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.