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diff --git a/old/30410.txt b/old/30410.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..71ed931 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30410.txt @@ -0,0 +1,20746 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Christology of the Old Testament: And a +Commentary on the Messianic Predictions, v. 1, by Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Christology of the Old Testament: And a Commentary on the Messianic Predictions, v. 1 + +Author: Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg + +Translator: Theodore Meyer + +Release Date: November 6, 2009 [EBook #30410] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHRISTOLOGY OF OLD TESTAMENT, V.1 *** + + + + +Produced by Charles Bowen (produced from scanned images +of public domain material from Google Books) + + + + + +Transcriber's Note: Images taken from the 1868 edition, found at +Books.Google.com., is the source of the text used for this ebook. + +Unclear or missing punctuation marks were corrected by reference +to the 1854 edition of this work. + +The Latin diphthong oe is expressed by [oe]; superscripts are preceded +by a caret (^), e.g. 2^a, 2(superscript "a"). + +Greek words are directly transliterated using the English +equivalents of the Greek; the Greek eta is transliterated as e +and omega as o. Diacritic marks are omitted with the exception of +the initial hard breathing mark which is indicated by an "h" before +the initial vowel of the word. + +Hebrew words, which in this book are mainly represented without +the vowel and pronunciation points, are transcribed as follows: + +Alef = a Lahmed = l +Bet = b Mem = m (final = M) +Gimel = g Nun = n (final = N) +Dalet = d Samekh = s +He = h Ahyin = i +Vav = v Peh = p (final = P) +Zayin = z Tsadi = c (final = C) +Het = H Qof = q +Tet = T Resh = r +Yod = i Shin = w +Kahf = k (final = K) Tav = t] + + + +[Pg 1] + + + + + + + + CLARK'S + + + FOREIGN + + + THEOLOGICAL LIBRARY + + + + SECOND SERIES. + VOL. I. + + + + Hengstenberg's Christology of the Old Testament. + VOL. I. + + + + EDINBURGH: + T. & T. CLARK, 38, GEORGE STREET. + LONDON: J. GLADDING. DUBLIN: JOHN ROBERTSON & CO. + + MDCCCLXVIII. + + +[Pg 2] + + + + + MURRAY AND GIBB, EDINBURGH, + PRINTERS TO HER MAJESTY'S STATIONERY OFFICE. + +[Pg 3] + + + + + CHRISTOLOGY + + OF + + THE OLD TESTAMENT, + + AND A + + COMMENTARY ON THE MESSIANIC PREDICTIONS + + + + BY + E. W. HENGSTENBERG, + DR. AND PROF. OF THEOL. IN BERLIN. + + + + SECOND EDITION, GREATLY IMPROVED. + + + + Translated from the German, + BY THE + REV. THEODORE MEYER. + + + VOLUME I. + + + EDINBURGH: + T. AND T. CLARK, 38, GEORGE STREET. + LONDON: HAMILTON, ADAMS, & CO. DUBLIN: JOHN ROBERTSON & CO. + + MDCCCLXVIII. + +[Pg 4] +[Blank Page] + +[Pg 5] + + + + + LIST OF CONTENTS. + + + Page + +Translator's Preface, 7 +Author's Preface, 9 +The Messianic Prophecies in the Pentateuch, 11 +The Protevangelium, 14 +The Blessing of Noah upon Shem and Japheth, Gen. ix. 18-27, 30 +The Promise to the Patriarchs, Gen. xii. 1-3, 46 +The Blessing of Jacob upon Judah, Gen. xlix. 8-10, 57 +Balaam's Prophecy, Num. xxiv. 17-19, 98 +Moses' Promise of the Prophet, Deut. xviii. 15-19, 104 +The Angel of the Lord in the Pentateuch and Book of Joshua, 115 + Gen. xvi. 13, 117 + Gen. xviii. and xix., 119 + Gen. xxxi. 11 seqq., 122 + Gen. xxxii. 24, 123 + Gen. xlviii. 15, 16, 125 + Exod. xxiii. 20, 21, 126 + Exod. xxxii. and xxxiii., 127 + Joshua v. and vi., 128 +The Promise in 2 Sam. vii., 130 +Messianic Psalms, 149 +2 Sam. xxiii. 1-7, 152 +The Song of Solomon, 159 +Messianic Predictions in the Prophets, 162 + The Prophet Hosea. + General Preliminary Remarks, 165 + The Section, Chap. i.-iii., 184 + Chap. i.-ii. 3, 197 + Chap. ii. 4-25, 230 + Chap. iii., 273 + The Prophet Joel. + General Preliminary Remarks, 291 + Chap. i.-ii. 17, 302 + On chap. ii. 23, 325 + Chap. iii., 331 + The Prophet Amos. + General Preliminary Remarks, 352 + Chap. ix., 363 + The Prophecy of Obadiah, 399 + The Prophet Jonah, 407 +[Pg 6] + The Prophet Micah. + General Preliminary Remarks, 413 + Chap. i. and ii., 424 + Chap. iii. and iv., 440 + Chap. v. 1, 479 + History of the Interpretation. + 1. Among the Jews, 490 + 2. Among the Christians, 499 + The Quotation in Matt. ii. 6, 504 + Chap. v. 2-14, 513 + Chap. vi. and vii., 521 + +[Pg 7] + + + + + TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE. + + +The Translator avails himself of his privilege of offering a few +prefatory words, chiefly in order to express the deep obligation under +which he lies to the Rev. JOHN LAING, Librarian in the New College, +Edinburgh, for the valuable assistance which he afforded to him in the +translation of this work. Any observation on the work itself or its +Author would be superfluous, if not presumptuous, considering the high +position which Dr HENGSTENBERG holds as a Biblical Scholar. High, +however, as this position is, the Translator feels confident that it +will be raised by the present work, the Author's _latest_ and _first_; +and not only revering Dr HENGSTENBERG as a beloved Teacher, but being +under many obligations to him for proofs of personal kindness and +friendship, the Translator sincerely rejoices in this prospect. + +As regards the translation itself, it was the Translator's aim to bring +out fully the Author's meaning. This object, which ought to be the +first in every translation, has been kept steadily in view, and +preferred to all others. In rendering Dr HENGSTENBERG'S translation of +Scripture-passages, the expressions in our Authorized Version have, as +far as possible, been retained. Wherever the division of the text in +the latter differed from that of the original text, it has been added +in a parenthesis; an exception in this respect having been made in +quotations from the Psalms only, in which this difference is almost +constant, the inscriptions not being counted in our English Version, +while they are in the Hebrew Text. + + Edinburgh, January 1854. + +[Pg 8] + +[Blank Page] + +[Pg 9] + + + + + THE AUTHOR'S PREFACE. + + +The first edition of the Christology, although the impression was +unusually large, had been for years out of print. It was impossible +that the work could appear a second time in its original form. The +first volume of it--written twenty-five years ago--was a juvenile +performance, to which the Author himself had become rather a stranger; +and the succeeding volumes required references to, and comparisons +with, a large number of publications which subsequently appeared. But +for the remodelling and revising which these circumstances rendered +necessary, the Author could not find leisure, because new tasks were +ever and anon presenting themselves to him; and these he felt himself, +as it were, involuntarily impelled to undertake. But now he is led to +believe that he could no longer delay. A powerful inclination urges him +to comment on the Gospel of St John; but he thinks that the right to +gratify this inclination must first be purchased by him by answering a +call which proceeds from the more immediate sphere of his vocation, and +which he is the less at liberty to disregard, as manifold facts give +indication that the Christology has not yet completed its course. The +Author dislikes to return to regions which have been already visited by +him. He prefers the opening up to himself of paths which are new. It +cost him therefore, at first, no little struggle to devote himself for +years to the work of mere revision and emendation; but very soon, even +here, he learned the truth of the proverb: "If there be obedience in +the heart, love will soon enter." + +The arrangement in the present edition differs from that which was +adopted in the former. It bears a closer resemblance to that which has +been followed in the Commentaries on the Psalms, Revelation, and the +Song of Solomon. The work opens with a discussion and commentary on the +particular Messianic prophecies, in their historical order and +connection. The general investigations with which, in the first +edition, the work commenced, are, in the present edition, to appear in +the form [Pg 10] of comprehensive treatises, at the close. The latter +have thus obtained a more solid foundation; while the objections which +might be raised against this arrangement will have force only until the +completion of the whole, which, if it please the Lord, will not be very +long delayed. The reader will then, of course, be at liberty, before he +enters upon the particular portions, to go over, cursorily in the +meantime, the closing treatises,--the proper study of which will be +appropriate, however, only after he has made himself acquainted with +the particular portions of the main body of the work. + +The matter of the two sections of the first part has been entirely +rewritten. That of the two last parts appears more as a revisal +only,--so executed, however, that not a single line has been reprinted +without a renewed and careful examination. + +The Author shall take care that the new edition shall not exceed the +former one in size. The space intended to be occupied by the enlarged +discussions, and by the new investigations, will be gained by +omissions. These, however, will be limited to such matters as now +clearly appear to be superfluous; _so that the old will not retain any +value when compared with the new edition._ The Author, had he pursued +his usual method of representation, would have curtailed many points, +particularly the history of the interpretation. But the mode of +treating the subject which he had previously adopted, is not without +its advantages, and has a certain right to be retained. The former +character of the work, in so far as the avoidance of everything +properly ascetic is concerned, has been, in the present edition, also +retained. + +Scientific Theology is at present threatened by serious dangers in our +Church. Works of an immediately practical interest more and more +exclusively occupy the noblest minds, since the problems which present +themselves in this field are indeed unfathomable. But the Lord of the +Church will take care that an excellent gift, which He has bestowed +upon German Christendom especially, shall not, for any length of time, +continue to be neglected. If such were to be the case, a more general +decay would be gradually brought on; and even those interests would be +injured to which at present, with a zeal, noble indeed, but little +thoughtful, solid theological learning is sacrificed. + +"Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but to Thy name give glory." + + +[Pg 11] + + + + + THE MESSIANIC PROPHECIES IN THE PENTATEUCH. + + +In the Messianic prophecies contained in Genesis we cannot fail to +perceive a remarkable progress in clearness and definiteness. + +The first Messianic prediction, which was uttered immediately after the +fall of Adam, is also the most indefinite. Opposed to the awful +threatening there stands the consolatory promise, that the dominion of +sin, and of the evil arising from sin, shall not last for ever, but +that the seed of the woman shall, at some future time, overthrow their +dreaded conqueror. With the exception of the victory itself, everything +is here left undetermined. We are told neither the mode in which it is +to be achieved, nor whether it shall be accomplished by some peculiarly +gifted race, or family of the progeny of the woman, or by some single +individual from among her descendants. There is nothing more than a +very slight hint that the latter will be the case. + +After the destruction of a whole sinful world, when only Noah with his +three sons had been left, the _general_ promise is, to a certain +extent, defined. Deliverance is to come from the descendants of Shem; +Japhet shall become a partaker of this deliverance; Ham is passed over +in silence. + +The prophecy becomes still more definite when the Lord begins to +prepare the way for the appearance of this deliverance, by separating +from the corrupt mass a single individual--Abraham--in order to make +him the depositary of His revelations. The Lord, moreover, according to +the good pleasure of His will, further specifies which of the +descendants of Abraham, to the exclusion of all the rest, is to inherit +this dignity, with all its accompanying blessings. From among the +posterity of Shem, the Lord sets apart first the family of Abraham, +then that of [Pg 12] Isaac, and lastly that of Jacob, as the family +from which salvation is to come. Yet even these predictions, distinct +though they be when compared with those previously uttered, are still +very indefinite when compared with those subsequently given, and when +seen in the light of the actual fulfilment. Even in these, the blessing +only is foretold, but not its author. It still remained a matter of +uncertainty whether salvation should be extended to all the other +nations of the earth through a single individual, or through an entire +people descended from the Patriarchs. The former is obscurely +indicated; but the mode in which the blessing was to be imparted was +left in darkness. + +This obscurity is partially removed by the last Messianic prophecy +contained in Gen. xlix. 10. After what had previously taken place, we +might well expect that the question as to which of Jacob's twelve sons +should have the privilege of becoming the source of deliverance to the +whole earth, would not be left undetermined; nor could we imagine that +Jacob, when, just before his death, and with the spirit of a prophet, +he transferred to his sons the promises which had been given to his +ancestors and himself, should have passed over in silence the most +important part of them. On the contrary, by being transferred to Judah, +the promise of the Messiah acquires not only the expected limitation, +but an unexpected increase of clearness and precision. Here, for the +first time, the _person_ of the Messiah is brought before us; here also +the _nature_ of His kingdom is more distinctly pointed out by His being +represented as the peaceful one, and the peacemaker who will unite, +under His mild sceptre, all the nations of the whole earth. Judah is, +in this passage, placed in the centre of the world's history; he shall +obtain dominion, and not lose it until it has been realized to its +fullest extent by means of the _Shiloh_ descending from him, to whom +all the nations of the earth shall render a willing obedience. + +The subject-matter of the last four books of the Pentateuch would +naturally prevent us from expecting that the Messianic prophecies +should occupy so prominent a place in them as they do in Genesis. The +object contemplated in these books is rather to prepare effectually the +way for the Messiah, by laying the theocratic institutions on a firm +foundation, and by establishing the law which is intended to produce +the knowledge of sin, and [Pg 13] to settle discipline, and by means of +which the image of God is to be impressed on the whole national life. +If the hope of the Messiah was to be realized in a proper manner, and +to produce its legitimate effect, it was necessary that the people +should first be accustomed to this new order of life; that, for the +present, their regards should not be too much drawn away from this +their proximate and immediate vocation. Yet, even in the last four +books there are not wanting allusions to Him who, as the end of the +law, was, from the very beginning, to be set before the eyes of the +people. + +In Num. xxiv. 17-19, Balaam beholds an Israelitish kingdom raised +absolutely above the kingdoms of the world, extending over the whole +earth, and all-powerful; and he sees it in the form of an _ideal_ king, +with reference to Jacob's prophecy contained in Gen. xlix. 10, +according to which the kingdom rising in Judah shall find its full and +final realization in the person of one king--the Messiah. + +We have here the future King of the Jews saluted from the midst of the +heathen world, corresponding to the salutation of the manifested one by +the wise men from the East: compare Matt. ii. 1, 2. + +From the whole position of Moses in the economy of the revelations of +God, it is, _a priori_, scarcely conceivable that he should have +contented himself with communicating a prophecy of the Messiah uttered +by a non-Israelite. We expect that, as a prefiguration of the testimony +which, in the presence of the chief among the apostles, he bore to the +Messiah after He had appeared (compare Matt. xvii. 3), he should, on +his own behalf, testify his faith in Him, and direct the people to Him. +This testimony we have in Deut. xviii. 15-19. It is natural that Moses' +attestation should have reference to Christ in so far as He is his +antitype. He bears witness to Christ as the true Prophet, as the +Mediator of the divine revelation--thus enlarging the slender +indications of Christ's prophetical office given in Gen. xlix. 10. A +new and important feature of Messianic prophecy is here, for the first +time, brought forward; and because of this, the character of the +prophecy is that of a germ. Behind the person of the future Prophet, +which is as yet _ideal_, the _real_ person of Him who is the Prophet in +an absolute sense, is, in the meantime, concealed. It is reserved for +the future development [Pg 14] of the prophetic prediction to separate +that which is here beheld as still blended in a single picture. + +_Finally_, the doctrine of the Divine Mediator of the unseen God, of +the Angel of the Lord, or of the Logos, which forms the theological +foundation for the Christology, is already found pervading the Books of +Moses. + +After this survey, we now proceed to an exposition of the particular +passages. + + + THE PROTEVANGELIUM. + +As the mission of Christ was rendered necessary by the fall of man, so +the first dark intimation of Him was given immediately after the fall. +It is found in the sentence of punishment which was passed upon the +tempter. Gen. iii. 14, 15. A correct understanding of it, however, can +be obtained only after we have ascertained who the tempter was. + +It is, in the first place, unquestionable that a real serpent was +engaged in the temptation; so that the opinion of those who maintain +that the serpent is only a symbolical signification of the evil spirit, +cannot be admitted.[1] There must be unity and uniformity in the +interpretation of a connected passage. But the allegorical +interpretation of the _whole_ is rendered impossible by the following +considerations:--The passage stands in a book of a strictly historical +character; it is connected with what follows, where the history of the +same pair who, in this section appear as actors, is carried forward; +the condition of mankind announced to them in this passage as a +punishment, actually exists; there is the absence of every indication +from which it might be inferred that the author intended to write an +allegory, and not a history; there exist various passages of the New +Testament (_e.g._, 2 Cor. xi. 3; 1 Tim. ii. 13, 14; Rom. v. 12), in +which the context of the passage before us is referred to as a real +historical fact;--and there are the embarrassment, ambiguity, and +arbitrariness shown by the allegorical interpreters whenever they +attempt to exhibit the truth intended to be conveyed; whereas +perspicuity is a characteristic essential to an allegory.--The subtlety +of the [Pg 15] serpent, pointed out in chap. iii. 1, is a natural +attribute of that animal; and the comparison, in this respect, of the +serpent with the other beasts, clearly indicates that a real serpent is +spoken of. To such an one the denunciation of the punishment must +necessarily, in the first instance, be referred. The last two reasons +also exclude the opinion that Satan assumed merely the semblance of a +serpent. + +The serpent itself cannot, however, have acted independently; it can +only have served as an instrument to the evil spirit. The position +which the serpent would occupy, in the event of our considering it as +the self-acting, independent seducer, would be in direct contradiction +to the position assigned to the animal creation throughout Holy +Scripture--especially in the history of the creation--and would break +down the limits which, according to it, separate man and beast. By +such an assumption we should be transferred from the Israelitish +territory--which is distinguished by the most sharply defined +limitations of the respective spheres of God, angels, men, and +beasts--to the heathenish, were these are all mixed up together, and +where all the distinctions disappear in the confusion. Such a fact +would be altogether isolated and without a parallel in Holy Scripture. +Nor is it legitimate to adduce the argument, that the conditions and +circumstances of the paradisaic period were different from those of +subsequent times. It is indeed true, according to the statements +contained in the Mosaic account itself, that the animal world of that +time was different from that of the present; but whatever, and how +great soever, this difference may have been, it had no reference to the +fundamental relation of the beasts; and hence we cannot, from it, +explain the high intellectual powers with which the serpent appears +endowed, and by the abuse of which it succeeded in seducing men. Man, +as the only being on earth created in the likeness and image of God, +is, in Gen. i., strictly distinguished from all other living beings, +and invested with the dominion over them. Into man alone did God +breathe the breath of life (ii. 7); and, according to ii. 19, 20, man +recognises the great gulf which is fixed betwixt him and the world of +beasts. This gulf would be entirely filled up, the serpent would +altogether step beyond the sphere appointed by the Creator to the world +of beasts, if there were no _background_ in Gen. iii. 1-5. _Further_, +The words [Pg 16] of the serpent are an effect of wickedness: they +raise in man doubts as to the love of God, in order thereby to seduce +him to apostasy, and bring about the execution upon him of the fearful +threatening, "On the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely +die." The serpent does not stand in the truth; it speaks lies; it +represents to man as the highest good, that which in truth is the +highest evil. Such language cannot proceed spontaneously from a being, +the creation of which falls within the work of the six days during +which the whole animal creation was made. For everything created within +this space of time was _good_, according to the remark constantly +repeated in the history of creation. To this we must add the nature of +the curse itself, in which a higher reference to an invisible author of +the temptation shines clearly through the lower reference to the +visible one; and, further, the remark in iii. 1, "Now the serpent was +more subtle," etc., evidently points to something beyond the natural +subtlety of the serpent, as the result of which the subsequent words +cannot be understood, but behind which we may discover the intimation: +let him who reads, understand. + +The view, that the serpent was the sole independent agent in this +transaction, is thus refuted by internal reasons. It is set aside by +the testimony of tradition also. It was an opinion universally +prevalent among the Jews, that Satan himself had been active in the +temptation of the first man. It is found in _Philo_; and in the Book of +Wisdom, ii. 24, it is said, "By the envy of _Satan_, death came into +the world." In the later Jewish writings, _Sammael_, the head of the +evil spirits, is called [Hebrew: hnHw hqdmvni] "the old serpent," or +simply [Hebrew: nHw] "serpent," because in the form of a serpent he +tempted Eve. (See the passage in _Eisenmenger's entdecktes Judenthum_ +i. S. 822.) In the sacred books of the Persians also, the agency of +Satan in the fall of our first parents is taught. According to the +_Zendavesta_ (ed. by _Kleuker_, Th. 3, S. 84, 85), the first men, +Meshia and Meshianeh, were created by God in a state of purity and +goodness, and destined for happiness, on condition of humility of +heart, obedience to the requirements of the law, and purity in +thoughts, words, and actions. But they were deceived by Ahriman, "this +mischievous one who from the beginning sought only to deceive, were +induced to rebel against God, and forfeited their happiness by the +eating of fruits." According to the same book (Th. iii. [Pg 17] S. 62), +Ahriman in the form of a serpent springs down from heaven to earth; and +another evil spirit is called (Th. ii. S. 217) the serpent--_Dew._ +(Compare _Rhode_, _die heilige Sage des Zendvolkes_, S. 392.) These +facts prove that at the time when the Persian religion received Jewish +elements (compare _Stuhr_, _die Religionssysteme des Orientes_, S. +373), and hence, soon after the captivity, the doctrine of Satan's +agency in the temptation of our first parents was prevalent among the +Jews. + +But of decisive weight upon this point is the evidence furnished by the +New Testament. We must here above all consider the important testimony +supplied by the fact of the history of the first and second Adam being +parallel (Rom. v. 12 sqq.; 1 Cor. xv. 45 sqq.),--a testimony, the +weight and importance of which have, in modern times, been again +pointed out by _Hahn_ in his _Dogmatik_. The necessity of Christ's +temptation by the prince of this world, in order that He, by His firm +resistance, might deprive him of his dominion over mankind, indicates +that Adam was assailed by the same tempter, and, by being overcome, +laid the foundation of that dominion. + +Among the express verbal testimonies of the New Testament, we must +first consider the declarations of the Lord Himself; and among these +the passage John viii. 44 requires, above all, to be examined. In that +passage the Lord says: [Greek: humeis ek tou patros tou diabolou este, +kai tas epithumias tou atros humon thelete poiein. Ekeinos +anthropoktonos en ap' arches, kai en te aletheia ouch hesteken. hoti +ouk estin aletheia en auto. hOtan lale to pseudos, ek ton idion lalei. +hoti pseustes esti kai ho pater autou.] There is, indeed, an element of +truth in the opinion, that Satan is in this passage called the murderer +of men from the beginning, with reference to the murder by Cain--an +opinion lately brought forward again by _Nitzsch_, _Luecke_, and others. +This is evident from a comparison of 1 John iii. 12, 15, and of Rev. +xii. 3. (See my commentary on this passage.) Moreover, the words in +ver. 40, "Ye seek to kill Me," have a more direct parallelism in Cain's +murder of his brother, than in the death which Satan brought upon our +first parents; although it is altogether wrong to maintain, as _Luecke_ +does, that Satan at that time committed only a _spiritual_ murder, +which could not have come under notice. Bodily death also came upon +mankind through the [Pg 18] temptation. (Compare Gen. ii. 17, iii. 19; +Wisd. ii. 24; Rom. v. 12.) But when the reference to Cain's slaying his +brother is brought forward as the sole, or even as the principal one, +we must absolutely reject it. Cain's murder of his brother comes into +consideration only as an effect of the evil principle which was +introduced into human nature by the first temptation; as, indeed, it +appears in the book of Genesis itself as the fruit of the poisonous +tree, the planting of which is detailed in chap. iii. The same +murderous spirit which impelled Satan to bring man under the dominion +of death by the lie, "Ye shall not surely die," was busy in Cain also, +and seduced him to slay his pious brother. The following reasons forbid +an exclusive reference to the deed of Cain:--1. The murdering of man by +Satan is brought into the closest connection with his _lie_. In +connection with Cain's deed, however, there was not even the appearance +of falsehood; while, in the case before us, lies, false and deceitful +promises of high blessings to be attained, and the raising of +suspicions against God, were the very means by which he seduced man, +and brought him under the power of sin. The words of Jesus, when they +are understood according to their simple meaning, carry us back to an +event in the primitive times, in which murder and the spirit of +falsehood went hand in hand. 2. The co-operation of Satan in Cain's +deed is not expressly mentioned in Genesis. That there was any such we +can with certainty infer, only if this event be viewed in close +connection with what Satan did against our first parents,--if, behind +the serpent, Satan be concealed. Whensoever Jesus has to deal with +Jews, He does not teach any mysterious doctrines, but makes an open +appeal to the events narrated in Scripture. 3. The words, "Ye are of +your father the devil," point to the seed of the serpent spoken of in +Gen. iii. 15. 4. The words, "From the beginning," direct to an event +which happened at the first beginnings of mankind, and in which our +first parents took a part. Whatever this may be, the event in question +must be the first in which the devil manifested himself as the murderer +of man. Now, as by the Jews of that time the temptation of the first +man, in consequence of which death entered the world, was attributed to +sin--and this appears not only from what has been already said, but +also from a passage in the _Sohar Chadash_, referred to by _Tholuck_, +in which the wicked are [Pg 19] called "The children of the old serpent +which has slain Adam and all who are descended from him"--it is evident +that, by "the murderer of men from the beginning," Jesus can mean only +the first tempter of men. That the words, "from the beginning," refer +to the fall of the first man, is also clearly shown by the parallel +passages 1 John iii. 8, and Rev. xii. 9, xx. 2. 5. Jesus says: Satan +stands not in the truth, does not move in its element, because there is +no truth in him. This points to a well-known event, in which Satan +displayed his lying nature; and such is found only in the account of +man's fall. 6. Jesus calls Satan not only a liar, but, by way of +emphasis, He designates him as the father of lies. But Satan can be +designated thus, only with reference to a lie of his which is charged +against him by Scripture, and which preceded all lies on earth. Now +that is the lie of which we have an account in Gen. iii. 4, 5. The +words, "and the father of it," correspond with the words, "from the +beginning." + +Another declaration of our Lord is found in St Matthew xiii. 38: +[Greek: ta de zizania eisin hoi huioi tou ponerou] (_i.e._, _mali_, +_masculinum_, according to _Bengel_), compared with ver. 39: [Greek: ho +de echthros ho speiras auta estin ho diabolos.] The children of the +wicked one, or of the devil, who are spoken of in this passage, are the +seed of the serpent who is mentioned in Gen. iii. 15, and to whom +allusion is made in the words [Greek: ho speiras auta] also. Less +incontrovertible is the passage in St Matthew xxiii. 33, where the Lord +addressed the Pharisees as [Greek: opheis, gennemata echidnon]. +(Compare Matt. xii. 34, iii. 7.) _Olshausen_, in his commentary on +Matt. iii. 7, gives it as his opinion that the serpent designates the +_diabolic nature_. But, according to Matt. xii. 34, the point of +comparison is only the wickedness ([Greek: poneroi ontes]), and it is +quite sufficient to refer it to Ps. cxl. 4, where David says of the +future enemies of his dynasty and family foreseen by him, "They have +sharpened their tongues like a serpent; adders' poison is under their +lips" (compare also Ps. lviii. 5; Deut. xxxii. 33; Isa. lix. 5),--a +passage to which special allusion is made in the words, [Greek: pos +dunasthe agatha lalein], Matt. xii. 34, and in the connection of +serpents with vipers, which would be strange when referred to the +history of the fall of the first man. + +Let us now turn from the Lord to His disciples. Just as is done in the +account of the transaction itself, Paul, in 2 Cor. [Pg 20] xi. 3 +([Greek: hos ho ophis Euan exepatesen en te panourgia autou]), places +the invisible cause of the temptation in the background, and speaks of +the visible one only. But that behind the serpent he beholds Satan, +appears immediately from ver. 14 and 15: [Greek: Kai ou thaumaston. +autos gar ho Satanas metaschematizetai eis angelon photos. Ou mega oun +ei kai hoi diakonoi autou metaschematizontai hos diakonoi dikaiosunes], +where the [Greek: metaschematizetai] is explained by _Bengel_: +"_Transformat se: Praesens, i.e., solet se transformare. Fecit id jam in +Paradiso._" The Apostle alludes to an event narrated in Scripture, +where Satan shows himself in this character. But such an occurrence is +not found anywhere else than in Gen. iii. 4, 5, the only passage where +Satan represents himself as the friend and saviour of men. We have here +the explanation of the [Greek: exepatesen] in ver. 3.--In Rom. xvi. 20, +the words, [Greek: hO de Theos tes eirenes suntripsei ton Satanan hupo +tous podas humon], contain an allusion to Gen. iii. 15, too plain to be +mistaken. The Apostle recognises, in the promise of the victory over +the serpent given there, a pledge of the victory over Satan. The words +of Paul to Elymas in Acts xiii. 10, "O thou child of the devil," +likewise contain a distinct reference to that which, in the history of +man's fall, is written concerning the serpent. In the charge of +subtlety, mischief, and enmity to all righteousness which he brings +against him, there is an evident allusion to Genesis. + +In 1 John iii. 8, [Greek: hO poion ten hamartian, ek tou diabolou +estin. hoti ap' arches ho diabolos hamartanei], allusion is made to a +most heinous sin committed by Satan at the first beginnings of the +human race. But of such a sin there is no account, unless Satan be +concealed behind the serpent.--In Rev. xii. 9 (comp. xx. 2), Satan is +called the great dragon, and the _old serpent_; the last of which +designations refers to the passage now under consideration. + +The agency of Satan in the fall of man has been controverted, on the +plea that, had such been in operation, it ought to have been mentioned. +But the absence of any such mention may be explained on the ground that +it is not the intention of the holy writers to give any information +respecting the existence of the devil, but rather to give an account of +his _real_ manifestation, to which, afterwards, the doctrine connected +itself. The judgment of the reader should not, as it were, be [Pg 21] +anticipated. The simple fact is communicated to him, in order that, +from it, he may form his own opinion. + +_Further_,--It has been asserted that, in the entire Old Testament, and +until the time of the Babylonian captivity, no trace of an evil spirit +is to be found, and that, hence, it cannot be conceived that his +existence is here presupposed. But this assertion may now be regarded +as obsolete and without foundation. Closely connected with the +affirmation, to which allusion has just been made, is the opinion which +assigns the Book of Job to the time of the captivity, an opinion which +is now almost universally abandoned. This book must necessarily have +been written before the time of the captivity, because Jeremiah refers +to it, both in his Prophecies (_e.g._, Jer. xx. 15 sq., which passage +evidently rests on Job iii.) and in his Lamentations. (Compare, for a +fuller discussion of this subject, _Kueper's_ "_Jeremias libror. +Sacrorum interpres atque Vindex_") The reference in Amos iv. 3 to Job +ix. 8, and several allusions occurring in the Prophecies of Isaiah +(_e.g._, chap. xl. 2 and lxi. 7, which refer to the issue of Job's +history, which is here viewed as a prophecy of the future fate of the +Church; the peculiar use of [Hebrew: cba] in xl. 2, which alludes to +Job vii. 1; chap. li. 9, which rests on Job xxvi. 13), lead us still +farther back. The assertion of those also who feel themselves compelled +to acknowledge the pre-exilic origin of the book, but who maintain, at +the same time, that the Satan of this book is not the Satan of the +later books of the Old Testament, but rather a good angel who only +holds an odious office, is more and more admitted to be futile; so that +we must indeed wonder how even _Beck_ (_Lehrwissenschaft_ i. S. 249) +could be carried away by it, and could make the attempt to support this +pretended fact by the supposition, that the apostasy of part of the +angels from God, and their kingdom of darkness, are ever advancing and +progressing. The principal evil spirit is, in Zech. iii. 1, introduced +as the adversary of the holy ones of God; and this very name is +sufficient to contradict such a supposition, for the name is +descriptive of the wickedness of the character. He who, under all +circumstances, is an "adversary," must certainly carry the principle of +hatred in his heart. He moves about on the earth for the purpose of +finding materials for his accusations, and grounds on which he may +raise suspicions. It is a characteristic [Pg 22] feature, that he whose +darkness does not comprehend the light, knows of no other piety but +that which has its origin in the hope of reward. It is quite evident +that it is the desire of his heart to destroy Job by sufferings. The +only circumstance which seems to give any countenance to the +supposition is, that he appears in the midst of the angels, before the +throne of God. But this circumstance is deprived of all its +significancy, if the fact be kept in view--which, indeed, is most +evident--that the book is, from beginning to end, of a purely poetical +character. The form of it is easily accounted for by the intention to +impress this most important thought: that Satan stands in absolute +dependence upon God; that, with all his hatred to the children of God, +he can do nothing against them, but must, on the contrary, rather +subserve the accomplishment of the thoughts of God's love regarding +them.--Isaiah likewise points to evil spirits in chap. xiii. 21, xxxiv. +14. (Compare my Comment. on Rev. xviii. 2.)--But even in some passages +of the Pentateuch itself, the doctrine regarding Satan is brought +before us. It is true that it has been erroneously supposed to be +contained in Deut. xxxii. 17 (compare on this opinion, my Comment. on +Ps. cvi. 37); but only bigotry and prejudice can refuse to admit that, +under the _Asael_, to whom, according to Lev. xvi., a goat was sent +into the wilderness, Satan is to be understood. (The arguments in +support of this view will be found in the author's "_Egypt and the +Books of Moses_," p. 168 ff.)[2] + +But we must advert to two additional considerations. _First_,--To every +one who is in the least familiar with the territory [Pg 23] of divine +revelation, and who has any conception of the relation in which the +Books of Moses stand to the whole succeeding revelation, it will, _a +priori_, be inconceivable, that a doctrine which afterwards occupies so +prominent a position in the revealed books should not have already +existed, in the germ at least, in the Books of Moses. _Secondly_,--We +should altogether lose the origin and foundation of the doctrine +concerning Satan, if he be removed from, or explained away in, the +history of the fall. That the first indication of this doctrine cannot +by any means be found in the Book of Job, has already been pointed out +by _Hofmann_, who remarks in the _Schriftbeweis_ i. S. 378, that Satan +appears in this book as a well-known being, as much so as are the sons +of God. Nor is Lev. xvi. an appropriate place for introducing, for the +first time, this doctrine into the knowledge of the people. The +doctrinal essence of the symbolical action there prescribed is +this:--that Satan, the enemy of the Congregation of God, has no power +over those who are reconciled to God; that, with their sins forgiven by +God, they may joyfully appear before, and mock and triumph over, him. +The whole ritual must have had in it something altogether strange for +the Congregation of the Lord, if they had not already known of Satan +from some other source. The questions: Who is Asael? What have we to do +with him? must have forced themselves upon every one's mind. It is not +the custom of Scripture to introduce its doctrines so abruptly, to +prescribe any duty which is destitute of the solid foundation of +previous instruction. + +If thus we may consider it as proved, (1) that the serpent was an agent +in the temptation, and (2) that it served only as an instrument to +Satan, the real tempter,--then we have also thereby proved that the +curse denounced against the tempter must have a double sense. It must, +in the first place, refer to the instrument; but, in its chief import, +it must bear upon the real tempter, for it was properly he alone who +had done that which merited the punishment and the curse. Let us now, +upon this principle, proceed to the interpretation of our passage. + +It is said in ver. 14: "_And Jehovah Elohim said unto the serpent, +Because thou hast done this, thou shalt be cursed above all cattle +and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, +and dust thou shalt eat all the days of thy life._"--If we do not +[Pg 24] look beyond the serpent, these words have in them something +incomprehensible, inasmuch as the serpent is destitute of that +responsibility which alone could justify so severe a sentence. There is +no difficulty attached to the idea that the serpent must suffer. It +shares this fate along with all the other irrational earthly creation, +which is made subject to vanity (Rom. viii. 20), and which must +accompany man, for whose sake it was created, through all the stages of +his existence. But the question here at issue is not about mere +suffering, but about well-merited punishment. The serpent is not, like +the whole remaining earth, cursed for the sake of man (Gen. iii. 17), +but it is cursed because "it has done this." Punishment presupposes +being created in the image of God, and, according to chap. i., such +a creation is peculiar only to man. But as soon as we assume the +co-operation of an invisible author of the temptation, by whom the +serpent was animated, everything which is here threatened against the +visible instrument acquires a symbolical meaning. The degradation +inflicted upon the latter,--the announcement of the defeat which it is +to sustain in the warfare with man,--represent in a figure the fate of +the real tempter only. The instrument used by him in the temptation is +at the same time the symbol of the punishment which he is destined to +endure. + +Although it be said that the serpent should be "cursed above all +cattle," etc., this does not necessarily imply that the other animals +are also cursed, any more than the words, "subtle above all the +beasts," imply that all other beasts are subtle. It is certainly not +always necessary that the whole existing difference should be pointed +out. The sense is simply: Thou shalt be more cursed than all cattle. In +a similar manner it is said, in the song of Deborah, concerning Jael, +"Blessed above women shall Jael be," Judges v. 24; for this does not +imply that all other women are blessed, but means only that, whether +they be blessed or not, Jael, at all events, is the most blessed. + +The _eating of dust_ must not be interpreted literally, as if the +serpent were to feed upon dust; but, since it is to creep on the +ground, it cannot be but that it swallow dust along with its food. Thus +we find in Ps. cii., in "the prayer of the afflicted," ver. 10, "For I +have eaten ashes like bread," used of occasional swallowing of ashes. +As an expression of deepest humiliation, the [Pg 25] licking of dust is +used in Mic. vii. 17, where it is said of the enemies of the Church, +"They shall lick dust like the serpent." In Is. xlix. 23, compared with +Ps. lii. 9, the licking up the dust of the feet is likewise inflicted +upon the humbled enemies. If, undoubtedly, there be, even in these +passages, a slight reference to the one before us, the allusion to it +is still plainer in Is. lxv. 25, where it is said, "And dust shall be +the serpent's meat." Of the denunciation in Gen. iii. 14, 15, the +eating of dust alone shall remain, while the bruising of the heel shall +come to an end. And while all other creatures shall escape from the +doom which has come upon them in consequence of the fall of man, the +serpent--the instrument used in the temptation--shall, agreeably to the +words in the sentence of punishment, "All the days of thy life," remain +condemned to a perpetual abasement, thus prefiguring the fate of the +real tempter, for whom there is no share in the redemption. + +The opinion which has been again of late defended by _Hofmann_ and +_Baumgarten_, that the serpent had before the fall the same shape as +after it, only that after the fall it possesses as a punishment what +before the fall was its nature, stands plainly opposed to the context. +Even _a priori_, and in accordance with Satan's usual mode of +proceeding, it is probable that he, who loves to transform himself into +an angel of light, should have chosen an attractive and charming +instrument of temptation. This view loses all that is strange in it, if +only we consider the change of the serpent, not as an isolated thing, +but in connection with the great change which, after the fall of man, +affected the whole nature (comp. Gen. i. 31, according to which the +entire animal creation had, previously to the fall, impressed upon it +the image of man's innocence and peace, and the law of destruction did +not pervade it, Gen. iii. 17; Rom. viii. 20); and if only we keep in +mind that, before the fall, the whole animal world was essentially +different from what it is now, so that we cannot by any means think of +forming to ourselves a distinct Image of the serpent, as _Luther_ and +others have done. + +The serpent is thus, by its disgusting form, and by the degradation of +its whole being, doomed to be the visible representative of the kingdom +of darkness, and of its head, to whom it had served as an instrument. +But the words, when applied to the head himself, give expression to the +idea: "extreme contempt, [Pg 26] shame, and abasement shall be thy +lot." Thus _Calmet_ remarks on this passage: "This enemy of mankind +crawls, as it were, on his belly, on account of the shame and disgrace +to which he is reduced." Satan imagined that, by means of the fall of +man, he would enlarge his kingdom and extend his power. But to the eye +of God the matter appeared in a totally different light, because, along +with the fall, He beheld the redemption. + +Ver. 15. "_And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and +between thy seed and her seed; and it shall bruise thy head, and thou +shalt bruise its heel._" In the two other passages where the word +[Hebrew: wvP] occurs (Ps. cxxxix. 11 [compare my commentary on that +passage] and Job ix. 17), it undeniably signifies: "to crush," "to +bruise." This signification, therefore, which is confirmed by the +Chaldee Paraphrast, and which Paul also follows in Rom. xvi. 20 +([Greek: suntripsei], whilst the LXX. have [Greek: teresei]), must here +also be retained. It is only in appearance that, in the second passage +referred to, the signification "to crush" seems to be inappropriate; +for there, "to crush" is used in the sense of "to destroy," "to +annihilate," just as in Jonah iv. 7, "to strike" is used of the sting +of an insect, because its effect is similar to that produced by a +stroke. The words [Hebrew: raw] and [Hebrew: eqb] are a second +accusative governed by the verb, whereby the place of the action is +more distinctly marked out. That by "head" and "heel"--a _majus_ and a +_minus_--a victory of mankind over the seed of the serpent should be +signified, was seen by _Calvin_, who says, "Meanwhile we see how +graciously the Lord deals even in the punishment of men, inasmuch as He +does not give the serpent power to do more than wound the heel, while +to man is given the power of wounding its head. For the words 'head' +and 'heel' point out only what is superior and what is inferior." That +these words are by no means intended to describe the mutual antipathy +between men and serpents, is rendered evident by the consideration, +that, if such were the intention, no special punishment would be +denounced against the serpent, while, according to the context, such +denunciation is certainly designed by the writer. The words treat of +the punishment of the serpent; it is only in ver. 16 that the sentence +against man is proclaimed. It is true that the bite of a serpent is +dangerous when it is applied even to the heel, for the poison thence +penetrates the whole body; but to this fact in natural history there is +here [Pg 27] no allusion, nor is the _biting_ of the serpent at all the +point here in question. The contrast between head and heel is simply +that which exists between the noble and less noble parts,--those parts +of which the injury is commonly curable or incurable. The objection: +"The serpent creeps, man walks upright; if then an enmity exists +between them, how can it be otherwise than that man wounds its head, +and that it wounds his heel?" entirely overlooks the consideration, +that, according to ver. 14, it is in consequence of the divine curse +that the serpent creeps in the dust. In this degraded condition--a +condition which is not natural, but inflicted as a punishment--it is +implied that the serpent can attack man at his heel only. This plain +connection between ver. 15 and 14 is evidently overlooked by those who +hold the opinion, that this mutual enmity is pernicious equally to man +and serpent. The very circumstance that the serpent is condemned to go +on its belly, and to eat dust, whilst man retains that erect walk in +which the image of God is reflected, paves the way for the announcement +of the victory in ver. 16. + +Experience bears ample witness to the truth of the divine sentence, +that there shall, in future, be enmity between the seed of the serpent +and mankind, in so far as this sentence refers to the instrument of the +temptation; for abhorrence of the serpent is natural to man. Thus +_Calvin_ remarks: "It is in consequence of a secret natural instinct +that man abhors them; and as often as the sight of a serpent fills us +with horror, the recollection of our apostasy is renewed." + +But, in the fate of the serpent which is here announced, there is an +indication of the doom of the spiritual author of the temptation. It +has been objected that any reference to Satan is inadmissible, because +the "seed of the serpent" here spoken of cannot designate wicked men, +who are "children of the devil;" for these, too, belong to the seed of +the woman, and cannot, therefore, be put in opposition to it. But +against this objection _Storr_, in his treatise, _de Protevangelio_, +remarks: "We easily see that many of the seed of the woman likewise +belong to the seed of the serpent; but they have become unworthy of +that name, since they apostatized to the common enemy of their race." +It is quite true that, by the seed of the woman, her whole progeny is +designated; but they who enter into communion [Pg 28] with the +hereditary enemy of the human race are viewed as having excommunicated +themselves. Compare Gen. xxi. 12, where Isaac alone is declared to be +the true descendant of Abraham, and his other sons are, as false +descendants, excluded. Moreover, not only wicked men, but also the +angels of Satan (Matt. xxv. 41; Rev. xii. 7-9), belong to the seed of +the serpent. + +The greater number of the earlier Christian interpreters were of +opinion that, by the seed of the woman, the Messiah is directly pointed +at. But to this opinion it may be objected, that it does violence to +the language to understand, by the seed of the woman, any single +individual; and the more so, since we are compelled to understand, by +the seed of the serpent, a plurality of individuals, viz., the +spiritual children of Satan, the heads and members of the kingdom of +darkness. _Further_,--As far as the sentence has reference to the +serpent, the human race alone can be understood by the seed of the +woman; and to this, therefore, the victory over the invisible author of +the temptation must also be adjudged. The reference to the human race +is also indicated by the connection between "her seed" in this verse, +and the words, "Thou shalt bring forth sons," in ver. 16. +_Finally_,--As the person of the Messiah does not yet distinctly appear +even in the promises to the Patriarchs, this passage cannot well be +explained of a personal Messiah; inasmuch as, by such an explanation, +the progressive expansion of the Messianic prophecy in Genesis would be +destroyed. + +If, however, by the seed of the woman we understand the entire progeny +of the woman, we obtain the following sense: "It is true that thou hast +now inflicted upon the woman a severe wound, and that thou and thine +associates will continue to assail her: but, notwithstanding thine +eager desire to injure, thou shalt be able to inflict on mankind only +such wounds as are curable; while, on the contrary, the posterity of +the woman shall, at some future period, vanquish thee, and make thee +feel all thy weakness." + +This interpretation is found as early as in the Targum of Jonathan, and +in that of Jerusalem, where, by the seed of the woman, are understood +the Jews, who, at the time of the Messiah, shall overcome Sammael. +Thus, too, does Paul explain it in Rom. xvi. 20, where the promise is +regarded as referring to Christians as a body. It has found, +subsequently, an able defender [Pg 29] in _Calvin_[3] and, in modern +times, in _Herder_.[4] The treatise of _Storr_, too (in the _Opusc._ +ii.), is devoted to its defence. + +Even according to this interpretation, the passage justly bears the +name of the _Protevangelium_, which has been given to it by the Church. +It is only in general terms, indeed, that the future victory of the +kingdom of light over that of darkness is foretold, and not the person +of the Redeemer who should lead in the warfare, and bestow the strength +which should be necessary for maintaining it. Anything beyond this we +are not even entitled to expect at the first beginnings of the human +race; a gradual progress is observable in the kingdom of grace, as well +as in that of nature. + +It is certainly, however, not a matter of chance that the posterity of +the woman is not broken up into a plurality, but that, in order to +designate it, expressions in the singular ([Hebrew: zre] and [Hebrew: +hva]) are chosen. This unity, which, in the meanwhile, it is true, is +only _ideal_, was chosen with regard to the person of the Redeemer, who +comprehends within Himself the whole human race. And it is not less +significant, and has certainly a deeper ground, that the victory over +the serpent is assigned to the seed of the woman, not to the posterity +of Adam; and though, indeed, [Pg 30] the circumstance that the woman +was first deceived may have been the proximate cause of it, yet it +cannot be exclusively referred to, and derived from, it. By these +remarks we come still nearer to the view of the ancient Church. + + +Footnote 1: So, _e.g._ _Cramer_ in the _Nebenarbeiten zur Theologischen +Literatur_, St. 2. + +Footnote 2: The positive reasons by which I there proved the reference +to Satan, have not been invalidated by the objections of _Hofmann_ in +his _Schriftbeweis_ i. 379. He says: As an adjective formed in a manner +similar to [Hebrew: qlql] (Num. xxi. 6) must have an intransitive +signification, it cannot mean "separated," but according to its +derivation from [Hebrew: azl] = [Hebrew: ezl], it means: "altogether +gone away." But this argument has no force. The real import of the form +of the word is gradation, and frequent repetition. Instances of a +passive signification are given in _Ewald's Lehrbuch der Hebr. +Sprache_, Sec. 157 c.: compare, _e.g._, Deut. xxxii. 5. There is so much +the stronger reason for adopting the passive signification, that in +Arabic also,--which alone can be consulted, as the comparison with the +Hebrew [Hebrew: azl] has no sure foundation on which to rest,--the root +has the signification: _remotus, sepositus fuit_, and the participle: +_a ceteris se sejungens_. Compare _Egypt and the B. M._, p. 169. + +Footnote 3: He says,--This, therefore, is the sense of the passage: +"The human race, whom Satan had endeavoured to destroy, shall at length +be victorious. But, meanwhile, we must bear in mind the mode in which, +according to Scripture, that victory is to be achieved. According to +his own pleasure, Satan has, through all centuries, led captive the +sons of men, and even to this day he continues that sad victory. But, +since a stronger one has come down from heaven to subdue him, the whole +Church of God shall, under her Head, and like Him, be victorious." + +Footnote 4: _Briefe das Studium der Theologie betr._ ii. S. 225 (Tueb. +1808): "The serpent had injured them; it had become to them a symbol of +evil, of seduction, and at the same time of God's curse, of contempt +and punishment. To men the encouraging prospect was held out, that +they, the seed of the woman, were stronger and nobler than the serpent, +and all evil. They should tread upon the head of the serpent, while the +latter should be able to avenge itself only by a slight wound in their +heel. In short, the good should gain the ascendancy over the evil. Such +was the prospect. How clear or how obscure it was to the first human +pair, it is not our present purpose to inquire. It is enough that the +noblest warrior against evil, the most valiant bruiser of the serpent's +head from among the descendants of Eve, was comprehended in this +prospect, and indeed pre-eminently referred to. Thus, then, only an +outline, as it were, was given to them in a figure, the import of which +only future times saw more clearly developed." + + + + + THE BLESSINGS OF NOAH UPON SHEM AND JAPHETH. + (Gen. ix. 18-27.) + +Ver. 20. "_And Noah began and became an husbandman, and planted +vineyards._"--This does not imply that Noah was the first who began to +till the ground, and, more especially, to cultivate the vine; for Cain, +too, was a tiller of the ground, Gen. iv. 2. The sense rather is, that +Noah, after the flood, again took up this calling. Moreover, the remark +has not an independent import; it serves only to prepare the way for +the communication of the subsequent account of Noah's drunkenness. By +this remark, a defence of Noah on account of his drunkenness is +entirely cut off. Against such a defence _Luther_ expressed himself in +very strong terms: "They," says he, "who would defend the Patriarch in +this, wantonly reject the consolation which the Holy Ghost considered +to be necessary to the Church--the consolation, namely, that even the +greatest saints may, at times, stumble and fall."[1] + +Ver. 21. "_And he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was +uncovered within his tent._" + +Ver. 22. "_And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his +father, and told his two brethren without._"--David is reproved in 2 +Sam. xii. 14, for having given occasion to the enemies of God to +blaspheme. The same reproof might justly be administered to Noah also. +Ham rejoiced to find a nakedness in him whose reproving earnestness had +often been a burden to his sinful soul. _Luther_ remarks: "There is no +doubt [Pg 31] that he (Noah) must have done much which was offensive to +his proud, high-minded, and presumptuous son.... For this reason we +must not regard this deed of Ham as mere child's play, as an action +destitute of all significance; but as the result of the bitterest +hatred and resentment of Satan, by which he prepares and excites his +members against the true Church, and specially against those who are in +the ministry. Let them, therefore, give earnest heed as to whether, +either in their persons or in their offices, they give any occasion for +blasphemy. We have in this history an example of divine terrors and +judgment, that we may take warning from the danger of Ham, and not +venture to be rash in judging, though we should see that a secular or +ecclesiastical authority, or even our parents, do err and fall." + +Ver. 23. "_And Shem and Japheth took the garment._"--_Luther_ says: +"Such an outward and lovely reverence they could not have shown to +their father, if they had not, inwardly and in their hearts, been +rightly disposed towards God, and had not considered their father as a +high priest and king set over them by divine appointment." The mode of +expression indicates that the real impulse proceeded from Shem, and +that, as a prefiguration of what was to take place, Japheth only showed +susceptibility for the good, and a willingness to join with him. It is +true that the singular [Hebrew: viqH] is not, by itself, decisive. When +the verb precedes, it is not absolutely necessary that it should agree +with the _subject_ in gender and number; but the use of the singular +is, nevertheless, remarkable. If Shem and Japheth had been equally +active, the latter also would, at once, have been present to the mind +of the writer. Under these circumstances, there is the less reason for +supposing that the use of the singular can be merely accidental, +especially as the words, "and he told his _two brethren_ without," +immediately precede. But all doubt is removed by a second allusion, +which goes hand in hand with the first, and which is contained in the +following verse. + +Ver. 24. "_And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son +had done unto him._"--That Ham was older than Japheth, appears from the +circumstance that the order in which the sons of Noah are introduced is +uniformly thus: Shem, Ham, Japheth; or, beginning, as in chap. x., from +the youngest, [Pg 32] Japheth, Ham, Shem,--where, however, in ver. 21, +the words added immediately after Shem--"the elder brother of Japheth," +expressly indicate that, for a certain purpose, the writer has +proceeded in order from the youngest to the oldest. It is altogether in +vain that some have attempted to prove from chap. xi. 10 (according to +which Shem was, two years after the flood, only a hundred years old), +compared with chap. v. 32 (according to which Noah began to beget when +he was five hundred years old), that Shem was not the first-born. The +words in chap. v. 32 are: "And Noah was five hundred years old, and +Noah begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth." That the chronology can here be +determined in a way which only approximates to the truth, is implied, +as a matter of course, in the statement, that all the three sons were +begotten when Noah was five hundred years of age; nothing more is meant +than that Noah begat them after he had finished his fifth, or at the +beginning of his sixth, century. (Compare _Ranke's Untersuchungen_.) It +is just an indefinite statement of time which points forward to another +genealogy, in which the details will be given with greater precision. +Ham everywhere stands between the two; but that, nevertheless, he is, +in this passage, called the younger son, can be explained only on the +ground that, in the case before us, Shem and Ham are the two more +especially noticed--Shem as positively good, and Ham as positively +evil, while Japheth only takes part with Shem. We have thus laid an +excellent foundation for the right understanding of the subsequent +prophetic utterance of Noah--for the announcement, namely, of Japheth's +dwelling in the tents of Shem. + +Ver. 25. "_And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall +he be to his brethren._"--_Luther_ says: "Good old Noah, who is +regarded by his son as a foolish and stupid old man, deserving only of +mockery, appears here in truly prophetic majesty, and announces to his +sons a divine revelation of what shall come to pass in future days; +thus verifying what Paul says in 2 Cor. xii., that God's strength is +made perfect in weakness." + +According to the opinion now current, Canaan is said to mean "lowland," +and to be transferred from the land to the people, and from the people +to the pretended ancestor. But this opinion is shown to be untenable by +the considerations, that, according to historical tradition, Canaan +appears first as [Pg 33] the name of the ancestor;--that the verb +[Hebrew: kne] is never used of natural lowness, but always of +humiliation;--that in our passage, where the name first occurs, it +stands in connection with servitude;--that the masculine form of the +noun (on the adjective termination _an_, compare _Ewald's Lehrb. d. +Heb. Spr._ Sec. 163, b.) is not applicable to the country;--that the +country Canaan is so far from being a lowland, that it appears, +everywhere in the Pentateuch, as a land of hills (see Deut. xi. +2, iii. 25, where the land itself is even called, "that goodly +mountain");[2]--and, finally, that, from all appearance, Canaan is +primarily the name, not of the country, but of the people--the former +being called [Hebrew: arvr kneN], the land of Canaan. + +The real etymology of the name is almost expressly given in Judges iv. +23; [Hebrew: vikne], "and God bowed down, or _humbled_, on that day +Jabin the king of _Canaan_." Compare also Deut. ix. 3, where, in +reference to the Canaanites, it is said, [Hebrew: hva iknieM], "He will +humble or subdue them;" and Nehem. ix. 24: "Thou bowedest down before +them the inhabitants of the land--the Canaanites." Our passage also +proceeds upon this interpretation of the name. We are the rather +induced to assume a connection betwixt the name "Canaan," and the +words, "a servant of servants shall he be," as in the case of Japheth +also there is certainly an allusion to the signification of the name, +and probably in the case of Shem also. Perhaps even the name Ham, +_i.e._, "the blackish one," may be connected with the character which +he here displays--a suggestion which we do not here follow up. We +refer, however, for an analogy, to what has been remarked in our +Commentary on the Psalms, in the Introduction of Ps. vii. + +Canaan means: "the submissive one." It is a name which the people +themselves, on whose monuments it appears, would never have +appropriated to themselves (just as in the case of the Egyptians also, +on which point _Gesenius_ in the _Thesaurus_, and my work _Egypt_, +etc., p. 210, may be compared), unless it had been proper to them from +their very origin. Ham gave this name to his son from the obedience +which he demanded, but [Pg 34] did not himself yield. The son was to be +the servant of the father (for the name suggests servile obedience), +who was as despotical to his inferiors as he was rebellious against his +superiors. When the father gave that name to his son, he thought only +of submissiveness to _his_ orders; but God, who, in His mysterious +providence, disposes of all these matters, had another submissiveness +in view. + +But why is Canaan cursed and not Ham? For an answer to this question, +we are at liberty neither to fall back upon the sovereign decree of +God, as _Calvin_ does, nor to say with _Hofmann_: "Canaan is the +youngest son of Ham (Gen. x. 6); and because Ham, the youngest son of +Noah, had caused so much grief to the father, he, in return, is to +experience great grief from his youngest son." This latter view rests +upon false historical suppositions. We have already proved that Ham was +not the youngest son of Noah; and it by no means follows from Gen. x. +6, that Canaan was the youngest son of Ham. Canaan's name is mentioned +last among the sons of Ham, because the whole account of Ham's family +was to be combined with the detailed enumeration of Canaan's +descendants, who stood in so important a relation to Israel. The +boundary line as regards Shem is formed, quite naturally, by that +branch of Ham's family which stood in so important a relation to the +main branch of the family of Shem. But, as little reliance can be +placed upon the theological grounds of that conjecture; for the +question at issue is not the withdrawal of outward advantages. Canaan +is _cursed_, and it is just the sting of his servitude that it is the +consequence of the curse. It would indeed sadly affect the biblical +doctrine of recompense, if cursing and blessing were dependent upon +such external reasons as, in the case before us, upon the circumstance +that Canaan was so unfortunate as to be the youngest son. + +The right answer to the question is without doubt this:--Ham is +punished in his son, just as he himself had sinned against his father. +He is punished in _this_ son, because he followed most decidedly the +example of his father's impiety and wickedness. To this view we are led +by the whole doctrine of Holy Scripture concerning the visitation of +the guilt of the fathers upon the children. (Compare the author's +"_Dissertations on the Genuineness of the Pentateuch_," vol. ii. p. +373.) [Pg 35] To this view we are also led by the passage in Gen. xv. +16: "But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again, for the +iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full." According to this passage, +the curse on Canaan can be realized upon him, only when his own +iniquity has been fully matured. This his iniquity is presupposed by +his curse. If he were to be punished on account of the guilt of the +father,--a guilt in which he had no share,--then indeed no delay would +have been necessary. To this view we are farther led by what is +reported in Genesis concerning the moral depravity of Sodom and +Gomorrah, which, in the development of the sinful germ inherent in the +race, had outrun all others, and were, therefore, before all others, +overtaken by punishment. (To this view we are further led by what is +reported in Genesis concerning the moral depravity of Sodom and +Gomorrah, which, in the development of the sinful germ inherent in the +race, had outrun all others, and were therefore, before all others, +overtaken by punishment) To this view we are led, _further_, by Lev. +xviii. and the parallel passages, where the Canaanites appear as a +nation of abominations which the land spues out; and, _finally_, by +what ancient heathen writers report regarding the deep corruption of +the Ph[oe]nicians and Carthaginians. + +The remainder of Ham's posterity are passed over in silence; it is only +in the sequel that we expect information regarding them. But the +foreboding arises, that their deliverance will be more difficult of +accomplishment than that of Japheth, although the circumstance that +Canaan is singled out from among them affords us decided hope for the +rest. + +But not even the exclusion of Ham is to be considered as an unavoidable +fate resting upon him. Heathenism alone knows such a curse. The +subjective conditions of the curse imply the possibility of becoming +free from it. To this, there is an express testimony in the +circumstance, that the promise to the Patriarchs is not limited. David +received the remnant of the Canaanitish Jebusites into the congregation +of the Lord. (Compare remarks on Zech. ix. 7.) And, in the Gospels, the +Canaanitish woman appears as a representative of her nation, and as a +proof the possibility, granted to them, of breaking through the fetters +of the curse. (Compare also the remarkable passage, Ezek. xvi. 46.) + +[Pg 36] + +"The curse is contrasted with the blessing pronounced on Shem +and Japheth, and the second member of ver. 25 is, in vers. 26, 27, used +as a repetition in reference to each of the two brethren, who were, in +it, viewed together."