CHAPTER LI. 1-16.

Ver. 1. "And I put my words in thy mouth, and cover thee in the shadow of mine hand, that thou mayest plant the heaven and lay the foundation of the earth, and say unto Zion: Thou art my people."

The discourse in chap. li. to lii. 12 is not addressed to the whole of Israel, but to the election. They are, in chap. li. 1, called those that follow after righteousness, that seek the Lord; in ver. 7, those who know righteousness, in whose heart is the law of the Lord. These the Prophet seeks to comfort and strengthen by pointing to the future glorious mercies of the Lord.

The Section chap. li. 4-8 comforts the elect by the coming of the salvation, by the dominion of the people of God over the whole world; points to the foundation of these successes, viz., the eternity of the salvation and righteousness for the Church; and exhorts them that, having this eternal salvation before them, they might patiently bear the temporal reproach of the world given over to destruction.

In vers. 9-11, the Church calls upon the Lord to do as He had promised; and this prayer, founded upon His almighty love, which in times past had so gloriously manifested itself, passes over, at the close, into hope and confidence.

In vers. 12-16 follows the answer of the Lord, who exhorts the Church to be stedfast, by reminding her that her opponents are weak mortals, while the omnipotent God is her protector; and announces that, with the same omnipotence which He manifests in nature, He would soon bring about her deliverance, [Pg 258] and that Ho would do so by His Servant, in whom all His promises should be Yea and Amen, and whom at the close Ho addresses, committing to Him the work of redemption. According to the current opinion, the discourse in ver. 16 is addressed to the people. But, in that case, we must also make up our minds to view the Infinitive with [Hebrew: l] a Gerund, "planting," or "by planting,"—a supposition which is beset with great difficulties. It was only by an inconsistency that Stier, who, in chap. xlix. rejects this view, could here agree to it. And, farther, it is obvious that the words at the close: "Thou art my people," are the words which, according to the commencement of the verse, are put into the mouth of the speaker, and that hence, the planting of heaven and earth, which prepares for this speaking, belongs to Him. If this be not supposed, one does not at all see to what the: "I put my words in thy mouth," is to refer. What farther militates against this explanation is the unmistakable relation of the passage before us to chaps. xlix., l., which it is impossible to refer to the people. The same reason is also against the supposition of Gesenius and Umbreit, that the discourse is addressed to the prophetical order. Nor is it defensible to explain: "to plant the heaven and lay the foundation of the earth," by: to establish the new state of Israel. To these arguments it may be added that, according to this explanation, the words: "Thou art my people," are unsuitable; for Israel was not the people of the Prophet, but the people of God and of His Servant. The discourse is addressed rather to the Messiah, compare the parallel passages, chap. xlix., especially ver. 2, and chap. l., especially vers. 4 and 5. Considering the dramatic character of the whole section, the change of the person addressed is a circumstance of very little importance; and chap. lix. 21, where the word of God is put into the mouth of Jacob, is parallel in appearance only. Even a priori we could not expect that, in this context, treating, as it does, of the personal Messiah, the whole section, chap. li. 1 to lii. 12, should lack all reference to the Messiah. By the words: "I put my word in thy mouth," the Messiah is appointed to be, in the highest sense, the speaker of God; the realization of the divine counsels is committed to Him. For the fact that it is not mere words which are here treated of, but such as are living [Pg 259] and powerful, like those which God spoke at the creation, becomes evident by the circumstance that the planting of heaven and earth is attributed to the Servant of God as bearer of His words,—a thing which cannot be done by the ordinary word; comp. Isa. xl. 4, according to which the Messiah smites the earth with the rod of His mouth, and slays the wicked with the breath of His lips.—I cover thee in the shadow of mine hand, designates the divine protection and providence which are indispensable in order that the Servant of God may fulfil His vocation to be God's speaker. The words form an accessory thought only: I appoint thee my speaker whom, as such, I will keep and protect in order that thou, etc.;—for that which follows is that which the Servant of God is to perform as His Speaker. By the word of Omnipotence committed to Him, He plants a new heaven, and lays the foundation of a new earth, and invests Zion with the dignity of the people of God.—To plant the heaven and lay the foundation of the earth, is equivalent to founding a new heaven, a new earth; comp. chaps. lxv. 17, lxvi. 22; Rev. xxii. For, as long as the old heaven and the old earth exist, a planting and founding activity cannot take place in reference to heaven and earth. All that is created, in so far as it opposes the Kingdom of God, is unfit for being an abode of the glorified Kingdom of God, and must be shaken and broken to pieces, in order that this Kingdom may enter into its natural conditions, and find a worthy abode. The activity of God and His Servant, necessary for this purpose, will most completely take place at the end of days, at the [Greek: palingenesia] announced by the Lord, Matt. xix. 28; compare what is said in chap. xi., in reference to the entire change of the conditions of the earth. But in a preparatory manner, this activity pervades all history. The heaven, according to the usus loquendi of Scripture, and also of Isaiah, is not only the natural heaven, but also the heaven of princes, the whole order of rulers and magistrates, (comp. my remarks on Rev. vi. 13), whose form and relation to the Kingdom of God underwent a great change, even at the first appearance of Christ.—The saying, according to the preceding: That thou mayest plant, &c., is not to be referred to the mere announcing; but, according to the frequent usus loquendi, it includes the performing also, just as e.g., in ver. 12, the [Pg 260] comforting is effected by a discourse in deeds. The distinction between, and separation of word and deed belongs to human weakness. God speaks and it is done; and what holds true of His word, applies also to the word of His Servant, which he has put into His mouth.



CHAPTERS LII. 13-LIII. 12.

This section forms the climax of the prophecies of Isaiah, of prophetism in general, of the whole Old Testament, as appears even from the circumstance that the Lord and His Apostles refer to no part of the Old Testament so frequently and so emphatically as to this,—a section which, according to Luther's demand, every Christian should have committed verbatim. Christ is here, with wonderful clearness, described to us in His highest work—His atoning suffering.

In vers. 13-15 of chap. lii. Jehovah speaks. These verses contain a short summary of what is enlarged upon in chap. liii. The very deepest humiliation of the Servant of God shall be followed by His highest glorification. In consequence of the salvation wrought out and accomplished by Him, the nations of the earth and their kings shall reverently submit to Him. In chap. liii. 1-10, the Prophet utters the sentiments of the elect in Israel. At first, in His humiliation, they had not recognized the Redeemer; but now they acknowledged Him as their Redeemer and Saviour, and saw that He had taken upon Him His sufferings for our salvation, and that they had a vicarious character. The commencement forms, in ver. 1, the lamentation that so many do not believe in the report of the Servant of God, that so many do not behold the glory of God manifested in Him. In vers. 2 and 3, we have the cause of this fact, viz., the appearance of the Divine, in the form of a Servant—the offence of the cross. In lowliness, without any outward splendour, the Servant of God shall go about. Sufferings, heavier than ever befel any man, shall be inflicted upon Him. In vers. 4-6, the vicarious import of these sufferings is pointed out. The people, seeing his sufferings, [Pg 261] and not knowing the cause of them, imagined that they were the well-merited punishment of His own transgressions and iniquities. But the Church, now brought to believe in Him, see that they were wrong in imagining thus. It was not His own transgressions and iniquities which were punished in Him, but ours. His sufferings were voluntarily undergone by Him, and for the salvation of mankind, which else would have been given up to destruction. God himself was anxious to re-unite to himself those who were separated from Him, and who walked in their own ways. To the vicarious import of the sufferings of the Servant of God corresponds, according to ver. 7, His conduct: He suffers quietly and patiently. In vers. 8-10 we have the reward which the Servant of God receives for His passive obedience. God takes Him to himself, and He receives an unspeakably great generation, ver. 8, the ominous burial with the rich, ver. 9, numerous seed and long life, and that the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand; ver. 10. In vers. 11 and 12, the Lord again appears as speaking, and confirms that which has been declared by the faithful Church.

The two verses of the close, together with the exordium, chap. lii. 13-15, occupy five verses—five being the signature of the half and incomplete. The main body, ten verses, is divided into seven referring to the humiliation and suffering, and three referring to the exaltation of the Servant of God. The seven are, as usual, divided into three and four. In the three verses, the suffering of the Servant of God is exhibited; in the four, its cause and vicarious import.

By the "Behold," with which the prophecy opens, the Prophet intimates that we have here before us a vision beheld by him in the spirit. As the period in which the Prophet beholds the vision, we have to suppose the time between the suffering and the glorification of the Servant of God. The glorification is described chiefly by Futures, the suffering by Preterites; but, from the fact that this stand-point is not strictly adhered to, it is evident that we have to do with a stand-point which is purely ideal.

