselves are, in the first instance, meant, and +that which has been said must, in the first instance, be fulfilled upon +them. _Farther_--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 _usus loquendi_, are thus designated. But a collateral +reference to the _spiritually_ 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. [Pg 161] 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: [Greek: hoste +tous ochlous thaumasai blepontas kophous laloutas, kullous hugieis, +cholous peripatountas kai tuphlous blepontas]; xxi. 14; [Greek: kai +proselthon auto tuphloi kai choloi en to hiero kai etherapeusen +autous]; Mark vii. 37, where after the healing of the deaf and dumb, +the people say: [Greek: kalos panta pepoieke. kai tous kophous poiei +akouein, kai tous alalous lalein.] 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 [Greek: blepomen arti di'esoptrou hen ainigmati]. + +Ver. 6. "_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._" + +The _leaping and shouting_ 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: [Greek: kai exallomenos este kai +periepatei, kai eiselthe sun autois eis to hieron, peripaton kai +allomenos kai ainon ton theon]; farther. Acts viii. 7: [Greek: polloi +de paralelumenoi kai choloi etherapeuthesan]; xiv. 8; John v. 9. Of +_spiritual_ lameness, Heb. xii. 13 is spoken. It appears especially in +dark times of affliction, as _Vitringa_ says: "In the time of wild +persecution, and when the Church languishes, [Pg 162] 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: [Greek: tote prosenechthe auto daimonzomenos, tuphlos kai +kophos. kai etherapeusen auton, hoste ton tuphlon kai kophon kai lalein +kai blepein.] _Spiritual_ 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 _waters_ +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. + +Ver. 7. "_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._" + +"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 _mirage_, the appearance of water. The +suffix in [Hebrew: rbch] 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 _grass_ is to take its place; [Hebrew: +Hcir] has no other signification than this. + +Ver. 8. "_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._" + +"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; [Pg 163] 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 _holy_ (comp. remarks on +chap. iv. 3), because inaccessible to the profane world, to the +_unclean_, 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. + +Ver. 9. "_No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast go up thereon, +it shall not be found there; and the redeemed walk on it._" + +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. + +Ver. 10. "_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._" + + + + + GENERAL PRELIMINARY REMARKS ON CHAPTERS XL.-LXVI. + + +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 [Pg 164] 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 _comforting_ 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.[1] + +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 +_comfort_ 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 _repentance_,--_exhortation_ 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, [Pg 165] 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 [Greek: metanoeite], 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. + +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 [Pg 166] refer to a twofold object, +_First_--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, +_Koresh_, 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 _second_ 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. + +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 _Fr. Rueckert_, that it is +divided into _three sections or books_, is, in the first instance, +indicated by the [Pg 167] 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 +_Knobel_ 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 _Babel_, which +in the first book is mentioned four times (chap. xliii. 14, xlvii. 1, +xlviii. 14, 20); nor of the _Chaldeans_, which occur there five times +(chap. xliii. 14, xlvii. 1, 5, xlviii. 14, 20); nor any farther mention +of _Koresh_, 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.e._ immediately at the +_beginning_, after the introduction contained in chap. xl., at the +_close_, and several times in the _middle_); nor of _Bel_ and _Nebo_. +_Farther_--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 _Koresh_. 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 _Koresh_, 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, _contrasted_ with +him. To give a more minute and finished description of the Author of +the higher salvation is the object of the _second_ book. In the _third_ +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 _promising_, is taken up with the +description of the [Pg 168] _glory of the Kingdom of God_, 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, _reproof and exhortation_ prevail, in contradistinction +to the first and second book, in which the direct _promise_ 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 _boundary line_ could be +recognized between the two books. At the close of the second book, the +Prophet has preeminently to do with _apostates_, while, at the +beginning of the third, he has to do with _hypocrites_; 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 [Pg 169] 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 _paraenesis_, 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 _close_, 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 _exclusively_, but that, even there, it is +still interwoven with the most glorious promises which are so +exceedingly fitted to allure sinners to repentance. + +In the whole of the second part, the Prophet, _as a rule_, 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. + +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 [Pg 170] 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 _axiom_, 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. + +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 +_exstasis_. 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: _Behold there, behold there_," by +which the graphic character of prophecy is precisely expressed, and by +which it is intimated that hearers and readers were led _in rem +praesentem_ by the prophets. Even grammar has long ago acknowledged +this fact, inasmuch as it speaks of _Praeterita prophetica_, _i.e._, +such as denote the _ideal_ Past, in contrast to those which denote the +_real_ Past. Unless we have attained to this view and insight, it is +only by inconsistency that we can escape from _Eichhorn's_ view, that +the prophecies are, for the most part, disguised historical +descriptions,--a view into which even expositors, such as _Ewald_ and +_Hitzig_, frequently relapse. Frequently, the whole of the Future +appears with the prophets in the form of the _Present_. At other times, +they take their stand in the [Pg 171] more immediate Future; and this +becomes to them the _ideal_ 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. + +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 _e.g._ vers. 7 and 8. On the latter +verse, _Clericus_ 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." + +In Isaiah himself, the very first chapter presents a remarkable proof +The Present in chap. i. 5-9 is not a _real_, but an _ideal_ 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 _Caspari_, in his _Beitraege zur +Einleitung in das Buch Jesaia_. 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. _Farther_--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 _future carrying away_ of the people presents itself +to the Prophet as present. Similarly, in vers. 25, 26, the Praet. and +Fut. with _Vav Conv._ 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 _mocking_; 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 [Pg 172] 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 _real_, but from the _ideal_ 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. _e.g._, 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 _ideal_ +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. + +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 _contemporaries_ to a sincere +repentance, but those upon whom the calamity had already been +inflicted: "O Israel, return unto the Lord thy God; for [Pg 173] 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 _prophesy_ only of the exiled" +(_Knobel_).--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 _former dominion_, 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," &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, _Hitzig_ and others, overlooking and misunderstanding +this prophetic peculiarity, and considering the _ideal_, to be the +_real_ Present, have been led to fix the age of the Prophet in a manner +notoriously erroneous.--Jeremiah, in chap. iii. 22, 25, [Pg 174] +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 _seer_ has the Future before his +eyes. He _beholds_ 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 _real_, but an _ideal_ 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. + +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 _cura +posteritatis_. If [Pg 175] 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. + +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 _ideal_ into the _real_ Present.[2] 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. _Now_, he has before his +eyes the condition of the unhappy people in the Babylonish exile; +_then_, 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 _e.g._, chap. lxiv. 10, 11. But in a series of passages, +in which the Prophet steps back from the _ideal_, to the _real_ +stand-point, _the punishment appears as still future_; _city and temple +as still existing_. In chap. xliii. [Pg 176] 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 _will_ profane +the princes of the sanctuary, and _will_ give Jacob to the curse, and +Israel to reproaches." Even [Hebrew: vaHll] is the common Future, and +to [Hebrew: vatnh] the [Hebrew: h] _optativum_ is added; and hence, we +cannot by any means translate and explain it by: _I gave_.--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 +[Hebrew: lnqbciv], 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 [Pg 177] 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. + +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.e._, 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.e._ 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 [Pg 178] 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 [Hebrew: wvr] means always "to +see," "to look at;" and this signification is, here too, quite +appropriate: Israel is _coquetting_ 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, +[Pg 179] 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, _i.e._, when +_thou_, 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, _Gesenius_, 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 +_locus communis_ 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., _just as the children of Israel are bringing_ ([Hebrew: +ibvav], expresses an habitual offering), _the meat-offering in a clean +vessel into the house of the Lord_," 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. + +_Throughout the whole second part we perceive the people under the, as +yet, unbroken power of idolatry._ 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 [Pg 180] 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 _locus +classicus_ 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. _Muenter_, _die Religion der Babylonier_, 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 [Pg 181] 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 _gardens_ that ye have chosen." (On the words which +precede in that verse: "For they shall be ashamed of the _oaks_ which +ye have desired," chap. lvii. 5 offers an exact parallel: "Who inflame +themselves among the _oaks_ 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 _Fortune_, and offer drink-offerings to +_Fate_. 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 _this +absolutely prevailing regard to idolatry can be accounted for, only if +Isaiah be the author of the second part._ 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 +_priests_ 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 [Pg +182] 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 _strict antithesis_ 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. + +_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._ 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 [Pg 183] 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 _real_ Present, takes his +stand-point in an _ideal_ 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 _ridicule_.--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 +_foretold_, and comforted His Church with the view of the Future. +Hence, He alone is [Pg 184] 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)." _The former things_ 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 _end_ of prophecy is +its fulfilment. [Hebrew: hbavt] "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 _e.g._, 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 _former_ 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 _Future_, 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 [Hebrew: mraw] "from the beginning" +puts insurmountable obstacles in the way of the opponents of the +genuineness. If the second part of Isaiah be _spurious_, then the +idolaters might put the same scornful question to the God of Israel. +The [Hebrew: mraw] denotes just the opposite of a _vaticinium post +eventum_.--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 [Pg 185] 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 _vaticinia +post eventum_. 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" +(_Ewald_), 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 [Pg 186] 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 _they were made known publicly_, 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 _post eventum_ only, _no one knowing whence_. 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 _unrighteousness_ by performing something +else than that which they promised to perform. To declare +_righteousness_ 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 [Hebrew: rawnvt], the former +[Pg 187] 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 _now_ declares. The Prophet, by +designating the time in which the announcement was issued as [Hebrew: +rawit] and [Hebrew: qdM], 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 _now_ spoken, since, from the ideal +stand-point, the carrying out is at hand; they form the antecedent to +the _calling_, of which ver. 11 treats. [Hebrew: qvM] properly "to +rise," opposed to the laying down, means "to bring to stand," "to bring +about," "to be fulfilled." "The counsel," _i.e._, the contents of the +prediction which was spoken of before; it is the divine counsel and +decree to which Koresh served as an instrument.--_Finally_--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 _now_ 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 _new_ in contrast to the old prophecies of the +Lord already fulfilled; _hidden_ in contrast to the facts which are +already subjects of history, or may be known beforehand by natural +ingenuity. _To be created_ is equivalent to being made manifest, +inasmuch as the hidden Divine counsel enters into life, only by being +manifested, and [Pg 188] 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 _palpable_ 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. + +We believe we have incontrovertibly proved that we are not entitled to +draw any arguments against Isaiah's being the [Pg 189] 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 _form_, can prove nothing, far less can the _prophetic +contents_." 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 +_notional_ 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, _neither speak they through their +throat_." + +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. + +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 [Pg 190] beginning to end; compare +_Genuineness of the Pentateuch_, _p._ 270 _ff._ 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, _e.g._, 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. + +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 _Hitzig_, 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 _Delitzsch's_ +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 [Pg 191] 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. + +While this foreknowledge of the future _elevation_ of Babylon had a +_historical_ foundation, the foreknowledge of its _humiliation and +fate_, following soon after, rested on a _theological_ 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 _deliverance +of Israel_ rises on a theological foundation, and is not at all to be +considered in the same light as if _e.g._, 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 [Pg 192] 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." + +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 _Sun_,--that the +name of the sun was, in the East generally, and especially with the +Persians, a common honorary title of rulers; comp. _Buernouf_ and others +in _Haevernick's Einleitung_, 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 _Nomen dignitatis_ 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., _Agradates_, 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 [Pg 193] proofs in _Haevernick's Einleit._) +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 _Josephus_, [Arch. xi. c. 1. Sec. 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 _Josephus_, that _Jahn_ rightly +called _Josephus'_ statement a commentary on this Edict, which refers, +_partly_ with literal accuracy, to a series of passages from the second +part of Isaiah, compare the particulars in _Kleinert_, _ueber die +Echtheit des Jesaias_, S. 142);--as the condition of the Persian +religion likewise confirms this result gained from the Edict of Cyrus +(_Stuhr_, _die Religionssysteme des alten Orients_, 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. + +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 [Pg 194] in a far closer relation to the idea, so that +form and substance do far less disagree. + +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 _certain_ right, _e.g._, 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 _Fichte_, in a letter to a _Koenigsberg_ friend, writes +of himself (in his _Life_, by his son, i. S. 196): "I have properly no +style at all, for I have them all." "Just as the subject demands," says +_Ewald_, 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 ([Greek: ekloge]); +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 _Comfort_. 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. [Pg 195] 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 _verbatim_, _e.g._, "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 +_usus loquendi_, 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 _Kleinert_, while _Kueper_ and _Caspari_ 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." + +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. + + + +[Footnote 1: 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" (_Keil_, _Einleitung_, 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.] + +[Footnote 2: 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.] + +[Pg 196] + + + + + CHAP. XLII. 1-9. + + +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. + +Here, where the Servant of God is first to be introduced, He is at +first spoken _of_; it is in ver. 5 that the Lord first speaks _to_ 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. + +In the whole section, the Lord is speaking. It falls into three +divisions--First, the Lord speaks _of_ 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. + +In ver. 1-4, the Lord, as it were, points to His servant, introduces +Him to His Church, and commends Him to the [Pg 197] 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 +_Dav. Kimchi_ and _Abarbanel_, the latter of whom says of the +non-Messianic interpretation, [Hebrew: wkl alh] [Pg 198] [Hebrew: +hHkmiM hkv bsnvriM] "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 [Greek: phos +eis apokalupsin ethnon], 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 [Greek: hoti eidon hoi ophthalmoi mou to soterion sou ho +hetoimasas kata prosopon panton ton laon], 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. + +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: [Greek: houtos estin ho huios mou ho +agapetos, en ho eudokesa], 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: +[Greek: houtos estin ho huios mou ho agapetos, en ho eudokesa. autou +akouete.] 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 [Greek: autou akouete] are +at once added from Deut. xviii. 15. The name of the Servant of God +was not high enough fur the sublime moment; the _Son_ formed, in the +second passage, the contrast to the _mere_ 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 [Greek: pais Theou]. In Acts iii. 13: [Greek: edoxase ton paida] +[Pg 199] [Greek: autou Iesoun], we shall be obliged to follow _Bengel_ +in explaining it by: _ministrum suum_, partly on account of Matt. xii. +18, and because the LXX. often render [Hebrew: ebd] by [Greek: pais]; +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 [Greek: edoxase] (LXX. [Greek: +doulos mou ei su [Israel] kai en soi eudoxasthesomai]). And so likewise +in Acts iii. 26; iv. 27: [Greek: epi ton hagion paida sou Iesoun, hon +echrisas], where the last words refer to chap. lxi. 1; farther, in Acts +iv. 30. In all these passages it is not the more obvious [Greek: +doulos], but [Greek: pais] which is put, in order to remove the low +notions which, in Greek, attach to the word [Greek: doulos]. + +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 _Clericus_, 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. + +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. + +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 (_Hendewerk_), is at once overthrown by Matt. +xii. 18, as well as by the other [Pg 200] passages already quoted, in +which Christ appears as [Greek: pais Theou]. Phil. ii. 7, [Greek: +morphen doulou labon] comes as near the [Hebrew: ebd ihvh], as it was +possible, considering the low notion attached to the Greek [Greek: +doulos]. The passages which treat of the obedience of Christ, such as +Rom, v. 19; Phil. ii. 8; Heb. v. 8; John xvii. 4: [Greek: ton ergon +eteleiosa, ho dedokas moi hina poieso], give only a paraphrase of the +notion of the Servant of the Lord. With perfect soundness _Dr Nitzsch_ +has remarked, that it was required by the typical connection of the two +Testaments, that Christ should somehow, according to His [Greek: +hupakoe], [Greek: hupotage], be represented as the perfect +manifestation of the [Hebrew: ebd]--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" (_Gesenius_), 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 _seers_, and puts the +_real_, in place of the _ideal_ 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 _Ewald_ 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. + +Even this circumstance must raise an unfavourable prejudice against the +non-Messianic interpretation, that its defenders [Pg 201] 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. + +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. + +The LXX. already understood Israel by the Servant of the Lord. They +translate in ver. 1: [Greek: Iakob, ho pais mou, antilepsomai autou, +Israel, ho eklektos mou, prosedexato auton he psuche mou.] Among the +Jewish interpreters, _Jarchi_ 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 _Hitzig_. 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 _Koester_ 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 [Pg +202] 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, _ex professo_, 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 +_disappear_ 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. +_Finally_--The idea of chance is entirely excluded by chap. xlix. 3, +where the Messiah is called Israel. + +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 +_nicer_ 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 _that the Prophet considers Christ as the concentration +and essence of Israel_, 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 [Pg 203] +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 +_opposition_ 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 [Pg 204] 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 [Hebrew: ebd ihvh] 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., _e.g._, chap. +xli. 8: "And thou Israel, my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, seed +(_posterity_) of Abraham, my friend," chap. xliii. 10: "_Ye are my +witnesses._ 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. +_Finally_,--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 _Koester_: +"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 [Pg 205] all. The same arguments decide partly also +against a modification of this explanation which evidently has +proceeded from embarrassment only,[1] against those who, by the Servant +of God, understand the better portion of Israel,--such as _Maurer_, +_Ewald_, _Oehler_ (_Ueber den Knecht Gottes_, _Tuebinger Zeitschrift_, +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), _Knobel_ ("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. + +According to _De Wette_ (_de morte expiat._ p. 26) and _Gesenius_, [Pg +206] the subject of the prophecy is the collective body of the +prophets. Substantially, _Umbreit_ too (_Der Knecht Gottes_, 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 _Gesenius_, 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 [Hebrew: +ebd], but chiefly, the prophets who, in future only, on the regained +paternal soil, are, in some person, to reach the highest perfection." + +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 _synonymous_, but a _synthetic_ 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); [Pg 207] 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 _messengers_ 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. + +_Farther_--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 _Umbreit_ 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 _the_ +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 +_Umbreit_, 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 _only_ the Prophet. The contrast between Cyrus and the +Servant of God, which _G. Mueller_ 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 _ruler_, just as +Christ, in chap. lv. 4, is at the same time designated as a _Witness_, +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 _His law_." Nor does a mere +teacher come up to the embodied covenant with Israel in ver. 6, nor to +_the_ [Pg 208] _light_, _i.e._, Salvation and Saviour of the Gentiles. +By mere teaching, salvation cannot be wrought out. Ver. 7 also does not +apply to the mere _teacher_. + +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. _Farther_--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 +_Finally_--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 _the Prophet_. 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. + + + * * * * * * * * * * + + +Ver. 1. "_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_[2] _to the Gentiles._" + +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 [Pg 209] 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 _Prophets_ 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 _dignity_ 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 [Greek: kat'ezochen], and +in whom, therefore, this dignity must reach its highest degree, so that +the designation, _My Servant_, borders very closely upon that of _My +Son_, (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 _Israel_ 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 _consolation_, 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 [Pg 210] 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 _nomen +proprium_, and is not parallel to [Hebrew: ebdi], 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 [Hebrew: alh] "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."