--(_Tuch._) + +Ver. 26. "_And he said: Blessed be Jehovah, the God of Shem; and Canaan +shall be a servant to them._"--The Patriarch Noah,--a just man, and one +who walked before God (Gen. vi. 9),--a man raised on high, as David +says of himself in 2 Sam. xxiii. 1,--a man whose utterances are not +mere individual wishes, but, at the same time, prophecies,--sees such +rich blessings in store for his son, that, instead of announcing them +to him, he immediately breaks out into the praise of God, who is the +Author of them, and from whom the piety of Shem,[3] the foundation of +this salvation, was derived, just as Moses, in Deut. xxx. 20, instead +of blessing Gad, blesses him by whom Gad is enlarged. The manner in +which God is here spoken of indicates, _indirectly_, what that is in +which the blessing consists. _First_,--God is not called by the name +_Elohim_ (which is expressive of merely the most general outlines of +His nature), but by the name _Jehovah_, which has reference to His +manifested personality, to His revelations, and to His institutions for +salvation.[4] _Secondly_,--Jehovah is called the God of Shem,--the +first passage of Holy Scripture in which God is called the God of some +person. Both these circumstances indicate that God is to enter into an +altogether peculiar relation to the descendants of Shem; that He will +reveal Himself to them; establish His kingdom among them, and make them +partakers of both His earthly and His heavenly blessings. Thus _Luther_ +says: "This is indeed perceptible and clear, that he thus binds closely +together God and his son Shem, and, as it were, commits the one to the +other. In this, he indeed indicates the mystery of which Paul treats in +Rom. xi. 11 sq., and Christ, in John iv. 22, that salvation cometh from +the Jews, but that, nevertheless, the heathen shall become partakers of +it. For [Pg 37] although Shem alone be the real root and trunk, yet +into this tree the Gentiles are, as a strange branch, graffed, and +enjoy the fatness and sap which are in the elect tree. This light Noah, +through the Holy Spirit, sees, and although he speaks dark words, he +yet prophesies very plainly, that the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ +shall be planted in the world, and shall grow up among the race of +Shem, and not among that of Japheth." As yet Shem and Japheth were on +an equal footing. In the preceding part of the narrative, nothing had +been communicated by which God had, in His relation to Shem, given up +His nature as Elohim, and had become his God. It is only by +anticipation, then, that God can, in His relation to Shem, be +designated as Jehovah, and as the God of Shem. The thought can, when +fully brought out, be this alone: "Blessed be God, who will, in future, +reveal Himself as Jehovah, and as the God of Shem." + +If it be overlooked that, in this appellation of God, there is implied +the indirect designation of the blessings which are to be conferred on +Shem (just as in Gen. xxiv. 27 the words, "Blessed be Jehovah, the God +of my master Abraham," imply the thought: because He has manifested +Himself as Jehovah, and as the God of my master; which thought is then +further carried out in the subsequent words: "And who hath not left +destitute my master of His mercy and His truth;"--and just as it is +also in the utterance of Zacharias in Luke i. 68, where the words, +"Blessed be the Lord [Greek: kurios], the God of Israel," imply the +thought: because He has manifested Himself as the Lord [in the New +Testament, [Greek: kurios] is used where the Old has Jehovah], the God +of Israel),--if this be overlooked, we obtain only a weak and +inadequate thought, very unsuitable to the context, the purport of +which evidently is to celebrate Shem, and to mark him out as worthy of +his name. So it is according to _Hofmann_, who, in the words, +"Blessed--Shem," finds only an expression of gratitude for the gift of +this good son, and who limits the announcement of blessings to the +single one--that Canaan shall be Shem's servant. Against this feeble +interpretation we must adduce these considerations also: that nowhere +does the gift of the good son form, even indirectly, the subject in +question;--that thus we should lose the opposition of the curse and the +blessing (which requires that, under [Pg 38] the "Blessed be Jehovah," +we should have concealed the "Blessed be Shem"), just as we should, the +contrast between Jehovah here and Elohim in the following verse;--and, +lastly, that what, in the following verse, is said of Japheth's +dwelling in the tents of Shem, would thus be deprived of its necessary +foundation. + +It is said: "Canaan shall be a servant to _them_." The suffix [Hebrew: +-mv], which cannot be used for the singular, any more than can the +suffix [Hebrew: -M], for which it is only the fuller poetical form (the +instances of a different use, adduced by _Ewald_, Sec. 247, d., can easily +be explained in accordance with the rule), indicates that the +announcement has no reference to the personal relation of Shem and Ham, +but that they come into view solely as the heads of families. + +Ver. 27. "_May God enlarge Japheth, and may he dwell in the tents of +Shem; and Canaan shall be a servant to them._"--These words, in the +first instance, contain the blessing pronounced upon Japheth; but they +entitle us to infer from them, at the same time, a glorious blessing +destined for Shem, which is the source of blessing to Japheth also. +They thus complete the promise of the preceding verse, which directly +refers to Shem. + +The first clause of this verse has received a great variety of +interpretations. The word [Hebrew: ipt], which refers to, and is +explanatory of, the name [Hebrew: ipt] (_i.e._ Japheth), is the future +apoc. _Hiphil_ of [Hebrew: pth]. The _Piel_ of this verb has in Hebrew +commonly the signification: "to persuade, or prevail upon any one to do +anything." Hence many interpreters translate with _Calvin_: "May God +allure Japheth that he may dwell in the tents of Shem." _Luther_ also, +in his Commentary, thus explains it: "God will kindly speak to +Japheth;" while, in his translation, he has: "May God enlarge +Japheth."--But to this interpretation it has been rightly objected, +that the verb [Hebrew: pth] is found only in Piel, not in Hiphil, with +the signification "to persuade;" that, commonly, it signifies "to +persuade" only in a bad sense; and that, in this sense, it is never +construed with [Hebrew: l], but always with the accusative.--All +interpreters now agree that (in conformity with the LXX. [Greek: +platunai ho Theos to Iapheth], the _Vulgate_ [_dilatet Deus Japhet_], +and _Onkelos_) [Hebrew: ipt] must be derived from [Hebrew: pth] in its +primary signification, "to be wide, large," in which it is found in +Prov. xx. 19 (where [Hebrew: wptiv] [Pg 39] is accusative denoting the +place), and which signification is the common one in Aramaic. But they +then again disagree, inasmuch as some think of a local extension: God +shall give to Japheth a numerous posterity, which shall take possession +of extended territories; while others find here expressed the idea of +general prosperity: God shall prosper Japheth, shall bring him into a +free and unstraitened position. + +Both of these views partake of alike mistake from regarding the words +_per se_, and as disconnected from the following announcement of +Japheth's dwelling in the tents of Shem. It must also be objected to +them, that in the case of Shem, only one feature of the blessing is +pointed out, viz., that God will be to him Jehovah, _his_ God; and so, +likewise, only one feature of the curse in the case of Ham. When those +words are isolated, separated from what follows, and understood of +extension, this difficulty arises, that Ham enjoys this extension in +common with Japheth, as is shown by a glance at Gen. x. If, on the +other hand, we understand them as expressive of prosperity (according +to _Hofmann_: "general prosperity in the affairs of outward life"), +this explanation is destitute of a sufficient foundation, and there is +nothing reported in the sequel regarding the fulfilment of such a +promise. To this we must further add, that the verb [Hebrew: ipt] is, +on account of its immediate nearness to the proper name, too little +expressive, and that, hence, we must expect to find its meaning more +fully brought out in what follows. + +But if it be acknowledged that the extension appears here as a +blessing, in so far only as it leads to the dwelling in the tents of +Shem, mentioned in the subsequent clause of the verse, and that the +blessing can consist in nothing else, there is then no essential +difference betwixt the two interpretations. But we decide in favour of +the _latter_ view, because the corresponding verb [Hebrew: hrHib], "to +make wide, to enlarge," when construed with [Hebrew: l], is always used +in the signification: "to bring into a free, unstraitened, easy, happy +position." (See, _e.g._, Gen. xxvi. 22; Ps. iv. 2; Prov. xviii. 16; 2 +Sam. xxii. 20.) Even when followed by an accusative, the verb is found +with this signification in Deut. xxxiii. 20: "Blessed be He that +enlargeth Gad." (In this passage, too, the word has been understood as +denoting extension; and Deut. xii. 20, xix. 8, have been appealed to in +support of the opinion; but this appeal is inadmissible, because [Pg +40] extension of the borders is the thing which is there spoken of. The +allusion to the signification of the name _Gad_ = good luck [Gen. xxx. +11: "And Leah said, For good luck;[5] and she called his name Gad"], is +favourable to our view, as well as the circumstance, that in this case +the subsequent words are only an expansion of the general thought, and +more closely determine the happiness. Jehovah, who enlarges Gad, +according to the words which follow, "He dwelleth like a lion, and +teareth the arm with the crown of the head," is contrasted with the +enemies who wish to drive him into a strait. If room be made for him, +he becomes happy, as it were, by enlargement.) To understand [Hebrew: +ipt] of prosperity and happiness, is countenanced also by the +consideration that, in such circumstances, the name Japheth appears +much more appropriate in the mouth of Noah, by whom it was uttered at a +time when extension could be but little thought of, and that it +corresponds much better with the name Shem. + +Elohim is to enlarge Japheth. Elohim here stands in strict contrast +with Jehovah, the God of Shem. It is only by dwelling in the tents of +Shem, that Japheth passes over into the territory of Jehovah,--up to +that time, he belongs to the territory of Elohim. But Elohim leads him +to Jehovah. It is a contrast in all respects similar to that which we +have in Gen. xiv., where, in verse 19, Melchizedek speaks of "the most +high God," whose priest he is, according to verse 20; while Abraham, on +the contrary, speaks, in verse 22, of "Jehovah the most high God." + +There is a difference of opinion regarding the determination of the +subject in the second clause of the verse: "and he shall dwell in the +tents of Shem." According to a very ancient interpretation, Elohim is +to be supplied as such; from which the following sense would be +obtained: "God shall indeed enlarge and prosper Japheth, but He shall +dwell in the tents of Shem." [Pg 41] The inferior blessing of Japheth +would thus be contrasted with the superior one of Shem, among whose +posterity God should, by His gracious presence, glorify Himself,--first +in the tabernacle, then in the temple, and lastly, should, in the +highest sense, dwell by the incarnation of His Son. Thus _Onkelos_: +"God shall extend Japheth, and His Shechinah shall dwell in the tents +of Shem." The ancient book _Breshith Rabba_ remarks on this passage: +"The Shechinah dwells only in the tents of Shem." (See _Schoettgen_, _de +Messia_, p. 441.) _Theodoret_ also (Interrog. 58 in Genesin) advances +this explanation, and ably brings out this sense. It has of late been +again defended by _Hofmann_ and _Baumgarten_. But against this view +there are decisive arguments, which show that Japheth alone can be the +subject. To mention only a few:--It cannot be doubted that it is on +purpose that Noah, when speaking of Shem, has chosen the name Jehovah, +and that, as soon as he comes to Japheth, he makes use of the name +Elohim. We cannot, therefore, suppose that here, where, according to +this interpretation, he would just touch upon the essential point in +the peculiar relation of Jehovah to the descendants of Shem--the +Israelites, he should have made use of the general name of Elohim, as +in the case of Japheth. The subject--Jehovah--could not in this case +have been omitted before [Hebrew: iwkN]. _Further_,--By such an +interpretation we are involved in inextricable difficulties as regards +the last clause of the verse. The words, "And Canaan shall be a servant +to them," can neither be referred to Shem alone--for, in that case, +they would be an useless repetition, as in ver. 25 Canaan had been +doomed to be a servant to _his brethren_--nor can they be referred to +Shem and Japheth at the same time; the analogy of the [Hebrew: lmv] in +the preceding verse, where the plural referred to the plurality +represented by the one Shem, forbids this. If, then, the last clause +can refer to Japheth only, the clause in which the dwelling in the +tents of Shem is spoken of, must likewise be referred to Japheth. To +these arguments we may _further_ add, that there is something +altogether strange in the expression: "God shall dwell in the tents of +Shem." There is, in Holy Scripture, frequent mention of God's dwelling +in His tabernacle, on His holy hill, in Zion, in the midst of the +children of Israel. Believers also are said to dwell in the tabernacle +or temple of God; but nowhere is [Pg 48] God spoken of as dwelling in +the tents of Israel. _Further_,--If we refer the second clause to Shem, +the first, in its detached position, would be too general, too +indefinite, and too loose to admit of the blessing of Japheth being +concluded with it. We must not, moreover, lose sight of the +consideration, that when we refer the second clause also to Japheth, +there springs up a beautiful connection between the relation of Shem +and Japheth to each other in the present, and during their future +progress. As the reaction against the corruption of Ham had originated +with Shem, and Japheth had only joined him in it; so in future also, +the real home of piety and salvation will be with Shem, to whom +Japheth, in the felt need of salvation, shall come near. +_Finally_,--The analogy of the promise made to the Patriarch, according +to which all the nations of the earth shall be blessed by the seed of +Abraham, is in favour of our referring the second clause to Japheth. +And if the Lord, alluding to our passage, says, in Luke xvi. 9, "Make +to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness, that when ye +fail they may receive you into everlasting habitations" ([Greek: skene] += [Hebrew: ahl]), He expresses the view which we are now defending. +For, in that passage, it is not God who receives, but man: they who, by +their prayers, are more advanced, come to the help of those who have +made less progress; those who have already attained to the enjoyment of +salvation, make them partakers who stand in need of salvation. + +Of those who correctly consider Japheth to be the subject, several (_J. +D. Michaelis_, _Vater_, _Gesenius_, _Winer_, _Knobel_) give the +translation: "and he shall dwell in renowned habitations." But it is +quite evident that this sense is admissible only as a secondary one: as +such, we must indeed admit it in a context in which the appellative +signification of the proper names is never lost sight of. That [Hebrew: +wM] is here, however, primarily a proper name, is shown by the +preceding verse. + +The translation, "Japheth shall dwell in the tents of Shem," is, then, +the correct one. But now the question is,--How are these words to be +understood? According to the views of many interpreters, it is +intimated by Japheth's dwelling in the tents of Shem, that the true +religion would be preserved among the posterity of Shem, and would pass +over from them to the descendants of Japheth, who should be received +into the community [Pg 43] of the worshippers of the true God. So +_Jonathan_ explained its meaning: "The Lord shall make glorious the end +of Japheth; his sons shall be proselytes, and shall dwell in the +schools of Shem." So also _Jerome_: "Since it is said, And he shall +dwell in the tents of _Shem_, this is a prophecy concerning us, who, +after the rejection of Israel, enjoy the instruction and knowledge of +the Scriptures." _Augustine_ also (_c. Faustum_ xii. 24) understands by +the tents of Shem, "the churches which the apostles, the sons of the +prophets, have built up." + +But although this explanation be, in the main, correct, it cannot, per +se, satisfy us. It must be reconciled with that other explanation given +by _Bochart_ (_Phaleg._ iii. 1 c. 147 sqq.), _Calmet_, _Clericus_, and +others, according to which the passage is to be understood literally, +as foretelling that the posterity of Japheth should, at some future +time, gain possession of the country belonging to the descendants of +Shem, and should reduce them to subjection. + +The phrase, "and they dwelt in their tents," is, in 1 Chron. v. 10, +used to express the relation of conquerors and conquered. There is no +parallel passage which could indubitably prove that "dwelling in the +tents of some one" could ever, by itself, denote spiritual communion +with him. If Shem had come to Japheth with the announcement of +salvation only, it is not likely that a dwelling of Japheth in the +tents of Shem would have been spoken of. Even the last clause of the +verse--"and Canaan shall be a servant to them"--when compared with the +preceding verse, according to which Canaan is, in the first place, to +be Shem's servant only, supposes that Japheth will step beyond his +borders, and will invade the territory naturally belonging to Shem. If +Japheth assume the dominion of Shem over Canaan, he must then dwell in +the tents of Shem in a sense different from the merely spiritual one. +_Finally_--Even in other passages of the Pentateuch, an invasion of +Shem's territory by Japheth is foretold. In Num. xxiv. 24, Balaam says: +"And ships shall come from the coast of Chittim and shall afflict +Asshur, and shall afflict Eber, and he also shall perish." "We have +here (compare my monography on Balaam) the announcement of a future +conquest of the Asiatic kingdoms by nations from Europe, such as was +historically realized in the Asiatic dominion of the Greeks and +Romans." + +[Pg 44] + +On the other hand, however, it must not by any means be +supposed that Noah should, in favour of Japheth, have weakened the +power of the brilliant promise given to Shem by the announcement of +such a sad event; for it is evidently his intention to exalt Shem above +his brethren, as highly as he had excelled them both in his piety +towards his father. + +The difficulties which stand in the way of either explanation are +easily removed by the following consideration. The occupation of the +land of Shem by Japheth is the condition of Japheth's dwelling in the +tents of Shem. Why this dwelling is a blessing to Japheth--"God shall +enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell," etc.--appears from what precedes, +according to which, God reveals Himself to Shem as Jehovah, and becomes +_his_ God. To be received into the fellowship of Jehovah--to find Him +in the tents of Shem--constitutes the blessing promised to Japheth. But +if such be the case, there can be no more room for speaking of an +announcement of any event adverse to Shem. Underneath the adversity, +joy is hidden. It will here be fulfilled in its highest sense, that the +conquered give laws to the conquerors. + +"And Canaan shall be a servant to them." The servitude of Canaan was +completed by Japheth, among whose sons (Gen. x. 2) Madai also appears; +so that even the Medo-Persian kingdom is one of Japheth's. Ph[oe]nicia +was completely overthrown by him. Haughty Tyrus fell to the ground. +Zech. ix. 3, 4, when announcing the Greek dominion (compare ver. 13), +says: "And Tyrus did build herself a stronghold, and heaped up silver +like dust, and fine gold as the mire of the streets. Behold, the Lord +will cast her out, and He will smite her power in the sea, and she +shall be devoured with fire." + +The objection raised by _Tuch_ and _Hofmann_, that the Greeks and +Romans made Shem also their servant, is, after what has been remarked, +destitute of all weight, inasmuch as the servitude then had reference +only to the lower territory. Shem and Judah were not injured in that +which, in ver. 26, had been pointed at as their chief and peculiar +good. On the contrary, it shone out, on that occasion, in its highest +glory. Canaan, however, lost that upon which he set the highest value. +In the case of Canaan, the servitude was the consequence of the curse; +but in the case of Shem, the outward servitude was a consequence of [Pg +45] the blessing, the most emphatic verification of the words: "Blessed +be Jehovah, the God of Shem." + +It must indeed fill us with adoring wonder when we see how clearly and +distinctly the outlines of the world's history, as well as of the +history of Salvation, are here traced. "This," says _Calvin_, "is +indeed a support to our faith of no common strength, that the calling +of the Gentiles was not only predestined in God's eternal decree, but +also publicly proclaimed by the mouth of the Patriarch; so that we are +not required to believe that by a sudden and fortuitous event merely, +the inheritance of eternal life was proclaimed to all men in common." + +It is not a matter of _chance_ that this prophecy was given immediately +after the deluge, which stands out as so great an event in the +history of the fallen human race,--the first event, indeed, subsequent +to the fall, with which the _Protevangelium_ was connected. A new +period begins with the calling of Abraham, and in it we obtain +another link in the chain of the prophecies,--a link which fits as +exactly into that which is now under consideration, as did this into +the _Protevangelium_. The import of this prophecy is: "The kingdom of +God shall be established in Shem, and Japheth shall be received into +its community."--The meaning of the prophecy which is now to engage our +attention is: "By the posterity of the Patriarchs all the nations of +the earth shall be blessed." The promise to the Patriarchs differs, +however, from the prophecy upon which we have just commented, not only +in the natural progress--that from among the descendants of Shem a +narrower circle is separated--but in this circumstance also, that in +the former the blessing is extended to all the nations of the earth, +while in the latter Ham is passed over in silence. This difference, +however, has its main foundation in the historical circumstances of the +latter prophecy; although, it is true, the complete silence which is +observed regarding him, calls forth apprehensions about his being less +susceptible of salvation, or, at least, of his not occupying any +prominent position in the development of the kingdom of God. Here, +where the object was to punish Ham for his wickedness, not the +prosperous, but the adverse events impending upon him in his posterity, +are brought prominently out; while, on the other hand, to Shem and +Japheth blessings alone are foretold. + + +Footnote 1: The object of this event, as pointed out by _Calvin_, viz., +that God intended to give to all coming ages, in the person of Noah, a +warning and an exhortation to temperance, would likewise be frustrated +by this unwarrantable apology. + +Footnote 2: The reverse is the case with reference to Aram, which is +essentially a lowland, while these critics would have us to believe +that it means "highland." (Compare _Baur_ on Amos, S. 229.) + +Footnote 3: _Bochart_ remarks: "He cursed the guilty one in his own +person, because the source and nourishment of evil is in man himself. +But, rejoiced at Shem's piety, he rather blessed the Lord, because he +knew that God is the Author of everything which is good." + +Footnote 4: With reference to the difference between these two names, +compare the disquisitions in the author's "_Genuineness of the Pent._," +vol. i. p. 213 ff. + +Footnote 5: Our English authorized version translates the first clause +of this verse thus: "And Leah said, A troop cometh,"--a rendering which +cannot be objected to on etymological grounds, and which receives some +support from Gen. xlix. 19. The ancient versions, however, are quite +unanimous in assigning to the [Hebrew: gd] in [Hebrew: bgd] the +signification of "fortune," "good luck;" and render it either: "in or +for good luck;" "luckily," "happily" (so the LXX. et Vulg.), or, +following _Onkelos_ and the Mazorets: "good luck has come."--(Tr.) + + +[Pg 46] + + + THE PROMISE TO THE PATRIARCHS. + +A great epoch is, in Genesis, ushered in with the history of the time +of the Patriarchs. _Luther_ says: "This is the third period in which +Holy Scripture begins the history of the Church with a new family." In +a befitting manner, the representation is opened in Gen. xii. 1-3 by an +account of the first revelation of God, given to Abraham at Haran, in +which the way is opened up for all that follows, and in which the +dispensations of God are brought before us in a rapid survey. Abraham +is to forsake everything, and then God will give him everything. + +Gen. xii. 1. "_And the Lord said unto Abraham, Get thee out of thy +country, and from thy hone, and from thy father's house, into a land +that I will show thee._ Ver. 2. _And I will make of thee a great +nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt +be a blessing._ Ver. 3. _And I will bless them that bless thee, and him +who curseth thee I will curse: and in thee all the families of the +earth shall be blessed._" + +"_Into a land that I will show thee._" From what follows, it appears +that, in the very same revelation, the country was afterwards _more +definitely_ pointed out; for Abraham, without having received any new +revelation, goes to Canaan, For the sake of brevity, the writer gives +the details only afterwards, when he has occasion to report how they +were carried out. The land which God will show to Abraham, stands +contrasted with that in which he is at home,--in which he and his whole +being had taken root. This contrast points out the greatness of the +sacrifice which God demands of Abraham. With a like intent we have the +accumulation of expressions--"out of thy land," etc.--corresponding to +a similar one when the command was given to sacrifice Isaac (Gen. xxii. +2), and forming the condition of the promise which follows. This +promise is intended to make the sacrifice a light thing to Abraham, by +pointing out what he is to receive if he give up everything which +stands in the way of his living to God. A similar call comes to all who +feel impelled to renounce the world in order to serve God. This call to +Abraham is peculiar only as to its form; as to its essence, it is ever +repeating itself. This will appear the more distinctly, when we inquire +into the true reason of the _outward_ separation here demanded of [Pg +47] Abraham. It can be Intended only as a means of the internal +separation. In the circle in which he lived, sin had already made a +mighty progress, as appears from Josh. xxiv. 2,--a passage which shows +us that idolatry had already made its way into the family of Abraham. +In order to withdraw him from the influences of this corruption, +Abraham is removed from the circle in which he had grown up, and in +which he had hitherto moved. That the special thing here demanded is +only the result of the general duty of renunciation and self-denial, +which is here, in Abraham, laid upon the whole Church, appears from the +circumstance, that the promise was renewed at a subsequent period, +when, with a willing heart, he had offered up his son Isaac as a +spiritual sacrifice to his God. The carnal, ungodly love to Isaac is +thus placed on a level with the attachment to the land, etc., which +came betwixt him and his God. The general idea, that self-renunciation +lies at the foundation, is brought out in Psalm xlv. 11. + +The words, "_And thou shalt be a blessing_," imply more than the words, +"I will bless thee:" they are intentionally placed in the centre of the +whole promise. Abraham shall, as it were, be an embodied +blessing--himself blessed, and the cause of blessing to all those who +bless him--to all the generations of the earth who shall, at some +future period, enter into this loving and grateful relation to him. On +the ground of Abraham's self-denial, and unreserved surrender, blessing +is poured out _upon him_, blessing also _on his account_ and _through +him_. The blessing connected with him begins with himself, and extends +over all the families of the earth. + +"_And I will bless them that bless thee, and him that curseth thee I +will curse._ The blessing is based upon the turning to Him who has +appointed Abraham for a blessing, as we may learn from the example of +Melchizedek, Gen. xiv. 19. They who bless are themselves not far from +the kingdom of God; blessing, therefore, is the preparatory step +towards being blessed. (Compare Matt. x. 40-42.) + +"_And in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed._" +_Luther_ says: "Now there follows the right promise, which ought to be +written in golden letters, and proclaimed in all lands, and for which +we ought to praise and glorify." + +The promise stands here in close connection with the Mosaic [Pg 48] +history of the creation. According to that, man, as such, bears upon +him the impress of the divine image. Gen. i. 26, and is the depository +of the divine breath. Gen. ii. 7. From such a beginning, we cannot +conceive of any limitation of salvation which is not, at the same time, +a means of its universal extension. It must therefore be in entire +accordance with the nature of the thing, that even here, where the +setting apart of a particular chosen race takes its rise, there should +be an intimation of its universally comprehensive object. There is, in +the circumstance of _families_ being spoken of, a distinct reference to +the history of creation; [Hebrew: mwpHh] everywhere corresponds exactly +with our word "family." It is everywhere used only of the subdivisions +in the greater body of the nation or tribe. The expression, then, +points to the higher unity of the whole human race, as it has its +foundation in the fact that all partake in common of the divine image. + +The announcement of the blessing in this passage leads us back to the +curse pronounced in consequence of sin, Gen. iii. 17: "Cursed is the +ground (_Adamah_) for thy sake." (Compare Gen. v. 29.) This curse is, +at some future time, to be abolished by Abraham. We can account for the +mention of the families of the "Adamah" only by supposing that a +reference to this passage was fully intended; for it was just the +"Adamah" (primarily, "land") which had there been designated as the +object of the curse. + +In announcing that all the families shall be blessed in Abraham, the +writer refers also to the judgment described in Gen. xi., by which the +family of mankind,--which, according to the intention of God, ought +to have been united,--was dispersed and separated. When viewed in +this connection, we expect that the blessing will manifest itself in +the healing of the deep wound inflicted upon mankind, in the +re-establishment of the lost unity, and in the gathering again of the +scattered human race around Abraham as their centre. + +Beyond this, no other disclosure about the nature of this salvation is +given. But that it consisted essentially in the union with God +accomplished through the medium of Abraham, and that everything else +could be viewed as emanating only from this source, was implied simply +in the circumstance, that all the blessing which Abraham enjoyed for +himself had its origin in [Pg 49] this, that he could call God _his +God_; just as, in Gen. ix., it had been declared as the blessing of +Shem, that Jehovah should be his God, and as the blessing of Japheth, +that he was called to become a partaker of this blessing. The blessings +which were either bestowed upon or promised to the Patriarchs and their +descendants, had for their object the advancement of knowledge and the +practice of true religion, and had been bestowed or promised only under +this condition (compare Gen. xvii. 1, xvii. 17-19, xxii. 16-18, xxvi. +5); they could not hence expect anything else than that their posterity +would, in so far, be the cause of the salvation of the heathen nations, +that the latter should, by means of the former, be made partakers of +the blessings of true religion. + +With regard to the manner in which this blessing was to come to the +Gentiles, no intimation was given by the words themselves. The person +of the Redeemer is not yet brought before us in them; the indication of +that was reserved for a later stage in the progress of revelation.[1] + +The last clause of ver. 3 cannot, by any means, take away from the +import of the preceding one; the announcement of the blessing which, +through Abraham, is to come upon all the families of the earth, does +not repeal the foregoing one, according to which all shall be cursed +who curse him. This view is confirmed by an allusion to this +announcement in Zech. xiv. 16-19, where the words, "the families of the +earth," must be regarded as a quotation. In ver. 16, the prophet says +that _all the Gentiles_ shall go up to Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast +of Tabernacles; but then, in vers. 17-19, he intimates the punishment +of those who should refuse to go up. _Luther_ says: "If you wish to [Pg +50] comprehend in a few words the history of the Church from the time +of Abraham down to our days, then consider diligently these four +verses. For in them you will find the blessing; but you will see also, +that those who curse the Church are cursed, in turn, by God; so that +they must perish, while the eternal seed of the Church stands unmoved +and unshaken. For which reason, this text agrees with the first promise +given in Paradise, concerning the seed which is to bruise the serpent's +head. For the Church is not without enemies, but is assailed and +harassed so that she groans under it; but yet, by this seed, she is +invincible, and shall at length be victorious, and triumphant over all +her enemies, in eternity." + +References to this fundamental prophecy are found in other parts of the +Old Testament, besides the passage just quoted from Zechariah. In the +28th verse of Ps. xxii., which was written by David, it is said: "All +the ends of the world shall remember, and turn unto the Lord; and all +the _families_ of the Gentiles shall worship before Thee." The +realization of the blessing announced in Genesis, to all the families +of the earth, appears in this psalm as being connected with the +wonderful deliverance of the just. Another reference is in Ps. lxxii., +which was written by Solomon. In ver. 17 of this psalm it is said of +Solomon's great Antitype: "And they shall bless themselves in Him, all +nations shall bless Him." In these words the realization of the +Abrahamitic blessing is distinctly connected with the person of the +Redeemer. + +Among the New Testament references, the most remarkable is in John +viii. There, in ver. 53, the Jews say to Christ: "Art thou greater than +our father Abraham, which is dead? Whom makest thou thyself?" Jesus, in +ver. 56, answers: "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day; and he +saw it, and was glad," In ver. 57 the Jews reply: "Thou art not yet +fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham?" In ver. 58 Jesus thus +says to them: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I +am." + +Let us here, in the first place, consider only the declaration of +Jesus, that Abraham rejoiced to see His day, and was glad. It is +altogether out of the question to think of any such explanation of this +as the one given by _Luecke_, after the example of _Lampe_ namely: "that +Abraham, in the heavenly life, as a blessed [Pg 51] spirit with God, +saw the day of the Lord, and in heaven rejoiced in the fulfilment." For +it is the custom of Jesus to argue with the Jews from _Scripture_; and +He cannot, therefore, here be appealing to an assumed fact which could +not be proved from it. The answer of the Jews, in ver. 57, is likewise +opposed to such an explanation, inasmuch as it proceeds from a +supposition which Jesus had acknowledged to be true, namely, that the +question at issue was a meeting of Christ with Abraham not mentioned in +history; and in ver. 58 Christ sets aside their argument, "Thou art not +yet fifty years old." But _Luecke_ must himself bear testimony against +his own interpretation, inasmuch as, according to it, he is obliged to +speak of "the very foolish question of the adversaries."[2] + +Jesus saw Abraham, and Abraham saw Jesus. Not the person, but the day +of Christ, was future to Abraham. And this can be explained only by +Jesus' being concealed behind Jehovah who appeared to him, and gave him +the promise, that in him and his seed all the nations of the earth +should be blessed. This blessing of all the families of the earth is +the day of Jehovah,--the day when He will be glorified on the earth. + +The key to the right understanding of this is furnished by the doctrine +of the Angel of the Lord, which meets us as early as in Genesis. From +the passages in which, at the appearances and revelations of Jehovah, +the mediation of the Angel is expressly mentioned, we infer that it +(the mediation) took place even when Jehovah by Himself is spoken of; +and the more so, since, even in the former series of passages, the +simple name of Jehovah is commonly varied by that of the Angel of +Jehovah. The Evangelist John's whole doctrine of the _Logos_ points to +the personal identity of Jesus with the Angel of the Lord. Not less so +does the passage, John xii. 41; and there is unquestionably a purpose +which cannot be misunderstood in the fact, that, throughout the +discourses of Jesus, as reported by John, the declaration that God +_sent_ Him occurs with such frequency and regularity. But we can +scarcely conceive of any other purpose than that of marking out Jesus +as the Angel or Messenger of Jehovah spoken of in the writings of the +Old Testament. Compare, _e.g._, xii. 44, [Pg 52] 45: "Jesus cried and +said, He that believeth on Me, believeth not on Me, but on Him that +_sent_ Me; and he that seeth Me, seeth Him that _sent_ Me." So also iv. +34, v. 23, 24, 30, 37, vi. 38-40, vii. 16, 28, 33, viii. 16, 18, 26, +29, ix. 4, xii. 49, xiii. 20, xiv. 24, xv. 21, xvi. 5. + +Let us now, in addition, turn to the words, "Abraham rejoiced to see +(literally, that he might see) My day." It cannot be liable to any +doubt, that these words express the heartfelt, joyful desire of Abraham +to see that day, and that _Bengel_ correctly explains it by the words: +_gestivit cum desiderio_. It is true, [Greek: agalliaomai] signifies, +by itself, only "to rejoice;" but it has added to it the idea of joyful +desire by its being connected with [Greek: hina]. The words now under +consideration are expressive of Abraham's joy and longing in the spirit +for the manifestation of the day of Jehovah and of Christ, while those +in the last clause of the verse express the gratification of this +longing, which was produced by his receiving the promise that all the +families of the earth should be blessed. + +The ardent desire of Abraham to see the day of Christ implies that he +already _knew_ Christ, which can be the case only on the supposition of +Christ's concealment in Jehovah. This longing desire is not expressly +mentioned in Genesis, but it is most intimately connected with all +living faith, and must necessarily precede such divine communications. +The seed of the divine promises is everywhere sown only in a well +prepared soil. That the promise in 2 Sam. vii. was to David, in like +manner, a gratification of his anxious desire--an answer to prayer--we +are not, it is true, expressly told in the historical record; and yet, +that it was so, is evident from the words of Ps. xxi. 3: "Thou hast +given him his heart's desire, and hast not withholden the request of +his lips." There is here, then, express mention made of that which is a +matter of course, and which forms the necessary condition of that which +was reported in Genesis. + +We are furnished by the Book of Genesis itself with the right +explanation of what is meant by the day of Christ, about which +interpreters have so frequently erred. It is not the time of His first +appearing, but, in accordance with the New Testament mode of expression +(_e.g._, Phil. i. 10), the time of His glorification. The day of Christ +is the time when the promise, "In thee shall all the families of the +earth be blessed," shall be fulfilled. + +[Pg 53] + +Peter quotes this promise in Acts iii. 25, 26. Among the +families of the earth he enumerates, first and chiefly, the people of +the Old Testament dispensation; and he does so with perfect propriety, +since there is no warrant whatever for limiting it to the Gentiles. + +Paul probably refers to this promise when, in Rom. iv. 13, he speaks of +a promise given to Abraham and his seed that he should be the heir of +the world. A blessing imparted to the whole world is a spiritual +victory obtained over the world. The world is, in a spiritual sense, +conquered by Abraham and his seed. Express references are found in Gal. +iii. 8, 14, 16. + +The same promise is repeated to Abraham in Gen. xviii. 18. Instead of +the [Hebrew: mwpHvt hadmh] (the families of the earth), the [Hebrew: +gvii harC] (the nations of the earth) are there mentioned; the +family-connection is lost sight of, and the comprehensiveness only--the +catholic character of the blessing--is prominently brought out. This +promise is a third time repeated to Abraham in chap. xxii. 18, on a +very appropriate occasion, even that on which, by his endurance of the +greatest trial, and by his willingness to sacrifice to God even what +was dearest to him, he had proved himself a worthy heir of it. It is +certainly not a matter of mere accident that this promise is just three +times given to Abraham. There is in this a correspondence with the +three individuals to whom the same promise is addressed. Abraham, +however, as the first of them, and as the father of the faithful, could +not be put on the same footing with the others. Instead of "in thee," +or "by thee" ([Hebrew: bK]), we read in xxii. 18, "in" or "by thy seed" +([Hebrew: bzreK]). The same promise is confirmed to Isaac in chap. +xxvi. 14, and it is transferred to Jacob in chap. xxviii. 14. But +while, in the first and second passages, it is said, "by thee," and in +the third and fourth, "by thy seed," we read, in the passage last +mentioned, "by thee and thy seed." This evidently shows that, in those +passages where we find "by thee" standing alone, we are not at liberty +to explain it as meaning simply: "by thy seed." It is not only the seed +of Abraham, but Abraham himself also, who is to be the medium of +blessing to the nations, as the foundation-stone of the large building +of the Church of God, as the father of our Lord Jesus Christ according +to the flesh, and as the father of all believers. + +There is a deep reason for the fact that, wherever the posterity [Pg +54] of the Patriarchs are spoken of as the instruments of blessing, the +singular is always used. This circumstance is pointed out by Paul in +Gal. iii. 16. The Apostle does not in the least think of maintaining +that, by [Hebrew: zre] "seed," only a single individual could be +signified. Such an opinion, no one who understood Hebrew could for a +moment entertain; and Rom. iv. 13 shows that Paul was indeed very far +from doing so. The further development of the promise (which took place +within the limits of Genesis itself, in chap. xlix. 10), as well as its +fulfilment (it is, indeed, with reference to the promise now under +consideration that the lineal descent of Christ from Abraham is +established at the commencement of Matthew's Gospel), showed that the +real cause of the salvation bestowed upon the Gentiles was not the seed +of Abraham as a whole, but one from among them, or rather He, in whom +this whole posterity was comprehended and concentrated. Now, all to +which Paul intends to draw our attention is the fact, that the Lord, +who, when He gave the promise, had already in view its fulfilment which +He had Himself to accomplish, did not unintentionally choose an +expression which, besides the comprehensive meaning which would most +naturally suggest itself to the Patriarchs, admitted also of the more +restricted one which was confirmed by the fulfilment. In the +_Protevangelium_, and in the promise of the Prophet in Deut. xviii., we +have a case quite analogous to this; and in 2 Sam. vii. there is +likewise a case which is, to a certain extent, parallel. + +In two passages out of the five--in chap. xxii. 18 and xxvi. 4--the +Hithpael of the verb [Hebrew: brK] instead of the Niphal is found. We +meet with it also again in the derived passage in Ps. lxxii. 17, where +it is said of the great King to come, "And they shall bless themselves +in Him, all nations shall bless Him." In xxii. 18 and xxvi. 4, we shall +be allowed to translate only thus: "They shall bless themselves in thy +seed." For the Hithpael of [Hebrew: brK] always signifies "to bless +oneself;" and the person from whom the blessing is derived (Isa. lxv. +16; Jer. iv. 2), or whose blessing is desired, is connected with it by +means of the preposition [Hebrew: b]. (Compare Gen. xlviii. 20: "In +thee shall Israel bless, saying, God make thee as Ephraim and as +Manasseh.") From the nature of the case, it is evident that only the +latter can be meant here. This is shown also by the derived passage [Pg +55] in Ps. lxxii. 17, where the words, "they shall bless themselves in +Him," are explained by the subsequent expression, "they shall bless +Him." + +But it is certainly not accidental that the Hithpael is on both sides +inclosed by the Niphal, and that the latter stands not only twice at +the beginning, but also at the end. Hence we are not at liberty to +force upon the Hithpael the signification of the Niphal; but the +passages in which the Hithpael occurs must be supplemented from the +real fundamental passages. "To bless oneself _in_" is the preparatory +step to being "blessed _by_." The acknowledgment of the blessing calls +forth the wish to be a partaker of it. (Compare Isa. xlv. 14, where, in +consequence of the rich blessings poured out upon Israel, the nations +make the request to be received among them.) Oftentimes in the Psalms +utterance is given to the expectation that, through the blessing +resting on the people of God, the Gentiles will be allowed to seek +communion in it. (See my Commentary on Ps. vol. iii. p. lxxvii.) But +especially in Ps. lxxii. does it clearly appear how "blessing oneself +in" is connected with "being blessed by." The very same people who +bless themselves in the glorious King to come, hasten to Him to partake +in the fulness of the blessings which He dispenses. He has dominion +from sea to sea; they that dwell in the wilderness bow before Him; all +kings worship Him; all nations serve Him. + +Several commentators (_Clericus_, _Gesenius_, _de Wette_, _Maurer_, +_Knobel_, and, in substance, _Hofmann_ also) attempt to explain the +fundamental passage by the derived ones, and force upon Niphal the +signification of Hithpael; so that the sense would be only that a great +and, as it were, proverbial happiness and prosperity belonged to +Abraham: "Holding up this name as a pattern, most of the eastern +nations will comprehend all blessings in these or similar words: 'God +bless thee as He blessed Abraham.'" But this explanation is, according +to the _usus loquendi_, incorrect, inasmuch as the Niphal is used only +in the signification "to be blessed," and never means "to bless +oneself," or "to have or find one's blessing in something." To a +difference in the significations of the Niphal and the Hithpael, we are +led also by the circumstance that the Hithpael is connected only with +the seed--"they shall bless themselves in thy seed,"--and the Niphal +only with the person of the Patriarch: [Pg 56] "they shall be blessed +in thee," and "in thee and thy seed." The Patriarchs themselves are the +source of blessing, but, if these nations _blessed themselves_, they +wish for themselves the blessing of their descendants exhibited before +their eyes. The reference in Zech. xiv. 17, 18 to the promise made to +the Patriarchs presupposes the Messianic character, and the passive +signification of [Hebrew: nbrkv]. In like manner, all the quotations of +it in the New Testament rest on the passive signification. It is from +this view of it that the Lord says that Abraham saw His day; that, in +Rom. iv. 13, Paul finds, in this promise, the prophecy of His +conquering the world; and that, in Gal. iii. 14, he speaks of the +blessing of Abraham upon the Gentiles through Christ Jesus. Gal. iii. 8 +and Acts iii. 25 render [Hebrew: nbrkv] by [Greek: eneulogethesontai]. +The explanation, "they shall wish prosperity or happiness to each +other," is destructive of the gradation, so evident in the fundamental +passage,--blessing _for_, _on account of_, and _by_ Abraham; it cannot +account for the constant, solemn repetition of this proclamation which +everywhere appears as the _acme_ of the promises given to the +Patriarch; it destroys the correspondence existing between this +blessing upon all the families of the earth, and the curse which, after +the fall, was inflicted upon the earth; it does away with the contrast, +so clearly marked, between the union of the families of the earth +effected by the blessing, and their dispersion, narrated in chap. xi.; +it demolishes the connection existing between the prophecy of Japheth's +dwelling in the tents of Shem (ix. 27), on the one hand, and the Ruler +proceeding from Judah, to whom shall be the obedience of the nations +(xlix. 10), on the other; and it severs all the necessary connecting +links which unite these prophecies with one another. + +Another attempt to deprive this promise of its Messianic +character--that, namely, made by _Bertholdt_ (_de ortu theol. Vet. +Hebr._ p. 102) and others, who would have us to understand, by the +families and nations of the earth, the Canaanitish nations--does not +require any minute examination, as the weakness of these productions of +rationalistic tendency are so glaringly manifest. + + +Footnote 1: _Herder_ says, in his _Briefe das Studium der Theol._ betr. +ii. S. 278: "If, in Abraham's descendants, all the nations of the earth +were to be blessed, Abraham might and should have conceived of this +blessing in all its generality, so that everything whereby his nation +deserved well of the nations of the earth, was implied in it. If, then, +Christ also belongs to the number of those noble individuals who +deserved so well, the blessing refers to Him, not _indirectly_, but +_directly_; and if Christ be the chief of all this number, it then most +directly, and in preference to all others, refers to Him;--although, in +this germ, Abraham did not distinctly perceive His person, did not, nor +could, except by special revelation, in this bud, so plainly discover +the full growth of His merits." + +Footnote 2: Even in this he was preceded by _Lampe_, who remarks: +"Christ had spoken of seeing the day; the Jews speak about seeing the +person. He had spoken of Abraham's seeing; they speak of Christ's +seeing." + + +[Pg 57] + + + THE BLESSING OF JACOB UPON JUDAH. + (Gen. xlix. 8-10.) + +Ver. 8. "_Judah, thou, thy brethren shall praise thee; thy hand shall +be on the neck of thine enemies; before thee shall bow down the sons of +thy father._ Ver. 9. _A lion's whelp is Judah; from the prey, my son, +thou goest up; he stoopeth down, he coucheth as a lion, and as a +full-grown lion, who shall rouse him up?_ Ver. 10. _The sceptre shall +not depart from Judah, nor lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh +come, and unto Him the people shall adhere._" + +Thus does dying Jacob, in announcing "what shall befall his sons in +the end of the days" (ver. 1), speak to Judah, after having dismissed +those of his sons to whom, in the name of the Lord, he must tell hard +things--things which did not, however, exclude them from the salvation +common to all of them (ver. 28), although their shadow made the light +of Judah shine so much the more brightly.[1] + +In ver. 8 everything depends upon a right determination of the meaning +of the name Judah. Being formed from the Future in Hophal, it +signifies: "He (viz., God) shall be praised." This explanation rests +upon Gen. xxix. 35, where Leah, after the birth of Judah, says, "Now +will I praise the Lord;" and then follow the words: "therefore she +called his name Judah." It rests likewise on the common use of the verb +[Hebrew: idh], the Hiphil of which is, according to _Maurer_, almost +constantly used of "praising God," and is, as it were, set apart and +sanctified for that purpose. After having enumerated a multitude of +passages, _Gesenius_ says, in his _Thesaurus_: "In all these passages +it refers [Pg 58] to the praise of God, and it is only rarely (Gen. +xlix. 8 compared with Job xl. 14) that it refers to the praise of men." +Even these few exceptions are such only in appearance. In Job xl. 14, +he whom God will praise is not an ordinary man, but a _god-man_. By the +subsequent words in Gen. xlix. 8, "Before thee shall bow down," +something divine is ascribed to Judah; we need not therefore be +astonished that, by the word [Hebrew: ivdvK], he is raised above the +merely human standing. They only who do not know the Lion of the tribe +of Judah, have any reason to explain away, by a forced exposition, the +slight allusion to a superhuman dignity of the tribe of Judah. The +greater number of expositors, referring to the subsequent words, "thy +brethren shall praise thee," explain the name by the expression, +"blessed one." But, even though we should retain the sure explanation +which has been given above, the idea now mentioned falls very naturally +in with it. He who, in the fullest sense, is a "God's-praise" +(_Gottlob_), whose very existence becomes the cause of exclaiming, +[Greek: doxa to Theo], praise be to God, will assuredly receive praise +from the brethren.--"Judah thou" stands (according to Gen. xxvii. 36; +Matt. xvi. 18) either for, "Thou art Judah," _i.e._, thou art rightly +called so, or, according to Gen. xxiv. 60, for, "Thou Judah," _i.e._, I +have something particular to tell thee (compare the emphatic "I" in +Gen. xxiv. 27).--On the expression, "Thine hand shall be in the neck of +thine enemies," _i.e._, thou shalt put to flight all thine enemies, and +press them hard while they are fleeing, compare Exod. xxiii. 27, "I +will make all thine enemies (turn their) backs unto thee," and Ps. +xviii. 41, where David says, in the name of his family, in which Judah +centred, as did Israel in Judah, "Thou hast given me mine enemies (to +be) a back." If, however, we inquire how this prophecy was fulfilled, +we must not overlook the circumstance that the subjects of it are +sinful men, and that, for this reason, God could never give up the +right of visiting their iniquity,--a right which has its foundation in +His very nature. Three sentences of condemnation precede the blessing +upon Judah, and this indicates that Judah too will be weighed in the +balance of justice. "The excellency of dignity and the excellency of +power," which, in ver. 3, were taken from Reuben, are here adjudged to +Judah. The circumstance of his being the first-born could not protect +the former against the loss of his privileges; [Pg 59] and just as +little will the divine election deliver Judah from a visitation for his +sins, although, by that election, the total loss of his privileges is +rendered impossible. These two ordinations--the election and the +visitation of sin in the elect--stand by the side of each other; and +the latter could not be stayed, even at the time when Judah had reached +its height in the Lion from out of his tribe; for although the Shepherd +was blameless, yet the flock was not so. The ordination of election is, +however, far from being thereby darkened; it only shines by a brighter +light. Often painful indeed were the defeats which Judah had to +sustain; often enough--as during the centuries which elapsed between +the destruction of David's kingdom and the coming of Christ--was the +promise, "Thy hand shall be in the necks of thine enemies," reversed. +But when we behold Judah ever and anon returning and rising to the +dignity here bestowed upon him,--when the advance then always keeps +equal pace with the preceding depths of humiliation (we need think only +of David's time, and compare it with the period of the Judges),--then +indeed it appears all the more clearly, that the hand of God is ever +active in bringing this promise to a sure and firm fulfilment. In the +history of the world there is only one power--that of Judah--in which, +notwithstanding all defeats, the promise, "Thy hand shall be in the +necks of thine enemies," is ever, after all, fulfilled anew; only one +power, the victorious energy of which may indeed be overcome by sleep, +but never by death; only one power which can speak as does David in the +name of his family in Ps. xviii. 38-40: "I pursue mine enemies and +overtake them, I do not return till they are consumed; I crush them, +and they cannot rise: they fall under my feet. And Thou girdest me with +strength for the war, Thou bowest down those that rise against +me."--Luther remarks on this passage: "These promises must be +understood in spirit and faith. This may be seen from the history of +David, where it often appears as if God had altogether forgotten him, +and what He had promised to him. After he had already been elected, he +was, for ten years, not able to obtain a fixed place, or residence in +the whole kingdom; and when at last he took hold of the reins of +government, he fell into great, grievous, heinous sin, and was sore +vexed when he had to bear the punishment of it. Therefore these two +things--promise and [Pg 60] faith--must always be combined; and it is +necessary that a man who has a divine promise know well the art which +Paul teaches in Rom. iv. 18, to believe in hope even against hope.--The +kingdom of Israel, too, was assailed by so great weakness, and pressed +down by so many burdens, that it appeared as if every moment it would +fall; and this was especially the case when sin, and punishment in +consequence of sin, broke in upon them, as, for instance, after David's +adultery with Bathsheba, and oftentimes besides. Yet, even in all such +temptations, it always remains, on account of the promise."--It must be +carefully observed that the words, "Thy hand shall be in the neck of +thine enemies," are placed between, "Thy brethren shall praise thee," +and "Before thee shall bow down the sons of thy father," and that, +immediately after this, Judah's victorious power against the enemies of +God's people is again pointed out. This teaches us that the exalted +position which Judah, when compared with his brethren, occupies, rests +mainly on this:--that he is their fore-champion in the warfare against +the world, and that God has endowed him with conquering power against +the enemies of His kingdom. The history of David is best calculated to +show and convince us, how closely these two things are connected with +each other. That he was called to verify the truth of the promise given +to Judah, "Thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies," was first +seen in his victory over Goliath the Philistine, fore-champion of the +world's power. After David's word had been fulfilled, "The Lord who +delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the +bear. He will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine," and the +Philistines had fled, seeing that their champion was dead (1 Sam. xvii. +37-51), then also were fulfilled the other words: "Thy brethren shall +praise thee, the sons of thy father shall bow before thee." "And it +came to pass as they came, when David was returned from the slaughter +of the Philistine, that the women came out of all the cities of Israel, +singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with tabrets, with joy, and +with instruments of music. And the women answered one another as +they played, and said, Saul has slain his thousands, and David his +ten thousands."--And in Sam. xviii. 16, it is said: "But all Israel and +Judah _loved_ David, _because_ he went out and came in before +them;"--and in 2 Sam. v. 2, when the ten tribes acknowledged [Pg 61] +David as their king, they said: "Also in time past, when Saul was king +over us, thou wast he that leddest out and broughtest in Israel." David +would never have succeeded in overcoming the jealousy and envy of the +other tribes, unless the promise, "Thy hand shall be in the neck of +thine enemies," had been fulfilled in him.--_Before Judah shall how +down the sons of his father._ I have already remarked, in my commentary +on Rev. xix. 10, that there is very little ground for the common +distinction between religious and civil [Greek: proskunesis] (bowing +down, worship). The true distinction is between that [Greek: +proskunesis] which is given to God, either directly or indirectly, in +those who bear His image, in the representatives of His gifts and +offices,--and that [Greek: proskunesis] which is exacted apart from, +and against God. "The God of Scripture demands to be honoured in those +who bear His image, who hold His offices,--in father and mother and old +men (Lev. xix. 32), in princes (Exod. xxii. 28), in the office of the +judge (Deut. i. 17; Exod. xxi. 6, xxii. 7, 8). It is wicked to refuse +this honour, and its natural expression in the bowing of the body, +under the pretext, that it is due to _God_ alone. It is to be refused +only where there is some danger that, thereby, any independent honour +would be ascribed to the mere vessel of the divine glory." In what the +[Greek: proskunesis] consists, which Judah is to receive from his +brethren, we see distinctly from Isa. xlv. 14, where the heathen, at +the time of the salvation, fall down before Israel: "Thus saith the +Lord, The labour of Egypt and merchandise of Ethiopia, and the Sabeans, +men of stature, shall come over unto thee, and be thine: they shall go +behind thee; in chains they shall walk; _and they shall fall down +before thee, and they shall make supplication unto thee_ (saying). +_Only in thee is God, and there is no God else._" The ground of Judah's +adoration on the part of his brethren is this:--that God's glory is +visibly upon him, that by glorious deeds and victories the seal is +impressed upon him: "with us is God" (_Immanuel_). And this found its +most glorious fulfilment in the Lion of the tribe of Judah, in Christ, +of whom it is said in Phil. ii. 9-11: "Wherefore God has highly exalted +Him, and given Him a name which is above every name; that at the name +of Jesus every knee should bow, of all those who are in heaven, and on +earth, and under the earth; and that every tongue should [Pg 62] +confess that Jesus Christ is the Lord, to the glory of God the Father." +That, in its final accomplishment, this prophecy referred to Christ, +was known to Jacob as certainly as he makes Judah centre in the Shiloh. +This Solomon also knew, when, in Ps. lxxii. 11 (compare Ps. xlv. 12), +he ascribes to his great Antitype what is here ascribed to Judah: "All +kings shall worship Him, and all nations shall serve Him." The +consequence of the worship "by kings and nations" is the worshipping +"by the sons of the father." Jacob thus transfers to Judah that which +Isaac had promised to _him_: "People shall serve thee, and nations +shall worship thee: be lord over thy brethren, and thy mother's sons +shall worship before thee:" Gen. xxvii. 29. + +In ver. 9 Judah is first designated a young lion,--a name which is +intended to indicate, that the victorious power ascribed to Judah +exists, as yet, only in the _germ_. It required that centuries should +pass away before he grew up to be a lion, a full-grown lion. By the +long period which thus intervened between the promise and its +fulfilment, the divine election is the more strikingly manifested. +(Several interpreters have been of opinion that there is no difference +between the young lion, the lion, and the full-grown lion. But it is +shown by Ezek. xix. 3--"And she brought up one of her [Hebrew: gvriM], +and it became a [Hebrew: kpir], and it learnt to tear prey,"--that +[Hebrew: gvr arih] is a young lion not yet able to catch prey.[2]) In +the words, "From the prey, my son, thou art gone up," the _prey_ is the +_terminus a quo_: for [Hebrew: elh] with [Hebrew: mN] is always used of +the place from which it is gone up (see Josh. iv. 17, x. 9; Song of +Sol. iv. 2): the _terminus ad quem_ is the usual abode, as is shown by +what follows. The residence of the conqueror and ruler is conceived of +as being _elevated_. Joseph, according to Gen. xlvi. 31, goes up to +Pharaoh, and in ver. 29 of the same chapter he goes up to meet his +father. The expression "to go up" is commonly used of those who come +from [Pg 63] other countries to Canaan. But the "going up" in the +passage under review implies also the "going down" into the lower +regions to seek for prey, just as in Ps. lxviii. 19, where it is said +of the Lord, after He had fought for His people, and had been +victorious, "Thou hast ascended on high, Thou hast led captivity +captive: Thou hast received gifts for men; yea, for the rebellious +also, that the Lord God might dwell among them." "_To dwell_" means +there, that, after having accomplished all this, thou mayest dwell +gloriously, and be inaccessible to the vengeance of the conquered, in +thy usual place of abode. The sense is the same in the passage before +us. Luther is therefore wrong in explaining it thus: "Thou hast risen +high, my son, by great victories,"--as are others also who translate +it, "From the prey thou growest up." Such a view of this clause would, +moreover, break up the connection, and all that follows would appear +without preparation.[3] + +The words, "He stoopeth down, he croucheth as a lion, and as a +full-grown lion; who shall rouse him up?" contain a transition and +allusion to what we are subsequently told concerning Shiloh. Even here +we are presented with a picture of peace,--a peace, however, which is +not to the prejudice of victorious power, as in the case of Issachar +(vers. 14, 15), but which, on the contrary, preserves it undiminished. +If the promise, "From the prey, my son, thou art gone up," found its +first glorious, although only preliminary, fulfilment in the reign of +David (compare the enumeration of his victories in 2 Sam. viii.), the +words, "He stoopeth down, he coucheth," etc., are the most appropriate +inscription for the portal of Solomon's reign. But, in Christ, the +pre-eminence in the reign both of war and peace is united.