The section forms, in a formal and material point of view, a whole by itself; but, notwithstanding its absolute independence, it must stand in a certain connection with what precedes and what follows. Let us, therefore, now consider the relation [Pg 262] in which it stands to the portions surrounding it. Its relation to what goes before is thus strikingly designated by Calvin: "After Isaiah had spoken of the restoration of the Church, he passes over to Christ, in whom all things are gathered together. He speaks of the prosperous success of the Church, at a time when it was least to be expected, which calls them back to their King, by whom all things are to be restored, and exhorts them to expect Him." The preceding section begins with chap. li. 1. We have already stated the contents up to li. 16. Vers. 17-23 are closely connected with the preceding, in which salvation and mercy were announced to the Church of God. This announcement is here continued in new forms. Chap. lii. 1-6: As the Lord had formerly delivered His people out of the hand of Egypt and Asshur, so, now too, He will deliver them. Zion appears under the image of a woman imprisoned, fettered, lying powerlessly in a miserable garment, on a dirty floor, and is called upon to arise, to strengthen herself, to throw off her bands, to put on festive garments, inasmuch as the time of her deliverance from the misery is at hand. Vers. 7-10: In the last words of ver. 6, the Lord had announced that He was already at hand for the redemption of His Church. This salvation now presents itself vividly to the spiritual eye of the Prophet, and is graphically described by him. He beholds a messenger hastening with the glad tidings to Jerusalem; watchmen, who are standing on the ruins of Jerusalem in longing expectation, discover him at a distance, and exultingly call upon the ruins to shout aloud for joy.[1] "How beautiful"—so verse 7 runs—"upon the mountains the feet of the Messenger of joy, that announceth peace, that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth salvation, that saith unto Zion: Thy God reigneth." In Rom. x. 15, the Apostle refers this passage to the preaching of the Gospel. That is more than mere application; it is real explanation. The deliverance from Babylon is only the first faint beginning of the salvation, which the Prophet has before his eye in its [Pg 263] whole extent. As the substance of the salvation, the circumstance that Zion's God reigneth, is intimated. There is, in this, an allusion to the formula which was used in proclaiming the ascension of earthly kings to the throne. Even this allusion shows that the point here in question is not the continuous government of the Lord, but a new, glorious manifestation of His government, as it were a new ascension to the throne. This "the Lord reigneth," found a faint beginning only of its confirmation and fulfilment in the destruction of Babylon, and the deliverance of Israel; but as to its full import, it is Messianic. In Christ, the Lord has truly assumed the government, and will still more gloriously reign in future.—Ver. 8: "The voice of thy watchmen! they lift up the voice, they shout together; for they see eye to eye that the Lord returneth to Zion." The watchmen are ideal persons, representatives of the truth that the Lord is around His people, and that the circumstances of His Church are to Him a constant call to help; or they may be viewed as the holy angels who, as the servants of the watchmen of Israel, form the protecting power for the Church. These watchmen continue to stand even on the destroyed walls; for, even in her misery, the Lord is Zion's God. The anxious waiting eye of the watchmen, and the mercy-beaming eye of God returning to Zion meet one another. The returning here is opposed to the forsaking, over which Zion had lamented in chap. xlix. 14. Instead of the concealed presence of the Lord during the misery, which, to the feeling, so easily appears as entire absence, there comes the presence of God manifested in the salvation. This return of the Lord to Zion truly took place in Christ only, Luke i. 68.—Ver. 9: "Break forth into joy, shout together, ye ruins of Jerusalem, for the Lord comforteth Jerusalem, redeemeth His people." This call goes far beyond the time of the restoration of Jerusalem after the exile; for, even at that time, the spiritual eye still beheld ruins, where the bodily eye saw firm, walled buildings. The condition of the Kingdom of God was still miserable, the eye of the faithful remained still fixed, with hopes and longings, upon the Future which was to bring, and has brought, true comfort and consolation.—Ver. 10: "The Lord maketh bare His Holy arm in the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth see the salvation of our God." The making bare of the arm of the Lord designates the manifestation, by deeds, of [Pg 264] the divine power and glory, such as took place by the sending of Christ, and by the wonderful elevation of the Church over the world,—an elevation which has it roots in Him; comp. chap. liii. 1. In vers. 11 and 12 there is still the exhortation to the Church of the Lord that, by true repentance, she should worthily prepare for the impending salvation.

After the Prophet has, in chap. li. 1 to lii. 12, described the transition of the Church of God from humiliation and sorrow to glorification, it is quite natural that he should now turn from the members to the Head, through whose mediation this transition was to be accomplished, after the same contrast had been exhibited in Himself There is the most intimate connection between the Church of God and His Servant; for, all that He does and suffers. He does and suffers for her; and all that befals her is prefigured by the way in which He has been led by the Lord.

With what follows, too, the section before us stands in a close relation. The glorification of the Servant of God described at the close of chap. liii., is, in Him, bestowed at the same time, upon the Church. Thus chap. liv., in which the Church is comforted by pointing to her future glorification, is connected with the preceding. The Church of the Lord appears here as a woman who, after having been put away by her husband, and after having, for a long time, lived in a childless, sorrowful solitude, is again received by him, and sees herself surrounded by numerous children. The time of punishment is now at an end, and the time of mercy is breaking.

Chap. lii. 13. "Behold, my Servant shall act wisely, He shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high."

[Hebrew: hwkil] always means "to act wisely" (LXX. [Greek: sunesei]; Aquil. Sym.: [Greek: episthemonisthesetai]), never "to be successful" (the Chaldean, whom most of the modern interpreters follow, renders it by [Hebrew: iclH]), and this ascertained sense (comp. Remarks on Jer. iii. 15; xxiii. 5, where the verb is used of the Messiah, just as it is here), must here be maintained so much the more, that our passage evidently refers to David, the former servant of God. Of him it is said in 1 Sam. xviii. 14, 15: "And David was acting wisely in all his ways, and the Lord was with him. And Saul saw that he was acting very wisely, and was afraid of him;" comp. 1 Kings ii. 3, where David says to Solomon: "And keep the charge of the Lord thy God ... in order [Pg 265] that thou mayest act wisely in all that thou doest, and whithersoever thou turnest thyself;" Ps. ci. 2, where David, speaking in the name of his family, says: "I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way;" and 2 Kings xviii. 7, where it is said of Hezekiah: "And the Lord was with him, and whithersoever he went forth, he acted wisely." According to these fundamental and parallel passages, the expression, "He shall act wisely" refers to the administration of government, and is equivalent to: He shall rule wisely like his ancestor David. Stier is wrong in opposing the view, that the Messiah here presents himself as King. He says: "The King has here stepped behind the Prophet, Witness, Martyr, Saviour;" but in chap. liii. 12, the royal office surely comes out with sufficient distinctness. We must never forget that the different offices of Christ are intimately connected with one another by the unity of the person. The prosperity and success which the Servant of God enjoys, are first brought before us and detailed in what follows; and appear, just as in the fundamental passages quoted, as the consequence of acting wisely: "My Servant shall, after having, through the deepest humiliation, attained to dominion, administer it well, and thereby attain to the highest glory." To the words: "He shall act wisely" correspond, afterwards, the words: "The pleasure of the Lord shall prosper by His hand," chap. liii. 10. The fact that a person acts wisely is, in a twofold aspect, a fruit of his connection with God: first, because God is the source and fountain of all wisdom, and, secondly, because from God the blessing proceeds which always accompanies his doings. The ungodly is by God involved in circumstances which, notwithstanding all his wisdom, make him appear as a fool. Compare only chap. xix. 11: "The princes of Zoan become fools, the counsel of the wise counsellors of Pharaoh is become brutish; how can ye say unto Pharaoh: a son of the wise am I, a (spiritual) son of the (wise) kings of ancient times?" comp. ver. 13; Job xii. 17, 20; Eccles. ix. 11. In the second clause the Prophet puts together the verbs which denote elevation, and still adds [Hebrew: mad] "very" in order most emphatically to point out the glory of the exaltation of the Servant of God.

Ver. 14. "As many were shocked at thee—so marred from man was His look, and His form from the sons of man—Ver. 15. So shall He sprinkle many nations; kings shall shut their [Pg 266] mouths on account of Him, for they who had not been told, they see, and they who did not hear, they perceive."