--[Hebrew: tmK] +"to take," "to seize," "to hold," when followed by [Hebrew: b], always +signifies _to lay hold of_, _to hold fast_, _to support_. With the +words: "Behold my servant whom I uphold," corresponds what the Lord +says in John viii. 29: [Greek: ho pempsas me met'emou estin. ouk +apheke me monon ho Pater, hoti ego ta aresta auto poio pantote]; comp. +John iii. 2; Acts x. 38. The Preterite [Hebrew: ntti] is employed, +because the communication of the Spirit is the condition of his +bringing forth right, just as, in ver. 6, the _calling_ is the ground +of the preservation. In the whole of the description of the Servant of +God, the Future prevails throughout; the _Praeteritum propheticum_ is +employed only, where something is to be designated, which, relatively, +is antecedent; compare the words: "And the Spirit of the Lord rests +upon [Pg 211] 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 [Hebrew: ica] 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 [Hebrew: hvcia] 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," +[Hebrew: ica] does not mean to go _out_, but to go _forth_, _i.e._, to +proceed. In the same way, in Hab. i. 4: "And not does right go forth +for ever," _i.e._, it never comes forth, is never established, comp. +Vol. i., p. 442, 443. Hence [Hebrew: hvcia] here can mean only "to +bring to light," "to bring forth." [Hebrew: mwpT] 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, +_right_ stands in parallelism with _law_, 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," +_e.g._, 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. [Pg 212] 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"--_Stier_ pertinently remarks--"in ver. 1, the sum +and substance, even to its aim. But it is immediately brought more +distinctly to view, what [Pg 213] will be the spirit and character, the +mode of operation, by which this aim is to be brought about." + +Ver. 2; "_He shall not cry nor lift up, nor cause His voice to be heard +in the street._" + +After [Hebrew: iwa] "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." +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 [Hebrew: iceq] by [Greek: +erisei], "He shall contend"), to the earnestly sought publicity, to the +intention of causing sensation, as it proceeds from vanity or pride. +The [Greek: kraugasei], by which Matthew renders the [Hebrew: iwa], has +nothing in common with the [Greek: ekraxe] 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 [Pg 214] because of His not being beat upon carrying through +any thing, because of His great confidence, that the Servant of God +_gains_ 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:--_first_, in +His not entering into a violent dispute with the Pharisees opposing Him +([Greek: hoi de pharisaioi sumboulion elabon kat'autou exelthontes, +hopos auton apolesosin]), in His not exciting against them the masses +who were devoted to Him, but in withdrawing from them ([Greek: ho de +Iesous gnous anechoresen ekeithen], 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."--_Secondly_, 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 ([Greek: kai epetimesen +autois hina me phaneron auton poiesosin], 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. + +Ver. 3. "_The bent reed shall He not break, and the dimly burning wick +shall He not quench; in truth shall He bring forth right._" + +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 ([Greek: kai etherapeusen +autous pantas], 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 [Pg 215] 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, [Hebrew: qnh rcvC], Pharaoh +appears on account of his broken power, in chap. xxxvi. 6, and in chap. +lviii. 6, the [Hebrew: rcvciM] are the oppressed. The fact, that the +_wick_ 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 _weary_ in chap. l. 4, and the +_broken-hearted_ 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 [Greek: ptochoi], +Matt. v. 3, of the [Greek: penthountes], ver. 4, and in Matt. xi. 28, +the invitation of the [Greek: kopiontes kai pephortismenoi], 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 +[Greek: to pneumati], "in their consciousness," which in Matthew is +added to the simple [Greek: ptochoi], 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 [Pg 216] +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 _per se_, 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 [Hebrew: lamt] +must not be translated: "For truth" (LXX: [Greek: eis aletheian]); for +there is a thorough difference between [Hebrew: l] and [Hebrew: al]; +the former does not, like the latter, designate the motion towards some +object, but is rather, here also, a preposition signifying "belonging +to;" hence [Hebrew: lamt] means "belonging to truth," "in a true +manner," "in truth." By every other mode of dealing, right would be +established _in appearance_ and _outwardly_ only. Matthew renders it: +[Greek: heos an ekbale eis nikos ten krisin], "until He has led right +to victory." By the addition of [Greek: heos] 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. [Greek: Eis +nikos] is a free translation of [Hebrew: lamt]; [Greek: krisis] 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 _Gentile world_ must be +represented by the bent reed and dimly burning wick. But in that case, +we must have recourse to such arbitrary interpretations as, _e.g._, +that given by _Koester_: "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," (_Umbreit_); or say +with _Knobel_: "These poor and afflicted He does not [Pg 217] humble +still more by hard, depressing _words_, but _speaks_ 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 _creates_, 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 ([Hebrew: +khh]) 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. + +Ver. 4. "_He shall not fail nor run away until He shall have founded +right in the earth, and for His law the isles shall wait._" + +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 [Hebrew: la irvC] +"He shall not run away" (properly, "He shall not _run_") is qualified +and fixed by the parallelism with [Hebrew: la ikhh] "He shall not +fail." [Hebrew: rvC] 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 _obstacles_, with +obstinate _enemies_, 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: [Greek: o genea apistos kai diestrammene, heos pote esomi meth' +humon; heos pote anexomai humon.]--According to the current opinion, +[Hebrew: irvC] is here assumed to be the Future of [Hebrew: rcC], for +[Hebrew: irC], and that in the appropriate signification: "He shall not +be broken." (Thus it was probably [Pg 218] viewed by the Chaldean +Paraphrast who renders [Hebrew: la ilai] _non laborabit_; by the LXX., +who translate [Greek: ou thrauthsesetai], while _Aquila_ and +_Symmachus_, according to the account of _Jerome_, render, _non +curret_, thus following the derivation from [Hebrew: rvC]). As [Hebrew: +ikhh] points back to [Hebrew: khh] in the preceding verse, so, in that +case [Hebrew: irvC] would point back to [Hebrew: rcvC] "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 [Hebrew: rcC] and +[Hebrew: rvC] 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, +[Hebrew: rvC] "to run," "to flee away," being in parallelism with +[Hebrew: nrHq] "to be removed," is quite appropriate; just as in the +second clause of that verse [Hebrew: rvC] "to be crushed," is in +parallelism with [Hebrew: nwbr] "to be broken."--[Hebrew: aiiM] are, in +the _usus loquendi_ 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 +_law_ 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 +_doctrine_," 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 [Hebrew: tvrh] 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 _laws_ 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 _judges_ among the nations, +and the law goes forth [Pg 219] 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, +_mine arms shall judge the nations_, the isles shall wait for me, and +on mine arm shall they hope." The _judging_ 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 _His +name_ shall the Gentiles trust." The desire for the commands of the +Lord is an effect of the love of His _name_, _i.e._, 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. + +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. + +Ver. 5. "_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._" + +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, [Pg 220] will surely not explain this accumulation by a +"disposition, on the part of the Prophet, to diffuseness." + +Ver. 6. "_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._" + +It is so obvious that [Hebrew: bcdq] 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 _righteousness_, 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 _Gentiles_ 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.e._, 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 _resist_ thy work." In the words: "For the Covenant of the people, +and for the Light of the Gentiles," [Hebrew: eM] and [Hebrew: gviM] +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 _what_ +people that should be, cannot admit of a moment's doubt. To Israel, as +such, the name of the _people_ pre-eminently belongs. Israel, in +preference to all others, is called [Hebrew: eM] (compare _Gesenius'_ +[Pg 221] Thesaurus _s.v._ [Hebrew: gvi]), because it is only the people +of God that is a people in the full sense, connected by an internal +unity; the Gentiles are [Hebrew: la eM], _non-people_, 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 _Covenant_. The covenant +can belong to the covenant-people only, [Greek: hon hai diathekai], +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 _Salvation_ 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, [Greek: +diathekes enguos], 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 _Mediator_ 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 _the Light of the +Gentiles_. By the realization of this destination, an important feature +in [Pg 222] 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: [Greek: he soteria ek ton Ioudaion estin.] Light +is here, according to the common _usus loquendi_ of Scripture, a +figurative designation of _salvation_. 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 _brilliant_ 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 [Hebrew: eM] is used collectively, and +refer it to the Gentile nations. But opposed to this explanation is the +evident antithesis of [Hebrew: eM] and [Hebrew: gviM]; 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 (_Hitzig_, +_Ewald_) explain: "covenant-people, _i.e._, 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. _Farther_--The +parallelism with [Hebrew: avr gviM] shows that [Hebrew: brit eM] is the +_status constructus_. But _f[oe]dus alicujus_, is, according to the +remark of _Gesenius_, _f[oe]dus cum aliquo sancitum_. 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 _Knobel_: "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, [Pg 223] also, is opposed to the _usus loquendi_, +according to which "covenant of the people" can have the sense only of +"covenant with the people," not a covenant among the people. And, +_farther_, 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 [Hebrew: brit eM], 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. +_Finally_--A covenant is a relation between two parties standing +opposite one another. "The word is used," says _Gesenius_, "of a +covenant formed between nations, between private persons, _e.g._, David +and Jonathan, between Jehovah and the people of Israel." But here no +parties are mentioned to be united by the covenant. + +Ver. 7. "_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._" + +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 +_Gentiles_; 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 _proves_ 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 +_blindness_, 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 _usus loquendi_, and according to chap. +ix. 1 (2) is not to be referred to the spiritual illumination +especially, [Pg 224] 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 _blind_ 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," _Knobel_ 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. _Imprisonment_ is a figurative designation of the +_miserable condition_, not less than, the _darkness_, 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 _trouble_;" comp. also Ps. xxv. 17: "O bring thou me out of +my _distresses_." If we here understand the prison literally, we might, +with the same propriety in other passages, also, _e.g._, in Ps. lxvi. +11, understand _literally_ the net, the snare, the trap. + +Ver. 8: "_I the Lord, that is my name, and my honour I will not give to +another, nor my glory to idols._ Ver. 9. _The former_ (things), +_behold, they came to pass, and new_ (things) _do I declare; before +they spring forth, I cause you to hear._" + +We have here the solemn close and exhortation. At the close of chap. +xli. it had been pointed out, how the prediction of the _Conqueror from +the East_ serves for the glory of Jehovah, [Pg 225] 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 +_Servant of God_ 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 _Stier_, [Hebrew: +rawnvt], "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 +(_Michaelis_: _et nova, imprimis de Messia_), 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 [Pg 226] 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. + + + +[Footnote 1: This embarrassment becomes still more obvious in the +explanation of _Vatke_, who understands by the Servant of God, "the +harmless ideal abstract of the people;" and that of _Beck_, who +understands thereby "the notion of the people."] + +[Footnote 2: The Hebrew word is [Hebrew: mwpT], which means "judgment," +"right," "law." Dr. _Hengstenberg_ has translated it by _Recht_, which +is, as nearly as possible, expressed by the English word "right," +(_jus_,) as including "law" and "statutes."--_Tr._] + + + + + CHAPTER XLIX. 1-9. + + +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 _Gentiles_ 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 _Israel_, 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. + +The Messianic explanation of our passage is already met with in the New +Testament. It is with reference to it that [Pg 227] Simeon, in Luke ii. +30, 31, designates the Saviour as the [Greek: soterion] 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 [Greek: phos eis apokalupsin ethnon kai doxan laou sou Israel]; +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: [Greek: Kai eklethe +to onoma autou Iesous, to klethen hupo tou angelou pro tou +sullephthenai auton en te koilia] (comp. i. 31: [Greek: sullepse en +gastri kai texe huion kai kaleseis to onoma autou Iesoun]) as is +sufficiently evident from [Greek: en te koilia] _sc. matris_, which +exactly answers to the [Hebrew: mbTN] 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: +[Greek: idou strephometha eis ta ethne. houto gar entetaltai hemin ho +Kurios. tetheika se eis phos ethnon tou einai se eis soterian heos +eschatou tes ges.] 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. + +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 _Theodoret_ and _Clericus_, 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. + +_Gesenius_, 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 +[Pg 228] 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 _Beck_ +expresses it, the Prophet [Greek: kat'exochen] 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., _e.g._, 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 _he is +spoken of_. 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. + +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--_Hitzig_, last of all--the Servant of God is to be +_Israel_, 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 _nomen +proprium_, but as an honorary name, to designate the high dignity and +destination of the Servant of God. As this name had passed over from +[Pg 229] 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. (_Knobel_ 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. _Maurer_, +_Knobel_, and others, endeavour to explain it of _the better portion of +the people_. 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 [Greek: ekloge], can scarcely +be thought of, and is without any analogy. Nor is the mention of the +_womb_. and _bowels of the mother_, 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 (_Jarchi_, _Kimchi_, +_Abenezra_, _Grotius_, _Steudel_, _Umbreit_, _Hofmann_), the Servant of +the Lord is to be none other than _the Prophet himself_. 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 [Pg 230] 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. _Farther_-- +Like all the other prophets, Isaiah was sent to the Jews, and not to +the Gentiles; but at the very outset, _the most distant lands and all +the distant nations_ 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. _Umbreit_ 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. _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._ 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 [Pg 231] 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 _Gesenius_, the +Servant of the Lord is to be _the collective body of the prophets_, the +prophetic order. In opposition to this view, _Stier_ remarks: "We +maintain that, according to history, there did not at that time (the +time of the exile, in which _Gesenius_ 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 _Gesenius_, 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. + + + * * * * * * * * * * + +Ver. 1. "_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._" + +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; [Pg 232] 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 +_isles_ 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 _first_ 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 _more +particularly_. 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.--_The Lord had called me from the womb._ 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 [Pg 233] 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: +[Greek: ho theos ho aphorisas] (corresponding to: I have _sanctified_ +thee) [Greek: me ek koilias metros mou.] But we have here merely the +_introduction to what follows_, where the calling, to which the Servant +of God had been destined from the womb appears as quite unique.--_From +the bowels of my mother hath He made mention of my name._ The name is +here not an ordinary proper name, but _a name descriptive of the +nature_,--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: [Greek: texetai de huion +kai kaleseis to onoma autou Iesoun. autos gar sosei ton laon autou apo +ton hamartion auton], 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. + +Ver. 2. "_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._" + +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 _shadow_ 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 [Pg 234] 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 +_rhetorical endowment_ of the Servant of God; _that does not flow from +the source of the protecting omnipotence of God_. These accessory +clauses rather suggest the idea that, by the comparison of the _mouth_ +with the sharp sword, of the _whole person_ with the sharpened arrow, +there is indicated _the absolutely conquering power which, under the +protection of omnipotence, adheres to the word and person of the +Servant of God_, so that He will easily put down everything which +opposes,--equivalent to: _He has endowed me with His omnipotence, so +that my word produces destructive effects, and puts down all +opposition, just as does His word_; 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, [Pg 235] 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 _word_ 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 _me_ 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. + +Ver. 3. "_And He said unto me: Thou art my Servant, O Israel, in whom I +glorify myself._" + +"My Servant" stands here as an honorary _designation_; 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 _Israel_ 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.) _Haevernick_ 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 +[Pg 236] an individual, but as the representative of the whole race, it +is said there: [Greek: ap'arti opsesthe ton ouranon aneogota, kai tous +angelous tou theou anabainontas kai katabainontas epi ton huion tou +anthropou.] All those declarations of the Old Testament, in which the +name of Jacob or Israel is used to designate the _election_, 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.e._, 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: [Greek: eleluthen he hora hina +doxasthe ho huios tou anthropou]; xvii. 5: [Greek: kai nun doxason me +su pater.] The verb [Hebrew: par] means in _Piel_, "to adorn," in +_Hithp._ "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.e._, 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: [Greek: Pater doxason sou to onoma.] The Father, by glorifying +the Son, glorifies at the same time His name. Those who explain +[Hebrew: atpar] by: _per quem ornabor_, 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. + +Ver. 4. "_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._" + +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 [Pg 237] 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. +_Jerome_, 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 _scene_ of the +vain labour of the Servant of God, the _heathen world_ 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 _Israel_ 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 _apostate_ 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 _the preserved_ of Israel, while the original +mission had been directed to the _whole_. And this portion to which His +activity is limited, is comparatively a _small_ 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 _given up_ 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 [Pg 238] 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 _with Him_; 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. + +Ver. 5. "_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._ Ver. [Pg 239]6. _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._" + +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. _And now_, _i.e._, since the matter stands thus (Gen. xlv. +8),--since Israel, to whom my mission is, in the first instance, +directed, reject me. _Saith the Lord_--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:--_first_, the frustration of the +original mission of the Servant of the Lord to the Jews; and +_secondly_, 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: +[Greek: ouk apestalen ei me eis ta probata ta apololota oikou Israel.] +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: [Greek: poreuesthe de mallon pros ta probata ta +apololota oikou Israel.] Paul and Barnabas say, in Acts xiii. 46: +[Greek: humin en anankaion proton lalethenai ton logon tou Theou. +epeide de apotheisthe auton kai ouk axious krinete heautous tes aioniou +zoes, idou strephometha eis ta ethne.] 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 [Hebrew: lwibb] to Jehovah, and +consider it as a Gerund. [Pg 240] _reducendo_, or _qui reducit ad se +Jacobum_. In the same way they explain also the Infinit. with [Hebrew: +l] in the following verse, as also in chap. li. 16. But although the +Infinit. with [Hebrew: l] 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 [Hebrew: lwvbb ieqb aliv] 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.--"_And Israel, which is not gathered._" Before [Hebrew: awr], +[Hebrew: la] 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 _like sheep_ have gone astray, we have +turned every one to his own way."--To the words under consideration the +Lord alludes in Matt. xxiii. 37: [Greek: hIerousalem ... posakis +ethelesa epi sunagagein ta tekna sou hon tropon episunagei ornis ta +nossia heautes hupo tas pterugas kai ouk ethelesate]; comp. also Matt. +ix. 36: [Greek: idon de tous ochlous esplanchnisthe peri auton hoti +esan eskulmenoi kai erhrimmenoi hosei probata me echonta poimena.] On +account of chap. xi. 12, it will not do to take [Hebrew: asP] in the +signification of "to snatch away," "to carry off," as is done by +_Hitzig_. Moreover [Hebrew: nasP] means, indeed, "to be gathered," but +never "to be carried off" The Mazoreths would read [Hebrew: la] for +[Hebrew: lv]: "And that Israel might be gathered to _Him_." Thus it is +rendered, among the ancient translators, by _Aquila_ and the Chaldee; +while _Symmachus_, _Theodoret_, and the Vulgate express the negation. +Most of the modern interpreters have followed the Mazoreths. But the +assumption of several of these, that [Hebrew: la] is only a different +writing for [Hebrew: lv], is altogether without foundation, compare the +remarks on chap. ix. 2; and the reading of the Mazoreths is just like +all the _Kris_, a mere conjecture, owing its origin, as has already +been [Pg 241] remarked by _Jerome_, 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 [Hebrew: asP] in the signification "to gather" +has the person to whom it is gathered never joined to it by means of +[Hebrew: l], but commonly by means of [Hebrew: al], is of so much the +greater importance, that [Hebrew: l] has nothing to do with [Hebrew: +al]. When _Stier_ 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 _election_.--The words: "And I am honoured in the +eyes of the Lord, and my God is my strength," _i.e._, 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." [Hebrew: +wvb] in _Hiphil_ frequently means "to lead back," in the ordinary +sense, but sometimes also "to lead back into the former, or _normal_ +condition," "to restore," compare remarks on Dan. ix. 25; Ps. lxxx. 4. +The parallel, "to raise up," which is opposed to the _lying down_ (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., _raising up and restoration_, +is, in substance, the same which, according to what follows, He becomes +to the _Gentiles_, [Pg 242] viz., _light and salvation_. 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 +_tribes of Jacob_, 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 _Kethibh_ [Hebrew: neiri] is an adjective form with a passive +signification; the marginal reading [Hebrew: ncvri] 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 [Hebrew: ncr], "to watch," is, according to +_Gesenius_, especially used _de Jehova homines custodiente et tuente._ +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 _gives up_. 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. _Light_ (compare remarks on chap. xlii. 6), and +_salvation_ 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 [Hebrew: l] +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 _covenant_ of the people, +because this covenant finds in Him its truth; compare also the +expression: "This man is _peace_," in Mic. v. 4 (5). _Gesenius_ rightly +remarks, that [Pg 243] 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. + +Ver. 7. "_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._" + +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.e._, the high and glorious God, +because the Servant of God is, in the first instance, sent to Israel as +[Greek: diakonos peritomes huper aletheias theou eis to bebaiosai tas +epangelias ton pateron], Rom. xv. 8; but still more, because He himself +is the concentration of Israel (ver. 3), the [Greek: kephale tou +somatos tes ekklesias], 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 _from +the apostate portion of the covenant-people_: The _princes and kings_ +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 His person, represented the +_ideal_ 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 +[Pg 244] 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 [Hebrew: bzh] is, after the example of _Kimchi_, +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 _Stat. +construct._ of an adjective [Hebrew: bzh] with a passive signification. +This latter view is more natural; and the reason which _Stier_ adduces +against it, viz., that of verbs [Hebrew: lh] no such forms are found, +cannot be considered as conclusive. [Hebrew: bzh-npw], literally the +"despised one of the _soul_" 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 [Hebrew: npw] is +_here_ parallel to [Hebrew: nvi], and that the latter corresponds to +the [Hebrew: eM] in Ps. xxii. "The despised one of the soul" must, +accordingly, be he who is despised of every one. The soul corresponding +to _man_ 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 +_soul_, and take the goods to thyself."