--That +[Hebrew: lbia] is not "the lioness," but only the poetical designation +of the lion, appears from just the very passage which is so commonly +adduced in support of the former signification, viz., Job iv. 11; for +the sons of the lion spoken of in that passage are the sons of the +wicked (compare Job xxvii. 14). + +A parallel to the words in ver. 10, "The sceptre shall not depart from +Judah," is formed by the departing of the sceptre from Egypt, in Zech. +x. 11: "And the pride of Assyria shall [Pg 64] be brought down, and the +sceptre of Egypt shall depart away." All dominion of the world over the +people of God is only temporary; and so also, the dominion of the +people of God over the world, as it centres in Judah, can sustain only +a temporary _interruption_: its departure is everywhere in appearance +only; and when it departs, it is only that it may return with enhanced +weight.--The _sceptre_ is the emblem of dominion. The words, "A sceptre +rises out of Israel" (Num. xxiv. 17), are explained in chap. xxiv. 19 +by the words, "_Dominion_ shall come out of Jacob." The question as to +the subjects of this dominion must be determined from the preceding +words; for there shall not depart from Judah what Judah, according to +these words, possesses. Hence they are (1) the brethren of Judah, and +(2) the enemies of Israel. The latter can the less properly be +excluded, because of these alone the whole of the preceding verse +treated. In the words of Balaam, in Num. xxiv. 17 (which refer to the +passage under consideration), "There cometh a star out of Jacob, and a +sceptre riseth out of Israel, and smiteth the territories of Moab, and +destroyeth all the sons of the tumult," there is viewed, in the +sceptre, only the victorious and destructive power which he shall +display in his relation to the _world_; but the subjects of dominion +are, in that passage, according to ver. 19, the heathens also. The +sceptre is pre-eminently an ensign of kings. Hence, to the sceptre and +star out of Israel (Num. xxiv. 17) corresponds, in ver. 7, his _king_: +"And his king shall be higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall be +exalted,"--_i.e._, not merely a single royal person, but the +Israelitish kingdom. But we can here the less legitimately separate +sceptre and kingdom from each other, because, even in the earlier +promises made to the Patriarch, there is the prophecy of the rising of +a kingdom among their descendants,--of a kingdom, too, that shall +extend beyond the boundary of that posterity itself. (Compare Gen. +xvii. 6, "Kings shall come out of thee;" ver. 16, "And she shall become +nations. Icings of nations shall be of her." See also Gen. xxxv. +11.) In vol. ii. of the _Dissertations on the Genuineness of the +Pentateuch_, p. 166 f., we detailed the natural foundations which there +existed for foreseeing the establishment of a kingdom in Israel. It is +evident that the promise which was formally given to the whole +posterity of the Patriarchs, is here appropriated specially to Judah, +who, for [Pg 65] the benefit of the whole people, is to have the +sceptre.[4] From what has been remarked, it appears that the fulfilment +of this prophecy began first with David; up to that time Judah had been +only "a lion's whelp." "In the person of Saul," as Calvin remarks, +"there was an abortive effort; but there came out at length in David, +under the authority and legitimate arrangement of God, the sovereignty +of Judah, according to the prophecy of Jacob." It also appears, from +what has been observed, that _Reinke_, S. 45 of his Monography, _Die +Weissagung Jacobs ueber Schilo_, Muenster 1849 (a work written with great +diligence), is mistaken in determining the sense to be,[5] that Judah +as a tribe would not perish, and his superiority not cease, until out +of him Shiloh, etc.; and that he is wrong, too, in maintaining, S. 133, +that the continuance of the royal dignity, and the superiority over all +the tribes until the time of Christ, were not required by these words. +From the remarks which we have made, even more than that is +required,--the _continuance_, namely, _of Judah's dominion over the +Gentiles_; for otherwise it would be necessary to make a violent +separation of these words from the preceding ones. That which has given +rise to such interpretations and assertions, viz., the apparent +difficulty encountered in pointing out the fulfilment,[6] is by no +means removed by such an explanation. For, if we look to the surface +only, what had been left of the superiority of the tribe of Judah, at +the time when Christ appeared? But if we look deeper, we shall find no +reason for such feeble interpretations. The fulness of strength which, +notwithstanding the deepest humiliation, still dwelt in the sceptre of +Judah at the time when Christ appeared, is made manifest by the very +appearance of Christ--the Lion of the tribe of Judah. Although +faint-heartedness, perceiving only what is immediately before the eyes, +might have said, "The sceptre has departed from [Pg 66] Judah," to +every one who was not blinded it must have been evident, at the very +moment when Christ appeared, that the sceptre had not departed from +Judah. We must not allow ourselves to be perplexed by any events and +arguments adduced to prove that the sceptre _has departed_ from Judah; +for the very same events and arguments would militate against the +eternal dominion of his house which had been promised to David, and +would therefore make us doubtful of that also. All these events and +arguments lose their significancy, when we remark, that this departing +is only an _apparent_, not a _definitive_ one;--that God never, by His +promises, binds the hands of His punitive justice;--that His election +goes always hand-in-hand with the visitation of the sins of the +elected; but that, in the end, the election will stand in all its +validity.[7] To Judah applies exactly what in Ps. lxxxix. 31-35 is said +of David: "If his children forsake My law, and walk not in My +judgments; if they break My statutes, and keep not My commandments; +then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity +with stripes. Nevertheless, My loving-kindness will I not utterly take +from him, nor suffer My faithfulness to fail. My covenant will I not +break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of My lips." But the +greater the degradation that had come upon Judah, the more consoling is +this promise. If we see that neither the decline of David's and Judah's +dominion after Solomon, nor the apparently total disappearance of +David's kingdom which took place after the Chaldee catastrophe, and +continued for centuries; nor the altogether comfortless condition (when +[Pg 67] looking only at what Is visible) which Jeremiah describes in +the words: "Judah is captive in affliction and great servitude: she +dwelleth among the heathen, and findeth no rest. The anointed of the +Lord, who was our consolation, is taken in their pits, he of whom we +said, Under his shadow we shall live among the heathen. Slaves are +ruling over us, and there is none to deliver us from their hand;"--if +we see that all these things did not prevent the fulfilment of the +words, "The sceptre shall not depart from Judah until Shiloh +come;"--that, notwithstanding all these things, it most gloriously +manifested itself in the appearance of Christ, that the dominion +remained still with Judah;--why should we be dismayed though the river +of the kingdom of God should sometimes lose itself in the sand? Why +should we not be firmly confident that in due time it shall spring +forth again with its clear and powerful waters?--But the _Jews_ are not +benefited by this distinction betwixt the _definitive_ departing of the +sceptre, and one which is merely _temporary_. The latter must +necessarily be distinguished from the former by this:--that even in the +times of abasement, there must be single symptoms which still indicate +the continuance of the sceptre; and this was evidently the case in the +times before Christ. In Jehoshaphat, Uzziah, and Hezekiah, the sceptre +of Judah brought forth new leaves; after their return from the +captivity, the place, at least, was pointed out by Zerubbabel, which +the Davidic kingdom would, at some future period, again occupy. The +victories of the times of the Maccabees, though they themselves were +not of the tribe of Judah, served to manifest clearly that the lion's +strength and the lion's courage had not yet departed from Judah. It is +not without significance that _Judas Maccabeus_ had his name thus. And +under all these events the family of David always remained distinct, +and capable of being traced out. But nothing of all this is to be found +with the Jews during the 1800 years after Christ; and hence the vanity +of their hope that, in some future time, it will be made evident by the +appearance of Shiloh, that the supremacy and dominion of Judah are not +lost. + +Along with the _sceptre_ which shall not depart from Judah, the +_lawgiver_ is mentioned, for whom many would, quite arbitrarily, +substitute the _commander's staff_. Is. xxxiii. 22 is explanatory of +this passage; "For the Lord our Judge, the [Pg 68] Lord our Lawgiver, +the Lord our King, He will save us"--where the _lawgiver_ is put on a +level with the _judge_ and _king_. Gesenius translates it by: our +_commander_. + +The lawgiver shall not depart "from between his feet." This is a +poetical expression for "from him." He is, as it were, to have the +lawgiver wherever he moves or stands. Explanatory of this is the +passage in Judges v. 27, where, in the Song of Deborah, it is said of +Jael, "He bowed between her feet, he fell, he lay down." That which any +one has between his feet, is accordingly his territory on which he +moves, that within his reach. In the latter passage the prose +expression would have been, "beside her," and in the passage under +consideration, "from him."[8] + +Sceptre and lawgiver shall not depart from Judah until Shiloh come. +Here everything depends upon fixing the derivation and signification of +this word. There cannot be any doubt, and, indeed, it is now almost +universally admitted, that it is derived from [Hebrew: wlh], "to rest." +In the first edition of this work, the author gave it as his opinion, +that its formation was analogous to that of [Hebrew: kidvr], "tumult of +war," from [Hebrew: kdr], "to be troubled," [Hebrew: qiTr], "smoke," +from [Hebrew: qTr], [Hebrew: wlH] from [Hebrew: wlH]; and many +(_Hofmann_, _Kurtz_, _Reinke_) have stedfastly maintained this opinion +even until now. But the author must confess that the objections raised +against this derivation by _Tuch_ are well-founded. "In the first +place," _Tuch_ remarks, "it is well known that forms like [Hebrew: +qiTr] do not constitute any special class in the etymology, but have +originated from _Piel_ forms (_Ewald_, Lehrb. d. Hebr. Spr. Sec. 156 b), +as is very clearly shown by [Hebrew: qimvw], being found by the side of +[Hebrew: qmvw]. But the _o_ in the final syllable of these words is not +an _o_ unchangeable, according to the rules of etymology, and could, +therefore, not remain in a root [Hebrew: lh]; _and there is not found, +in general, any form of a root_ [Hebrew: lh] _analogous to_ [Hebrew: +qiTr]." But far more decisive is another reason. "The _nomina Gentilia_ +[Hebrew: gilni] (2 Sam. xv. 12), [Hebrew: wilni] (1 Kings [Pg 69] xi. +29, xii. 15), lead us from the supposed form to the substantive +termination [Hebrew: -vN] which a _liquida_ may drop, and express the +remaining vowel [Hebrew: v] by [Hebrew: h]." (Compare _Ewald_, Sec. 163.) +Now that _Shiloh_ is an abbreviation of _Shilon_ is proved, not only by +the _nomen gentile_, but also by the fact, that the ruins of the town +which received its name from the Shiloh in our passage, are, up to the +present moment, called _Seilun_, and that Josephus writes _Silo_ as +well as _Silun_, [Greek: Siloun] (compare _Robinson_, Travels iii. 1, +p. 305); and, _finally_, by the analogy of the name [Hebrew: wlmh], +which is formed after the manner of [Hebrew: wilh], and likewise +shortened from [Hebrew: wlmvN]. We must confess that _Tuch_ is right +also when he asserts: "That it is quite impossible to give the word the +signification of an appellative noun, since it is only in proper names, +in which the signification of the suffix of derivation is of less +consequence, that _on_ is shortened into _o_." The only exception is +that of [Hebrew: abdh], "hell," in Prov. xxvii. 20; but even this is +only an _apparent_ exception, and is quite in accordance with the rule +laid down, inasmuch as "hell" is, in this passage, personified,--as is +frequently the case in other passages. (Compare Rev. ix. 11.) But this +case very plainly shows that we are not at liberty to apply, as _Tuch_ +does, the measure of our proper names to those of Scripture, which are +used in a more comprehensive sense. The Samaritan translation is, +therefore, right in retaining the "Shiloh." As the passage under review +is the first in which the person of the Redeemer meets us, so Shiloh is +also the first _name_ of the Redeemer,--a name expressive of His +nature, and quite in correspondence with the names in Is. ix. 5, and +with the name Immanuel in Is. vii. 14. With respect to the +_signification_ of the name, the termination _on_, according to +_Ewald_, Sec. 163, forms adjectives and abstract nouns. The analogy of the +name [Hebrew: wlmh], which is formed after the manner of [Hebrew: +wilh], indicates that it has here _an adjective_ signification, and, +like Solomon, Shiloh denotes "the man of rest," corresponds to the +"Prince of Peace" in Is. ix. 5, and, viewed in its character of a +proper name, is like the German "_Friedrich_" = Frederick, _i.e._, +"rich in peace," "the Peaceful one." + +To Shiloh the nations shall adhere. The word [Hebrew: iqhh] is commonly +understood as meaning "obedience."[9] But it does not [Pg 70] denote +every kind of obedience, but only that which is spontaneous, and has +its root in piety. This is clearly shown by the only passage in which, +besides the one under consideration, the word [Hebrew: iqhh] is found, +Prov. xxx. 17: "An eye that mocketh at his father, and despises the +[Hebrew: iqhh] of his mother."[10] To this view we are led also by the +Arabic, where the word [Arabic: **], does not denote obedience in +general, but willing obedience, docility, in the viii. sq. [Hebrew: l] +_dicto audientem se praebuit more discipuli_. (Compare _Camus_ in +_Schulten_, on Prov. l. c.) Cognate is [Arabic: **], "to take care," +"to guard oneself," specially of the conflict with the higher powers of +life, in the viii. _semet custodivit ah aliqua re, et absolute timuit +coluitque Deum, pius fuit._ From it is derived [Hebrew: iqh] _pius_ in +Prov. xxx. 1, where the son of Jakeh speaks to "With me is God, and I +prevail" (_Heb._ Itheal and Ucal.) + +Luther, although he has misunderstood the right meaning of Shiloh, has +yet beautifully comprehended the sense of the whole passage. "This is a +golden text," he says, "and well worthy of remembrance, namely: that +the kingdom of Christ will not be such a kingdom as that of David was, +of whom it is said, 1 Chron. xxviii. 3, that he was a man of war and +had shed much blood. The kingdom of Shiloh, which succeeded it, is not +a kingdom so powerful and bloody, but consists in this,--that the word, +by which it is ruled or administered, is heard, believed, and obeyed. +All will be done by means of preaching; and this will just be the sign +by which the kingdom of Christ is distinguished from the other kingdoms +of this world, which are governed by the sword and by physical power." +To this point also Luther draws attention, that our prophecy affords a +powerful support to the ministers of the Word: "It will be done by the +proclamation of the promise, and Shiloh will be [Pg 71] present with +it, and will be efficient and powerful through our tongue and mouth." + +That by the _nations_ are not meant either the Canaanites in +particular, or the tribes of Israel, but the nations in general, +appears, partly, from the connection with what precedes--those who now +willingly obey are evidently the enemies spoken of in vers. 8, 9,--and, +partly, from the reference to the earlier promises of Genesis, all of +which refer to nations in general. If a limitation had been intended, +an express indication of it would have been necessary. The analogy of +the parallel Messianic passages likewise militates against such a +limitation; _e.g._, Ps. lxxii. 8: "He shall have dominion from sea to +sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth." (Compare also Is. +xi. 10.) + +In the Shiloh, the whole dignity of Judah as Lord and Ruler is to be +concentrated. It hence follows, that the nations who will not willingly +obey Him as Shiloh, must experience the destructive power of His +sceptre (Num. xxiv. 17; Ps. ii. 9), and that behind the attractive +kingdom of peace, there is concealed the destructive dominion of the +lion. + +Several interpreters have determined the sense as follows:--The +dominion of Judah should continue until the appearing of Shiloh; but +that then he should lose it.[11] We, on the contrary, conceive the +sense to be this: "That the tribe of Judah should not lose the dominion +until he attain to its highest realization by Shiloh, who should be +descended from him, and to whom all the nations of the earth should +render obedience." + +Against this interpretation no difficulty can be raised from the +[Hebrew: ed ki]. It is true that this term has always a reference to +the _terminus ad quem_ only, and includes it; but it is as certain +that, very frequently, a _terminus ad quem_ is mentioned which is not +intended to be the last, but only one of special importance; so that +what lies beyond it is lost sight of. (Compare the author's _Dissert. +on the Genuin. of Daniel_, pp. 55-56.) If [Pg 72] only sceptre and +lawgiver were secured to Judah up to the time of Shiloh's coming, then, +as a matter of course, they were so afterwards. That, previous to the +coming of Shiloh, great dangers would threaten the sceptre of Judah, is +indicated by Jacob, since he lays so much stress upon the sceptre's not +departing until that time. _Hence we expect circumstances that will +almost amount to a departing of the sceptre._ + +But the positive reason for this interpretation is, that if, according +to the other opinion, Judah were told that the dominion of his tribe +were, at some future period, to cease, this would not be in harmony +with the tone of the remainder of the address to Judah, which is +altogether of a cheerful character. And _then_,--Jacob would, in +that case, not have allowed the Messianic promise to remain in +its indefinite state; from former analogies, we should have been +induced to expect that he would transfer it to one of his sons. And +_finally_,--from the analogy of the other Messianic prophecies, as well +as from history, it seems not to be admissible to contrast the dominion +of Judah with the kingdom of the Messiah. The dominion of Judah does +not by any means _terminate_ in Christ; it rather _centres_ in Him. + +We are not expressly told that the Shiloh will be descended from Judah; +but this is supposed to be self-evident, and is not, therefore, +expressly mentioned. If it were otherwise, the Shiloh would not have +been alluded to in connection with Judah at all. A restriction of the +promise to Judah, such as would take place if the Shiloh did not belong +to him, is the less legitimate, inasmuch as, in vers. 8, 9, victory and +dominion, without any limitation, are promised to Judah. + +Having thus adduced the positive arguments in support of our view of +this passage, let us now further examine the opinions of those who +differ from us. Here, then, we must first of all consider those which +are at one with us in the acknowledgment that this passage contains the +promise of a personal Messiah. + +1. Some interpreters (_Jonathan_, _Luther_, _Calvin_, _Knapp_, _Dogm._) +are of opinion that [Hebrew: wilh] is compounded of the noun [Hebrew: +wil], "child," and the suffix of the third person: "Until his (_i.e._, +Judah's) son or descendant, the Messiah, shall come." (Luther, somewhat +differently.) But this supposed signification of [Hebrew: wil] [Pg 73] +is destitute of any tenable foundation. That by such an explanation, +moreover, there is a dissolution of the connection betwixt the Shiloh +in this passage, and Shiloh the name of a place, which is written in +precisely the same manner, is decisive against both the view just given +forth and that which follows. + +2. Others (the last of them. _Sack_ in the second edition of his +_Apolog._) suppose the word to be erroneously pointed. They propose to +read [Hebrew: wlh], compounded of [Hebrew: w] for [Hebrew: awr], and +the suffix [Hebrew: h] for [Hebrew: v]. They suppose the language to be +elliptical: "Until He come to whom the dominion or sceptre belongs, or +is due." The principal argument in support of this exposition is, that +most of the ancient translators seem to have followed this punctuation. +It is true that this is doubtful as regards _Onkelos_ and the _Targum_ +of Jerusalem, which translate, "_Donec veniat Messias, cujus est +regnum_;" for we may well suppose that here [Hebrew: wilh] is simply +rendered by [Hebrew: mwiHa], while the following clause adds a +complement from Ezek. xxi. 32, which is founded upon the passage now +under review. But it is certain that the LXX. supposed the punctuation +to be [Hebrew: wlh]. They translate: [Greek: heos an elthe ta +apokeimena auto.] (Thus read the two oldest manuscripts--the Vatican +and Alexandrian. The other reading, [Greek: ho apokeitai], has no doubt +crept in from the later Greek translations, notwithstanding the charge +which _Justinus_ [_Dial. c. Tryph._ Sec. 120] raises against the Jews, +that they had substituted the [Greek: ta apokeimena auto] for the +earlier [Greek: ho apokeitai]. Comp. _Stroth_ in _Eichhorn's_ Repert. +ii. 95; _Hohne's_ edition of the LXX.) _Aquila_ and _Symmachus_, who +translate, [Greek: ho apokeitai], as well as the Syriac and Saadias, +who translate, _Ille cujus est_, follow the same reading. But the +defenders of this exposition are wrong in inferring, from the +circumstance of the ancient translations having followed this +punctuation, that it was generally received. Had such been the case, +how could it be explained that it should no more be found in any of our +manuscripts? For the circumstance that forty manuscripts collected by +_de Rossi_ have [Hebrew: wlh] written without a [Hebrew: i], cannot be +considered as of great weight; since it is merely a defective way of +writing, occurring frequently in similar words. But if we consider the +fact, which may be established upon historical grounds, that the Jews +watched with most anxious care the uncorrupted preservation of the +received [Pg 74] text of Holy Scripture, according to its consonants +and pronunciation; that they did not even venture to receive into the +text any emendation, though it should have recommended itself as in the +highest degree probable; while, on the other hand, the ancient Jewish +and Christian translators took great liberties in this respect, and, in +the manifold perplexities into which, owing to their insufficient +resources and knowledge, they fell, helped themselves as best they +could;--it will certainly appear to us most probable, that even the +ancient translators found our vocalization of the word as the received +one, but felt themselves obliged to depart from it, because they could, +in accordance with it, give no suitable derivation; whilst the +punctuation adopted by them agreed perfectly with the traditional +reference of the passage to the Messiah. But if this be the case, the +authority of the ancient translations can here be of no greater weight +than that of any modern interpreter; and, in the case under review, we +are at liberty to urge all those considerations which are, in general, +advanced against any change in the vocalization, unless there be most +urgent reasons for it. The ancient translators, moreover, can have +less weight with us, because we can distinctly perceive that a +misapprehension of Ezek. xxi. 32 (27)--on which passage we shall +afterwards comment--gave rise to their error. Against this explanation +it may be further urged, not only that the [Hebrew: w] _prefix_ occurs +nowhere else in the Pentateuch--an objection which is not in itself +sufficient, since it occurs so early as in the song of Deborah, Judges +v. 7--but also, that the supposed ellipsis would be exceedingly hard. +(Compare _Stange_, _Theol. Symm._ i. S. 238 ff.) + +Before we pass on to a consideration of the non-Messianic +interpretation, we shall first state the reasons which bear us out in +assuming that the passage under review contains a prophecy of a +personal Messiah. + +It is certainly, with respect to this, a matter of no slight importance +that, with a rare agreement, exegetical tradition finds a promise to +this effect here expressed; and this circumstance has a significance so +much the greater, the less that this agreement extends to the +interpretation of the particulars, especially as regards the Shiloh. +How manifold soever these differences may be, _all antiquity agrees in +interpreting this passage of a personal Messiah_; and we could scarcely +conceive of such an agreement, [Pg 75] unless there had been some +objective foundation for it. As regards, first, the exegetical +tradition of the Jews,--how far soever we may follow it, it finds, in +ver. 10, the Messiah. Thus the LXX. explained it; for, that by "what is +destined to Judah" ([Greek: heos an elthe ta apokeimena auto]) they +understood nothing else than the sending of the Messiah, is shown by +the words following--[Greek: kai autos prosdokia ethnon],--which can +refer only to the Messiah. (Compare Is. xlii. 4 according to the LXX.) +In the same manner the passage was understood by _Aquila_, the Chaldee +Paraphrasts, the _Targum_ of _Onkelos_, of _Jonathan_, and of +_Jerusalem_, the _Talmud_, the _Sohar_, and the ancient book of +_Breshith Rabba_. Several even of the modern commentators, _e.g._, +_Jarchi_, have retained this explanation, although a strong doctrinal +interest, to which others yielded, tempted them to give another +interpretation to this passage, which occupied so prominent a place in +the polemics of the Christians. (Compare the passage in _Raim. Martini +Pug. Fid._ ed. _Carpzov_; _Jac. Alting's_ Shiloh, Franc. 1660, 4to +[also in the opp. t. v.]; _Schoettgen_, _hor. Hebr._ ii. p. 146; and, +most completely, in "_Jac. Patriarch. de Schiloh vatic. a depravatione +Clerici assertum_, op. _Seb. Edzardi_, Londini 1698, p. 103 sq.") The +Samaritans, too, understood the passage as referring to the Messiah. +(Compare _Samarit. Briefwechsel_, communicated by _Schnurrer_ in +_Eichhorn's Repert._ ix. S. 27.) It is true that from other passages +("_Epist. Samarit. ad Jobum Ludolfum_," in _Eichhorn's Repert._ +xiii. S. 281-9, compared with _de Sacy_ "_de Vers. Samarit. Arab. +Pentateuchi_ in _Eichhorn's Biblioth._" x. S. 54) it appears that, in +accordance with their doctrine of a double Messiah--one who had already +appeared, and one who was still to come--they referred our passage, +partly to the former, and denied its reference to the real Messiah. But +this is of no importance. For, as Gesenius also has remarked (_Carmina +Samaritana_, p. 75), the doctrine of a double Messiah is of recent +origin with the Samaritans as well as with the Jews; and hence, it is +very probable that the reference to the real Messiah was, formerly, the +generally prevailing one, which was, even afterwards, to a large extent +retained, as is shown by the passage first quoted.--_Finally_, In the +Christian Church the Messianic interpretation has been the prevailing +one ever since the earliest times. We find it as early as _Justin +Martyr_. [Pg 76] The Greek and Latin Fathers agree in it. (Compare the +statements in _Reinke_.) Even _Grotius_ could not but admit that this +passage referred to the Messiah; and _Clericus_ stands quite alone +and isolated, in his time, as an objector against the Messianic +interpretation of it. + +But even in the Canon itself, this passage is understood of a personal +Messiah. David, Solomon, Isaiah, Ezekiel, look upon it in this light. +(Concerning this point, compare the inquiries in the subsequent +portions of this work.) + +The entire relation of the Pentateuch to the succeeding sacred +literature, and the circumstance that the former constitutes the +foundation of the latter, and contains, in the germ, all that is +afterwards more fully developed, entitle us to expect, that the +Messianic idea has also found its expression in those books. The more +prominent the place occupied, in the later books, by the announcement +of a personal Messiah, the more unlikely it will be to him who has +acquired right fundamental views regarding the Pentateuch, to conceive +that this announcement should be wanting in it--the announcement, +especially, of the Messiah in His kingly office; for it is this office +of the Messiah which, in the Old Testament, generally takes a prominent +place, and is, before all others, represented in the subsequent books. +But there cannot be any doubt, that the promise of a personal Messiah +in His kingly office, if it be found in the Old Testament at all, must +exist in the passage which we are now considering. + +The promises which first were given to Jacob's parents, and thereafter +transferred to him, included two things:--_first_, a numerous progeny, +and the possession of Canaan for them;--and _secondly_, the blessing +which, through them, was to come upon all nations. How, then, could it +be expected that Jacob, in transferring these blessings to his sons, +and while in spirit seeing them already in possession of the promised +land, and describing the places of abode which they would occupy, and +what should befall them, should have entirely lost sight of the second +object, which was much the more important, and as often repeated? Is it +not, on the contrary, probable that, as formerly, from among the sons +of Abraham and Isaac, so now, from among the sons of Jacob, _he_ should +be pointed out who should, according to the will of God, become the +depositary of this [Pg 77] promise, which was acquiring more and more +of a definite shape? The contrary of this we can the less imagine, +because, according to ver. 2, Jacob is to tell his sons that which +shall befall them "at the end of the days." The expression, "the end of +the days," is always used of that only which lies at the end of the +course which is seen by the speaker. (Compare my work on Balaam,[12] p. +465 f.) Accordingly, it indicates, in this passage, that Jacob's +announcement must comprehend the whole of the future sphere which +was accessible to him. But if we do not admit the reference, in +this passage, to the Messiah, then a whole territory of future +time, notoriously accessible to Jacob, is left untouched by his +announcement.--From the beginning of Genesis, we find the expectation +of an universal salvation; and at every new separation, the depositary +of this salvation, and its mediator for the whole remaining world, are +regularly pointed out. At first, salvation is promised to the whole +human race, then to the family of Shem, then to Abraham, then to Isaac, +then to Jacob. "Now that the patriarchal _trias_, since Jacob, has +extended into a _dodekas_ forming the historical transition from the +family of the promise to the nation of the promise, the question +arises, from which of the twelve tribes salvation, _i.e._, the victory +of mankind, and the blessing of the nations, is to come." (_Delitzsch_, +_Prophetische Theologie_, S. 293.) Should Genesis become to such a +degree inconsistent with itself as not to answer a question which +itself has called forth? But that answer is contained in the passage +under consideration, only if Shiloh be taken for the personal name of +the Redeemer. Unless we have recourse to artificial explanations, the +announcement of Judah's being the bearer of salvation is to be found in +our passage, only when, at the same time, the first indication of the +person of the Messiah is perceived in it. + +If the reference of the passage to a personal Messiah be explained +away, we should certainly be at a loss to discover where the +fundamental prophecy of such an one could possibly be found. We should +then, in the first place, be thrown upon the Messianic Psalms, +especially Ps. ii. and cx. But as it is the office of prophecy only to +introduce to the knowledge of the congregation [Pg 78] truths +absolutely new, it would subvert the whole relation of psalm-poetry to +prophecy, if in these psalms we were to seek for the origin of the +expectations of a personal Messiah. These psalms become intelligible, +only if in Shiloh we recognise the first name of the Messiah. The +passage in question, in combination with the prophetical announcement +of the eternal dominion of the house of David, afforded the complete +objective foundation for the subjective poetry of the Psalms. The +eternity of dominion here promised to Judah was, as we learn from 2 +Sam. vii., transferred to David. The exalted person in whom, according +to our passage, the dominion of Judah was to culminate, must then +necessarily belong to the house of David. _Further_,--If the passage +under review be understood of the Messiah, we have an excellent +fountainhead for all the prophecies of a personal Messiah; in its +significant, enigmatical, and expressive brevity, it is most suitable +for such a purpose. But if its reference to the Messiah be explained +away, we are deprived altogether of a suitable starting-point. In the +Davidic psalms, the Messianic prophecy already more strongly resembles +a stream than a fountain. + +So great is the weight of these reasons for the Messianic +interpretation, that we might reasonably have expected that such +expositors at least as stand on the ground of positive Christianity +should abandon it only from overwhelming reasons, or, at least, +from such only as are in the highest degree probable. But in this +expectation we have been disappointed. The most superficial objections +have been considered sufficient by _Hofmann_, _Kurtz_, and others, to +induce them to disregard the consensus of the whole Christian Church. +We cannot, indeed, but be astonished at this. + +_Kurtz_, following the example of _Hofmann_, says: "The organic +progress of prophecy, and its correlative connection with history, +which must be maintained in all its stages, forbid us, most decidedly, +to assign to the expectation of a personal Messiah, a period so early +as that of the Patriarchs. The clearly expressed aim of the whole +history of this period is the expansion into a great nation; its whole +tendency is directed towards the growth of the multiplicity of a people +from the unity of the Patriarchs. As long as the subject of the history +was the increase into a nation, the idea of a single personal Saviour +[Pg 79] could not, by any means, take root. Such could occur only after +they had actually expanded into a great nation in history, and the +necessity had been felt of concentrating the multiplicity of the +expanded, into the unity of a single, individual, _i.e._, after one had +appeared as the deliverer and saviour, as the leader and ruler of the +whole nation. It is therefore only after Moses, Joshua, and David, that +the expectation of a personal Messiah could arise."--Do you mean to +teach God wisdom? we might ask, in answer to such argumentation. To +chain prophecy to history in such a manner, is in reality nothing short +of destroying it. How much soever people may choose to varnish it, this +is but another form of Naturalism, against the influence of which no +one is secure, because it is in the atmosphere of our day. Men who +occupy a ground of argumentation so narrow-minded and trifling,--who +would rather shape history than heartily surrender themselves to it, +and find out, meditate upon, and follow the footsteps of God in +it,--will be compelled to erase even the promise in Gen. xii. 3, "In +thee all the families of the earth shall be blessed," yea, even the +words, "I will make of thee a great nation," with which the promise +begins; for even _that_ violates the natural order. But the historical +point of connection for the announcement of a personal Messiah, which +here at once, like a flash of lightning, illuminates the darkness, is +not at all wanting to such a degree as is commonly asserted. On the +contrary, if the blessing upon the heathen be allowed to stand, the +expectation of a personal Saviour must necessarily arise from a +consideration of the known events of history, and meet the immediate +revelation of such an one by God. The whole history of the time of the +Patriarchs bears a _biographical_ character. Single individuals are, in +it, the depositaries of the divine promises, the channels of the divine +life. All the blessings of salvation which the congregation possessed +at the time when Jacob's blessing was uttered, had come to them through +single individuals. Why, then, should the highest Salvation come to +them in any other way? Why should not Abraham be as fit a type of the +Messiah as Moses, Joshua, and David,--Abraham, of whom God, in Gen. xx. +7, says to Abimelech, the heathen king, "Now therefore restore the man +his wife, for he is a prophet; and if he prays for thee, thou shalt +live?" Or why not Joseph, who, according to Gen. xlvii. 12, "nourished +[Pg 80] his father and his brethren, and all his father's household," +and whom the grateful Egyptians called "the Saviour of the World?" + +Just as untenable is a second argument against the Messianic +explanation,--namely, that there is no parallelism between the two +clauses, "until Shiloh comes," "and to Him shall be the obedience of +the nations," but only a pure progress of thought. The laws of +parallelism are not iron fetters; and, moreover, the parallelism in +substance fully exists here, if only it be acknowledged that [Hebrew: +iqhh] does not signify any kind of obedience, but only a willing +surrender. The words, "until Shiloh comes, and to Him shall be the +obedience of the nations," are identical in meaning with, "until He +cometh, who bringeth rest, and whom the nations shall willingly obey." +The second member thus serves to explain the first; the sense would be +substantially preserved although one of the members were wanting. The +parallelism is slightly concealed only by the circumstance that the +words run, "to Him the obedience of the nations,"--instead of, "He to +whom shall be the obedience of the nations." + +Let us now take a survey of the principal non-Messianic +interpretations. A suspicion as to their having any foundation at all +in the subject itself must surely be raised by their variety and +multiplicity, as well as by the circumstance, that they who object to +the Messianic explanation can never, in any way, succeed in uniting +with each other, but that, with them, one interpretation is sure to be +overthrown by another. Such is, in every case, a sure indication of +error. + +Moreover, it is possible, in every case, to trace out some interest, +apart from the merits of the question, which has led to the objections +against the Messianic interpretation. With the Jews, it was because +they were driven to a strait by the argumentation of the Christians, +that the Messiah must long ago have come, since sceptre and lawgiver +had long ago departed from Judah. The rationalistic interpreters have +evidently been determined by their antipathy to any Messianic +prophecies in the Old Testament. _Hofmann_ and his followers do not in +the least conceal that they are guided by their principle of a +concatenation of prophecy with history. + +The opinion, according to which it is maintained that Shiloh is the +name of the well-known locality in Ephraim, has found not a few +defenders. Among these, several, and last of all [Pg 81] _Bleek_, in +the _Observ._; _Hitzig_, on Ps. li. 2; _Diestel_, "der Segen Jacobs," +translate: "Until he or they come to Shiloh." The sense is thus +supposed to be: "Judah will be the leader of the tribes, in the journey +to Canaan, until they come to Shiloh." There, in consequence of the +tribes being dispersed to the boundaries assigned to them, he would +then lose his leadership.[13] But such an explanation is, in every +point of view, inadmissible. It is very probable that the town Shiloh +did not exist at all, under this name, at the time of Jacob. The name +nowhere occurs in the Pentateuch; and the Book of Joshua (as we shall +show at a subsequent time) contains traces, far from indistinct, that +it arose only after the occupation of the land by the Israelites. But +even supposing that the town of Shiloh already existed tit the time of +Jacob, yet the abrupt mention of a place so little known would +be something strange and unaccountable. It would be out of the +range of Jacob's visions, which nowhere regard mere details, but +have everywhere for their object only the future in its general +outlines. _Further_,--The temporary limitation thus put to the +superiority of Judah would be in glaring contradiction to vers. 8 and +9, where Judah is exalted to be the Lion of God without any limitation +as to time. And, _finally_,--Up to the time of their arrival in Shiloh, +Judah was never in possession of the sceptre and lawgiver;--and this +reason would alone be sufficient to overthrow the opinion which we are +now combating. We have already proved that, by these terms, royal power +and dominion are designated, and that, for this reason, the _beginning_ +of the fulfilment cannot be sought for in any period previous to the +time of David. But even if we were to come down to the mere +_leadership_ of Judah, we could demonstrate that even this did not +belong to him. His marching in front of the others cannot, even in the +remotest degree, be considered as a leadership. Moses, who belonged to +another tribe, had been solemnly called by God to the chief command. +Nor was Joshua [Pg 82] of the tribe of Judah. In him, on the contrary, +there appeared the germ of Ephraim's superiority, which continued +through the whole period of the Judges, and which came to an end only +by David's having been raised to the royal dignity. (Compare my +commentary on Ps. lxxviii.) + +Others (_Tuch_, _Maurer_) give the explanation: "As long as they come +to Shiloh." This, according to them, the "poet" meant to be identical +with: "in all eternity." They think that his (the "poet's") meaning +was, that the holy tabernacle, which at his time (_Tuch_ assigns the +composition of Jacob's blessing to the period of Samuel) was at Shiloh, +would remain there to all eternity. To this exposition it would +be alone sufficient to object that, according to it, the phrase +[Hebrew: ed ki], which uniformly means only "until," is taken in the +signification "as long as." _Further_,--History plainly enough shows +how little the sanctuary was considered to be bound to Shiloh; to which +place it had been brought, not in consequence of an express divine +declaration, but only in accordance with Joshua's own views. When the +ark of the covenant was carried away by the Philistines, this was +considered as an express declaration of God, that He would no longer +dwell in Shiloh. How different was the case as regards Jerusalem! +Notwithstanding the destruction by the Chaldees, the city continued to +be the seat of the sanctuary. _Further_,--This view implies a strange +blending of gross error--viz., the supposition that the sanctuary +would remain for ever in Shiloh--and of true prophecy, viz., the +announcement, uttered at the time of Ephraim's leadership, of the +dominion of the tribe of Judah, which was first realized in David's +royalty. The only ground in support of the Ephraimitic Shiloh--the +fact, namely, that Shiloh, wherever else it occurs in the Old +Testament, always signifies the name of the place--we hope to +invalidate by and by; when it will be seen that the town received its +name only on the ground of the passage now under consideration. + +Other opponents of the Messianic interpretation take Shiloh as a _nomen +appellativum_, in the signification of _rest_. They translate either, +"Until rest cometh and people obey him" (thus _Vater_, _Gesenius_, +_Knobel_), or, "Until he comes (or, they come) to rest" (thus +_Hofmann_, _Kurtz_, and others). By "rest," they understand either the +political rest enjoyed under David and Solomon, or they find here +expressed the idea of eternal rest in [Pg 83] the expected Messianic +time. Thus do _Gesenius_, _Hofmann_, and _Kurtz_ understand it. The +last-named determines the sense thus: "Judah shall remain in the +uninterrupted possession of a princely position among his brethren, +until through warfare and by victory he shall have realized the aim, +object, and consummation of his sovereignty in the attained enjoyment +of happy rest and undisturbed peace, and in the willing and joyful +obedience of the nations." But this explanation is to be suspected, +simply from the circumstance, that, in whatever other place Shiloh +occurs, it is used as a _nomen proprium_; while it is entirely +overthrown by the circumstance, that, according to its form, as already +deduced, Shiloh can be nothing else than a _nomen proprium_.[14] We +here only remark, by way of anticipation, that David, Solomon, Isaiah, +and Ezekiel bear testimony against this explanation. An interpretation +which dissevers the connection betwixt Shiloh and Shiloh, betwixt +Shiloh and Solomon, betwixt Shiloh and the Prince of Peace, betwixt +Shiloh and Him "whose is the judgment," must be, thereby, +self-condemned. Against the explanation, "Until he comes to rest," it +may also be urged, that the Accusative could not here stand after a +verb of motion; it was too natural to consider Shiloh as the subject. +If it had been intended in any other sense, a preposition would have +been absolutely requisite. + +We further remark, that vers. 11 and 12, which ancient and modern +interpreters, _e.g._, _Kurtz_, have attempted to bring into artificial +connection with ver. 10, simply "finish the picture of Judah's +happiness by a description of the luxurious fulness of his rich +territory" (_Tuch_). Their tenor is quite different from that which +precedes, where a pre-eminence was assigned to Judah; for they contain +nothing beyond a simple, positive declaration. What is in them assigned +to Judah, belongs to him only as a part of the whole, as a fellow-heir +of the country flowing with milk and honey, and corresponds entirely +with the blessings upon the other sons, which are, almost all of them, +only individual applications of the general blessing. It is evidently +parallel to what, in vers. 25, 26, is said of Joseph, and in ver. 20 of +Asher. That which Jacob here assigns to Judah, was [Pg 84] formerly, in +Gen. xxvii. 28, assigned by Isaac to Jacob, and in him to the whole +people: "God give thee of the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the +earth, and plenty of corn and wine." Hence, it is not at all necessary +to examine history for the purpose of ascertaining whether Judah was +distinguished above the other tribes, by plenty of wine and milk. + +We need not lose much time in discussing the attempts which have been +made to assign the blessing of Jacob to a later period. The futility of +all of them is proved by the circumstance, that we have not here before +us any special predictions, such as are peculiar to _vaticinia post +eventum_, but general prophetical outlines, individual applications of +the general blessings, exemplifications. Whatever seems, at first +sight, to be different, melts away while handling it. Thus, for +example, the blessings which Israel enjoyed by his dwelling on the +sea-side, are pointed out in the blessing upon Zebulun, because he had +his name from the _dwelling_, Gen. xxi. 20. That Zebulun is here viewed +only as a part of the whole, appears from the fact that, afterwards, he +did not live by the sea at all. In the case of Issachar, it was the +individuality of the ancestor Jacob which gave him occasion to +describe, from his own example, the dangers of an indolent rest. +History does not say anything of Issachar alone having yielded to these +dangers in a peculiar degree. In the case of Joseph, the events +personal to the son are transferred to the tribe, and in the tribe, to +the whole nation. In an inimitable manner the tender love of the father +towards his son and provider meets us here. The only thing which goes +beyond the human sphere of Jacob, is the prediction by which Judah is +placed in the centre of the world's history. But it is just this which, +even in its beginnings, goes beyond the time at which this pretended +_vaticinium post eventum_ is placed by _Tuch_, _Bleek_, and _Ewald_; +for, by this assumption of theirs, they are necessarily limited to the +time before David, if they wish to avoid the insurmountable +difficulties which arise from what is said of Levi and of Joseph. But +to the man who looks deeper, vers. 8-10 are just the seal of the +divinity, and hence of the genuineness also, of this prophecy, and, +with all his heart, he will hate such miserable conjectures.[15] + +[Pg 85] + +Let us now follow through history Jacob's blessing upon Judah. +From this inquiry it will appear how deep has been the impression made +by it upon the people of the covenant. On this occasion also, it will +be seen still more distinctly what the right is which rationalistic +criticism has to declare this _fundamental prophecy_ to be the recent +production of an obscure poet. The chain-like character of Holy +Scripture will be seen in a very striking light. + +In Num. ii. regulations are laid down respecting the order in which the +tribes are to encamp about the tabernacle, and in which they are to set +forth. "On the east side, towards which the entrance of the sanctuary +is directed, and hence in the front, Judah, as the principal tribe, is +encamped; and the two sons of his mother--Issachar and Zebulun--who +were born immediately after him, pitch next to him. On the south side +there is the camp, with the standard, of Reuben; and next to him are +his brother Simeon, who was born immediately after him, and Gad, one of +the sons of his mother's maid. The west side is assigned to the sons of +Rachel, with Ephraim at their head. And, _finally_, on the north side, +the three other sons of the maids, viz., Dan, Asher, and Naphtali, have +their position. In the same order as they encamp they are also to set +forth." (_Baumgarten_.) + +Judah is the chief tribe on the chief side. This distinction [Pg 86] is +not based on the deeds hitherto performed by Judah, nor is it the +result of any revelation which Moses received upon the subject. It is +regarded as a matter of course. And yet, there must necessarily have +been some foundation for such a distinction, because, otherwise, it +would have called forth the opposition of the other tribes, especially +of that of Ephraim. Such a foundation, however, is afforded only by the +blessing of Jacob, in which the tribe of Judah appears as the leading +one. The complete realization of this prediction is left, indeed, in +the hand of God; but the bearer of honours so great, even although +future, must, in the prospect of that future, enjoy, even in the +present, a certain distinction; such distinction, however, as does not +at all imply sovereignty. + +But we are compelled to have recourse to Genesis, and especially to +chap. xlix., the more because the whole arrangement of the camp has +evidently its foundation in Genesis, and the key to a whole series of +facts in it can be found only in chap. xlix. If we ask why it is that +the tribes of Issachar and Zebulun are subordinate to Judah; that +Reuben, Simeon, and Gad, that Ephraim and Benjamin, that Dan, Asher, +and Naphtali are encamped by each other; it is in Genesis alone that we +are furnished with the answer. + +The position which Reuben occupies specially points to Gen. xlix. As +the first-born, he ought to stand at the head; but here we find him +occupying the second place. In Gen. xlix. Jacob says to him, on account +of his guilt, "Thou shalt not excel;" and "the excellency of dignity, +and the excellency of power," which up to that time he had possessed, +are transferred to Judah. Yet Moses has so much regard to his original +dignity, that he places him immediately after Judah; the utterance of +Jacob did not entitle him to assign to him a lower position. +_Further_,--The reason why Dan stands at the head of the sons of the +maids is explained only in Gen. xlix. 16-18, where Dan is specially +distinguished among them, and where it is specially said of him, "Dan +shall judge his people." + +If the blessing of Jacob be the production of a later time, then the +order of the encampment, which rests upon it, must necessarily be so +also; but such an idea will at once be discarded by every man of sound +judgment. Even they who refuse to acknowledge Moses as the author of +the Pentateuch, admit that [Pg 87] those regulations which bear +reference only to the condition of things in the wilderness must have +originated from him. + +But exactly the same order which Moses in Num. ii. prescribes for the +encampment and setting forth of the tribes, is found again in chap. +vii., where there is described the offerings which the princes of the +tribes offered at the dedication of the altar. Every prince has here a +day to himself, and here also does Judah occupy the first place: "And +he that offered his offering the first day was Nahshon, the son of +Amminadab, of the tribe of Judah."--If any one should venture to set +down this chapter also, with all its details, as a fabrication of later +times, he would only betray an utter absence of all scientific +judgment. + +According to Num. x. 14, Judah led the march when they set forth from +Sinai. + +Balaam's prophecies, the genuineness of which is proved by so many +weighty arguments (compare the enumeration of them in my work on +Balaam), rest, in general, on the fundamental prophecies of Genesis, +but especially on the blessing of Jacob upon Judah. + +In Num. xxiii. 24, Balaam says: "Behold, a people, like a full-grown +lion he rises, and like a lion he lifts himself up. Not shall he lie +down until he eat of the prey, and drink the blood of the slain." This +conclusion of Balaam's second prophecy, which at once demolishes +Balak's vain hopes of victory, by pointing out the dreadful power of +Israel, unconquerable by all his enemies, and crushing them all, has an +intentional reference to Gen. xlix. 9,--a reference specially suitable +for such a conclusion. What was there ascribed to Judah is here +transferred to Israel, whose fore-champion Judah is. "Dost thou think," +says Balaam to Balak, "of being able to overcome them, to stop them in +their course towards the mark held out to them? Behold, according to an +old revelation of their God, they are a people destroying their enemies +with the lion's strength. Therefore, get thee out of their way, lest +such a fate befall thee." + +In Num. xxiv. 9, Balaam says, "He couches, he lies as a lion, and as a +great lion, who shall stir him up?" As in the preceding prophecy he had +pointed out Israel's dreadful power which secures to him victory in the +battle, so here he shows how, even after having finished the battle, +this power so intimidates his enemies, that they do not venture to +disturb his peace. [Pg 88] That which Jacob had said of Judah, is, with +intended literality, here transferred to Israel. + +In Num. xxiv. 17, we read: "I see him, but not now; I behold him, but +not nigh: a star goeth out of Jacob, and a sceptre riseth out of +Israel, and smiteth the borders of Moab, and destroyeth all the sons of +the tumult."--As the two preceding utterances carry us back to Gen. +xlix. 9, so this one refers to ver. 10, where the sceptre, the emblem +of dominion, denotes, just as it does in this passage, dominion itself, +and where to Judah, and in him to all Israel, the kingdom is promised +which shall at last be consummated in the Shiloh. The meaning of the +words, "A sceptre riseth out of Israel," is explained in ver. 19 by the +words, "Dominion shall come out of Jacob." Jacob has in view the +internal relations among his descendants, and hence he speaks specially +of Judah; but Balaam, in accordance with his object, speaks of Israel +only. Jacob points, at the close, to Shiloh's just and peaceful +dominion; but Balaam, who has to do with the enraged and obstinate +enemies of Israel, points out, from among the effects produced by the +star and sceptre, only the victorious might, and destructive power +which these will display in the conflict with the enemies of Israel. + +In the blessing of Moses, Deut. xxxii. 7, it is said of Judah: "Hear, +Lord, the voice of Judah, and bring him unto his people; with his hands +he fights for himself, and be Thou an help to him from his enemies." +Even the remarkable brevity of this utterance points back to the +blessing of Jacob. With this brevity, the length of the blessing upon +Levi, who had been treated too summarily by Jacob, forms a striking +contrast. In the case of Reuben also, the attempt to pour oil into the +wounds then inflicted is visible. The whole announcement is based upon +the supposition that Judah is the fore-champion of Israel; and this +supposition refers us back to Gen. xlix. This appears especially in the +words, "Bring him to his people," on which light is thrown only by Gen. +xlix. It is for his people that Judah engages in foreign wars, and the +Lord, fulfilling the words, "From the prey, my son, thou goest up," +brings him safely to his people.[16] + +[Pg 89] + +There can be no doubt that in Shiloh, as the name of a place, +there is a reference to Gen. xlix. 10. They who rightly denied that +Shiloh could, in that passage, be understood as the name of the place, +could, nevertheless, not feel satisfied as long as they allowed a +twofold Shiloh to exist unconnected with each other. The agreement in +the very rare and peculiar form, which nowhere else occurs, cannot well +be a matter of accident. + +In the Pentateuch, Shiloh does not occur at all as the name of a place. +In the passage where Shiloh is first mentioned--in Josh. xvi. +6--another name is beside it, and prefixed to it. According to that +passage, the former name was Taanah. (They who are of opinion that this +place was different from Shiloh, can find no support from the authority +of _Eusebius_; it is not said Taanah by Shiloh, but Taanath-Shiloh.) +After that place had become the seat of the Sanctuary, the holy name +_Shiloh_ took the place of the former natural one. The reason why this +name was given to it is indicated in Josh. xviii. 1: "And the whole +congregation of the children of Israel assembled together at Shiloh, +and set up the tabernacle of the congregation there; _and the land was +subdued before them_." Compare also xxi. 44, xxii. 4, where it is +remarked that at that time "the Lord gave them rest round about." (See +_Bachiene_, _Palestina_ ii. 3, S. 409 ff.) In the subjection of the +country,--in the rest which the Lord had given them from all round +about, they saw an earnest of, and a prelude to, the obedience of the +nations in general, and to the state of perfect rest which should take +place at some future time with the appearing of Shiloh. Victory, peace! +(_Siegfried!_) such was the watchword corresponding to the elevated +consciousness of the people. It is an elevation quite similar to that +which we so often perceive in the Psalms. "Sometimes there rises the +hope that the Gentiles shall, at some future period, be received among +the people of God--a hope based upon the experience of the Lord's +victorious power in the present, in which faith perceives a pledge of +the future subjection of the world's power under His sceptre. Thus, in +vers. 29-32 of Ps. lxviii., which was composed by David on the occasion +of his having, by the help of the Lord, conquered his most dangerous +enemies, the Aramites and Ammonites; in Ps. xlvii., written on the +occasion of Jehoshaphat's victory over several heathen nations; and in +Ps. lxxxvii., composed on the [Pg 90] ground of the joyful events under +Hezekiah, the germ of the hope for the conversion of the heathen, which +had all along lain dormant in the people, was developed."[17] + +After the main power of the Canaanites had been broken by the +expeditions of all Israel under Joshua, Judah begins, at the command of +God, to expel the Canaanites from the territory assigned to him. In +Judges i. 1, 2, we read: "And the children of Israel asked the Lord, +Who shall go up for us against the Canaanites at the beginning to fight +against them? And the Lord said, Judah shall go up; behold, I deliver +the land into his hands." They were concerned to find out the tribe +who, by the decree of God, had been destined to be the fore-champion +for his brethren, and with whom they might be sure of a happy +commencement of the war. The short answer, "Judah shall go up," would +scarcely have been justified, had it not had a foundation in a previous +declaration of God's will. It indicates that Jacob's blessing upon +Judah still possessed its power. + +In like manner, in the war against Benjamin, according to divine +direction, Judah goes up first to the battle, forms the vanguard. +Judges xx. 18. The intentional identity of the expression used here and +in chap. i., leads us to the supposition that the words, "Judah shall +go up," have, in both passages, the same foundation. + +From both of these events, we are led to expect that Judah may be +called to occupy a still more important position. The announcement of +Jacob regarding Judah, to which the words, "Judah shall go up," refer, +finds, in these events, evidently but a poor beginning of its complete +fulfilment. All, however, which was required in the meantime, was the +indication, by gentle touches, of the position which Judah was called +to occupy in future times. It is just God's way to take time in +carrying out [Pg 91] His elections; all human conditions must first +disappear. After these two intimations, at the end of the time of +Joshua (for Judges i. 1, 2, belongs to that period; the words, "And it +came to pass after the death of Joshua," do not refer to what follows +immediately after, but only to the contents of the book as a whole), +and at the beginning of the time of the Judges, Judah retires out of +view. During the whole period of the Judges, Ephraim held the +supremacy. Under David, the validity of the election suddenly appeared, +and the announcement of Jacob found a glorious fulfilment; but again, +such an one only as pointed to a still more glorious fulfilment in the +future. Before this took place, however,--before Shiloh came, to whom +the obedience of the people was promised, the lamp of Judah was once +more to be extinguished, so that, to human eyes, it should be invisible +for many centuries. + +In 1 Chron. xxviii. 4, David says: "And the Lord God of Israel chose me +out of all the house of my father to be king over Israel for ever; for +He hath chosen Judah to be the ruler, and in the house of Judah, the +house of my father, and in the house of my father. He liked me to make +me king over all Israel." David here points to an event by which Judah +was raised to be the ruling tribe; and such an election is nowhere else +to be found than in Gen. xlix. We cannot for a moment suppose that +Judah was elected only in, and with, the election of David. Against +such a supposition militates the fact, that even the election of +David's house is represented in history as being distinct from the +election of David himself; for in 1 Sam. xvi. the decree of God is +first made known, that one of Jesse's sons is to be king; and it is +only afterwards that we are told which of them is to be chosen. The +expression too, "He hath chosen Judah to be the _ruler_," is decisive +against it; for this expression has an evident reference to the sceptre +and lawgiver in Gen. xlix. But if any doubt should still remain, it +would be entirely removed by the parallel passage in 1 Chron. v. 2, +where, in the words, "For Judah was mighty among his brethren, and of +him the prince was to come," there is an allusion, which cannot be +mistaken, to Gen. xlix. + +There cannot be a doubt that David gave to his son the name Solomon, +because he hoped that, in his just and peaceful reign, he would be a +type of the Shiloh whom the nation should willingly [Pg 92] obey, just +as, in his own reign, there had been the first grand fulfilment of what +Jacob had prophesied of Judah's lion-courage, and lion-strength,--of +Judah's sceptre and lawgiver. We have here the counterpart of the fact, +that the children of Israel, after the first occupation of the country, +gave to the seat of the sanctuary the name of Shiloh. In the case of +Solomon, both the name and the substance point to Shiloh. With regard +to the _name_, three out of the four letters of which the name [Hebrew: +wlmh] consists, are common to it with Shiloh. The signification is +precisely the same; so also is the form. In [Hebrew: wlmh] as well as +in [Hebrew: wilh] we meet with the very rare case of the [Hebrew: wilh] +at the end being thrown off. In _Ewald's_ Grammar, Sec. 163, these two +names are, for this reason, pointed out and placed immediately beside +each other. And, with regard to the agreement in the _substance_, we +refer to 1 Chron. xxii. 9, where Nathan says to David: "Behold, a son +shall be born to thee, who shall be a man of _rest_, and I will give +him _rest_ from all his enemies round about; for his name shall be +Solomon, and I will give peace and quietness unto Israel in his days." +We refer, _further_, to 1 Kings v. 4, where Solomon says to Hiram: "And +now the Lord my God hath given me _rest_ round about; there is neither +adversary nor evil obstacle." We refer, _finally_, to 1 Kings v. 4, 5 +(iv. 24, 25): "He had dominion over all the region on the other side of +the river, from Tiphsah even to Gaza, over all the kings on the other +side of the river, and he had peace from all his servants round about. +And Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine and +fig-tree, from Dan even to Beersheba, all the days of Solomon."[18] + +But if any further doubt should remain as regards the typical relation +in which Solomon stands to Shiloh, it would be removed by Ps. lxxii., +which discards the very idea that Solomon could be anything more than a +type,--that any hope had ever been entertained of his being himself the +Shiloh. Even David's Messianic Psalms bear witness against such an +opinion. In harmony with the words of our Lord in Matt. xii. 42, "A [Pg +93] greater than Solomon is here," Solomon In this Psalm points beyond +himself. In his own just and peaceful dominion, he beholds a type of +the kingdom of the Prince of Peace, who, by His justice and love, shall +obtain dominion over the world, and whom all kings shall worship, and +all the heathen shall serve. How closely this Psalm is connected with +Gen. xlix. is pointed out by Ezekiel, in a passage of which we shall +immediately treat. + +In ver. 9 of Ps. lx., which was composed by David, the words, "Judah is +my lawgiver"--equivalent to, Judah is my, _i.e._, Israel's ruling +tribe--point to Gen. xlix. 10, according to which the lawgiver shall +not depart from Judah; just as ver. 13, "Give us help from the enemy," +alludes to Deut. xxxiii. 7, where it is said of Judah, "Be thou a help +to him from his enemies," and ver. 14, to Num. xxiv. 18. + +That the Prince of Peace spoken of in Is. ix. 5, under whom there is +"no end to the increase of government and of peace," refers to the +Peaceful One, to whom the nations render obedience, will not be doubted +by those who have recognised the connection in which Solomon and Ps. +lxxii. stand to the Shiloh. Nor will such fail to recognise an allusion +to the Shiloh in all the other passages of the Prophets, in which the +Messiah is described as the Author of rest and peace; _e.g._, Mic. iv. +1-4; Is. ii. 2-4; Zech. ix. 10; and the less so, the more clearly it +appears, from passages of Ezekiel, what influence Gen. xlix. exercised +over the prophetic consciousness. Isaiah significantly alludes to it in +other passages also. In chap. xxix. 1, 2, he says: "Woe to Ariel, +(_i.e._, Lion of God), the city where David encamped! Add ye year to +year, let the feasts revolve. And I distress Ariel, and there shall be +heaviness and affliction, but it shall be unto me as Ariel;"--the +meaning of which is: Jerusalem will, in times to come, endure heavy +affliction (through Asshur), but the world-conquering power of the +kingdom of God will manifest itself in her deliverance. The name Ariel +is emphatically placed at the beginning, and, in it, the Prophet gives +to the congregation of God a guarantee for her deliverance. That which +Jacob had said of Judah, who, to him, appeared as the invincible lion +of God, is here applied to Zion, the city where David encamped, the +centre of the kingdom of Judah. + +Ezekiel, in his lamentation over the princes of Israel who, [Pg 94] in +his time, were standing just at the brink of the abyss, says in chap. +xix. 2: "Thy mother was a lioness, who lay down among lionesses, and +brought up her whelps among young lions." The mother is the +congregation of Judah. The image of the lion points to the blessing of +Jacob, and its fulfilment in history. "Judah once couched in a +threatening position, endangering his adversaries,[19] in the midst of +lions, _i.e._, among the other powerful kingdoms fond of conquests." +(_Haevernick_.) + +In Ezek. xxi. 15, 18 (10-15), the Lord, with an evident allusion to +Gen. xlix. 10, announces the (temporary) destruction of the sceptre of +His son (_i.e._, Israel or Judah), a sceptre which despises all other +sceptres. + +In vers. 30-32 (25-27) of the same chapter, Ezekiel foretells, in the +name of the Lord, a complete overturning of all relations, a total +revolution, in which the Davidic kingdom especially is brought down, a +condition of affairs in which rest and safety will not anywhere be +found. This state of things is to continue "until He comes to whom is +the judgment; to Him I will give it." + +The reference of this passage to Gen. xlix. cannot be mistaken. It was +recognised, indeed, by the ancient translators; only that most of them +erroneously found in it an explanation instead of an allusion. + +Instead of the words, "to whom is the judgment," we should, from the +expression used in Gen. xlix. 10, "Until Shiloh cometh," have expected, +"to whom is peace;" but Ezekiel has filled up Gen. xlix. 10 from Ps. +lxxii. 