Christology of the Old Testament: And a Commentary on the Messianic Predictions Volume Ii Part 6

1. It seems not to have been without reason that the wider formula of quotation: t? ????? d?? t?? p??f?t?? 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 pa.s.sage 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 circ.u.mstance that, if it were otherwise, the quotation: in ?t?

?a???a??? ?????seta?, 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_, _Beitrage 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 ?t? ?????seta? likewise is explained from the circ.u.mstance that Matthew does not restrict himself to the pa.s.sage Is.

xi. 1, but takes in, at the same time, all those other pa.s.sages 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 ?t? ?????seta?

flowed. There is hence no necessity for explaining this circ.u.mstance 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.

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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 G.o.d, who is the Spirit of, &c.; but that this is inadmissible appears with sufficient evidence from the circ.u.mstance 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 G.o.d in Rev. i. 4. To have the Spirit is the necessary condition of every important and effective ministry in the Kingdom of G.o.d, 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 circ.u.mstance 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 ?? ???? 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 G.o.d 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 G.o.d'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: ?a? e?de t? p?e?a ?e?? ?ataa???? ?se? pe??ste??? ?a? ????e??? ?p' a?t??, it is not the pa.s.sage before us only which lies at the foundation, but also, and indeed pre-eminently, the parallel pa.s.sage, 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 circ.u.mstance that it is to this pa.s.sage that the voice from heaven refers in Matt. iii. 17: ??t??

?st?? ? ???? ?? ? ??ap?t?? ?? ? e?d???sa. But a reference to the pa.s.sage before us we meet most decidedly in John i. 32, 33: ?e??aa? t?

p?e?a ?ataa???? ?se? pe??ste??? ?? ???a???, ?a? ?e??e? ?p' a?t???

???? ??? ?de?? a?t??? ???' ? p??a? e apt??e?? ?? ?dat?, ??e???? ??

e?pe? ?f' ?? ?? ?d?? t? p?e?a ?ataa???? ?a? ???? ?p' a?t??, ??t??

?st?? ? apt???? ?? p?e?at? ????. The word ???, which in Numb. xi. 25 also is used of the Spirit, combines in itself both the ?ataa??e?? and the ??e??; 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: ?a? ?f??sa? a?t???

d?ae????e?a? ???ssa? ?se? p????, ?????s? te ?f' ??a ??ast?? a?t??; comp. 1 Pet. iv. 14: ?te t? t?? d???? ?a? t? t?? ?e?? p?e?a ?f' ???

??apa?eta? (this most exactly answers ???). 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 ????, 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 ????, 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 l.u.s.ts and pa.s.sions. 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 pa.s.sage before us, ascribed to the Messiah in chap. ix.

5 (6), by His receiving the names "Wonder-Counsellor," "G.o.d-Hero." From chap. x.x.xvi. 5 it is seen that, for the difficult circ.u.mstances 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 G.o.d, rest on the intimacy of the connection with G.o.d 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 a.n.a.logies 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, ????

with the accusative is "to smell something;" with ?, 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. x.x.x. 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 a.s.signed 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: a?t?? d? ??s???, ??? ?p?ste?e? ?a?t?? a?t???, d?? t?

a?t?? ????s?e?? p??ta?, ?a? ?t? ?? ??e?a? e??e? ??a t?? a?t???s? pe??

t?? ?????p?? a?t?? ??? ?????s?e? t? ?? ?? ?????p?. Farther--chap. xxi.

17 where Peter says to Christ: ????e s? p??ta ??da?? s? ????s?e?? ?t?

f??? 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 pa.s.s 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 n.o.blest 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. .h.i.therto a.s.signed to the theocratic kings.--In the second part of the verse ???

does not by any means stand in contrast to ???? and ?????, and, in parallelism to ???, designate the wicked ones; but ??? "earth" stands in ant.i.thesis 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 ??? 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 ant.i.thesis lies at the foundation. As kings strike with the sceptre, so He smiteth with His mouth.--???, 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 punis.h.i.+ng,--"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 circ.u.mstance 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. x.x.xiii. 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 pa.s.sages, attributed to _G.o.d_: 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 a.n.a.logy of the word spoken in the name of G.o.d 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): ?????? d? ??a??a? t??? ?????? t??t??? pes??

??????e, comp. ver. 10; xiii. 11. The Chaldee translates: "And by the word of His lips wicked Armillus shall die." He refers ??? not to the ideal person of the wicked, but to an individual, _Armillus_, (?????a??, corresponding to the name of Balaam, compounded of ???

"devouring," "destruction," and ?? "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: ?? ? ?????? ??s???

??a??se? t? p?e?at? t?? st?at?? a?t??, there is an intentional and significant allusion to the pa.s.sage before us, Antichrist there being, like ??? 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._"

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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 pa.s.ses 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 circ.u.mstance 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 G.o.d are designated; the four beasts in Dan. vii.; but especially Is. x.x.xv.

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 G.o.d.