--"_To the abhorrence of the +people._" [Hebrew: teb] in _Piel_ 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" (_Roediger_: _horrorem incutiens +populo, qui abominationi est populo_), interpreters cannot adduce even +one apparent passage, except that before us. We are, therefore, only at +liberty to explain, after the example of _Kimchi_: "to the ... people +abhorring," _i.e._, to him against whom the [Pg 245] people feel an +abhorrence. [Hebrew: gvi] is used of the Jewish people in Is. i. 4 +also. _Hofmann_ 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 [Hebrew: eM] 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 +[Hebrew: npw] and [Hebrew: gvi] designate the generality of this +hatred, [Hebrew: mwliM] 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: [Greek: legei auto ho Pilatos. emoi ou +laleis; ouk oidas hoti exousian echo staurosai se kai exousian echo +apolusai se.] The _servant of rulers_ 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.: [Greek: hoi de +paraporeuomenoi eblasphemoun auton k.t.l. homoios de kai hoi archiereis +empaizontes meta ton grammateon kai presbuteron elegon. allous esosen +k.t.l. to d'auto kai hoi lestai hoi susaurothentes auto honeidizon +auton.]--After [Hebrew: irav] "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 _Holy One +of Israel_; 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. + +[Pg 246] + +Ver. 8. "_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._ Ver. 9. _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._" + +_The time of favour_ may be either the time when God shows His delight +in, and favour to His Servant, and, in Him, to the Church, _q. d._, of +delight in thee, mercy for thee,--in which case chap. lx. 10 would be +parallel: "In my _wrath_ 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, [Greek: kairo dekto], Vulg. _tempore placito_); 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 [Hebrew: eM] 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 [Pg 247] steps into the back-ground, in order afterwards +to come forth more prominently. The _ways_ and _bare hills_ 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. + + + + + CHAPTER L. 4-11. + + +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. + +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, [Pg 248] 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 _carried out and expanded_. 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. + +In the Messianic explanation of this Section, the Lord himself has gone +before His Church. We read in Luke xviii. 31, 32, [Greek: paralabon de +tous dodeka eipe pros autous. idou anabainomen eis hIerosoluma kai +telesthesetai panta ta gegrammena dia ton propheton to huio tou +anthropou. paradothesetai gar tois ethnesi kai empaichthesetai kai +hubristhesetai kai emptusthesetai kai mastigosantes apoktenousin +auton.] 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 +( [Greek: mastigosantes], LXX. [Greek: eis mastigas]), and my cheeks to +those plucking ( [Greek: empaichthesetai]--the plucking of the beard, +an act of degrading wantonness), my face I hid not from shame ( [Greek: +hubristhesetai]) and spitting." _Bengel_ 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 [Pg 249] ancient Christian Church. In it, the +Messianic interpretation prevailed throughout; and _Grotius_, 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 +_Clericus_. + +In favour of the Messianic explanation there is the remarkable +agreement existing between prophecy and fulfilment, comp. Matt. xxvi. +67, 68: [Greek: Tote eneptusan eis to prosopon autou kai ekolaphisan +auton. hOi de erhrapisan legontes. propheteuson hemin, christe, tis +estin ho paisas se]; xxvii. 30: [Greek: kai emptusantes eis auton +elabon ton kalamon kai etupton eis ten kephalen autou],--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. _Farther_--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. _Farther_--Ver. 11, where the +Servant of God ascribes to himself the judgment upon the unbelieving +mass of the people: "From _my_ 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. _Finally_--The parallel passages. + +Most of the modern interpreters assume that the Prophet himself, +Isaiah, or Pseudo-Isaiah, is the subject of the prophecy. _Jerome_ +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., _Paulus_. The explanation which +refers it to the _whole_ 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. + +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 [Pg 250] 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. _Knobel_, 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. + +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 _Hofmann_, 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! _It is +only a person of central importance that is suitable to this context._ +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. + +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 [Pg 251] in admitting their +knowledge of this, that it would be rather strange if they were +destitute of such knowledge. + +Ver. 4. "_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._" + +The greater number of expositors explain a disciple's tongue by: "A +tongue such as instructed people or scholars possess,--an eloquent +tongue." But [Hebrew: lmd], 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 _ear_ 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: [Greek: kago ha ekousa par'autou tauta lalo +eis ton kosmon], comp. iii. 34: [Greek: hon gar apesteilen ho theos ta +rhemata tou theou lalei.] The verb [Hebrew: smK], which occurs only +here, means, according to the Arabic, "to help," "to support;" +_Aquila_: [Greek: huposterisai], Vulg. _sustentare_. Like other similar +verbs, _e.g._, [Hebrew: smK], in Gen. xxvii. 37, it is construed with a +double accusative: "that I may help the weary, word," _i.e._, 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, _ibid._, ver. 7; the broken-hearted, +chap. lxi. 1; them that mourn, _ibid._, 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. _e.g._, 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. _To waken_ [Pg 252] _the ear_ 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. + +Ver. 5. "_The Lord Jehovah hath opened mine ear, and I was not +rebellious, and have not turned back._" + +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 +_usus loquendi_, "The Lord hath opened mine ear," can only mean: The +Lord hath revealed to me, hath informed me inwardly; _Abenezra_: +[Hebrew: glh svdv li] "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. _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._ 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: [Greek: plen ouch hos ego thelo all'hos +su], Matt. xxvi. 39. + +[Pg 253] + +Ver. 6. "_I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to the pluckers, +I hid not my face from shame and spitting._" + +The words express in an individualizing manner the thought, that the +Servant of God, in His vocation as the Saviour of the _personae +miserabiles_, 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 _substantial_ +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. + +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? + +Ver. 7. "_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._" + +[Hebrew: nklmti] refers to [Hebrew: klmvt] 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" +(_Stier_); 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: [Greek: egeneto de to sumplerousthai tas +hemeras tes analepseos autou, kai autos to prosopon autou esterixe tou +poreuesthai eis hIerousalem.] + +Ver. 8. "_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._" + +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 [Pg 254] following verse +are intentionally alluded to. The justification is one by _deeds_. It +took place and was fulfilled, in the first instance, in the +resurrection and glorification of Christ, and, then, in the destruction +of Jerusalem.--[Hebrew: bel mwpTi] literally, "the master of my right," +_i.e._, he who according to his opinion or assertion which, by the +issue is proved to be false, has a right over me, comp. the [Greek: +en emoi ouk echei ouden] which, in John xiv. 30, the Lord says in +reference to the chief of His enemies. + +Ver. 9. "_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._" + +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 _condemn_ the Servant of God, +become a prey to destruction. + +The Servant of God closes with a double address; first, to the godly; +and then, to the ungodly. + +Ver. 10. "_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._" + +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," +_q.d._, 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 _the_ Prophet. [Pg 255] 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 _party_, 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 _may_ +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. + +Ver. 11. "_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._" + +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 _not_ +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 _fire_ is often in Scripture the fire of war, +chap. ix. 18; Jer. li. 5; Rev. viii. 7-10. According to several +interpreters (_Hitzig_, _Ewald_, _Knobel_), 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 [Pg 256] 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 +_light_ of your fire." They now have a light which enlightens their +darkness; but this self-created light consumes them.--To _gird_ 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 +[Greek: hapax legomenon] [Hebrew: ziqvt] 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 ( [Greek: phloga]), and Vulg. (_flammas_). In +Syriac [Hebrew: ziqa] has the signification "lightning." Those who +explain it by "fiery darts" are not at liberty to refer it to the +[Hebrew: zqiM] in Prov. xxvi. 18. The signification "flames" (not +"sparks," as _Stier_ holds), is, in that passage, quite suitable; +simple arrows could there not be mentioned after the fiery darts +without making the discourse feeble.--[Hebrew: lki] "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: _sic volo, sic jubeo._ 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 [Hebrew: l] in [Hebrew: lmecbh] serves for +designating the condition: so that you belong to pain, [Hebrew: wkb] +occurs in [Pg 257] chap. xliii. 17 of the Egyptians lying down; comp. +Ps. xli. 9: "He that _lieth_ 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." + + + + + CHAPTER LI. 1-16. + + +Ver. 1. "_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._" + +The discourse in chap. li. to lii. 12 is not addressed to the whole of +Israel, but to the _election_. 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. + +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. + +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. + +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, [Pg 258] 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 [Hebrew: l] a Gerund, "planting," or "by planting,"--a +supposition which is beset with great difficulties. It was only by an +inconsistency that _Stier_, 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 _words_ 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 +_Gesenius_ and _Umbreit_, 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 _a +priori_ 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 [Pg 259] 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 cover thee in the shadow of mine hand_, +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 +_perform_ 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 +_new_ heaven, a _new_ 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 [Greek: palingenesia] 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 _usus loquendi_ 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 _saying_, according to the +preceding: That thou mayest plant, &c., is not to be referred to the +mere announcing; but, according to the frequent _usus loquendi_, it +includes the performing also, just as _e.g._, in ver. 12, the [Pg 260] +comforting is effected by a discourse _in deeds_. 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. + + + + + CHAPTERS LII. 13-LIII. 12. + + +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 _Luther's_ demand, every Christian should have +committed _verbatim_. Christ is here, with wonderful clearness, +described to us in His highest work--His atoning suffering. + +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 _elect_ 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, [Pg 261] 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. + +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. + +By the "_Behold_," 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. + +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 [Pg 262] in which it stands to the +portions surrounding it. Its relation to what goes before is thus +strikingly designated by _Calvin_: "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; +_watchmen_, 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.[1] "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 [Pg 263] 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 _voice_ 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, _true_ 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 [Pg 264] 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. + +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. + +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. + +Chap. lii. 13. "_Behold, my Servant shall act wisely, He shall be +exalted and extolled, and be very high._" + +[Hebrew: hwkil] always means "to act wisely" (LXX. [Greek: sunesei]; +_Aquil. Sym._: [Greek: episthemonisthesetai]), never "to be successful" +(the Chaldean, whom most of the modern interpreters follow, renders it +by [Hebrew: iclH]), 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 [Pg 265] +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. _Stier_ 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 _prosperity and success_ 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: +_first_, because God is the source and fountain of all wisdom, and, +_secondly_, 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 [Hebrew: mad] "very" in order most +emphatically to point out the glory of the exaltation of the Servant of +God. + +Ver. 14. "_As many were shocked at thee--so marred from man was His +look, and His form from the sons of man_--Ver. 15. _So shall He +sprinkle many nations; kings shall shut their_ [Pg 266] _mouths on +account of Him, for they who had not been told, they see, and they who +did not hear, they perceive._" + +Ver. 14 contains the _protasis_, ver. 15 the _apodosis_. The former +describes the deep humiliation, the latter the highest glorification of +the Servant of God. The _so_ 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 _Him_" 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. _Haevernick_ and _Stier_ 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 _apodosis_ begins with the first [Hebrew: kN], and that in +ver. 15 a second _apodosis_ follows. But no tolerable thought comes out +in this way;--it is hard to co-ordinate two _apodoses_,--and the +transition from the 2d to the 3d person remains unaccounted for. +[Hebrew: wmM] "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 _Gentiles_; 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. +[Hebrew: mwHt], properly "corruption," stands here as _abstractum pro +concreto_, in the signification, "corrupted," "marred." As to its form, +it is in the _status constructus_ which, in close connections, can +stand even [Pg 267] before Prepositions. From the corresponding +[Hebrew: Hdl aiwiM] 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 [Hebrew: mN] 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 _part_, the +_whole_ 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 +_sufferings_ also. Thus, among the ancient interpreters, it was viewed +by _Jerome_: "The horrid appearance of His form is not thereby +indicated, but that He came in humility and poverty;" and among recent +interpreters by _Martini_: "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 _Cross_ 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 _suffering_ of the Servant of God, and +that, moreover, a suffering which, in the first instance, [Pg 268] +manifested itself upon His own holy body. _Farther_--We must also take +into consideration that the _sprinkling_, 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 [Hebrew: nzh] occurs in +very many passages, and signifies in _Hiphil_, 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 _sacrifice_, +and _sprinkled_ 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 _blood_ 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 _clean_ person shall +_sprinkle_ 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, _e.g._, 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 [Pg 269] have a symbolical and typical character. +That which was done to the outward impurity was, in point of fact, done +to the _sin_ which the people of the Old Testament, well versed in the +symbolical language, beheld under its image. Hence, here also, the +_sprinkling_ has the signification of _cleansing_ 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 _asperget_ of which _Jerome_ 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 [Greek: rhantismos haimatos Iesou Christou]. Farther, in +Heb. x. 22: [Greek: erhrantismenoi tas kardias apo suneideseos +poneras]; xii. 24: [Greek: kai haimati rhantismou kreitton lalounti +para ton Abel], 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. _Schroeder observ. ad origin. Hebr._ c. viii. Sec. +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. _Stier_ 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 _Hofmann_, 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 +[Hebrew: el]." _Reinke_ (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 [Hebrew: at] is there not the [Pg 270] sign of the +Accusative, but a Preposition. [Hebrew: at pni] in the signification +"before," is, elsewhere also, very frequently used. But even _Gesenius_ +is compelled to agree with _Simonis_.[2] and to acknowledge that, in +the proper name [Hebrew: izih] the verb is connected with an +Accusative. The deviation is there still greater, inasmuch as the _Kal_ +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 [Hebrew: hcdiq], which everywhere else is construed with the +Accusative, is followed by [Hebrew: l]; and likewise in [Hebrew: rpa], +followed by [Hebrew: l] in chap. liii. 5. The signification of the +verb, in such cases, undergoes a slight modification. [Hebrew: hzh] +with [Hebrew: el] 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 [Hebrew: nzH], +which corresponds to the Hebrew [Hebrew: nzh], is used of the +sprinkling of both persons and things; Heb. ix. 19, xi. 28; Ps. li. 9. +In Latin, we may say: _spargere aquam_, but also _spargere corpus +aqua_; _aspergere quid alicui_, but also _re aliquem_, _conspergere_, +_perspergere_, _respergere quem_. "Why should not this be allowed to +the Jews also,"--remarks _Koecher_--"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 [Hebrew: el] had +to be avoided, because, had it been put, the perception of the +correspondence of the subsequent [Hebrew: eliv] with the [Hebrew: +eliK], in ver. 14, would have become more difficult.--2. It is asserted +that it is against the connection; that the contrast to [Hebrew: mwM] +induces us to expect something corresponding. _Beck_ says: "A change in +those who formerly abhorred the Servant is to be expressed here, not _a +deed by the Servant himself_." 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 [Pg 271] +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 [Hebrew: wmmv] is not +[Hebrew: izh], but rather [Hebrew: iqpcv], is clearly shown by [Hebrew: +eliv], which corresponds with [Hebrew: eliK]. The [Hebrew: izh] +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 [Hebrew: izh].--3. "If _sprinkling_ 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 _oil_, 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 +_water_ 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: [Greek: ei gar to haima] [Pg 272] [Greek: tauron kai tragon kai +spodos damaleos rhantizousa tous kekoinomenous hagiazei pros ten tes +sarkos katharoteta. mallon to haima tou Christou ... kathariei ten +suneidesin hemon apo nekron ergon eis to latreuein Theo zonti.] 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 _Umbreit_ 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 [Hebrew: izh] from +[Hebrew: nzh] in the signification "to leap"--"He shall cause to leap. +This explanation made its appearance at first in a very cautious way." +_Martini_ 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 [Hebrew: izh]." 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 _usus loquendi_ is in [Hebrew: nzh] so sure, that we are not +entitled to take the explanation from the Arabic. The verb is, in +Hebrew, never used except of _fluids_. In _Kal_, it does not mean "to +leap," but "to spatter," Lev. vi. 20 (27): "And upon whose garment is +_spattered_ of the blood;" 2 Kings ix. 33; Is. lxiii. 5. In _Hiphil_, +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 [Pg 273] which appears from the vague and +arbitrary conjectures of the supporters of this view. _Gesenius_, in +his Commentary, _Stier_, and others, think of a leaping for joy, in +support of which they have quoted the _Kamus_, according to which the +verb is used of wanton asses! According to _Gesenius_ in the +_Thesaurus_, _Hofmann_, and others, the Gentiles are to leap up, in +order to show their _reverence_ for the Servant of God. According to +_Hitzig_ and others, it is to leap for _astonishment_, while, according +to _Umbreit_ and others, it is for _joyful admiration_. 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 [Hebrew: izh], 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 [Hebrew: wmmv], be +led to expect just this.[3]--In the _protasis_, the discourse is only +of many; here, it is of many nations (_Gousset_: "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 _shutting of the mouth_ occurs +elsewhere, too, repeatedly, as a sign of reverence and humble +submission. The reference of [Hebrew: eliv] to [Hebrew: eliK], shows +that _Ewald_ is wrong in explaining it by "besides Him." Since the +preceding [Hebrew: el] 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 [Pg 274] told, see;" thus the LXX.: [Greek: hois ouk +anengele peri autou, opsontai, kai hoi ouk akekoasi, sunesousi], 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.[4] + +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 _shocked_, and of the _cause_. The commentary upon +[Hebrew: wmmv] "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 [Pg 275] unbelief is, that the glory of the Servant of God is +concealed behind humiliation, misery, and shame. + +Chap. liii. 1: "_Who believes that which we hear, and the arm of the +Lord, to whom it is revealed?_" + +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 _portion_ only, in such a manner as if it were general. Similar +representations we elsewhere frequently meet with, _e.g._, Ps. xiv. 3 +(compare my Commentary); Jer. v. 1--[Hebrew: wmveh] is commonly +understood in the signification, "message" or "discourse." But in +favour of the explanation: "That which is heard by us," _q.d._, "that +which we hear," there is, in the first instance, the _usus loquendi_. +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, +_institutio_, _doctrina_, [Hebrew: wmveh] is that which the Prophet +hears from God. The mockers who exclaim: "Whom will he make to +understand [Hebrew: wmveh]?" 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, [Greek: Akoe] too, by +which, in the New Testament, [Hebrew: wmveh] is rendered, has not at +all the signification, "discourse," "preaching." [Greek: Akoe] in Rom. +x. 16, 17, is not the preaching, but the hearing, as is shown by the +[Greek: me ouk ekousan] in ver. 18. The [Greek: akoe], according to +ver. 17: [Greek: he de akoe dia rhematos Theou], is the passive to the +active to the word of God. "Who believes our [Greek: akoe], our +hearing," _i.e._, that which we hear, which is made known to us by the +Word of God. In a passive sense, [Greek: akoe] stands likewise in the +passages Matt. iv. 24, xiv. 1, xxiv. 6, which _Stier_ 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) [Greek: logos akoes], is the word which they heard. That +passage: [Greek: ouk ophelesen ho logos tes akoes ekeinous, me +sunkekramenos te pistei tois akousasi], 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 +[Pg 276] 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, _finally_, 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 _we_ everywhere refers to the _believing +Church_. 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 _Future_, 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.[5] _Stier_ rightly remarks: +"Between 'the arm of God,'and ourselves, a [Hebrew: wmveh] 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 _arm of the Lord_ comes into consideration +as the seat of His divine power; comp. chap. xl. 10, li. 5-9, lii. 10. +[Pg 277] According to the context, the manifestation of this power in +Christ is here spoken of _Stier_ 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 [Greek: dunamis Theou eis soterian panti to pisteuonti.] +[Hebrew: glh] is elsewhere commonly construed with [Hebrew: al] or +[Hebrew: l], here with [Hebrew: el]. This indicates that the revealing +of the arm of the Lord is of a _supernatural_ 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, _in the +eyes of all_ (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 _cause_ 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. + +Ver. 2. "_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._" + +The relation of this verse to the preceding one was correctly seen by +_Michaelis_: "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 [Hebrew: eliv] 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 _sprout_, the twig, designates, +even in itself, the poor condition; and, notwithstanding _Stier's_ +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 [Pg 278] 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, [Hebrew: gze]. in chap. xi. 8. [Hebrew: ivnq] elsewhere always +signifies "suckling;" comp. here chap. xi. 8. Of the sprout, elsewhere, +the feminine [Hebrew: ivnqt] is used. According to _Stier_, 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.: [Greek: hos paidion]. The suffix in [Hebrew: lpniv] "before +Him" refers to the immediately preceding [Hebrew: ihvh], not to the +people. _Before Him_, 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 _root_ 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, _Stier_ 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 [Pg +279] despised Him. The [Hebrew: vnrahv] is, by most of the modern +interpreters, in opposition to the accents, connected with the first +member: "He had no form nor comeliness that _we should have seen Him_." +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 [Hebrew: rah] with the Accusat., without +[Hebrew: b], 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 _Ecce +Homo_, the full historical realization of it. _Calvin_ 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." + +Ver. 3. "_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._" + +In the preceding verse, we are told what the Servant of God had _not_, +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 _offend_ and _repulse_ 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" ( [Hebrew: +Hdl] in the signification "ceasing" in Ps. xxxix. 5), _i.e._, 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. [Pg 280] The explanation: "Forsaken by +men, rejected of men," is opposed by the _usus loquendi_, 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 +_figuratively_. 