1-5, where judgment and righteousness appear as the basis of the +peace which the Anointed One shall bring. And _peace_ occupies the +background in Ezekiel also. The advent of Him to whom is the judgment, +in contrast with the injustice and wickedness of those who were +hitherto the bearers of the sceptre, puts an end to strife, confusion, +and destruction. That, in like manner, in Gen. xlix., the _judgment_ +occupies the background, we see plainly, from the commentary upon that +passage furnished by Ps. lxxii., as well as from Is. ix. and ii. In Ps. +lxxii., peace comes into consideration, only in so far as it is a +product and consequence of justice, which is an attribute of the King, +and is by him [Pg 95] infused into the life of the nation. In vers. +1-50, the thought is: "God gives righteousness to His King, and in +consequence of it, righteousness and the fear of God become indigenous +to the people, and these again bring peace in their train." + +Every word in Ezekiel is taken from Gen. xlix. and Ps. lxxii. From the +latter are taken the words, "judgment," and "I will give it." (Compare +Ps. lxxii. 1: "Give the King thy judgments.") The combination of these +two passages points out their close connection, and indicates that Ps. +lxxii. is to be viewed as a comment. _Onkelos_, who thus translates the +passage in Gen. xlix., "Until Messiah comes, to whom the kingdom is +due, and Him the people shall obey," has very properly only +supplemented the declaration of Jacob from Ezekiel, or, at least, has +taken thence the explanation of Shiloh. + +But, at the same time, the words [Hebrew: awr li hmwpT], which, on the +basis of Ps. lxxii., Ezekiel puts in the place of [Hebrew: wilh], +allude to the letters of the latter word which forms the initials of +the words in Ezekiel. That [Hebrew: w] is the main letter in [Hebrew: +awr], is shown by the common abbreviation of it into [Hebrew: w]; and +that the [Hebrew: i] in [Hebrew: wilh] is unessential, is proved by the +circumstance that the name of the place is often written [Hebrew: wlh], +and that even in Gen. xlix. 10, a number of manuscripts have this +orthography. + +"From the allusion to a prophecy so well known, and so frequently used, +the brevity of the prophecy in Ezekiel is to be explained. It forms a +most powerful conclusion and resting-point for the prophetic +discourse." (_Haevernick_.) + +There cannot be any doubt that Ezekiel found in Gen. xlix. 10, the +prophecy of a personal Messiah. They, therefore, who assert that no +such prophecy is contained in our passage, must, at the same time, +assert that Ezekiel misunderstood it; yea, even more, that, even as +early as at that period, a false view of that passage was generally +prevalent. For, the manner in which Ezekiel alludes to it presupposes +that, at that time, the view which found in it a personal Messiah was +generally held. If we observe still further, that Ezekiel connected the +allusion to Ps. lxxii. with that to Gen. xlix., we cannot hesitate for +a moment to admit that he understood the name Shiloh to be Rest-maker, +Peace-maker; only, that on the ground of Ps. lxxii., he mentions the +cause instead of the effect. He had, moreover, the stronger reason for +designating the bearer of peace as the bearer of judgment, [Pg 96] +because, in his time, the want of judgment had evidently produced the +absence of peace, and the general confusion, misery, and destruction. + +"As in Gen. xlix. the Patriarch sees a light rising at a far distance, +and spreading its brightness over the darkness of centuries, so in +Ezekiel also, the same ray of glorious hope lightens through the dark +night of confusion and unutterable misery in which he sees himself +enveloped." + +_Kurtz_, S. 266, has altogether denied the connection of the passage in +Ezekiel with Gen. xlix. These two passages are, as he thinks, +altogether different, inasmuch as Ezekiel announces destruction and +desolation which shall continue until He comes to whom is the judgment, +while Gen. xlix., when understood of a personal Messiah, announces +dominion which shall continue until Shiloh comes. But Ezekiel does not +contradict Gen. xlix. 10. He gives only the supplement necessary for +preventing this passage from being considered as a permission to sin, +and from becoming a support of false security. Ezekiel, too, assumes a +continuation of the dominion. If that were not concealed behind the +destruction, how could "the coming of Him to whom is the judgment" be +pointed out as the limit of that destruction? The tree indeed is cut +down, but the root remains in its full vigour. + +When Jacob announces that the sceptre shall not depart until Shiloh, +the prince of peace, cometh, he can thereby mean only that it would not +depart _definitively_; for, otherwise, he would have belied his own +experience. From the way by which the Lord had led him, he had +sufficiently learnt that God's promises to sinful men must be taken +_cum grano salis_; that they never exclude the visitation of the elect +on account of their sins, and that it is only in the end that God will +bring all to a glorious fulfilment. When he went to Mesopotamia, God +had said to him, "I am with thee, and I will keep thee in all places +whither thou goest," Gen. xxviii. 15; and yet the deceit which he had +practised upon his father and brother was recompensed to him there by +the deceit of Laban, and he was obliged to say, "In the day the drought +consumed me, and the frost by night, and my sleep departed from mine +eyes," Gen. xxxi. 40. When he came from the land of the two rivers, God +blessed him and gave him the honourable name of Israel, Gen. xxxii.; +and yet [Pg 97] he had soon thereafter to experience grievous distress +on account of Dinah and Joseph; and in chap. xxxvii. 34, 35, we are +told concerning him: "And Jacob rent his clothes, and put sackcloth +upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days. And all his sons and +all his daughters rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be +comforted, and he said, I shall go down into the grave unto my son in +sorrow." In the kingdom of God there are no other promises than such as +resemble those rivers which flow alternately above and below ground, +since it is certain that all the subjects of the promises are affected +by sin. + +Ezekiel xliii. 15 likewise refers to the blessing of Jacob upon Judah. +The altar for the burnt-offerings in the new temple is first called +_Harel_ = the mountain of God, and afterwards _Ariel_ = the Lion of +God,--indicating that what had been promised to Judah in Gen. xlix., +viz., the Lion's nature and invincible power, victorious over all +enemies, has its root in the altar,--in the circumstance that the +people of God are a people whose sins are forgiven, who dedicate +themselves to God, and give Him thanks and praise. + +A very remarkable reference to Gen. xlix. meets us at the very +threshold of the New Testament. In Luke ii. 13, 14, the heavenly host +praise God, saying: "Glory be to God in the highest, and on earth +peace." The words, "glory" or "praise be to God," are an allusion to +Judah, and to the glorious things foretold in Gen. xlix. of him who +centres in Christ. Christ is the true Judah,--He by whom God is +glorified, John xiv. 13. The words, "on earth peace," contain the +explanation of the name Shiloh, the first name under which the Saviour +is celebrated in the Old Testament. + +As the words with which the Saviour is first introduced into the world +allude to Gen. xlix., so the Lord Himself, before His departure, +alludes to this fundamental Messianic prophecy in John xiv. 27: "Peace +I leave with you. My peace I give unto you;" and in xvi. 33: "These +things I have spoken unto you, that in Me ye might have peace." So +also, after His resurrection, Christ says, in the circle of His +disciples, "Peace be unto you," John xx. 19, 21, 26. + +The last book of the entire Holy Scripture--the Apocalypse +[Pg 98]--likewise points back to the remarkable prophecy of Christ at +the close of its first book. In Rev. v. 5, we read: "And one of the +elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, +the Root of David, hath prevailed." "The designation of Christ as the +Lion of the tribe of Judah, rests on Gen. xlix. 9. Judah appears there +as a lion, in order to denote his warlike and victorious powers. But +Judah himself, according to the blessing of dying Jacob, is at some +future period to centre in the Messiah. As a type, he had formerly +centred already in David, in whom the lion-nature of the tribe of Judah +was manifested." This allusion shows that even what Is said in vers. 8, +9, found its complete fulfilment only in Christ, and that vers. 8, 9, +are parallel to the entire ver. 10, and not to its first half only. + +_Bengel_ remarks on Rev. v. 6: "The elder had pointed John to a Lion, +and yet John beheld a Lamb. The Lord Jesus is called a Lion only once +in this prophecy, and that, at the very beginning, before the +appellation Lamb appears. This indicates that as often as the Lamb is +remembered, we should also remember Him as the Lion of the tribe of +Judah." + +As the designation of Christ as the Lion refers to what, in the +blessing of Jacob, is said of the lion-nature of the tribe of Judah, +so, in the "Lamb"--the emblem of innocence, justice, silent patience +and gentleness--the name Shiloh is embodied. + + +Footnote 1: _Luther_ says: "No doubt the sons of Jacob will have waited +with anxious desire, and with weeping and groaning, for what their +father had yet to say; for, after having heard curses so hard and +severe, they were very much confounded and afraid. And Judah, too, will +certainly not have been able to refrain from weeping, and will have +been afraid, when thinking of what should now become of him. There will +have arisen in his heart very sad recollections of his sins, of his +whoredom with Thamar, and of the advice which he had given to sell +Joseph. Certainly, I should have died with sorrow and tears. But there +soon follow a fine dew and a lovely balm, refreshing the heart again." + +Footnote 2: _Bochart_ says: "When the whelp of a lion is weaned, and +begins to go out for prey, and to seek his own food without the help of +his mother, he then ceases to be a [Hebrew: gvr], and is called a +[Hebrew: kpir]." Deut. xxxiii. 22 must, therefore, not be translated, +"Dan is a lion's whelp leaping from Bashan"--as if the [Hebrew: gvr +arih] were already active--but thus, "Dan is a lion's whelp; he shall +leap (_i.e._, after he shall have grown up) from Bashan." Dan is in +that place styled a lion's whelp, just as is Judah in Gen. xlix. 9, +because, as yet, he is only a candidate for future victories. + +Footnote 3: The LXX. translate, [Greek: ek blastou huie mou anebes], +"from a shoot, my son, thou hast grown up." They explain [Hebrew: TrP] +by an inappropriate reference to Ezek. xvii. 9, where it is used of a +fresh green leaf. + +Footnote 4: Calvin says: "This dignity is bestowed upon Judah only with +a view to benefit the whole of the people." + +Footnote 5: In the first edition of this work, the author had likewise +maintained that view. + +Footnote 6: It was this difficulty which led _Grotius_ to adopt the +feeble exposition, "That teachers out of Judah's posterity would lead +the people until the times of the Messiah, who would be the highest +leader and commander of Jews and Gentiles." + +Footnote 7: Calvin says: "If any one should object, that the words of +Jacob convey a different meaning, we would answer him, that whatever +promises God gave concerning the outward condition of the Church, they +were so far limited that God might, in the meantime, exercise His +judgments in the punishment of men's sins, and prove the faith of His +people. And indeed it was not a light trial when, at the third +succession, the tribe of Judah was deprived of the greater part of his +territory. A more severe one followed when, before the eyes of the +father, the sons of the king were slain, his own eyes put out, and +himself was carried to Babylon, and given over to servitude and exile +along with the whole royal family. But the heaviest trial of all came, +when the people returned to their land, and were so far from seeing +their expectations fulfilled, that they were, on the contrary, +subjected to a sad dispersion. But even then, the saints beheld with +the eye of faith the sceptre hidden under ground; neither did their +hearts fail, nor their courage give way, so that they desisted not from +continuing their course." + +Footnote 8: Many expositors, following the LXX. ([Greek: ek ton meron +autou]), the _Vulgate_ (_de femore ejus_), and the Chaldee Paraphrast, +understand this expression as a designation of origin and production. +But in that case, we must assume a very hard ellipsis, viz., "he who is +to proceed." Moreover, this explanation is destructive of the +parallelism, according to which, "from between his feet" must +correspond with "from Judah." + +Footnote 9: The signification, "expectation," given to this word by the +LXX. ([Greek: kai autos prosdokia ethnon]), _Jerome_, and other +translators, is founded upon the erroneous derivation of the word from +[Hebrew: qvh]. In the other passage (Prov. xxx. 17), where the LXX. +translate, "the age of his mother," they have confounded the root +[Hebrew: iqh] with [Hebrew: qhh], "to be blunted." + +Footnote 10: _Gousset_ says: The word can signify something good only, +on account of the passage, Prov. xxx. 17, namely, something which +adorns the relation of the son to his mother, the despising of which is +a crime on the part of the son, and which deserves that he should be +sent [Greek: eis korakas]. And not less so from its being used in Gen. +xlix. 10 in reference to the Shiloh, where, thereby, not one or a few, +but all the nations without exception, are bound to Him by a tie +similar to that which exists betwixt mother and son. + +Footnote 11: Thus Luther says: "This sceptre of Judah shall continue, +and shall not be taken from him, till the hero come; but when He comes, +then the sceptre also shall depart. The kingdom or sceptre has fallen; +the Jews are scattered throughout the whole world, and, therefore, the +Messiah has certainly come; for, at His appearing, the sceptre should +be taken from Judah." + +Footnote 12: In the volume containing the _Dissertations on the +Genuineness of Daniel_, _etc._ Edinburgh, T. and T. Clark. + +Footnote 13: _Delitzsch_ (who had formerly been a defender of the +explanation of a personal Messiah) differs, in his Commentary on +Genesis, from this view, only in so far, that he supposes that, while +Judah's dominion over the tribes comes to an end in Shiloh, his +dominion over the nations dates from that period. But this explanation +must be objected to on the ground, that the dominion bestowed upon +Judah is not merely a dominion over the tribes, but over the world. + +Footnote 14: _Knobel_ knows of no other expedient by which to escape +from the force of this argument, than by changing the punctuation. He +proposes to read [Hebrew: wlh], a word which nowhere occurs. + +Footnote 15: The rationalistic objection, that at so great an age, and +on the brink of the grave, man is not wont to compose poems, may be +refuted by a reference to the history of the ancient Arabic poetry. The +Arabic poets before the time of Mohammed often recited long poems +extempore,--so natural to them was poetry. (Compare _Tharaphae +Moallakah_, ed. _Reiske_, p. xl.; _Antarae Moallakah_, ed. _Menil._ p. +18.) The poet _Lebid_, who attained to the age of 157 years (compare +_Reiske prolegg. ad Thar. Moall._ p. xxx.; _De Sacy_, _Memoires de +l'Academie des inscriptions_, p. 403 ff.), composed a poem when he was +dying; compare _Herbelot Bibl. Or._ p. 513. The poet _Hareth_ was 135 +years old when he recited extempore his _Moallakah_, which is still +extant; compare _Reiske_ l.c. The objection, too, that it is +inconceivable how the blessing spoken by Jacob could have been handed +down _verbatim_ to Moses, finds its best refutation in the history of +Arabic poetry. The art of writing was introduced among the Arabs only a +short time before Mohammed. (Compare _de Sacy_ l.c. pp. 306, 348; +_Amrulkeisi Moall._ ed. _Hengstenberg_, p. 3.) Up to that time, even +the longest poems, of which some consisted of more than a hundred +verses, were preserved by mere oral tradition (compare _Nuweiri_ in +_Rosenmueller_, _Zoheiri Moall._ p. 11); and the internal condition of +those which have been preserved to us bears the best testimony to their +having been faithfully handed down. But in the case before us, +something altogether different from a poem was concerned. + +Footnote 16: _Onkelos_ paraphrases these words very correctly, thus: +"Hear, O Lord, the prayers of Judah when he goes out to war, and bring +him safely back to his people." + +Footnote 17: It is probable also, that in the passage, Josh. xvi. 6, +where Shiloh occurs for the first time as the name of a place, and +which we have already discussed, there is not, as we assumed, a +connection of the former name with the latter, but the complete +appellation, of which the latter--Shiloh--is only an abbreviation. From +the well ascertained and common signification of the verb [Hebrew: +anh], we are entitled to explain Taanath-Shiloh: "the futurity, or the +appearance of Shiloh." Shiloh shall come! Such was the watchword at +that time. The word [Hebrew: tanh] would then correspond to the +[Hebrew: iba] of the fundamental passage. + +Footnote 18: That there exists a connection between Shiloh and Solomon +has often been guessed at and expressed; but expositors have not +succeeded well in determining it more closely. The Samarit. Arab. +Translation here says expressly: "Until Solomon cometh." (Comp. _Lib. +Genes. sec. Arab. Pent._ _Samarit. vers. ed. Kuenen_. _Leyden_, 51.) + +Footnote 19: _Kimchi_ says: "As long as the Jews were doing the will of +God, they could lie down like the lion without fear." + + + + + BALAAM'S PROPHECY. + (Numb. xxiv. 17-19.) + +Carried by the Spirit into the far distant future, Balaam sees here how +a star goeth out of Jacob and a sceptre riseth out of Israel, and how +this sceptre smiteth Moab, by whose enmity the Seer had been brought +from a distant region for the destruction of Israel. And not Moab only +shall be smitten, but its southern neighbour, Edom, too shall be +subdued, whose hatred against Israel had already been prefigured in its +ancestor, and had now begun to display Itself; and In general, all the +enemies of the [Pg 99] people of God shall be cast down to the ground +by the Ruler out of Jacob. + +Ver. 17. "_I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not nigh. A star +goeth out of Jacob, and a sceptre riseth out of Israel, and smiteth +the borders of Moab, and destroyeth all the sons of the tumult._ +Ver. 18. _And Edom shall be a possession, and Seir shall be a +possession--his enemies, and Israel acquireth might._ Ver. 19. _And a +Ruler shall come out of Jacob, and destroyeth what remaineth out of +the city._" + +The star is, in Scripture, the symbol of the splendour of power. +The sceptre leads us back to Gen. xlix. 10; and, in general, the +announcements of Balaam have, throughout, the promises and hopes of the +Patriarchs for their foundation. As in the fundamental passage, so here +also, the sceptre, the symbol of dominion, stands for dominion itself. +The substance of the two figurative expressions is briefly stated in +ver. 19, in the words, "They shall rule out of Jacob," which are +tantamount to, "A Ruler shall come out of Jacob." + +A difference of opinion exists regarding the glorious King who is +here announced. From the earliest times, the Jews understood thereby +the Messiah, either exclusively, or, at least, principally, so as to +admit of a secondary reference to David. _Onkelos_ translates: "When +a King shall rise out of Jacob, and out of Israel Messiah shall be +anointed;"--_Jonathan_: "When a valiant King shall rise out of the +house of Jacob, and out of Israel, Messiah, and a strong Sceptre shall +be anointed." The Book of Sohar remarks on the words, "I see him, but +now:" "This was in part fulfilled at that time; it will be completely +fulfilled in the days of Messiah." (Compare the passages in _Jos. de_ +_Voisin_, in the _Prooem._ on _R. Martini Pugio fid._ p. 68; _R._ +_Martini_ iii. 3, c. 11; _Schoettgen_, "_Jesus Messias_," S. 151.) How +widely this opinion was spread among the Jews, is sufficiently apparent +from the circumstance, that the renowned pseudo-Messiah in the time +of Hadrian adopted, with reference to the passage under review, the +surname _Barcochba_, _i.e._, Son of the Star.--From the Jews, this +interpretation very soon passed over to the Christians, who rightly +found a warrant for it in the narrative of the star of the wise +men from the East. _Cyril_ of Jerusalem defended the Messianic +interpretation against _Julian_. (Compare _Julian_, ed. _Spanh._ p. 263 +c. See other passages [Pg 100] from the fathers of the Church in +_Calov._) According to _Theodoret_ (Quest. 44 in Numb.), there were, +indeed, some to whom "Balaam appeared to have foretold nothing +concerning our Saviour;" but this opinion was rejected as profane. The +Messianic interpretation has, in a narrower and wider sense--_i.e._, as +referring in the first instance to David, but in the highest and proper +sense to Christ--become the prevailing one in the Evangelical Church +also. It was defended even by such interpreters as _Calvin_ and +_Clericus_, who, as to other passages, differed from the prevailing +Messianic interpretation. (Compare especially _Mieg_, _de Stella et +Sceptro Baleamitico_ in the _Thes. Nov._ p. 423 sqq., and _Boullier_, +_Dissert. Syll. Amsterdam_ 1750, _Diss._ I.) On the other hand, the +Messianic interpretation found a zealous and ingenious opponent, +first in _Verschnir_ in the _Bibl. Brem. nova_, reprinted in +his _Opusc._ He was joined by the rationalistic interpreters, who +maintained an exclusive reference to David. But _Rosenmueller_ and +_Baumgarten-Crusius_ (bibl. Theol. S. 369) returned to the Messianic +interpretation. + +The question at issue is chiefly this:--Whether by the star and +sceptre some single Israelitish king is designated, or rather, an +ideal person--the personified Israelitish kingdom. The latter view I +proved, in my work on Balaam, to be the correct one, for the following +reasons:--1. The reference to a certain Israelitish king is against the +analogy of the other prophecies of the Pentateuch. A single person, +especially a single king of future time, is nowhere announced in +it,--except the Messiah, whose announcement, however, is different from +that of David. But, on the other hand, the rise of the _kingdom_ in +Israel is announced as early as in the promise to the Patriarchs, on +which all of Balaam's declarations rest throughout. It is only to this +that the words, "A star goeth out of Jacob, and a sceptre riseth out of +Israel," can refer,--according to the analogy of Gen. xvii. 6: "Kings +shall come out of thee;" ver. 16: "And she shall become nations, +_kings_ of people shall be of her;" and xxxv. 11: "Kings shall come out +of thy loins." 2. The reference to a single king would be against the +_analogy_ of _Balaam's_ prophecies, inasmuch as these nowhere refer +to a single individual. 3. The _sceptre_ does not, in itself, lead +us to think of an individual, since it does not designate a ruler, +but dominion in general. But that which especially militates against +the reference [Pg 101] to an individual is the comparison with the +fundamental passage, Gen. xlix. 10, in which Judah, and in him all +Israel, does not receive the promise of a single king, but of the +kingdom which shall at last be consummated in the Shiloh. 4. In favour +of this general interpretation is also ver. 19, in which the words, +"And dominion shall come out of Jacob," or literally, "They shall rule +out of Jacob," may be considered as just a commentary on the words, "A +sceptre riseth out of Israel." So also is ver. 7, "More elevated than +Agag be his king," where the king of Israel is an _ideal_ person--the +personification of the kingdom. Agag, _i.e._, the fiery one, is not +a proper name, but a surname of all Amalekite kings. The Amalekite +kingdom--which here represents the world's power, opposed to the +kingdom of God, because at the time of the Seer the Amalekites were the +most powerful among the people who were hostile to Israel (compare ver. +20, where they are called the _beginning_ of the heathen nations, +_i.e._, the most powerful of them)--is here put in opposition to the +Israelitish kingdom, and the latter will show itself superior to all +worldly power. + +The arguments which thus prove the reference of Balaam's prophecy to an +Israelitish kingdom, disprove also, not only the exclusive reference to +David, but also the exclusive reference to Christ; although they imply +at the same time that the prophecy, in its final reference, has Christ +for its subject. The Israelitish kingdom, indeed, attained to the full +height of its destiny only in and with the Messiah; without the +Messiah, the Israelitish kingdom is a trunk without a head. The +prophecy thus centres in Christ. We are, however, not entitled to +suppose that the prophet himself was not aware of this; on the +contrary, we cannot but assume that Balaam must have known it. It is +with intention that he does not speak of a plurality of Israelitish +kings. The Israelitish kingdom, on the contrary, appears to him in the +from of an _ideal_ king, because he knows that, at some period, it will +find Its full realization in the person of one king. For the same +reason, Moses also describes the prophetic order, in the first +instance, as an _ideal_ prophet. That Balaam knew that the Israelitish +kingdom would centre in the Messiah, is shown by the reference which +his prophecy has to that of dying Jacob, in Gen. xlix. 10, from which +the figure of the sceptre is borrowed. According to the latter passage, +the whole dignity of Judah as [Pg 102] ruler and lord over the whole +heathen world is to centre in one elevated individual--the Shiloh. As +to the letter, Balaam's prophecy falls short of the prophecy to which +it refers, and on which it is founded, in two points. Instead of Judah, +it mentions Israel; and instead of the invincible kingdom which is at +last to centre in the Messiah, it represents the invincible kingdom +only in general. But in both cases, this generality is easily accounted +for by the _external_ direction of Balaam's prophecy: a more definite +tendency was of importance only for those who were _within_. We are +fully entitled to suppose that Balaam himself knew what was contained +in the fundamental passage. To the same result we are led by the +contents of the prophecy itself. Balaam here brings into view an +Israelitish kingdom, all-powerful on earth, and raised absolutely above +the world's power. He does not stop with the victory over Moab and +Edom--even this victory appears to him as an absolute and lasting one, +and hence, essentially different from the temporary submission to +David--but, from the particular, which only serves to exemplify the +idea in reference to the historical relations existing at the present, +he passes on, in ver. 19, to the general, the total overthrow of the +whole hostile world's power. Indeed, such a progress is probably found +even in ver. 17 itself. If at the close of it we read, "And destroyeth +all the sons of the tumult," the word _all_, which is wanting in Jer. +xlviii. 45, indicates that by the sons of the tumult we are to +understand not only the Moabites, but the whole _species_ to which they +belonged, the whole heathen world, whose nature is restlessness, desire +for strife, and the spirit of conquest,--the opposites of meekness and +gentleness, which are the virtues characteristic of the subjects of the +kingdom of God. In ver. 18, the particular is likewise followed by the +general. But while ver. 17 and 18 contain, in each of the two +particular features, a previous short allusion to the general, ver. 19 +most expressly and intentionally reduces the particular to the general. +The absolute elevation above the world's power, attributed by Balaam to +the Israelitish kingdom, leads not only beyond the idea of a single +king of the ordinary stamp, but also beyond that of the entire ordinary +kingdom. + +The objections urged against the Messianic interpretation are based +either on a misunderstanding, or upon a superficial view of the +passage. They who maintain that the judging activity of [Pg 103]the +Messiah is here brought forward in a manner too one-sided, forget that +this part only could here be treated of. As Balaam's discourse formed +the answer to Balak's message--"Come, curse me this people; +peradventure we shall prevail to smite them and drive them out of the +land,"--its natural subject was: _Israel's position towards their +enemies_; and Balaam had expressly stated, in ver. 14, that he would +treat of that subject. Balaam had to do with an enemy of Israel, and +his chief aim was to represent to him the vanity of all his hostile +efforts. The partial view arises, therefore, from the nature of the +case; and only _in that case_ could doubts arise as to the ultimate +reference to the Messiah, if the other view were altogether _denied_. +But such is by no means the case; for the words in ver. 9, "Blessed is +he that blesseth thee," distinctly point it out. They who object to the +Messianic interpretation on the ground that, at the time of Christ, the +Moabites had disappeared from the stage of history, overlook the +circumstance, that the Moabites here, as well as in Is. xi., where the +complete destruction of Moab is likewise assigned to the times of the +Messiah, are viewed only in their character as enemies to the +congregation of God. If the prophecy were fulfilled upon the Moabites, +even at the time when they still existed as a nation, not as Moabites, +but as the enemies of the people of God; then the limit of their +national existence cannot be the limit of the fulfilment of the +prophecy. A case quite analogous is found in Mic. v. 4, 5, where the +prophet characterizes the enemies of the kingdom of God at the time of +the Messiah by the name of Asshur, although it appears, from other +passages, that he distinctly knew that Asshur must, long ere that time, +have disappeared from the scene of history. + +The Messianic character of the prophecy being thus established, it will +be impossible to misunderstand the internal relation between the star +of Balaam and the star of the wise men from the East. The star of +Balaam is the emblem of the kingdom which will rise in Israel. The star +of the Magi is the symbol of the Ruler in whom the kingly power appears +concentrated. The appearance of the star embodying the image of the +prophet, indicates that the last and highest fulfilment of his +prophecies is now to take place. + +[Pg 104] + + MOSES' PROMISE OF THE PROPHET. + (Deut. xviii. 15-19.) + +Ver. 15. "_A prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like +unto me, Jehovah thy God will raise up: unto him ye shall hearken._ +Ver. 16. _According to all that thou desiredst of Jehovah thy God in +Horeb, in the day of the assembly, when thou didst say, I will not hear +any farther the voice of Jehovah my God, and will not see this great +fire any more, that I die not._ Ver. 17. _Then Jehovah said unto me. +They have well spoken._ Ver. 18. _A prophet I will raise them up from +among their brethren, like unto thee; and I will put My words into his +mouth, and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him._ Ver. +19. _And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto My +words which he shall speak in My name, I will require it of him._" + + +If we leave out of view the unfortunate attempts of those who would +understand by the prophet here promised, either Joshua--as is done +by _Abenezra_, _Bechai_, and _von Ammon_ (_Christol_. S. 29)--or +Jeremiah--as is the case in _Baal Hatturim_ and _Jalkut_ out of the +book _Pesikta_, and in _Abarbanel_--we may reduce the expositions of +this passage to three classes. 1. Several consider the "prophet" as +a collective noun, and understand thereby the prophets of all times. +Such was the opinion of _Origen_ (_c. Celsum_ i. 9, Sec. 5, _Mosh._), +of the Arabic translator, and of most of the modern Jewish +interpreters,--especially _Kimchi_, _Alshech_, and _Lipman_ (_Nizachon_ +137); while _Abenezra_ and _Bechai_ conjoin this view with that +according to which Jeremiah is meant. Among recent expositors, it is +defended by _Rosenmueller_, _Vater_, _Baumgarten-Crusius_ (_Bibl. +Theol._ S. 369), and others. 2. Some see in it an exclusive reference +to Christ,--a view which has been held by most interpreters in the +Christian Church, and from the earliest times. It is found as early as +in _Justin Martyr_, _Tertullian_, _Athanasius_, _Eusebius_ (_Demonstr._ +iii. 2, ix. 11), _Lactantius_ (iv. 17), _Augustine_ (_c. Faustum_, xvi. +c. 15, 18, 19), and _Isidore_ of _Pelusium_ (c. iii. ep. 49). It was +held by _Luther_ (t. 3. _Jen. Lat._ f. 123), became the prevailing one +in the Lutheran Church, and was [Pg 105] approved of by most of the +Reformed interpreters. Among its earliest defenders, the most eminent +are _Deyling_ (_Misc._ ii. 175), _Frischmuth_ (in the _Thesaurus +theol.-philol._ i. 354), and _Hasaeus_ (in the _Thes. theol.-philol._ +nov. i. S. 439.) In recent times it has been defended by _Pareau_ (in +the _Inst. interpr. V. T._ p. 506), by _Knapp_ (_Dogm._ ii. 138). 3. +Others have steered a middle course, inasmuch as they consider the +"prophet" to be a collective noun, but, at the same time, maintain that +only by the mission of Christ, in whom the idea of the prophetic order +was perfectly realized, the promise was completely fulfilled. Thus did +_Nicolaus de Lyra_, _Calvin_, several Roman Catholic interpreters, +_Grotius_, _Clericus_, and others. + +In favour of the Messianic interpretation, the authority of tradition +has been, first of all, appealed to. It is true that modern Jewish +interpreters differ from it; but this has been the result of polemical +considerations alone. It can be satisfactorily proved that the +Messianic interpretation was the prevailing one among the older Jews. 1 +Mac. xiv. 41--"Also that the Jews and priests resolved that Simon +should be commander and high priest for ever, until a _credible +prophet_ should arise,"--has been frequently appealed to in proof of +this, but erroneously. For, that by the "credible prophet," _i.e._, one +sufficiently attested by miracles or fulfilled prophecies, we are not +to understand the prophet promised by Moses (as was done by Luther, and +many older expositors who followed him), is shown, partly by the +absence of the article, and partly by the circumstance that a +_credible_ prophet is spoken of. The sense is rather this: Simon and +his family should continue to hold the highest dignity until God +Himself should make another arrangement by a future prophet, as there +was none at that time (comp. Ps. lxxiv. 9: "There is no more any +prophet"), and thus put an end to a state of things which, on the one +hand, was in contradiction to the law, and, on the other, to the +promise,--a state of things unto which they had been led by the force +of circumstances, and which could, at all events, be only a provisional +one. (Compare _J. D. Michaelis_ on that passage.) It is not on the +passage under review that the expectation of a prophet there rests, but +rather on Mal. iii. 1, 23, where a prophet is promised as the precursor +of the Messiah. But the New Testament furnishes sufficient materials +for proving the [Pg 106] Messianic interpretation. The very manner in +which Peter and Stephen quote this passage shows that the Messianic +interpretation was, at that time, the prevailing one. They do not deem +it at all necessary to prove it; they proceed on the supposition of its +being universally acknowledged. It was, no doubt, chiefly our passage +which Philip had in view when, in John i. 46, he said to Nathanael: +[Greek: hon egrapse Mouses en to nomo, heurekamen, Iesoun.] For, +besides the passage under consideration, there is only one other +personal Messianic prophecy in the Pentateuch, namely, Gen. xlix. 10; +and the marks of the Shiloh did not so distinctly appear in Jesus, as +did those of the Prophet. The mention of the person of Moses[1] (which +in Gen. xlix. 10 is less concerned), and of the law, clearly point to +the passage under review. After the feeding of the five thousand, the +people say, in John vi. 14: [Greek: hOti houtos estin alethos ho +prophetes, ho erchomenos eis ton kosmon.] The Messianic interpretation +was, accordingly, not peculiar to a few learned men, but to the whole +people. Even with the Samaritans the Messianic explanation was the +prevailing one,--based, no doubt, upon the tradition which had come to +them from the Jews. The Samaritan woman says, in John iv. 25: [Greek: +oida hoti Messias erchetai, ho legomenos Christos. hoton elthe ekeinos, +anangelei hemin panta.] Now, as the Samaritans acknowledged only the +Pentateuch, there is no other passage than that under review from which +the idea of the Messiah as a divinely enlightened teacher, which is +here expressed, could have been derived. The last words agree in a +remarkable manner with Deut. xviii. 18: "And he shall speak unto them +all that I shall command him." That too great weight, however, must not +be attached to tradition, is shown by John i. 21, and vii. 40, 41; for +these passages clearly prove that there were also many who thought it +possible that Deut. xviii. contained not only the announcement of the +Messiah, but of some distinguished prophet also, besides Him, who +should be His precursor or companion. At the same time, we must not +overlook the circumstance that, in both passages, the people are at a +loss, and are thereby induced to deviate from the prevailing [Pg 107] +opinion. Their uncertainty and wavering, however, is only about the +person. In this they agree, notwithstanding, that in Deut. xviii. they +find the announcement of one distinguished person. + +But the Messianic interpretation may appeal, with still greater +confidence, to the direct evidence of the New Testament. The +declaration of the Lord in John v. 45-47 is here to be noticed above +all: [Greek: Me dokeite hoti ego kategoreso humon pros ton patera. +estin ho kategoron humon, Mouses, eis hon humeis elpikate. Ei gar +episteuete Mouse, episteuete an emoi. peri gar emou ekeinos egrapsen. +Ei de tois ekeinou grammasin ou pisteuete, pos tois emois rhemasi +pisteusete];--It is clear that the Lord must here have had in view a +distinct passage of the Pentateuch,--a clear and definite declaration +of Moses. Dexterous explanations (_Bengel_: _Nunquam non_; _Tholuck_: +The prophetical and typical element implied in the whole form of +worship) are of no apologetic value, and it is not possible summarily, +on such grounds, to call the enemies before the judgment-seat of God. +It was not enough to allude, in a way so general, to what could not be +at once perceptible; greater distinctness and particularity would have +been required. But if a single declaration--a direct Messianic +prophecy--form the question at issue, our passage only can be meant; +for it is the only prophecy of Christ which Moses, on whose person +great stress is laid, uttered in his own name. Moreover, Christ would +more readily expect that the Jews would acknowledge our prophecy to be +fulfilled in Him, than the prophecy in Gen. xlix., which refers rather +to the Messiah in glory. The preceding words of Jesus likewise contain +references to the passage now under consideration. Ver. 38--"And ye +have not His word abiding in you; for whom He hath sent, Him ye believe +not,"--contains an allusion to Deut. xviii. 18: "And I will put My +words into his mouth, and he shall speak unto them all that I shall +command him;" so that whosoever rejects the Ambassador of God, rejects +His word at the same time. John v. 43--"I am come in My Father's name, +and ye receive Me not,"--acquires both its significance and earnestness +from its reference to ver. 19 of our passage: "Whosoever will not +hearken unto My words, which he shall speak in My name, I will require +it of him." _Further_,--The point at issue in this discourse of Christ +is an accusation of the Jews against Christ, [Pg 108] that He had +violated the Mosaic law. (Compare John v. 10-16, and v. 18, which +states the second apparent violation of the law.) It was thus highly +appropriate that Jesus should throw back upon the Jews the charge which +they brought against Him, and should prove to them that it was just +they who were in fatal opposition to the enactments of the Mosaic law. +_Finally_,--It is this same Moses in whom they trusted, whom they +considered as their patron, and whom to please the more, they were so +zealous for his law against Jesus,--it is this same Moses whom Jesus +represents as their accuser. And he is such an accuser as renders every +other superfluous, so that Christ did not need specially to come +forward in such a character. The accusation of Moses must, then, +according to this declaration, and in accordance with what follows, +refer to the cause of Christ. But the passage under review is the only +Messianic prophecy of a _threatening character_ which the Pentateuch +contains,--the only one in which divine judgments are threatened to the +despisers of the Messiah,--the only Mosaic foundation for the +denunciation: "Woe to the people that despiseth thee." If it be denied +that Christ refers to it,--if its Messianic character be not +acknowledged, the first words of Christ are destitute of foundation. +But if it be thus undeniable that Christ declared Himself to be the +prophet of our passage, it must be considered an indirect attack upon +His divinity to say, as _Dr Luecke_ does, that Christ did so by way of +"adaptation to the interpretation of that time." It is just this appeal +which forms the pith of Christ's discourse; it is the real death-blow +inflicted by Him upon His adversaries. If this blow was a mere feint, +His honour is endangered,--which may God forbid!--The Lord further +marks Himself out as the prophet announced by Moses, and that, too, in +a very distinct manner, in John xii. 48-50,--a passage which is +evidently based upon vers. 18 and 19 of the text under review. (Compare +John xiv. 24-31.)--To this we may add, further, that, according to St +Luke xxiv. 44, the Lord Himself explains to His disciples the +prophecies in the Pentateuch concerning Him; and we cannot well expect +that Christ should have made no reference to a passage which one of the +Apostles points out as being of greater weight than all others. This is +done by Peter in Acts iii. 22, 23. The manner in which he quotes it, +entirely excludes the notion that Moses was [Pg 109] speaking of +Christ, only in so far as He belonged to the collective body of the +prophets. Peter says expressly, that Moses and the later prophets +foretold [Greek: tas hemeras tautas]; and the words, [Greek: tou +prophetou ekeinou], show that he did not understand the singular in a +collective sense. The circumstance that Stephen, in Acts vii. 37, +likewise refers the passage to Christ, would not be, in itself, +conclusive, because Stephen's case is different from that of the +Apostles. But we must not overlook the passage Matt. xvii. 5, according +to which, at Christ's transfiguration, a voice was heard from heaven +which said: [Greek: houtos estin ho huios mou ho agapetos, en ho +eudokesa. autou akouete.] As the first part of this declaration is +taken from the Messianic prediction in Is. xlii., so is the second from +the passage under consideration; and, by this use of its words, the +sense is clearly shown. It is a very significant fact, that our passage +is thus connected just with Is. xlii.--the first prophetic announcement +in which it is specially resumed, and in which the prophetic order +itself is the proclaimer of _the_ Prophet. And it is not less +significant that this reference to our text, with which all the other +announcements by Isaiah concerning the Great Prophet to come are so +immediately connected, should precede chapters xlix., l., and lxi. It +thus serves as a commentary upon the declaration of Moses. The +beginning and the outlines receive light from the progress and +completion. + +He, however, who believes in Christ, will, after these details, expect +that internal reasons also should prove the reference to Christ; and +this expectation is fully confirmed. + +That Moses did not intend by the word [Hebrew: nbia] "prophet," to +designate a collective body merely, but that he had at least some +special individual in view, appears, partly, from the word itself being +constantly in the singular, and, partly, from the constant use of the +singular suffixes in reference to it; while, in the case of collective +nouns, it is usual to interchange the singular with the plural. The +force of this argument is abundantly evident in the fact, that not a +few of even non-Messianic interpreters have been thereby compelled to +make some single individual the subject of this prophecy. But we must +hesitate the more to adopt the opinion that [Hebrew: nbia] stands here +simply in the singular instead of the plural, because neither does this +word anywhere else occur as a collective noun, nor is the prophetic +order ever [Pg 110] spoken of in the manner alleged. The expectation of +a Messiah was already at that time current among the people. In what +way, then, could they understand a promise, in which one individual +only was spoken of, except by referring it, at least chiefly, to the +one whom they expected?--_Hofmann_ (_Weissagung und Erfuellung_ i. S. +253) objects that the prophet here spoken of was, in no respect, +different from the _king_ in Deut. xvii. 14-20. But the king mentioned +there is no collective noun. An individual who, in future times, should +first attain to royal dignity, forms there the subject throughout. This +appears especially from ver. 20, where he and his _sons_ are spoken of. +The first king is held up as an example, to show in him what was +applicable to the royal dignity in general. On the other hand, it is in +favour of our view, that, in the verses immediately preceding (vers. +8-13), the priests are, at first, spoken of only in the plural, +although the priestly order had much more of the character of a +collective body than the prophetic order. + +A comparison between this prophecy and that of the Shiloh in Gen. xlix. +10 is likewise in favour of the Messianic interpretation. Even there. +His prophetic office is alluded to in the kingly office. The ruler out +of Judah is the Peaceful One, to whom the nations yield a spontaneous +obedience, an obedience flowing from a pious source,--and He rules not +by compulsion, but by the word. + +The prophet is moreover contrasted with a single individual--with +Moses; and this compels us to refer the prophecy to some distinguished +individual. In ver. 15, Moses promises to the people a prophet _like +unto himself_; and thus also does the Lord say, in ver. 18: "A prophet +_like unto thee_ I will raise up." We cannot for a moment suppose that +this likeness should refer to the prophetic calling only,--to the +words: "I will put My words into his mouth, and he shall speak unto +them all that I shall command him." It must at the same time be implied +in it, that the future prophet shall be as thoroughly competent for his +work, as Moses was for that which was committed to him. If it were not +so, the promise would be deficient in that consolatory and elevating +character which, according to the context, it is evidently intended to +possess. If we were to paraphrase thus, "The Lord will raise up a +prophet, inferior, indeed, to myself, [Pg 111] but yet the bearer of +divine revelations," we should at once perceive how unsuitable it were. +_Further_,--It is quite evident that the "Prophet" here is the main +instrument of divine agency among the covenant-people of the +future,--that He is the real support and anchor of the kingdom of God. +But now the difficulties of the future were, as Moses himself saw, so +great, that gifts in any way short of those of Moses would by no means +have been sufficient. Moses foresees that the spirit of apostasy, +which, even in his time, began to manifest itself, would, in future +times, increase to a fearful extent. (Compare especially Deut. xxxii.) +Against this, ordinary gifts and powers would be of no avail. A +successful and enduring reaction could be brought about only by one who +should be, for the more difficult circumstances of the future, such as +Moses was for his times. But--and this circumstance is of still greater +weight--it forms the task of the future to translate the whole heathen +world into the kingdom of God. In it, Japheth is to dwell in the tents +of Shem; all the nations of the earth are to become partakers in the +blessing resting on Abraham. In the view of such a task, a prophet of +ordinary dimensions, as well as the collective body of such, would +dwindle down to the appearance of a dwarf. They would have been less +than Moses. In Deut. xxxiv. 10, it is said, "There arose not a prophet +since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face;"--a +passage which not only plainly refers to the experience acquired at +that time, but which expresses also what might be expected of that +portion of the future which was more immediately at hand. When Miriam +and Aaron said, "Doth the Lord indeed speak only by Moses, doth He not +speak by us also?" the Lord immediately, Num. xii. 6-8, reproves +their presumption of thinking themselves _like unto Moses_, as +respects the prophetical gift, in these words: "If some one be your +prophet,"--_i.e._, if some one be a prophet according to your way, with +prophets of your class,--"I, the Lord, make myself known unto him in a +vision, in a dream I speak unto him. Not so my servant Moses; in all My +house he is faithful. Mouth to mouth I speak to him, and face to face, +and not in dark speeches; and the appearance of the Lord he beholds." +Moses, as a prophet, is here contrasted with the whole order of +prophets of ordinary gifts. A higher dignity among them is claimed for +him on the ground that not some special mission, [Pg 112] but the care +of the whole economy of the Old Testament, was entrusted to him; +compare Heb. iii. 5. His is a specially close relation to the Lord, a +specially high degree of illumination. The collective body of ordinary +prophets cannot, therefore, by any possibility be the "prophet" who is +_like unto Moses_, as completely equal to the task of the future as +Moses was for that of his day. But the greater the work of the future, +the more necessary is it that the prophet of the future, in order to be +_like unto Moses_, should, in his whole individuality, and in all his +gifts, be far superior to him; compare Heb. iii. 6. + +_Finally_,--The common prophetic order itself refuses the honour of +being the prophet like unto Moses. The prophecies of Isaiah, in +chapters xlii., xlix., l., and lxi., are based upon our passage, and in +all of them the Messiah appears as the prophet [Greek: kat' exochen]. +It is to Him that the mission is entrusted of being the restorer of +Jacob, and the salvation of the Lord, even unto the end of the world. + +Whilst these reasons demand the reference of this prophecy to Christ, +there are, on the other hand, weighty considerations which make it +appear that a reference to the prophetic order of the Old Testament +cannot be excluded. These considerations are, 1. The wider context. +Deuteronomy is distinguished from the preceding books by this, that +provisions are made in it for the time subsequent to the death of +Moses, which was now at hand. From chap. xvii. 8, the magistrates and +powers--the superiors, to whose authority in secular and spiritual +affairs the people shall submit--are introduced. First, the civil +magistrates are brought before them, xvii. 8-20; and then the +ecclesiastical superiors, chap. xviii. Vers. 1-8 treat of the priests +as the ordinary servants of the Lord in spiritual things. Everywhere +else, offices, institutions, orders, are spoken of. In such a +connection, it is not probable that _the prophet_ should be only an +individual; and the less so, because evidently the prophet, as the +organ of the immediate revelation of God, is placed by the side of the +priests, the teachers of the law (compare xvii. 10, 11, 18; xxxiv. 10), +as their corrective, as a thorn in their flesh, to make up for their +inability. It is true that this wider connection is also against those +who would here _exclude_ Christ. If it be certain that Moses already +knew the Messianic promises (compare the remarks on Gen. xlix.), then, +just in this context, the reference [Pg 113] to Christ, the head of the +authorities of the future, could not be wanting. + +2. An exclusive reference to Christ is opposed by the more immediate +context. This connection is twofold. In ver. 15, Moses first utters the +promise in his own name, and here it stands connected with what +precedes. Moses had forbidden to the people the use of all the means by +which those who were given to idolatry endeavoured to penetrate the +boundaries of human knowledge: "Thou shalt not do so," is his language; +for that which these are vainly seeking after in this sinful manner, +shall, in reality, be granted to thee by thy God. Here, it was not only +appropriate to remind them of the Messiah, inasmuch as His appearance, +as being the most perfect revelation of God, satisfies most perfectly +the desire after higher communications; but it would have been very +strange if here, where so suitable an opportunity presented itself, the +founder of the Old Economy had omitted all reference to the founder of +the New Economy, and had limited himself to the intervening, more +imperfect divine communications. But, on the other hand, it would have +been as strange if Moses had taken no notice of them at all,--if, +supposing that a series of false prophets would appear, he had been +satisfied to lay down in chap. xiii. 2 sqq. the distinctive marks of +true and false prophets, and had then, in the passage under review, +referred to the divine revelations to be expected in the distant +future, without noticing those to be expected in the more immediate +future,--thus neglecting to employ means peculiarly fitted for gaining +admission for his exhortations. The word [Hebrew: ntN] in ver. 14 is +especially opposed to such a view. "And thou (shalt) not (do) so, +Jehovah thy God gave thee." _J. D. Michaelis_ says: "What He gave to +the Israelites is specified in vers. 15 and 18." The past tense +suggests the idea of a gift which had already taken its beginning in +the present.--The promise stands in a different connection in ver. 18. +Moses had already given it in his own name in ver. 15. In order to give +it greater authority, he reports, in the following verses, when and how +he had received it from God. It was delivered to him on Sinai, where +God had directly revealed Himself to the people at the promulgation of +the Law, partly in order to strengthen their confidence in Moses the +mediator, and [Pg 114] partly to show them the folly of their desiring +any other mode of divine communication. But the people were seized with +terror before the dreadful majesty of God, and prayed that God would no +longer speak to them directly, but through a mediator, as He had +hitherto done; compare Exod. xx.; Deut. v. The Lord then said to Moses, +"They have well spoken; a prophet," etc. The words here, in ver. 17, +agree very well with Deut. v. 28. The agreement in the words indicates +that _here_ we have an addition to that which is _there_ communicated +regarding what was spoken by God on that occasion. _There_, we are told +only what had an immediate reference to the present--viz., the +appointment of Moses as mediator; _here_, we are told what was at that +time fixed in reference to the future of the people. We cannot fail to +perceive that _here_, if ever, a divine revelation was appropriate +concerning the coming of Christ, who, as the Mediator between God and +man, veiled His Godhead, and in human form, brought God nearer to man. +But we should, at the same time, expect here an allusion to the +inferior messengers of God, who were to precede Him. + +3. The exclusive reference to the Messiah is inconsistent with vers. +20-22. The marks of a false prophet are given in them. If, however, +that which precedes had no reference at all to true prophets, it would +be almost impossible to trace any suitable connection of the thoughts. + +4. If the passage were referred to Christ exclusively, the prophetic +institution would then be without any legitimate authority; and from +the whole character of the Mosaic legislation, as laying the foundation +for the future progress and development of the Theocracy, we could not +well conceive that so important an institution should be deficient in +this point. Moreover, the whole historical existence of the prophetic +order necessarily presupposes such a foundation. Deut. xiii. 2 sq. was +not fitted to afford such a foundation, as it refers, only indirectly +and by implication, to true prophets. + +5. _Finally_,--There are not wanting slight hints in the New Testament +that the reference to Christ is not an exclusive one. These are found +in Luke xi. 50, 51: [Greek: hIna ekzetethe to haima panton ton +propheton ... apo tes geneas tautes ... nai lego humin ekzetethesetai +apo tes geneas tautes.] The emphatic repetition of [Greek: ekzetein] in +that passage shows plainly its connection [Pg 115] with the words, "I +will require it of him," in the passage under review; just as the +[Hebrew: idrw], which, according to 2 Chron. xxiv. 22, the prophet +Zechariah, who was unjustly slain, uttered when dying, alludes not only +to Gen. ix. 5, but to our passage also. But here we must remark that, +in consequence of the sin committed against the Prophet [Greek: kat' +exochen]--Christ--vengeance for the crimes committed against the +inferior prophets is executed at the same time, so that, in the first +instance, _His_ blood is required, and, on this occasion, all the blood +also which was formerly shed. + +But how can these two facts be reconciled:--that Moses had, undeniably, +the Messiah in view, and that, notwithstanding, there seems at the same +time to be a reference to the prophets in general? The simplest mode of +reconciling them is the following. The prophet here is an _ideal_ +person, comprehending all the true prophets who had appeared from Moses +to Christ, including the latter. But Moses does not here speak of the +prophets as a collective body, to which, at the close, Christ also +belonged, as it were, incidentally, and as one among the many,--as +_Calvin_ and other interpreters mentioned above suppose; but rather, +the plurality of prophets is, for this reason only, comprehended by +Moses in an _ideal_ unity, that, on the authority of Gen. xlix. 10, and +by the illumination of the Holy Spirit, he knew that the prophetical +order would, at some future time, centre in a real person,--in Christ. +But there is so much the more of truth in thus viewing the prophetic +order as a whole, since, according to 1 Peter i. 11, the Spirit of +Christ spoke in the prophets. Thus, in a certain sense, Christ is the +only Prophet. + + +Footnote 1: _Lampe_ says: He has preserved to us not only what, in +Paradise, and afterwards to and through the Patriarchs, had been told +about this Redeemer; but he himself, under divine inspiration, has +prophesied of Him,--especially in Deut. xviii. 15-18. + + + + + + + THE ANGEL OF THE LORD IN THE PENTATEUCH, AND THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. + + +The New Testament distinguishes between the hidden God and the revealed +God--the Son or Logos--who is connected with the former by oneness of +nature, and who from everlasting, and even at the creation itself, +filled up the immeasurable distance between the Creator and the +creation;--who has been the Mediator in all God's relations to the +world;--who at all times, and even before He became man in Christ, has +been the light of [Pg 116] the world,--and to whom, specially, was +committed the direction of the economy of the Old Covenant. + +It is evident that this doctrine stands in the closest connection with +the Christology,--that it forms, indeed, its theological foundation and +ground-work. Until the Christology has attained to a knowledge of the +true divinity of the Saviour, its results cannot be otherwise than very +meagre and unsatisfactory. Wheresoever the true state of human nature +is seen in the light of Holy Scripture, no high expectations can be +entertained from a merely human Saviour, although he were endowed even +with as full a measure of the gifts of the Spirit of God as human +nature, in its finite and sinful condition, is able to bear. But unless +there exist in the one divine Being itself, such a distinction of +persons, the divinity of the Saviour cannot be acknowledged, without +endangering the unity of God which the Scriptures so emphatically +teach. If, however, there be such a distinction,--if the Word be indeed +with God, we cannot avoid ascribing to God the desire of revealing +Himself; nor, in such a case, can we conceive that He should content +Himself with inferior forms of revelation, with merely transitory +manifestations. We can recognise in these only preparations, and +preludes of the highest and truest revelation. + +The question then is, whether any insight into this doctrine is to be +found as early as in the Books of the Old Testament. Sound Christian +Theology has discovered the outlines of such a distinction betwixt the +hidden and the revealed God, in many passages of the Old Testament, in +which mention is made of the Angel or Messenger of God. The general +tenor of these passages will be best exemplified by the first among +them,--the narrative of Hagar in Gen. xvi. In ver. 7, we are told that +the Angel of Jehovah found Hagar. In ver. 10, this Angel ascribes to +Himself a divine work, viz., the innumerable increase of Hagar's +posterity. In ver. 11, He says that Jehovah had heard her distress. He +thus asserts of Jehovah what, shortly before. He had said of Himself. +Moreover, in ver. 13, Hagar expresses her astonishment that she had +seen God, and yet had remained alive.--The opinion that these passages +form the Old Testament foundation for the Proemium of St John's Gospel, +has not remained uncontroverted. From the very times of the +Church-fathers it has been asserted by many, that where the [Pg 117] +Angel of the Lord is spoken of, we must not think of a person connected +with God by unity of nature, but of a lower angel, by whom God executes +His commands, and through whom He acts and speaks. The latest defenders +of the view are _Hofmann_ in "_Weissagung und Erfuellung_" and in the +"_Schriftbeweis_" and _Delitzsch_ in his commentary on Genesis.--Others +are of opinion, that the Angel of Jehovah is identical with Jehovah +Himself,--not denoting a person distinct from Him, but only the form in +which He manifests Himself. We shall not here discuss the question in +its whole extent; we shall, in the meantime, consider only what the +principal passages of the Pentateuch and of the adjacent Book of Joshua +teach upon this point, and how far their teaching coincides with, or is +in opposition to, these various views. For it is only to this extent +that the inquiry belongs to our present object. + +In Gen. xvi. 13, these words are of special importance: "_And she +called the name of the Lord who spoke unto her, Thou art a God of +sight: for she said, Do I now_ (properly _here_, in the place where +such a sight was vouchsafed to me) _still see after my seeing?_" "Do I +see" is equivalent to, "Do I live," because death threatened, as it +were, to enter through the eyes. (Compare the expression, "Mine eyes +have seen," in Is. vi.) [Hebrew: rai] is the pausal form for [Hebrew: +rai]; see Job xxxiii. 21, where, however, the accent is on the +penultimate. Then follows ver. 14: _They called the well_, "_Well of +the living sight_;" _i.e._, where a person had a sight of God, and +remained alive. + +Hagar must have been convinced that she had seen God without the +mediation of a created angel; for, otherwise, she could not have +wondered that her life was preserved. Man, entangled by the visible +world, is terrified when he comes in contact with the invisible world, +even with angels. (Compare Dan. viii. 17, 18; Luke ii. 9.) But this +terror rises to fear of death only when man comes into contact with the +Lord Himself. (Compare the remarks on Rev. i. 17.) In Gen. xxxii. 31--a +passage which bears the closest resemblance to the one now under +review, and from which it receives its explanation--it is said: "And +Jacob called the name of the place _Peniel_, for I have seen GOD face +to face, and my life has been preserved." In Exod. xx. 19, the children +of Israel said to Moses, "Speak thou with us, and we will hear; and let +not God speak with us, [Pg 118] lest we die;" compared with Deut. v. +21: "Now therefore why should we die? for this great fire will consume +us; if we hear the voice of the Lord our God any more, then we shall +die." (Compare also Deut. xviii. 16.) And it is Jehovah who, in Exod. +xxxiii. 20, says, "There shall no man see Me and live." Israel's Lord +and God is, in the absolute energy of His nature, a "consuming fire," +Deut. iv. 24. (Compare Deut. ix. 3; Is. xxxiii. 14: "Who among us would +dwell with the devouring fire? who among us would dwell with +everlasting burning?" Heb. xii. 29.) It is not the reflected light, +even in the most exalted creatures, nor the sight of the saints of whom +it is said, "Behold, He puts no trust in His servants, and His angels +He chargeth with folly,"--but the sight of the thrice Holy One, which +makes Isaiah exclaim, "Woe is me, for I am undone; for I am a man of +unclean lips, and dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips." + +So much then is clear,--that the opinion which considers the Angel of +the Lord to be a created angel is overthrown by the first passage where +that angel is mentioned, if the exposition which we have given of vers. +13, 14--an exposition which is now generally received, and which was +last advanced by _Knobel_--be correct. But _Delitzsch_ gives another +exposition: "Thou art a God of sight, _i.e._, one whose all-seeing eye +does not overlook the helpless and destitute, even in the remotest +corner of the wilderness." Against this we remark, that [Hebrew: rai] +never denotes the act of seeing, but the sight itself. "Have I not even +here (even in the desert land of destitution) looked after Him who saw +me?" "Well of the living one who seeth me," _i.e._, of the omnipresent +divine providence. In opposition to this exposition, however, we must +remark, that God is nowhere else in Genesis called the Living One. But +our chief objection is, that these expositions destroy the connection +which so evidently exists between our passage and those already +quoted,--especially Gen. xxxii. 31; Exod. xxxiii. 