Nevertheless, the literal interpretation, defended by several Jewish expositors, maintains an undeniable preference. In favour of it are the following arguments: 1. The circ.u.mstance that it is impossible to carry through, in the details, the figurative interpretation; and it is by this that our pa.s.sage is distinguished from all the other pa.s.sages 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_, _k.n.o.bel_), 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 circ.u.mstance 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, gra.s.s only was a.s.signed 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 G.o.d, 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 pa.s.sages 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 pa????e?es?a, the return of the whole earthly creation to its original condition; but especially Rom. viii. 19 ff.--that cla.s.sical pa.s.sage of the New Testament which is really parallel to the pa.s.sage before us. 4. A subordinate argument is still offered by the parallel descriptions of heathen writers. From the pa.s.sages 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 circ.u.mgemit 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 pa.s.sages such as chap. x.x.xv. 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. .h.i.t 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._"

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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, x.x.xvi. 9, lxv. 5, lx.x.xiv. 3, and other pa.s.sages. 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. .h.i.therto, when unholiness prevailed in the Kingdom of the Holy G.o.d, 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 G.o.d, 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. x.x.xii. 15: "Until the Spirit be poured upon us from on high;" liv. 13; Joel iii.

1; ii. 28; Jer. x.x.xi. 34, That ???? is here not the "land," or "country," but the "_earth_" is sufficiently evident from the ant.i.thesis 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 pa????e?es?a 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 ???? the whole earth is to be understood. The pa.s.sage 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 pa.s.sage, 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 pa.s.s 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 pa.s.s," introduce a new section; so that the interval in the Hebrew ma.n.u.scripts 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 pa.s.sages 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 ant.i.thesis of the root and ensign, in his Commentary on Rom. xv. 12: "A sweet ant.i.thesis: the root is undermost, [Pg 125] the ensign rises uppermost; so that even the nations farthest off may behold it."--???

with ?, ??, and ??, has the signification "to apply to the true G.o.d, or some imaginary G.o.d, in order to seek protection, help, counsel, advice, disclosures regarding the future;" comp. Is. viii. 19; Deut. xii. 4, 5, and other pa.s.sages 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 ?p a?t? ???? ??p???s?, 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 wors.h.i.+p 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.--????? "resting place," "dwelling place," "habitation;" comp. Ps. cx.x.xii. 13, 14: "For the Lord hath chosen Zion; He hath desired it for His _habitation_. This is my _rest_ (??????) for ever; here will I _dwell_, for I have desired it." The glory of the King pa.s.ses 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 Tars.h.i.+sh and of the isles shall bring presents; the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts." The comparison of this pa.s.sage alone is sufficient to refute the absurd interpretation, according to which ???? and ???? are referred to the Israelitish tribes,--an interpretation which has been tried with as little success in the fundamental pa.s.sage (Gen. xlix. 10), according to which the ???? are to adhere to s.h.i.+loh; compare Vol. i. p. 62.

Ver. 11: "_And it shall come to pa.s.s in that day, the Lord shall continue a second time with His hand to ransom the remnant of His people which has remained from a.s.shur and from Egypt, from Patros and from Cush, from Elam and from s.h.i.+nar, 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 G.o.d.

????? must be connected with ?????, comp. 2 Sam. xxiv. 1: "And the Lord continued to kill," ????. It is unnecessary and arbitrary to supply ????. ??? is Accusative, "as to His hand," equivalent to "with His hand;" comp. Ps. iii. 5, xvii. 10, 11, 13, 14. Just the hand of G.o.d, 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 a.s.shur_," &c., must not be connected with ?????, but with ????, comp. v. 16, those who have remained from a.s.shur, &c., _i.e._, those whom a.s.shur 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 ?????; 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. x.x.x. 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 a.s.shur." 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 a.s.syrian 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 Phnicians, 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 antic.i.p.ated; comp. vol.

i., p. 219, 220. The fundamental pa.s.sage is in Deut. x.x.x. 3, 4, where the gathering of Israel is promised "from all the nations whither the Lord thy G.o.d has scattered thee. If any of thine be driven out into the utmost parts of heaven, from thence will the Lord thy G.o.d gather thee, and from thence will He fetch thee." This pa.s.sage shows with what clearness the future scattering lay before the eyes of the holy men, even at the first beginnings of the people of G.o.d. 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 _supposee_ 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 antic.i.p.ates 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. a.s.shur opens the list, and occupies the princ.i.p.al 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 a.s.shur, _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 a.s.syria." In a similar connection, a.s.shur and Egypt, the kingdoms on the Euphrates and the Nile, appear in chap. xxvii. 13: "And it shall come to pa.s.s in that day, that a great trumpet is blown, and they come, the peris.h.i.+ng ones in the land of a.s.shur, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, and wors.h.i.+p 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. x.x.xvii. 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 ??? 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.--s.h.i.+nar, the ancient name for Babylon, is that world's power which, according to chaps. xiii., xiv., x.x.xix., and other pa.s.sages, is to follow after the a.s.syrian, 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 pa.s.sage 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 sh.o.r.es of the Mediterranean in the uttermost West. As early as in the prophecy of Balaam, in Numb. xxiv. 24: "And s.h.i.+ps come from the side of Chittim and afflict a.s.shur, 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 s.h.i.+ps, 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 a.s.sembleth the exiled of Israel, and gathereth together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth._"