Ver. 14 contains the protasis, ver. 15 the apodosis. The former describes the deep humiliation, the latter the highest glorification of the Servant of God. The so in ver. 14 begins a parenthesis, in which the reason why many were shocked is stated, and which goes on to the end of the verse. In keeping with the dramatic character of the prophetic discourse, the Lord addresses His Servant in ver. 14: "At thee;" while, in ver. 15, He speaks of Him in the third person: "He shall sprinkle;" "on account of Him" This change has been occasioned by the parenthetical clause which contains a remark of the Prophet, and in which, therefore, the Servant of God could not but be spoken of in the third person. Haevernick and Stier refuse to admit the existence of a parenthesis. Their reasons: "Parentheses are commonly an ill-invented expedient only," and: "It is not likely that the same particle should have a different signification in these two clauses following immediately the one upon the other," are not entirely destitute of force, but are far-outweighed by counter-arguments. They say that the apodosis begins with the first [Hebrew: kN], and that in ver. 15 a second apodosis follows. But no tolerable thought comes out in this way;—it is hard to co-ordinate two apodoses,—and the transition from the 2d to the 3d person remains unaccounted for. [Hebrew: wmM] "to be desolated" is then transferred to the spiritual desolation and devastation, and receives the signification "to be horrified," "to be shocked."—Who the many are that are shocked and offended at the miserable appearance of the Servant of God, appears from chap. xlix. 4, according to which the opposition to the Servant of God has its seat among the covenant people; farther, from the contrast in ver. 15 of the chapter before us, according to which the respectful surrender belongs to the Gentiles; and farther, from chap. liii. 1, where the unbelief of the former covenant-people is complained of; from vers. 2-4, where even the believers from among Israel complain that they had had difficulty in surmounting the offence of the Cross. [Hebrew: mwHt], properly "corruption," stands here as abstractum pro concreto, in the signification, "corrupted," "marred." As to its form, it is in the status constructus which, in close connections, can stand even [Pg 267] before Prepositions. From the corresponding [Hebrew: Hdl aiwiM] in chap. liii. 3, it appears that the Preposition stands here only for the sake of distinctness, and might as well have been omitted. The [Hebrew: mN] serves for designating the distance, "from man," "from the sons of men," so that He is no more a man, does no more belong to the number of the sons of men. The correctness of this explanation appears from chap. liii. 3, and Ps. xxii. 7: "I am a worm and no man." As regards the sense of the whole parenthesis, many interpreters remark, that we must not stop at the bodily disfiguration of the Servant of God, but that the expression must, at the same time, be understood figuratively. Thus, Luther says: "The Prophet does not speak of the form of Christ as to His person, but of the political and royal form of a Ruler, who is to become an earthly King, and does not appear in royal form, but as the meanest of all servants; so that no more despised man than He has been seen in the world." But the Prophet evidently speaks, in the first instance, of the bodily appearance only; and we can the less think of a figurative sense, that bodily disfiguration forms the climax of misery, and that, in this part, the whole of the miserable condition is delineated. Even the severe inward sufferings are a matter of course, if the outward ones have risen to such a pitch. How both of these go hand in hand is seen from Ps. xxii. These interpreters are, farther, wrong in this respect, that they refer the pretended figurative expression solely to the lowliness and humility of the Messiah, and not, at the same time, to His sufferings also. Thus, among the ancient interpreters, it was viewed by Jerome: "The horrid appearance of His form is not thereby indicated, but that He came in humility and poverty;" and among recent interpreters by Martini: "The sense of the passage does not properly refer to the deformity of the face, but to the whole external weak, poor, and humble condition." But, for that, the expression is by far too strong. Mere lowliness is no object of horror (comp. 1 Cor. i. 23, according to which it is the Cross which offends the Jews); it does not produce a deformity of the countenance; it cannot produce the effect that the Servant of God should, as it were, cease to be a man. All this suggests an unspeakable suffering of the Servant of God, and that, moreover, a suffering which, in the first instance, [Pg 268] manifested itself upon His own holy body. Farther—We must also take into consideration that the sprinkling, in ver. 15, has for its background the shedding of blood, and is the fruit of it, at first concealed. If any doubt should yet remain, it would be removed by the subsequent detailed representation of that which is here given in outline merely. The sole reason of that narrow view is, that interpreters did not understand the fundamental relation of the section under consideration to the subsequent section; that they did not perceive that, here, we have in a complete sketch what there is given in detail and expansion.—Ver. 15. The verb [Hebrew: nzh] occurs in very many passages, and signifies in Hiphil, everywhere, "to sprinkle." It is especially set apart and used for the sprinkling with the blood of atonement, and the water of purification. When "the anointed priest" had sinned, he took of the blood of the sacrifice, and sprinkled it before the vail of the sanctuary, Lev. iv. 6; comp. v. 16, 17. The high priest had, every year, on the great day of atonement, to sprinkle the blood before the Ark of the Covenant, in order to obtain forgiveness for the people. Lev. xvi. 14, comp. also vers. 18, 19: "And he shall sprinkle of the blood upon it (the altar) with his finger seven times, and cleanse it, and hallow it from the uncleanness of the children of Israel." In the same manner the verb is used of the sprinkling of blood upon the healed leper, Lev. xiv. 7, and frequently. According to Numb. xix. 19, the clean person shall sprinkle upon the unclean, on the third day, and on the seventh day, "with the water in which are the ashes of the red heifer" when any one has become unclean by touching a dead body. The outward material purification frequently serves in the Old Testament to denote the spiritual purification. Thus, e.g., in Ps. i. 9: "Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;" Ezek. xxxvi. 25: "And I sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean from all your filthiness." In all those passages there lies, everywhere, at the foundation an allusion to the Levitical purifications (the two last quoted especially refer to Numb. xix.); and this allusion is by no means so to be understood, as if he who makes the allusion were drawing the material into the spiritual sphere. On the contrary, he uses as a figure that which is, in the law, used symbolically. All the laws of purification in the Pentateuch [Pg 269] have a symbolical and typical character. That which was done to the outward impurity was, in point of fact, done to the sin which the people of the Old Testament, well versed in the symbolical language, beheld under its image. Hence, here also, the sprinkling has the signification of cleansing from sin. The expression indicates that Christ is the true High Priest, to whom the ordinary priesthood with its sprinklings typically pointed. The expression is a summary of that which, in the following chapter, we are told regarding the expiation through the suffering and death of the Servant of God. The words: "When His soul maketh a sin-offering," in ver. 10, and: "He shall justify," in ver. 11, correspond. Among the ancient expositors, this translation is followed by the Syriac and Vulgate, the asperget of which Jerome thus explains: "He shall sprinkle many nations, cleansing them by His blood, and in baptism consecrating them to the service of God." In the New Testament, it is alluded to in several passages. Thus, in 1 Pet. i. 2, where the Apostle speaks of the [Greek: rhantismos haimatos Iesou Christou]. Farther, in Heb. x. 22: [Greek: erhrantismenoi tas kardias apo suneideseos poneras]; xii. 24: [Greek: kai haimati rhantismou kreitton lalounti para ton Abel], and also in chap. ix. 13, 14. Among Christian interpreters, this view was always the prevailing one, was indeed the view held by the Church. Schroeder observ. ad origin. Hebr. c. viii. Sec. 10, raised some objections which were eagerly laid hold of, and increased by the rationalistic interpreters. Even some sound orthodox expositors allowed themselves to be thereby dazzled. Stier declares "that, for this time, he must take the part of modern Exegesis against the prevailing tradition of the Church." Yet his disrelish for the doctrine of the atonement held by the Church has no doubt exercised a considerable influence in this matter; and Hofmann, too, in so decidedly rejecting this explanation, which rests on such strong arguments, and is not touched by any weighty counter-arguments, seems not to have been guided by exegetical reasons only. But let us submit these objections to a closer examination. 1. "The verb ought not to be construed with the Accusative of the thing to be sprinkled, but with [Hebrew: el]." Reinke (in his Monograph on Is. liii.) brings forward, against this objection, the passage Lev. iv. 16, 17; but he is wrong in this, inasmuch as [Hebrew: at] is there not the [Pg 270] sign of the Accusative, but a Preposition. [Hebrew: at pni] in the signification "before," is, elsewhere also, very frequently used. But even Gesenius is compelled to agree with Simonis.[2] and to acknowledge that, in the proper name [Hebrew: izih] the verb is connected with an Accusative. The deviation is there still greater, inasmuch as the Kal is, at the same time, used transitively. But even apart from that, such a deviation cannot appear strange. It has an analogy in chap. liii. 11, where [Hebrew: hcdiq], which everywhere else is construed with the Accusative, is followed by [Hebrew: l]; and likewise in [Hebrew: rpa], followed by [Hebrew: l] in chap. liii. 5. The signification of the verb, in such cases, undergoes a slight modification. [Hebrew: hzh] with [Hebrew: el] means "to sprinkle;" with the Accusative, "to sprinkle upon." This modification of the meaning has the analogy of other languages in its favour. In the Ethiopic, the verb [Hebrew: nzH], which corresponds to the Hebrew [Hebrew: nzh], is used of the sprinkling of both persons and things; Heb. ix. 19, xi. 28; Ps. li. 9. In Latin, we may say: spargere aquam, but also spargere corpus aqua; aspergere quid alicui, but also re aliquem, conspergere, perspergere, respergere quem. "Why should not this be allowed to the Jews also,"—remarks Koecher—"who have to make up for the defect of compound verbs by the varied use of simple verbs?" But the Prophet had a special reason, in the liberty specially afforded by the higher style, for deviating from the ordinary connection. The [Hebrew: el] had to be avoided, because, had it been put, the perception of the correspondence of the subsequent [Hebrew: eliv] with the [Hebrew: eliK], in ver. 14, would have become more difficult.—2. It is asserted that it is against the connection; that the contrast to [Hebrew: mwM] induces us to expect something corresponding. Beck says: "A change in those who formerly abhorred the Servant is to be expressed here, not a deed by the Servant himself." If there were here, indeed, a contrast intended to the many who formerly were shocked, we might answer that, indirectly, the words: "He shall sprinkle," suggest, indeed, an opposite conduct of the "many Gentiles." No one is cleansed by the Servant of God, who does not allow himself to be cleansed by [Pg 271] Him. But no one will desire to be cleansed by Him, who does not put his whole trust in Him, who does not recognize Him as his King and Lord. To the contempt and horror with which the Jews shrink back from the Messiah in His humiliation, would thus be opposed the faithful, humble confidence, with which the heathens draw near to the glorified Messiah. But the fact that the real contrast to the [Hebrew: wmmv] is not [Hebrew: izh], but rather [Hebrew: iqpcv], is clearly shown by [Hebrew: eliv], which corresponds with [Hebrew: eliK]. The [Hebrew: izh] corresponds rather to: "He was disfigured." Just as this states the cause of their being shocked, so in: "He shall sprinkle," the cause of the shutting of the mouth is stated. This is also seen from a comparison of chap. liii. 3, 4. His sufferings appeared formerly as the proof that He was hated by God. Now that the vicarious value of His suffering manifests itself, it becomes the reason of humble, respectful submission. Just as, formerly, many were shocked at Him, because he was so disfigured, so, now, even kings shall shut their mouth at Him on account of His atonement. Moreover, one does not exactly see how this reason could be brought forward, as, in a formal point of view, there is, at all events, "a deed by the Servant himself" before us, in whatever way we may view the [Hebrew: izh].—3. "If sprinkling were meant to be equivalent to cleansing by blood, the matter of purification could not be omitted. If it were objected to this, that the noun 'blood' might easily be supplied from the verb's being ordinarily used of cleansing with blood, the objection would be of no weight, inasmuch as sprinkling was done not only with blood, but also with water and oil." But the sprinkling with oil, denoting sanctification, appears only quite isolated, and has for its foundation the sprinkling with blood, comp. Exod. xxix. 21: "And thou shalt take of the blood which is upon the altar, and of the anointing oil, and sprinkle it upon Aaron, and he shall be hallowed." The sprinkling with water has likewise the shedding of blood for its foundation. It was done with such water only, as had in it the ashes of the sin-offering of the red heifer. But the Prophet has certainly on purpose made no express mention of the blood, because that water, too, should be included. This fact, that the sprinkling here comprehends both, was perceived by the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews, in chap. ix. 13, 14: [Greek: ei gar to haima] [Pg 272] [Greek: tauron kai tragon kai spodos damaleos rhantizousa tous kekoinomenous hagiazei pros ten tes sarkos katharoteta. mallon to haima tou Christou ... kathariei ten suneidesin hemon apo nekron ergon eis to latreuein Theo zonti.] The defilement by dead bodies, against which the water of purification was specially used, is the most significant symbol of sinners and sins.—4. "It is, in general, not probable that the Servant of God, who farther down is described as a sacrificial beast (!),—who, by taking upon Himself the sins of His people, dies for them, should here appear as the High Priest justifying them." Thus Umbreit argues. But in opposition to this view, it is sufficient to refer to: "He shall justify," in chap. liii. 11, which is parallel to "He shall sprinkle." That which, in the typical sacrifices, is separated, is, in the antitypical, most closely connected. Even at the very first beginnings of sacred history, it was established for all times, that the difference between him who offers up, and that which is offered up, should not go beyond the territory of animal sacrifice. But there is the less ground for setting aside the reference to the priestly office of the Messiah, that, even before Isaiah, David, in Ps. cx. 4, designates Christ as the true High Priest on account of the atonement to be made by Him; and, after Isaiah, Zechariah says in chap. vi. 13: "And He sitteth and ruleth upon the throne, and He is a Priest upon His throne."—It has now become current to derive [Hebrew: izh] from [Hebrew: nzh] in the signification "to leap"—"He shall cause to leap. This explanation made its appearance at first in a very cautious way." Martini says: "I myself feel how very far from a right and sure interpretation that is, which I am now, but very timidly, to advance, regarding the sense of the received reading [Hebrew: izh]." By and by, however, expositors hardened themselves against the decisive objections which stand in the way of it. These objections are the following. 1. The Hebrew usus loquendi is in [Hebrew: nzh] so sure, that we are not entitled to take the explanation from the Arabic. The verb is, in Hebrew, never used except of fluids. In Kal, it does not mean "to leap," but "to spatter," Lev. vi. 20 (27): "And upon whose garment is spattered of the blood;" 2 Kings ix. 33; Is. lxiii. 5. In Hiphil, it is set apart and used exclusively for the holy sprinklings; and the more frequently it occurs in this signification, the less are we at liberty to deviate from it. 2. "He shall make to leap" would be far too indefinite,—a circumstance [Pg 273] which appears from the vague and arbitrary conjectures of the supporters of this view. Gesenius, in his Commentary, Stier, and others, think of a leaping for joy, in support of which they have quoted the Kamus, according to which the verb is used of wanton asses! According to Gesenius in the Thesaurus, Hofmann, and others, the Gentiles are to leap up, in order to show their reverence for the Servant of God. According to Hitzig and others, it is to leap for astonishment, while, according to Umbreit and others, it is for joyful admiration. One sees that the mere "He shall make to leap" is in itself too meaningless; and interpreters are obliged to make the best addition which they can.—3. According to this explanation, no cause is assigned by which the homage of the Gentiles is called forth; and that cause can the less be omitted, that the horror of the Jews is traced back to its cause. The parenthesis in ver. 14 lacks its antithesis; and that this antithesis must lie in [Hebrew: izh], is rendered probable even by the circumstance, that this word signifies, in a formal point of view, something which the Servant of God does, and not something which the Gentiles do, while we should, by the antithesis to [Hebrew: wmmv], be led to expect just this.[3]—In the protasis, the discourse is only of many; here, it is of many nations (Gousset: "It is emphatic, so that it comprehends all, and denotes, at the same time, that they are numerous"), and of kings. This is quite natural; for it was only members of the covenant-people who felt shocked, while the reverence is felt by the whole Gentile world.—The shutting of the mouth occurs elsewhere, too, repeatedly, as a sign of reverence and humble submission. The reference of [Hebrew: eliv] to [Hebrew: eliK], shows that Ewald is wrong in explaining it by "besides Him." Since the preceding [Hebrew: el] designated the object of the horror,—the substratum of it—it must here, too, designate the substratum of the shutting of the mouth, and "over Him," be equivalent to: "on account of Him," "out of reverence for Him."—In the exposition of the last words, the old translations differ. We may explain them either: "They to whom it had not been [Pg 274] told, see;" thus the LXX.: [Greek: hois ouk anengele peri autou, opsontai, kai hoi ouk akekoasi, sunesousi], whom Paul follows in Rom. xv. 21. (In that context, however, the difference of the two explanations is of no consequence; the passage would be equally suitable, even according to the other interpretation.) Or, we may explain them: "That which had not been told them, they see," &c. Thus the other ancient translations explain. According to the first view, the connection would be this: For, in order that ye may not wonder at my speaking to you of nations and kings, they who, &c. According to the second view, the ground of the reverence of the heathen kings and their people is stated. That which formerly had not been told to them, had not been heard by them, is the expiation by the Servant of God. By Him they receive a blessing not formerly hoped for or expected, and are thereby filled with silent reverence towards the Author of the gift. We decide in favour of the former view, according to which chap. lxvi. 19: "That have not heard my fame, neither have seen my glory," is parallel. The contrast, in our verse, to those who did not hear and who now perceive, is, in the subsequent verse, formed by those who do hear, and do not believe. The words: "Who had not been told, who did not hear," refer to the Messianic announcement which was given to Israel only, and from which the Gentiles were excluded.[4]