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 [Hebrew: hHli] in ver. 10, +evidently refers to the [Hebrew: Hli] in this place. As an acquaintance +of disease, the Lord especially showed himself in His _passion_. And +then _every sorrow_ 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." [Hebrew: hstir] always means +"to hide;" the whole phrase occurs in chap. l. 6, in the signification +"to hide the face." [Hebrew: mstr] is the Participle in _Hiphil_. 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, _and the beard he shall have covered over_, +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 _sin_. No horror was like that which was felt in his +presence. _Hence_ [Pg 281] _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._ It is the more natural to suppose +this reference to the leper, that probably, the [Hebrew: Hdl aiwiM] +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.e._, 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 +[Hebrew: ngve] in ver. 4 likewise points. _Beck's_ 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 [Hebrew: k] must not be overlooked. The comparison with the +leper, the culminating point of all contempt, is highly suitable to the +parallelism with [Hebrew: nbzh]. Ordinarily [Hebrew: mstr] is now +understood as a _substantivum verbale_: "He was like hiding of the face +before Him," _i.e._, 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.--[Hebrew: nbzh] 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. + +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 _vicarious character_, to which (ver. 7) the conduct +of the Servant of God under His sufferings corresponds. + +Ver. 4. "_But our diseases He bore, and our pains He took upon Him: and +we esteemed Him plagued, smitten of God, and afflicted._" + +The words [Hebrew: Hli] and [Hebrew: mkab] 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 +[Pg 282] 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. _Beck_ remarks: "Properly speaking, they had not become sick or +unfortunate at all; this had _a priori_ 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, +_spiritual_ 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 _sins_, do not occur at all in the Old Testament. The +circumstance that in the parallel passage, vers. 11 and 12, the bearing +of the _transgressions_ and _sins_ 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, [Hebrew: nwa Hli] 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: [Greek: +pantas tous kakos echontas etherapeusen, hopos plerothe to rhethen dia +Esaiou tou prophetou legontos. autos tas astheneias hemon elabe kai tas +nosous ebastase]; and this deserves a consideration so much the more +careful, that the Evangelist here intentionally deviates from the +Alexandrine version ( [Greek: houtos tas hamartias hemon pherei kai +peri hemon odunatai]). In doing so, "we [Pg 283] 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 [Hebrew: +nwa] by "to take away;" but even the parallel [Hebrew: sbl] is +conclusive against such a view; and, farther, the ordinary use of +[Hebrew: nwa] of the bearing of the punishment of sin, _e.g._, 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 _put away_ our sicknesses and pains, but +He has, as our substitute, _taken them upon Him_; 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 +_sins_, of which the sufferings are the consequence; compare 1 Peter +ii. 24: [Greek: hos tas hamartias hemon autos anenenken en to somati +autou epi to xulon.]--_Plagued_, _smitten of God_, _afflicted_, are +expressions which were commonly used in reference to the visitation of +sinful men. It is especially in the word _plagued_, 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 _plagued_, 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 _plague_ upon the king, and he was a leper +unto the day of his death." [Hebrew: nge] "plague" is in Lev. xiii., as +it were, _nomen proprium_ for the leprosy, which in the law is so +distinctly designated as a punishment of sin.--[Hebrew: hkh] 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 [Pg 284] 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. + +Ver. 5, "_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._" + +[Hebrew: hva] "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 [Hebrew: Hll], from the +original signification "to pierce," and adopting the general +signification "to wound;" the LXX. [Greek: etraumatisthe]. _The +chastisement of our peace_ 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; [Greek: +dikaiothentes ek pisteos eirenen echomen pros ton Theo dia tou kuriou +hemon Iesou Christou], 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 _chastisement_ can, +according to the context, be only an actual one, only such as consists +in the infliction of some _evil_. It is in misconception and narrowness +of view that the explanation of the followers of _Menke_ originated: +"The instruction for our peace is with Him." This explanation militates +against the whole context, in which not the _doctrine_ but the +_suffering_ of the Servant of God is spoken of; against the parallelism +[Pg 285] with: "By His wounds we are healed;" against the [Hebrew: +eliv], "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 _burden_. 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 _Hitzig_ remarks: "_The chastisement +of our peace_ 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." _Stier_, too, endeavours to +explain the "chastisement of our peace," in an artificial way. +According to him, there is always implied in [Hebrew: mvsr] 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 +[Hebrew: mvsr] 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, _e.g._, in Prov. xv. 10: "Bad _chastisement_ shall be to those +that forsake the way, and he that hateth chastisement shall die," on +which _Michaelis_ remarks: "_In antanaclasi ad correptionem amicam et +paternum, mortem et mala quaelibet inferens, in ira_," 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 _retribution_, and that the Servant of God stands forth as +our Substitute.--[Hebrew: nrpa], Preter. Niph., hence "healing has been +bestowed upon us;"--[Hebrew: rpa] with [Hebrew: l], 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 [Pg 286] +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. + +Ver. 6. "_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._" + +_Calvin_ 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."--_All we_--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.--_We have turned every one to his own way_; we walked +through life solitary, forsaken, miserable, separated from God and the +good Shepherd, and deprived of His pastoral care. According to +_Hofmann_, the going astray designates the _liability_ 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." _Michaelis_ 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; [Pg 287] 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: [Greek: idon de tous ochlous esplanchnisthe peri auton, hoti +esan eskulmenoi kai erhrimenoi hosei probata me echonta poimena.] +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: [Greek: pantes hosoi pro emou elthon, kleptai +eisi kai lestai.]--[Hebrew: pge] with [Hebrew: b] signifies "to hit;" +hence _Hiphil_, "to cause to hit." The iniquities of the whole +community _hit_ 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 _done_ 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. + +Ver. 7. "_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._" + +In these words, we have a description of the manner in which the +Servant of God _bore_ 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 [Hebrew: ngw], "He was oppressed:" then, this condition +of the Servant [Pg 288] of God is brought into connection with His +_conduct_, which, only in this connection, appears in its full +majesty.--[Hebrew: ngw] is the Preterite in _Niphal_, and not, as +_Beck_ thinks, 1st pers. Fut. _Kal_. For the Future would be here +unusual; the verb has elsewhere the Future in _o_; the suffix is +wanting, and the sense which then arises suits only the untenable +supposition that, in vers. 1-10, the _Gentiles_ are speaking. The +_Niphal_ 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. [Hebrew: ngw] and [Hebrew: nenh] "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 [Hebrew: nenh] 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 _Niphals_, 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 [Hebrew: iptH], 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 +_lamb_ 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 [Hebrew: rHl] 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: [Pg 289] [Greek: hos loidoroumenos ouk anteloidorei, paschon ouk +epeilei, paredidou de to krinonti dikaios]; and likewise Matt. xxvii. +12-14: [Greek: kai en to kategoreisthai auton hupo ton archiereon kai +ton presbuteron ouen apekrinato. Tote legei auto ho Pilatos. ouk +akoueis posasou katamarturousi; kai ouk apekrithe auto pros ouden hen +rhema, hoste thaumazein ton hegemona lian.] Comp. xxvi. 62; Mark xv. 5; +Luke xxiii. 9; John xix. 9. + +The third subdivision of the principal portion, vers. 8-10, describes +_the reward of the Servant of God_, 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. + +Ver. 8. "_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._" + +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: [Greek: kago +hean hupsotho ek tes ges pantas helkuso pros emauton]), 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.--[Hebrew: ecr] "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.--[Hebrew: mwpT] is commonly referred to the +judgment which the enemies of the Servant of God passed upon Him, The +premised [Hebrew: ecr] 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, [Hebrew: mwpT] serves as a +limitation for [Hebrew: ecr]. 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 +_divine_ 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 [Pg 290] Him by God.--[Hebrew: lqH] with [Hebrew: mN] +"to be taken away from;" according to _Stier_: "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: "_De angustia +et judicio sublatus est_;" by _Jerome_, who says on this passage: +"From tribulation and judgment He ascended, as a conqueror, to the +Father;" and by _Michaelis_ 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: "_Through_ oppression and judgment +He was _dragged to execution_." 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; [Hebrew: lqH] cannot, by itself, signify "to be dragged to +execution"--in that case, as in Prov. xxiv. 11, "to death" would have +been added; [Hebrew: mN] must be taken in the signification, "from," +"out of," as in the subsequent [Hebrew: marC], compare 2 Kings iii. 9, +where [Hebrew: lqH] with [Hebrew: mN] 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 +_taken_ him."--_And His generation who can think it out?_ [Hebrew: +dvr], 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.[6] 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. [Hebrew: wvH] and [Hebrew: wiH] "to +meditate," is commonly connected with [Hebrew: b] of the object, but +occurs also with [Pg 291] 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.: [Greek: ten +genean autou tis diegesetai.] Next to it, comes the explanation: "Who +can think out His _posterity_;" but against this, it is conclusive that +[Hebrew: dvr] 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 _spiritual_ one, +it is substantially identical with _generation_ here. But it may, _a +priori_, 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 [Hebrew: dvr] +significations which cannot be vindicated. Thus, the translation of +_Luther_: "Who shall disclose the length of His life?" that of +_Hitzig_: His destiny; that of _Beck_: His importance and influence in +the history of the world; that of _Knobel_: His dwelling place, _i.e._, +His grave, who considered? The signification, "dwelling place," does +not at all belong to [Hebrew: dvr]. In Isaiah xxxviii. 12, [Hebrew: +dvr] are the cotemporaries from whom the dying man is taken away, and +who are withdrawn from him: "My _generation_ 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 [Hebrew: at], the sign of the +Accusative, cannot stand before the _Nomin. Absol._ 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" (_Stier_), are very [Pg +292] 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.--"_For He was cut off from the land of the +living, for the transgression of my people, whose the punishment._" 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. _He has deserved this reward by His +having suffered for the sins of His people, as their substitute._ 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. [Hebrew: +ngzr] "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 [Hebrew: ngrz] also has, in Psa. xxxi. 23, the +signification of extermination. [Hebrew: lmv], poetical form for +[Hebrew: lhM], refers to the collective [Hebrew: eM]. Before it, the +relative pronoun is to be understood: for the sin of my people, whose +the punishment, _q.d._, whose property the punishment was, to whom it +belonged. _Stier_ 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 [Hebrew: lmv] 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 [Hebrew: mv] designates the +Singular, has some appearance of probability; but, upon a closer +examination, this appearance everywhere vanishes.[7] Moreover, as we +have already remarked, it is, on account of the sense, inadmissible to +separate the two clauses.--By [Hebrew: emi] "my people," the hypothesis +of the non-Messianic interpreters is set aside, that in [Pg 293] vers. +1-10 the _Gentiles_ 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, _in the first instance_, +intended (comp. [Greek: sosei ton laon hautou apo ton hamartion auton], +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. + +Ver. 9. "_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._" + +[Hebrew: vitN] is intentionally without a definite Subject, _q.d._: it +was given to Him, _Ewald_ Sec. 273a. The acting subject could not be at +all more distinctly marked out, because there was a _double_ 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 _wicked_ 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 _Josephus_, Arch. iv. 8, Sec. +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." +_Maimonides_ (see _Iken_ 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. _And with +a rich_ [Pg 294] (they gave Him His grave) _in His death_: 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. [Hebrew: vitN], 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 [Greek: +anthropos plousios] 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. _In His death_ is, in +point of fact, equivalent to: "after He had died;" but, +notwithstanding, there is no necessity for giving to the [Hebrew: b] +the signification "after." Death rather denotes the _condition of +death_; _in death_ is contrasted with: _in life_. Altogether in the +same manner we find in Lev. xi. 31: "Whosoever doth touch them in their +death," for, "after they have died." _Farther_--1 Kings xiii. 31: "In +my death you shall bury me in the sepulchre." The Plural [Hebrew: +mvtiM] "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 [Hebrew: HiiM], for which reason it commends itself to +explain [Hebrew: arC HiiM] 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.--_Because He had done no violence_, +&c. [Hebrew: el] very frequently denotes the cause upon which the +effect depends, _e.g._, 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 [Hebrew: el] +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: [Greek: hoti anomian ouk epoiese.] The innocence is designated +negatively, and in an external manner ( [Hebrew: Hms] and [Hebrew: +mrmh] are gross sins). The reason of this is [Pg 295] 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: [Greek: hos amartian ouk epoiese oude heurethe +dolos en to stomati autou]. Instead of "violence," Peter intentionally +employs "sin."--_Hofmann_ 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 [Hebrew: rweiM] and [Hebrew: ewir]. 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, +_Hofmann_ overlooks the circumstance, that the wicked are specially +_criminals_--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 _burial_. 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 [Pg 296] 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 _with_ Joseph, but in his grave +only, but in an ideal point of view _with_ 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.--_Beck_ 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 [Hebrew: ewir]. 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 _Luther_ (marginal note: "rich man, +one who in his doings founds himself on riches," _i.e._, an ungodly +man), and _Calvin_ 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: [Greek: duskolos plousios eiseleusetai eis ten +basileian ton ouranon.] 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 [Pg 297] +with a glittering appearance, and that it is therefore necessary to +warn those who are apt to choose them for their highest good. _Stier_ +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 _burial_. 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: [Greek: apethane de kai ho plousios kai +etaphe], according to his riches; it is in hell only that he receives +his reward. In opposition to _Gesenius_, _Hitzig_ remarks: "That +transition of the signification is a fable." Following the example of +_Martini_ he derives [Hebrew: ewir] from the Arabic. But in opposition +to that, _Gesenius_ again remarks in the _Thesaurus_: "_Sed haud +minoribus difficultatibus laborat ea ratio, qua improbitatis +significatum voluerunt Martinius et Hitzigius, collata nimirum radice_ +[Hebrew: ewr] "_caespitavit_." _Tum enim haec radix nullam prorsum cum +verbo_ [Hebrew: ewr] _necessitudinem habet, ita ut_ [Hebrew: ewir] _h. +l._ [Greek: ap. leg.] _esset; tum caespitandi vis nusquam ad peccatum, +licet ad fortunam adversam, translata est._" 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 _Beck_, [Hebrew: ewir] is another form for [Hebrew: eriC]. Others +would change the reading. _Ewald_ proposes [Hebrew: ewiq]; Boettcher, +[Hebrew: ewi re]. 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 [Hebrew: bmvtiv] "in His death," _Gesenius_ and others +propose to read [Hebrew: bmvtiv], 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 [Hebrew: bmh] never occurs of the grave. According +to _Gesenius_, [Hebrew: bmvt], 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." + +Ver. 10. "_And the Lord was pleased painfully to crush_ [Pg 298] _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._" + +_And the Lord was pleased_--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. _Here_ 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 [Hebrew: HpC ihvh] of the close stands to [Hebrew: ihvh HpC] 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. _Painfully to crush Him._ [Hebrew: Hlh] +"to be sick," "to suffer pains." In this sense the _Niphal_ occurs in +Amos vi. 6, and the participle [Hebrew: nHlh] in the signification +"painful," "grievous," in Nah. iii. 19; Jer. xiv. 17, and other +passages, In _Hiphil_ 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 +[Hebrew: hHli], 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.--_When His soul hath given restitution._ +There cannot be any doubt that, in a formal point of view, it is the +soul which gives restitution. _Knobel's_ explanation: "His soul gives +itself," is not countenanced by the _usus loquendi_; [Hebrew: wiM] is +not a reflective verb. As little can we suppose with _Hofmann_ that +[Hebrew: twiM] is the second person, and an address to Jehovah. In +opposition to this view, there is not only the circumstance that +Jehovah is spoken _of_ 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 _by_ God, [Pg 299] but always +_to_ 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 _offering_, the _restitution_; +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, _who_ it is that offers the restitution; what +the restitution was, it was necessary distinctly to point out. +_Farther_--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, _a priori_, 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 "_per animam, vi animae in eo sanguine +constantis_" (_Gussetius_).[8] 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 [Hebrew: npw] "soul," stands here simply for +the personal pronoun,--"His soul," for "He," a _usus loquendi_ 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 [Greek: dia pneumatos aioniou heauton prosenenken +amomon to Theo]; 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 [Pg 300] 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, _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._ 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: [Greek: ego eimi +ho poimen ho kalos. ho poimen ho kalos ten chuchen hautou tithesin +huper ton probaton.] Ver. 15: [Greek: kai ten chuchen mou tithemi huper +ton probaton.] Vers. 17, 18: [Greek: dia touto ho pater me agapa, hoti +ego tithemi ten psuchen mou hina palin labo auten. Oudeis airei auten +ap'emou, all'ego tithemi auten ap'emautou. exousian echo theinai +auten, kai exousian echo palin labein auten.] In John xv. 13: [Greek: +meizona tautes agapen oudeis echei hina tis ten psuchen autou the huper +philon hautou.] 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 _usus loquendi_. The following +reasons prove that it refers to the Old Testament, and especially to +the passage under consideration. 1. Its Hebraizing character. _De +Wette_ and _Luecke_ erroneously take [Greek: theinai] 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 [Pg 301] transferred into +Greek, as is proved by the synonymous [Greek: dounai ten psuchen +hautou] 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 _putting_ of His soul, refer to the +passage under consideration, this must be acknowledged of those also in +which He speaks of a _giving_ of His soul, as in Matt. xx. 28: [Greek: +dounai ten psuchen hautou lutron anti pollon], where the [Greek: +lutron] clearly points to the [Hebrew: awM] 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.--[Hebrew: awM] is, in Numb. v. 5, called that of +which some one has unjustly robbed another, and which he is bound +to _repay_ to him. An essential feature of sin is the _robbing of +God_ which is thereby committed, the debt thereby incurred, which +implies the necessity of _recompence_. 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 [Hebrew: awM], 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 _Genuineness of the Pentateuch_, 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: _Die Opfer der Heil. Schrift_, Berlin +1852). This antetypical sacrifice will be offered up by the true +High-Priest. For the sins of the human race which [Pg 302] 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 [Greek: hamartia] for us, +that in Him we might be made righteous before God; Rom. viii. 3, +according to which God sent Christ [Greek: peri hamartias], as a +sin-offering; Rom. iii. 25, where Christ is called [Greek: +hilasterion], propitiation; 1 John ii. 2: [Greek: kai autos hilasmos +esti peri ton hamartion hemon], iv. 10; Heb. ix. 14.--The [Hebrew: aM] +at the beginning must not be explained by "_as_" 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 _condition_ of His seeing, &c., and, according +to the context, indeed, the absolutely _necessary_ 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 [Hebrew: awM], 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 _seed_ 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 [Pg 303] 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 _sons_ +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 [Greek: +teknon]. Matt. ix. 2; and with special emphasis. His apostles as +_little children_, [Greek: teknia eti mikron meth'humon eimi], 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. _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._ 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 _isolated_, 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. [Hebrew: HpC] 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 +[Hebrew: HpC] here, at the close, evidently refers to the [Hebrew: HpC] +at the beginning. By this reference, the reason is stated why it was +the _pleasure_ 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. + +In vers. 11 and 12, we have the closing words of the Lord. + +Ver. 11. "_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._" + +[Pg 304] + +The [Hebrew: mN] in [Hebrew: meml] 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: "_Pro eo quod laboravit anima ejus_;" the LXX. +rather feebly: [Greek: apo tou ponou tes psuches autou]. With [Hebrew: +irah] 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. [Hebrew: +bdetv] 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 [Greek: agape +tou Theou] 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 _faith_, 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 _J. H. Michaelis_ says: _Per scientiam sui_ (_Clericus_: +_Cognitione sui_), _non qua ipse cognoscit, sed qua vera fide et +fiducia ipse tanquam propitiator cognoscitur._ 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 +[Hebrew: cdiq] to [Hebrew: hcdiq] 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 [Pg 305] discourse would in that case be +so incomplete that we should have been shut up to conjectures. Others +translate: "By His doctrine;" but [Hebrew: det] never means "doctrine." +The explanation: "By His full, absolute knowledge of the divine +counsel" (_Haevernick_), or, "by the absolute knowledge of God" +(_Umbreit_), 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 _Teacher_, but as a _Priest_, as He who, in order to +expiate our sin, has offered himself up as a sacrifice), [Hebrew: +hcdiq] must not be translated "to convert," but to "justify." In favour +of this translation is also the construction with [Hebrew: l], which is +to be accounted for from a modification of the signification: "to bring +righteousness." But it is specially the position of [Hebrew: cdiq] +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 _usus loquendi_, the meaning _to justify_ 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, +[Hebrew: mwkiliM], shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and +_justify_ 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 [Hebrew: mwkiliM] of Daniel +with the [Hebrew: iwkil] 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; _Calvin_: _Quia +causa sunt ministerialis justitiae et salutis multorum._ _Haevernick_ +refers, for a comparison, to 1 Tim. iv. 16: "For, in doing this, thou +shalt save both thyself and them that hear thee." [Hebrew: ediq] must +not be immediately connected with [Hebrew: ebdi]; for, in that case, it +ought to have stood after it, and been qualified [Pg 306] by the +article. On the contrary, [Hebrew: ediq] 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, [Hebrew: bgirh], her sister Judah." By +thus making [Hebrew: cdiq] prominent, and connecting it immediately +with [Hebrew: hcdiq], 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. _Maurer_ thus +pertinently expresses this: "To many, for righteous is my Servant, +shall He procure righteousness." By these words thus the [Hebrew: izh], +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 +_all_ (_Stier_: "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 _few_: 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 _Jerome_ says: "And +He himself shall bear the iniquities which they could not bear, and by +the weight of which they were borne down." _Calvin_ 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 _bore_ +their iniquities," (the Future might, in that case, he accounted for +from the Prophet's viewing the whole transaction as present), even +_Gesenius_ has remarked that the preceding and subsequent Futures all +refer to the state of glorification. Even the parallelism with [Hebrew: +icdiq] shows that we must translate as the LXX. do: [Greek: kai tas +hamartias auton autos anoisei]. Moreover, the subject of discourse in +the whole verse is not the _acquiring_ of the righteousness, which was +done in the state of humiliation, but the _communication_ of it, as the +subjective condition of which the knowledge of the Servant of God was +mentioned in the preceding clause. [Pg 307] 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.e._, 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 _justify_ 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 _knows_ Him. The "taking away" is implied in [Hebrew: +vsbl] in so far only, as it is done by _bearing_. It was only because +he was misled by his rationalistic tendencies, that _Gesenius_ +explains: "And He lightens the burden of their sins, _i.e._, 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. + +Ver. 12. "_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._" + +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 [Hebrew: Hlq] with [Hebrew: b] cannot mean +simply "to allot," (although, indeed, this explanation is given by the +LXX.; [Greek: dia touto autos kleronomesei pollous]; Vulg.: _ideo +dispertiam ei plurimos_); it only signifies "to give a portion in," Job +xxxix. 