20. (Compare, +moreover, Jud. xiii. 22: "And Manoah said unto his wife, We shall +surely die, because we have seen GOD.") + +It has been asked. Why should the Logos have appeared first to the +Egyptian maid? But the low condition of Hagar cannot here come into +consideration; for the appearance is in reality intended, not for her, +but for Abraham. Immediately [Pg 119] before, in chap. xii. 7, it is +said, "And the Lord appeared unto Abraham;" and immediately after, in +chap. xvii. 1, "And when Abraham was ninety years old and nine, the +Lord appeared to him;" the appearance of the Lord Himself is mentioned +in order that every thought of a lower angel may be warded off. The +passage under consideration, then, contains the indication, that such +appearances must only be conceived of as manifestations of the Deity +Himself to the world. Just as our passage is preserved from erroneous +interpretations by such passages as Gen. xii. 7, xvii. 1, so these +receive from ours, in return, their most distinct definition. We learn +from this, that wherever appearances of Jehovah are mentioned, we must +conceive of them as effected by the mediation of His Angel. There is no +substantial difference betwixt the passages in which Jehovah Himself is +mentioned, and those in which the Angel of Jehovah is spoken of. They +serve to supplement and to explain one another. The words, "In His +Angel," in chap. xvi. 7, furnish us with the supplement to the +succeeding statement, "And _Jehovah_ appeared to him" (so, _e.g._, also +in chap. xviii. 1), just as the writer in Gen. chap. ii. iii. makes use +of the name Jehovah-Elohim, in order that henceforth every one may +understand that where only Jehovah is spoken of. He is yet personally +identical with Elohim. + +Let us now turn to Gen. xviii. xix. According to _Delitzsch_. all the +three men who appeared to Abraham were "finite spirits made visible." +_Hofmann_ (_Schriftb._ S. 87) says: "Jehovah is present on earth in His +angels, in the two with Lot, as in the three with Abraham." We, +however, hold fast by the view of the ancient Church, that in chap. +xviii. the Logos appeared accompanied by two inferior angels. + +Abraham's regards are, from the very first, involuntarily directed to +one from among the three, and whom he addresses by [Hebrew: advni], O +Lord (xviii. 3); the two others are considered by him as companions +only. But Lot has to do with both equally, and addresses them first by +[Hebrew: advni], my Lords.--In chap. xviii., it is always one only of +the three who speaks; the two others are mute;[1] while in chap. xix. +everything comes from the two [Pg 120] equally. He with whom Abraham +has to do, always, and without exception, speaks as God Himself; while +the two with whom Lot has to do speak at first, as [Greek: leitourgika +pneumata], distinguishing themselves from the Lord who sent them +(compare ver. 13); and it is only after they have thus drawn the line +of separation between themselves and Jehovah, that they appear, in +vers. 21, 22, as speaking in His name. They do so, moreover, only after +Lot, in the anxiety of his heart and in his excitement, had previously +addressed, in them, Him who sent them, and with whom he desired to have +to do as immediately as possible. The scene bears, throughout, a +character of excitement, and is not fitted to afford data for general +conclusions. We cannot infer from it that it was, in general, customary +to address, in the angels, the Lord who sent them, or that the angels +acted in the name of the Lord. In chap. xviii., from ver. 1, where the +narrative begins with the words, "And Jehovah appeared unto him," Moses +always speaks of him with whom Abraham had to do as Jehovah only, +excepting where he introduces the three men. (He with whom Abraham has +to do is called, not fewer than eight times, Jehovah, and six times +[Hebrew: advni].) But in chap. xix., Jehovah, who is concealed behind +the two angels, appears only twice in the expression, "And He said," in +vers. 17, 21, for which ver. 13 suggests the supplement: "through His +two angels."--Even in ver. 16, the narrative distinguishes Jehovah from +the two men,--and all this in an exciting scene which must have +influenced even the narrator. If he who spoke to Abraham was an angel +like the other two, we could scarcely perceive any reason why he should +not have taken part in the mission to Sodom; but if he was the Angel of +the Lord [Greek: kat' exochen], the reason is quite obvious; it would +have been inconsistent with divine propriety.--In chap. xviii. Moses +speaks of three men; it is evidently on [Pg 121] purpose that he avoids +speaking of three angels. In chap. xix. 1, on the contrary, we are at +once told: "And there came the two angels." (Compare ver. 15.) The +reason why in chap. xviii. the use of the name _angels_ is avoided can +only be, because it might easily have led to a misunderstanding, if the +Angel of the Lord had been comprehended in that one designation along +with the two inferior angels, although it would not, in itself, have +been inadmissible.--If we suppose that he, with whom Abraham had to do, +was some created angel, we cannot well understand how, in chap. xviii. +17 seq., the judgment over Sodom could, throughout, be ascribed to him. +_He_ could not, in the name of the Lord, speak of that judgment, as not +he, but the two other angels who went to Sodom, were the instruments of +its execution. Hence it only remains to ascribe the judgment to him as +the _causa principalis_.--If the three angels were equals, it would be +impossible to explain the adversative clause in chap. xviii. 22: "And +the men turned from thence and went to Sodom; _but Abraham stood yet +before the Lord._" Jehovah and the two angels are here contrasted. It +is true that, in the two angels also, it is Jehovah who acts. This is +evident from xviii. 21: "I will go down and see"--where the going down +does not refer to descending to the valley of Jordan, the position of +which was lower (thus _Delitzsch_); but, according to xi. 7, it refers +to a descent from heaven to earth. That Jehovah, though on earth, +should declare His resolution to go down, as in xi. 7, may be explained +from the [Greek: ho on en to ourano] in John iii. 13. God, even when He +is on earth, remains in heaven, and it is thence that He manifests +Himself. Moreover, the words immediately following show in what sense +this going down is to be understood,--that it is not in His own person, +but through the medium of His messengers. The resolution, "I will go +down," is carried into effect by the going down of the angels to Sodom. + +By the Jehovah who, from Jehovah out of heaven, caused brimstone and +fire to rain upon Sodom and Gomorrah (xix. 24), we are not at liberty +to understand the two angels only,[2] but, [Pg 122] agreeably to the +views of sound Christian expositors generally, Christ,--with this +modification, however, that the two angels are to be considered as His +servants, and that what they do is His work also. It is true that the +angels say, in xix. 13, "We will destroy," etc.; but much more +emphatically and frequently does he with whom Abraham has to do, +ascribe the work of destruction to himself. (Compare xviii. 17, where +Jehovah says, "How can I hide from Abraham that thing which I am +doing?" vers. 24-28, etc.) If in xix. 24 there be involved the contrast +between, so to speak, the heavenly and earthly Jehovah,--between the +hidden God and Him who manifests Himself on earth,--then so much the +more must we seek the latter in chap. xviii., as in ver. 22, compared +with ver. 21, the angels are distinctly pointed out as His Messengers. + +_Delitzsch_ asserts that in Heb. xiii. 2, the words, [Greek: elathon +tines xenisantes angelous], clearly indicate that "all three were +finite spirits made visible." This assertion, however, which was long +before made by the Socinian _Crellius_, has been sufficiently refuted +by _Ode de Angelis_, p. 1001. The author of the Epistle to the Hebrews +intends to connect the events which happened to Abraham and Lot +equally--[Greek: tines]; and for this reason he did not go beyond what +was common to them both. Moreover, the Angel of the Lord is likewise +comprehended in the appellation "_angels_," for the name has no +reference to the nature, but to the mission. + + +Footnote 1: The words in ver. 9, "And they said to him," are to be +understood only thus:--that one spoke at the same time in the name of +the others; in the question thus put, it is, in the first instance, +only the general relation of the guests to the hostess that comes into +consideration. That such is the case, appears from ver. 10, where the +use of the plural could not be continued, because a work was on hand +which was peculiar to the one among them, and in which the others were +not equally concerned. If the words in ver. 9 were spoken by all the +three, then the one in ver. 10 ought to have been singled out thus: +"And one from among them thus spoke." On account of the suffix in +[Hebrew: aHriv], "And the door was behind _him_," the [Hebrew: viamr] +in ver. 10 can be referred only to the one, and not to the Jehovah +concealed behind all the three. This shows how the preceding, "And they +said," is to be understood. + +Footnote 2: _Delitzsch_ says: "As the two are really sent to destroy +Sodom and Gomorrah, it is evident that Jehovah, in ver. 24, who causes +brimstone and fire to rain from Jehovah out of heaven, is viewed as +being present in the two on earth, but in such a manner that, +nevertheless, His real judicial throne is in heaven." + + + * * * * * + +Of no less importance and significance is the passage Gen. xxxi. 11 +seq. According to ver. 11, the Angel of God, [Hebrew: mlaK halhiM] +appears toJacob in a dream. In ver. 13, the same person calls himself +the God of Bethel, with reference to the event recorded in chap. +xxviii. 11-22. It cannot be supposed that in chap xxviii. the mediation +of a common angel took place, who, however, had not been expressly +mentioned; for Jehovah is there contrasted with the angels. In ver. 12, +we read: "And behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it." +In ver. 13, there is another sight: "And behold Jehovah stood by him +and said, I am Jehovah, the God of Abraham thy father, and the God of +Isaac; the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy +seed." + +[Pg 123] + +This passage is also in so far of importance, because, +agreeably to what has been remarked in p. 119, it follows from it that +even there, where Jehovah simply is mentioned, the mediation through +His Angel is to be assumed. + + * * * * * + +He with whom Jacob wrestles, in Gen. xxxii. 24, makes himself known as +God, partly by giving him the name Israel, _i.e._, one who wrestles +with God, and partly by bestowing a blessing upon him. Jacob calls the +place _Peniel_, _i.e._, face of God, because he had seen God face to +face, and wonders that his life was preserved. The answer which Elohim +gives here to Jacob's question regarding His name, remarkably coincides +with that which in Judges xiii. 17, 18, is given by _the_ Angel of the +Lord to a similar question. In Hosea xii. 4 (comp. the remarks on this +passage in the Author's "_Genuineness of the Pentateuch_," vol. i. p. +128 ff.), he who wrestled with Jacob is called Elohim, as in Genesis; +but in ver. 5, he is called [Hebrew: mlaK], a word which is more +distinctly defined by the preceding Elohim; so that we can, +accordingly, think only of the Angel of God. As it was certainly not +the intention of the prophet to state a new historical circumstance, +the mention of the Angel must be founded upon the supposition, that all +revelations of God are made by the mediation of His Angel,--a +supposition which we have already proved to have its foundation in the +book of Genesis itself. + +_Delitzsch_ says, S. 256, "Jehovah reveals Himself in the [Hebrew: +mlaK], but just by means of a finite spirit becoming visible, and +therefore in a manner more tolerable to him who occupies a lower place +of communion with God." And similarly, _Hofmann_ expresses himself, S. +335: "It is quite the same thing whether it be said, he saw God, or an +angel, as is testified by Hosea also; and nowhere have we less right to +explain it as if it were an appearance of God the Son, in contrast with +the appearance of an angel." + +But since it is an essentially different matter, whether Jacob wrestled +with God Himself, or, in the first instance, with an ordinary angel +merely, we have, as regards this opinion, only the choice between +accusing the prophet Hosea, who brought in the angel, of an +Euhemerismus, or of raising against sacred history the charge that it +cannot be relied on, because it omitted so important [Pg 124] a +circumstance. The name Israel, by which, "at the same time, the +innermost nature of the covenant-people was fixed, and the divine law +of their history was established" (_Delitzsch_), is, in that case, a +falsehood. Jacob has overcome omnipotence, and, in this one adversary, +all others who might oppose him,--as he is expressly assured in ver. +29: "Thou hast wrestled with God and _with men_, and hast prevailed." +Can God invest a creature with omnipotence? Jacob would certainly not +have gone so cheerfully to meet Esau, if in Him over whom he prevailed +with weeping and supplication, he himself had recognised only an angel, +and not Jehovah the God of hosts, as Hosea, in ver. 6, calls the very +same, of whom in ver. 5 he had spoken as the angel. The consolatory +import of the event for the Church of all times is destroyed, if Jacob +had to do with a created angel only. With such an one, Jacob had not to +reckon on account of his sinfulness, and it is just the humiliating +consciousness of this his sinfulness which forms the point at issue in +his wrestling. Moreover, with such a view, the New Testament Antitype +would be altogether lost. Jesus, the true Israel, does not wrestle with +an angel,--such an one only appears to strengthen Him in His struggle, +Luke xxii. 43--but with God, Heb. v. 7.--The occurrence would, +according to this opinion, furnish a strong argument for the worship of +angels: "He wept and made _supplication_ unto him," Hos. xii. 5 +(compare Deut. iii. 23). The [Greek: agonizesthai en tais proseuchais], +mentioned in Col. iv. 12, in allusion to our passage, would, in that +case, besides God, have the angels for its object. + +If an ordinary angel were here to be understood, we must likewise +believe that an angel is spoken of in Gen. xxxv. 9 seq. For, of the +same angel with whom Jacob wrestled, Hosea says that Jacob found him in +Bethel: "And he wrestled with the Angel and prevailed, he wept and made +supplication unto him; he found him in Bethel, and there he spake with +us." (_Tarnov_: "_Nobiscum qui in lumbis Jacobi haerebamus._") Then, it +must have been a common angel, too, who appeared to Jacob in Gen. +xxviii. 10 ff.; for chap. xxxv. 9, compared with ver. 7, does not allow +us to doubt of the identity of him who appeared on these two occasions. +But such an idea cannot be entertained for a moment; for in chap. +xxviii. 13, Jehovah is contrasted with the angels ascending and +descending on the ladder. + +[Pg 125] + +In Gen. xlviii. 15, 16, we read of Jacob: "_And he blessed Joseph, and +said, The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, and +the God which fed me all my life long unto this day, the Angel which +redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads._" + +In this passage, God first appears, twice in the indefiniteness of His +nature, and then, specially, as the Angel concerned for Jacob and his +posterity. + +By the Angel, we cannot here understand a divine emanation and +messenger, because no permanent character belongs to such; while here +the whole sum of the preservations of Jacob, and of the blessings upon +Ephraim and Manasseh, is derived from the Angel. And just as little can +we thereby understand a created angel, according to the view of +_Hofmann_, who, in S. 87, says: "Jacob here makes mention of God, not +thrice, but twice only; first as the God of his fathers, and then as +the God of his own experience, but in such a way that in ver. 16 he +names, instead of God, the Angel who watched over him; and he does so +for the purpose of denoting the special providence of which he had been +the object." + +The analogy of the threefold blessing of Aaron in Num. vi. 24-26 would +lead us to expect that the name of God should be three times mentioned. +No created angel could in this manner be placed by the side of God, or +be introduced as being independent of, and co-ordinate with, Him. Such +an angel can only be meant as is connected with God by oneness of +nature, and whose activity is implied in that of God. The singular +[Hebrew: ibrK] is here of very special significance. It indicates that +the Angel is joined to God by an inseparable oneness, and that his +territory is just as wide as that of Elohim.[1] If by the angel we +understand some created one, we cannot then avoid the startling +inference, that God is, in all His manifestations, bound [Pg 126] +absolutely to the mediation of the lower angels. In the history upon +which Jacob looks back, the inferior angels do not appear at all as +taking any part in all the preservations of Jacob. Twice only are they +mentioned in his whole history,--in chap. xxviii. 12, and xxxii. 2. +_Lastly_,--The angel cannot well be a collective noun; for we nowhere +meet with the _ideal_ person of the angel, as comprehending within +himself a real plurality. (Compare remarks on Ps. xxxiv. 8.) We should +therefore be compelled to think of Jacob's protecting angel. But this, +again, would be in opposition to the fact, that Scripture nowhere says +anything of the guardian angels of any individual. Moreover, it is a +plurality of angels that in xxviii. 12, xxxii. 2, serves for the +protection of Jacob, and we nowhere find the slightest trace of one +inferior angel being attached to Jacob for his protection. + + +Footnote 1: This significance of the singular was pointed out as early +as in the third century by _Novatianus_, who, _de Trinitate_ c. xv. (p. +1016 in _Ode_), says: "So constant is he in mentioning that Angel whom +he had called God, that even at the close of his speech he again +refers, in an emphatic manner, to the same person, by saying, 'God +bless these lads.' For had he intended that some other angel should be +understood, he would have used the plural number in order to comprehend +the two persons. But since, in his blessing, he made use of the +singular, he would have us to understand that God and the Angel are +quite identical." + + + * * * * * + +In Exod. xxiii. 20, 21, Jehovah says to the children of Israel: +"_Behold, I send an angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to +bring thee into the place which I have prepared. Beware of him, and +obey his voice; do not rebel against him, for he will not pardon your +transgressions: for My name is in him._" + +As the people are here told to beware of the Angel, because he will not +pardon their transgressions, so Joshua xxiv. 19 warns them as regards +the most high God: "Ye will not be able to serve Jehovah: for He is a +holy (_i.e._, a glorious, exalted) God; He is a jealous God; He will +not forgive your transgressions nor your sins." The energetic character +of the reaction proceeding from the angel against all violations of His +honour, is founded upon the words, "For My name is in him." By the +"name of God" all His deeds are understood and comprehended, His glory +testified by history, the display and testimony of His nature which +history gives. (Compare the remarks in my commentary on Ps. xxiii. 2, +xlviii. 11, lxxxiii. 17-19, lxxxvi. 11.) "My name is him;" _i.e._, +according to Calvin, "My glory and majesty dwell in him." Compare here +what in the New Testament is said of Christ: [Greek: ha gar an ekeinos +poie, tauta kai ho huios homoios poiei], John v. 19; [Greek: hina +pantes timosi ton huion kathos timosi ton patera], John v. 23; [Greek: +ego kai ho pater hen esmen], John x. 30; [Greek: hina gnote kai +pisteusete hoti en emoi ho pater kago en auto], [Pg 127] John x. 38; +[Greek: hou pisteueis hoti ego en to patri kai ho pater en emoi esti], +John xiv. 10; [Greek: kathos su pater en emoi kago en soi], John xvii. +21; [Greek: en auto katoikei pan to pleroma tes theotetos somatikos], +Col. ii. 9.--It is impossible that the name of God could be +communicated to any other, Is. xlii. 8. The name of God can dwell in +Him only, who is originally of the same nature with God. + + * * * * * + +After Israel had contracted guilt by the worship of the golden calf. He +who had hitherto led them--Jehovah = the Angel of Jehovah--says, in +Exod. xxxii. 34, that He would no more lead them Himself, but send +before them His Angel, [Hebrew: mlaki]: "_For I_ (myself) _will not go +up in the midst of thee, for thou art a stiff-necked people, lest I +consume thee in the way_;" xxxiii. 3, compared with xxiii. 21. The +people are quite inconsolable on account of this sad intelligence, ver. +4. + +The threatening of the Lord becomes unintelligible, and the grief of +the people incomprehensible, if by the Angel in chap. xxiii. an +ordinary angel be understood. But everything becomes clear and +intelligible, if we admit that in chap. xxiii. there is an allusion to +the Angel of the Lord [Greek: kat' exochen], who is connected with Him +by oneness of nature, and who, because the name of God is in Him, is as +zealous as Himself in inflicting punishment as well as in bestowing +salvation; whilst in chap. xxxii. 34, the allusion is to an inferior +angel, who is added to the highest revealer of God as His companion and +messenger, and who appears in the Book of Daniel under the name of +Gabriel, while the Angel of the Lord appears under the name of Michael. + +On account of the sincere repentance of the people, and the +intercession of Moses, the Lord revokes the threatening, and says in +xxxiii. 14, "My face shall go." But Moses said unto Him, "If Thy face +go not, carry us not up hence." + +That [Hebrew: pniM], _face_, signifies here the _person_, is granted by +_Gesenius_: "The face of some one means often his personal +presence,--himself in his own person." A similar use of the word occurs +in 2 Sam. xvii. 11: "Thy face go to battle" (_Michaelis_: "Thou thyself +be present, not some commander only"); and in Deut. iv. 37, where +[Hebrew: bpniv] means _in_, or _with_, _his personal presence_: "He +[Pg 128] brought them out with His face, with His mighty power out of +Egypt." + +The state of things has in xxxiii. 14, 15, evidently become again what +it was in xxiii. 20, 21. The face of the Lord in the former passage, is +the Angel of the Lord in the latter. Hence, we cannot here admit the +idea of some inferior angel; we can think only of that Angel who is +connected with the Lord by oneness of nature. + +The connection between the face of the Lord in xxxiii. 14, 15, and the +Angel in whom is the name of the Lord, in xxiii., becomes still more +evident by Is. lxiii. 8, 9: "And He (Jehovah) became their Saviour. In +all their affliction (they were) not afflicted, and the Angel of His +face saved them; in His love and in His pity He redeemed them, and He +bore and carried them all the days of old." The Angel of the face, in +this text, is an expression which, by its very darkness, points back to +some fundamental passage--a passage, too, in the Pentateuch--as facts +are alluded to, of which the authentic report is given in that book. +The expression, "Angel of the face," arose from a combination of Exod. +xxiii. 20--from which the "Angel" is taken--and Exod. xxxiii. 14, +whence he took the "face." To explain "Angel of the face" by "the angel +who sees His face," as several have done, would give an inadequate +meaning; for by the whole context, an expression is demanded which +would elevate the angel to the height of God. Now, as in Exod. xxxiii. +14, "the face of Jehovah" is tantamount to "Jehovah in His own person," +the Angel of the face can be none other than He in whom Jehovah +appeal's personally, in contrast with inferior created angels. The +Angel of the face is the Angel in whom is the name of the Lord. + + * * * * * + +When Joshua was standing with the army before Jericho, in a state of +despondency at the sight of the strongly fortified city, a man appeared +to him, with his sword drawn; and when he was asked by Joshua, "Art +thou for us or for our adversaries?" he answers, in chap. v. 14, "Nay, +for I am the Captain of the host of Jehovah, [Hebrew: wr cba ihvh], now +I have come." This Captain claims for himself divine honour, in ver. +15, precisely in the same manner as the Angel of Jehovah in Exod. iii., +by commanding [Pg 129] Joshua to put off his shoes, because the place +on which he stood was holy. In chap. vi. 2 he is called Jehovah. For it +is evident that we are not to think of another divine revelation there +given to Joshua in any other way--as some interpreters suppose; +because, in that case, the appearance of the Captain, who only now +gives command to Joshua, would have been without an object. In chap. v. +the directions would be wanting; in chap. vi. we should have no report +of the appearance. + +There can be no doubt that, by the host of the Lord, the heavenly host +is to be understood; and _Hofmann_ (S. 291) has not done well in +reviving the opinion of some older expositors (_Calvin_, _Masius_) +which has been long ago refuted, viz., that the host of the Lord is +"Israel standing at the beginning of his warfare," and in asserting +that the prince of this host is some inferior angel. The Israelites +cannot be the host of the Lord, that explanation is excluded by the +comparison with the host of the Lord mentioned at the very threshold of +revelation, in Gen. ii. 1; that which is commonly (Gen. xxxii. 2; 1 +Kings xxii. 19; Neh. ix. 6; Ps. ciii. 21, cxlviii. 2, compared with 2 +Kings vi. 27) so called, infinitely surpasses the earthly one in glory, +and of it the Lord has the name JEHOVAH ZEBAOTH. It is only in two +isolated passages of the Pentateuch that the appellation which properly +belongs to the heavenly hosts of God is transferred to the earthly +ones; and that is done in order to point out their correspondence, and +thereby to elevate the mind. In the first of these passages, Exod. vii. +4, the "host of the Lord" is not spoken of absolutely, but it is +expressly said what host is intended: "And I bring forth My host. My +people, the children of Israel." The second passage, in Exod. xii. 41, +is similarly qualified, and refers to the first. According to this view +of _Hofmann_, the words, "now I have come," are quite inexplicable.[1] +The Captain of the host of the Lord expresses Himself in such a manner +as if, by His coming, everything were accomplished. But if he was only +the commander of Israel--an inferior [Pg 130] angel--his coming was no +guarantee for success, for his limited power might be checked by a +higher one. But if the Captain of the host of Jehovah be the Prince of +angels, we cannot by any means refer the divine honour which He demands +and receives, to Him who sent Him, in contrast with Him who is sent; +the higher the dignity, the more necessary is the limitation. If the +honour be ascribed to Him, He must be a partaker of a divine nature. + +Jesus not at all indistinctly designates Himself as the Captain of the +Lord's host spoken of in our passage, in Matt. xxvi. 53: [Greek: E +dokeis hoti ou dunamai arti parakalesai ton patera mou, kai parastesei +moi pleious e dodeka legeonas angelon]; This passage alone would be +sufficient to refute the view which conceives of the Angel of the Lord +as a mere emanation and messenger. It also overthrows the opinion that +he is an inferior angel, inasmuch as the Angel of the Lord here appears +as raised above all inferior angels. + +Thus there existed, even in the time of Moses, the most important +foundation for the doctrine concerning Christ. He who knows the general +relation which the Pentateuch bears to the later development of +doctrine, will, _a priori_, think it impossible that it should have +been otherwise; and, instead of neglecting these small beginnings, +appearing, as it were, in the shape of germs, he will cultivate them +with love and care. + +It is only at a late period, in Malachi iii. 1, that the doctrine of +the Angel of the Lord is expressly brought into connection with that of +Christ. But a knowledge of the divine nature of the Messiah is found at +a much earlier period; and we can certainly not suppose that the +doctrine of the Angel of the Lord, and that of a truly divine Saviour, +should have existed by the side of each other, and yet that manifold +forebodings regarding their close obvious connection should not have +been awakened in the mind. + + +Footnote 1: _Seb. Schmid_ says: "I have now come with my heavenly host +to attack the Canaanites, and to help thee and thy people. Be thou of +good cheer; prepare thyself for war along with me, and I will now +explain to thee in what manner thou must carry it on;" vi. 2 ff. + + + + + + + THE PROMISE IN 2 SAMUEL, CHAP. VII. + + +The Messianic prophecy, as we have seen, began at a time long anterior +to that of David. Even in Genesis, we perceived [Pg 131] it, increasing +more and more in distinctness. There is at first only the general +promise that the seed of the woman should obtain the victory over the +kingdom of the evil one;--then, that the salvation should come through +the descendants of Shem;--then, from among them Abraham is marked +out,--of his sons, Isaac,--from among his sons, Jacob,--and from +among the twelve sons of Jacob, Judah is singled out as the bearer +of dominion, and marked out as the person from whom, at length, should +proceed the glorious King whose peaceful dominion is destined to extend +over all the nations of the earth. + +Whilst, hitherto, the tribe only had been pointed out, in the midst of +which an imperishable dominion should be established, and out of which +the Saviour was at last to come,--under David another feature was added +by the determination of the _family_. This was done in the prophetic +announcement which the Lord, by the prophet Nathan, addressed in 2 Sam. +vii. to David, when he had adopted the resolution of building to the +Lord a fixed temple, instead of the moveable tabernacle which had +hitherto been used. + +Ver. 1. "_And it happened when the king sat in his house, and the Lord +had given him rest from all his enemies round about._ Ver. 2. _And the +king said unto Nathan the prophet, See, now, I dwell in a house of +cedar, and the ark of God dwelleth within curtains._" + +The question here is:--To what time is the occurrence to be assigned? +The answer is:--To the time not long after David had obtained the +dominion over all Israel. To this opinion we are led by the position +which the report occupies in the Books both of Chronicles and of +Samuel. The supposition is so very probable, that nothing short of very +cogent reasons could induce us to abandon it. A narrative, in which +David's accession to the throne is followed by the conquest of +Jerusalem, and this by the building of his palace,--and this again by +the bringing up of the ark of the covenant,--and this, still further, +by David's anxiety for a fixed sanctuary, evidently agrees with the +order in which these events followed each other. We can the less +entertain any doubt concerning it, because we are expressly told, that +the wars and victories of David reported in chap. viii. were subsequent +to what is reported in chap. vii.; compare viii. 1. That the conquest +of Jerusalem and the [Pg 132] building of his palace belong to the +period soon after his accession to the throne, is both evident, and +generally acknowledged; but that David's anxiety for a fixed sanctuary +was awakened in him soon after the completion of his palace, is +expressly stated in 1 Chron. xvii. 1. Instead of [Hebrew: ki iwb] in +ver. 1 of our passage, we find there [Hebrew: kawr iwb], "when," or "as +soon as" he dwelt. We cannot well think of any later period, as David's +zeal for the building of the house of the Lord was closely connected +with the question regarding the duration of his own family, which was +so readily suggested by the fate of Saul, and which must necessarily +have engaged his attention at a very early period. If he obtained the +divine sanction for the building of the temple, that question also was +thereby answered. _Further_,--It appears from ver. 12, that Solomon was +not yet born at the time when David received the promise. The +circumstance, too, that there are so many allusions to it in the Psalms +of David, proves that this promise had been already given to him at the +beginning of his reign.--One circumstance only has been adduced against +assigning to it so early a period, viz., that the event is here placed +within the time when the Lord had given David rest from all his enemies +round about. But there is not one word which affirms that this rest was +a definitive one; while, on the other hand, the contrary is alluded to +by the circumstance that the Books of Chronicles make no mention at all +of David's rest from his enemies, and is distinctly indicated by viii. +1. In 1 Chron. xiv. 17 it is said, after the account of David's victory +over the Philistines (on which event the Books of Samuel report +previous to chap. vii., viz. in v. 17-25): "And the name of David went +out into all lands, and the Lord gave his fear upon all the heathen." +This previous result was so much the more important, as the Philistines +had been, for a long time, the most dangerous enemies of Israel, and +David himself may have considered it as a definitive one,--may have +imagined this truce to be a peace,--may not have been aware that he had +yet to bear the burden of the most trying wars. Looking, then, to the +passage in Deut. xii. 10, 11--in which the choice of a place where the +Lord will cause His name to dwell, is connected with the giving of rest +from all enemies round about--he might think that the present +circumstance formed a call upon him to erect a sanctuary to [Pg 133] +the Lord.[1] But the issue (compare viii. 1) soon made it manifest to +him, that the supposition on which he proceeded was an erroneous one. +We have a tacit correction of David's mistake in 1 Kings v. 17, 18: +"Thou knowest how that David my father could not build an house unto +the name of the Lord his God, for the wars with which they surrounded +him, until the Lord put them under the soles of his feet. And now the +Lord my God hath given me rest on every side, and there is neither +adversary nor evil occurrence." It was only under Solomon that the +period provided for by Deut. xii. really arrived. (Compare 1 Chron. +xxii. 19.) + +Ver. 3. "_And Nathan said to the king, Go, do all that is in thine +heart, for the Lord is with thee._ Ver. 4. _And it came to pass that +night that the word of the Lord came unto Nathan, saying:_ Ver. 5. _Go +and tell My servant David, Thus saith the Lord, Shalt thou build Me a +house to dwell in?_" + +In ver. 5 the question is stated, the answer to which is the point at +issue. In ver. 6, the exposition begins with [Hebrew: ki], which refers +to the whole of it, and not merely to the clause which immediately +follows. Hitherto, the Lord has not had a fixed temple (ver. 6), nor +has any such been wished for or desired by Him (ver. 7). By the grace +of God, David has been raised to be ruler over the people (ver. 8), and +the Lord has helped him gloriously (ver. 9), and, through him, His +people (ver. 10). This mercy the Lord had already bestowed upon him, +that, since the beginning of the period of the Judges, it was through +him, first of all, that the people had obtained rest from all their +enemies round about; but to this favour the Lord is now adding another, +by announcing to him that He would make him an house (ver. 11). When +David dies, his seed shall occupy the throne, and be established in the +kingdom (ver. 12). It is he who shall build an house for the Lord who +will establish for ever the throne of his kingdom, vers. 13-16. + +David's zeal for the house of the Lord is thus acknowledged (compare +Ps. cxxxii. 1), and so also is the correctness of his supposition, that +the building of the fixed temple is intimately [Pg 134] connected with +his being raised to be ruler over Israel. The first answer of Nathan +remains correct; it is only more distinctly and closely defined and +modified. David is to build the house,--not, however, in his own +person, but in his seed, and after the Lord has begun to fulfil His +promise, that He would make him an house. + +But why was it that David himself was not permitted to build the house +to the Lord? In this passage we obtain no answer. In Solomon's message +to Hiram (1 Kings v. 17) an external reason only is stated--viz., that, +by his numerous wars, David had been prevented from building a house to +the Lord. There was a deeper reason than this; but the heathen could +not comprehend it. It is contained in the words which, according to 1 +Chron. xxviii. 3, David spoke to the people: "And God said unto me, +Thou shalt not build an house for My name, because thou hast been a man +of war, and hast shed blood;" and in the words of the Lord which, +according to 1 Chron. xxii. 8, David repeated to Solomon: "Thou hast +shed blood abundantly, and hast made great wars; thou shalt not build +an house unto My name, because thou hast shed much blood upon the earth +in My sight,"--a disclosure which David could have obtained only at a +later period, and as a supplement to the divine communication which had +been made to him through Nathan. For it is only after the revelation in +2 Sam. vii. that David had to carry on his most bloody wars. We must +not, by any means, entertain the idea that these words express anything +_blameworthy_ in David, and that the permission to build the temple was +refused to him on account of his personal unworthiness. David stood in +a closer relation to God than did Solomon. His wars were wars of the +Lord, 1 Sam. xxv. 28. It is in this light that David himself regarded +them; and that he was conscious of his being divinely commissioned for +them, is seen, _e.g._, from Ps. xviii.: it was the Lord who taught his +hands to war (ver. 35) and who gave him vengeance, and subdued the +people unto him, ver. 48. The passages 1 Chron. xxii. 8, xxvii. 3, do +not, in themselves, contain one reproachful word against David. On the +contrary, the words, _in My sight_, in the former of these passages, +rather lead us to suppose that David is, in his wars, to be considered +only as a servant of the Lord (_Michaelis_: "_In My sight_--_i.e._, who +am, as it were, the [Pg 135] highest judge, and the commander"). The +reason is rather of a symbolical character. How necessary soever, under +certain conditions, war may be for the kingdom of God,--as indeed the +Saviour also says that (in the first instance) He had not come to send +peace, but a sword,--it is after all only something accidental, and +rendered needful by human corruption. The real nature of the kingdom of +God is peace. Even in the Old Testament, the Lord of the Church appears +as the Prince of Peace, Is. ix. 5. According to Luke ix. 56, the Son of +Man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them. In order to +impress upon the mind this view of the nature and aim of the Church, +the Temple--the symbol of the Church--must not be built by David the +man of war, but by Solomon, the peaceful, the man of rest, 1 Chron. +xxii. 9. + +Ver. 6. "_For I have not dwelt in any house from the day that I brought +up the children of Israel out of Egypt even to this day, and have +walked in a tent and in a tabernacle._ Ver. 7. _In all that I have +walked among the children of Israel, have I spoken one word with any of +the tribes of Israel whom I commanded to feed My people Israel, saying. +Why build ye Me not a house of cedar?_" + +According to several interpreters, these words are intended as a +consolation to David for the delay in building the temple, and +convey this sense: that God did not require the temple, that the +building of it was of no consequence,--as sufficiently appears from +the circumstance of His not having hitherto urged it. But such a view +would ill agree with the great importance which David continues, even +afterwards, to ascribe to the building of the temple,--with the grand +efforts of Solomon towards it,--and with the exulting words which are +uttered by the latter, in 1 Kings viii. 13, after the work has been +accomplished: "I have built Thee an house to dwell in, a settled place +for Thee to abide in for ever." A comparison of 1 Kings viii. 16-20 +furnishes us with a clue to the right interpretation. In that passage, +the period before David is contrasted with that during which David +lived. (Compare the [Hebrew: eth], _now_, in ver. 8.) Hitherto, +everything in the government had borne a provisional character, and, +hence, the sanctuary also. But now that, after the unsettled state of +things under [Pg 136] the Judges and Saul, _the definitive government_ +has been called into existence with David, to whom the Lord will make +an house, the _definitive sanctuary_ also shall be built,--only, that +it shall not be founded by David, but by his seed.[2] The words, _I +have walked_--literally, I have been walking, I have continued +walking--_in a tent and in a tabernacle_, indicate not only that the +Lord dwelt in a portable sanctuary, but also, that the place of this +sanctuary was oftentimes changed, from one station to another in the +wilderness, then to Gilgal, Shiloh, Nob and Gibeon. This changing of +the place of the tabernacle is still more distinctly pointed out, in +the parallel passage in 1 Chron. xvii. 5: "And I have been from tent to +tent, from tabernacle to tabernacle;" _i.e._, I went from one tent into +the other, _e.g._, from the dwelling-place of Shiloh into that of +Nob,--a mode of expression which pays no attention to the circumstance +whether or not the tent was materially the same. Instead of, "With any +of the tribes of Israel," we find in 1 Chron. xvii. 6, "With any of the +judges of Israel,"--a parallel passage which very well explains the +main text. The tribes come into consideration through their judges, +who, in the Book of Judges, always appear as judges in Israel, and +procured a temporary [Pg 137] superiority to the tribe from which +they proceeded.[3] The [Hebrew: wbTi], which has been doubted, is +rendered certain by 1 Kings viii. 16. (Compare, moreover, Ps. lxxviii. +67, 68.)--The reason why no such word came to any one of these +tribes is, that the superiority of none of them was permanent; the +election of all of them was merely temporary. The continuance of the +tent-temple was intended to indicate that the state of things was, in +general, provisional only, and that a new order of things was at hand. +The creation of a settled sanctuary was to be coincident with the +establishment of an abiding kingdom, to which the grace of God was +vouchsafed. It was an evil omen for Saul that the erection of a fixed +sanctuary was not even mooted under him. The close of Ps. lxxviii. +likewise points out the intimate connection of the kingdom and the +sanctuary. + +Ver. 8. "_And now, thus shalt thou say unto David My servant: Thus +saith the Lord, of hosts, I took thee from the sheep-cote,_[4] _from +behind the sheep, to be ruler over My people, over Israel._ Ver. 9. +_And I was with thee whithersoever thou wentest, and have cut off all +thine enemies from before thee, and have made thee a great name like +unto the name of the great men that are upon the earth._ Ver. 10. _And +I gave room unto My people Israel, and planted them, and they dwell in +their place, and they shall no more be frightened, and the sons of +wickedness shall afflict them no more as heretofore._" + +Seven divine benefits are here enumerated,--one in ver. 8, which forms +the foundation of all the others, and three in each of the two +following verses,--in ver. 9, what the Lord has given to David,--in +ver. 10, what, through him, He has given to Israel. These benefits are +so many symptoms that a _definitive_ order of things has now taken the +place of the _provisional_ one, and that, hence, the moveable sanctuary +will now be soon followed by the settled one. In the first member of +ver. 10, there is an enumeration of the benefits which the [Pg 138] +people have already received through David; in the second and third +members, an enumeration of the benefits to be constantly bestowed upon +them through him. A commentary upon it is formed by Ps. lxxxix. 22-24, +in which it is said of David: "With whom My hand shall be continually. +Mine arm also shall strengthen him. The enemy shall not exact upon him, +nor the son of wickedness afflict him. And I crush his enemies before +him, and will smite those who hate him." + +Ver. 11. "_And since the day that I commanded judges over My people +Israel, I have given thee rest from all thine enemies. And the Lord +telleth thee, that the Lord will make thee an house._" + +The first part of this verse comprehends all the benefits formerly +enumerated;--the second adds another, which, however, is closely +connected with the previous ones. The circumstance that the Lord first +gave rest to David, and, in him, to the people, was a sign of his +election which could not but manifest itself afterwards in the care for +his house. The promise, "The Lord will make thee an house," was to +David an answer to prayer, as is shown by Ps. xxi. 3, 5, lxi. 6, +cxxxviii. 3. Even the thought of building the temple was a question put +to the Lord, as to whether He would, in harmony with His past conduct, +give a duration to his house, different from that of the house of Saul. + +Ver. 12. "_And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with +thy fathers, I shall cause thy seed to rise up after thee which shall +proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom._" + +The [Hebrew: hqiM] does not signify the beginning of existence, but the +elevation to the royal dignity. [Hebrew: zre], _seed_, denotes the +posterity, which, however, may consist of one only, or be represented +by a single individual. In the parallel passage, 1 Chron. xvii. 11, the +words run thus: "Thy seed which shall be of thy sons," _i.e._, who +shall be one of thy sons (Luther). The truth of the promise, "I shall +establish his kingdom," became manifest, _e.g._, in the vain +machinations of Adonijah. That the fulfilment of this promise must be +sought in the history of Solomon, in whom the difference between the +house of David and that of Saul first became evident (instead of, "I +establish," in ver. 12, we find, in the second member of ver. 13, "I +establish for ever"), is seen from 1 Kings viii. 20, where Solomon +says, "And the Lord hath performed His word which [Pg 139] He spake; +for I am risen up in the room of David my father, and sit on the throne +of Israel, as the Lord promised." (Compare 1 Kings ii. 12: "And Solomon +sat upon the throne of David his father, and his kingdom was +established greatly.") + +Ver. 13. "_He shall build an house for My name, and I establish the +throne of his kingdom for ever._" + +The general establishment which was spoken of in ver. 12 precedes the +building of the temple; the eternal establishment mentioned in ver. 13 +follows the building of the temple, or is coincident with it. It is +evident, that the first clause of the verse refers, in the first +instance, to the building of the temple which was undertaken by +Solomon. (Compare 1 Kings v. 19, where Solomon says, "Behold, I purpose +to build an house unto the name of the Lord my God, as the Lord spake +unto David my father, saying. Thy son whom I will set upon thy throne +in thy stead, he shall build the house unto My name.") We shall not, +however, be at liberty to confine ourselves to what Solomon, as an +individual, did for the house of the Lord. The building of the house +here goes hand in hand with the eternity of the kingdom. We expect, +therefore, that the question is not about a building of limited +duration. If a building of only a limited duration were meant, such, +surely, might have been erected long ago, even in the period of the +Judges. The contrary, however, is quite distinctly brought out in 1 +Kings viii. 13, where, at the dedication of the temple, Solomon says, +"I have built Thee an house to dwell in, a fixed place for Thee to +abide in _for ever_." If, then, with the eternity of the kingdom of +David's house the eternity of the temple to be built by him be closely +bound up, the destruction of the latter can be only _temporary_, and +the consequence of the apostasy and punishment of the Davidic race,--of +which vers. 14 and 15 treat. Or, if it be definitive, it can concern +the _form_ only. If the building of the temple fall into ruins, it is +only the Davidic race from which its restoration can proceed; the local +relation of the royal palace to the temple prefigured their close +union. Hence, the building of the temple by Zerubbabel was likewise +comprehended in the words, "He shall build an house for My name." It +was impossible that the second temple could be reared otherwise than +under the direction of David's family. But we must go still farther. +The essence of the temple consists in its being a symbol, an outward +[Pg 140] representation of the kingdom of God under Israel. The real +import of our passage then is,--that henceforth the kingdom of David +and the kingdom of God should be closely and inseparably linked +together. As the third phase, therefore, in the fulfilment of our +prophecy, John ii. 19 must come under consideration: [Greek: lusate ton +naon touton, kai en trisin hemerais egero auton]. (Regarding the sense +of this passage, and the symbolical meaning of the tabernacle and +temple, compare "_Dissertations on the Genuineness of the Pent._" vol. +ii. p. 514 ff.) "House of God" is, in ver. 14 of the parallel text, +used of the Church, and in parallelism with "kingdom of God,"--a sense +in which it occurs as early as in Num. xii. 7.[5] This _usus loquendi_ +is quite common in the New Testament; compare 1 Tim. iii. 15; 2 Cor. +vi. 16; Heb. iii. 6. In the first two phases of the temple of Solomon, +the house consists in the first instance of ordinary stones,--although, +even at that time, the _spiritual_ is concealed behind the _material_; +but in its third phase, the material is altogether thrown off, and the +house is entirely spiritual--consisting of living stones, 1 Pet. ii. +5.--That the expression, "for ever," in the second clause of the verse, +is to be taken in its strict and full sense, is proved not only by the +threefold repetition, but also by a comparison with the numerous +secondary passages, in which the duration of the Davidic dominion +appears as absolutely unlimited. In Ps. lxxxix., for example, where the +promise is repeated, "for ever" corresponds with, "as the days of +heaven" in ver. 30,--with "as the sun" in ver. 37,--and with "as the +moon" in ver. 38. The final fulfilment of this promise is pointed out +by the words of the angel to Mary, in Luke i. 32, 33: [Greek: houtos +estai megas] (compare ver. 9 here), [Greek: kai huios hupsistou +klethesetai] (compare ver. 14), [Greek: kai dosei auto kurios ho Theos +ton thronon Dauid tou patros autou. Kai basileusei epi ton oikon Iakob +eis tous aionas, kai tes basileias autou ouk estai telos.] + +Ver. 14. "_And I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to Me. +If he commit sin, I will chastise him with the rod of men, and with the +stripes of the children of men._ Ver. 15. _And My mercy shall not +depart away from him, as I caused it to depart away from Saul, whom I +put away before thee._" + +[Pg 141] + +Wheresoever God is, in the Old Testament, designated as +_Father_, there is a reference to the deepest intensity of His love,--a +love which is similar to that of a father towards his son. (Compare +remarks on Ps. ii. 7.) Sonship to God has this significancy here also, +as is shown by what immediately follows, where, in explanation of it, +the promise of indestructible love is connected with it. But this +relationship, in its highest and closest form, cannot exist betwixt God +and a mere man. It is only when the Davidic family is viewed as +centring in Christ, that the words can acquire their full truth. To +this, the quotation in Heb. i. 5 points: [Greek: Tini gar eipe pote ton +angelon, hUios mou ei su, ego semeron gegenneka se; Kai palin. Ego +esomai auto eis patera, kai autos estai moi eis huion]; The depth of +meaning which is contained in these words appears plainly from their +expansion in Ps. lxxxix. 26: "And I place his hand on the sea, and his +right hand on the rivers. He shall call Me thus: Thou art my Father, my +God, and the rock of my salvation. And I will also make him My +first-born, the highest of the kings of the earth." The sonship +accordingly implies the dominion over the world, which in Ps. ii. 7-9 +appears, indeed, as inseparably connected with it.--If the race of +David commit sin, it shall be chastened with the rods of men, and with +the stripes of the children of men. Ps. xvii. 4 distinctly and +unambiguously designates corrupt actions--walking in the ways of +transgressors--as "the works of men." (Compare 1 Sam. xxiv. 10; Hos. +vi. 7; Job xxxi. 33, xxiii. 12.) Hence, the rods of men, and the +stripes of the children of men, are punishments to which all men are +subject, because they are sinners, and at which no man needs to be +surprised. Grace is not to free the Davidic family from this common lot +of mankind, is not to afford to them the privilege of sinning. The +mitigation only follows in ver. 15, in which the close resumes the +beginning: "I will be a father to him." But this mitigation must not be +misunderstood by being conceived of as referring to the individuals. +Such a conception of it would be opposed to the nature of the thing +itself, would be in opposition to 1 Chron. xxviii. 9, where David says +to Solomon, "If thou seek Him, He will be found of thee; and if thou +forsake Him, He will cast thee off _for ever_:" and would be against +history, which shows that the rebellious members of the Davidic dynasty +were visited with destroying [Pg 142] judgments. The contrast is rather +thus to be understood: sin is to be visited upon the individuals, while +the grace abides continually upon the race,--so that the divine promise +is raised to an absolute one. The commentary on it is furnished by Ps. +lxxxix. 31 seq.: "If his children forsake My law, and walk not in My +judgments ... then I will visit their transgression with the rod, and +their iniquity with stripes. But My loving-kindness will I not withdraw +from him, nor will I break My faithfulness."--The words from "if he +commit sin" to "children of men" are awanting in the parallel passage. +This omission is intended to make the continuance of the mercy appear +the more distinctly, and to show, as indeed is the case, that the main +stress is to be laid upon it. We cannot for a moment conceive that any +unworthy motive prompted this omission; for the Chronicles were written +at a time when the chastening rod of the Lord had already fallen +heavily upon the Davidic race. There would have been stronger reasons +for adding the words than for omitting them, inasmuch as, under these +circumstances, they were full of consolation. It is just upon these +words that the penman of Ps. lxxiv. dwells at particular length. + +Ver. 16. "_And thine house and thy kingdom shall be sure for ever +before thee, thy throne shall be firm for ever._" + +The extent to which this prophecy of Nathan bears the character of a +fundamental one, appears from the circumstance that almost every word +of the verse under review has called forth an echo in later times. +[Hebrew: namN] _sure_, _certain_, _constant_, occurs again in Ps. +lxxxix. 29, compared with ver. 38, and in Is. lv. 3. The _sure_ +(_constant_) mercies of David, spoken of in the last of these passages, +shall be bestowed upon the people of the covenant, in the coming of +Christ, by which the perpetuity of the house of David was most fully +manifested. The [Hebrew: nkvN], _constant_, _firm_, occurs in Mic. iv. +1, and the [Hebrew: levlM], _for ever_, in Ps. lxxii. 17, lxxxix. 37, +xlv. 7, and cx. 4. The saying of the people in John xii. 34, [Greek: +hemeis ekousamen ek tou nomou hoti ho Christos menei eis ton aiona], +refers, in the first instance, to our passage, and all the other texts +quoted may be considered as a commentary. + +It is certainly not the result of mere accident, that the twelve verses +of Nathan's prophecy are divided into two sections of seven and of five +verses respectively, and that the former again is subdivided into +sections of three and four verses. Its closing [Pg 143] words, "The +Lord will make thee an house," are farther expanded in vers. 12-16. + +We subjoin to the exposition of Nathan's prophecy, that of David's +prayer of thanks, because, by means of the thanks, the promise itself +is more clearly brought out. + +The Lord has done great things for His servant in his low estate, and +has promised things still more glorious, vers. 18-21. By doing such +glorious things to His servant, He has manifested Himself as a faithful +God, in harmony with His revelations in ancient times, vers. 22-24. The +thanksgivings for the promise are followed in vers. 25-29 by a prayer +for its fulfilment, intermingled with expressions of hope. + +As the promise was expressed in twelve verses, so are the thanks. These +twelve verses are again divided into seven and five, and the seven into +four and three. + +The name of Jehovah occurs twelve times. Ten times is the address +directed to Jehovah. Once He is addressed by the simple name of +Jehovah, six times by that of Adonai Jehovah, twice by that of Jehovah +Elohim, and once by that of Jehovah Zebaoth. The address, Adonai +Jehovah, occurs at the beginning and the close. The third division +first takes up the name of God which is used in the second, and +returns, at the close, to that which is used in the first division. In +the parallel passage in Chronicles, Jehovah occurs seven times, and +Elohim three times.--Ten times the servant of the Lord is mentioned in +David's prayer, and seven times, the house of David. The servant of the +Lord occurs three times in vers. 18-21, and seven times in vers. 25-29; +the house of David twice in 18-21, and five times in vers. 25-29. In +vers. 22-24, where the manifestation of the mercies to David are +brought into connection with the glorious revelations of God in ancient +times, neither the servant nor the house is mentioned. + +Ver. 18. "_And King David came and sat before the Lord, and said: Who +am I, Lord Jehovah, and what my house_ (literally, _who_ my house,--the +house being conceived of as an _ideal_ person), _that Thou hast brought +me hitherto?_" + +Moses also was sitting in long-continued prayer, Exod. xvii. 12. David, +as a true descendant of Jacob (Gen. xxxii. 10), acknowledges his +unworthiness of the great mercies bestowed upon him. The comparison of +Ps. cxliv. 3 is still more striking [Pg 144] than that of Ps. viii. 5; +for, in the former, the words, "Lord, what is man, that Thou takest +knowledge of him; the son of mortal man, that Thou hast regard to him?" +were uttered in praise of the adorable mercy which the Lord had shown +to his house. + +Ver. 19. "_And this is yet too little in Thy sight, Lord Jehovah; and +Thou speakest also to the house of Thy servant of things far distant; +and this is the law of man, Lord Jehovah._" + +The word [Hebrew: tvrh] has only the signification of _law_. Gesenius, +in assigning to it the signification of _mos_, _consuetudo_, has no +other warrant for it than our passage. The law of any one is the law +which has been given for him, or which concerns him; compare Lev. vi. 2 +(9): "This is the law of the burnt-offering;" Lev. xiii. 7: "This is +the law for her that hath born;" Lev. xiv. 2: "This shall be the law of +the leper," etc. Hence the law of man can only be the law regulating +the conduct of man. Man is commanded in the law: "Thou shalt love thy +neighbour as thyself;" compare Mic. vi. 8: "He hath showed, O man, what +is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee but to do justice, and +to _love kindness_, and to walk humbly before thy God?" The fact that +God should, in His conduct towards poor mortals, follow the rule which +He hath given to men for their conduct towards one another, and that He +shows Himself to be full of mercy and love, cannot but fill him who +knows God and himself with adoring wonder. The words in Ps. xviii. 36 +are parallel: "Thou givest me the shield of Thy salvation, and Thy +right hand holdeth me up, and Thy meekness (the parallel passage in 2 +Sam. has: 'Thy being low') maketh me great." In the parallel passage in +Chronicles the words are these: "And Thou hast regarded me according to +the law of man (concerning [Hebrew: tvr] = [Hebrew: tvrh] compare +remarks on Song of Sol. i. 10), Thou height, Jehovah God." The +essential agreement of the sense of the parallel passage with that of +the fundamental passage, may be applied as a test to prove the +correctness of our exposition. "To regard some one" is used for "to +visit some one," "to have intercourse with some one;" compare 2 Sam. +iii. 13, xiii. 5, xiv. 24, 28; 2 Kings viii. 29. The words, "Thou +height" (God is represented as personified height in Ps. xcii. 9: "And +Thou art a height for evermore, O Lord"), bring out still more +prominently the contrast with human lowness, which was already implied +in the names of [Pg 145] God, Adonai Jehovah, and Jehovah Elohim, and +serves therefore to show still more distinctly the condescension of +God, whose revelation on this occasion was a prelude to [Greek: ho +logos sarx egeneto]. _Luther_ has introduced into the main text a +direct allusion to the incarnation of God in Christ. He translates, +"This is the manner of a man who is God the Lord;" and adds, in a +marginal note, the following remark: "This means, Thou speakest to me +of such an eternal kingdom, in which no one can be king unless he be +God and man at the same time, because he is to be my son and yet a king +for evermore--which belongs to God alone." But this single +circumstance is sufficient to overthrow this view:--that in the +preceding, as well as in the subsequent context, Adonai Jehovah is +always used in the vocative sense. + +Ver. 20. "_And what shall David say more unto Thee?_ (In the parallel +passage: 'As regards the honour for Thy servant.') _And Thou knowest +Thy servant, Lord Jehovah._" + +It is not necessary that David should make many words, in order to +express his thanks, as his thankful heart lies open before God. In Ps. +xl. 10, David also appeals to the testimony of the Omniscient as +regards his thankful heart: "I preach righteousness in the great +congregation; lo, I will not refrain my lips, O Lord, Thou +knowest,"--knowest how with my whole heart I am thankful for Thy great +mercy. It is, in general, David's practice to appeal to God, the +Searcher of hearts; compare, _e.g._, Ps. xvii. 3. + +Ver. 21. "_For Thy word's sake, and according to Thine own heart, hast +Thou done all these great things to make Thy servant know them._" + +In 1 Chron. xvii. 19, the words run thus: "Lord, on account of Thy +_servant_, and according to Thine own heart, hast Thou done all these +great things, to make known all the glorious things." Hence, by the +"word," a promise given to David can alone be intended,--a word +formerly spoken to David, which contained the germ of the present one. +There is, no doubt, a special allusion to the word in 1 Sam. xvi. 12: +"And the Lord said. Arise and anoint him, for this is he." (Compare 2 +Sam. xii. 7; Ps. lxxxix. 21; Acts xiii. 22.) _According to Thine +heart_: "The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and [Pg 146] +plenteous in mercy," Ps. ciii. 8. _All these great things_,--_i.e._ the +promise of the eternal dominion of his house. [Hebrew: gdlh] and +[Hebrew: gdilh]--words in which David takes special delight--never mean +"greatness," but always "great things." (Compare remarks on Ps. lxxi. +21, cxlv. 3.) The words, "To make know," etc., indicate that the +_making_ refers, in the meantime, only to the divine decree. + +Ver. 22. "_Wherefore Thou art great, Lord God: for there is none like +Thee, neither is there any God besides Thee, according to all that we +have heard with our ears._" + +_Wherefore_--in the first instance, on account of the great things +which Thou hast done unto me. _According to all_, etc., _i.e._, as this +is confirmed by all, etc. Of this David has been reminded anew by his +personal experience. Just as he does here, David, in Ps. xl. 6, rises +from his personal experience to the whole series of God's glorious +manifestations in the history of His people. As to the words, "There is +none like Thee, neither is there any God besides Thee," compare the +fundamental passages Exod. xv. 11; Deut. iii. 24, iv. 35. + +Ver. 23. "_And where is there a nation on earth like Thy people Israel, +for whose sake God went to redeem them for a people to Himself, and +make Him a name, and to do for you great things, and terrible things +for Thy land, putting away from before Thy people, whom Thou redeemedst +to Thee out of Egypt, heathen and their gods?_" + +We must here compare the fundamental passages, Deut. iv. 7, 34, xxxiii. +29, in which that which Israel has received from his God is praised, as +being without precedent and parallel. In [Hebrew: lkM] and [Hebrew: +larcK] the address is, with poetical liveliness, directed to Israel. +_For you great things_--instead of, To do for them great things, as the +Lord has done for you. The phrase [Hebrew: mpni emK] means, literally, +only, "away from before Thy people;" "putting" must be supplied from +the preceding [Hebrew: lewit], and from a comparison of the fundamental +passages, Exod. xxiii. 28, 29, xxxiv. 11; Deut. xxxiii. 27, to which +the concise expression refers. The text in Chronicles, which expressly +adds what we have here to supply, [Hebrew: lgrw mpni], "to drive out +before," is, in this case also, merely a parallel passage which, by the +addition of a word, serves as a commentary. + +Ver. 24. "_And Thou hast confirmed to Thyself Thy people_ [Pg 147] +_Israel to be a people for ever, and Thou, Lord, art become their +God._" + +Ver. 25. "_And now, Jehovah God, the word that Thou hast spoken +concerning Thy servant, and concerning his house, establish it for +ever, and do as Thou hast said._" + +Praise and thanks for the promise are followed by the prayer for its +fulfilment. + +Ver. 26. "_And let Thy name be magnified for ever, so that it may be +said, Jehovah Zebaoth_ (is) _God over Israel. And the house of Thy +servant shall be firm before Thee._" + +_Let Thy name be magnified_, instead of, Give cause for its being +glorified; compare Ps. xxxv. 27, xl. 17.--_Is God over Israel_, _i.e._, +proves Himself to be such, by protecting the house of the king, on whom +the salvation of Israel depends. In Chronicles it is thus expressed: +"Jehovah Zebaoth, the God of Israel, is God for Israel," _i.e._. He +fulfils to Israel what He promised (Jarchi). The prayer for the +establishment of David's house is expressed in the form of confidence, +in the conviction based upon the word of God, that such is according to +the will of God. + +Ver. 27. "_For Thou, Jehovah Zebaoth, God of Israel, hast opened the +ear of Thy servant, saying, I will build thee an house. Therefore Thy +servant found_ (in) _his heart to pray this prayer unto Thee._" +(Otherwise, his heart would have failed him; he would have had neither +the desire nor the courage.) Ver. 28. "_And now, Lord Jehovah, Thou art +God, and Thy words are truth, and Thou hast promised unto Thy servant +these good things._ Ver. 29. _And now let it please Thee to bless the +house of Thy servant, that it may continue for ever before Thee; for +Thou, Lord Jehovah, hast spoken, and, by Thy blessing, the house of Thy +servant shall be blessed for ever._" + + * * * * * + +To whom does this promise refer, which David received through Nathan? +Some Rabbins, and _Grotius_, would fain restrict it to Solomon and his +more immediate posterity. This opinion, however, is refuted by the +single circumstance, that they are compelled to assume merely a long +duration of time, instead of the eternity which is here promised to the +house of David. And that such cannot be the meaning of the words "for +ever," is abundantly confirmed by a comparison with [Pg 148] Ps. +lxxxix. 30, "And I place his seed for ever, and his throne as the days +of heaven." In these words of the Psalm there is a reference to Deut. +xi. 21, where the _people_ of the Lord are promised a duration "as the +days of heaven and of earth." An absolute perpetuity is everywhere +ascribed to the people of God. If, then, the house of David is placed +on the same level as they, its perpetuity must likewise be absolute. +_Further_,--with such a view, it is impossible to comprehend what David +here says in his prayer, regarding the greatness of the promise, and +also what he says in Ps. cxxxviii. 2: "For Thou hast magnified Thy word +above all Thy name." The giving of the promise is there placed on a +loftier elevation than all the former deeds of the Lord. + +Others--as _Calovius_--would refer the promise to Christ alone. But +vers. 14, 15 are decisive against this view; for, according to them, +God will not, by a total rejection, punish the posterity of David, if +they commit sin,--from which the reference is evident to a posterity +merely human, and hence sinful. According to ver. 13, David's posterity +is to build a temple to the Lord,--a declaration which, with reference +to David's plan of building a temple to the Lord, can, in the first +instance, be understood in no other way than as relating to the earthly +temple to be built by Solomon. To this consideration it may be added, +that, in 1 Chron. xxii. 9 seqq., David himself refers this announcement +primarily to Solomon, and that Solomon, in 1 Kings v. 5 seqq., and in 2 +Chron. vi. 7 seqq., refers it to himself. + +Nor is there entire soundness in the view of those who, following +_Augustine_ (_de Civitate Dei_ xvii. 8, 9), assume the existence of a +double reference,--to Solomon and his earthly successors on the one +hand, and to Christ on the other. Thus _Brentius_: "Solomon is not +altogether excluded, but Christ is chiefly intended." It is true that +these interpreters are substantially right in their view; but they err +as to the manner in which they give expression to it. The promise has +not a reference to two subjects simultaneously.