Upon this sketch, there follows in chap. liii. 1-10, the enlargement. First, in vers. 1-3 that is expounded which, in ver. 14 had been said of the many being shocked, and of the cause. The commentary upon [Hebrew: wmmv] "they were shocked," is given in ver. 1: a great portion of the Jews do not believe in the salvation which had appeared. The enlargement of: "so marred," &c., is given in vers. 2, 3. The cause of the [Pg 275] unbelief is, that the glory of the Servant of God is concealed behind humiliation, misery, and shame.

Chap. liii. 1: "Who believes that which we hear, and the arm of the Lord, to whom it is revealed?"

The Prophet, whose spiritual eye is just falling upon the large, the enormously large number of unbelievers, overlooks, at the moment, the other aspect, and, in his grief, expresses that which took place in a large portion only, in such a manner as if it were general. Similar representations we elsewhere frequently meet with, e.g., Ps. xiv. 3 (compare my Commentary); Jer. v. 1—[Hebrew: wmveh] is commonly understood in the signification, "message" or "discourse." But in favour of the explanation: "That which is heard by us," q.d., "that which we hear," there is, in the first instance, the usus loquendi. The word never occurs in any other than its original signification, "that which is heard," and in the signification, "rumour," which is closely connected with the former. In Isa. xxviii. 9, a passage which is most confidently referred to in proof of the signification, institutio, doctrina, [Hebrew: wmveh] is that which the Prophet hears from God. The mockers who exclaim: "Whom will he make to understand [Hebrew: wmveh]?" take, with a sneer, out of his mouth the word upon which chap. xxi. 10: "That which I have heard of the Lord of Hosts, I declare unto you," forms a commentary, [Greek: Akoe] too, by which, in the New Testament, [Hebrew: wmveh] is rendered, has not at all the signification, "discourse," "preaching." [Greek: Akoe] in Rom. x. 16, 17, is not the preaching, but the hearing, as is shown by the [Greek: me ouk ekousan] in ver. 18. The [Greek: akoe], according to ver. 17: [Greek: he de akoe dia rhematos Theou], is the passive to the active to the word of God. "Who believes our [Greek: akoe], our hearing," i.e., that which we hear, which is made known to us by the Word of God. In a passive sense, [Greek: akoe] stands likewise in the passages Matt. iv. 24, xiv. 1, xxiv. 6, which Stier cites in support of the signification "discourse," "preaching;" it is that which has been heard by some one, "rumour," "report." In Heb. iv. 2 (as also in 1 Thess. ii. 13) [Greek: logos akoes], is the word which they heard. That passage: [Greek: ouk ophelesen ho logos tes akoes ekeinous, me sunkekramenos te pistei tois akousasi], may simply be considered as a paraphrase of our: Who believes that which we hear. A second argument in favour of our explanation: "That which we hear" lies in the relation [Pg 276] to the preceding, which, only when thus explained, arranges itself suitably: "Those understand what they formerly did not hear; Israel, on the contrary, does not believe that which they have heard." Of great importance, finally, is the circumstance, that it is only with this interpretation that the unity of the speaker in vers. 1-10 can be maintained. In the sequel, the we everywhere refers to the believing Church. But, for this reason, it is difficult to think here of the order of the teachers, which must be the case when we translate: "Who believes our preaching." It has been objected that, even in this case, no real change of subject takes place, but that, in both cases, the Prophet is speaking, with this difference only, that, in ver. 1, he numbers himself among the proclaimers of the message, while, in ver. 2 ff., he reckons himself among the believing Congregation. But we shall be obliged not to bring in the Prophet at all. In ver. 2 ff., the speaker is the believing Church of the Future, in the time after the appearance of the Saviour, and just so, in ver. 1, the preaching, if it should be spoken of at all, cannot belong to the Prophet and his contemporaries, but to those only who came forward with the message of the manifested Saviour; just as in John xii. 38; Rom. x. 16, our verse is referred to the unbelief of the Jews in the manifested Saviour. The cause of the unbelief over which ver. 1 laments is indeed, according to vers. 2 and 3, the appearance of the Saviour in the form of a Servant, and His bitter suffering. That, then, must first have taken place, before the unbelief manifested itself.[5] Stier rightly remarks: "Between 'the arm of God,'and ourselves, a [Hebrew: wmveh] is placed as the medium, and the point is to believe in it." It is the gospel, the tidings of the manifested Saviour. By the side of the joy over the many Gentiles who with delight hear and understand the message of the Servant of God, there is the sorrow over the many in Israel who do not believe this message.—The arm of the Lord comes into consideration as the seat of His divine power; comp. chap. xl. 10, li. 5-9, lii. 10. [Pg 277] According to the context, the manifestation of this power in Christ is here spoken of Stier says: "In this Servant, the redeeming arm manifests itself, personifies itself Christ himself is, as it were, the outstretched arm of the Lord." In Rom. i. 16, the Gospel is designated as [Greek: dunamis Theou eis soterian panti to pisteuonti.] [Hebrew: glh] is elsewhere commonly construed with [Hebrew: al] or [Hebrew: l], here with [Hebrew: el]. This indicates that the revealing of the arm of the Lord is of a supernatural kind, such an one as conies down from above. The Lord has revealed His arm, His power and glory, as He has manifested them in the mission of His servant, in the eyes of all (comp. chap. lii. 10: "The Lord hath made bare His holy arm in the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth see the salvation of our God"); but it is really seen by those only whose eyes God opens. The deeds of God, even the most manifest, always retain the nature of a mystery which remains concealed to the worldly disposition. God can be recognised only by God. Of the ungodly it holds true: "With seeing eyes they do not see, and with hearing ears they do not hear." What was the cause of this unbelief in the Son of God, we are told in the sequel. It is the appearance of the Divine in the form of a servant, which the gross carnal disposition cannot understand, and by which it is offended. This offence which, according to the sequel, even the God-fearing had to overcome, is, for the ungodly, a lasting one.