17. From the comparison with [Hebrew: rbiM] in ver. 11 and at +the close of this verse, as well as from the reference to the _many +nations_ in the sketch, ver. 15, it is evident that [Hebrew: rbiM] +here, too, cannot mean "mighty ones," but "many." Even elsewhere, the +signification "great ones," "mighty ones," appears oftentimes to be +only forced upon [Hebrew: rbiM]. In Job xxxv. 9, the "many" are the +many evil-doers; and in Job xxxii. 9, the utterance: "Not the _many_ +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 [Hebrew: +at] in the second clause is not the sign of the Accusative, but a +Preposition, [Pg 308] is probable even from the circumstance, that the +former [Hebrew: at] commonly stands before qualified nouns only; and, +farther from the corresponding; "with the transgressors." But what is +conclusive is, that the phrase [Hebrew: Hlq wll] always means "to +divide spoil," never "to distribute as spoil," and that the phrase +[Hebrew: Hlq wll at gaiM] "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 _equality_ 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 +_humiliation_, 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," [Hebrew: erh] in the _Niphal_, "to be poured +out," means in _Piel_ "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 _Hiphil_ is used. The term has been transferred to the _soul_ from +the _blood_, 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 [Pg +309] which your souls." [Hebrew: nmnh], "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 _reward_. 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 [Hebrew: pweiM] here, just as the [Hebrew: rweiM] 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 _criminals_. It +is in this sense also that our Lord understands the words, in His +quotation of them in Luke xxii. 37: [Greek: lego gar humin, hoti heti +touto to gegrammenon dei telesthenai en emoi, to. kai meta anomon +elogisthe, kai gar ta peri emou telos echei]; 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: [Greek: pos oun plerothosin hai graphai, hoti houto dei genesthai]; +ver. 56, where, after having reproached the guards for having numbered +Him with criminals: [Greek: hos epi lesten exelthete meta machairon kai +xulon sullabein me], He says to them: [Greek: touto de holon gegonen +hina plerothosin hai graphai ton propheton]. 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 [Hebrew: vhva], it is +indicated that the subsequent words are no more to be viewed as +depending on [Hebrew: tHt awr].--[Hebrew: ipgie] 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 +[Hebrew: nwa] must therefore be viewed as a _Praeteritum propheticum_. +It corresponds with [Hebrew: isbl] 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 [Pg 310] here brought +into close connection with the bearing of the sin, by which Christ +represents himself as being the true _sin-offering_ (comp. ver. 10, +where He was designated as the true _trespass-offering_), 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. _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._ 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. _Calvin_ 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: [Greek: hos kai entunchanei huper hemon]; Hebr. +ix. 24, according to which passage Christ is entered into the holy +places [Greek: nun emphanisthenai to prosopo tou Theou huper hemon]; 1 +John ii. 1: [Greek: parakleton echomen pros ton patera Iesoun Christon +dikaion]. + + + * * * * * * * * * * + + +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. + + + +[Footnote 1: 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 _Hitzig_ +remarks--"the Prophet here _beholds_ 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?] + +[Footnote 2: _Simonis. Onom._: [Hebrew: izih], _quem aspergat_, _i.e._, +_purificet et expiet Domimus_; _Gesenius_: _quod vix aliter explicari +potest quam_: _quem consperget_, _i.e._, _expiabit Jehova._ _Fuerst_ +gives a different derivation; but it at once shows itself to be +untenable.] + +[Footnote 3: In order to defend this explanation, interpreters have +referred to the LXX: [Greek: houto thaumasontai ethne polla ep'auto]; +but even _Martini_ remarks: "From a dark passage, they have tried, by +ingenious conjecturing, to bring out any sense whatsoever."] + +[Footnote 4: Thus _Theodoret_ 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." _Jerome_: "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." _Calvin_: "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."] + +[Footnote 5: According to _Knobel_, 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.] + +[Footnote 6: _Gesenius_: _Neglecta actatis notione saepe est genus +hominum, in bonam partem--in malam partem_;--and in reference to the +passage under consideration: _Genus ejus, Servi Jehovae, sunt homines +qui iisdem cum illo studiis tenentur._ In the same manner it is +explained by _Maurer_, who refers to Ps. xiv. 5, xxiv. 6.] + +[Footnote 7: The double [Hebrew: lmv] in Deut. xxxiii. 2 refers to +Israel, not to God. In reference to the [Hebrew: lmv] in Is. xliv. 15, +_J. H. Michaelis_ remarks: _iis talibus diis._ ver. 7. But the suffix +rather refers to the trees, ver. 14; comp. [Hebrew: mhM] in ver. 15. If +construed thus, the sense is much more expressive. In Job xxii. 2, +[Hebrew: mwkil] 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 _Ewald_ quotes in Sec. 247 d.] + +[Footnote 8: Thus _Baehr_, _Symbolik_, ii. S. 207, says: It is not the +material elements of the blood which make it a means of expiation, but +it is the [Hebrew: npw] which is connected with it, which is in it, +whose instrument and bearer it is, which gives to it atoning power. The +[Hebrew: npw] 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 [Hebrew: npw] in +the sacrificial blood, is, according to this passage, the [Hebrew: npw] +of him who offers up the sacrifice.] + + + +[Pg 311] + + + + I. HISTORY OF THE INTERPRETATION. + + + A. WITH THE JEWS. + +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, _e.g._, _Abenezra_, _Jarchi_, _Abarbanel_, _Moses +Nachmanides_. _Gesenius_ 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, +_Jonathan_, notwithstanding the many perversions in which he indulges, +refers the prophecy to Christ. He paraphrases the very first clause: +[Hebrew: ha iclH ebdi mwiha] "behold my Servant Messiah shall prosper." +The _Medrash Tanchuma_, an old commentary on the Pentateuch (ed. +Cracov. f. 53, c. 3, l. 7), remarks on the words: [Hebrew: hnh iwkil +ebdi] (ed. Cracov. f. 53, c. 3, l. 7): [Hebrew: hmwiH irvM vgbh vnwa +mavd vriM mN abrhM vnwa mmwh vgdh mN mlaki hwrt zh mlK] ("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 _Pesikta_, +cited in the treatise _Abkath Rokhel_ ([Hebrew: abqt rvkl], printed +separately at Venice in 1597, and reprinted in _Hulsii Theologia +Judaica_, where [Pg 312] 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: '_But he bore our diseases_' +(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 _Moses Haddarshan_ expresses +himself on Gen. i. 3 (Latin in _Galatinus_, _De Arcanis Cath. ver._ p. +329; in the original in _Raimund Martini Pug. Fid._ fol. 333; comp. +_Wolf_, _Bibl. Hebr._ 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 _Raim. Martin_, fol. iv. 30. In the +Talmud (_Gemara_, _tract. Sanhedrim_, 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 [Hebrew: Hivvra] +"_the leper_," and, in proof, ver. 4 is quoted according to the +erroneous interpretation of [Hebrew: ngve] by _leprosus_,--an +interpretation which is met with in _Jerome_ also.--In the work +_Rabboth_ (a commentary on the Pentateuch and the five _Megilloth_, +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. _Wolf_, +I. c. II., p. 1423, sqq. in commentary on Ruth ii. 14 [p. 46, _ed. +Cracov._]), the fifth verse is quoted, and referred to the sufferings +of the Messiah.--In the _Medrash Tillim_ (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 [Pg +313] in the Law, the Prophets, and the Hagiographa. In the Prophets, +_e.g._, in the passage Is. lii. 13, and xlii. 1; in the Hagiographa, +_e.g._, Ps. cx. and Dan. vii. 13." In the book _Chasidim_ (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 ([Hebrew: +mwiH svbl evnvt iwral])." The ancient explanation is, from among the +later interpreters, assented to by _Rabbi Alschech_ (his commentary on +Is. liii. is given entire in _Hulsii Theologia Judaica_, 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.e._, 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 _Sohar_. 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. (_Sohar_, ed. Amstelod. p. +ii. fol. 212; ed. _Solisbac._ p. ii. f. 85; _Sommeri_ theol. _Sohar_ 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 [Pg 314] +written: But He took upon himself our sicknesses," &c. In another +passage (_Sohar_, _ed. Amstelod_ p. iii. f. 218; _Solisbac._ iii. f. +88; _Sommeri theol. Sohar_ p. 89; _Auszuege aus dem Buche Sohar, mit +Deutscher Uebersetzung_, 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." + +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 [Pg 315] 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 _Hulsius_ is pertinently called a _carnificina +Judaeorum_, 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. + +In proof of what we have said, we here briefly present the arguments +with which _Abarbanel_ 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 [Pg 316] 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.) + +That it was nevertheless difficult for the carnally-minded among the +Jews to reject the tradition, is seen from the paraphrase of +_Jonathan_. 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. _Jonathan_ +(see his paraphrase, among others, in _Lowth's_ comment, edited by +_Koppe_, on the passage; and in _Hulsii Theol. Judaica_) 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 _Jonathan_ says that the Messiah will give +_His_ soul unto death; but it may be that thereby he understands +merely the intrepid courage with which the Messiah will expose himself +to all [Pg 317] dangers, in the conflict with the enemies of the +covenant-people. + +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 _Abarbanel_, 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 _Hulsius_, _l.c._, p. 339, both in the original and +translation.) The interpreters may be divided into two main classes: 1. +Those who by [Hebrew: ebd ihvh] understand some collective body; and, +2. Those who refer the prophecy to a single individual. The first class +again falls into two subdivisions, (_a_), those who make the whole +Jewish people the subject, in contrast to the Gentiles; and (_b_) 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. + +1. (_a._) 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 _Origen_ 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 _R. Salomo Jarchi_, _Abenezra_, _Kimchi_, _Abarbanel_, +_Lipmann_ ([Hebrew: spr ncHvN], 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 [Pg 318] 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, _e.g._, +_Abenezra_ and _Rabbi Lipmann_, understand, indeed, by the [Hebrew: ebd +ihvh], the pious portion only of the people who remained faithful to +Jehovah; but this makes no material difference, inasmuch as they, too, +contrast the [Hebrew: ebd ihvh] 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. + +(_b_). Others consider the appellation [Hebrew: ebd ihvh] 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 +_Kimchi_, 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 +[Hebrew: eiN ieqb] or [Hebrew: eiN iwral], 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 _Rabbi Akiba_ 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 _Rabbi_ [Pg 319] _Alshech_. 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 _Rabbi Akiba_, 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. + +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, _Abarbanel_ advances still +another, which refers it to king Josiah. _Rabbi Saadias Haggaon_ +explained the whole section of Jeremiah. + +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. + + + B. HISTORY OF THE INTERPRETATION WITH THE CHRISTIANS. + +Among Christians, the interpretation has taken nearly the same course +as among the Jews. Similar causes have produced [Pg 320] 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. + +1. Even, _a priori_, 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 _Seidel_--who, given up to +total unbelief, asserted that the Messiah had never yet come, nor would +ever come, (comp. _Jac. Martini l._ 3, _de tribus Elohim_, p. 592)--and +of _Grotius_, 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. _Augustine_, _De Civitate Dei_, 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.e._, 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: _De consensu Evangelistarum_ l. i. c. 31. +_Theodoret_ remarks on this passage (_opp. ed. Hal._ 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 [Pg 321] 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, _Justin_, _Irenaeus_, _Cyril_ of Alexandria, and _Jerome_, +express themselves. From the Churches of the Reformation, we shall here +quote the testimonies of two of their founders only. _Zwingle_, in +_Annot. ad h. l._ (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." _Luther_ 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." + +It was reserved to the last quarter of the last century to be the first +to reject the Messianic interpretation. _At a time when Naturalism +exercised its sway, it could no longer be retained._[1] 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. + +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 [Pg 322] 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: (_a._), those interpretations which +refer the prophecy to the whole Jewish people; (_b._), those which +refer it to the Jewish people in the abstract; (_c._), those which +refer it to the pious portion of the Jewish people; (_d._), those which +refer it to the order of the priests; (_e._), those which refer it to +the order of the prophets. + +1. (_a._) 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 _Doederlein_, (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 +_Schuster_ (in a special treatise, Goettingen 1794); by _Stephani_ +(_Gedanken ueber die Entstehung u. Ausbildung der Idee von inem +Messias_, _Nuernberg_ 1787); by the author of the letters on Isaiah +liii., in the 6th vol. of _Eichhorn's Bibliothek_; by _Eichhorn_ (in +his exposition of the Prophets); by _Rosenmueller_ (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 +_Hitzig_, _Hendewerk_, and _Koester_ (_de Serv. Jeh._ 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. + +(_b._) The hypothesis which makes the Jewish people in the abstract--in +antithesis to its single members--the subject of this prophecy, was +discovered by _Eckermann_, _theol. Beitraege_, [Pg 323] Bd. i. H. i. S. +192 ff. According to _Ewald_, the prophecy refers to "Israel according +to its true idea." According to _Bleek_, 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." + +(_c._) The hypothesis, that the pious portion of the Jewish people--in +contrast to the ungodly--are the subject, has been defended especially +by _Paulus_ (_Memorabilien_, Bd. 3, S. 175-192, and _Clavis_ on +Isaiah). His view was adopted by _Ammon_ (_Christologie_, 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 _Von Coelln_ in his _Biblische +Theologie_; by _Thenius_ in _Wiener's Zeitschrift_, ii. 1; by _Maurer_ +and _Knobel_. 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. + +(_d._) The hypothesis which makes the priestly order the subject, has +been defended by the author of: _Ausfuehrliche Erklaerung der saemmtlichen +Weissagungen des A. T._ 1801. + +(_e._) The hypothesis which makes the collective body of the prophets +the subject, was first advanced by _Rosenmueller_ in the treatise: +_Leiden und Hoffnungen der Propheten Jehovas_, [Pg 324] in _Gablers +Neuestes theol. Journal_, vol. ii. S. 4, p. 333 ff. From him it came as +a legacy to _De Wette_ (_de morte Jes. Chr. expiatoria_, p. 28 sqq.), +and to _Gesenius_. According to _Schenkel_ (_Studien und Kritiken_ 36) +"the prophetic order was the quiet, hidden blossom, which early storms +broke." According to _Umbreit_ 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 _Umbreit_ 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. _Hofmann_ (_Schriftbeweis_, 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 _Hofmann_, S. 101, 2--"I cannot find +anything. The assertion that the words [Hebrew: izh gviM], denote a +priestly work, no longer requires a refutation. His [Pg 325] 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 _Hofmann_ does not recoil from even the most violent +interpretations, in order to remove the exclusive reference to Christ, +appears, _e.g._, 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 _Gesenius_ and _Hitzig's_ explanations are far +more unbiassed. + +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, +(_Augusti_), King Hezekiah, (_Konynenburg_ and _Bahrdt_), the Prophet +Isaiah himself, (_Staeudlin_), an unknown prophet supposed to have been +killed by the Jews in the captivity (an anonymous author in _Henke's +Magazin_, 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 (_Bolten_ on Acts viii. 33), the +Maccabees (an anonymous writer in the _Theologische Nachrichten_, 1821, +S. 79 ff.) Even at this present time, this kind of explanation is not +altogether obsolete. _Schenkel_ 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 +[Pg 326] 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." _Ewald_ (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. + +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 _Dathe_, _Doederlein_ (who, however, wavers in the last edition of +his translation), _Hensler_, _Lowth_, _Kocher_, _Koppe_, _J. D. +Michaelis_, _v. d. Palm_, _Schmieder_. In addition to these we may +mention: _Storr_, _dissertatio qua Jes. liii. illustratur_, Tuebingen, +1790; _Hansi Comment. in Jes. liii._, 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); _Krueger_, _Comment. de Jes. liii., interpret_; _Jahn_, +_Append. ad Hermen. fasc ii._; _Steudel_, [Pg 327] _Observ. ad Jes. +liii._, _Tuebingen_ 1825, 26; _Sack_, in the _Apologetik_; _Reinke_, +_exegesis in Jes. liii._, Muenster 1836; _Tholuck_, in his work: _Das A. +T. in N. T._; _Haevernick_, in the lectures on the Theology of the Old +Testament; _Stier_, in the Comment. on the second part of Isaiah. + + + +[Footnote 1: The author of the article: _Ueber die Mess. Zeiten_ in +_Eichhorn's Bibliothek d. bibl. Literatur_, 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."] + + + * * * * * * * * * * + + + + + II. THE ARGUMENTS AGAINST THE MESSIANIC INTERPRETATION. + + +The arguments against the Messianic interpretation cannot be designated +in any other way than as _insignificant_. 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 _Zemach_, and which the Chaldee +Paraphrast explains by [Hebrew: mwiHa vitgli] "_Messiam et +revelabitur_;" 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 _future_; 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 [Pg 328] still future. It is only an interpreter +so thoroughly prosaic as _Knobel_ who can advance the assertion: "No +prophet occupies, in prophecy, another stand-point than that which in +reality be occupies." In this, _e.g._, _Hitzig_ does not by any means +assent to him; for be (_Hitzig_) 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 [Hebrew: iptH] in ver. 7, [Hebrew: twiM] in ver. 10, and, +according to the explanations of _Gesenius_ and others, also [Hebrew: +ipgie] in ver. 12 while, on the other hand, he sometimes speaks of the +glorification in the Preterite.[1] Compare [Hebrew: lqH] in ver. 8, +[Hebrew: nwa] 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: [Greek: +ekstesontai--adoxesei]; _Aqui._ and _Theod._, ver. 2, [Greek: +anabesetai].--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 [Pg 329] +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 _ground_ 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, _e.g._, 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, [Pg 330] 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 _a priori_ +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 [Greek: kat'exochen] +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. + + + +[Footnote 1: The same thing occurs also in the parallel passages, chap. +xlix. 9, on which _Gesenius_ was constrained to remark: "As the +deliverance was still impending, the Preterites cannot well be +understood in any other way than as Futures."] + + + * * * * * * * * * * + + + + + III. THE ARGUMENTS IN FAVOUR OF THE MESSIANIC INTERPRETATION. + + +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 [Pg 331] of the people. +How deeply rooted was this interpretation, appears even from the +declaration of John the Baptist, John i. 29: [Greek: ide ho amnos tou +Theou ho airon ten hamartian tou kosmou]. 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. +_Bengel_, following the example of _Erasmus_, remarks, in reference to +the article before [Greek: amnos]: "The article looks back to the +prophecy which was given concerning Him under this figure, in Is. liii. +7." As regards [Greek: Theou], compare ver. 10: "It pleased the Lord +painfully to crush Him," and ver. 2: "Before Him;" as regards [Greek: +ho airon], &c. comp. ver. 4, rendered by the LXX.: [Greek: houtos tas +hamartias hemon pherei]; comp. ver. 11. + +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 +([Greek: ta peri emou telos echei]), 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: +[Greek: pos gegraptai epi ton huion tou anthropou, hina polla pathe kai +exoudenothe], 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," [Hebrew: nbzh], which, by _Symmachus_ and _Theodotian_ is +rendered by [Greek: exoudenomenos], 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, [Pg 332] 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 _De Wette_, +_Gesenius_ 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. _e.g._, 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 +_Gesenius_ 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. + +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. + +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 +[Pg 333] Servant of God, and of the shedding of His blood. Several +interpreters have endeavoured to explain away this feature which they +dislike. _Kimchi_ 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 _Martini_, _De Wette_, 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 ([Hebrew: izh]), +liii. 10 ([Hebrew: awM]), and ver. 12: "He bears the sins of many," +(compare Levit. xvi. 21, 22; _Michaelis_: "_Ut typice hircus pro +Israelitis_") the Servant of God appears as the antitype of the Old +Testament sin-offerings in which, as has been proved (compare my +pamphlet: _Die Opfer der heil. Schrift_, 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, [Pg 334] 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. _Rosenmueller_ (_Gabler's_ Journal, ii. +S. 365), _Gesenius_, _Hitzig_ have indeed candidly confessed that the +passage contained the doctrine of vicarious satisfaction, after +_Alshech_ had, among the Jews, given the honour to truth. + + + + + IV. EXAMINATION OF THE NON-MESSIANIC INTERPRETATIONS. + + +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. + +1. According to them, the contents of the section in question present +themselves as a mere _fancy_; 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 [Hebrew: nbia], 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. + +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 [Hebrew: aiw]; 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 [Pg +335] not be wanting. It is, _e.g._, 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, _e.g._, xlii. 24, 25; xlviii. 20, 21; xliii. +10-14. + +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 _Gesenius_, 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. _Genuineness and Authenticity of +the Pentateuch_, 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 [Pg 336] interest of his family, and with their +concurrence, that the wicked deed had been perpetrated. (_Michaelis_ +says: "In order that he might appropriate their goods to himself and to +_his family_, 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 _Gesenius_, it is there said: "And +they of understanding shall fall, in order to purge, purify, and make +white those (the others)." But [Hebrew: bhM] refers rather to the +[Hebrew: mwkiliM] 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: [Greek: pantas +huph'hamartian einai], Rom. iii. 9. + +The explanation, which makes the _Jewish people_ 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 _Beck_. "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 +[Pg 337] cross for the interpreters." "Finally, the section, chap. l., +_Hitzig_ 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." + +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, [Pg +338] 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. _Rosenmueller_ 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. _Hitzig_ 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, _e.g._, 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 _Hitzig_ does not venture to +claim for them. But how can an ungodly man, even supposing that his +punishment is too severe, justify others [Pg 339] by a righteousness of +his which does not exist? _Finally_--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. +_e.g._, chap. xlv. 9 ff. + +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 [Hebrew: emi] in ver. 8, and the most forced explanation to +which it compels us, in some verses, especially ver. 2. + +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. _Farther_--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 [Pg 340] 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 _Knobel_, +sufficiently proves it to be untenable. + +In opposition to the interpretation which refers the prophecy to the +collective body of the Prophets, _Hitzig_ 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 _Knibbe's_ history of the Prophets, S. 347 +ff., and in _Joh. Smithi Dissert. de Prophetis_, in the Appendix to +_Clericus'_ 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, [Pg 341] 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 _vicarious +satisfaction_. 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 _Gichtel_, _Bourignon_, +_Guyon_, 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. _Schenkel_, no doubt, is right in +remarking against the interpretation which makes the Jewish people the +subject of the prophecy,--an interpretation of which _Hitzig_ 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 _Hitzig_ is equally in the +right when, in opposition to _Schenkel_ 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 [Greek: katakurieuontes ton kleron], 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 [Pg 342] and his family. By usurping it, the prophets would +have rebelled against God, whose lights they were called to +uphold.