[6] It views David's +house as an _ideal_ unity. + +[Pg 149] + +The promise is given to the house of David, vers. 11, 16, 19, 25, 26, +27, 29; to his seed, ver. 12. It is to the house of David that the +absolute perpetuity of existence, the unchangeable possession of the +grace of God--a relation to God similar to that of a son to his +father--and the inseparable connection of their dominion with the +kingdom of God in Israel, are guaranteed. + +There is no direct mention of the person of the Messiah; and yet the +words, when considered in their full import, point, indirectly, to Him. +The absolute perpetuity of the race can be conceived of, only when at +last it centres in some superhuman person. But still more decisive is +the connection in which this promise stands to Gen. xlix. The dominion +which is there promised to Judah is here transferred to David. It is +then to David's race that the exalted individual must belong, in whom, +according to Gen. xlix. 10, Judah's dominion is to centre at some +future period. That David really connected the promise which he +received with Gen. xlix. 10, is shown by 1 Chron. xxviii. 4 (compare p. +91), and also by the name, Solomon, which he gave to his son; compare +ibid. That Solomon also founded his hopes regarding the future upon a +combination of Gen. xlix. and 2 Sam. vii., is shown by Ps. lxxii., +which was composed by him; compare pp. 91, 92. + +But, as respects this combination, David was not left to himself. He +received further light from the source from which the promise had come +to him. Although his mission was not properly a prophetic +one,--although, in the main, it belonged to him to describe poetically +what had come to him through prophetic inspiration, yet prophetic +inspiration and sacred lyric are frequently commingled in him. The man +who is "the sweet psalmist of Israel" claims a [Hebrew: naM] in 2 Sam. +xxiii. 1, and, in ver. 2, says that the Spirit of God spake by him, and +His word was upon his tongue. In Acts ii. 30, 31, Peter declares that, +by the divine promise, David received, first the impulse, and +afterwards further illumination, by the prophetic spirit dwelling in +him. The latter declaration, moreover, rests on the testimony of the +Lord Himself, in Matt. xxii. 43, where He says that in Ps. cx., David +had spoken [Greek: en pneumati] _i.e._, seized with the Holy Spirit. + + +Footnote 1: _Seb. Schmid_ says: "He thought that this duty was imposed +upon him by the Word of God. For, as the state enjoyed peace, the royal +palace was finished, and his family established, there seemed to be +nothing wanting but to build a temple to the Lord." + +Footnote 2: In 1 Kings viii. 16, Solomon thus reports what, in 2 Sam. +vii., had been spoken to David, in reference to the house of the Lord: +"Since the day that I brought up My people Israel out of Egypt, I chose +no city out of all the tribes of Israel to build an house that My name +might be in it; and I chose David to be over My people Israel." The +comment on this passage is given by the parallel one, 2 Chron. vi. 5, +6: "I did not choose any man to be a ruler over My people Israel. And I +have chosen Jerusalem that My name might be there, and I have chosen +David to be over My people Israel." Since David resided in Jerusalem, +the election of David, announced in 2 Sam. vii., implies also the +choice of Jerusalem as the place of the sanctuary. Hence, we must add +to 1 Kings viii. 16, the supplement: "And in connection with this +choice, David (the Davidic dynasty) is to build Me an house at the +place of his residence." The Vulgate translates very correctly: _Sed +elegi._ Solomon then continues, _Ver._ 17: "And it was in the heart of +David my father (namely, before he received this divine revelation) to +build an house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. _Ver._ 18. +And the Lord said unto David my father, Whereas it was in thine heart +to build an house unto My name, thou didst well that it was in thine +heart. _Ver._ 19. And thou shalt not build the house; but thy son that +shall come forth out of thy loins, he shall build the house unto My +name." + +Footnote 3: _Seb. Schmid_ says: "He rightly considers the tribes and +the judges as one. For the tribes are viewed in the judges who had +sprung from them, and _vice versa_, the judge, in his paternal tribe. +And that the matter is thus to be understood, is clear, because, in +Chronicles, where the judge is spoken of, he is introduced in the +plural: 'Why have _ye_ not built Me an house,' etc.? viz., thou, judge, +with thy tribe." + +Footnote 4: That [Hebrew: nvh], properly "habitation," "abode," is used +here, as frequently, of the sheep-cote, is shown by Ps. lxxxviii. 70, +which is based upon our passage. + +Footnote 5: Michaelis says: "Just as in the preceding verses also, the +house of David did not mean a heap of stones and wood brought together, +but a congregation of people." + +Footnote 6: This mistake was corrected by _Seb. Schmid_. He says: "The +promises here given to David have, of course, a reference to Solomon; +but not such as if they were to be fulfilled only in the person of +Solomon, and not also in his posterity, and, most of all, in the +Messiah to be descended from David and Solomon." + + +It is true that, in a series of Psalms, David is not any more [Pg 150] +explicit and definite than the fundamental prophecy, but speaks only of +the grace which the Lord had conferred upon the Davidic race by the +promise of a dominion which should outlast all earthly things. Thus it +is in Ps. xviii., where, in the presence of the congregation, he offers +those thanks which previously he had, as it were, privately expressed, +for the glorious promise made to him;--in Ps. xi., where, in the name +of the people, he expresses thankful joy for this same promise;--in Ps. +lxi. and in the cycle of Psalms from Ps. cxxxviii. to cxlv.--the +prophetic legacy of David--in which, at the beginning, in Ps. +cxxxviii., he praises the Lord for His promise of eternal mercy given +to him, and then, with the torch of promise, lightens up the darkness +of the sufferings that are to fall upon this house,--Psalms with which +Ps. lxxxix. and cxxxix., which were composed at a later period, and by +other writers, are closely connected. + +But there are other Psalms (ii. and cx.) in which David, with a +distinctness which can be accounted for only by divine revelation, +beholds the Messiah in whose coming the promise in 2 Sam. vii. should +find its final and complete fulfilment. Whilst David, in these Psalms, +represents the Messiah as his antitype, as the mighty conqueror, who +will not rest until He shall have subjected the whole earth to His +sway, Solomon, in Ps. lxxii., represents Him as the true Prince of +Peace, and His dominion, as a just and peaceful rule. The circumstances +of the time of Solomon form, in a similar way, the foundation for the +description of the Messiah in Ps. xlv., which was written by the sons +of Korah. + +A personal Messianic element is contained in some of those Davidic +Psalms also which refer to the _ideal_ person of the _righteous one_, +whose image we at last find fully portrayed in the Book of Wisdom. In +these the sufferings of the righteous one in a world of sin are +described, as well as the glorious issue to which he attains by the +help of the Lord. After his own experience, David could not have +doubted that, notwithstanding the glorious promise of the Lord, severe +sufferings were impending over his family, and over Him in whom that +family was, at some future time, to centre. But his own experience +likewise promised a glorious issue to these sufferings. The Psalms in +which, besides the reference to the righteous one, and to the [Pg 151] +people, the allusion to the afflictions of the Davidic race, and to the +suffering Messiah, most plainly appear, are the xxii., the cii., and +the cix. + +There cannot be any doubt that the Messianic promise made considerable +progress in the time of David. It is, in itself, a circumstance of +great importance that the eyes of the people were henceforth directed +to a definite family; for, thereby, their hopes acquired greater +consistency. _Further_,--The former prophecies were, all of them, much +shorter, and more in the shape of hints; but, now, their hopes could +become detailed descriptions, because a _substratum_ was given to them +in the present. The Messiah had been foretold to David as a successor +to his throne,--as a King. Hence it was, that, in the view of David +himself and of the other psalmists, the earthly head of the +Congregation of the Lord formed the _substratum_ for the future +Saviour. The naked thought now clothed itself with flesh and blood. The +hope gained thereby in clearness and distinctness, as well as in +practical significance. + +The slight hint of a higher nature of the Messiah, given in Gen. xlix. +8, forms the main ground for the advancing and more definite knowledge, +which we find in the days of David and Solomon. Grand and lofty +expectations could, henceforth, not fail to be connected with the +promise in 2 Sam. vii. 14, "I will be a father to him, and he shall be +a son to Me," and with the prophecy of the absolute perpetuity of +dominion, in the same passage. In Ps. ii. 12, the Messiah appears as +the Son of God [Greek: kat' exochen],--as He, in whom to trust is to be +saved, and whose anger brings destruction. In Ps. cx. 1, He appears as +the Lord of the Congregation and of David himself,--as sitting at the +right hand of omnipotence, and as invested with a full participation in +the divine power over heaven and earth. In Ps. lxxi. eternity of +dominion is ascribed to Him. In Ps. xlv. 7, 8, He is called God, +Elohim. + +Among the offices of Christ, it is especially the _Regal_ office on +which a clear light has been shed. The Messiah appears prominently as +He "who has dominion from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends +of the earth," Ps. lxxii. 8. In Ps. cx., however, the office of the +Messiah as the eternal _High Priest_ is first revealed to the +congregation. He appears as the person who atones for whatever sins +cleave to His people, as their Intercessor [Pg 152] and Advocate with +God, and as the Mediator of the closest communion with God. We have +here the outlines, for the filling up of which Isaiah was, at a later +period, called. The _Prophetic_ office of the Saviour does not +distinctly appear in the Psalms. It was reserved for Isaiah to bring +out into a clearer light the allusion given, on this subject, by Moses, +after it had been taken up again, for the first time since Moses' day, +by the prophet Joel. + +It was quite natural that David, who himself was exercised and proved +by the cross, should be the first to introduce to the knowledge of the +Church a _suffering Messiah_. But the doctrine has with him still the +character of a germ; he still mixes up the references to the Messiah +with the allusions to His types. It was from these that David rose to +Him; it was from their destiny that David, by the Holy Spirit, inferred +what would befall Him. Nowhere, however, has David directly and +exclusively to do with a suffering Messiah, as had, afterwards, the +prophet Isaiah. + +In all that respects the Psalms, we must content ourselves with merely +a passing glance, lest we encroach too much upon the territory which +belongs to the Commentary on the Psalms. But "the last words of David," +preserved to us in the Books of Samuel, we shall make the subject of a +more minute consideration, inasmuch as they form a connecting link +between the two classes of Psalms which rest on the promise in 2 Sam. +vii., viz., those referring to David's house and family, and those +relating to the personal Messiah. The "ruler among men" whom we meet in +these "last words," is, in the first instance, an _ideal_ +person,--viz., the Davidic race conceived of as a person; but the +_ideal_ points to the _real_ person, in whom all that had been foretold +of the Davidic family should, at some future period, find its full +realization. It is with a view to this person, that the personification +has been employed. + + + + + + 2 SAMUEL XXIII. 1-7. + + +The last words of David are comprehended in seven verses; and these, +again, are subdivided into sections of five and two [Pg 153] verses +respectively. First, there is a description of the fulness of blessings +which the dominion of the just ruler shall carry along with it, and +then of the destruction which shall overtake hostile wickedness. + +It is not by accident that these last words are not found in the +collection of Psalms. The reason is indicated by the [Hebrew: naM] +There is a prophetic element in the lyric poetry of David wheresoever +it refers to the future destiny of his house; but this prophetic +element rises, here, at the close of his life, to pure prophetic +inspiration and utterance, which stand on an equal footing with the +prophecy of Nathan in 2 Sam. vii., and claim an equal authority. + +Ver. 1. "_And these are the last words of David. David, the son of +Jesse, prophesies, and the man prophesies who was raised up on high, +the anointed of the God of Jacob, and sweet in the Psalms of Israel._" + +It is substantially the same thing, whether we understand: "the last +words of David" or "the latter words of David"--later in reference to +xxi. 1. For even Ps. xviii., which precedes in chap. xxii., belongs, +according to its inscription and contents, to the last times of David; +it is, as it were, "a grand Hallelujah with which he withdraws from the +scene of life." But, at all events, there is a closer connection with +that Psalm; in it, too, David has in view the future destiny of his +race, and we have here, in the last words, the prophetic conclusion of +the lyrical effusion there. From this connection with chap. xxii., the +closer limitation of the "words" follows. We learn from it that _holy_ +words only can be meant. The solemn introduction, and the parallelism +with the blessings of Jacob and Moses, fully agree with and confirm +this our introductory remark regarding the chronological position of +these "words."--There can be no doubt that, in this introduction, there +is a reference to Balaam's prophecy in Num. xxiv. 3,--and this goes far +to prove how much David was occupied with the views which men of God +had formerly opened up into future times:--"And he took up his parable +and said: Balaam the son of Beor prophesies, and the man who had his +eyes shut, prophesies: He prophesies who hears the words of God, who +sees the vision of the Almighty, falling down and having his eyes +open." The remarks which we made on that passage find here also a +strict application: [Pg 154] "Balaam begins with a simple designation +of his person, and then, in the following members, adds designations of +such qualities of this person as here come into consideration, and +serve for affording a foundation to the [Hebrew: naM] with which he +opens his discourse." As [Hebrew: naM] always has the signification, +"word of God," "revelation," it can here be ascribed to David, as it +was in the fundamental passage to Balaam, only in as far as the word +has been received by, and communicated to, him. The [Hebrew: el], +"upon," "over," stands here for "on high,"[1]--those over whom David +has been raised up being omitted in order to express the absolute +sovereignty bestowed upon David, more, however, in his posterity, than +in his own person. (Compare Ps. xviii. 44: "Thou makest me the head of +the heathen;" and in ver. 48: "God who avengeth me, and subdueth people +under me.") _He who was raised up on high_--With the exception of the +bodily ancestor and the lawgiver, of none under the Old Testament could +this be with so much truth affirmed, as of David, the founder of the +royal house, which, in all eternity, was to be the channel of blessings +for the Congregation of the Lord, and to which, at last, all power in +heaven and on earth was to be given. _The anointed of the God of +Jacob_--Such is David, not only as an individual, but also as the +representative of his race; compare Ps. xviii. 51. He is pre-eminently +the anointed, the Christ of God.---[Hebrew: zmir] plur. [Hebrew: +zmirit] signifies, according to derivation and usage, not _song_ or +_hymn_ in general, but the hymn in the higher strain, the skilful, +solemn song of praise; compare my commentary on Song of Sol. ii. 12. +David's Psalms are called [Hebrew: zmirvt] of Israel, because he sang +them as the organ of the congregation, and because they were appointed +to be used in public worship; compare Comment, on Psalms, vol. iii. p. +vi. _Sweet in Psalms of Israel_ here finds its place only on the +supposition that David, in his Psalms, spoke in the Spirit, Matt. xxii. +41-46; compare Commentary on Psalms, vol. iii. p. vii. viii. The most +distinguished excellence in poetry which is [Pg 155] merely human +cannot form a foundation for the assertion in ver. 2. But if, on the +other hand, David be an often times tried organ of the Spirit for the +Church, it cannot surprise us that in ver. 2 he even declares that, in +the Spirit, he there foretells the future. Thus the [Hebrew: naM] in +our verse also has a good foundation. + +Ver. 2. "_The Spirit of the Lord spake to me, and His word is upon my +tongue._" + +That [Hebrew: dbr] refers to the communication which David promulgates +in the sequel, and not to other revelations which he had formerly +received, appears from its relation to the [Hebrew: naM] in ver. 1. We +should lose the new revelation announced in ver. 1, if ver. 2, and, +hence, ver. 3 also--for the [Hebrew: amr] there evidently resumes the +[Hebrew: dbr]--refer to divine revelations which David, or, as +_Thenius_ supposes, even some other person, had formerly +received.--[Hebrew: bi] is not "through me," for in that case the +Participle would have been used instead of the Preterite; nor "in me," +for that is contradicted by the parallel passages in which [Hebrew: +dbr] occurs with [Hebrew: b]; but "into me," which is stronger than "to +me," and marks the deeply penetrating power of the revelation by the +Spirit; compare remarks on Hosea i. 2. Such being the case, the +Preterite is quite in its proper place; for the inward revelation, the +[Hebrew: naM ihvh] precedes the communication--the [Hebrew: naM dvd]. +(On the whole verse, 1 Pet. i. 11, 2 Pet. i. 21, are to be compared.) + +Ver. 3. "_The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me: a +Ruler over men--just; a Ruler--fear of God._" + +The omission of the verb, "will be or rise," is quite suited to the +concise and abrupt style of the divine word. The mention of God, the +Rock of Israel, shows that the revelation has a reference to what is +done for the good of the people of God,--of His Church. For her good, +the glorious Ruler shall be raised. (Compare the words, [Greek: +antelabeto Israel paidos hautou], in Luke i. 54, as also ver. 68, and +ii. 32.) The appellation. Rock of Israel, indicates God's immutability, +trustworthiness, and inviolable faithfulness; compare my comment, on +Psalm xviii. 3, 32-47. The connection betwixt Ps. xviii. and the "last +words of David" here also clearly appears. The fundamental passage is +Deut. xxxii. 4.--That _men_ must be conceived of as the subjects of +dominion, is proved by Ps. xviii. 44, where David is made the head of +nations, and people whom he has not known [Pg 156] serve him,--and by +ver. 45, where the sons of the stranger do homage to him,--and by ver. +48: "Who subdues people under me."--_A Ruler_--_fear_ of God, _i.e._, a +Ruler who shall, as it were, be fear of God itself--personified fear of +God. We must here compare the expression, "This man is the peace," Mic. +v. 4, and, as to the substance of the expression. Is. xi. 2, "And the +Spirit of the Lord rests upon him ... the spirit of knowledge and of +the fear of the Lord." We might be disposed to refer this exclusively +to the person of the Messiah, especially when those Psalms are compared +which refer to a personal Messiah. But Ps. xviii.--which here receives, +as it were, its prophetic seal--and especially the relation of ver. 3 +and 4 to ver. 5, where David speaks of his house, prove that the Ruler +here is, primarily, only an ideal person, viz., the seed of David +spoken of in Ps. xviii. 51. Things so glorious can, however, be +ascribed to it only with a reference to the august personage in whom +that seed will centre at the end of days,--the righteous Branch, whom +the Lord will raise up unto David (Jer. xxiii. 5), who executeth +judgment and righteousness on earth, Jer. xxxiii. 15. David knew too +well what human nature is, and what is in man, to have expected any +such thing from the collective body, as such. + +Ver. 4. "_And as the light of the morning when the sun riseth, a +mourning without clouds; by brightness, by rain,--grass out of the +earth._" + +In the first hemistich we have to supply: will be His appearance in its +loveliness and saving importance. The morning elsewhere also, +especially in the Psalms (compare remarks on Ps. lix. 17; Song of Sol. +iii. 1), is used as the emblem of salvation. The condition of men +before the appearance of the Ruler among them, is, in its destitution, +like dark night.--The _brightness_ is that of the Ruler, as the +spiritual Sun, the Sun of Salvation. (Compare Mal. iii. 20 [iv. 2], +where righteousness is represented as the sun rising to those who fear +God.) The _rain_--the warm, mild rain, not the winter's rain which, in +the Song of Sol. ii. 11, and elsewhere, occurs as an emblem of +affliction and judgment--is the emblem of blessing (compare Is. xliv. +3, where "rain" is explained by "blessing"). The _grass_, which springs +up out of the earth by means of sunshine and rain, is emblematical of +the fruits and effects of salvation. [Pg 157] (Compare Is. xlv. 8, +where, in consequence of the rain of salvation pouring down from the +skies, the earth brings forth salvation and righteousness.) The passage +in Ps. lxxii. 6 is parallel, where Solomon says of his Antitype, "He +shall come down like rain upon the mown grass, as showers watering the +earth." The figure of the rain making fresh grass to spring up is there +likewise employed to designate the blessings of the Messianic time. + +Ver. 5. "_For is not thus my house with God? For He has made with me an +everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and kept; for all my +salvation, and all pleasure,--should He not make it to grow?_" + +The special revelation which David received at the close of his life +(compare the remarks on [Hebrew: naM] in ver. 1) is here connected with +the fundamental promise in 2 Sam. vii., which was thereby anew +confirmed to him. Those who, like _De Wette_ and _Thenius_, mistake +the correct sense of vers. 3 and 4, are not a little perplexed by +the "_for_" at the beginning of this verse, and attempt in vain +to account for it.--_Thus_, _i.e._, as it had been told in what +precedes.--[Hebrew: ervkh], "prepared," "ordered," forms the contrast +to what is only half finished, indefinite, depending upon circumstances +and conditions, admitting of provisions and exceptions. The extent to +which all interposing obstacles were excluded, or rather, had been +considered and calculated upon beforehand, appears especially from 2 +Sam. vii. 14, 15, according to which, even the most fatal of all +interpositions--the apostasy of the bearers of the covenant--should not +destroy the covenant,--should not annul the gracious promise made to +the race. _Kept_, _i.e._, firm, inviolable, because given by Him who +keepeth covenant and mercy, Deut. vii. 9; Dan. ix. 4. In 1 Kings viii. +25, Solomon prays, "And now, Lord God of Israel, keep with Thy servant +David my father what Thou promisedst him when Thou saidst. There shall +not be cut off unto thee a man from My sight to sit on the throne of +Israel." The second "_for_" points out the cause of _kept_. _All +pleasure_, _i.e._, all that is well-pleasing to me, all that my heart +desires. The preceding [Hebrew: iwei] serves the purpose of qualifying +it more definitely. The object of David's desires is, accordingly, his +salvation, the glory of his house. + +Ver. 6. "_And wickedness, like thorns, they will all be driven away; +for not will any one take them into his hands._" + +The subject treated of in this verse is: the Ruler among men [Pg 158] +in His relation to His enemies. To those He is as formidable as His +appearance is blessed to those who surrender themselves to Him. In Ps. +xviii. also, there is a celebration of the indomitable power which the +Lord grants to David, His anointed, and to his seed against all their +enemies; compare ver. 38: "I pursue mine enemies and overtake them, and +do not turn again till they are consumed; ver. 39, I crush them and +they cannot rise, they fall under my feet." In the cycle of Psalms from +cxxxviii. to cxlv., David likewise speaks of the dangers which threaten +his house from enemies, and the leading thought of Ps. ii. is: the +Messiah as the conqueror of His enemies. The eyes of David were the +more opened to this circumstance, the more he himself had had to +contend against adversaries.--[Hebrew: bliel] always means unworthiness +in a moral point of view, "wickedness," "vileness." _Wickedness_ is +here used in the concrete sense = the wicked ones, the sons of +wickedness, Deut. xiii. 14. The wicked ones, the enemies of the Church, +are compared to the thorns, on account of their pricking nature; and +therefore their end is like that of thorns, they will be thrown aside +like them. In Ezek. xxiv. 28, after the judgment upon the neighbouring +people has been proclaimed, it is said, "And there shall remain no more +a pricking brier everywhere round about the house of Israel, where +their enemies are, nor a grieving thorn;" compare Num. xxxiii. 55; Song +of Sol. ii. 2; Is. xxvii. 4; Nahum i. 10.--[Hebrew: mnd], the _Partic. +Hoph._ of [Hebrew: nvd], "thrust out," "put to flight" (compare Ps. +xxxvi. 12), cannot be applied to the thorns, but only to the men. _Like +thorns_, _i.e._, so that they become like thorns, of which the land is +cleared. _For not will any one take them into his hands_--_Michaelis_: +_Intractabiles sunt._ + +Ver. 7. "_And if any one toucheth them, he is filled with iron, and the +staff of a spear; and they shall be utterly burnt with fire where they +dwell._" + +The two members of vers. 6 and 7 stand in an inverted relation to each +other. In ver. 6, we have, first, the punishment described, and then +their hostile nature, by which the punishment was called forth. In ver. +7, we have, first, the cause, and then the consequence. The thought in +the first member is: every touch of them bears a hostile character. +_Iron_--instead of weapons fabricated of iron; comp. 1 Sam. xvii. 7; +Job xx. 24, xli. 19 compared with vers. 18, 20; Jer. xv. 12. [Pg 159] +[Hebrew: bwbt], literally, "in the dwelling" (compare Ps. xxiii. 6, +xxvii. 4; Deut. xxx. 20) instead of "where they dwell," shows that in +their own borders they shall be visited and overtaken by retribution. +[Hebrew: bwbt] cannot have the signification, "without delay," ascribed +to it by _Thenius_. + + +Footnote 1: [Hebrew: tHt], "below," "beneath," "under," is often used +adverbially, _e.g._ Gen. xlix. 25. [Hebrew: el], in the signification +"on high," occurs also in Hosea xi. 7,--less certainly in Hos. vii. 16. +For, according to 2 Chron. xxx. 9, that passage may be explained; "they +return, not _to_," _i.e._, there is the mere commencement of +conversion, but not the attainment of the end. On [Hebrew: hvqM] Deut. +xxviii. 36 is to be compared. + + + + + + + THE SONG OF SOLOMON. + + +An important link in the chain of the Messianic hopes is formed by the +Song of Solomon. It is intimately associated with Ps. lxxii., which was +written by Solomon, and represents the Messiah as the Prince of Peace, +imperfectly prefigured by Solomon as His type. As in this Psalm, so +also in the Song of Solomon, the coming of the Messiah forms the +subject throughout, and He is introduced there under the name of +Solomon, the Peaceful One. His coming shall be preceded by severe +afflictions, represented under the emblems of the scorching heat of the +sun, of winter, of rain, of dark nights, and of the desert. Connected +with this coming is the reception of the heathen nations into His +kingdom, and this, through the medium of the old Covenant-people. + +Thus far the first part, down to chap. v. 1. The subjects contained in +the second part are, the sin of the daughter of Zion against the +heavenly Solomon and the judgment; then, repentance and reunion, which +will be accomplished by the co-operation of the daughters of Jerusalem, +_i.e._, of the very heathen nations who had formerly received salvation +through them; the complete re-establishment of the old relation of +love, in consequence of which the daughter of Zion again occupies the +centre of the kingdom of God; and the indissoluble nature of this +covenant of love now anew entered into, in contrast with the +instability of the former. + +The Song of Solomon does not, strictly speaking, possess a prophetical +character. It does not communicate any new revelations; like the +Psalms, it only represents, in a poetical form, things already known. +It sufficiently appears from our former statement, that, in the first +part of this book, not one feature occurs which did not form a part of +those Messianic prophecies [Pg 160] which we can prove to have been +known at the time of Solomon. In the second part, however, it is +somewhat different. No corresponding parallel can be adduced from any +former time to the view, that a great part of the people would reject +the salvation offered to them in Christ, and, thereby, draw down +judgment upon themselves. Yet, all that the book under consideration +contains upon this point, is only the application of a general truth, +the knowledge of which the covenant-people had received at the very +beginning of their history. A consideration of human nature in general, +and more especially of Israel's character, as it had been deeply and +firmly impressed upon the people by the Mosaic law, joined to the ample +experience which history had afforded in this respect, sufficiently +convinced those who were more enlightened, that it could not be by any +means expected--that, indeed, it was even impossible--that, at the +coming of the Messiah, the whole people would sincerely and heartily +receive Him, and do homage to Him. And there existed, on the other +hand, at the time of Solomon also, the foundation for the doctrine of +the final restoration of the people. For, even in the Pentateuch, the +election of Israel by God is represented as irrevocable and absolute, +and which, therefore, must at last triumph over all apostasy and +covenant-breaking on the part of the people. + +The Song of Solomon, then, is no _apocalypsis_, no revelation of +mysteries till then unknown. There is in it no such disclosure as is, +_e.g._, that in 2 Sam. vii., on the descent of the Messiah from David; +or, as is that in Mic. v. 1 (2), on His being born at Bethlehem; or +even as is that in Is. liii. on His office as a High Priest, and His +vicarious satisfaction. But, nevertheless, we must not imagine the case +to have been thus, that the contents of the Song of Solomon could have +originated merely from reflection on the part of Solomon. The truths +hitherto revealed had too much of the character of mere germs to allow +us to suppose that from them, and in such a way, we could account for +the clearness and certainty with which they have been blended into one +whole. Another element, moreover, must be joined to the historical +ground--viz., an elevated condition of the soul, a "being in the +Spirit,"--a breathing of the divine Spirit upon the human. History +bears witness that such prophetic states, in the wider sense, were not +strange to Solomon. It twice [Pg 161] reports about the Lord's having +appeared to him, 1 Kings iii. 5, ix. 2. From such an elevated state of +soul, his dedicatory prayer, in 1 Kings viii., and Ps. lxxii., also +originated. + +We must content ourselves with these hints as regards Solomon's Song. +As it moves throughout on Messianic ground, the Author must consider +his commentary on this book (Berlin, 1853) as an appendix to the +Christology. + +[Pg 162] + + + + + MESSIANIC PREDICTIONS IN THE PROPHETS. + + +After the time of Solomon, the Messianic prediction was for a +considerable time discontinued. It was first resumed, and farther +expanded, by the Canonical prophecy which began under Uzziah. There +cannot be any doubt that that which _appears_ as an interval was +_really_ such. There is no ground for the supposition that any +important connecting links have been lost. The Messianic prediction in +the oldest canonical prophets is immediately connected with that which +existed previously at the time of David and Solomon. + +It is not a matter of chance that, whilst the blossom of prophetism +appeared as early as Samuel, the canonical prophetism took its rise at +a much later date. Nor is it the result of accident, that we do not +possess any written prophecies, either by Elijah, who, at the +transfiguration of the Lord, appeared as the representative of all the +Old Testament prophets, or by Elisha. Nor is it merely accidental that, +at the time of Uzziah, there appears all at once, and simultaneously, a +whole series of prophets. All these things are connected with the +circumstance, that it was only at that time that great events for the +Covenant-people were in preparation,--that, only then, those +catastrophes were impending which were to be brought about by the +Asiatic kingdoms, and which kept equal pace with the sin of Israel, the +measure of which was being more and more filled up. Canonical prophecy +is closely linked with these catastrophes. It is called to disclose to +the Church the meaning of these judgments, and, thereby, to secure to +them their effects in all time coming. The Messianic predictions +uttered by the prophets are likewise closely connected with the +announcement of these judgments. Whilst false security was shaken by +the threatenings, despondency--which is as [Pg 163] hostile to true +conversion--was prevented by pointing to the future coming of the +Saviour. + +The prophets do not deliver the Messianic prediction in its whole +compass, any more than do the writers of the Messianic Psalms. On the +contrary, it is always only certain individual aspects which they +exhibit. The writers of the Messianic Psalms take up those features +which presented points of contact with their own lives and their own +experiences, or at least the circumstances of their times. This is +quite in keeping with the more subjective origin of Psalm-poetry. Thus +David describes the suffering Messiah surrounded by powerful enemies, +and who, after severe struggles, at length obtains victory and +dominion. To Solomon, He appears as the Ruler of a great and peaceful +kingdom, and he beholds the most distant nations reverentially offering +presents to Him and doing Him allegiance. But the Prophets, in pointing +out this or that feature, are not so much guided by their own +experience, disposition of mind, and peculiar circumstances, as by the +wants of those whom they are addressing, and by the effect which they +are anxious to produce on them. When they have to do with +pusillanimity, desponding at the sight of the heathen world as it seems +to be all-powerful,--they then represent the Messiah as the invincible +conqueror of the heathen world, who shall subject the whole earth to +the kingdom of God. When they have to deal with pride, trusting in +imaginary prerogatives of the Covenant-people, and boldly challenging +the judgments of God upon the heathen,--they then represent the Messiah +as Him who shall make a great separation among the Covenant-people +themselves, and who shall be a consolation to the godly, while He +brings inexorable judgments upon the wicked when they have to do with +those who mourn in Zion, who through the inflicted judgments of the +Lord have been brought to a deep sorrow on account of their sins,--they +then represent the Messiah as Him who shall one day take away the sins +of the land, who is to bear their griefs and carry their sorrows. Now, +as canonical prophecy extends over several centuries, during which +circumstances, wants, and dispositions the most diverse, must have +taken place, and as the Messianic prophecy is in harmony with these, it +displayed, more and more fully, its riches, and did so in a manner far +more effective and vivid than it could possibly have [Pg 164] done had +it been proclaimed in the form of a discussion or treatise. As the +Messiah was thus represented from the most various points of view, and +in the way of direct perception, and divine confidence,--as He was thus +everywhere pointed out as the end of the development. He could not but +become more and more the soul of the nation's life. + +In the Messianic announcements by the prophets, no such gradual +progress in clearness and distinctness can be traced, as in those of +the Pentateuch. The assertion that there existed with them at first, +only a general hope of better times, unconnected with any person, rests +on the unfounded hypothesis that Joel is the oldest among all the +prophets,--and at the same time on the erroneous assumption that he was +ignorant of a personal Messiah,--and, _further_, on the incorrect +supposition that the prophets, who write only what presents itself +immediately to their view, have not in their creed all that they omit +to say. It is, _moreover_, opposed by the prospect of a personal +Messiah held out in the Pentateuch, the Psalms, and the Song of +Solomon. How very slender is the ground for inferring that, because +many essential points are not touched upon by Hosea, Joel, and Amos, +they, therefore, did not know them, is shown by the fact that neither +do several among the later prophets--as Jeremiah and Ezekiel--touch +upon them, although the previous more distinct prophecies of Isaiah +were certainly known and acknowledged by them. We must never forget +that it is from above that each of the prophets received his share of +the prophetic spirit, and that this depended partly upon the measure of +his receptivity, which might have been greater with the former than +with the latter prophets,--and, partly, upon the wants and capacities +of those for whom the prophecy was destined. + +A central position, as regards the Messianic predictions, is occupied +by Isaiah. Even his Messianic prophecies, however, when viewed detached +and isolated, bear the character of onesidedness. He nowhere gives us a +complete image of the Messiah. But, whilst the other prophets were +permitted to give only single disclosures, he gives us, in the whole +body of his Messianic prophecies, the materials for a full and entire +image, although not the image itself. The Fathers of the Church have, +therefore, rightly designated him as the Evangelist among the prophets. +But the transition to him from the Psalms and [Pg 165] the Song of +Solomon could not be Immediate. Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, and +Micah form, as it were, the connecting links. Proceeding from the +Messianic promise, in the shape which it had received at the time of +David and Solomon, they give it a standing in the prophetic message, +and infuse into it new life by means of the connection into which it is +brought by them, and supplement it by adding single new features. + +It is our intention to give an exposition of the Messianic passages in +the prophets, according to their chronological order. In placing Hosea +at the head, we follow the example of those who collected the Canon, +and who, regarding not so much the succession of years as that of the +governments, may have assigned the first place to Hosea, because he is +the most important among the prophets at the time of Jeroboam in +Israel, and of Uzziah in Judah, or because he really appeared first, +and the prophecy in chap. i.-iii. is the beginning of written +prophecies. The latter supposition most naturally suggests itself; the +analogies are in its favour, and no decisive argument has been brought +forward against it. + + + + THE PROPHET HOSEA. + + GENERAL PRELIMINARY REMARKS. + +That the kingdom of Israel was the object of the prophet's ministry is +so evident, that upon this point all are, and cannot but be, agreed. +But there is a difference of opinion as to whether the prophet was a +fellow-countryman of those to whom he preached, or was called by God +out of the kingdom of Judah. The latter has been asserted with great +confidence by _Maurer_, among others, in his _Observ. in Hos._, in the +_Commentat. Theol._ ii. i. p. 293. But the arguments by which he +supports this view will not stand the test. He appeals (1) to the +inscription. The circumstance that, in this, there is mention made of +the kings of Judah under whom Hosea exercised his ministry,--that they +are mentioned _at all_,--and that they are mentioned _first_ and +_completely_, while only one of the kings of Israel is named, [Pg 166] +proves, according to him--especially on a comparison with the +inscription of Amos--that the prophet acknowledged the kings of Judah +as his superiors. But this mode of argumentation entirely overlooks the +position which the pious in Israel generally, and the prophets +especially, occupied in reference to Judah. They considered the whole +separation--the civil as well as the religious--as an apostasy from +God. And how could they do otherwise, since the eternal dominion over +the people of God had been granted, by God, to the house of David? The +closeness of the connection between the religious and the civil +sufficiently appears from the fact, that Jeroboam and all his +successors despaired of being able to maintain their power, unless they +made the breach, in religious matters also, as wide as possible. The +chief of the prophets in the kingdom of the ten tribes--Elijah--by +taking twelve stones according to the number of the tribes of Israel (1 +Kings xviii. 31), plainly enough declared, that he considered the +separation as one not consistent with the idea of the Jewish kingdom, +and that therefore, in reality, it must at some future period be done +away with; that he considered the government in Israel as existing _de +facto_, but not _de jure_. + +By none do we find this view so distinctly brought out as by Hosea. +"They have set up kings, and not by Me"--says the Lord by him, chap. +viii. 4--"they have made princes, and I knew it not." In his view, +then, the whole basis of the government in Israel is ungodliness. +Because they have chosen kings and princes without God, and against the +will of God, they shall be taken from them by God, chap. iii. 4. +Salvation cannot come to the people until Israel and, Judah set over +themselves one head, ii. 2 (i. 11), until the children of Israel seek +Jehovah their Lord, and David their king, iii. 5. These two things are, +in his view, intimately connected; no true return to the invisible head +of the Theocracy is possible without, at the same time, a return to the +visible one--the house of David. What, at some future time, the mass of +the people, when converted, were to do, the converted individual must +do even now. He even now recognised the kings of the tribe of Judah as +truly his sovereigns, although he yielded civil obedience to the rulers +of Israel, until God should again abolish the government which He gave +to the people in wrath, and set [Pg 167] up in opposition to the +government of the house of David in His anger, on account of their +apostasy. From all this, it clearly appears that, in order to account +for the peculiarity of the inscription, we need not have recourse to +the conjecture, that Hosea was a native of Judah. One might, with as +much reason, maintain that all the prophets in the kingdom of Israel, +who rejected the worship of the calves--and hence all the prophets +without exception--were natives of the kingdom of Judah. For the +worship of the calves is quite on a par with the apostasy from the +anointed of God. Hosea mentions, first and completely, the kings of the +legitimate family. He then further adds the name of one of the rulers +of the kingdom of Israel, under whom his ministry began, because it was +of importance to fix precisely the time of its commencement. Uzziah, +the first in the series of the kings of Judah mentioned by him, +survived Jeroboam nearly twenty-six years; compare _Maurer_, l. c. p. +284. Now, had the latter not been mentioned along with him, the thought +might easily have suggested itself, that it was only during the latter +period of Uzziah's reign that the prophet entered upon his office; in +which case all that he said about the overthrow of Jeroboam's family +would have appeared to be a _vaticinium post eventum_, inasmuch as it +took place very soon after Jeroboam's death. The same applies to what +was said by him regarding the total decay of the kingdom which was so +flourishing under Jeroboam; for, from the moment of Jeroboam's death, +it hastened with rapid strides towards its destruction. If, therefore, +it was to be seen that future things lie open before God and His +servants "before they spring forth" (Is. xlii. 9), it was necessary +that the commencement of the prophet's ministry should be the more +accurately determined; and this is effected by the statement, that it +happened within the period of the fourteen years during which Uzziah +and Jeroboam reigned contemporaneously. That this is the main reason +for mentioning Jeroboam's name, is seen from the relation of ver. 2 to +ver. 1. The remark there made,--that Hosea received the subsequent +revelation at the very beginning of his prophetic ministry, corresponds +with the mention of Jeroboam's name in ver. 1. But this is not all; nor +can we say that, had it not been for this reason, Hosea would not have +mentioned any king of Israel at all, in order that, from the outset, he +might exhibit [Pg 168] his disposition. There was a considerable +difference between Jeroboam and the subsequent kings. _Cocceius_ +remarked very strikingly: "The other kings of Israel are not considered +as kings, but as robbers." Jeroboam possessed a _quasi_ legitimacy. The +house of Jehu, to which he belonged, had opposed the extreme of +religious apostasy. It was, to a certain degree, acknowledged, even by +the prophets. Jeroboam had obtained the throne, not by usurpation, but +by birth. He was the last king by whom the Lord sent deliverance to the +people of the ten tribes; compare 2 Kings xiv. 27: "And the Lord would +not blot out the name of Israel from under heaven; and He saved them by +the hand of Jeroboam, the son of Joash." (2.) The _internal_ reason +adduced by _Maurer_ (S. 294) is equally insignificant. "The _morum +magistri_," he says, "are wont more slightly to reprove, in the case of +strangers, that which they severely condemn in their own people; but +Hosea rebukes with as much severity the inhabitants of Judah, when he +comes to speak of them, as he does the Israelites." But no certain +inferences can be drawn from such commonplaces; for, in this way we +might as reasonably infer, that Isaiah and the writer of the Books of +Kings were natives of the kingdom of the ten tribes, because they +censure the sins of the Israelites as severely as they do those of the +inhabitants of Judah. To this commonplace we might as easily oppose +another equally true, viz., the "_morum magistri_, from a partiality +for their own people, are wont to judge more leniently of their faults +than of those of strangers." Such maxims require to be applied with the +utmost caution, even in the territory to which they belong, because one +consideration may be so easily outweighed by another. Here, however, +its application is altogether out of the question. The prophets, as the +instruments of the Spirit, spoke pure and plain truth without any +regard to persons. Whether Hosea was a native of Judah or of Israel, he +would express himself in the same way concerning the inhabitants of +Judah. He would severely rebuke their sins, and at the same time +readily acknowledge, as he does, their advantages,--for "Salvation +cometh of the Jews." + +If, then, these be the arguments in favour of the Judean origin of +Hosea, it readily appears that the probabilities of such an origin, +compared with that of his Israelitish descent, are not [Pg 169] even in +the proportion of one to a hundred. The prophets were almost more +numerous in the kingdom of Israel than in that of Judah; and yet the +entire history knows of only two instances of prophets being sent from +the kingdom of Judah to that of Israel, viz., the prophet spoken of in +1 Kings xiii. and Amos. And the former of these even scarcely belongs +to this class, inasmuch as he received only a single mission into the +kingdom of Israel, and _that_, at a time when the prophetic institution +was not as yet organized there. In the case of Amos likewise, it is +manifest not only that he was only an exception to the rule,--as +appears from the transactions with the priest Amaziah, reported in Amos +vii. (compare especially ver. 12),--but still more plainly, from the +mention in the inscription of his having been a native of Judah. + +With regard to the _time_ of the prophet, the inscription places his +ministry in the reigns of the kings Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. +A long period is, no doubt, thus assigned to it,--a period embracing at +least twenty-six years of Uzziah's reign, and, in addition, the sixteen +years of that of Jotham, the sixteen years during which Ahaz reigned, +and at least one or two years of the reign of Hezekiah, making, at the +lowest calculation, a period of sixty years in all. + +This exceedingly long duration of the prophet's ministry might easily +excite suspicion regarding the genuineness and correctness of the +inscription; but such suspicion is at once set at rest by the fact, +that the statements contained in the book itself lead us to assume a +period equally extended. The _beginning_ of the prophet's ministry +cannot be assigned to any _later_ period; for, in chap. i. 4, the fall +of Jeroboam's house, which took place soon after his death, is +announced as a future event. _Moreover_, the condition of the kingdom +appears still, throughout the whole first discourse, as a very +flourishing one. Nor can the end of his ministry be assigned to any +earlier period. For in chap. x. 14, an expedition of Shalman or +Shalmaneser against the kingdom of Israel (_Vitringa_, _Proleg. in Is._ +p. 6) is described as being already past, and a second invasion is +threatened. But the first expedition of Shalmaneser, reported in 2 +Kings xvii. 1 seqq., is almost contemporaneous with the beginning of +Hezekiah's reign. For it was directed against Hoshea, king of Israel, +who began his reign in the twelfth [Pg 170] year of that of Ahaz, which +lasted sixteen years. The exact harmony of the passage in Hosea with +that in 2 Kings xvii. is very evident. In 2 Kings xvii. 3, it is said: +"Against him came up Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, and Hoshea became +his servant and gave him tribute." This was the first expedition of +Shalmaneser. Then followed the second expedition, which was caused by +the rebellion of Hoshea,--in consequence of which Samaria was taken and +the people carried away. In Hos. x. 14, 15, it is said: "And tumult +ariseth against thy people, and all thy fortresses shall be spoiled, as +Shalman spoiled Beth-arbel in the day of battle; the mother was dashed +in pieces upon (her) children. So shall he do unto you, Bethel, because +of your great wickedness in the dawn of the morning, destroyed, +destroyed shall be the king of Israel." Hosea here declares that the +beginning of the destruction by Shalmaneser is the prophecy of the end +of the kingdom of Israel. The "morning dawn" is the time of apparently +reappearing prosperity, when, according to _Cocceius_, a time of peace +begins to shine. In Amos iv. 13, v. 8, the prosperity again dawning +upon the kingdom of Israel is likewise expressed by "morning" and +"morning dawn." The identity of Beth-arbel and Arbelah in Galilee can +the less be doubted, because recent researches have rendered it certain +that this place, now called _Irbid_, was an important fortress. +(Compare _Muenchener gelehrte Anzeigen_ 1836, S. 870 ff.; _Robinson_, +iii. 2, p. 534; _v. Raumer_, S. 108.) The use of Beth-arbel, instead of +the more common Arbelah, as well as that of Shalman instead of +Shalmaneser, belongs to the higher style. At the first expedition, the +decisive battle had, no doubt, taken place at Arbelah. They who +disconnect this passage from 2 Kings xvii. do not know what to make of +it. _Simson_ complains of the darkness resting on the passage under +consideration.--But Hos. xii. 2 (1) likewise leads us to the very last +times of the kingdom of Israel,--those times when Hoshea endeavoured to +free himself from the Assyrian servitude by the help of Egypt. "Ephraim +feedeth on wind, and followeth after the east-wind; he daily increaseth +lies and desolation; and they do make a covenant with Assyria, and oil +is carried into Egypt." Their sending oil to Egypt, notwithstanding the +covenant made with Assyria, is the lie, which goes hand in hand with +desolation, while they imagine thereby to [Pg 171] work deliverance. +This explanation has been already given by _J. H. Manger_, of whose +_Commentarius in Hoseam_, _Campen_, 1782--a commentary in many respects +excellent--most of the recent commentators, and, lastly, _Simson_, +have, to their great disadvantage, not availed themselves. _Manger_ +says: "These words refer to the ambassadors who were sent with splendid +presents by king Hoshea to the king of Egypt, in order to win him over +to himself, and induce him to assist him against the Assyrians, to whom +he had become subject by a solemn treaty."--To the last times of the +kingdom of Israel we are likewise led by what occurs in other passages +concerning the relation of Israel to Egypt and Asshur. The matter has +been falsely represented by very many as if two parties among the +people were spoken of,--an Assyrian and an Egyptian party. Nor is it +so, that the whole people turn at one time to Egypt in order to free +themselves from the Assyrians, and at another time to Assyria to assist +them against Egypt. The position is rather thus: The people, heavily +oppressed by Asshur, at one time seek help from Egypt against Asshur, +and, at another, attempt to conciliate the latter. Precisely thus is +the situation described in vii. 11: "They call to Egypt, they go to +Asshur." That by which Israel was threatened, was, according to viii. +10, "the burden of the king of princes, the king of Asshur," ver. 9. +This they seek to turn off, partly by artifices, and partly by calling +to their help the king of Egypt. Asshur alone is the king "warrior" +(_Jareb_), v. 13, x. 6; he only has received the divine mission to +execute judgment; compare xi. 5: "He, _i.e._, Israel, shall not return +to the land of Egypt, and Asshur, he is his king." As an ally not to be +trusted, Egypt is described in vii. 16, where, after the announcement +of their destruction on account of their rebellion against the Lord, it +is said: "This shall be their derision on account of the land of +Egypt," _i.e._, thus they shall be put to shame in the hope which they +place on Egypt. Is. xxx. 1-5 is quite analogous. In that passage the +prophet announces that Judah's attempt to protect themselves against +Asshur by means of Egypt would be vain; compare, especially, ver. 3: +"And the fortress of Pharaoh shall be your shame, and the trust in the +shadow of Egypt, your confusion;" and ver. 5: "Not for help nor for +profit, but for shame and for reproach." Such historical circumstances, +[Pg 172] however, had not yet occurred under Menahem. At that time, +Israel was not yet placed in the midst betwixt Asshur and Egypt. It is +expressly mentioned in 2 Kings xv. 20, that the invasion of Pul was +only transitory, and that not conquest, but spoil, was its aim. The +real commencement of the Assyrian oppression is formed by the invasion +of Tiglathpileser at the time of Ahaz. Isaiah, in chap. vii., points +out the pernicious consequences of Ahaz's calling the Assyrians to his +assistance against Syria and Israel. The very fact of this war carried +on against Judah by Syria and Ephraim shows, that up to that time, +Asshur had not laid his hand upon these regions. It was only with the +invasion under Ahaz that there was any display of Asshur's tendency to +make permanent conquests on the other side of Euphrates, which could +not fail to bring about the conflict with the Egyptian power.--"King +Jareb,"--such had already become the historical character of the king +of Asshur, at the time when Hosea wrote; but prior to the times of Ahaz +and Hezekiah, he did not stand out as such. + +There is no decisive weight to be attached to what _Simson_ advances in +order to prove that we must fix an earlier date. He argues thus: +"Gilead, which, according to 2 Kings xv. 29, was taken and depopulated +by Tiglathpileser, whom Ahaz had called to his assistance, appears in +vi. 8, xii. 12 (11) to be still in the possession of Israel. Hence, the +ministry of the prophet cannot have extended beyond the invasion of +Judah by the Syrians and Ephraim." But since the book gives the sum and +substance of Hosea's prophecies during a prolonged period, there must +necessarily occur in it references to events which already belonged to +the past, at the time when the prophet wrote. In chap. i. 4, even the +overthrow of the house of Jeroboam appears as being still future. + +But even although we could not establish, from other sources, the +statement contained in the inscription, the inscription itself would +nevertheless be a guarantee for it; and the more so, because there are +other analogies in favour of so long a duration of the prophetic +office, which was sometimes entered upon even in early youth. The +inscription has the same authority in its favour as every other part of +the book; and it is hardly possible to understand the levity with which +it has, in recent times, been pretty generally designated as spurious, +or, at least, suspicious. [Pg 173] It is altogether impossible to sever +it from the other parts of the book. There must certainly have been +some object in view when, in ver. 2, it is expressly remarked, that +what follows took place at the _beginning_ of Hosea's ministry. But +such an object it will be possible to point out, only in the event of +its being more accurately determined at what time this beginning took +place--viz., still under the reign of Jeroboam, when the state of +things as it appeared to the eye did not yet offer any occasion for +such views of the future as are opened up in the first three chapters. +Ver. 1 cannot, therefore, be regarded as an addition subsequently made, +unless the words in ver. 2, from [Hebrew: tHlt] to [Hebrew: bhvwe] be +so likewise. But these again are most closely connected with what +follows by the _Future_ with _Vav convers._, which never can begin a +narrative. There remains, therefore, only this alternative:--either to +regard the whole as having been written at a later period, or to claim +for Hosea the inscription also. We cannot agree with the view of +_Simson_, that the remark by which the beginning of the book is +assigned to the beginning of the prophet's ministry, originated from a +chronological interest only; and we can the less do so, because the +prophet does not pay any attention to chronology in any other place, +but is anxious to give only the sum and substance of what he had +prophesied during a series of years. The only exception which he makes +in this respect must have originated from strong reasons; and such do +not exist, if the inscription in ver. 1, or the mention of the kings in +it, be spurious. The mention of the beginning in ver. 2 would, in that +case, be so much the more groundless, as we could know nothing at all +regarding the length of his ministry. + +Much more fruitful, certainly, than all such vain doubts, are the +reflections of Calvin on the long duration of the prophet's ministry: +"How grievous is it to us when God requires our services for twenty or +thirty years; and, especially, when we have to contend with ungodly +people, who would not willingly take upon them the yoke, yea, who even +obstinately resist us! we then wish to be freed at once, and to become +pensioned soldiers. But, seeing this prophet's long protracted +ministry, let us take from it an example of patience, that we may not +despair although the Lord should not at once free us from our burden." + +Many interpreters have zealously attempted to determine the [Pg 174] +particular portions of this lengthened period to which the particular +portions of this book belong. But such an undertaking is wholly vain in +the case before us, as well as in that of Micah, and most of the minor +prophets generally. The supposition upon which it rests is false--viz., +that the collection consists of a number of single, detached portions. +We do not possess the whole of Hosea's prophecies, but only the +substance of their essential contents,--a survey which he himself gave +towards the end of his ministry. This appears (1) from the [Hebrew: dbr +ihvh] in the inscription. In itself, this would not be a decisive +argument, as the prophet might also have comprehended in an _ideal_ +unity, discourses outwardly distinct; but, nevertheless, as long as no +reason appears for the contrary, it is more naturally referred to a +continuous discourse with an external unity also. (2.) It appears from +the entire omission of all chronological data. The only exception is in +ver. 2; but this exception serves only to strengthen the argument drawn +from the omission everywhere else. (3.) It is proved by the absence of +all certain indications about the beginning and ending of the +particular portions. There occur, just as in the second part of Isaiah, +new starting points only; but, with these exceptions, the discourse +always moves on in the same manner. (4.) It is seen from the +indefiniteness and generality of the historical references, which must +necessarily arise if the prophet referred, in like manner, to the whole +of this lengthened period. That the facts, upon which the last two +arguments rest, really exist, is made sufficiently apparent from the +immense diversity of opinions as to the number and extent of the +particular portions, and as to the time of their composition. There are +not even two of the more important interpreters who agree in the main +points alone. Such a diversity does not exist in reference to any of +the prophetical books which actually consist of detached prophecies. +(5.) The style and language are too much the same throughout the whole, +to admit of the idea that any long period could have elapsed between +the particular prophecies. This, indeed, is only a subordinate +argument; but it acquires its full importance, when connected with the +foundation of the third and fourth proofs. + +It now only remains to give a survey of the historical circumstances at +the time of the prophet. This is the more necessary, as a knowledge of +these is required for the exposition of [Pg 175] the Messianic +prophecies, not only of Hosea, but also of Amos, his contemporary. + +The kingdom of Israel carried within it, from its very commencement, a +twofold element of destruction--viz., the establishment of the worship +of the calves, and the rebellion against the dynasty of David. With +regard to the former,--the consequence of this apparently so much +isolated transgression of a Mosaic ordinance extended much further than +would appear upon a superficial view. In this case also it was seen +that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump. Of far higher importance +than the low conceptions of God produced by this symbolical +representation of Him, was another aspect of the transaction. The +prohibition of image-worship in the Pentateuch was as distinct and +clear as it was possible to make it. The kings of Israel were far from +rejecting it; but still, how difficult soever it may appear, they found +out an interpretation by which they evaded the application of it to +their institution. Such a course once entered upon, could only lead +them further and further astray. As, in so important a case, they had, +in opposition to their own better convictions, allowed themselves +to pervert and explain away the law--asserting, probably, that it +was given only on account of the coarse sensuality of former +generations--the same was done in other things also, as often as it was +called for by the disposition of the corrupted heart. All +unfaithfulness which is known to be so, and yet is cherished, and +excused to the conscience and before men, must draw after it entire +ruin, in a community, not less than in an individual. As a reason for +this ruin, it is very strikingly said in 2 Kings xvii. 9: "And they +_covered_ (this is the only ascertained signification of [Hebrew: Hpa]) +words that were not so, over the Lord their God;" _i.e._, they +ventured, by a number of perversions and false interpretations of His +word, to veil its true form. To this, the following consideration must +be added:--That first change of the religious institutions proceeded +from the political power which secured to itself, for the future, an +absolute influence upon the religious affairs, by subjecting to its +control the ecclesiastical power, which had hitherto been independent +of it. Those Levites who, having no regard to the miserable sophisms +invented by the king as an excuse, declared against the worship of +calves, were expelled, and, in their stead, creatures of the king +[Pg 176] were made ministers of the sanctuary. This became now the +king's sanctuary (compare the remarkable passage, Amos vii. 13), and +all the ecclesiastical affairs were, in strict contradiction to the +Mosaic law, submitted to his arbitrary power. The consequences of this +must necessarily have been all the sadder, the worse the kings were; +and they must inevitably have become so, because of the bad foundation +on which the royal power rested. + +Image-worship was very speedily followed by idolatry,--which is, +however, in like manner, not to be looked upon in the light of an +undisguised opposition to the true God. Such an opposition took place +during the reign of only one king--Ahab--under whom the matter was +carried to an extreme. Holy Scripture, however, with a total disregard +of the whole multitude of miserable excuses ordinarily made, designates +as _direct_ apostasy from God, everything which was substantially such, +although it did not outwardly manifest itself as such. Externally, they +remained faithful to Jehovah; they celebrated His feasts,--they offered +the sacrifices prescribed in the Pentateuch,--they regulated, in +general, all the religious institutions according to the requirements +there laid down, as may be proved from the Books of Kings, and, still +more plainly, from Amos and Hosea. But in all this they discovered a +method by which light and darkness, the worship of idols with that of +the Lord, might be combined. Nor was this discovery so very difficult, +since their eye was not single. They had before them the examples of +heathen nations, who were quite prepared reciprocally to acknowledge +their deities, in all of whom they recognised only different forms of +manifestation of one and the same divine being; and they were quite +willing to extend this acknowledgment even to the God of Israel also, +as long as they did not meet with intolerance on the part of those who +professed to worship Him, and were therefore not roused to the practice +of intolerance in return. This reciprocal recognition of their deities +by the nations in the midst of whom the Israelites lived, is +sufficiently evident from the circumstance, that they all called their +highest deity by the same name--Baal--and expressed, by some epithet, +only the form of manifestation peculiar to each. Now, the Israelites +imagined that they might be able, at one and the same time, to satisfy +the demands of their God, and to propitiate [Pg 177] the idols of the +neighbouring mighty nations--especially of the Ph[oe]nicians--if they +removed the wall of separation betwixt the two. Jehovah and Baal were, +in their view, identical as to their essence. The former was that mode +of manifestation peculiar to them, and the main object of their worship +according to the method prescribed by Himself in His revelation. But +the latter was not to be neglected; inasmuch as they imagined that they +might thereby become partakers of the blessings which this form of +manifestation of the deity was able to bestow. And thus to Jehovah they +gave the name of Baal also, Hos. ii. 18 (16); they celebrated the days +appointed by Jehovah, ver. 13 (11), but those also devoted to Baalim, +ver. 15 (13). In this way we receive an explanation of the fact which, +at first sight, is so startling, viz., that according to Hosea and +Amos, all is filled with the service of Baal; while the Books of Kings +would lead us to think that, with the reign of Ahab, the dominion of +this worship had ceased. But it was only its hostile opposition to the +worship of Jehovah that had disappeared, while a far more dangerous +religious compromise took its place. No doubt can be entertained as to +the party on whose side lay the advantage in this compromise. It was +plainly on that side on which it always lies, whensoever the heart is +divided betwixt truth and falsehood. Externally, the worship of Jehovah +remained the prevailing one; but, inwardly, idolatry obtained almost +the sole dominion. If only the limits betwixt the two religions were +removed, that religion would of course come with the highest +recommendation, the spirit of which was most in accordance with the +spirit of the people. But, owing to the corrupt condition of human +nature, this would not be the strict religion of Jehovah, which, as +coming from God, did not bring God down to the level of human +debasement, but demanded that man should be raised to His +elevation,--which placed the holiness of God in the centre, and founded +upon it the requirement that its possessors should be holy;--but it +would be the soft, sensual, idolatrous doctrine which flattered human +corruption, because from that it had its origin. Thus the Jehovah of +the Israelites became in reality what they sometimes called Him by way +of alternation--a Baal. And the matter was now much more dangerous +than if they had deserted Him [Pg 178] externally also, inasmuch as +they now continued to trust in His covenant and promises, and to boast +of their external services,--thus strengthening themselves in their +false security. + +The _natural_ consequence of this apostasy from the Lord was a +frightful corruption of manners. The next result of spiritual adultery +was the carnal one. Voluptuousness formed the fundamental +characteristic of the Asiatic religions in general, and, in particular, +of those with which the Israelites came in contact. But the pernicious +influence extended still further over the whole moral territory. Where +there is no holy God, neither will there be any effort of man after +holiness. All divine and human laws will be trampled under foot. All +the bonds of love, law, and order, will be broken. And, as such, the +condition of the country in a moral point of view is described by its +two prophets throughout. Compare, _e.g._, Hosea iv. 1, 2: "There is no +truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land. Swearing, and +lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery--they break +through, and blood toucheth blood." There then followed, from the moral +corruption, the internal dissolution of the state, and its external +weakness. + +The _supernatural_ consequences of the apostasy from the Lord, were the +severe punishments which He inflicted upon the people. With whomsoever +God has entered into a closer connection, whomsoever He thinks worthy +of His grace, in him the Lord will be glorified by the infliction of +punishment upon him, if, through his own guilt. He has not been +glorified by sanctification in him. Just because Israel formed part of +the Covenant-people, they could not be allowed to continue to retain +the outward appearance of it, when, inwardly, they did not retain a +vestige. + +As the second element of the ruin, we mentioned the rebellion against +the dynasty of David. Their dominion rested on divine right, while the +new Israelitish kingdom rested upon the sandy foundation of human +caprice. The first king had raised himself to the throne by his own +power and prudence, and through the favour of the people. Whosoever had +the same means at his disposal, imagined that these gave him the right +to do likewise. And thus dynasty supplanted dynasty, regicide followed +regicide. In the bloody struggles thereby occasioned, the people became +more and more lawless. Sometimes interregna, [Pg 179] and periods of +total anarchy took place; and by these internal struggles the power to +resist external enemies was more and more broken. No king was able to +stop this source of mischief, for such an effort would have required +him to lay aside his position as a king. And as little was any one able +to put a stop to that source of evil formerly mentioned: for, if the +religious wall of partition which was erected between Israel and Judah +were once removed, the civil one likewise threatened to fall. + +Such were, in general, the circumstances under which Hosea, like the +other prophets of the kingdom of Israel, appeared. There cannot be any +doubt that these were much more difficult than those of the kingdom +of Judah. There, too, the corruption was indeed very great; but it was +not so firmly intertwined with the foundation of the whole state. +Thorough-going reforms, like those under Hezekiah and Josiah, were +possible. The interest of a whole tribe was closely bound up with the +preservation of true religion. + +The reign of Jeroboam II., which was externally so prosperous, and in +which Hosea entered upon his prophetic ministry, had still more +increased the apostasy from the Lord, and the corruption of manners, +and thus laid the foundation for the series of disastrous events which +began soon after his death, and which, in quick succession, brought the +people to total ruin. The prosperity only confirmed them still more in +their security. Instead of being led to repentance by the unmerited +mercy of God (compare 2 Kings xiv. 26, 27), they considered this +prosperity as a reward of their apostasy, as the seal by which +Jehovah-Baal confirmed the rectitude of their ways. The false prophets, +too, did what was in their power to strengthen them in their delusion, +whilst the true prophets preached to deaf ears. + +Immediately after the death of Jeroboam, it soon became apparent on +which side the truth lay. There followed an interregnum of from eleven +to twelve years.