Ver. 2. "And He grew up as the sprout before Him, and as the root from a dry ground. He had no form nor comeliness: and we see Him, but there is no appearance that we should desire Him."

The relation of this verse to the preceding one was correctly seen by Michaelis: "The cause of the offence is this, that He does not rise or stand out like the cedar, but He grows up gradually," &c. The subject, the Servant of God, is easily inferred from [Hebrew: eliv] in ver. 15. This is the more admissible that ver. 1, too, indirectly refers to Him. He is the subject of the report in whose appearance the arm of the Lord has been revealed. The sprout, the twig, designates, even in itself, the poor condition; and, notwithstanding Stier's counter-remarks, it is the pointing to such a poor condition alone which suits the connection, and there is no reason why we should here already [Pg 278] supply "from a dry ground." A member of the royal house before its fall resembled, at his very origin, a proud tree, or, at least, a proud branch of such a tree. The sprout, here, supposes the stump, [Hebrew: gze]. in chap. xi. 8. [Hebrew: ivnq] elsewhere always signifies "suckling;" comp. here chap. xi. 8. Of the sprout, elsewhere, the feminine [Hebrew: ivnqt] is used. According to Stier, this deviation from the common use is here not a matter of accident. Supposing a double sense, he finds it an indication of the helpless infancy of the Redeemer, and in this a representation of His lowliness. The LXX.: [Greek: hos paidion]. The suffix in [Hebrew: lpniv] "before Him" refers to the immediately preceding [Hebrew: ihvh], not to the people. Before Him, the Lord—known to Him, watched by Him, standing under His protection, comp. Gen. xvii. 18; Job viii. 16. The lowliness here, and the contempt of men in ver. 3, form the contrast; He is low, but He will not remain so; for the eye of the Most High is directed towards Him. Before the eyes of men who are not able to penetrate to the substance through the appearance, He is concealed; but God beholds Him, beholds His concealed glory, beholds His high destination; and because He beholds, He also takes care, and prepares His transition from lowliness to glory. But the "before Him" does not by any means here form the main thought; it only gives a gentle and incidental hint.—The root denotes here, as in chap. xi. 1, 10, the product of the root, that whereby it becomes visible, the sprout from the root. In reference to this parallel passage, Stier strikingly remarks: "It is, by our modern interpreters, put aside as quietly as possible; for, with a powerful voice, it proclaims to us two truths: that the same Isaiah refers to his former prophecy,—and that this Servant of the Lord here is none other than the Messiah there." A twig which grows up from a dry place is insignificant and poor. Just as the Messiah is here, in respect to His state of humiliation, and specially in reference to His origin from the house of David, sunk into complete obscurity, compared to a weak, insignificant twig, so He is, in Ezek. xvii. 23, in reference to His state of glorification, compared to a lofty, splendid cedar tree, under which all the fowls of heaven dwell. The Jews, in opposition even to ver. 22 of Ezekiel, expected that He should appear so from the very beginning; and since He did not appear so, they [Pg 279] despised Him. The [Hebrew: vnrahv] is, by most of the modern interpreters, in opposition to the accents, connected with the first member: "He had no form nor comeliness that we should have seen Him." But from internal reasons, this explanation must be rejected. "To see," in the sense of "to perceive," would not be suitable. For, how could they have such views of the condition of the Servant of God, if they overlooked Him? But it is not possible to adduce any real demonstrative parallel passage in support of [Hebrew: rah] with the Accusat., without [Hebrew: b], ever having the signification, "to look at," "to consider with delight." The circumstance that the Future is used in the sense of the Present: "and we see Him," is explained from the Prophet's viewing it as present.—The statement that the Servant of God had no form, nor comeliness, nor appearance, must not be referred to His lowliness before His sufferings only; we must, on the contrary, perceive, in His sufferings and death, the completion of this condition; in the Ecce Homo, the full historical realization of it. Calvin rightly points out that that which here, in the first instance, is said of the Head, is repeated upon the Church; He says: "This must not be understood of Christ's person only, who was despised by the world, and was at last given up to an ignominious death, but of His whole Kingdom which, in the eyes of men, had no form, nor comeliness, nor splendour."

Ver. 3. "Despised and most unworthy among men, a man of pains and an acquaintance of disease, and like one hiding His face from us, despised, and we esteemed Him not."

In the preceding verse, we are told what the Servant of God had not, viz., anything which could have attracted the natural man who had no conception of the inward glory, and as little of the cause why the Divine appears in the form of a Servant and a sufferer. Here we are told what He had, viz.: everything to offend and repulse him to whom the arm of the Lord had not been revealed,—the full measure of misery and the cross. Instead of "the most unworthy among men," the text literally translated has: "one ceasing from among men" ( [Hebrew: Hdl] in the signification "ceasing" in Ps. xxxix. 5), i.e., one who ceases to belong to men, to be a man, exactly corresponding to "from man," and "from the sons of men," in the sketch, ver. 14, and to: "I am a worm and no man," in Ps. xxii. [Pg 280] The explanation: "Forsaken by men, rejected of men," is opposed by the usus loquendi, and by these parallel passages.—"A man of pains"—one who, as it were, possesses pains as his property. There is a similar expression in Prov. xxix. 1: "A man of chastenings"—one who is often chastened. "An acquaintance of disease,"—one who is intimately acquainted with it, who has, as it were, entered into a covenant of friendship with it. The passive Participle has no other signification than this, Deut. i. 13, 15, and does not occur in the signification of the active Participle "knowing."—There is no reason for supposing that disease stands here figuratively. It comprehends also the pain arising from wounds, 1 Kings xxii. 34; Jer. vi. 7, x. 19; and there is so much the greater reason for thinking of it here, that [Hebrew: hHli] in ver. 10, evidently refers to the [Hebrew: Hli] in this place. As an acquaintance of disease, the Lord especially showed himself in His passion. And then every sorrow may be viewed as a disease; every sorrow has, to a certain degree, disease in its train. On Ps. vi., where sickness is represented as the consequence of hostile persecution, Luther remarks: "Where the heart is afflicted, the whole body is weary and bruised; while, on the other hand, where there is a joyful heart, the body is also so much the more active and strong." [Hebrew: hstir] always means "to hide;" the whole phrase occurs in chap. l. 6, in the signification "to hide the face." [Hebrew: mstr] is the Participle in Hiphil. In the singular, it is true, such a form is not found any where else; but, in the Plural, it is, Jer. xxix. 8. In favour of the interpretation: "Like one hiding His face from us," is the evident reference to the law in Lev. xiii. 45: "The leper in whom the plague is, his clothes shall be rent and his head bare, and the beard he shall have covered over, and shall cry: Unclean, unclean,"—where that which the leper crieth forms the commentary upon the symbolical act of the covering. They covered themselves, as a sign of shame, as far as possible, in order to allow of breathing, up to the nose; hence the mention of the beard. In my Commentary on the Song of Solomon i. 7, it was proved that covering has every where the meaning of being put to shame—of being in a shameful condition. The leper was by the law condemned to be a living representation of sin. No horror was like that which was felt in his presence. Hence [Pg 281] it is the highest degree of humiliation and abasement which is expressed by the comparison with the leper, who must hide his face, whom God has marked. It is the more natural to suppose this reference to the leper, that probably, the [Hebrew: Hdl aiwiM] likewise pointed to the leper. The leper was "one ceasing from men." In 2 Kings xv. 5; 2 Chron. xxvi. 21, a house in which lepers dwell is called a "house of liberty," i.e., of separation from all human society; compare the expression "free among the dead," in Ps. lxxxviii. 6. Lepers were considered as dead persons. Uzziah, while in his leprosy, was, according to the passage in Chronicles already cited, cut off from the house of the Lord, and forfeited his place there, where all the servants of the Lord dwell with Him. To leprosy, the term [Hebrew: ngve] in ver. 4 likewise points. Beck's objection: "The point in question here is not that which the unfortunate man does but that which others do in reference to him," is based upon a misconception. Neither the one nor the other is spoken of The comparative [Hebrew: k] must not be overlooked. The comparison with the leper, the culminating point of all contempt, is highly suitable to the parallelism with [Hebrew: nbzh]. Ordinarily [Hebrew: mstr] is now understood as a substantivum verbale: "He was like hiding of the face before Him," i.e., like a thing or person before which or whom we hide our face, because we cannot bear its horrible and disgusting appearance. But with one before whom we hide our face, the Servant of God could not be compared; the comparison would, in that case, be weak.—[Hebrew: nbzh] is not the 1st pers. Fut. but Partic. Niph., "despised."—The close of the verse returns to its beginning, after having been, in the middle, established and made good.