--_Farther_, 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. + + + + + CHAPTER LV. 1-5. + + +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. + +[Pg 343] + +Ver. 1. "_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._" + +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: [Greek: ean tis dipsa erchestho pros me kai pineto], where the +[Greek: pros me] had been added from ver. 3. It is to be observed that +Christ there appropriates to himself what Jehovah is here speaking. +_Michaelis_ 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: [Greek: ego to dipsonti doso ek +tes peges tou hudatos tes zoes dorean]. Similarly in Rev. xxii. 17: +[Greek: kai ho dipson erchestho, ho thelon labeto hudor zoes dorean]. +In a somewhat more distant relation to the words before us, but yet +undeniably depending upon them, is John iv. 10: [Greek: su an etesas +auton kai edoken an soi hudor zon]. Vers. 13, 14: [Greek: pas ho pinon +ek tou hudatos toutou dipsesei palin. hos d'an pie ek tou hudatos, hou +ego doso auto ou me dipsese eis ton aiona]. And so does, in another +aspect. Matt. xi. 28: [Greek: deute pros me hoi kopiontes kai +pephortismenoi kago anapauso humas], which, however, has still nearer +points of resemblance to ver. 3; for [Greek: deute pros me] corresponds +to [Hebrew: lkv ali] in that verse; the words [Greek: kago anapauso +humas], 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 [Greek: +kopiontes kai pephortismenoi] 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: [Greek: makarioi +hoi peinontes kai dipsontes ten dikaiosunen] comes into a close +relation to our passage, as soon as it is recognized that [Greek: +dikaiosunen] is not the subjective righteousness [Pg 344] 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 +_water_ here. The subsequent "eat" furnishes the foundation for the +fact, that the need of and desire for salvation, is designated by +_hunger_ also,--"_Come ye, buy and eat._" [Hebrew: wbr] "to break," is +used of the appeasing of thirst (comp. Ps. civ. 11), and hunger (comp. +Gen. xlii. 19); and corn is called [Hebrew: wbr] 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 _Kal_; the selling +by the _Hiphil_. In Gen. xli. 26, the selling too is designated by the +_Kal_. 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 [Hebrew: wbr], 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 [Hebrew: wbrv] alludes; and from +this circumstance also the fact is to be explained, that it is first +used in reference to food; comp. [Hebrew: wbrv vaklv] in our verse, +with [Hebrew: wbr akl] 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: [Greek: ego eimi ho artos tes zoes. ho +erchomenos pros me ou me peinase] [Hebrew: wbrv] [Greek: kai ho +pisteuon eis eme ou me dipsese popote]. Ver. 55: [Greek: he gar +sarx mou alethos esti brosis, kai to hima mou alethos esti posis]. From +the sequel (comp. vers. 6, 7), it appears that the thrice repeated +_coming_ and the _buying_ are accomplished by true repentance, the +[Greek: metanoia], which is the indispensable condition of the +participation in the salvation. In John vi. 35, the words: [Greek: ho +erchomenos pros me] are explained by: [Greek: ho pisteuon eis eme]. +Faith is the soul of repentance.--The circumstance that the [Pg 345] +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 _wine_ and _milk_,--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. + +Ver. 2. "_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._" + +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 _weigh silver_ in the balance, +and hire a goldsmith, [Pg 346] that he make it a god, work also and +fall down." With perfect justice _Stier_ 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." "Fatness" occurs as a figurative designation of the +glorious gifts of God, in Ps. xxxvi. 9 also. + +Ver. 3. "_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._" + +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 _incline +thine ear_ (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, _your heart shall live for +ever_." Analogous are the references to Ps. lxxii. in chap. xi. The +soul _dies_ 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. +[Hebrew: krt brit] 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 [Hebrew: l], 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 _to make a covenant_ is here identical with _granting mercy_, +[Hebrew: akrth] 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 _will_ make" show that, here too, a new covenant is +spoken of. The substance of the covenant to be made is expressed in the +words: [Pg 347] "The constant mercies of David," &c. By "David," many +interpreters here understand the descendant of David, the Messiah, who, +in other passages also, _e.g._, Jer. xxx. 9, bears the name of His +type. Even _Abenezra_ refers to the fact that, in ver. 4, the Messiah +is necessarily required as the subject. The _constant_ 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 ([Hebrew: namN]) is thine house, and thy kingdom +for ever before thee, thy throne shall be firm for ever;" 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 _constant_, 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 +(_Ewald_, _Umbreit_, 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, [Pg 348] 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: [Greek: hoti de anestesen auton ek nekron, +meketi mellonta hupostrephein eis diaphthoran houtos, eireken. hoti +doso humin ta hosia Dabid ta pista]. [Greek: hOsia Dabid], _sancta +Davidis_, 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. + +Ver. 4. "_Behold, I give him for a witness to the people, for a prince +and lawgiver of the people._" + +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 [Hebrew: +nttiv] 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. [Hebrew: ed] 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, [Greek: a me eoraken embateuon], 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 _witness_ 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 [Hebrew: ed] 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 [Pg 349] 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 +[Hebrew: ed] is never applied to him, it is just the subsequent +[Hebrew: ngid] 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 +_ruler_ over the people of the Lord, over Israel; in 2 Sam. vii. 8, +Nathan says: "I took thee from the sheep-cot to be _ruler_ 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 [Hebrew: ngid], the second David, the prince +of the _people_, 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, [Hebrew: ngid] was the less +appropriate designation, inasmuch as it designates the ruler as the +chief of his people. + +Ver. 5. "_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._" + +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 _He adorneth thee_. This +glorification consists, according to chap. iv. 2, in the appearance of +[Pg 350] Christ, the immediate consequence of which is the conversion +of the heathen world. + +We must now review that exposition by which Rationalism has endeavoured +to deprive our passage of its Messianic import,--an attempt in which +_Grotius_ led the way. _Gesenius_, whom _Hitzig_, _Maurer_, _Ewald_, +and _Knobel_ 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.[1] + +We are the less entitled to put "mercies _like_ 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, [Hebrew: namniM] 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" (_Umbreit_). But what in itself is quite conclusive is the +circumstance, that the first David could not by any possibility be +designated as the _witness_ of the Gentile nations. It indeed sounds +rather _naive_ that _Knobel_, after having endeavoured to explain +[Hebrew: ed] 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 _peoples_;" and that so +much the more [Pg 351] 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. + +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. + + + +[Footnote 1: _Vitringa_ 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?"] + + + + + THE PROPHECY--CHAP. LXI. 1-3. + + +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. + +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 _Knobel_: "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, [Pg 352] but actually to grant +them. He does not represent himself as a mere Evangelist, but rather as +a Saviour. + +Ver. 1. "_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._" + +On the words: "The Spirit of the Lord Jehovah is upon me," compare +chap. xi. 2, xlii. 1. [Hebrew: ieN] 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 [Hebrew: mwH] 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 [Hebrew: enviM] are the [Greek: praeis] in Matt. v. 5; +[Hebrew: eni] and [Hebrew: env] are never confounded with one another. +The LXX., whom Luke follows, have [Greek: ptochois]. 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 [Hebrew: +enviM], in contrast to the wicked, appear, in chap. xi. also, as the +people of the Messiah.--"The binding up"--_Stier_ remarks--"already +passes over into the actual bestowal of that which is announced." The +term [Hebrew: qra drvr] 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 [Pg 353] 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 [Hebrew: pqHqvH], 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 [Hebrew: pqH] occurs, with especial frequency, of the opening +of the eyes, translate: [Greek: kai tuphlois anablepsin]. 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: [Greek: aposteilai tethrausmenous en aphesei], +borrowing the expression from the Alexand. Vers. itself in chap. lviii. +6. + +Ver. 2. "_To proclaim a year of acceptance to the Lord, and a day of +vengeance to our God, to comfort all that mourn._" + +"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 _year_ instead of a +_time_, indefinitely. In that year, a complete _restitutio in integrum_ +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 [Pg 354] 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. + +Ver. 3. "_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._" + +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 _announcing_ 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 +[Hebrew: wvM] and [Hebrew: ntN] 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 [Hebrew: wvM] is understood in the sense, +"to put upon," or, "to put on," that there is a sufficient reason for +adding [Hebrew: ntN]; but that is not the case when it is taken in the +signification "to grant," "to appoint." [Hebrew: par] "crown," and +[Hebrew: apr] "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 [Pg 355] 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. + +[Pg 356] + + + + + THE PROPHET ZEPHANIAH. + + +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, +_in the first instance_ only, the instruments of Divine punishment. + +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 [Pg 357] 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. + +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. + +The principal passage is chap. iii. 8-13. + +Ver. 8. "_Therefore wait ye upon me, saith the Lord, until the day that +I rise up to the prey; for my right is_ (_i.e._, the exercise of my +right consists in this) _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._ +Ver. 9. _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._ Ver. 10. _From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia shall they +bring my suppliants, the daughter of my dispersed for a meat-offering +to me._ Ver. 11. _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._ Ver. 12. _And I +leave in the midst of thee an afflicted and poor people, and they trust +in the name of the Lord._ Ver. 13. _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._" + +[Pg 358] + +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. + +"_Therefore_" 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, _e.g._ 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. [Hebrew: etr] always means "to supplicate," [Pg 359] never "to +burn incense." Ezek. viii. 11 must thus be translated: "Every man, his +censer in his hand, and the _supplication_ of the cloud of incense went +up;" compare remarks on Rev. v. 8. The dispersed members of the Church +_supplicate_ 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 _disperses_ you among the nations;" xxviii. 64: "And the Lord +_disperses_ 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. + +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; _the +time cometh to gather_ all Gentiles and tongues, and they come and +_see_ 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, [Pg 360] +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 [Hebrew: bhM] 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 _mark_, 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 [Pg +361] part of Isaiah, are throughout designated as the _brethren_. +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 _clean vessel_ +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.e._, 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 +_also_; 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. + +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. +[Hebrew: ki] 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. + +In ver. 14 ff., the Jerusalem of the future is addressed; compare the +expression, "at that time," ver. 20. + +[Pg 362] + + + + + + THE PROPHET JEREMIAH. + + + + + GENERAL PRELIMINARY REMARKS. + + +In Malachi iii. 1, the Lord promises that He would send His messenger +who should prepare the way before _Him_, 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 +_actually_ 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. + +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 [Pg 363] 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 _throwing_, we have to conceive, not of the +unfaithful covenant-people only. This appears from the mention of the +_nations and kingdoms_ 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. + +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 [Pg 364] 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 _e.g._ 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 _accomplishment_ 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 [Pg 365] 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 [Pg 366] 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 _the +Lord_, 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 "_Dissertations on the Genuineness of Daniel_," 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 [Pg 367] 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 "_Dissertations on the Genuineness of Daniel_," 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 +_unprejudiced_ 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. _Melancthon_ (opp. ii., p. 407 ff.) points it out +as a remarkable circumstance that, while other prophets, _e.g._, +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 [Pg 368] +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; "_Dissertations +on the Genuineness of Daniel_," 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 +[Pg 369] 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 _C. B. Michaelis_ 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 (_Dahler_ 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; _he was, against his will, +forced to do so_; 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 _altogether_ 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 [Pg 370] 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. + +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 [Pg 371] xx., because, by the victory, the Lord, who +alone could give it, was glorified. + +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, +_Calvin_ 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, _e.g._, in the +prophecy against Egypt, chap. xlvi. 26; against Moab, chap. xlviii. 47; +against Ammon, xlix. 6. + +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 +[Pg 372] 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. + +As regards the style of Jeremiah, _Cunaeus_ (_de repub. Hebr._ 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 _Jerome_ to seek the cause of that +_humilitas dictionis_ of the Prophet, whom he, at the same time, calls +_in majestate sensuum profundissimum_, in his origin from the _viculus +Anathoth_. 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. + +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 _them_ 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. + +[Pg 373] + + + + + THE SECTION, CHAP. III, 14-17. + + +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, _e.g._, the twofold +reference to the seeking of help from Egypt, in chap. ii. 16 ff., +xxxvi., xxxvii., on which _Eichhorn_ and _Dahler_ 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.e._, 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 [Pg 374] period in the reign of Josiah, as +rather a _resume_ 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. _e.g._, the introduction to Micah. + +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 [Pg 375] +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. + + + * * * * * * * * * * + +Ver. 14. "_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._" + +The question here is:--To whom is the discourse here addressed,--to the +members of Israel, _i.e._, the kingdom of the ten tribes, as most of +the interpreters suppose (_Abarbanel_, _Calvin_, _Schmid_, 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. _Farther_--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. _Finally_--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 +[Hebrew: ki anki belti atkM], we follow the precedent of the Vulgate +(_quia ego vir vester_), of _Luther_ ("I will [Pg 376] marry you to +me"), of _Calvin_, _Schimd_, and others. On the other hand, others, +especially _Pococke_, _ad P.M._ p. 2, _Schultens_ on Prov. xxx. 22, +_Venema_, _Schnurrer_, _Gesenius_, _Winer_, _Bleek_, have made every +endeavour to prove that [Hebrew: bel] is used _sensu malo_ 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 _usus +loquendi_, and refer solely to the Arabic, where [Hebrew: bel] means +_fastidire_. Others derive from the Hebrew signification, "to rule," +that of a tyrannical dominion, and support their right in so doing, by +referring, with _Gesenius_, to other verbs in which the signification, +_to subdue_, _to be distinguished_, _to rule_, has been changed into +that of _looking down_, _despising_, and _contemning_. As regards the +_first_ derivation, even if the Arabic _usus loquendi_ were proved, we +could not from it make any certain inference as regards the Hebrew +_usus loquendi_. But with respect to this Arabic _usus loquendi_, 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 [Arabic: +**] _fastidivit vir mulierem eamque expulit, s. repudiavit_; but it is +only by a strange _quid pro quo_ that interpreters, even _Schultens_ +among them, following the example of _Kimchi_, have saddled this +expression upon the Arabic. The error lies in a hasty view of _Adul +Walid_, who, instead of it, has [Arabic: **] _any one is embarrassed in +his affair_. The signification _fastidire_, _rejicere_, is, in general, +quite foreign to the Arabic. The verb [Arabic: **] denotes only: _mente +turbatus_, _attonitus fuit_, _i.e._, _to be possessed_, _deprived of +the use of one's strength_, _to be embarrassed_, _not to know how to +help one's self_: compare the _Camus_ in _Schultens_ and _Freytag_. 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 _ruling_, +from which that of _ruling tyrannically_ is said to have arisen, is +entirely foreign to the Hebrew. More clearly than by modern +Lexicographers it was seen by _Cocceius_, that the fundamental, yea the +only signification of [Hebrew: bel], is that of _possessing_, [Pg 377] +_occupying_. It may, indeed, be used also of rulers, as, _e.g._ 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, +[Hebrew: belvnv advniM zvltiM], Lords beside thee have dominion over +us," _Schultens_, 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,[1] lxii. 4, compare Job +i. 8, where a relation is spoken of, founded on most cordial love, show +that the signification "_to marry_," 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 _copula carnalis_ is pointed out as that by +which the [Hebrew: bel] is completed. And, finally, it is seen from the +Arabic, where the wife is also called, [Hebrew: belh], [Arabic: **], +just as the husband is called [Hebrew: bel], [Arabic: **].--It is +farther obvious that, in the frequent compositions of [Hebrew: bel] +with other nouns, in order, by way of paraphrasis, to form adjectives, +the signification "lord" is far less suitable than that of "possessor," +_e.g._, [Hebrew: bel Hlmvt], _the dreamer_, [Hebrew: bel aP], _the +angry one_, [Hebrew: bel npw], _the covetous one_, [Hebrew: bel mzmzt], +_the deceitful one_, [Hebrew: beli eir] _oppidani_, [Hebrew: beli +brit], _the members of the covenant_, 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 _multum possedit, dives fuit._ In Arabic, +the significations are more varied; but they may all be traced back to +one root. Thus, _e.g._ [Arabic: **], [Hebrew: bel], according to the +_Camus_, "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.e._, a land, a tree, a plant +which themselves _possess_, which do not require to _borrow_ from +others. This reason of the appellation clearly appears in _Dsheuhari_ +(compare [Pg 378] _Schultens_ 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." In favour of the signification "to rule" +in this verb, the following gloss from the _Camus_ only can be quoted: +"Both (the 1st and 10th conjugations) when construed with [Hebrew: +elih] _super illum_, 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 [Arabic: **] +in _Schultens_, for which (compare _Freytag_) [Arabic: **] _noluit_ +must be read, [Hebrew: bel] with [Hebrew: el] 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 _usus loquendi_, would interpret [Hebrew: bel] 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 _Schultens_, +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, _for_ I will give you +rest." But they also labour under great difficulties who, after the +example of _Kimchi_ ("_ego fastidivi vos, eo scil. quod praeteriit +tempore, ac jam colligam vos_"), refer the [Hebrew: ki] not so much to +[Hebrew: belti], as rather to [Hebrew: lqhti]: "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 [Hebrew: ki] by "although," an interpretation +still found in _De Wette_. 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 _formerly_ +and _now_. [Hebrew: lqHti] and [Hebrew: belti] 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; _for_ I am merciful; I do not keep +anger for ever,"--a circumstance which has already been [Pg 379] +pointed out by _Calvin_. 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? ("_Thou +hast scattered thy ways_, _i.e._, thou hast been running about +to various places after the manner of an impudent whore seeking +lovers"--_Schmid_; 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, _for_ thou art the Lord our God." The objection that +[Hebrew: bel], in the signification "to take in marriage" is construed +with the Accusative only, is of no weight. In a manner altogether +similar, [Hebrew: zkr], which else is connected with the simple +Accusative, is, in ver. 16, followed by the Preposition [Hebrew: b]. +[Hebrew: bel] with [Hebrew: b] 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 _Suffix +Plur._ 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 +_Calvin_: "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, _vice versa_, +the sense which will result from an independent consideration of that +passage, [Pg 380] will serve to confirm that which was here +established.[2] In the right determination of the sense of the +subsequent words, too, _Calvin_ 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 _whole_ +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 _Loscanus_ 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: [Greek: ametameleta ta +charismata kai he klesis tou Theo], 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 pefunishment 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 [Greek: epitunchanein] of the +[Greek: ekloge] (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, _e.g._ +_Theodoret_, _Grotius_, think exclusively of the return from the +Babylonish captivity. Others (after the example of _Jerome_ and the +Jewish interpreters) think of the Messianic time. It need [Pg 381] +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 [Greek: +dodekaphulon], 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 _only_; 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. + +Ver. 15. "_And I give you shepherds according to mine heart, and they +feed you with knowledge and understanding._" + +The question is:--Who are here to be understood by the shepherds? +_Calvin_ thinks that it is especially the prophets and priests, +inasmuch as it was just the bad condition of these [Pg 382] 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 _Vitringa_ (_obs._ 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, _Jerome_ 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 +_Venema_: _Pastores sunt rectores, ductores._ Others, finally, limit +themselves to rulers; thus _Kimchi_ (_gubernatores Israelis cum rege +Messia_), _Grotius_, and _Clericus_. 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 _priests_ 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 [Hebrew: klbi] 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 _Branch_, 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 [Pg 383] 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.--[Hebrew: deh] +and [Hebrew: hwkil] stand adverbially. [Hebrew: hwkil] "to act wisely" +is, in appearance only, intransitive in _Hiphil_. 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;" 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 [Pg 384] of interpreters and lexicographers who, +severing several of these passages from the others, have forced upon +the verb [Hebrew: hwkil] the signification "to prosper,"--a +signification altogether fanciful _God's_ 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 _servants_ for kings. + +Ver. 16. "_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._" + +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, _q.d._ 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. _Venema's_ exposition; _Arca f[oe]deris Jehovae_ sc. +_est_, and that of _De Wette_: "They shall no more speak of the Ark of +the Covenant of Jehovah," are both feeble and un philological. How were +it possible that [Hebrew: amr] with the Accusative should mean "to +speak of something?"--[Hebrew: elh el-lb] is, in a similar context, +just as it is here, connected with [Hebrew: zkr] 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. [Hebrew: zkr] with [Hebrew: b] 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. [Hebrew: pqd] 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 [Pg 385] 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.[3] 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 _constantly_ +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 _Vitringa_ who, in the _Obs. sac._ 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 _Vitringa_, that it was [Pg 386] 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 +_Thalemann_, a pupil of _Ernesti_, it was afterwards advanced far more +decidedly, and evidently with the intention of carrying it through, +whether it was true or not, in the _Dissertatio de nube super arcam +foederis_ (Leipzig, 1756). He, too, declared, however, that he did not +deny the matter, but only disputed the sign. He found a learned +opponent in _John Eberhard Rau_, Professor at Herborn (_Ravius_, _de +nube super arcam foederis_, Utrecht, 1760; it is a whole book, in which +_Thalemann's_ 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 [Hebrew: kprt] compare _Genuineness of the +Pentateuch_, 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 _Vitringa_ (S. 171), and +still more _Thalemann_ (S. 39 in _Rau_), 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 _Rau_, +S. 40 ff.), although _J. D. Michaelis_, _Vater_, _Rosenmueller_, and +_Baehr_, (_Symbol. des Mos. Cultus_, i. S. 395), have approved of it.