[1] After the termination [Pg 180] of it, Zachariah, +the son of Jeroboam, succeeded to the throne; but he was murdered by +Shallum, after a short reign of six months, 2 Kings xv. 10. Shallum, +after he had reigned only one month, was slain by Menahem, ver. 14. +Menahem reigned ten years at Samaria. Under him, the catastrophe was +already preparing which brought the kingdom to utter destruction. He +became tributary to the Assyrian king Pul, vers. 19-21. He was +succeeded by his son Pekahiah, in the fiftieth year of Uzziah. After a +reign of two months, he was slain by Pekah, the son of Remaliah, who +held the government for twenty years (ver. 27), and, by his alliance +with the kings of Syria against his brethren the people of Judah (comp. +Is. vii.), hastened on the destruction of Israel. The Assyrians, under +Tiglathpileser, called to his assistance by Ahaz, even at that time +carried away into captivity part of its citizens,--the tribes who lived +on the other side of the Jordan. In the fourth year of Ahaz, Pekah was +slain by Hoshea, who, after an interregnum of eight years, began to +reign in the twelfth year of Ahaz, xvii. 1. He became tributary to +Shalmaneser; and the end of his government of nine years was also the +end of the kingdom of the ten tribes. His having sought for an alliance +with Egypt drew down, upon himself and his people, the vengeance of the +king of Assyria. + +We have already proved that the historical references in the prophecies +of Hosea extend to the time when the last king of Israel attempted to +secure himself against Asshur, by the alliance with Egypt. It is very +probable that the book was written at [Pg 181] that time. At the time +when the sword of the Lord was just being raised to inflict upon Israel +the death-blow, Hosea wrote down the sum and substance of what he had +prophesied during a long series of years, beginning in the last times +of Jeroboam, when, to a superficial view, the people were in the +enjoyment of the fullest prosperity. When at the threshold of their +final fulfilment, he condensed and wrote down his prophecies, just as, +in the _annus fatalis_, the fourth year of Jehoiakim, Jeremiah, +according to chap. xxv., gave a survey of what he had prophesied over +Judah during twenty-three years. + +In the prophecies of Hosea, as in those of Amos, the _threatening_ +character prevails. The number of the elect in Israel was small, and +the judgment was at hand. In Jeremiah and Ezekiel, too, the prophecies, +previous to the destruction, are mainly minatory. It was only after the +wrath of God had been manifested in deeds, that the stream of promise +brake forth without hindrance. Hosea, nevertheless, does not belie his +name, by which he had been dedicated to the helping and saving God, and +which he had received, _non sine numine_. ([Hebrew: hvwe], properly the +Inf. Abs. of [Hebrew: iwe], is, in substance, equivalent to Joshua, +_i.e._, the Lord is help.) Zeal for the Lord fills and animates him, +not only in the energy of his threatenings, but also in the intensity +and strength of his conviction of the pardoning mercy and healing love +of the Lord, which will, in the end, prevail. In this respect, Hosea is +closely connected with the Song of Solomon--that link in the chain of +Holy Scripture into which he had, in the first instance, to fit. There +are in Hosea undeniable references to the Song of Solomon. (Compare my +Comment. on the Song of Solomon, on chap. i. 4, ii. 3.) It is certainly +not by accident that the brighter views appear with special clearness +at the beginning, in chap. i. 3 (compare ii. 1-3, 16-25 [i. 10, ii. 1, +14-23], iii. 5), and at the close, xiv. 2-10 (1-9), where the +fundamental thought is expressed in ver. 4 (3): "For in Thee the +fatherless findeth mercy." But even in the darker middle portions, they +sometimes suddenly break through; compare v. 15, vi. 3, where the +subject is: "He teareth and He healeth us; He smiteth and He bindeth +up;" vi. 11, where, after the threatening against Israel, we suddenly +find the words: "Nevertheless, O Judah! He grants thee a harvest, when +I (_i.e._, the Lord) return to the prison of My people." (Judah is [Pg +182] here mentioned as the main portion of the people, in whom mercy is +bestowed upon the whole, and in whose salvation the other tribes also +share.) Compare also xi. 8-11, where we have this thought: After wrath, +mercy; the Covenant-people can never, like the world, be altogether +borne down by destructive judgments; xiii. 14, where the strong +conviction of the absolutely imperishable nature of the Congregation of +the Lord finds utterance in the words, "I will ransom them from the +hand of hell; I will redeem them from death: O death! where is thy +plague? O hell! where is thy pestilence? repentance is hid from Mine +eyes." _Simson_ is perplexed "by the sudden transition of the +discourse, in this passage, from threatening to promise,--and this +without even any particle to indicate the mutual relation of the +sentences and thoughts." But the same phenomenon occurs also in vi. 11 +(compare Micah ii. 12, 13), where, likewise, several expositors are +perplexed by the suddenness and abruptness of the transition. It is +explained from the circumstance, that behind even the darkest clouds of +wrath which have gathered over the Congregation of the Lord, there is, +nevertheless, concealed the sun of mercy. In the prophets, it sometimes +breaks through suddenly and abruptly; but in this they are at one with +history, in which the deepest darkness of the night is oftentimes +suddenly illuminated by the shining of the Lord: "And at midnight there +was a cry made: Behold, the bridegroom cometh." + +The sum and substance of Hosea's prophetic announcement is the +following:--Israel falls, through Asshur: Judah, the main tribe, shall +be preserved from destruction in this catastrophe. (The prophet's +tender care for Judah is strikingly brought out in his exhortation to +Israel, in iv. 15, that they should desist from their compromises in +religion, and that, if they chose to commit sin, they should rather +desert the Lord altogether, lest by their hypocrisy Judah also should +be seduced and infected.) But at a later period, Judah too is to fall +under the divine judgment (ii. 2 [i. 11], where it is supposed that +Judah shall also be carried away into captivity; v. 5: "Israel and +Ephraim fall by their iniquity, Judah also falleth with them;" v. 12: +"I am unto Ephraim as a moth, and to the house of Judah as rottenness;" +compare also xii. 1, 3), although the immediate instruments of the +judgment upon Judah are not mentioned [Pg 183] by Hosea. But the +judgments which the two houses of Israel draw upon themselves by their +works (ii. 2 [i. 11], iii. 5, indicate that even Judah will, at some +future time, rebel against the house of David) shall be followed by the +deliverance to be accomplished by grace. Judah and Israel shall, in the +future, be again gathered together under one head, ii. 2 (i. 11); a +glorious king out of David's house not only restores what was lost, but +also raises the Congregation of the Lord to a decree of glory never +before conceived of, iii. 5: "Afterwards shall the children of Israel +return and seek the Lord their God, and David their King, and shall +fear the Lord and His goodness in the latter days." + +The peculiarity of the Messianic prophecies of Hosea, as compared with +those of the time of David and Solomon, consists in the connection of +the promise with threatenings of judgments, and in the Messiah's +appearing as the light of those who walk in the deepest darkness of the +divine judgments. It was necessary that this progress should have been +made in the Messianic announcements, before the breaking in of the +divine judgments; for, otherwise, the hope of the Messiah would have +been extinguished by them, because it was but too natural to consider +the former as, _in fact_, an annihilation of these dreamy hopes. But +now there was offered to the elect a staff on which they might support +themselves, and walk with confidence through the dark valley of the +shadow of death. + +The Book of Hosea may be divided into two parts, according to the two +principal periods of the prophet's ministry,--under Jeroboam, when the +external condition was as yet prosperous, and the bodily eye did not as +yet perceive anything of the storms of divine wrath which were +gathering,--and under the following kings, down to Hosea, when the +punishment had already begun, and was hastening, by rapid strides, +towards its consummation.--Another difference, although a subordinate +one, is this:--that the first part, which comprehends the first three +chapters, contains prophecies connected with a symbol, while the second +part contains direct prophecies which have no such connection. A +similar division occurs in Amos also,--with this difference, that +there, the symbolical prophecies form the conclusion. The first part +may be considered as a kind of outline, which all the subsequent +prophecies served to fill up; just [Pg 184] as may the 6th chapter in +Isaiah, and the first and second in Ezekiel. We shall give a complete +exposition of this section, as it will afford us a vivid view of the +whole position of Hosea, and as it is just there that the Messianic +announcement meets us in its most developed form. + + +Footnote 1: _Ewald_, _Thenius_, and others, will not grant that such an +interregnum took place. As numbers were originally expressed by +letters, in which an interchange might easily happen, we cannot deny +the possibility of such an error having occurred in 2 Kings xiv. 23. It +is quite possible that the duration of Jeroboam's reign was there +originally stated at fifty-two or fifty-three, instead of forty-one +years. But strong reasons would be required for rendering such a +supposition admissible,--the more so, as the interchange would not have +been limited to one letter, as _Thenius_ supposes, but must have +extended to both. But no such reasons exist. The silence of the Books +of Kings upon the subject of this interregnum cannot be urged as a +reason, since these books are so exceedingly short as regards the +history of the last times of the kingdom of Israel. Sacred +historiography has no interest in the details of this process of decay, +which began with the death of Jeroboam,--which also is represented by +Amos as if it were the day of Israel's death (Amos vii. 11: "Jeroboam +shall die by the sword, and Israel shall be led away captive out of +their own land"), although bare existence is still, for some time, +spared. By the rejection of this interregnum, Hosea's ministry would be +shortened by twelve years; but this gain--if such it be--can be +purchased only at the expense of a most improbable extension of the +duration of Jeroboam's reign. _Simson_, S. 201, has defended the +interregnum. + + + + THE SECTION CHAP. I.-III. + +The question which here above all engages our attention, and requires +to be answered, is this: Whether that which is reported in these +chapters did, or did not, actually and outwardly take place. The +history of the inquiries connected with this question is found most +fully in _Marckius's_ "_Diatribe de uxore fornicationum_," Leyden, +1696, reprinted in the Commentary on the Minor Prophets by the same +author. The various views may be divided into three classes. + +1. It is maintained by very many interpreters, that all the events here +narrated took place actually and outwardly. This opinion was advanced +with the greatest confidence by _Theodoret_, _Cyril_ of Alexandria, and +_Augustine_ from among the Fathers of the Church; by most interpreters +belonging to the Lutheran and Reformed Churches (_e.g. Manger_); most +recently, by _Stuck_, _Hofmann_ (_Weissag u. Erf._ S. 206), and, to a +certain extent, by _Ewald_ also, who supposes "a free representation of +an event actually experienced by the prophet." + +2. Others consider it as a parabolical representation. Thus does +Calvin, who expressly opposes the supposition not only of an external, +but also of an internal event. He explains it thus: "When the prophet +began to teach, he commenced thus: The Lord has placed me here as on a +stage, that I might tell you, I have taken a wife," etc. Entirely +similar was the opinion of the Chaldee Paraphrast, by whom the words, +"Go," etc., are thus paraphrased: "Go and prophesy against the +inhabitants of the adulterous city." Of a like purport is the view +held, from among recent interpreters, by _Rosenmueller_, _Hitzig_ ("that +which the prophet describes as actual, is only a fiction"), _Simson_ +and others. The strange opinion of Luther, which, out of too great +respect, was adopted by a few later theologians (_Osiander_, [Pg 185] +_Gerhard_, _Tarnovius_), is only a modification of this. It is to the +effect, that the prophet had only ascribed to his own chaste wife the +name and works of an adulteress, and, hence, had performed with her, +before the people, a kind of play. (Compare, against this view, +_Buddeus_, _de peccatis typicis_ in the _Misc. s. t._ i. p. 262.) The +same opinion is expressed by _Umbreit_: "His own wife is implicated in +the general guilt, and hence she is a representative of the whole +people." In opposition to this view, compare _Simson's_ Commentary. + +3. Others suppose that the prophet narrates events which took place +_actually_, indeed, but _not outwardly_. This opinion was, considering +the time at which it was advanced, very ably defended by _Jerome_ in +_Epist. ad Pammachium_, and in his commentary on chap. i. 8. According +to _Rufinus_, all those in Palestine and Egypt who respected the +authority of _Origen_, asserted that the marriage took place only in +spirit. The difficulties attaching to the first view were made +especially obvious by the ridicule of the Manicheans (_Faustus_ and +_Secundinus_ in _Augustine_, t. vi. p. 575) on this narrative. The most +accomplished Jewish scholars (_Maimonides_ in the _More Nebuch._ p. ii. +c. 46, _Abenezra_, _Kimchi_) support this opinion. Some new arguments +in defence of it have been adduced by _Marckius_. + +Of these three views:--actually and outwardly; neither outwardly nor +actually; actually, but not outwardly,--the second must be at once +rejected. Those who hold it supply, "God has commanded me to tell you." +But there is not the slightest intimation of such an ellipsis; and +those interpreters have no better right to supply it in this, than in +any other narrative. There is before us action, and nothing but action, +without any intimation whatsoever that it is merely an invention. + +But the following arguments are decisive in favour of the third, and +against the first view. + +1. The defenders of an outward transaction rely, in support of their +view, upon the supposition, that their interpretation is most obvious +and natural;--that they are thus, as it were, in the _possession_ of +the ground, and in a position from which they can be driven only by the +most cogent reasons;--that if the transaction had been internal, it +would have been necessary for the prophet to have expressly marked it +as such. But precisely the reverse of all this is the case. The most +obvious supposition [Pg 186] is, that the symbolical action took place +in vision. If _certain_ actions of the prophets, especially seeing, +hearing, and their speaking to the Lord, etc., must be conceived of as +having taken place inwardly, unless there be distinct indications of +the opposite, why not the remainder also? For the former presupposes +that the world in which the prophets move, is altogether different from +the ordinary one; that it is not the outward, but the spiritual world. +It is certainly not a matter of chance, that the _seeing_ in the case +of the prophets must be understood spiritually; and if there be a +reason for this, the same reason entitles us to assert that the +walking, etc., also took place inwardly only. By what right could we +make any difference between the actions of others, described by the +prophet, and his own? Vision and symbolical action are not opposed to +each other; the former is only the _genus_ comprehending the latter as +a _species_. By this we do not at all mean to assert, that _all_ the +symbolical actions of the prophets took place in inward vision only. An +inward transaction always lay at the foundation; but sometimes, and +when it was appropriate, they embodied it in an outward representation +also (1 Kings xx. 35 seq., xxii. 11; Jer. xix. xxviii.; and a similar +remarkable instance from modern times, in _Croesi Hist. Quakeriana_, p. +13). For this very reason, however, this argument cannot be altogether +decisive by itself; but it furnishes, at least, a presumptive proof, +and that by no means unimportant. If regularly and naturally the +transaction be internal only, then the opposite requires to be proved +in this case. If this had been admitted, no attempt would have been +made elsewhere also, _e.g._, Is. xx., by false and forced +interpretations to explain away the supposition of a merely internal +transaction. + +2. No one will certainly venture to assert that a merely internal +transaction would have missed its aim, since there exists a multitude +of symbolical actions, in regard to which it is undeniable, and +universally admitted, that they took place internally only. For the +inward action, being narrated and committed to writing, retained the +advantage of vividness and impressiveness over the naked representation +of the same truth. Sometimes, in the case of actions concentrated into +a single moment, this advantage may be still further increased by the +inward transaction being represented outwardly also. But, here, just +the [Pg 187] opposite would take place. We have here before us a +symbolical transaction which, if it had been performed outwardly, would +have continued for several years. The separation of the single events +would have prevented its being taken in at a single view, and have thus +deprived it of its impressiveness. But, what is still more important, +the natural _substratum_ would have occupied the attention so much more +than the _idea_, that the latter would have been thereby altogether +overlooked. The domestic affairs of the prophet would have become the +subject of a large amount of _tittle-tattle_, and the idea would have +been remembered only to give greater point to the ridicule. + +3. The command of God, when considered as referring to an outward +transaction, cannot be, by any means, justified. This is most glaringly +obvious, if we understand this command, as several do, to mean that the +prophet should beget children with an unchaste woman, and without +legitimate marriage. Every one will sympathize with the indignation +expressed by _Buddeus_ (l. c. p. 206) against _Thomas Aquinas_, who, +following this view, maintains that the law of God had been, in this +special case, repealed by His command. God Himself cannot set us free +from His commands; they are an expression of His nature, an image of +His holiness. To ascribe arbitrariness to God in this respect, would be +to annihilate the idea of God, and the idea of the Law at the same +time. This view, it is true, is so decidedly erroneous as to require no +further refutation; but even the opinion of _Buddeus_ and others +presents insurmountable difficulties. They suppose that the prophet had +married a woman who was formerly unchaste. In opposition to this, +Calvin very strikingly remarks: "It seems not to be consistent with +reason, that God should spontaneously have rendered His prophet +contemptible; for how could he ever have appeared in public after such +ignominy had been inflicted upon him? If he had married such a wife, as +here described, he ought rather to have hidden himself all his lifetime +than have assumed the prophetic office." In Lev. xxi. 7 the law forbids +the priests to take a wife that is a whore, or profane. That which, +according to the letter, referred to the priests only, is applicable, +in its spirit, to the prophets also,--yea, to them in a higher degree, +as will be seen immediately, when the ordinance is reduced to its +_idea_. The latter is easily inferred from the reason stated, [Pg 188] +viz., that the priests should be holy to their God. The servants of God +must represent His holiness; they are, therefore, not allowed, by so +close a contact with sin, to defile or desecrate themselves either +inwardly or outwardly. Although the inward pollution may be prevented +in individual cases by a specially effective assistance of divine +grace, yet there always remains the outward pollution. + +It is inconceivable that, at the very commencement of his ministry, God +should have commanded to the prophet anything, the inevitable effect of +which was to mar its successful execution. Several--and especially +_Manger_--who felt the difficulties of this interpretation, substituted +for it another, by which, as they imagined, all objections were +removed. The prophet, they say, married a person who had formerly been +chaste, and fell only after her marriage. This view is no doubt the +correct one, as is obvious from the relation of the figure to the +reality. According to ver. 2, it is to be expressed figuratively that +the people went a-whoring from Jehovah. The spiritual adultery +presupposes that the spiritual marriage had already been concluded. +Hence, the wife can be called a whoring wife, only on account of the +whoredom which she practised after her marriage. This is confirmed by +chap. iii. 1, where the more limited expression "to commit adultery" is +substituted for "to whore," which has a wider sense, and comprehends +adultery also. The former unchastity of the wife would be without any +meaning, yea, would be in direct contradiction to the real state of the +case. For before the marriage concluded at Sinai, Israel was devoted to +the Lord in faithful love; comp. Jer. ii. 2: "I remember thee, the +kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, thy walking after +Me in the wilderness, in a land not sown." Compare also Ezek. xvi., +where Israel, before her marriage, appears as a _virgo intacta_. But +how correct soever this view may be--and every other view perverts the +whole position--it is, nevertheless, erroneous to suppose that thereby +all difficulties are removed. All which has been urged against the +former view, may be urged here also. It might have been better for the +prophet to have married one who was previously unchaste, in the hope +that her subsequent better life might wipe out her former shame, than +one previously chaste, who _was required_ to become unchaste, and to +remain so for a long time, because, [Pg 189] otherwise, the symbolical +action would have lost all its significance. The objection brought +forward, that whatever is unbecoming as an outward action, is so +likewise though it were only an internal action, can scarcely be meant +to be in earnest. For, in this case, every one knew that the prophet +was a mere type; and, with regard to his wife, this circumstance was so +obvious, that mockery certainly gave way to shame and confusion. But a +marriage outwardly entered into is never purely typical. It has always +its significance apart from the typical import, and must be +justifiable, independently of its typical character. Ridicule would, in +this case, have been not only too obvious, but to a certain extent also +well founded. + +4. If the action had taken place only outwardly, it would have been +impossible to explain the abrupt transition from the symbolical action +to the mere figure, and again to the entirely naked representation as +we find it here, and _vice versa_. In the first chapter, the symbolical +action is pretty well maintained; but in the prophecy ii. 1-3 (i. +10-ii. 1), which belongs to the same section, it is almost entirely +lost sight of. As the corporeal adultery, and rejection in consequence +of it, were to be the type of the spiritual adultery and rejection, so +the receiving again of the wife, rejected on account of her +faithlessness, but now reformed, was to typify the Lord's granting +mercy to the people. But of this, not a trace is found. And yet, we are +not at liberty to say that the ground of it lies in a difference +betwixt the type and the thing typified,--in the circumstance that the +wife of the prophet did not reform. If there existed such a difference, +the type could not have been chosen at all. The contrary appears also +from ii. 9 (7).--In the whole second section, ii. 4-25 (ii. 2-23), +regard is indeed had to the symbolical action; but in a manner so free, +that it dwindles away to a mere figure, from behind which the thing +itself is continually coming into view. In chap. iii. the symbolical +action again acquires greater prominence. These phenomena can be +accounted for, only if the transaction be viewed as an inward one. In +the case of an outward transaction, the transition from the symbolical +action to the figure, and from the figure to the thing itself, would +not have been so easy. The substratum of the idea is, in that case, far +more material, and the idea itself too closely bound to it. + +[Pg 190] + +5. When the transaction is viewed as an outward one, +insurmountable difficulties are presented by the third chapter; and the +argument drawn from this would, in itself, be quite sufficient to +settle the question: "Then the Lord said unto me. Go again, love a +woman beloved of her friend and an adulteress." Interpreters who have +adopted that view, find themselves here in no little embarrassment. +Several suppose that the woman, whom the prophet is here commanded to +love, is his former wife, Gomer,--with her he should get reconciled. +But this is quite out of the question. In opposition to it, there is, +_first_, the indefinite signification by [Hebrew: awh]; _then_, in ver. +2, there is the purchase of the woman,--which supposes that she had not +yet been in the possession of the husband; and, _further_, the words, +"beloved of her friend, and an adulteress," can, according to a sound +interpretation, mean only, "who, although she is beloved by her +faithful husband, will yet commit adultery;" so that, if it be referred +to the reunion with Gomer, we should be compelled to suppose that, +after being received again, she again became unfaithful,--and in favour +of this opinion, no corresponding feature can be pointed out in the +thing typified. _Lastly_,--The word "love" cannot mean "love again," +"_restitue amoris signa_." For the love of the prophet to his wife must +correspond with the love of God to the people of Israel. That this +love, however, cannot be limited to the love which God will show to the +Congregation _after_ her conversion, is seen from the additional +clause, "And they turn themselves to other gods, and love grape-cakes." +Hence it appears that the love of God continues even during the +unfaithfulness, and consequently, also, the love of the prophet, by +which it is typified.--Equally untenable is the other opinion, that the +prophet is here called upon, by his entering into a new marriage, to +prefigure the relation of God to the Covenant-people a second time. In +that case, it is supposed either that Gomer had been rejected, because +she would not return, or that she had died. In either case, however, +she would not have been chosen by God to be a type of the people of +Israel. The ground of this choice can be no other than the +correspondence with the antitype. But this would be wanting just in the +most important point. If the ungodly part of the nation were not to be +deprived of all hope, nor the pious of all consolation, it was of +special importance to [Pg 191] point out that even the rejected +congregation would receive mercy; that the Lo-Ruhamah should be the +Ruhamah. Just the reverse of all this, however, would, according to +this view, have been typified. Two different women would, quite +naturally, suggest the thought of two different nations. Moreover, the +non-conversion of Gomer would be in direct opposition to the prophet's +own expressions. There cannot be any doubt, that her relation to the +prophet still lies at the foundation of the description in ii. 4 seqq. +For they are her three children whose former names, announcing +disaster, are changed, in ver. 25 (23), into such as are significant of +salvation. In vers. 4-6 (2-4) the whole relation, as previously +described, is presupposed. But now, she who, in ver. 9 (7), says, "I +will go and return to my first husband, for then was it better with me +than now," is the same who said in ver. 7 (5), "I will go after my +lovers that give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax." To the +same result we are also led by the showing of mercy to her children, +announced in the first section, ii. 1-3 (i. 10-ii. 1), where the +prophet alludes to their names; and still more distinctly in the second +section; compare ver. 25 (23). But now, the showing of mercy to the +children cannot be conceived of without the conversion of the mother, +and mercy being subsequently shown to her also. As they are to be +rejected on account of the unfaithfulness of the mother (compare ii. 6 +[4], and, specially, the [Hebrew: ki] at the commencement of ver. 7), +so the ground of their being received into favour can only be the +faithfulness of the mother. Being begotten in adultery, they stand in +connection with the prophet only through the mother; as soon as he has +rejected the mother, he has nothing further to do with them.--The +supposition that Gomer had died, is evidently the result of an +embarrassment which finds itself compelled to invent such +fictions.--_Finally_,--Several interpreters, after the example of +_Augustine_, suppose that no marriage at all is here spoken of, but +only a certain kindness which the prophet should manifest to some +woman, in order to encourage her conversion. But this opinion is +contradicted by these circumstances:--that the prophet's love towards +the woman must necessarily be of the same extent, and of the same +nature, as the love of God towards the people of Israel, since the +[Hebrew: ahb] and the [Hebrew: kahbt] exactly correspond with each +other; that only conjugal love is suitable to [Pg 192] the image; that +this view falls, of itself, to the ground when [Hebrew: re] is referred +to the prophet, as it must be; that, in such circumstances, no +satisfactory account can be given of the purchase of the woman, etc. To +all these suppositions there is, moreover, the common objection that, +according to them, no account can be given of the omission of very +important circumstances which the prophet leaves to his hearers and +readers to supply from the preceding symbolical action. Two things only +are pointed out, viz., the appropriation of the woman by the prophet, +ver. 2, and the course which he pursues for her reformation, ver. 3. +Every intervening circumstance--the criminal, long-continued +unfaithfulness of the wife--is passed over in silence. If we suppose an +outward action, this circumstance cannot be accounted for. For we are +not at liberty to draw, from the first case, any inference bearing upon +the second. The latter would again have required a complete account. +But if we suppose an inward transaction, everything is easily +explained. The question as to whether it was Gomer, or some other +person, does not come up at all. If Gomer was only an _ideal_ person, +that which applied to her was equally applicable to the second _ideal_ +wife of the prophet; since both typified the same thing, and without +having an independent existence of their own, came into consideration +as types only. Thus, very naturally, the second description was +supplemented from the first, and the prophet was allowed abruptly to +point out those circumstances only which were of special importance +in the case before him. + +6. If the whole be viewed as an outward transaction, there arises a +difficulty, by no means inconsiderable, as regards the children +mentioned in chap. i. These had been begotten in adultery. Even +although the mother did reform, they could yet never be considered by +the prophet as, in the full sense, his own. There would then arise a +great difference between the type and the thing typified. But if we +suppose a transaction merely inward, this difficulty vanishes. The +physical impossibility then no longer comes into consideration. That +which is possible in the thing typified, viz., that those who formerly +were not children of God, become children of God, is transferred to the +type. In point of fact, the mother does not exist beside, and apart +from, the children; she stands related to them as the whole to the +parts; and hence it is, that in ii. 25 (23), the [Pg 193] mother and +children are imperceptibly blended in the prophet's description. + +7. We are led to the idea of a mere inward transaction by the +symbolical names of the first wife, and of her father. On the other +hand, if such a symbolical signification could not be proved, this +might be used as an argument for the literal interpretation,--although, +indeed, it would be only a single argument which would be obliged to +yield to other counter-arguments. For it may well be conceived that the +prophet, in order to give to the inward transaction more of the +appearance of an outward one, should have chosen names usual at that +time; just as, in a similar manner, poetry would not be satisfied with +invented names used only in certain formulas and proverbs, but makes +use of names which would not, at once, be recognised by every one as +mere fictions.--[Hebrew: gmr] can only mean "completion" in the passive +sense. For _Segolate-forms_ in _o_ are only used to express passive and +intransitive notions, and the verb [Hebrew: gmr] is found in the +signification "to be completed," in Ps. vii. 10, xii. 2. The sense in +which the woman, the type of the Israelitish people, is called +_completion_,--_i.e._, one who, in her whoredom, had proceeded to the +highest pitch,--is so obvious from the context, as to render nugatory +the argument which _Maurer_ (p. 360) has drawn from the omission of +express statements on this point, in order thereby to recommend his own +interpretation, which is altogether opposed to the laws of the +language. A significant proper name can, in any case, convey only an +allusion; but such an allusion was here quite sufficient, inasmuch as +the mention of the wife's whoredom had preceded. Compare, moreover, +Zech. v. 5-11, where the thought, that Israel had filled up the measure +of their sins, is represented by a woman sitting in an Ephah. _Hofmann_ +explains the name Gomer by "end," "utmost ruin:" "By luxury, Israel has +become wanton, and hence it must come to an end, to utter ruin." But +this interpretation is at variance with the context, from which it must +necessarily be derived; for it is not the _punishment_, but the _guilt_ +which is spoken of in the context. [Hebrew: gmr], "Completion" (compare +the [Hebrew: gmir], "_perfectus_," "_absolutus_," in Ezra vii. 12), is +equivalent to [Hebrew: awt znvniM], "a wife of whoredom." The [Hebrew: +bt dbliM] can only mean, "daughter of the two fig-cakes," = _filia +deliciarum_ = _deliciis_ [Pg 194] _dedita_. The word "daughter" serves +to indicate every relation of dependence and submission: _Gesenius_, +_Thesaurus_, p. 220. Fig-cakes were considered as one of the greatest +dainties; compare _Faber_ on _Harmar_. i. p. 320 ff. Sensuality was the +ground of the Israelites' apostasy from the severe and strict religion +of Jehovah to the idolatry of their neighbours, which was soft, +sensual, and licentious. The occasion which had called it forth with +their neighbours was one which rendered them favourably disposed +towards it. The masculine form can offer no difficulty as to the +derivation from [Hebrew: dblh], "fig-cake;" for the masculine form of +the plural occurs also in 1 Sam. xxv. 18; 1 Chron. xii. 40. As little +difficulty can arise from the Dual form, which may be explained from +the circumstance that fig-cakes commonly consisted of a double layer of +figs, or of double cakes (_Hesych._ [Greek: palathe]--which Greek word +is a corruption of the Hebrew [Hebrew: dblh]--[Greek: he ton sukon +epallelos thesis]), and the Dual is used in reference to objects which +are commonly conceived of as a whole, consisting of two parts, even +when several of them are spoken of. That this explanation of the Dual +is correct, is proved from the circumstance, that it occurs also as the +name of a Moabitish town, _Beth-Dibhlathaim_, Jer. xlviii. 22, and +_Dibhlathaim_, Num. xxxiii. 46, which, probably, was famous for its +fig-cakes.--There existed another special reason for the prophet's +choosing the Dual in the masculine form, viz., that there was the +analogy of other proper names of men--as Ephraim, etc.--in its favour; +and such an analogy was required,--for, otherwise, the name would not +have been, as it was intended to be, a riddle. Our whole exposition, +however, which was already in substance, although without proper +foundation and justification, advanced by _Jerome_, is raised above the +condition of a mere hypothesis, by its being compared with chap. iii. +There, the words, "They turn themselves to other gods, and love +grape-cakes," are a mere paraphrasis of "_Gomer Bath Dibhlaim_." It +scarcely needs to be remarked, that the difference betwixt grape-cakes +and fig-cakes does not here come into consideration at all, inasmuch +as both belonged to the choicest dainties; and it is as evident, that +"to love," and "to be the daughter of," express the same idea. But +if thus the symbolical signification of the name be established, +the correctness of the supposition of a merely internal transaction +is established [Pg 195] at the same time. The symbolical names of +the children alone could not have furnished a sufficient foundation +for this supposition. Against this an appeal might, with the +most perfectpropriety, have been made to _Shear-Jashub_, and +_Maher-shalal-hash-baz_, neither of whom can, by any means, have been +an ideal person. The prophet gave them these names; but the matter is +quite different in the case of the wife, who already had her name when +the prophet took her. All that we can grant to _Hofmann_ is, that such +a providential coincidence was _possible_; but _probable_ it could be, +only if other decisive arguments favoured the view of the transaction +having been an outward one. If the name were not symbolical--if it +belonged to the real wife of the prophet, it cannot be easily +explained, why he did not afterwards mention the name of his second +wife also, but content himself with the general term, "a wife." + +8. A main argument against the literal interpretation is further +furnished by iii. 2. The verse is commonly translated: "And then I +bought her to me for fifteen pieces of silver, and an homer of barley, +and a lethech of barley;" and is explained from the custom prevalent in +the East of purchasing wives from their parents. But it is very +doubtful whether the verb [Hebrew: krh] has the signification "to +purchase." There is no necessity for deviating from the common +signification "to dig," in Deut. ii. 6: "And water also ye shall dig +from them for money, and drink" (compare Exod. xxi. 33); the existing +wells were not sufficient for so great a multitude, compare Gen. xxvi. +19, 21, 22. To this philological reason, we must _further_ add, that +the circumstance would be here altogether destitute of significance, +while every other feature in the description is full of meaning. We +base our interpretation upon the supposition, already sufficiently +established by _J. D. Michaelis_, that the whole purchase-money +amounted to thirty shekels, of which the prophet paid one-half in +money, and the other half in the value of money. According to Ezek. +xlv. 11, the homer contained ten ephahs, and a lethech was the half of +an homer. We have thus fifteen pieces of silver, and also fifteen +ephahs; and the supposition is very probable that, at that time, an +ephah of barley cost a shekel,--the more so, as according to 2 Kings +vii. 1, 16, 18, in the time of a declining famine, and only relative +cheapness, two-thirds of an ephah of barley cost a shekel. We are +unable [Pg 196] to say with certainty, why one-half was paid in money, +and the other half in natural productions; but a reason certainly +exists, as no other feature is without significance. Perhaps it was +determined by custom, that the sum by which servants were purchased was +paid after this manner. The lowness of their condition was thereby +indicated; for barley, _vile hordeum_, was, in all antiquity, very +little esteemed. Upon this estimate of it was based its use at the +jealousy offering (Num. v. 11 seqq.; compare _Baehr's Symb._ ii. S. +445), and the symbolical use of the barley-bread in Judg. vii. 13. The +statement of the sum leads us, involuntarily, to think of slaves or +servants. It is the same sum which was commonly given for a +man-servant, or a maid-servant, as is expressly mentioned in Exod. xxi. +32; compare the remarks on Zech. xi. 12. And this opinion is confirmed +by the use of [Hebrew: vakrh]. The ears of a servant who was bound to +his master to _perpetual_ obedience, were bored; compare Exod. xxxi. 5, +6; Deut. xv. 17, where it is added: "And also unto thy maid-servant +thou shalt do likewise." In conformity with the custom of omitting the +special members of the body, in expressions frequently occurring, it is +said simply "to bore." The meaning then is: I made her my slave. It was +not a free woman, then, whom the prophet desired in marriage, but a +servant, whom he was obliged, previous to marriage, to redeem from +servitude; who was therefore under a double obligation to him, and over +whom he had a double claim. The reference to the thing to be typified +is quite apparent. It was not a free, independent people whom the Lord +chose, but a people whom He was obliged first to redeem from vile +servitude, before He entered into a nearer relation to them. This +redemption appears, throughout, as a ransoming from the house of +bondage,--and the wonderful dealings of the Lord, as the price which He +paid. Compare, _e.g._, Deut. vii. 8: "But because the Lord loved you, +and because He kept His oath which He had sworn to your fathers, He has +brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed thee ([Hebrew: vipdK]) +from the house of bondmen ([Hebrew: mbit ebdiM]), from the hand of +Pharaoh, king of Egypt." See also Deut. ix. 26. It is upon this +redemption that the exhortation to the people is founded--that, as the +Lord's servants, they should serve Him alone; comp., _e.g._, the +introduction to the Decalogue. Thus, we have here also a feature so +evidently typical, [Pg 197] so plainly transferred from the thing +typified to the type, that we cannot any longer think of an outward +transaction. This argument, however, is, in the main point, quite +independent of the philological interpretation of [Hebrew: krh]. Even +if it be translated "I bought her to me," the circumstance, +notwithstanding, always remains, that the wife was redeemed from +slavery, unless there be a denial of the connection of the sum +mentioned with Exod. xxi. 32, and Zech. xi. 12, where the thirty pieces +of silver likewise appear as the estimate of a servant's value; and +this circumstance evidently suggests the inward character of the +transaction. + +The first germs of the representation of God's relation to Israel under +the figure of marriage, are found so early as in the Pentateuch, Exod. +xxxiv. 15, 16; Lev. xx. 5, 6, xvii. 7; Num. xiv. 33--where idolatry, +and apostasy from the Lord in general, are represented as +whoredom--Deut. xxxii. 16, 21; compare the author's _Dissertations on +the Genuineness of the Pent._ vol. i. p. 107 ff.; and commentary on the +Song of Solomon, S. 261. But it was only through the Song of Solomon +that it became quite a common thing to represent the higher love under +the figure of the lower. It is not through accident that this +representation appears so prominent just in Hosea, where it not only +pervades the first three chapters, but returns continually in the +second part also. Hosea, being one of the oldest prophets, was +specially called to fit, as a new link, into the Song of Solomon, which +was the last link in the chain of Sacred Literature. There are, +moreover, in the details, other undeniable references to the Song of +Solomon, which coincide with this connection with it, as regards the +fundamental idea. The basis, however, for this whole figurative +representation is Gen. ii. 24, where marriage appears as the most +intimate of all earthly relations of love, and must, for this very +reason, have a character of absolute exclusiveness. + + + CHAP. I.-II. 3 (II. 1). + +The section chap. i.-iii. is distinguished from the other prophecies by +this,--that, in it, the relation of the Lord to the [Pg 198] people of +Israel Is represented, _throughout_, under the figure and symbol of +marriage, whilst this same mode of representation is soon relinquished +wherever else it occurs in the book. By this closer limitation, the +objections of _Boeckel_ and _Stuck_ to the common division of the +collection into two parts, are set aside. This first portion may be +divided into three parts, which are, in one respect, closely connected, +as is shown by the _Fut._ with the _Vav Conv._ in iii. 1, and likewise +by the fact that this chapter requires to be supplemented from the two +preceding ones, while, in another respect, they may be considered as +wholes, complete in themselves. They do not, by any means, so +distribute the contents among themselves, as that the first describes +the apostasy; the second, the punishment; and the third, the return and +restoration; but each of them contains all these three features, and +yet in such a manner, that here the one feature, and there the other, +is more fully expanded; so that the whole description is complete, only +when all the three parts are taken together. In the portion now before +us, the covenant relation into which the Lord entered with Israel is +typified by a marriage which the prophet contracted at the command of +the Lord; the apostasy of the people, and especially of the ten tribes, +to whom the prophet was sent in the first instance, is typified by the +adultery of the wife, by the divine punishment, and the unpropitious +names which he gives to the children born by the adulterous wife. In +chap. ii. 1-3, there follows the announcement of salvation more +directly, and only with a simple allusion to the symbol. + + * * * * * + +Ver. 1. "_The word of the Lord that came unto Hosea, the son of Beeri, +in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in +the days of Jeroboam, the son of Joash, king of Israel._ Ver. 2. _At +the beginning when the Lord spake to Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea: Go +take unto thee a wife of whoredoms, and children of whoredoms; for the +land is whoring away from the Lord._" + +[Hebrew: dbr] is never a noun--not even in Jer. v. 13--but always the +3d pers. _Pret. Piel_. The _status constr._ [Hebrew: tHlt] is explained +by the fact, that the whole of the following sentence is treated as one +substantive idea: the beginning "of the Lord hath spoken," [Pg 199] +etc., for "the beginning of speaking." [Hebrew: ivM dbr ihvh], _the day +of_ "_the Lord spoke_," instead of, "the day on which the Lord spoke." +Similar constructions occur also in Is. xxix. 1, and Jer. xlviii. +6.--The _Fut._ with _Vav Conv._, [Hebrew: viamr], "and then He spoke," +carries forward the discourse, as if there had preceded: the Lord began +to speak to Hosea. There is here a _constructio ad sensum_. It is +intentionally, and in order the more distinctly to point out the idea +of the beginning, that the prophet has made use of the noun [Hebrew: +tHlt], not of the verb. The construction of [Hebrew: dbr] with [Hebrew: +b], with the signification "to speak to some one," may be explained +thus:--that the words are, as it were, put into the mind of the hearer +in order that they may remain there. Several interpreters erroneously +translate, "spoke through:" others, following _Jerome_ (the last is +_Simson_), "spoke in;" as if thereby the act of speaking were to be +designated as an inward one. The difference between outward and inward +speaking disappears in the vision; and, for this reason, we cannot +imagine that there is any intention of here noticing it particularly. +Everything which takes place in the vision is substantially, indeed, +internal, but in point of form it is external. Moreover, [Hebrew: dbr] +with [Hebrew: d] several times occurs in other passages also, where the +signification, "to speak to some one," is alone admissible. Thus 1 Sam. +xxv. 39, where _Simson's_ explanation, "David sent and _ordered_ to +speak _about_ Abigail," is set aside by ver. 40. The analogy of the +construction of the verbs of hearing and seeing with [Hebrew: b] is +likewise in favour of our explanation.[1]--A wife of _whoredoms_ and +_children of whoredoms_. The wife belongs to whoredoms in so far as she +is _devoted to them_; the children, in [Pg 200] so far as they +_proceed_ from them. For we cannot suppose that the children themselves +are described as given to whoredom. Such a thought would here be +altogether out of place. For whoredom is here only the general +designation of adultery, as, by way of applying it to the case in +question, it is immediately subjoined, "away from Jehovah." The subject +of consideration is only the relation of the wife and children to the +prophet, as the type of the Lord; and with this view, it is only the +origin of the children from an adulterous wife which can be of +importance. That this alone is regarded, appears from ii. 6 (4), +compared with ver. 7 (5). That the children, as children of whoredoms, +deserve no compassion, is founded upon the fact that their mother plays +the harlot. [Hebrew: awt znvniM] is stronger than [Hebrew: zvnh]; it +expresses the idea that the woman is given, soul and body, to +whoredoms. The same emphasis is expressed also by the analogous +designations: man of blood, of deceit, etc.--Calvin says, "She is +called a wife of whoredoms, because she was long accustomed to them, +gave herself over to the lusts of all indiscriminately, did not +prostitute herself once, or twice, or to a few, but to the debauchery +of every one." It is not without reason that "_take_" is connected with +the children also. The prophet shall, as it were, receive and take, +along with the wife, those who, without his agency, have been born of +her. It is self-evident, and has been, moreover, formerly proved, that +we cannot speak of children who were previously born of the prophet's +wife; but that, on the contrary, the children are they whose birth is +narrated in ver. 4 seqq. And that we cannot consider these children as +children of the prophet, as is done by several interpreters (_Drus._: +"_Accipe uxorem et suscipe ex ea liberos_"), is obvious from their +being designated "children of whoredoms;" from the word "take" itself, +which is expressive of the passive conduct of the prophet; from the +fact that, in the subsequent verses, the conceiving and bearing of the +wife are alone constantly spoken of, but never, as in Is. viii. 3, the +begetting by the prophet; and, _finally_, from the relation of the type +to the thing typified. By the latter, it is absolutely required that +children and mother stand in the same relation of alienation from the +legitimate husband and father. The words in ver. 3, "She bare him a +son," are not indeed in opposition to it, for these words are only +intended to mark the deceit of the wife who [Pg 201] offers to her +husband the children begotten in adultery, as if they were his, and, at +the same time, to bring out the patience and forbearance of the husband +who receives them, and brings them up as if they were his, although he +knows that they are not. In like manner, the Lord treated, for +centuries, the rebellious Israelites as if they were His children, and +granted to them the inheritance which was destined only for the +children, along with so many other blessings, until at length He +declared them to be bastards, by carrying them away into captivity. The +last words state the ground of the symbolical action. The causal +[Hebrew: ki] is explained from the fact that the import of a symbolical +action is also its ground. The _Inf. absol._ preceding the _tempus +finitum_ gives special emphasis to the verbal idea. The prophet thereby +indicates that, in using the expression "to whore," he does so +deliberately, and because it corresponds exactly to the thing, and +wishes us to understand it in its full strength and compass. In calling +the thing by its right name, he silences, beforehand, every attempt at +palliating and extenuating it. Of such palliations and extenuations the +Jews had abundance. They had not the slightest notion that they had +become unfaithful to their God, but considered their intercourse with +idols as trifling and allowable attentions which they paid to +them.--_Manger_ understands by whoredoms, their placing, at the same +time, their confidence in man; but from what follows, where idolatry +alone is constantly spoken of, it is obvious that this is inadmissible. +If this special thing be reduced to its idea, it is true that trusting +in men is, then, not less comprehended under it than idolatry, inasmuch +as this idea is the turning away from God to that which is not God. +And, from this dependence of what is special upon the idea, it follows +that the description has its eternal truth, and does not become +antiquated, even where the folly of gross idolatry has been long since +perceived.--[Hebrew: hariN], the definite land, the land of the +prophet, the land of Israel.--Concerning the last words, Ps. lxxiii. 27 +may be compared, where [Hebrew: znh mN] occurs with a similar +signification. This phrase contains an allusion to the common +expression, "to walk with, or after, God;" compare 2 Kings xxiii. 3. +According to _Calvin_, the spiritual chastity of the people of God +consists in their following the Lord. + +Ver. 3. "_And he went and took Gamer the daughter of Dibhlaim, and she +conceived and bare him a son._" + +[Pg 202] + +Many interpreters suppose that, by the three children, three +different generations are designated, and the gradual degeneracy of the +people, which sinks deeper and deeper. But this opinion must certainly +be rejected. There is no gradation perceptible. On the contrary, the +announcement of the total destruction of the kingdom of Israel is +connected immediately with the name of the first child, ver. 4. Nor is +it legitimate to say, as _Rueckert_ does, that the three children are a +designation of the "conditions" in which the Israelites would be placed +in consequence of their apostasy from the Lord. For, how could mercy be +shown to _conditions_? The right view rather is, that the wife and +children are both the people of Israel, viewed only in different +relations. In the first designation, they are viewed as a unity; in the +latter, as a plurality proceeding from, and depending upon, this unity. +The circumstance that the prophet mentions the birth of children at +all, and the birth of three only, is accounted for by their names. The +children exist only that they may receive a name. The three names must, +therefore, not be considered separately, but must be viewed together. +In that case they present a corresponding picture of the fate impending +upon Israel. The circumstance that the mother and sons are +distinguished in Hosea, rests upon the Song of Solomon. (Compare the +more copious remarks in my commentary on the Song of Sol. iii. 4: "By +the mother, the people is designated according to its historical +continuity,--by the daughter or sons, according to its existence at any +moment.") + +Ver. 4. "_And the Lord said unto him, Call his name Jezreel; for yet a +little_ (while), _and I visit the blood of Jezreel upon the house of +Jehu, and cause to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel._" + +The name "Jezreel" is, by most expositors, explained in this passage as +meaning: "God disperses." This they maintain to be its real +signification, according to the etymology, and that all the rest is +only an allusion. But this exposition is erroneous, as _Manger_ has +correctly perceived. For, 1. No instance occurs where the verb [Hebrew: +zre] has this signification. When applied to men, it is always used +only in a good sense: compare ii. 25, Ezek. xxxvi. 9, and the +subsequent remarks on Zech. x. 9. The idea of _scattering_ is not at +all the fundamental one; so that the signification, to _disperse_, is +much further from the fundamental [Pg 203] signification than might, at +first sight, appear. 2. The subsequent words must be considered as an +explanation of the name Jezreel, as is obvious from the corresponding +explanations of the names Lo-Ruhamah in ver. 6, and Lo-Ammi in ver. 9, +which are intimately connected with these names. But in this +explanation, not even a single word is said on the subject of the +dispersion of the people of Israel. The circumstance that, in this +explanation, Jezreel occurs as a proper name, without any regard being +paid to its appellative signification[2]--an allusion to which occurs +only in the announcement of the salvation--shows that here too it must +be viewed in the same way. The correct view is this. Jezreel was the +place where the last great judgment of God upon the kingdom of Israel +had been executed. The apostasy from the Lord, and the innocent blood +of His servants, shed by Jezebel and the whole house of Ahab, had been +there avenged upon them by Jehu, the founder of the dynasty which was +reigning at the time of the prophet. At the command of God, Jehu is +anointed as king by one of the sons of the prophets sent by Elisha, 2 +Kings ix. In vers. 6-9 the Lord says to him through the latter: "I +anoint thee king over the people of the Lord, over Israel. And thou +shalt smite the house of Ahab thy master; and _I avenge the blood of My +servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the Lord at +the hand of Jezebel, and the whole house of Ahab shall perish._ And I +give the house of Ahab like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and +like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah." The execution corresponded +with the command. When Jehu approached Jezreel, Joram the son of Ahab +went out against him, and met him in the portion of Naboth the +Jezreelite, ver. 21. Appealing to the declaration of the Lord, [Pg 204] +"Surely I have seen the blood of Naboth, and the blood of his sons, and +I will requite thee in this portion of ground" (ver. 26), Jehu orders +the corpse of the slain king to be cast thither. At Jezreel, Jezebel +too found a disgraceful death. Thither, as to the central point of +vengeance, were sent the heads of the seventy royal princes, who had +been slain, x. 1-10, and there Jehu slew all that remained of the house +of Ahab, ver. 11.--The royal house, and, along with it, all Israel, are +now anew to become a Jezreel; _i.e._, the same divine punitive justice +which, at that time, was manifested at Jezreel, is to be exhibited +anew. The reason why this should be, is stated in the explanation. The +house of Jehu, and all Israel, shall become a Jezreel, in as far as +punishment is concerned, because they have become a Jezreel with +respect to guilt, and because, as in former times at Jezreel, so now +again, blood that has been shed cries to the Lord for vengeance. Where +a new carcase is, there the eagles must anew be gathered together.--It +must have, already appeared from this, how we understand the words, "I +visit the blood of Jezreel," used in the explanation of the name of +Jezreel, in the verse under consideration. According to the prophet's +custom of designating, by the name of an old thing, any new thing which +is substantially similar to it, the new guilt is marked by the name of +the old; and it is marked as _blood_, because the former guilt was +pre-eminently blood-guiltiness;[3] and as the blood of Jezreel, because +the former blood-guiltiness had been especially contracted there, and +it was there where the punishment was executed. The deep impression, +which just this mode of representation must have produced, must not be +overlooked. The sins formerly committed at Jezreel were acknowledged as +such by the whole people, and especially by the royal house, whose +whole rights were based upon this acknowledgment. The recollection of +the fearful punishment was still in the minds of all; but they did not +by any means imagine that they were implicated in the same guilt, and +had to expect the same punishment. That which they considered as +already [Pg 205] absolutely past, the prophet, by a single word, brings +again into the present, and the immediate future. By a single word of +dreadful sound he terrified and aroused them out of their +self-deception (which will not recognise its own sin in the picture of +the sins of others), and out of their carnal security. Entirely +analogous are 2 Kings ix. 31, where Jezebel says to Jehu, "Hast thou +peace, Zimri, murderer of his master?" which _Schmid_ well explains +by--"It is time for thee to desist, that thou mayest not experience the +same punishment as Zimri;" Zech. v. 11, where the prophet mentions +Shinar as the place of Israel's future banishment; and x. 11, where he +calls their future oppressors by the names of Asshur and Egypt, and +describes a new passing through the Red Sea. In Revelation, the +degenerate church is called by the names of Sodom and Egypt (xi. 18); +the true Church, by Jerusalem; Rome, by Babylon.--The explanation which +we have given will be its own defence against the current, and +evidently erroneous, expositions. Many interpreters understand, by the +blood of Jezreel, the slaughter of the family of Ahab which was +accomplished there by Jehu. It is, indeed, quite correct to say that a +deed objectively good does not thereby become one which is subjectively +so. That which has been willed and commanded by God may itself become +an object of divine punishment, if it be not performed from love and +obedience to God, but from culpable selfishness. But that Jehu was +actuated by motives so bad, is sufficiently obvious from the +circumstance, that he himself did the very thing which he had punished +in the house of Ahab. _Calvin_ rightly remarks: "That slaughter is, as +far as God is concerned, a just vengeance; but, as far as Jehu is +concerned, it is open murder." But yet, this deed cannot be regarded as +the principal crime of Jehu and his family. We must not overlook other +crimes far more heinous, and consider the guilty blood shed by them as +the sole ground of their punishment. That this was indeed considered as +guilt, but only as a lower degree of it, is clearly seen from 1 Kings +xvi. 7, where destruction is announced to Baasha, who had destroyed the +house of Jeroboam I., "on account of all the evil which he did in the +sight of the Lord, in provoking Him to anger with the works of his +hands, so that he may be like the house of Jeroboam, and because he +killed him." The main crime is, that Baasha had become like the house +of Jeroboam. [Pg 206] What he perpetrated against this house is the +minor crime, and becomes a crime only through the former.