The second subdivision from ver. 4 to ver. 7 furnishes us with the key to the sufferings of the Servant of God described in what precedes, by pointing to their vicarious character, to which (ver. 7) the conduct of the Servant of God under His sufferings corresponds.

Ver. 4. "But our diseases He bore, and our pains He took upon Him: and we esteemed Him plagued, smitten of God, and afflicted."

The words [Hebrew: Hli] and [Hebrew: mkab] of the preceding verse here appear again. He was laden with disease and pains; but these sufferings, the wages of sin, were not inflicted upon Him on account [Pg 282] of His own sins, but on account of our sins, so that the horror falls back upon ourselves, and is changed into loving admiration of Him. Beck remarks: "Properly speaking, they had not become sick or unfortunate at all; this had a priori been rendered impossible by the vicarious suffering of the Son of God; but since they deserved the sickness and calamity, the averting of it might be considered as a healing." But this view is altogether the result of embarrassment. Disease is the inseparable companion of sin. If the persons speaking are subject to the latter, the disease cannot be considered as an evil merely threatening them. If they speak of their diseases, we think, in the first instance, of sickness by which they have already been seized; and the less obvious sense ought to have been expressly indicated. In the same manner, the healing also suggests hurts already existing. But quite decisive is ver. 6, where the miserable condition clearly appears to have already taken place.—According to the opinion of several interpreters, by diseases, all inward and outward sufferings are figuratively designated; according to the opinion of others, spiritual diseases, sins. But even from the relation of this verse to the preceding, it appears that here, in the first instance, diseases and pains, in the ordinary sense, are spoken of; just as the blind and deaf in chap. xxxv. are, in the first instance, they who are naturally blind and deaf.—Disease and pain here cannot be spoken of in a sense different from that in which it is spoken of there. Diseases, in the sense of sins, do not occur at all in the Old Testament. The circumstance that in the parallel passage, vers. 11 and 12, the bearing of the transgressions and sins is spoken of, does not prove anything. The Servant of God bears them also in their consequences, in their punishments, among which sickness and pains occupy a prominent place. Of the bearing of outward sufferings, [Hebrew: nwa Hli] occurs in Jer. x. 19 also. If the words are rightly understood, then at once, light falls upon the apostolic quotation in Matt. viii. 16, 17: [Greek: pantas tous kakos echontas etherapeusen, hopos plerothe to rhethen dia Esaiou tou prophetou legontos. autos tas astheneias hemon elabe kai tas nosous ebastase]; and this deserves a consideration so much the more careful, that the Evangelist here intentionally deviates from the Alexandrine version ( [Greek: houtos tas hamartias hemon pherei kai peri hemon odunatai]). In doing so, "we [Pg 283] do not give an external meaning to that which is to be understood spiritually;" but when the Saviour healed the sick, He fulfilled the prophecy before us in its most proper and obvious sense. And this fulfilment is even now going on. For him who stands in a living faith in Christ, sickness, pain, and, in general all sorrow, have lost their sting. But it has not yet appeared what we shall be, and we have still to expect the complete fulfilment. In the Kingdom of glory, sickness and pain shall have altogether disappeared.—Some interpreters would translate [Hebrew: nwa] by "to take away;" but even the parallel [Hebrew: sbl] is conclusive against such a view; and, farther, the ordinary use of [Hebrew: nwa] of the bearing of the punishment of sin, e.g., Ezek. xviii. 19; Num. xiv. 33; Lev. v. 1, xx. 17. But of conclusive weight is the connection with the preceding verse, where the Servant of God appears as the intimate acquaintance of sickness, as the man of pains. He has, accordingly, not only put away our sicknesses and pains, but He has, as our substitute, taken them upon Him; He has healed us by His having himself become sick in our stead. This could be done only by His having, in the first instance, as a substitute, appropriated our sins, of which the sufferings are the consequence; compare 1 Peter ii. 24: [Greek: hos tas hamartias hemon autos anenenken en to somati autou epi to xulon.]—Plagued, smitten of God, afflicted, are expressions which were commonly used in reference to the visitation of sinful men. It is especially in the word plagued, which is intentionally placed first, that the reference to a self-deserved suffering is strongly expressed, compare Ps. lxxiii. 14: "For all the day long am I plagued, and my chastisement is new every morning." Of Uzziah, visited on account of his sin, it is said in 2 Kings xv. 5: "And the Lord inflicted a plague upon the king, and he was a leper unto the day of his death." [Hebrew: nge] "plague" is in Lev. xiii., as it were, nomen proprium for the leprosy, which in the law is so distinctly designated as a punishment of sin.—[Hebrew: hkh] too, is frequently used of the infliction of divine punishments and judgments. Num. xiv. 12; Deut. xxviii. 22. The people did not err in considering the suffering as a punishment of sin, but only in considering it as a punishment for the sins committed by the Servant of God himself. According to the view of both the Old and New Testament, every suffering is [Pg 284] punishment. The suffering of a perfect saint, however, involves a contradiction, unless it be vicarious. By his completely stepping out of the territory of sin, he must also step out of the territory of evil, which, according to the doctrine established at the very threshold of revelation, is the wages of sin, for otherwise God would not be holy and just. Hence, as regards the Servant of God, we have only the alternatives: either His sinlessness must be doubted, or the vicarious nature of His sufferings must be acknowledged. The persons speaking took up, at first, the former position; after their eyes had been opened, they chose the latter.

Ver. 5, "And He was pierced for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed."

[Hebrew: hva] "He" stands in front, in order emphatically to point out Him who suffered as a substitute, in contrast to those who had really deserved the punishment: "He, on account of our transgressions." There is no reason for deviating:, in the case of [Hebrew: Hll], from the original signification "to pierce," and adopting the general signification "to wound;" the LXX. [Greek: etraumatisthe]. The chastisement of our peace is the chastisement whereby peace is acquired for us. Peace stands as an individualizing designation of salvation; in the world of contentions, peace is one of the highest blessings. Natural man is on all sides surrounded by enemies; [Greek: dikaiothentes ek pisteos eirenen echomen pros ton Theo dia tou kuriou hemon Iesou Christou], Rom. v. 1, and peace with God renders all other enemies innocuous, and at last removes them altogether. The peace is inseparable from the substitution. If the Servant of God has borne our sins, He has thereby, at the same time, acquired peace; for, just as He enters into our guilt, so we now enter into His reward. The justice of God has been satisfied through Him; and thus an open way has been prepared for His bestowing peace and salvation. The chastisement can, according to the context, be only an actual one, only such as consists in the infliction of some evil. It is in misconception and narrowness of view that the explanation of the followers of Menke originated: "The instruction for our peace is with Him." This explanation militates against the whole context, in which not the doctrine but the suffering of the Servant of God is spoken of; against the parallelism [Pg 285] with: "By His wounds we are healed;" against the [Hebrew: eliv], "upon Him," which, according to a comparison with: "He bore our disease, and took upon Him our pains," must indicate that the punishment lay upon the sufferer like a pressing burden. It is only from aversion to the doctrine of the vicarious satisfaction of Christ, that we can account for the fact, that that doctrine could be so generally received by that theological school. More candid are the rationalistic interpreters. Thus Hitzig remarks: "The chastisement of our peace is not a chastisement which would have been salutary for our morality, nor such as might serve for our salvation, but according to the parallelism, such as has served for our salvation, and has allowed us to come off safe and unhurt." Stier, too, endeavours to explain the "chastisement of our peace," in an artificial way. According to him, there is always implied in [Hebrew: mvsr] the tendency towards setting right and healing the chastised one himself; but wherever this word occurs, a retributive pain and destruction are never spoken of But, in opposition to this view, there is the fact that [Hebrew: mvsr] does not by any means rarely occur as signifying the punishments which are inflicted upon stiff-necked obduracy, and which bear a destructive character, and which, therefore, cannot be derived from the principle of correction, but from that of retribution only. Thus, e.g., in Prov. xv. 10: "Bad chastisement shall be to those that forsake the way, and he that hateth chastisement shall die," on which Michaelis remarks: "In antanaclasi ad correptionem amicam et paternum, mortem et mala quaelibet inferens, in ira," Ps. vi. 2. Of destructive punishment, too, the verb is used in Jer. ii. 19. But one does not at all see how the idea of "setting right" should be suitable here; for surely, as regards the Servant of God himself, the absolutely Righteous, the suffering here has the character of chastisement. It is not the mere suffering, but the chastisement, which is upon Him; but that necessarily requires that the punishment should proceed from the principle of retribution, and that the Servant of God stands forth as our Substitute.—[Hebrew: nrpa], Preter. Niph., hence "healing has been bestowed upon us;"—[Hebrew: rpa] with [Hebrew: l], in the signification "to bring healing," occurs also in chap. vi. 10, but nowhere else. The healing is an individualising designation of deliverance from the punishments of sin, called forth by the [Pg 286] circumstance that disease occupied so prominent a place among them, and had therefore been so prominently brought forward in what precedes. In harmony with the Apostolic quotation, the expression clearly shows that the punitive sufferings were already lying upon the persons speaking; that by the Substitute they were not by any means delivered from the future evils, but that the punishment, the inseparable companion of sin, already existed, and was taken away by Him.