[4] +On the other hand, [Pg 387] 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 _Rau_ 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 _manner_ only, and not to the _fact_ 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 +[Pg 388] 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, _where +people were accustomed to worship God_, 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 _e.g._, the +promise in Exodus xxix. 45: "I dwell in the midst of the children of +Israel," 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 _the glory of Israel_, 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 [Pg 389] +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 _in_ it only, not +_out_ 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 _praesens numen_ 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 _praesens numen_, 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 [Pg 390] 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 [Greek: ptocha stoicheia], 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. +_Witsius Misc. t._ 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. _Dahler_ 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 [Pg 391] +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 +_Abarbanel_: "This promise is, then, bad, and uproots the whole Law. +How is it then that Scripture mentions it as good?" Rabbi _Arama_, in +his commentary on the Pentateuch, fol. 101, says, in reference to this +prophecy, [Hebrew: nbvkv kl hmprwiM] "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 +_Frischmuth's_ dissertation on this passage, Jena; reprinted in the +_Thes. Ant._) are only calculated plainly to manifest it. _Kimchi_ +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. +_Abarbanel_ 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 _Jonathan_, 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 [Pg 392] 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 _the_ +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. _Josephus_, in enumerating the +catalogue of the _spolia Judaica_, borne before in the triumph, does +not mention it. He says expressly (de Bell. Jud. v. 5, Sec. 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 _Calmet_, Th. 6, S. +224-258, _Mosh._ In asking _why_ such was the case, other analogous +phenomena, the absence of the _Urim and Thummim_, 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 _why_ it was that the Ark +of the Covenant was wanting, at the second temple, it is easy to [Pg +393] 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 [Greek: doxa] (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 _fuga vacui_ is peculiar to the Covenant-God, the emptiness in +that place where formerly the glory of God dwelt, proclaimed aloud the +future fulness.--_Finally_, we have still to determine the special +reference of our verse to Israel, _i.e._, 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 _Calvin_, 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. _Here_, a compensation is +promised for the second, infinitely greater loss, which [Pg 394] 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. + +Ver. 17. "_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._" + +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 _all_ Jerusalem. Thus, _e.g._, after the +example of _Jarchi_ and _Abarbanel_, _Manasseh ben Israel_, +_Conciliator_, 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 _all_ could not have been omitted. The throne of the [Pg 395] +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 _my throne_, 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 [Pg 396] 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: [Greek: kai ho logos +sarx egeneto kai eskenosen en hemin, kai etheasametha ten doxan autou, +doxan hos monogenous para patros]; 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 [Greek: pneuma Christou] must not be separated +from the personal manifestation of God in Christ, in whom dwelt the +fulness of the Godhead bodily, [Greek: somatikos]. 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 [Greek: skia ton +mellonton, to de soma Christou], Col. ii. 17; comp. Rev. xxi. 22: +[Greek: kai naon ouk eidon en aute. ho gar Kurios, ho Theos ho +pantokrator naos autes esti, kai to arnion]. 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: [Greek: +proserchomtha de meta parhresias to throno tes charitos], 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, _e.g._, Josh. ix. 9: "And they (the +Gibeonites) said unto him: From a very far country thy servants are +come, because of the name ([Hebrew: lwM]) of Jehovah thy God, for we +have heard the fame of Him, and all that He did in Egypt, [Pg 397] 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."--[Hebrew: lwM ihvh lirvwliM] 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 [Greek: theos agnostos], 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 _to put His name +there_, 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 +[Hebrew: wrirvt] occurs, the covenant-people are spoken of; everywhere +the walking after [Hebrew: wrirvt] of the heart is opposed to the +walking after the revealed law of Jehovah, which Israel alone +possessed. [Hebrew: wrirvt], which properly means "firmness," is then +used of hardness in sin, of wickedness.[5] + + + +[Footnote 1: _Vitringa_ very correctly remarks on this passage: +"[Hebrew: bel], properly [Greek: ho echon], he who has any thing in his +possession is, by an ellipsis, applied to the husband who, in Exod. +xxi. 3, is rightly called [Hebrew: bel awh] _one who has a wife_."] + +[Footnote 2: Against the explanation of _Maurer_: "For I am your Lord;" +and that of _Ewald_: "I take you under my protection," it is decisive +that [Hebrew: bel] never means "to be Lord," far less "to take under +protection." [Hebrew: bel], which properly means "to possess," is very +commonly used of marriage;--as early as in the Decalogue, the wife +appears as the noblest _possession_ of the husband--so that _a priori_ +this signification is suggested and demanded.] + +[Footnote 3: It is from the circumstance that modern Exegesis is unable +to comprehend the prophetic anticipation of the Future, that the +assertion has proceeded (_Movers_, _Hitzig_) 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.] + +[Footnote 4: _Baehr_ 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 _J. H. Michaelis_, 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 _Hofmann_, _Schriftbeweis_ +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 _Kyrie eleison_, 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 _Baehr_ has been given by _W. Neumann_: _Beitraege zur Symbolik des +Mos. Cultus_, _Zeitschr. f. Luth. Theol._, 1851, i.] + +[Footnote 5: In a certain sense, one may say that [Hebrew: wrirvt lb] +is a [Greek: hapax legomenon]. 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 _usus loquendi_ from which it had disappeared, but from +the fundamental passage in the written code of law. This fact will, _a +priori_, 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 [Hebrew: wrirvt] 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."] + + + +[Pg 398] + + + + + CHAPTER XXIII. 1-8. + + +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. + +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.e._, 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.e._, 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 [Pg 399] 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 _Lord_ will establish," the word _will_ has no +foundation; the Lord _will_ 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. + +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 _righteous_ King, shall diffuse justice and righteousness +in the land, and thus [Pg 400] 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. + +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. + +_Eichhorn_ 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 _Dahler_, 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 _Berthold_ 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. (_Maurer_ and _Hitzig_ 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. _Kueper_ (_Jeremias_, _libror. Sacror. interpres_, +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. _Ewald_ asserts that +Jeremiah [Pg 401] 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. + +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 _nomina realia_, 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 _nomen reale_ of the good Shepherd in chap. +xxiii. 6, which, with quite the same right, could have been changed +into a _nomen proprium_ 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, _e.g._, 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 _nomen proprium_; 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 _alone_, as _e.g._, Shallum, or +_first_, as Jeconiah, (which occurs again in chap. xxiv. 1, xxvii. 20; +the abbreviated [Pg 402] 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 _hold_, was violently and +irresistibly carried away to Egypt. The Prophet, therefore, calls him +Shallum, _i.e._, the _recompensed_,--not _retribution_, as _Hiller_, +_Simonis_, and _Roediger_ think, nor _retributor_ according to _Fuerst_ +(comp. _Ewald_ Sec. 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 ([Hebrew: vhqimti]) thy seed after thee, +which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish ([Hebrew: +vhkinti]) his kingdom." This passage contains the ground of _both_ +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 [Pg 403] 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 _actual_ 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 [Hebrew: i], the sign of +the Future, he might cut off hope; a Jeconiah without the [Hebrew: i] +says only God establishes, but not that He _will_ establish. In +reference to these names, _Grotius_ 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, _q.d._ that Coniah!" _Lightfoot_ comes nearer to the +truth; yet even he was not able to gain assent to it (compare against +him _Hiller_ and _Simonis_ who thought his views scarcely worth +refuting), because he took an one-sided view. He remarks (_Harmon._ p. +275): "By taking away the first syllable, God intimated that He would +not establish to the progeny of Solomon the [Pg 404] uninterrupted +government and royal dignity, as Jehoiakim, by giving that name to his +son, seems to have expected." Besides these two, compare farther, +_Alting_, _de Cabbala sacra_ Sec. 73. + +In conclusion, we must still direct attention to chap. xx. 3. Who, +indeed, could infer from that passage, that, by way of change, _Pashur_ +was called also _Magor-Missabib_? + +Chap. xxiii. 1. "_Woe to shepherds that destroy and scatter the sheep +of my pasture, saith the Lord._" + +It must be well observed that [Hebrew: reiM] is here without the +article, but, in ver. 2, with it. _Venema_ remarks on this: "A general +woe upon bad shepherds is premised, which is soon applied to the +shepherds of Judah, _q.d._, 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 _usus loquendi_; 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 [Pg 405] 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 (_Venema_: "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 +(_Calvin_: "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 +_God's_ flock. (_Calvin_: "God intimates that, by the unworthy +scattering of the flock, an atrocious injury had been committed against +himself") [Hebrew: caN mreiti] must not be explained by: "the flock of +my feeding," _i.e._, which I feed. For, wherever [Hebrew: mreit] occurs +by itself, it always has the signification "pasture," but never the +signification _pastio_, _pastus_ 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 [Hebrew: caN], 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 [Pg 406] 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 _natural_ +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 _innocent_ people with the +guilty kings. _Calvin_ 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. + +Ver. 2. "_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._" + +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 _sacrilegium_; they have desecrated God. It was just here that +it was necessary prominently to point out the fact, that the people +still continued to [Pg 407] be God's people. In another very important +aspect, they were indeed called _Lo-Ammi_ (Hos. i. 9); but that aspect +did not here come into consideration. _Calvin_: "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 [Hebrew: la pqdtM] 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, +_because of the wickedness of thy doings_, 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 [Hebrew: re melliM] occurs, which, +in later times, had become obsolete; compare chap. iv. 4 and xxi. 12 +(in both of these passages [Hebrew: mpni], too, is introduced); Is. i. +16; Ps. xxviii. 4; Hos. ix. 15. + +Ver. 3. "_And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the +countries whither I have driven them away, and I_ [Pg 408] _bring them +back again to their folds, and they are fruitful and increase._" + +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 [Hebrew: lkN] 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 _Calvin_, 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 [Pg 409] 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. _As a rule_, 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 _Grotius_ on the second hemistich of the +following verse: "They shall live in security under the powerful +protection of the Persian kings." 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 _remnant_ 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. _Calvin_ +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 [Greek: +ekloge] at the time of Christ and the Apostles, for the hope of a +_general_ conversion in the strict sense. [Pg 410] 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 _wills_ +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 [Greek: pas] +in Paul, which must just be interpreted and qualified by the contrast +to the _small_ [Greek: ekloge], 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 _remnant_ 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. + +Ver. 4. "_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._" + +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 +_Venema_, 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 [Pg +411] 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 _Grotius_ 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: _first_ will I raise up to you shepherds; _then_, the +Messiah. We must, in that case, following _C. B. Michaelis_, rather +supplement: specially one, the Messiah. In _none_ 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 _Venema_. 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 +_first_ contrasts the good one; _then_ 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 _verbatim_, +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 [Pg 412] 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. +[Hebrew: pqd] must be taken in the signification "to be missing," +"lacking." (Compare the Remarks on chap. iii. 16.) There is an allusion +to [Hebrew: la pqdtM] in ver. 2. Because the bad shepherd does not +visit, the sheep are not sought, _q.d._, they are lost; but those who +did not visit, are now, in a very disagreeable manner, visited by God +([Hebrew: pqd elikM]); 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." + +Ver. 5. "_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._" + +The expression: "Behold the days come," according to the constant _usus +loquendi_ 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 _still_ coming; although the heart +may loudly say. _No_, the word of _God_ must be more certain. +Concerning [Hebrew: cmH], compare Isa. iv. 2, and the passages of +Zechariah there quoted, [Hebrew: cdiq] 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 +_Abarbanel_: "He shall not be an unrighteous seed, such as Jehoiakim +and his son, but a righteous [Pg 413] one." _Calvin_ 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 [Hebrew: mlK] must not be overlooked. +It shows that [Hebrew: mlK], which, standing by itself, may designate +also another government than by a king, such as, _e.g._, 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 +_complete_ 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. _Calvin_ remarks: "He shall rule as a +King, _i.e._, 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 [Hebrew: +hwkil], 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 _Calvin_ 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 [Pg 414] 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 _Calvin_ has not exhausted the arguments which may be +derived from the context. The _whole_ 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 [Hebrew: hwkil] 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 ([Hebrew: +vivwe]) to David in all his ways." But if [Hebrew: hwkil], wherever it +occurs of David, must be taken in this sense, then the LXX. are right +also in translating Is. lii. 13 by [Greek: sunesei]: for, in that +passage, just as in the verse under consideration, David is referred to +as the type of the Messiah. The phrase [Hebrew: ewh mwpT vcdqh] is by +_De Wette_ commonly translated: "to _exercise_ justice and +righteousness." But the circumstance that, in Ps. cxlvi. 7, he is +obliged to give up this translation, proves that it is wrong. [Hebrew: +ewh] must rather be explained by "to work," "to establish." [Hebrew: +mwpT] is here, as everywhere else, the objective right and justice; +[Hebrew: cdqh], the subjective righteousness. The _working_ of justice +is the means by which _righteousness_ is wrought. The forced dominion +of justice is necessarily followed by the voluntary, [Pg 415] just as +the judgments of God, by means of which He is sanctified _upon_ +mankind, are, at the same time, the means by which He is sanctified +_in_ 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 +_Grotius_, 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 _Theodoret's_ 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 _Theodoret's_ 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: [Hebrew: atN amr ii vaqiM ha ivmia ldvd mwiH dcdqh] +"Behold the days shall come, and I will raise up to David the righteous +Messiah, (not [Hebrew: dcdqia] 'the Messiah of the righteous,' as many +absurdly read), saith the Lord." _Eusebius_ (compare _Le Moyne_, _de +Jehova justitia nostra_, 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 [Greek: Iosedek] of the following verse in the +Alexandrian version ([Greek: kai touto to onoma autou, ho kalesei auton +kurios, Iosedek]). It can scarcely be imagined that the translators +themselves proceeded from this erroneous view. For [Pg 416] 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 _nomen proprium_ +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. + +Ver. 6. "_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._" + +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 [Hebrew: cdiq +vnvwe] "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 +_alone_, 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 ([Hebrew: viwkN +iwral bTH]), 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 [Hebrew: tvwe] has there its analogy in ver. +29: [Pg 417] "Happy art thou, O Israel, who is like unto thee, a people +saved ([Hebrew: nvwe]) 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 [Hebrew: iqrav] which +is found in the text, and which is the third pers. Sing. with the +Suffix, several MSS. (compare _De Rossi_), have the third pers. Plur. +[Hebrew: iqrav]. Several controversial writers, such as _Raim. +Martini_, _Pug. Fid._ p. 517, and _Galatinus_, iii. 9, p. 126, (The +Jews of our time assert that here Jeremiah did not say "they shall +call," [Hebrew: iqrav], as we read it, but "he shall call him," +[Hebrew: iqrav]; 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 [Hebrew: iqrav] for the purpose stated. Thus _Rabbi +Saadias Haggaon_, according to _Abenezra_ and _Manasseh Ben Israel_, +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 _Abenezra_ and +_Norzi_ on the passage), and acknowledged [Hebrew: ihvh cdqnv] to be +the name of the Messiah. The reading [Hebrew: iqrav] must be +unconditionally rejected, because it has by far the smallest external +authority in its favour. It is true, that its supporters (comp. +especially _Schulze_, _vollst. Critik der gewoehnlichen_ [Pg 418] +_Bibelausgaben_, 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 _vocabunt eum_ of _Jonathan_ and the Vulgate is +the correct translation of [Hebrew: iqrav]. And when _Jerome_, in +opposition to the Alex., remarks that, according to the Hebrew, the +translation ought to be: _Nomen ejus vocabunt_, he does not contend +against their use of the Singular _per se_, 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 [Hebrew: iqrav] first arose, is +clearly seen from the reasons by which its later defenders endeavour to +support it; compare especially _Schulze_ 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 +[Hebrew: v] instead of the common [Hebrew: -hv]--But from internal +reasons, too, the reading [Hebrew: iqrav] 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 [Hebrew: +iqrav] to Israel, (_Ewald_: "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 _then_ 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 [Hebrew: ihvh cdqnv]. 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 [Hebrew: ihvh cdqnv] +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 [Pg 419] will be bestowed upon us from the face of the +Lord;" _Kimchi_, "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 [Hebrew: spr eqriM] +(in _Le Moyne_, 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 [Hebrew: al alhi iwral]. _Grotius_ 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: _Dominus justus noster_) 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 _Dassov_ 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. +_Le Moyne_ wrote in defence of this explanation a whole book, which we +have already quoted, but from which little is to be learned. Even +_Calvin_, 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 _nomen proprium_. If the words were +thus: "And this is Jehovah our righteousness," we should be fully [Pg +420] 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 _naming_, +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 _Kimchi_ will serve as instances. "Jehovah my Banner" is a +concise expression for: "This altar is consecrated to Jehovah my +Banner;" [Hebrew: al alhi iwral] 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 _Hiller's_ and _Simonis'_ +Onomastica, the names which are compounded with Jehovah. Thus, _e.g._, +Jehoshua, _i.e._, Jehovah salvation, is a concise expression for: +Jehovah will grant me salvation; Jehoram, _i.e._, _Jehovah altus_, for: +I am consecrated to the exalted God of Israel. Most perfectly +analogous, however, is the name Zedekiah, _i.e._, 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 _her_: Jehovah our righteousness." Here Jehovah Zidkenu by no +means [Pg 421] 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. _Le Moyne_, "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 _enallage generis_ [Hebrew: lh] = [Hebrew: lv], +"and thus shall they call _him_." _Le Moyne_ thinks that we need have +no difficulty in assuming such an _enallage_. Others explain: "And he +who shall call, _i.e._, 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 [Hebrew: iqra] +in the second passage being understood in a sense altogether different. +By the same argument, the explanations by _Hottinger_ (Thesaur. +Philolog. p. 17l), and _Dassov_: "This shall come to pass when the Lord, +the Lord our righteousness, shall call her," are also refuted, quite +apart from the consideration, that [Hebrew: awr] cannot by any means +signify _when_. The most recent defender of the old orthodox view, +_Schmieder_, cuts the knot by simply severing our passage from chap. +xxxiii. 16-3. The ancient explanation, which refers [Hebrew: cdqnv], +"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.e._, 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 [Pg 422] which Jeremiah +comprehends in the name _Jehovah Zidkenu_, 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.--_Schmieder_ 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 _Jehovah +Zidkenu_, 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 _righteous_, 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 +[Hebrew: cdiq] 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, _e.g._, seen in the +numbering of the people. And it was not only the _will_ 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 [Hebrew: vmlK mlK vhwkil]) +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 [Pg 423] 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. + +Ver. 7. "_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_; ver. 8, but: _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._" + +The sense is this: The future prosperity and salvation shall by far +outshine the greatest deliverance and salvation of the Past. _Calvin_ +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 _verbatim_ (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.--[Hebrew: Hi-ihvh] "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 _living one_; 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 _Calvin_ +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." + +[Pg 424] + + + + + CHAP. XXXI. 31-40. + + +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 _Venema_ and _Rosenmueller_, who assume that the +section is composed of fragments loosely connected, and written at +different times; but still more at the views of _Movers_ and _Hitzig_, +who assert that a whole number of strange interpolations had been +introduced into the text; compare _Kueper_, Jerem. S. 170 ff. + +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. + +The Prophet begins, in chap. xxx., with the promise of salvation for +_all_ 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 [Pg 425] and I will be your +God."[1] 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 [Hebrew: ahrit +himiM]. 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 _continuing_ 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. + +[Pg 426] + +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 _all_ 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 _Odi profanum +vulgus et arceo_, 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. + +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, [Pg 427] 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." + +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 +_Venema_, 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. + +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. "_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._" The last words of the verse are, +by the ancient interpreters, commonly explained as referring to +Christ's birth by a virgin. Thus, _e.g._, _Cocceius_: "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 _not_ peculiar. For +[Hebrew: gbr] and [Hebrew: nqbh] are a designation of the sex; the fact +that the woman brings forth the man (since [Hebrew: gbr] is asserted to +designate _proles mascula_), 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 (_Schnurrer_, _Gesenius_, +_Rosenmueller_, _Maurer_), have advanced in its stead: "The woman shall +protect the man, shall perform for him the _munus excubitoris +circumeuntis_." This, surely, is a "_ridiculus_ [Pg 428] _mus_"--an +argument quite unique. We must fully agree with _Schnurrer_, who +remarks: "This, surely, is something new, uncommon, unheard of;" but +not every thing _new_ is, for that reason, suitable for furnishing an +effectual motive for conversion. The sense at which _Ewald_ 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 _nomina sexus_ 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 +surrender, which alone, being the only natural relation, can be +productive of happiness! In favour of this explanation is also the +clear reference of [Hebrew: tsvbb] to [Hebrew: ttHmqiN], and to +[Hebrew: hwvbbh], which, in the case of the latter word, is even +outwardly expressed by the alliteration. How foolish would it be still +farther to _depart_, 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. + +[Pg 429] + +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 _now_ shall extend her boundaries beyond the territory of +the unholy; and the Lord, who is sanctified _within_ her, will sanctify +himself _upon_ her also. There shall be no more destruction. + + + * * * * * * * * * * + + +Ver. 31. "_Behold, days come, saith the Lord, and I make a new covenant +with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah._" + +Ver. 32. "_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._" + +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 [Pg 430] designated. But since the _day_ of the deliverance +from Egypt is commonly thus spoken of (comp. Exod. xii. 51 ff.); since +this _day_ was, as such, marked out by the annually returning feast of +the Passover, we must, here also, take [Hebrew: ivM], "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. +_Farther_--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 _Frischmuth_ (_de foedere nov._ in the _Thes. +Ant._ i. p. 857), and of many other interpreters and lexicographers, +and say that [Hebrew: brit] "does not only signify a covenant entered +upon by two or several parties, but also [Greek: prothesin], +_propositum Dei_, [Greek: epangelias], His gratuitous and unconditional +promises, as well as His constant ordinances?" That might after all be +objectionable. [Hebrew: krt brit] cannot _signify_ any thing but to +make a covenant.