Ver. 6. "All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned every one to his own way, and the Lord hath made the iniquities of us all to fall upon Him."

Calvin remarks: "In order the more strongly to impress upon the hearts of men the benefits of Christ's death, the Prophet shews how necessary is that healing which was mentioned before. There is herd an elegant antithesis; for, in ourselves we are scattered, but, in Christ collected; by nature we go astray and are carried headlong to destruction,—in Christ we find the way in which we are led to the gate of salvation; our iniquities cover and oppress us,—but they are transferred to Christ by whom we are unburdened."—All we—in the first instance, members of the covenant-people,—not, however, as contrasted with the rest of mankind, but as partaking in the general human destiny.—We have turned every one to his own way; we walked through life solitary, forsaken, miserable, separated from God and the good Shepherd, and deprived of His pastoral care. According to Hofmann, the going astray designates the liability to punishment, but not the misery of the speakers; and the words also: "We have turned," &c., mean, according to him, that they chose their own ways, but not that they walked sorrowful or miserable. But the ordinary use of the image militates against that view. In Ps. cxix. 176: "I go astray like a lost sheep, seek thy servant," the going astray is a figurative designation of being destitute of salvation. The misery of the condition is indicated by the image of the scattered flock, also in 1 Kings xxii. 17: "I saw all Israel scattered upon the hills as sheep that have not a shepherd." Michaelis pertinently remarks: "Nothing is so miserable as sheep without a shepherd,—a thing which Scripture so often repeats, Num. xxvii. 17," &c. As a commentary upon our passage, Ezek. xxxiv. 4-6 may serve; [Pg 287] and according to that passage we shall be compelled to think of their being destitute of the care of a shepherd: "And they are scattered, because there is no Shepherd; and they become meat to all the beasts of the field. My sheep wander on all the mountains, and on every high hill, and over the whole land my sheep are scattered, and there is none that careth for them, or seeketh them." The point of comparison is very distinctly stated in Matt. ix. 36 also: [Greek: idon de tous ochlous esplanchnisthe peri auton, hoti esan eskulmenoi kai erhrimenoi hosei probata me echonta poimena.] Without doubt, turning to one's own ways is sinful, comp. chap. lvi. 11; but here it is not so much the aspect of sin, as that of misery, which is noticed. As the chief reason of the sheep's wandering and going astray, the bad condition of the shepherd must be considered, comp. Jer. l. 6: "Perishing sheep were my people; their shepherds led them astray," John x. 8: [Greek: pantes hosoi pro emou elthon, kleptai eisi kai lestai.]—[Hebrew: pge] with [Hebrew: b] signifies "to hit;" hence Hiphil, "to cause to hit." The iniquities of the whole community hit the Servant of God in their punishments; but according to the biblical view, their punishments can come upon Him only as such, only by His coming forward as a substitute for sinners, and not because He suffers for the guilt of others to which He remained a stranger. By this throwing the guilt upon the Servant of God, the condition of being without a shepherd is done away with, the flock is gathered from its scattered condition. The wall of separation which was raised by its guilt, and which separated it from God, the fountain of salvation, is now removed by His substitution, and the words: "The Lord is my Shepherd," now become a truth, comp. John x. 4.

Ver. 7. "He was oppressed, and when He was plagued, He does not open His mouth, like a lamb which is brought to the slaughter, and as a sheep which is dumb before her shearers, and He does not open his mouth."

In these words, we have a description of the manner in which the Servant of God bore such sufferings. It flows necessarily from the circumstance, that it was a vicarious suffering. The substitution implies that He took them upon Him spontaneously; and this has patience for its companion. First, the contents of ver. 6 are once more summed up in the word [Hebrew: ngw], "He was oppressed:" then, this condition of the Servant [Pg 288] of God is brought into connection with His conduct, which, only in this connection, appears in its full majesty.—[Hebrew: ngw] is the Preterite in Niphal, and not, as Beck thinks, 1st pers. Fut. Kal. For the Future would be here unusual; the verb has elsewhere the Future in o; the suffix is wanting, and the sense which then arises suits only the untenable supposition that, in vers. 1-10, the Gentiles are speaking. The Niphal occurs in 1 Sam. xiii. 6, of Israel oppressed by the Philistines; and in 1 Sam. xiv. 24, of those borne down by heavy toil and fatigue. [Hebrew: ngw] and [Hebrew: nenh] "to be humbled, oppressed, abused," do not, in themselves essentially differ; it is only on account of the context, and the contrast implied in it, that the same condition is once more designated by a word which is nearly synonymous. The words "and He" separate [Hebrew: nenh] from what precedes, and connect it with what follows. The explanation: "He was oppressed, but He suffered patiently," has this opposed to it, that the two Niphals, following immediately upon one another, cannot here stand in a different meaning. The idea of patience would here not be a collateral, but the main idea, and hence, could not stand without a stronger designation.—In [Hebrew: iptH], the real Future has taken the place of the ideal Past; it shows that the preceding Preterites are to be considered as prophetical, and that, in point of fact, the suffering of the Servant of God is no less future than His glorification. The lamb points back to Exod. xii. 3, and designates Christ as the true paschal lamb. With a reference to the verse under consideration, John the Baptist calls Christ the Lamb of God, John i. 29; comp. 1 Pet. i. 18, 19; Acts viii. 32-35. But since it is not the vicarious character of Christ's sufferings which here, in the first instance, comes into consideration, but His patience under them, the lamb is associated with the female sheep, and that not in relation to her slayers, but to her shearers. The last words: "And He does not open His mouth," are not to be referred to the lamb, as some think, (even the circumstance that the preceding [Hebrew: rHl] is a feminine noun militates against this view), but, like the first: "He does not open His mouth," to the Servant of God. It is an expressive repetition, and one which is intended to direct attention to this feature; comp. the close of ver. 3; Gen. xlix. 4: Judges v. 16. The fulfilment is shown by 1 Pet. ii. 23: [Pg 289] [Greek: hos loidoroumenos ouk anteloidorei, paschon ouk epeilei, paredidou de to krinonti dikaios]; and likewise Matt. xxvii. 12-14: [Greek: kai en to kategoreisthai auton hupo ton archiereon kai ton presbuteron ouen apekrinato. Tote legei auto ho Pilatos. ouk akoueis posasou katamarturousi; kai ouk apekrithe auto pros ouden hen rhema, hoste thaumazein ton hegemona lian.] Comp. xxvi. 62; Mark xv. 5; Luke xxiii. 9; John xix. 9.

The third subdivision of the principal portion, vers. 8-10, describes the reward of the Servant of God, by expanding the words: "Kings shall shut their mouths on account of Him," in chap. lii. 15, and "He shall be exalted," in ver. 13.

Ver. 8. "From oppression and from judgment He was taken, and His generation who can think it out; for He was cut of out of the land of the living for the transgression of my people, whose the punishment."

God—such is the sense—takes Him to himself from heavy oppression, and He who apparently was destroyed without leaving a trace, receives an infinitely numerous generation (compare John xii. 32: [Greek: kago hean hupsotho ek tes ges pantas helkuso pros emauton]), as a deserved reward for having, by His violent death, atoned for the sins of His people, delivered them from destruction, and acquired them for His property.—[Hebrew: ecr] "oppression," as Ps. cvii. 39, properly, according to the signification of the verb: "Shutting up," "restraining," "hindering." From what goes before, where the evils from which the Servant of God is here delivered are described more in detail, it appears that here we have not to think of a prison properly so called; for there, it is not a prison, but abuse and oppression which are spoken of.—[Hebrew: mwpT] is commonly referred to the judgment which the enemies of the Servant of God passed upon Him, The premised [Hebrew: ecr] then furnishes the distinct qualification of the judgment, shows that that which, in a formal point of view, presents itself as a judicial proceeding, is, in point of fact, heavy oppression. But, at the same time, [Hebrew: mwpT] serves as a limitation for [Hebrew: ecr]. We learn from it that the hatred of the enemies moved within the limits of judicial proceedings,—just as it happened in the history of Christ. But behind the human judgment, the divine is concealed, Jer. i. 16; Ezek. v. 8; Ps. cxliii. 2. This is shown by what precedes, where the suffering of the Servant of God is so emphatically and repeatedly designated as the punishment of sin inflicted upon [Pg 290] Him by God.—[Hebrew: lqH] with [Hebrew: mN] "to be taken away from;" according to Stier: "taken away from suffering, being delivered from it by God's having taken Him to himself, to the land of eternal bliss." This view, according to which the words refer to the glorification of the Servant of God, has been adopted by the Church. It is adopted by the Vulgate: "De angustia et judicio sublatus est;" by Jerome, who says on this passage: "From tribulation and judgment He ascended, as a conqueror, to the Father;" and by Michaelis who thus interprets it: "He was taken away, and received at the right hand of the Majesty." By several interpretations, the words are still referred to the state of humiliation of the Servant of God: "Through oppression and judgment He was dragged to execution." But the Prophet has already, in ver. 3, finished the description of the mere sufferings of the Servant of God—vers. 4-7 exhibit the cause of His sufferings and His conduct under them; [Hebrew: lqH] cannot, by itself, signify "to be dragged to execution"—in that case, as in Prov. xxiv. 11, "to death" would have been added; [Hebrew: mN] must be taken in the signification, "from," "out of," as in the subsequent [Hebrew: marC], compare 2 Kings iii. 9, where [Hebrew: lqH] with [Hebrew: mN] signifies "to take from." In the passage under consideration, as well as in those two passages which refer to the ascension of Elijah, there is a distinct allusion to Gen. v. 24, where it is said of Enoch: "And he was no more, for God had taken him."—And His generation who can think it out? [Hebrew: dvr], properly "circle," is not only the communion of those who are connected by co-existence, but also of those who are connected by disposition, be it good or bad.[6] Thus, the generation of the children of God in Ps. lxxiii. 15; the generation of the righteous, Ps. xiv. 5; the generation of the upright, in Ps. cxii. 2. Here, the generation of the Servant of God is the communion of those who are animated by His Spirit, filled with His life. This company will, after His death, increase to an infinite greatness. [Hebrew: wvH] and [Hebrew: wiH] "to meditate," is commonly connected with [Hebrew: b] of the object, but occurs also with [Pg 291] the simple Accusative, in the signification "to meditate upon something," in Ps. cxlv. 5. There is, as it appears, an allusion to the promise to Abraham, Gen. xiii. 16: "And I make thy seed as the dust of the earth, so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered,"—a promise which received its complete fulfilment just by the Servant of God. The explanation which we have given was adopted by the LXX.: [Greek: ten genean autou tis diegesetai.] Next to it, comes the explanation: "Who can think out His posterity;" but against this, it is conclusive that [Hebrew: dvr] never occurs in the signification "posterity." The parallel passage in ver. 10: "He shall see seed," or "posterity," holds good even for our view; for since the posterity is a spiritual one, it is substantially identical with generation here. But it may, a priori, be expected that the same thing shall be designated from various aspects. If "generation" be taken in the signification "posterity," then the words: "He shall see seed" would be a mere repetition. The appropriateness of the sense which, according to our explanation, comes out, will become especially evident, if we consider that, in vers. 8-10, we have the carrying out of that which, in the sketch, was said of the respectful homage of the many nations and kings. A whole host of explanations assigns to [Hebrew: dvr] significations which cannot be vindicated. Thus, the translation of Luther: "Who shall disclose the length of His life?" that of Hitzig: His destiny; that of Beck: His importance and influence in the history of the world; that of Knobel: His dwelling place, i.e., His grave, who considered? The signification, "dwelling place," does not at all belong to [Hebrew: dvr]. In Isaiah xxxviii. 12, [Hebrew: dvr] are the cotemporaries from whom the dying man is taken away, and who are withdrawn from him: "My generation is taken away, and removed from me like a shepherd's tent"—dying Hezekiah there laments. Inadmissible, likewise, is the explanation: "Who of His cotemporaries will consider, or considered, it" for [Hebrew: at], the sign of the Accusative, cannot stand before the Nomin. Absol. In Nehem. ix. 34, this use is by no means certain, and, at all events, we cannot draw any inference from the language of Nehemiah as to that of Isaiah. The Ellipses: "the true cause of His death," "the importance and fruit of His death," "the salvation lying behind it" (Stier), are very [Pg 292] hard, and the sense which is purchased by such sacrifices is rather a common-place one, little suitable to this context, and to the relation to chap. lii. 15.—"For He was cut off from the land of the living, for the transgression of my people, whose the punishment." The reason is here stated why the Servant of God receives so glorious a reward; why, after He has been removed to God, a generation so infinitely great is granted to Him. He has deserved this reward by His having suffered for the sins of His people, as their substitute. The first clause must not be separated from the second: "for the transgression," &c. For it is not the circumstance, that the Servant of God suffered a violent death at all, but that for the sin of His people He took it upon Him, which is the ground of His glorification. [Hebrew: ngzr] "to be cut off" never occurs of a quiet, natural death; not even in the passage, quoted in support of this use of the word, viz., Psa. lxxxviii. 6; Lam. iii. 54, but always of a violent, premature death. The cognate [Hebrew: ngrz] also has, in Psa. xxxi. 23, the signification of extermination. [Hebrew: lmv], poetical form for [Hebrew: lhM], refers to the collective [Hebrew: eM]. Before it, the relative pronoun is to be understood: for the sin of my people, whose the punishment, q.d., whose property the punishment was, to whom it belonged. Stier prefers to adopt the most violent interpretation rather than to conform and yield to this so simple sense, which, as he says, could be entertained only by that obsolete theory of substitution where one saves the other from suffering. Several interpreters take the suffix in [Hebrew: lmv] as a Singular: "on account of the transgression of my people, punishment was to Him." And passages, indeed, are not wanting where the supposition that [Hebrew: mv] designates the Singular, has some appearance of probability; but, upon a closer examination, this appearance everywhere vanishes.[7] Moreover, as we have already remarked, it is, on account of the sense, inadmissible to separate the two clauses.—By [Hebrew: emi] "my people," the hypothesis of the non-Messianic interpreters is set aside, that in [Pg 293] vers. 1-10 the Gentiles are speaking. It is a single people to which the speakers belong, the covenant-people, for whose benefit the atonement and substitution of the Servant of God were, in the first instance, intended (comp. [Greek: sosei ton laon hautou apo ton hamartion auton], Matth. i. 21) yea, were, to a certain degree, exclusively intended, inasmuch as the believing Gentiles were received into it as adopted children. It is a forced expedient to say: every single individual of the Gentiles, or of their princes, says that the Servant of God has suffered for the sin of His people, hence also for His own. And just as inadmissible is the supposition that a representative of the heathen world is speaking; the whole heathen world cannot be designated as a people.

Ver. 9. "And they gave Him His grave with the wicked, and with a rich in His death, because He had done no violence, neither was any deceit in His mouth."

[Hebrew: vitN] is intentionally without a definite Subject, q.d.: it was given to Him, Ewald Sec. 273a. The acting subject could not be at all more distinctly marked out, because there was a double subject. Men fixed for Him the ignominious grave with criminals; by the providence of God, He received the honourable grave with a rich, and that for the sake of His innocent sufferings, as a prelude to the greater glorification which, as a reward, was to be bestowed upon Him, as an example of what is said in ver. 12: "He shall divide spoil with the strong." The wicked who are buried apart from others, can be the real criminals only, the transgressors in ver. 12. Criminals received, among the Jews, an ignominious burial. Thus Josephus, Arch. iv. 8, Sec. 6, says: "He who has blasphemed God shall, after having been stoned, be hung up for a day, and be buried quietly and without honour." Maimonides (see Iken on this passage in the Biblia Hagana ii. 2) says: "Those who have been executed by the court of justice are not by any means buried in the graves of their ancestors; but there are two graves appointed for them by the court of justice,—one for the stoned and burnt; the other for the decapitated and strangled." Just as the Prophet had, in the preceding verse, said that the Servant of God would die a violent death like a criminal, so he says here, that they had also fixed for Him a grave in common with executed criminals. And with a rich [Pg 294] (they gave Him His grave) in His death: they gave Him His grave, first with the wicked; but, indeed, He received it with a rich, since God's providence was watching over the dead body of His Servant. [Hebrew: vitN], in so far as it refers to the first clause, receives its limitation by the second. Before their fulfilment, the words had the character of a holy riddle; but the fulfilment has solved this riddle. The designation of Joseph of Arimathea as [Greek: anthropos plousios] in Matt. xxvi. 57, is equivalent to an express quotation. Although it was by a special divine providence that the Singular was chosen, yet we may suppose that, in the first instance, the rich man here is contrasted with the wicked men, and is an ideal person, the personified idea of the species. In His death is, in point of fact, equivalent to: "after He had died;" but, notwithstanding, there is no necessity for giving to the [Hebrew: b] the signification "after." Death rather denotes the condition of death; in death is contrasted with: in life. Altogether in the same manner we find in Lev. xi. 31: "Whosoever doth touch them in their death," for, "after they have died." Farther—1 Kings xiii. 31: "In my death you shall bury me in the sepulchre." The Plural [Hebrew: mvtiM] "the deaths," "conditions of death," cannot be adduced as a proof that the subject of the prophecy must be a collective person; for, in that case, rather the Plural of the suffix would be required (Ps. lxxviii. 64 is a rare exception); and in Ezek. xxviii. 8, 10, death is likewise spoken of in the Plural. The Plural is formed after the analogy of [Hebrew: HiiM], for which reason it commends itself to explain [Hebrew: arC HiiM] in the preceding verse, "land of life," instead of "land of the living." But the Plural can here the less occasion any difficulty, that it is not dying which is spoken of, but the continuing condition of death.—Because He had done no violence, &c. [Hebrew: el] very frequently denotes the cause upon which the effect depends, e.g., in 1 Kings xvi. 7; Ps. xliv. 23, lxix. 8; Jer. xv. 15; Job xxxiv. 6. The whole following clause is treated as a noun. Ordinarily, it is explained: Although, &c. But this use of [Hebrew: el] is quite isolated; it occurs only in two passages of the Book of Job, in x. 7 and xxxiv. 6. The former explanation is found in the Alexand. version: [Greek: hoti anomian ouk epoiese.] The innocence is designated negatively, and in an external manner ( [Hebrew: Hms] and [Hebrew: mrmh] are gross sins). The reason of this is [Pg 295] in the intention of His enemies, which is expressed in the preceding words, to give Him His grave with the wicked. Since He had not acted like them, God took care that He did not receive their ignominious burial, but an honourable one. In reference to the passage under consideration, it is said in 1 Pet. ii. 22: [Greek: hos amartian ouk epoiese oude heurethe dolos en to stomati autou]. Instead of "violence," Peter intentionally employs "sin."—Hofmann has advanced the following arguments against the explanation which we have given. 1. "By what is this contrast (which, according to our explanation,