[2] 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 [Pg 431] 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 [Hebrew: krt brit] may also be used of mere blessings and +promises. Thus, _e.g._, 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 _per se_, 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 [Pg 432] 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, _David Kimchi's_ 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; [Greek: lego de]--so the +Apostle writes in Rom. xv. 8--[Greek: Iesoun Christon diakonon +gegenesthai peritomes huper aletheias theou eis to bebaiosai tas +epangelias ton pateron. ta de ethne huper eleous doxasai ton theon]. +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 _per se_, 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: [Greek: en to legein. Kainen, pepalaioke ten proten. to de +palaioumenon kai geraskon, engus aphanismou]), is, in substance, the +realization of the Old. These remarks are in perfect harmony with that +which was formerly said concerning the meaning of [Hebrew: krt brit]. +We saw that this expression does not designate an act only once done, +[Pg 433] 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 _not_ 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 +_pre-eminently_ (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. [Pg 434] The erroneous +interpretation of [Hebrew: awr] by "_quia_," which is found with most +expositors, is of less consequence. [Hebrew: awr] indicates, in +general, the connection with what precedes. We may explain it either +by: "which my covenant they brake," as is done by _Ewald_; or, "since +(Deut. iii. 24) they brake my covenant," in which latter case, [Hebrew: +awr] 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 [Hebrew: belti]. By far the greater number of +interpreters understand this _sensu malo_; the ancient interpreters in +doing so refer to the words [Greek: kago emelesa auton], (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 +[Hebrew: bel] by "_fastidire_;" others, as they allege, from the Hebrew +_usus loquendi_, by "to tyrannize." Thus, _e.g._ _Buddeus_ (_de +praerogat. fidelium N. T._ 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, [Greek: +emelesa auton], _neglexi eos_." 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 _e.g._ _Cappellus_, +who would read [Hebrew: gelti], and _Grotius_, who would read [Hebrew: +bhlti].[3] The signification "to betroth onesself," "to [Pg 435] take +in marriage," which in that passage we vindicated for [Hebrew: bel] +with [Hebrew: b], is, here too, quite applicable; comp. Jer. ii. 1. +This signification the Chaldee Paraphrast too seems to have had in +view; for he translates [Hebrew: atreiti] "_cupio vos_," "_delector +vobis_." 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. _e.g._ _Maurer_ and +_Hitzig_); and it is, moreover, sufficiently expressed, as the author +of the Epistle to the Hebrews has shown. Even in the announcement of a +_new_ covenant, the declaration is implied that the old covenant was +insufficient: [Greek: ei gar he prote ekeine en amemptos, ouk an +deuteras ezeteito topos] (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: +[Greek: memphomenos gar autois legei], in Heb. viii. 8, which by _De +Wette_ and _Bleek_ are erroneously translated: "For reprovingly He says +to them." The Dative [Greek: autois] belongs to [Greek: memphomenos] +(comp. _Mathiae_, 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 [Greek: hetis epi kreittosin epangeliais +nenomothetetai], 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. [Hebrew: hmh] and +[Hebrew: anki] form an emphatic contrast. _They_, in wicked +ingratitude, have broken the former covenant, have shaken off the +obligations [Pg 436] 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. _Bleek_ 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 _whoring_ properly +belongs, (comp. Is. lvii. 7), the individual members are mentioned; +comp. Hos. ii. 1, 2 (i. 10, ii. 19). + +Ver. 33. "_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._" + +[Hebrew: ki] is, by some interpreters, here supposed to mean "but;" so +much, only, however, is correct that "but" might _also_ have been put; +_for_ 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. [Hebrew: hhM] does not, by any means, as is erroneously +supposed by _Venema_ and _Hitzig_, 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 [Hebrew: bahrit himiM] "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. +_Calvin_ 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 [Pg 437] 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, _Venema_ very +correctly remarks: "The blessings are distinguished into radical or +causal ones, and subsequent or derived ones." The second [Hebrew: ki], +in ver. 34: "_For_ I will forgive their sin," proves the correctness of +this division, which is also pointed out by the _Athnach_.--[Hebrew: +tvrh] is, by many interpreters, here understood to signify "doctrine." +Thus _Buddeus_: "By the word [Hebrew: tvrh], the whole New Testament +doctrine is to be understood." This interpretation, however, is +objectionable, and destructive of the sense, [Hebrew: tvrh] never means +"doctrine," but always "law;" and the fact that it is only _the_ 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, ("_lex cum +homine conciliatur quasi_," _Michaelis_.) One might easily infer from +the passage before us a confirmation of the error, that the law under +the Old Covenant was _only_ an outward dead letter. Against this error +_Buddeus_ 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." _Calvin_ 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 +_poured_ 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 [Pg 438] of [Greek: anakainizein eis +metanoian]. Every outward manifestation of God _must_, 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 _required_ and promised by +God (comp. Deut. l. c. with x. 16), is not substantially different from +the writing of the Law on the heart. _Farther_--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, _e.g._, 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 _new_ 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, _in +the same form_, 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,"--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, [Pg 439] 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, _e.g._ 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 _regnum gloriae_ to the _regnum +gratiae_). 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, [Pg 440] 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 _Massechet Sanhedrim_, 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 _Bechai_ (see _Frischmuth_) +remarks: "This means that every evil concupiscence shall be taken away, +and every desire to covet any thing;" _Moses Nachmanides_ (_ibid._ 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, +contradiction offered by the matter itself This may be seen from the +example of _Grotius_, 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 _Buddeus_, 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 [Pg 441] +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 _him_, 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. + +Ver. 34. "_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._" + +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 _Calvin_, 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.[4] Many interpreters +attempt an evasion, [Pg 442] by referring the words to the future life; +thus _Theodoret_, _Augustine_, (_de Spirit. et lit._ c. 24) and _Este_, +who, in a manner almost _naive_, 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 _mere_ 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, [Pg 443] 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 [Greek: +theodidaktoi], 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: [Greek: Kai humeis chrisma echete apo +tou hagiou, kai oidate panta. Ouk egrapsa humin, hoti ouk oidate ten +aletheian, all'hoti oidate auten.] Ver. 27: [Greek: Kai humeis to +chrisma, ho elabete ap'autou, en humin, menei kai ou chreian echete, +hina tis didaske humas, all'hos to auto chrisma didaskei humas peri +panton k. t. l.] The [Greek: didaskein] 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 [Greek: +parakletos], 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 [Greek: charismata], is quite in its place. The +apostle writes just _because_ 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 _Jelammedenu_, which is quoted by _Abarbanel_ (in +_Frischmuth_, 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. [Pg 444] 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 [Greek: +theodidaktoi]; 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 [Hebrew: ki] be referred only to that +which immediately precedes, or to every thing which goes before +(_Venema_: _vocala_ [Hebrew: ki] _non ad proxime praecedentia +referenda, sed ad totam pericopam, qua bona foederis recensita sunt, +extenda_), 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 [Pg 445] 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 _Capporeth_ (see _Genuineness of the +Pentateuch_, 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 _has_ forgiven sins; comp. _e.g._ 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 +[Greek: plerophoria]"--so _Buddeus_ 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 +[Greek: kairoi anapsuxeos] 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. + +Ver. 35. "_Thus saith the Lord, giving the sun for a light by day, and +the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for_ [Pg 446] _a light by +night, agitating the sea, and the waves thereof roar, the Lord of hosts +is His name._" + +Ver. 36. "_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._" + +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 (_Calvin_: "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 [Pg 447] 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 _much firmer_ 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 +([Hebrew: emi]) that they should be still a nation ([Hebrew: gvi]) +before them" it appears why it is that [Hebrew: gvi] is here used, and +not [Hebrew: eM]. 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. + +Ver. 37. "_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._" + +It is not without meaning that the Prophet so frequently repeats: Thus +saith the Lord. This formed the [Greek: A] and [Greek: O]; His word was +the _sole_ 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 [Pg 448] 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 _punctum saliens_ in the believers'despair of the mercy of +God. _Calvin_ 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." + +Ver. 38. "_Behold, days, saith the Lord, and the city is built to the +Lord from the tower of Hananeel unto the gate of the corner._ Ver. 39. +_And the measuring line goeth yet farther over against it, over the +hill Gareb_ (the leper), _and turneth towards Goah_ (place of +execution). Ver. 40. _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,_ (all this is) _holiness unto the +Lord. No more shall it be destroyed, nor shall it be laid waste for +ever._" + +This prophecy embraces two features: _first_, 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, _secondly_, 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, [Pg 449] 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 _Vitringa_ 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 [Pg +450] 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 [Hebrew: imiM], the _Keri_ inserts +[Hebrew: baiM]. 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 _Keri_ 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 _nomen proprium_ 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 [Hebrew: ngdv] refers to the Corner-gate; the measuring line, +[Hebrew: qvh] according to the _Kethibh_, [Hebrew: qv hmdh], which is +the common form, according to the _Keri_, 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. [Hebrew: el] "over" (_Hitzig_ +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 [Pg +451] side[5] and Goah on the South-west side, [Hebrew: grb] 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. _J. D. Michaelis_ (Mos. Recht. iv. Sec. 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 _to him_ 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, [Pg 452] if contagious at all, is so, at all +events, very slightly only, and is never propagated by a single touch. +(_Michaelis_ 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 _Michaelis_ 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. _Farther_--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 _Michaelis_ 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 _Michaelis'_ 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: [Greek: Kai ou me eiselthe eis auten] [Pg 453] +[Greek: pan koinon kai poioun bdelugma kai pseudos], and by Paul, in +Ephes. v. 5: [Greek: touto gar iste ginoskontes, hoti pas pornos, e +akathartos, e pleonektes ... ouk echei kleronomian en te basileia tou +Christou kai Theou]; 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 _our_ +disease), had to bear the image of sin, _e.g._, 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, _e.g._, in the case of Miriam, +Uzziah, Gehazi, 2 Kings v. 27. In the Law, there are many warnings +against it, _e.g._, 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 [Pg 454] +name. This signification interpreters usually endeavour to obtain by +deriving the word from [Hebrew: geh] "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 [Hebrew: gve], just as +[Hebrew: wve] is derived from [Hebrew: wve], a derivation which was +first proposed by _Hiller_, S. 127. [Hebrew: gve] 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[6] of expiring," which would be a very suitable name +of the place for the execution of criminals. _Vitringa_, in commenting +upon Is. xxx. 33, already expressed the conjecture that Goah, [Hebrew: +gl gveth] might perhaps be identical with Golgotha, but retracted it, +because the Evangelists explain Golgotha by [Greek: kraniou topos]. 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 [Greek: pascha], +from [Greek: paschein], 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.[7] The +use of "skull" for "the place of skulls," as well as the omission of +the _L_, 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 [Pg +455] true, testified by tradition only; comp. _Krafft_, S. 168 ff.; +_Ritter_, _Erdk._ 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. _Krafft_, S 2; v. _Raumer_, S. 269. The valley of the carcasses +is here brought into immediate connection with _all_ the fields +(_q.d._, 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, [Hebrew: pgr], [Hebrew: +pgriM] 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 +_Venema_ 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 +[Hebrew: pgriM] 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[8] that, after the defilement by Josiah (2 +Kings xxiii. 10), it received this designation. But there are not +wanting evident traces that, [Pg 456] even in former times, the valley +served this purpose. In Is. xxx. 33, it is said in reference to the +Assyrians: "For Tophet (_Gesenius_ arbitrarily changes the _nomen +proprium_ into an _appellativum_, 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.e._, _horror_, _abomination_, 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 _Vitringa's_ 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 [Hebrew: pgriM] 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 [Hebrew: +hemq] forbids us to view it as being in the _Stat. construct._ 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 [Pg 457] +designated as the valley [Greek: kat' exochen], 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 [Hebrew: dwN], _Gousset_ Lex. p. 368, +remarks: "The words [Hebrew: dwN], and [Hebrew: dwN] 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 [Hebrew: dwN] and [Hebrew: dwN] 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 _Winer_ and others (_cinis_ = _pinguefactio agrorum_), is +therefore wrong. On the contrary, even the burnt fat was still +considered as fat; the ashes of the fat are the [Hebrew: warit], 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 [Pg 458] the +valley of Hinnom, because, according to the Law, the ashes of the +sacrifices were to be carried to a _clean_ 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 [Hebrew: wrmvt] unto the brook +Kidron" are identical with the fields of Kidron, [Hebrew: wdmvt qdrvN], +mentioned in 2 Kings xxiii.; but much to be doubted is the correctness +of the common supposition (after the example of _Kuypers_, _ad varia V. +T. loca_, in the _Syll. Dissert. sub praes. Schultens, et Schroederi_, +t. 1. p. 537), that [Hebrew: wrmvt] is identical with [Hebrew: wdmvt]. +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 [Hebrew: d] and [Hebrew: r]; but these exchanges are +always significant. (Compare _Kueper_. Jerem. p. xiv. and 43, and +_History of Balaam_, p. 447 f.) Although we cannot, with certainty, fix +the meaning of [Hebrew: wrmvt], yet so much seems to be sure, that this +word was one which more accurately designated the nature of those +places than the current _nomen proprium_, inasmuch as it would be +absurd to substitute for it another name, if there had not been deeper +reasons. One need only compare the [Hebrew: hr hmwHit] 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 [Arabic: **], [Arabic: **], +[Arabic: **] in Arabic run together in that of _cutting off_. [Hebrew: +wdmvt] the Plural of the Feminine of the Adjective [Hebrew: wrm] are, +accordingly, _loca abscissa_, places which are cut off and excluded +[from the Holy City] outwardly (_Aq._: [Greek: proasteia]), 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, [Pg 459] then become holiness, [Hebrew: qdw]. 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 +_without Jerusalem_ in the fields of Kidron." Ver. 6: "And he brought +out the Ashera out of the house of the Lord, _without Jerusalem_, 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") 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.--[Hebrew: qdw lihvh] refers to every thing mentioned in the +verse before us. As regards the last words, comp. Remarks on Zech. xiv. +11. + + + +[Footnote 1: 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 _Jonathan_ +remarks: "And the Messiah the Son of David;" and _Abarbanel_: "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.] + +[Footnote 2: _Hofmann_ (_Weiss. u. Erf._ 1 S. 138) assigns to the +phrase the meaning: "to make an arrangement." But decisive against this +is not only the derivation, (comp. _Gesenius Thesaurus_), 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.] + +[Footnote 3: Even the most recent interpreters, who take [Hebrew: bel] +_ sensu malo_, still greatly differ,--a proof that this interpretation +has a very insufficient foundation on which to rest. _Gesenius_, _De +Wette_, _Bleek_ (on Heb. viii. 9), retain the explanation by +_fastidire_, _rejicere_; _Maurer_ translates: _dominarer_, _domini +partes sustinerem_, contrasting tyrannical dominion with a relation of +love; _Ewald_: "Seeing that I am her master and protector;" _Hitzig_: +"And I got possession of her." All these interpretations are opposed by +the _usus loquendi_, according to which [Hebrew: bel] has only the two +significations: "to possess," and "to take for a wife," the latter +being the ordinary and prevailing one.] + +[Footnote 4: Not less than these, _Hitzig_ too has allowed himself to +be carried away by the appearance. He says: "Then, indeed, the office +of religious instructors must cease."] + +[Footnote 5: According to _Krafft_ (_sur Topographie Jerus._ 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.] + +[Footnote 6: _Thenius_, in the appendix to the Commentary on the Books +of Kings, S. 24, remarks: "[Hebrew: gl] 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 _Rabenstein_, lit. "raven-stone," +for: place of execution.)] + +[Footnote 7: This objection would be removed if, following _Thenius_ +and _Krafft_, S. 158, we were to explain the name from the form of the +hill, which is that of a skull. But _none_ 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 [Greek: kraniou +topos], "place of a skull."] + +[Footnote 8: Compare the Book _Kosri_, p. 72. _Buxtorff_ 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."] + + + + + CHAPTER XXXIII. 14-26. + + +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 [Pg 460] +knowledge is not regarded as knowledge; that the hope of 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. + +The genuineness of this section has been assailed by _Jahn_ (_Vaticinia +Mess._ iii. p. 112, ff.[1]), after the example of _J. D. Michaelis_, +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 [Pg 461] 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. +_e.g._, the inferences in _Jahn_, 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, _a priori_, 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 _verbatim_, 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 [Pg 462] 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 _J. D. Michaelis_ and _Jahn_ 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 _J. D. Michaelis_, _Jahn_, _Hitzig_, and _Movers_, there +were men who were as little able to understand the text as these +expositors. + +Ver. 14. "_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._" + +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 [Hebrew: qvM]) one word of all His good word which He spoke +through Moses His servant." In Deut. xxviii. the _good_ word and the +_evil_ 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 [Hebrew: al] and +[Hebrew: el] 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 [Pg 463] 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. + +Ver. 15, 16. "_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._" + +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 [Hebrew: hqimvti], the more suitable [Hebrew: acmiH] 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. + +Ver. 17. "_For thus saith the Lord: There shall not be cut of from +David a man sitting upon the throne of the house of Israel._" + +The connection with what precedes is pertinently brought out by +_Calvin_: "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 [Hebrew: la ikrt], "there shall not be +cut off," &c., is a simple repetition of the promise to David, in [Pg +464] 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. + +Ver. 18, "_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._" + +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 [Pg 465] 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, +_even a priori_, 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, +[Pg 466] 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 _Levitical_ 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 _Vitringa_ and _Gesenius_, 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 _taking_, no special divine +mercy would have taken place. Even the Law already knows an _ideal_ +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 [Pg 467] 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 _Genuineness of the Pentateuch_, p. +329 ff. The epithet, [Pg 468] "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 _inquiry_, 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: +_Take_ all iniquity, and _give_ 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 _entirely_ where only thanks, the lips, are. The +outward sacrifice is the vessel only in which the gift is presented to +God. _Farther_--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. + +Vers. 19, 20. "_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_; Ver. 21. _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._" + +The word [Hebrew: tprv] is very significant. _Calvin_ says: "The +Prophet indirectly reproves the wickedness of the people, because, as +much as lay with them, they destroyed the covenant [Pg 469] 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."--[Hebrew: hivM] and [Hebrew: hlilh] are appositions to: +My covenant. The day and night in their regular succession are the +covenant which is here spoken of The phrase [Hebrew: ivmM vlilh], which +signifies "by day and night," "daily and nightly," stands here for: +_tempus diurnum et nocturnum_. "The covenant," [Hebrew: brit], does not +by any means stand here in the signification _stabilis ordinatio_; 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 +_them_, 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 _with you_, 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. + +Ver. 22. "_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._" + +Even considered in itself, the literal fulfilment of this verse [Pg +470] 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, [Hebrew: mmlkt khniM]."[2] +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 +_unnatural_ 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, [Pg 471] 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 +_Philo_, _de vita Mos._ (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 +[Pg 472] 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, _tales quales_, 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: [Greek: humeis de genos eklekton, basileion +hierateuma k.t.l.] 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: [Greek: kai epoiesas autous to theo hemon +basileis kai hiereis, kai basileusousin epi tes ges.] 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: +[Greek: kai epoiesen hemas basileian, hiereis to theo kai patri +hautou], stand in close connection to [Greek: ho archon ton basileon +tes ges], and to [Greek: kai lusanti hemas apo ton hamartion hemon en +to haimati hautou.] + +Ver. 23. "_And the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying:_ Ver. 24. +_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._" + +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," (_Hitzig_), +or the Samaritans (_Movers_), are to be understood. In advancing such +assertions, it is overlooked [Pg 473] 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 [Hebrew: tprv] 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 [Greek: +ametameleta ta charismata kai he klesis tou theou], Rom. xi. 29. The +expression "_my_ people," directs attention to how God is now despised +in Israel. On the contrast between "_my_ people" and "a people," +compare remarks on chap. xxxi. 36. + +Ver. 25. "_Thus saith the Lord: If not my covenant daily_ [Pg 474] _and +nightly, if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and +earth_;"-- + +Compare ver. 20. The covenant daily and nightly, _i.e._, 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. + +Ver. 26. "_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._" + +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 [Hebrew: mwliM] is easily accounted +for, from the circumstance that it was not the number, but only the +_fact_ 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. + + + +[Footnote 1: They have been joined by _Movers_ (_de utriusque recens. +Jerem. indole_), who declares ver. 18 and 21-24 to be a later +interpolation (comp. against this view _Kueper_, S. 173, and +_Wichelhaus_, de Jerem. Vers. Alex., p. 170), and _Hitzig_, according +to whom the whole portion, vers. 14-26, consists of "a series of single +additions from a later period."] + +[Footnote 2: Compare the discussions on this passage in my Commentary +on Rev. i. 6.] + + + + + END OF VOLUME SECOND. + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Christology of the Old Testament: And +a Commentary on the Messianic Predictions. 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