--It is worthy +of notice that "the blood of Jezreel" exactly corresponds, according to +our explanation, with the expression, "so that he may be like the house +of Jeroboam." It may be further noticed, that, in the deed of Jehu, +every better feeling cannot be excluded. If the command of God had been +used by him merely as a pretext, we could not account for the praise +and the promises given to him on account of this very deed, 2 Kings x. +30. It is true that the limitation of the promise shows that pure +motives alone did not prevail with him.[4]--"The bloody deed to which +the house of Jehu owed its elevation" nowhere else appears as the cause +of the catastrophe which befell this house. That which he had done +against the house of Ahab, whose sins were crying to heaven for +vengeance far more than those of Baasha, is, in 2 Kings x. 30, 31, +represented as his _merit_. His _guilt_ consisted in his not departing +from the ways of Jeroboam, and in his making Israel to sin. It is this +guilt alone which, in the Book of Kings, is charged against all the +members of his family,--against Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, in 2 Kings +xiii. 2; against Jehoash, in 2 Kings xiii. 11; against Jeroboam, in 2 +Kings xiv. 24; against Zechariah, under whom the catastrophe took +place, in 2 Kings xv. 9: "And he did that which was evil in the eyes of +the Lord, as his fathers had done, and departed not from the sins of +Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who had made Israel to sin." According to +the context, we must, in the first place, think of the _religious +guilt_; the blood of Jezreel, in the verse under consideration, must +correspond with the _whoredoms_ in ver. 2.--Moreover, the extension of +the punishment to all Israel could not, according to this explanation, +be understood; for the deed was only that of Jehu and his assistants. +How, then, could not only the house of Jehu be punished, but also [Pg +207] the kingdom of the house of Israel be destroyed, and its bow +broken in the valley of Jezreel? + +According to another interpretation still more prevalent, "the blood of +Jezreel" denotes "all the evil deeds committed by the Israelitish kings +in Jezreel." But this interpretation is sufficiently invalidated by the +single circumstance, that the residence of the family of Jehu, which, +after all, alone comes into consideration in this place, was, from the +very beginning, not Jezreel, but Samaria; compare 2 Kings x. 36, xiii. +10, xiv. 23. + +Two particulars are contained in the announcement of punishment. +_First_,--The whole house of Jehu, and _then_ all Israel, are to become +a Jezreel as regards punishment, as they are even now in point of +guilt; and, in this announcement, the significant _paronomasia_ must +not be overlooked between _Israel_--the designation of the dignity of +the people, and _Jezreel_--that which is base in deeds and condition. +Calvin makes prominent the last-mentioned feature only: "You are," he +explains, "a degenerate people, you differ in nothing from your king +Ahab." We cannot, however, follow him in this explanation; the words, +"I cause to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel," cannot, as +several interpreters suppose, mean merely, "I will put an end to the +dominion of the family of Jehu over Israel." That these words rather +announce the cessation of every native regal government, and hence of +the entire national independence, is so evident, that it stands in need +of no proof. Both of these features are, in their fulfilment, separated +indeed by a long period of time (see the Introduction); but they are +nevertheless closely connected. With the ruin of the house of Jehu, the +strength of the kingdom of Israel was broken; from that time it was +only a living corpse. The fall of the house of Jehu was the beginning +of the end,--the commencement of the process of putrefaction. The +omission, in the inscription, of all mention of any of the kings after +Jeroboam, coincides with the circumstance that the fall of the house of +Jehu is connected with the fall of the kingdom. With regard, however, +to the former event, Hosea had an earlier prophecy before him. It had +been prophesied to Jehu (2 Kings x. 30) that his children should sit on +the throne until the fourth generation. Now, since Jeroboam was the +great-grandson of Jehu, the glory of [Pg 208] this family must come to +an end with his son. But at no period did the house of Jehu, and the +kingdom of Israel, seem to be so far from destruction as under the +reign of Jeroboam; and, hence, it was time that the forgotten prophecy +should be revived, and, at the same time, expanded. + +Ver. 5. "_And it shall come to pass at that day, that I break the bow +of Israel in the valley of Jezreel._" + +Of this, Calvin gives the following paraphrase: "Ye are puffed up with +pride; ye oppose your fierceness to God, because ye excel in weapons +and strength; because ye are warlike men, ye believe that God can do +nothing against you. But surely your bows shall not prevent His hands +from destroying you."--In the valley of Jezreel, Israel shall become, +as to punishment, what they already are, as to guilt, viz., a +"Jezreel." The verse is a further expansion of the last words of the +preceding one, to which the words, "at that day," refer. He whose bow +is broken is defenceless and powerless; compare Gen. xlix. 24; 1 Sam. +ii. 4; Jer. xlix. 35. It is evident that we can here think only of the +defeat of Israel by the Assyrians, the consequence of which was the +total overthrow of the kingdom of Israel. But it is not to be +overlooked, that the Assyrians, who in the second section of Hosea are +frequently mentioned in express terms, as the instruments of God's +punishment, are not spoken of at all as such in the first section, +which belongs to the reign of Jeroboam. Amos likewise abstains from +mentioning any name of the enemies. The Assyrians had not at that time +appeared on the historical horizon. But the prophecy was to evince +itself as such, by the fact of the announcement of the judgment at a +time when its instruments were not as yet prepared; just as Elijah, in +1 Kings xviii. 41, hears the rushing of the rain before there was even +a cloud in the sky.--We are not told in the historical books at what +place Israel was defeated by the Assyrians. _Jerome_, in his remarks on +our passage, says that it took place in the valley of Jezreel. It is +very probable, however, that this is only an inference clothed in the +garb of history. But even apart from the passage under review, the +matter is very probable. The valley of Jezreel or Esdrelon "is the +largest, and at the same time the most fertile, plain of Palestine. The +brook of Kishon, which is, next to Jordan, the most important river of +Palestine, waters and fructifies it, and, [Pg 209] with its +tributaries, flows through it in all directions." (_Ritter_, S. 689.) +In all the wars which were carried on within the territories of the ten +tribes, especially when the enemies came from the North, it was the +natural battle-field. "It was, in the first centuries, the station of a +legion ([Greek: mega pedion legeonos]); it is the place where the +troops of Nebuchadnezzar, Vespasian, Justinian, the Sultan Saladdin, +and many other conquering armies were encamped, down to the +unsuccessful expedition of _Buonaparte_, whose success in Syria here +terminated. _Clarke_ found erected here the tents of the troops of the +Pacha of Damascus. In later times, it was the scene of the skirmishes +between the parties of hostile hordes of Arabs and Turkish pachas. In +the political relations of Asia Minor, it is to this locality that +there must be ascribed the total devastation and depopulation of +Galilee, which once was so flourishing, full of towns, and thickly +populated." (_Ritter_, _Erdk._ 1 _Ausg._ ii. S. 387.) We may add, that, +in the same plain also, the battle was fought in which Saul and +Jonathan perished (for the plain of Esdrelon is bounded on the +south-east by the mountains of Gilboa), and so likewise was the battle +between Ahab and the Syrians. To it also belonged the plain near the +town of Megiddo, where Josiah, in the battle against Pharaoh-Necho, was +mortally wounded. Compare _Rosenmueller_, _Alt._ ii. 1, p. 149. + +Ver. 6. "_And she conceived again, and bare a daughter. And He said to +him, Call her name Lo-Ruhamah_ (_i.e._, one who has not obtained +mercy): _for I will not continue any more to have mercy upon the house +of Israel; for I will take away from them._"--Interpreters ask why the +second child was a female; and this question is by no means an idle +one, since the prophet everywhere else adheres closely to the +subject-matter, and adds no feature, merely for the sake of giving +vividness to the picture. We cannot for a moment suppose, as _Jerome_ +and others do, that the female child denotes a more degraded +generation. For why, then, is the third again a male child? The +supposition proceeds from the altogether unfounded notion that the +three children denote different generations. The reason must, on the +contrary, be sought for in the name. _Schmid_ says: "It seems to have +reference to the weakness of the sex. For the female sex [Pg 210] finds +greater sympathy than the male." The verb [Hebrew: rHM] does not denote +any kind of love, but only the love of him who is high to him who is +low, of the strong to the weak; and hence the LXX., whom Peter follows +in 1 Pet. ii. 10 ([Greek: ouk eleemene]), render the word more +accurately than Paul, in Rom. ix. 25 ([Greek: ouk egapemene]). Hence it +is never used of man's love to God, but only of the love of God to +man,--of His mercy. The only passage which seems to contradict this, +Ps. xviii. 2, is not to the purpose, as, there, the _Kal_ is used. But +the female sex, being weaker, stands in greater need of the compassion +of men, than does the male. Is. ix. 16. The female child places the +neediness and helplessness of the people in more striking contrast with +the refusal of help from Him who alone can bestow it. The [Hebrew: +rHmh] is either _Participle_ in _Pual_ which has cast off the [Hebrew: +m], or the 3d fem. _Pret. in pause_; thus _Cocceius_, who explains it +by: "She has not obtained mercy." It is in favour of the latter view, +that according to _Ewald_, Sec. 310 b, [Hebrew: la] does not often stand +before a _Participle_. The words, "_I will not continue_," refer to the +former great manifestations of divine mercy, and especially the last +under Jeroboam, which the people still, at that time, enjoyed; compare +2 Kings xiii. 23: "And the Lord was gracious unto them, and had _mercy_ +upon them, and turned towards them because of His covenant with +Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not destroy them, neither cast +them from His presence." Upon this contrast, also, rests the mild +expression, "I will not have mercy,"--an expression which, in virtue of +this contrast, becomes stronger than any other. Several interpreters +here lay peculiar stress upon the circumstance, that "the _house_ of +Israel" is spoken of. This, the kingdom of Israel, they say, as an +independent state, is given over to everlasting destruction; it is only +single individuals who shall obtain mercy after they have joined the +house of David. But the supposition that "house of Israel" is used in +this sense, is altogether unfounded. The house is equivalent to the +family; and the prophets speak of "a house of Israel" after the +destruction, no less than before it. The words in ii. 6 (4), "I will +not have mercy upon her children," and the circumstance that she who is +here called Lo-Ruhamah is afterwards called Ruhamah, also militate +against referring "house of Israel" to the state. The right view rather +is, that the denial of mercy [Pg 211] must not be understood +absolutely, but relatively. It is not for ever that mercy shall be +denied to them, but for a time,--until God's punitive justice shall +have been satisfied. Just as Israel shall not always remain Jezreel, +Lo-Ammi shall, at some future time, become again Ammi.--The last words +are, by the greater number of recent interpreters, almost unanimously +explained: "That I should forgive them." But, in that case, we can +perceive no reason why the _Inf. abs._ should be placed before the +_tempus finitum_. Why should the verbal idea here be rendered so +emphatic? In addition to this, the extreme feebleness of the sense +would be remarkable. Nothing would be said that would not be already +implied in the words, "I will not continue any more to have mercy." +But, on the other hand, we obtain a very suitable sense if we translate +thus: "I will take away from them." The object is not mentioned, just +because _every thing_ is to be understood. The prominence given to the +verbal idea is then accounted for from its being contrasted with the +_having mercy_, which implies _giving_. There is then, moreover, a very +striking contrast with the standing phrase [Hebrew: nwa evN l], or also +simply [Hebrew: nwa l]: I shall take away from them, not, however, as +hitherto, their guilt (compare Amos vii. 8), but all that they have. +_Calvin_ had previously directed attention to the circumstance that the +following verse also is in favour of the translation by _tollere_: +"_Servare et tollere inter se opponit propheta._" Chap. v. 14 may also +be compared, where [Hebrew: nwa] is used in a similar manner, the +object being likewise omitted: "I will tear and go away, I will take +away, and there is none that delivereth." + +Ver. 7. "_And I will have mercy upon the house of Judah, and I save +them by the Lord their God; and I do not save them by bow, and by +sword, and by war, and by horses, and by horsemen._" + +Several interpreters suppose that mercy is here promised to Judah as a +_consolation_ to Israel, inasmuch as the latter should partake in it. +But this view is erroneous. From the antithesis to ver. 6, it is +evident that mercy is here promised to Judah for the time when Israel +shall not find mercy; and we are not at liberty to anticipate the time +described in ii. 1-3, when both become partakers of mercy. This is +apparent also from the circumstance that in vers. 8, 9, the threatening +of punishment [Pg 212] to Israel is still continued. It can then only +be the intention of the prophet, by describing the mercy which Judah +their brethren should experience, to sharpen the goad, more effectually +to rouse Israel from their false security, and to direct their +attention to the bad foundation of the entire constitution of their +political and ecclesiastical affairs, in consequence of which they +considered as legitimate that which, in Judah, was only an abuse. As +the showing of mercy to Judah runs parallel with the withholding of it +from Israel, we can, primarily and chiefly, think only of the different +fates of the two, during the Assyrian dominion. The wonderful +deliverance of Judah on that occasion is foretold by Isaiah, xxxi. 8, +in a similar manner: "And Asshur falls through the sword not of a man, +and the sword not of a man devours him." We must not, however, limit +ourselves to this event; a preference of Judah over Israel, a remnant +of divine mercy appeared, even when they were carried away into +captivity. During its continuance, they were not altogether deprived of +marks of the continuance of the divine election. Prophets continued to +labour among them, as immediate ambassadors of God. Wonderful events +showed them in the midst of the Gentiles the superiority of their God, +and prepared the way for their deliverance. They maintained, in a far +greater degree, their national constitution; and, _lastly_, their +affliction lasted for a far shorter time than did that of the +Israelites. Contrary to all human expectation, their affairs soon took +a favourable turn, in which only a comparatively small number of their +Israelitish brethren partook, while, for the rest, the withholding of +mercy continued. But it is just by means of this contrast with the lot +of Judah, that the announcement of the lot of Israel appears in its +true light. Without this contrast, one might have imagined, that the +announcement of the prophet did not go beyond his human vision. It +would, of course, appear highly probable that a kingdom so weak as that +of Israel,--weak, especially when compared with those great Asiatic +kingdoms which were great already, and yet were continually striving +after enlargement,--a kingdom, moreover, placed in the midst between +these kingdoms, and their natural enemy and rival, Egypt--should not +have been able to maintain its existence for any length of time. But +this probability existed in a far higher decree in the case of the +kingdom of [Pg 213] Judah, which was smaller and weaker still, and +which had suffered much through Jehoash the father of Jeroboam (2 Kings +xiv. 13), under the latter of whom, the splendour and glory of Israel +had been so greatly increased. But that which prevented this +probability from becoming a reality lay altogether beyond the sphere of +human calculation, as Hosea himself here so emphatically expresses. And +by _such_ help, the kingdom of Israel would have been delivered, no +less than the kingdom of Judah. It is true that this prediction of +Hosea is no prediction of some accidental event, but has its foundation +in the idea. The lots of Israel and Judah could not be otherwise than +so different, after their different position in reference to the +Covenant-God was once fixed. Nor is this prediction one which has +ceased after its first and literal fulfilment, but is constantly and +anew realizing itself. The proceeding of God towards the different +Churches and States is regulated by their conduct towards Him. The +history of the world is a judgment of the world. But even to know this +truth is, in itself, a supernatural gift; and they only are able to use +it with safety, to whom God has given an insight into the mysteries of +His government of the world. This becomes very evident, if we observe +how often the predictions of those who knew the truth in general, down +to _Bengel_ and his followers, have been put to shame by the result. +God's ways are not our ways. No one knows them except Himself, and +those to whom He will reveal them. The extent to which the prophecy +rests on the idea is, moreover, clearly seen by the words, "And I save +them _by Jehovah their God_." Here we have the ground of their +deliverance. Jehovah is the God of Judah, and, hence, the source of +their salvation, which does not cease to flow although all human +sources be dried up. The reason why Israel does not obtain mercy must +then be, that Jehovah is not their God. That this contrast is implied +here, is confirmed by iii. 5: "Afterwards shall the children of Israel +return and seek the _Lord their God_, and David their king." That which +in aftertimes they shall seek, and thereby obtain salvation, they must +have lost now; and this loss must be the source of their affliction. +Calvin makes the following pertinent remark: "The antithesis between +the false gods and Jehovah must here be kept in mind. Jehovah was the +God of the house of Judah; and hence, it is just as if the prophet had +said, 'Ye [Pg 214] indeed profess the name of God, but ye worship the +devil, and not God. Ye have no part in Jehovah. He resides in His +temple, and has pledged His faithfulness to David when He commanded him +to build Him a temple on Mount Zion; but from you, the true God has +departed!'" (Compare Amos ii. 8, where the prophet speaks of the god of +the ten tribes as one who belongs to them alone, and with whom he has +nothing to do.) In contrast with Him who alone could grant help, and +whom Israel did not possess, but Judah did, the prophet enumerates, in +the remaining part of the verse under consideration, the aids which +could not afford any real help, in which Israel was, at that time, much +richer than Judah, and in which they placed a false confidence. Compare +x. 13: "Thou didst trust in thy way, in the multitude of thy mighty +men;" Ps. xx. 8; Mic. v. 9 seqq.; and Deut. xxxiii. 29, where the Lord +is spoken of as the only true bulwark and armour: "Happy art thou, +Israel: who is like unto thee? a people saved by the Lord, the shield +of thy help, thy proud sword: thine enemies shall be liars unto thee, +and thou shalt tread upon their high places." Calvin says, "God does +not require any other aids; His own strength is quite sufficient. The +sum and substance is therefore this, that although the weakness of the +kingdom of Judah excites the contempt of all, this shall be no obstacle +to its deliverance by the grace of God, although there be no help at +all from men."--The prophet has, at the same time, before his eyes the +great events of former history, where, when all human resources failed, +the power of God had shown itself to be alone quite sufficient.--We +cannot assert with _Gesenius_, that "war" should here be quite +identical with "weapons of war;" it rather comprehends everything which +is required for war, viz., the prudence of the commanders, the valour +of the heroes, the strength of the army, etc. "Heroes and horsemen" +are, however, specially mentioned, because in ancient times the main +strength of the armies lay in these. Even Mahommed thought himself +entitled to hold up a victory which he had obtained without cavalry--by +infantry alone--as a miracle wrought immediately by God; comp. _Abulf. +vit. Moh._ pp. 72, 91. + +Ver. 8. "_And she weaned Lo-Ruhamah, and conceived, and bare a son._" + +Ver. 9. "_And He said, Call his name, Lo-Ammi_ (_i.e._, not [Pg 215] my +people); _for you are not My people, and I, not will I be yours._" + +As the prophet everywhere else adheres closely to his subject-matter, +as, indeed, he allows the figure to recede behind the subject of his +discourse, but never the opposite, we cannot well imagine that the +weaning is mentioned merely for the purpose of making the description +more graphic. Calvin says, "I do not doubt that the prophet intends +here to commend the Lord's long-continued mercy and forbearance towards +that people." The unfaithfulness of the wife, and the forbearance of +the prophet, do indeed continue for years. But it is better to suppose +that the mention of the weaning is intended to separate the territory +of Lo-Ruhamah from the following birth, and to call forth the idea +that, now, there may follow one of better import.--The literal +translation of the close of the verse is, "And I will not be to +you"--equivalent to, "I will not any longer belong to you." We cannot +assume, as _Manger_ does, that [Hebrew: lalhiM] has been here left out, +nor, as others do, that it must be supplied. Since it is God who +speaks, "to you," or "yours," is sufficiently definite. Similar is +Ezek. xvi. 8: "And I entered into a covenant with thee, and thou +becamest Mine," [Hebrew: vthii li]; Ps. cxviii. 6: "The Lord is mine, +[Hebrew: ihvh li], I will not fear." The explanation given by some, "I +shall not be among you," is too limited. It is the highest happiness to +possess God Himself, with all His gifts and blessings, and the greatest +misery to lose Him. The fulfilment of this threatening is reported in 2 +Kings xvii. 18: "And the Lord was very angry with Israel, and removed +them out of His sight; and there was none left but the tribe of Judah +alone;" comp. also Is. vii. + +The first three verses of the following chapter ought to have been +connected with the first chapter; for they contain the announcement of +salvation which is necessary to complete the first prophecy. + +Chap. ii. 1. "_And the number of the children of Israel shall be as the +sand of the sea, which is not measured nor numbered. And it shall come +to pass, in the place where it was said unto them, Not my people ye, it +shall be said unto them. Sons of the living God._" + +The first point which requires to be determined, is the subject of the +verse. Every other reference except that to the [Pg 216] ten tribes is +here out of the question; inasmuch as the same who, in the preceding +verse, were called Lo-Ammi, are now to be called sons of the living +God. Several of the ancient expositors here assume a sudden transition +to the Christian Church; but such would be a _salto mortale_. Nor are +we to understand by the children of Israel, all the descendants of +Jacob; for the children of Judah are distinguished from them in ver. 2. +Substantially, however, those too are included, as appears from this +very verse; for both shall then form one nation of brethren. But here +the prophet views only one portion, because to this only did the +preceding threatening, and the mission of the prophet in general, +refer. From this, also, it may be explained how the prophet may apply +to the _part_ the promises of Genesis, which there refer to the +_whole_. The reference to these promises, in the first part of the +verse, cannot be at all mistaken. Compare especially, as agreeing most +literally, the passage in Gen. xxii. 17: "I will multiply thy seed as +the stars of heaven, and as the sand which is on the shore of the sea;" +and xxxii. 13 (12): "I make thy seed as the sand of the sea, which is +not numbered for multitude." A similar literal reference is in Jer. +xxxiii. 22: "As the host of heaven is not numbered, neither the sand of +the sea measured; so will I multiply the seed of David My servant." +Now, the reference here cannot be accidental. It supposes that these +promises were at that time generally known in the kingdom of Israel. +They served to strengthen the ungodly in their false security. Relying +on them, they charged the prophets with making God a liar in thus +announcing the impending destruction of the kingdom, inasmuch as the +prophecy had not yet been fulfilled in all its extent. The prophet, +however, by his almost literal repetition of the promise, shows that +thereby his threatenings are not excluded--"teaches that the visitation +of which he had spoken would be such that, nevertheless, God would not +forget His word; that the rejection of the people would be such that, +nevertheless, its election should stand firm and sure,--and, finally, +that the adoption should not be invalid by which He had chosen +Abraham's progeny as His people" (_Calvin_).--The case is quite +analogous, when corrupted Christian churches harden themselves in +trusting in the promise that the Lord would be with them all the days, +and that the gates of hell should not prevail against His Church. The +[Pg 217] Lord knoweth how to execute His judgments so that His promises +shall not suffer thereby, yea, that their fulfilment is thereby +rendered possible. The relation of our passage to Is. x. 22 requires +_further_ to be considered: "For though thy people Israel be as the +sand of the sea, the remnant only shall return." Here, too, the +reference to the promises in Genesis cannot be mistaken. But there is +this difference,--that in the time of Isaiah, the people, viewing the +partial fulfilment of the promises of God in their then prosperous +condition, as a sure pledge of divine mercy, founded thereupon their +false security. To this, however, the prophet replies, that even the +perfect fulfilment would give no warrant for it. In Hosea, however, +they rely on the perfect fulfilment, which had, as yet, no existence at +all. But Hosea has in view the godly as much as the ungodly. To the +former he shows that here also there would be a fulfilment of what is +written in Num. xxiii. 19: "God is not a man, that He should lie; +neither the son of man, that He should repent. Should He say, and not +do it; and speak, and not fulfil it?" Moreover, we cannot fail to see +that, in the verse under review, as also in ver. 2, there is an +allusion to the first child, Jezreel,--that in the second member of the +verse there is an allusion to Lo-Ammi, and in ver. 3, to Lo-Ruhamah. +But the name Jezreel is now taken in a good sense, probably in the +sense in which it was first given to the valley (compare remarks on i. +4), and also to the town by its founders. Jezreel means "God sows." The +founders of the town thereby expressed the hope that God would cause an +abundant harvest to proceed from a small sowing--a glorious end from a +small beginning. Thus God will now sow the small seed of Israel, and an +infinitely rich harvest shall be gained from this sowing; compare +remarks on ver. 25.--But if now we seek for the historical reference of +the announcement, we are compelled to go back to the sense of those +declarations in Genesis. By many, these are referred merely to the +bodily descendants of the Patriarchs; by many, also, to their spiritual +descendants, their successors in the faith. But the latter reference is +altogether arbitrary; and the former could be well-founded only, if the +Congregation of the Lord had been destined solely for the natural +descendants, and if all the Gentiles had been refused admittance into +it. But that such is not the case, is evident from the command to +circumcise every bondservant; [Pg 218] for, by circumcision, a man was +received among the people of God. This appears, _further_, from the +command in Exod. xii. 48, that every stranger who wished to partake of +the Passover must be previously circumcised; and this implies that +strangers might partake in the sign and feast of the covenant if they +wished; compare _Michaelis_, _Mos. Recht._ Th. iv. Sec. 184. This appears, +_moreover_, from Deut. xxiii. 1-8, where the Edomites and Egyptians are +expressly declared to be capable of being received into the +Congregation of the Lord. It appears, _still further_, from the +circumstance that, in the same passage, the command to exclude the +Ammonites and Moabites is founded upon a special reason. And, +_finally_, it appears from the Jewish practice at all times. But the +heathens who were received among the people of God were considered as +belonging to the posterity of the Patriarchs, as their sons by +adoption. How indeed could it be otherwise, since, by intermarriage, +every difference must have very soon disappeared? They were called +children of Israel, and children of Jacob, no less than were the +others. It now appears to what extent the promise to the Patriarchs +refers to the Gentiles also--viz., in so far as they became believers +in the God of Israel, and joined themselves to Israel. Compare Is. +xliv. 5: "One shall say, I am Jehovah's, and another shall call the +name of Jacob, and another shall write with his hand. Unto the Lord! +and boast of the name of Israel." Such an eager desire of the Gentiles +towards the kingdom of God regularly took place, either when the God of +Israel had revealed Himself by specially distinguishing manifestations +of His omnipotence and glory, as, _e.g._, in the deliverance from the +Egyptian and Babylonish captivities, in both of which events we find a +number of those who had previously been heathens, [Hebrew: erb], in the +train of the Israelites;--or when a feeling of the vanity of the idols +of the heathen world had been awakened with special vividness, as in +the times after Alexander the Great, in which Roman and Greek +heathenism became more and more _effete_, and rapidly hastened on +towards ruin. In the time of Christ, both of these causes co-operated. +If there were soundness in the opinion now generally prevalent, +according to which the Church of the New Testament stands quite +independent of the Congregation of Israel, having originated from a +free and equal union of believers from Israel, and of those from among +the Gentiles, [Pg 219] then indeed the promise now before us would have +no longer any reference to New Testament times. The New Testament +Church would be a generation altogether different, and no longer +acknowledge Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as their fathers. But, according +to the constant doctrine of the Old as well as of the New Testament, +there is only one Church of God from Abraham to the end of the +days--only one house under two dispensations. John the Baptist proceeds +upon the supposition that the members of the New Testament also must be +children of Abraham, else the covenant and promise of God would come to +nought. But as the bodily descent from Abraham is no security against +the danger of exclusion from his posterity--of which Ishmael was the +first example--and as, so early as in the Pentateuch, it is said, with +reference to every greater transgression, "This soul is cut off from +its people," so, on the other hand, God, in the exercise of His +sovereign liberty, may give to Abraham, in the room of his degenerate +children after the flesh, adopted children without number, who shall +sit down with him, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of God, whilst +the sons of the kingdom are cast out.--After these remarks on the +promise to the Patriarchs, there can be no longer any difficulty in +making out the historical reference of the announcement before us. It +cannot refer to the bodily descendants of Abraham, as such, any more +than the promise of a son to Abraham was fulfilled in the birth of +Ishmael, or than the Arabs stand related to the promise of the +innumerable multitude of his descendants,--a promise which is repeated, +in the same extent, to Isaac and Jacob, although they were not the +ancestors of the Arabs. Degenerate sons are not a blessing; they are no +objects of promise, no sons in the full sense. Every one is a son of +Abraham, only in so far as he is a son of God. For this reason the +phrases "sons of Israel" and "sons of the living God" are, in the +passage before us, connected with each other. Not as though the +corporeal descent were altogether a matter of indifference. The +corporeal descendants of the Patriarchs had the nearest claims to +becoming their children in the full sense. It was to them that the +means of becoming so were first granted. To them pertained the +covenants, the promises, and the adoption, Rom. ix. 4. But all these +external advantages were of no avail to them when they allowed them to +[Pg 220] remain unused; in these circumstances, neither the promise to +Abraham, nor the announcement before us, had any reference to them. +Both of them would have remained to this day unfulfilled, although the +unconverted children of Israel had increased so as to have become the +most populous nation on the face of the whole earth. It thus appears +that the announcement before us was first truly realized in the time of +the Messiah; inasmuch as it was at that time that the family of the +Patriarchs was so mightily increased; and that it will yet be more +fully realized, partly by the reception of an innumerable multitude of +adopted sons, and partly by the elevation of those who were sons only +in a lower sense, to be sons in the highest. That which occurred at the +time after the Babylonish captivity, when the Lord stirred up a number +of Israelites to return to Palestine, we can regard as only an +insignificant prelude; partly because this number was too small to +correspond, even in any degree, to the infinite extent of the promise, +and partly because there were among them certainly a few only who, in +the fullest sense, deserved the name of "Children of Israel." +"Israel"--which is the higher name, and has reference to the relation +to God--is here used emphatically, as appears especially from a +comparison with ver. 4, where it is taken from the degenerate children, +and exchanged for the name "Jezreel."--In the second part of the verse, +we must first set aside the false interpretation of [Hebrew: bmqvM awr] +by "instead of," which is given by _Grotius_ and others. It has arisen +from an inappropriate reference to the Latin, which has, however, no +support in the Hebrew _usus loquendi_. The words can only mean (compare +Lev. iv. 24, 33; Jer. xxii. 12; Ezek. xxi. 35; Neh. iv. 14): "in the +place where," or, more literally still, "in the place that"--the wider +designation instead of the narrower. The _status constr._ is explained +by the circumstance that the whole succeeding sentence together +expresses only one substantive idea, equivalent to: "in the place of +the being said unto them." The place may here be, either that where the +people first received the name Lo-Ammi, _i.e._, Palestine, or the place +of the exile, where they first felt the full meaning of it,--the misery +being a _sermo realis_ of God. Decisive in favour of the latter +reference is the following verse, where the [Hebrew: harC], the land of +the exile, corresponds with [Hebrew: mqvM] in the verse before us. +(According to _Jonathan_, the sense is: "In the place to [Pg 221] which +they have been carried away among the Gentiles.") It is intentionally +that both times the Future [Hebrew: iamr] is used, which is to +be understood as the Present. The difference of time being thus +disregarded, the contrast becomes so much the more striking.--By +"people" and "children" of God, the same thing is expressed according +to different relations. The Israelites were the people of God, inasmuch +as He was their King; and children of God, in as far as He was their +Father,--their Father, it is true, in the first place, not, as in the +New Testament (John i. 12, 13), in reference to the spiritual +generation, but in relation to heart-felt love, similar to the love of +a father for a son. With regard to the Old Testament idea of son ship +to God, compare the remarks on Ps. ii. 7. In this relation, sometimes +all Israel is personified as the son of God; thus, _e.g._, Exod. iv. +22: "Thus thou shalt say unto Pharaoh: My son. My first-born is +Israel." Sometimes the Israelites are also called the _children_ or +_sons_ of God; _e.g._, Deut. xiv. 1: "Ye are children to the Lord your +God" (compare also Deut. xxxii. 19), although not every single +individual could on this account be called "son of God." In this sense, +that designation is never used, evidently because the sonship under the +Old Testament does not rest so much on the personal relation of the +single individual to God,--as is the case in the New Testament,--but +the individual rather partakes in it only as a part of the whole. But +there is an easy transition from the sonship as viewed in the Old +Testament, to the sonship as seen in the New. The former, in its +highest perfection, cannot exist at all without the latter. It is only +when its single members are born of God, that the Congregation can be +regarded and treated as the child of God in the full sense of the word, +and that the whole fulness of His love can be poured out upon it; for +this is the only way of attaining to likeness with God, which is the +condition of admission to the rights of children. Hence it appears that +the [Greek: huiothesia] under the Old Testament was an actual prophecy +of the times of the New Testament; and from it, it follows also that +the announcement under consideration has its ultimate reference to +these times. Earlier fulfilments--especially at the return from the +Babylonish captivity--are not to be excluded, inasmuch as the idea +comprehends in it everything in which it is, even in the least degree, +realized; but they can be considered [Pg 222] only as a slight prelude +to Its real fulfilment, which takes place only when the reality fully +coincides with the idea; so that we are not at liberty to limit +ourselves to the commencement of the Messianic time, but must include +the Messianic time in its last consummation.--Another question still +remains:--Why is God here called the "_living_?" Plainly, to point out +the antithesis of the true God to dead idols, which cannot love, +because they do not live; and thus to bring out the greatness of the +privilege of being the child of such a God. The same antithesis is +found in Deut. xxxii. 3 seqq.: "Where are now their gods, the rock in +whom they trusted, which did eat the fat of their sacrifices, and drank +the wine of their drink-offerings? Let them rise up and help you; let +it be a covering to you. See now that I, I am He, and not is a God +beside Me. I kill and I make alive. I wound and I heal." This +antithesis still continues; the world has only changed its idols. It +still always seeks the life from the dead, from the gross idol of sin +up to the refined idol of a self-made abstract god, whether he be +formed from logical notions or from emotions and feelings. But how much +soever they may strive to give life to their idols, they remain dead, +although they should even attain to a semblance of life. The true God, +on the contrary, lives and continues to live, how much soever they may +strive to slay Him. He manifests Himself as the living one, either by +smiting and killing them, if they continue in their impenitence, or by +God--is here used emphatically, as appears especially from a comparison +with ver. 4, where it is taken from the degenerate children, and +exchanged for the name "Jezreel."--In the second part of the verse, we +must first set aside the false interpretation of [Hebrew: bmqvM awr] by +"instead of," which is given by _Grotius_ and others. It has arisen +from an inappropriate reference to the Latin, which has, however, no +support in the Hebrew _usus loquendi_. The words can only mean (compare +Lev. iv. 24, 33; Jer. xxii. 12; Ezek. xxi. 35; Neh. iv. 14): "in the +place where," or, more literally still, "in the place that"--the wider +designation instead of the narrower. The _status constr._ is explained +by the circumstance that the whole succeeding sentence together +expresses only one substantive idea, equivalent to: "in the place of +the being said unto them." The place may here be, either that where the +people first received the name Lo-Ammi, _i.e._, Palestine, or the place +of the exile, where they first felt the full meaning of it,--the misery +being a _sermo realis_ of God. Decisive in favour of the latter +reference is the following verse, where the [Hebrew: harC], the land of +the exile, corresponds with [Hebrew: mqvM] in the verse before us. +(According to _Jonathan_, the sense is: "In the place to [Pg 221] which +they have been carried away among the Gentiles.") It is intentionally +that both times the Future [Hebrew: iamr] is used, which is to +be understood as the Present. The difference of time being thus +disregarded, the contrast becomes so much the more striking.--By +"people" and "children" of God, the same thing is expressed according +to different relations. The Israelites were the people of God, inasmuch +as He was their King; and children of God, in as far as He was their +Father,--their Father, it is true, in the first place, not, as in the +New Testament (John i. 12, 13), in reference to the spiritual +generation, but in relation to heart-felt love, similar to the love of +a father for a son. With regard to the Old Testament idea of son ship +to God, compare the remarks on Ps. ii. 7. In this relation, sometimes +all Israel is personified as the son of God; thus, _e.g._, Exod. iv. +22: "Thus thou shalt say unto Pharaoh: My son. My first-born is +Israel." Sometimes the Israelites are also called the _children_ or +_sons_ of God; _e.g._, Deut. xiv. 1: "Ye are children to the Lord your +God" (compare also Deut. xxxii. 19), although not every single +individual could on this account be called "son of God." In this sense, +that designation is never used, evidently because the sonship under the +Old Testament does not rest so much on the personal relation of the +single individual to God,--as is the case in the New Testament,--but +the individual rather partakes in it only as a part of the whole. But +there is an easy transition from the sonship as viewed in the Old +Testament, to the sonship as seen in the New. The former, in its +highest perfection, cannot exist at all without the latter. It is only +when its single members are born of God, that the Congregation can be +regarded and treated as the child of God in the full sense of the word, +and that the whole fulness of His love can be poured out upon it; for +this is the only way of attaining to likeness with God, which is the +condition of admission to the rights of children. Hence it appears that +the [Greek: huiothesia] under the Old Testament was an actual prophecy +of the times of the New Testament; and from it, it follows also that +the announcement under consideration has its ultimate reference to +these times. Earlier fulfilments--especially at the return from the +Babylonish captivity--are not to be excluded, inasmuch as the idea +comprehends in it everything in which it is, even in the least degree, +realized; but they can be considered [Pg 222] only as a slight prelude +to Its real fulfilment, which takes place only when the reality fully +coincides with the idea; so that we are not at liberty to limit +ourselves to the commencement of the Messianic time, but must include +the Messianic time in its last consummation.--Another question still +remains:--Why is God here called the "_living_?" Plainly, to point out +the antithesis of the true God to dead idols, which cannot love, +because they do not live; and thus to bring out the greatness of the +privilege of being the child of such a God. The same antithesis is +found in Deut. xxxii. 3 seqq.: "Where are now their gods, the rock in +whom they trusted, which did eat the fat of their sacrifices, and drank +the wine of their drink-offerings? Let them rise up and help you; let +it be a covering to you. See now that I, I am He, and not is a God +beside Me. I kill and I make alive. I wound and I heal." This +antithesis still continues; the world has only changed its idols. It +still always seeks the life from the dead, from the gross idol of sin +up to the refined idol of a self-made abstract god, whether he be +formed from logical notions or from emotions and feelings. But how much +soever they may strive to give life to their idols, they remain dead, +although they should even attain to a semblance of life. The true +God, on the contrary, lives and continues to live, how much soever +they may strive to slay Him. He manifests Himself as the living one, +either by smiting and killing them, if they continue in their +impenitence, or by healing and quickening them, if they become His + children.--_Finally_,--we must still consider the two citations, in +the New Testament, of the passage before us. One in 1 Pet. ii. 10, +[Greek: hoi pote ou laos, nun de laos Theou. hoi ouk eleemenoi, nun de +eleethentes], must certainly strike us, inasmuch as this epistle, on +conclusive grounds (compare _Steiger_ S. 14 ff.), cannot be considered +as being addressed to Jewish Christians exclusively. But still more +striking is the second quotation in Rom. ix. 25, 26: [Greek: hos kai en +to hOsee legei. Kaleso ton ou laon mou, laon mou. kai ten ouk +egapemenen, egapemenen. Kai estai, en to topo hou erhrethe autois ou +laos mou humeis, ekei klethesontai huioi Theou zontos.] Here our +passage is not only alluded to, but expressly quoted, and, in +opposition to the Jews, the calling of the Gentiles is proved from it. +But how can a passage which, according to the whole context, can refer +to Israel only, be applied [Pg 223] directly to the Gentiles? The +answer very readily suggests itself when we reduce the prophecy to its +fundamental idea. This is none other than that of divine mercy, which +may indeed, by apostasy and unfaithfulness, be prevented from +manifesting itself, but can never be extinguished, because it has its +foundation in God's nature. Compare Jer. xxxi. 20: "Is Ephraim a dear +son to Me, a child of joy? For as often as I speak of him, I must still +remember him. Therefore My bowels sound for him, _I will have mercy_ +upon him, saith the Lord." Now, in the same manner as this truth was +realized in the restoration of the children of Israel to be again the +children of God, so it is in the reception of the Gentiles. It is not +at all a mere application, but a real proof which here forms the +question at issue. It is _because_ God had promised to receive again +the children of Israel, that He must receive the Gentiles also; for +otherwise that divine decree would have its foundation in mere caprice, +which cannot be conceived to have any existence in God. Although the +Gentiles are not so near as Israel, yet He must satisfy the claims of +those who are more remote, just because He acknowledges the claims of +those who are near. The necessity of going back to the fundamental idea +appears in the promises as well as in the commandments. We cite only +one instance which is especially fitted to serve as a parallel to the +case before us. There is no doubt, and prejudice alone could have +denied, that in the Pentateuch, by _friend_ and _brother_ the Israelite +is to be understood throughout; it is in the New Testament that the +command of Christian brotherly love is given. After having commended +truthfulness, Paul adds: "Because ye are members of one another"--a +reason which can refer to those only who have Christ as their common +head. From this limitation, can anything be inferred to the prejudice +of love towards the whole human race, or of the duties towards all +without any distinction? Just the reverse. It is just because the +Israelite is bound to love the Israelite, and the Christian the +Christian, that he should embrace all men in love. If the special +relation to God as the common Redeemer afford the foundation for the +_special_ love, then the _general_ relation to God as the Creator and +Preserver must also afford the foundation of _universal_ love; just as +from the command to honour father and mother, it necessarily follows +that we must also [Pg 224] honour uncle and aunt, king and magistrate. +This is the only correct view of the laws and prophecies; and if it be +consistently followed out, it will make water to flow out of the rock, +and will create streams in the wilderness. + +Ver. 2. "_And the children of Judah and the children of Israel assemble +themselves together, and set over themselves one head, and go up out of +the land; for great is the day of Jezreel._" + +The words, "They appoint themselves a king," appear strange at first +sight. For it is not, in general, the union of Judah and Israel which +the prophet expects from better times;--a _perverse_ union of both, +one, it may be, in which the house of Judah shall also give up Jehovah +his God, and David his King, only in order to be able to live on a +right brotherly footing with Israel, would have been anything but a +progress and a blessing;--but such a union as has for its foundation +the return of Israel to the true God, and to the Davidic dynasty. This +appears clearly from iii. 5. The difficulty is removed by a comparison +with the passage of the Pentateuch to which the prophet seems to +allude: "Thou shalt set over thee a king, whom the Lord thy God shall +choose," Deut. xvii. 15. The prophet seems to have these words before +his eyes, as it appears elsewhere also, where he describes the hitherto +opposite conduct of the Israelites; compare the remarks on iii. 4. From +these it appears that the election of the king by God, who had promised +eternal dominion to the house of David, and his election by the people, +do not in the least exclude one another. On the contrary, it is +_because_ God had elected the king, that now the people also elect him. +_Calvin_ remarks: "There appears to be transferred to men what properly +belongs to God alone--viz., the appointment of a king; but the prophet +expresses, by this word, the obedience of faith; for it is not enough +that Christ be given, and placed before men as a King, but they must +also acknowledge and reverently receive Him as a King. From this we +infer, that when we believe the Gospel, we choose, as it were by our +own vote, Christ as our King." That the prophet understands the +"setting of a head" in this sense, appears also from the circumstance +that the whole verse is based upon the reference to the Exodus from +Egypt, which is now to be repeated. To this the words, "They assemble +themselves together," likewise refer; for the departure from Egypt was +preceded by the assembling together of the [Pg 225] whole people. The +mention of a "head" refers back to Moses. In his case, as well as that +of David subsequently, the election by the people was only the +acknowledgment of his having been divinely called.--Another question +is, How are the words, "They go up out of the land," to be understood? +There can be no doubt that by "land," the land of captivity is +designated. For the words are borrowed from Exod. i. 10, where Pharaoh +says, "When there falleth out any war, they will join our enemies, and +fight against us, and go up out of the land," [Hebrew: velh mN harC]. +The prophet, moreover, is his own interpreter in ii. 17, where he +expressly compares this new going up to the promised land with the +former going up from Egypt: "_As in the day when she went up out of the +land of Egypt_;" just as, in other passages, he describes their being +carried away, under the figure of their being carried away to +Egypt--Assyria being considered as another Egypt. Compare viii. 13: +"Now will He remember their iniquity and visit their sins; they shall +return to Egypt;" ix. 3: "They shall not dwell in the Lord's land, and +Ephraim returns to Egypt." (Compare, on this passage, the Author's +_Dissertations on the Genuineness of the Pentateuch_, vol. i. p. 121 +ff.) Moreover, in the other prophets also, the going up from, or +deliverance out of, Egypt, forms throughout the basis of the second +great deliverance. And this is quite natural; for both of those events +stand in the closest actual connection with each other;--both proceeded +from the same Divine Being; and the former was a prophecy _by fact_, +and a pledge of the latter. The deliverance of the people of God from +Egypt sealed their election; and from the latter the new deliverance +necessarily followed;--a relation which repeats itself in individuals +also. From this we may explain the fact that in the Psalms, they who +celebrate God's former mercies, prove from them to Him and to +themselves, throughout, that He must now also be their helper. It is +then by no means a mere external similarity which induces the prophets +ever and anon to refer to the deliverance from Egypt (compare the +passages Mic. ii. 12, 13; Jer. xxiii. 7, 8, which bear so close a +resemblance to the passage before us), any more than that the Passover +is a mere memorial. Such cannot occur in the true religion which has a +living God, and hence knows nothing of anything absolutely past. +_Ewald's_ [Pg 226] exposition, that they go up out of the country for +the purpose of further conquest, and that of _Simson_, that they go up +to Jerusalem, sever the three events which, as the example of previous +history shows, are evidently so closely allied; and these expositors, +moreover, give, by an addition of their own, that definiteness to the +words, "And they shall go up out of the land," which they can obtain +only by a reference to the history of the past. In their ambiguity, +they almost expressly point to such a commentary.--The article in +[Hebrew: harC], _the_ (_i.e._, the definite) land, is explained from +the circumstance that, in the previous context, there had been an +indirect allusion to their being carried away into a strange land. If +Israel was no more the people of God,--if they no longer enjoyed His +mercy, then it is supposed that they could not remain in the land which +they had received only as the people of God, and had hitherto retained +only through His mercy. But, primarily, the article refers to "the +place where it was said unto them," in the preceding verse.--That along +with the children of Israel, the children of Judah also assemble +themselves and go up, implies a fact which the prophet had not +expressly mentioned, because it did not stand immediately connected +with his purpose--viz., that Judah too should be carried into +captivity. It thus supplements chap. i. 7, by showing that the mercy +there promised to the inhabitants of Judah is to be understood +relatively only. Such suppositions, indeed, show very plainly how +distinctly the future lay before the eyes of the prophet.[5]--With +regard, now, to the historical reference,--it must, in the first place, +be remarked, that whatever is here determined concerning it, must be +applicable to all other [Pg 227] parallel passages also, in which a +future reunion of Israel and Judah, and their common return to the +promised land, are announced; _e.g._, Jer. iii. 18: "In those days the +house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they come +together out of the land of the north to the land that I have given to +their fathers;" l. 4: "In those days the children of Israel shall come, +they and the children of Judah together, weeping shall they come and +seek the Lord their God." Compare also Is. xi.; Ezek. xxxvii. 19, +20. In the passage under consideration, several interpreters, as +_Theodoret_, think of the return from Babylon, and refer the "one head" +to Zerubbabel. Now we certainly cannot deny that, in that event, there +is a small beginning of the fulfilment. But if that had been the entire +fulfilment, Hosea would more resemble a dreamer and an enthusiast than +a true prophet of the living God. The objection which immediately +presents itself--viz., that, after all, the greatest portion of the +ten tribes, and a very considerable part of Judah, remained in +captivity--is by no means the strongest. Although the whole both of +Judah and Israel had returned, the real and final fulfilment could not +be sought for in that event. It is not the renewed possession of the +country, as such, which the prophet promises, but rather a certain kind +of possession,--such a possession as that the land is completely the +land of God, partaking in all the fulness of His blessings, and thus a +worthy residence for the people of God, and for their children. One may +be in Canaan, and yet, at the same time, in Babylon or in Assyria. Had +not the threatened punishment of God been indeed as fully executed upon +those who, during the Assyrian and Babylonish captivities, wandered +about the country in sorrow and misery, as upon those who were carried +away? Can the circumstance that Jews are even now living in Jerusalem +in the deepest misery, be adduced as a proof that the loss of the +promised land, with which the people were threatened, had not been +completely fulfilled? It is true that, during the times of the Old +Covenant, there existed a certain connection betwixt the lower and the +higher kinds of possession. As soon as the people ceased to be the +people of the Lord, they lost with the former, after being often +previously warned by the decrease of it, the latter also. As soon as +they obtained again the lower kind of possession, which could happen +only in the case of a [Pg 228] return to the Lord, they recovered, to a +certain degree, in proportion to the earnestness and sincerity of their +conversion, the higher kind of possession also. A commencement of the +fulfilment must, therefore, be at all events assumed in the return from +the Babylonish captivity; but a very feeble commencement only. Just as +the conversion was very superficial, so was the degree of the higher +kind of possession but a very small one. The manifestations of mercy +were very sparing; the condition of the new colony was, upon the whole, +very poor; they did not possess the land as a free property, but only +under the dominion of a foreigner. That which was, in one respect, +the termination of the captivity, was, in another, much rather a +continuation of it. It was certainly not the true Canaan which they +possessed, any more than one still possesses the beloved object while +he embraces only his corpse. Where the Lord is not present with His +gifts and blessings, there Canaan cannot be. It was just as the land of +the presence of the Lord, that it was so dear and valuable to all +believers.--From what has now been said, it appears that, as regards +the historical reference, we need not limit ourselves to the times of +the Old Covenant, nor dream of a return of Israel to Canaan to take +place at some future time. Luther's explanation, "They will go up from +this place of pilgrimage to the heavenly father-land," is quite +correct,--not indeed according to the letter, but according to the +spirit. It is not the form, but the essence of the divine inheritance, +which the prophet has in view. The form is a different one under the +New Covenant, where the whole earth has become a Canaan; but the +essence remains. To cling here to the form, would be just as absurd as +if one, who, for Christ's sake, has forsaken all, were to upbraid Him +because he had not received again, according to the letter of His +promise, precisely an hundred-fold, lands, brothers, sisters, mothers, +etc., Mark x. 30. The words of God, which are spirit and life, must be +understood with spirit and life.--Suppose that the children of Israel +were, at some future time, to return to Canaan, this would have nothing +to do with our prophecy. In a religious point of view, it would +be a matter of no consequence, and could not serve to prove the +covenant-faithfulness of God. Under the New Covenant it finds its +fulfilment, that "Canaan must, even in the North, bloom joyfully around +the beloved." The three stations [Pg 229]--Egypt, the wilderness, and +Canaan--will continue to exist for ever; but we go from the one to the +other only with the feet of the spirit, and not, as in the Old +Covenant, with the feet of the body at the same time. The grossly +literal explanation which knows not to separate the thought from its +drapery, the essential from the accidental, agrees, just in the main +point, with the allegorical explanation--viz., in interpolating, +instead of interpreting.--The fulfilment of the prophecy before us is, +therefore, a continuous and progressive one, which will not cease until +God's whole plan of salvation be consummated. It began at Babylon, and +was carried forward at the appearance of Christ, whom many out of Judah +and Israel set over themselves as their head, to be their common leader +to Canaan. It is, even now, realized every day before our eyes in every +Israelite who follows their example. It will, at some future time, find +its final fulfilment in the last and greatest manifestation of God's +covenant-faithfulness towards Israel, which, happily, is as strongly +guaranteed by the New as it is by the Old Testament.--The last words of +the verse have been already explained, substantially, in ver. 1. The +name "Jezreel" is here used with a reference to its appellative +signification. Israel appears here (compare ver. 25 [23], which serves +as a commentary and as a refutation of differing interpretations) as a +seed which is sown by God in fruitful land, and which shall produce a +rich harvest. The figure appears, with a somewhat different turn, in +Jer. xxxi. 27; Ezek. xxxvi. 9, where the house of Israel, and the house +of Judah, appear as the soil in which the seed is sown by God. +Analogous is also Ps. lxxii. 16: "They of the city shall flourish up +like the grass of the earth."--The [Hebrew: ki] is explained by the +circumstance that the sowing, which can take place only in the land of +the Lord (compare ver. 25), supposes the going up from the land of the +captivity. But if the day of sowing be great, if it be regarded by God +as high and important, then the going up, which is the condition of +sowing, must necessarily take place. + +Ver. 3. "_Say ye unto your brethren, My people_ (Ammi); _and to your +sisters, Who has obtained mercy_ (Ruhamah)." + +The words, "My people," are a concise expression for: "You whom the +Lord has called. My people." The mention of the brothers and sisters is +explained by the reference to the [Pg 230] male and female members of +the prophet's family. The phrase, "Say ye," is in substance equivalent +to: "Then will ye be able to say." The prophet sees before him the +people of the Lord who have experienced mercy; and calls upon the +members to salute one another joyfully with the new name given to them +by God. Such is the simple meaning of the verse, which has been +darkened by a multitude of forced interpretations. + + +Footnote 1: In Hab. ii. 1, where the prophet is standing upon his +watch, and watches to see what the Lord will say _unto_ him, it would +be rather strange to translate "in me." There is nothing else to lead +us to conceive that the apparition of angels in Zech. is internal. But +Num. xii. 8 is quite decisive. The Lord there says, with reference to +His relation to Moses, "Mouth to mouth I speak to him ([Hebrew: bv]);" +and immediately afterwards it is said, "Wherefore, then, were ye not +afraid to speak to My servant ([Hebrew: bebdi]), to Moses?" It is +evident that the [Hebrew: b] cannot be explained by "in" in the one +case, and by "through" in the other. It is remarkable, however, that +[Hebrew: dbr] with [Hebrew: b] occurs very frequently when the Lord +Himself, or, as in Zechariah, _the_ Angel, speaks. This may, perhaps, +be explained from the circumstance, that the heavenly discourses have +an especially penetrating power, and sink very deeply into the heart. + +Footnote 2: This is very natural, for the proper name has originally a +cheering signification. It is apparent from the remarks of _Schubert_ +(_Reise_ iii. S. 164-166), and of _Ritter_ (_Erdkunde_ 16, i. S. 693), +on the natural condition of the plain of Jezreel, how it happened that +it received this name, which means: "God sows." _Schubert_ calls the +soil of Jezreel a field of corn, the seed of which is not sown by any +man's hand, the ripe ears of which are not reaped by any reaper. The +various kinds of corn appeared to him to be wild plants; the mules +walked in them with half their bodies covered by them; the ears of +wheat were sown by themselves. "All travellers," says _Ritter_, "agree +in their descriptions of the extraordinary beauty and fertility of the +plain." + +Footnote 3: This transference was so much the more natural, as, under +the government of the house of Jehu, guilt had certainly been +frequently concentrated in the form of blood-guiltiness. Compare Is. i. +21, where the prophet, in order to mark out the reigning sin in its +highest degree, represents Jerusalem as being full of murderers. + +Footnote 4: _Hitzig_ is of opinion that "the prophet cannot blame him +for the death of Joram and Jezebel, but may well do so for the murder +of Ahaziah, king of Judah, and of his brethren, and for the carnage +described in 2 Kings x. 11." But Ahaziah was not killed at Jezreel: +compare 2 Kings ix. 27; 2 Chron. xxii. 9. And "the carnage in 2 Kings +xii." likewise took place at Jezreel to a small extent only, in so far, +namely, as it concerned the princes of the house of Ahab, who still +remained in Jezreel. Compare _Thenius_ on this passage. + +Footnote 5: That the carrying away of Judah, which is here supposed, +is a total and future one, and not, as _Hofmann_ (_Weiss. u. Erf._ +i. S. 210) asserts, one which is partial and already past (Joel +iv. [iii.] 2-8; Amos i. 6, 9), appears from the analogy of the +children of Israel,--from the reference to the type of the Egyptian +conditions,--from a comparison of chap. v. 5, 12, xii. 1-3,--from the +fact that the carrying away is placed in the view of the _whole people_ +as early as in the Pentateuch, _e.g._, Deut. xxviii. 36, iv. 26, +27,--and, finally, from the fact, that the other prophets also, even +from the most ancient times, manifest a clear knowledge of the +catastrophe which threatened Judah also; compare, _e.g._, Amos ii. +4, 5. Moreover, in Is. xi. 11, 12, also, the return of Judah is +prophesied, although no express announcement of the carrying away +precedes. In like manner, in Amos ix. 11, the restoration of the fallen +tabernacle of David is foretold, although no express mention is made of +its fall. + + + + CHAP. II. 4-25 (2-23). + +"The significant couple"--_Rueckert_ remarks--"disappears in the thing +signified by it; Israel itself appears as the wife of whoredoms." This +is the only essential difference between this and the preceding +sections; and it is the less marked, because even there, in the last +part of it, the symbolical action passed over into a mere figure. With +this exception, this section also contains the alternation of +punishment and threatening, and of promise,--the latter beginning with +ver. 16 (14). The features of the image, which were less attended to in +the preceding portion, but are here more carefully portrayed, are the +rejection of the unfaithful wife, and her gradual restoration. _Calvin_ +says: "After God has laid open their sins before men. He adds some +consolation, and tempers the severity, lest they should despair. But +then He returns again to threatenings, and He must do so necessarily; +for though men may have been terrified by the fear of punishment, yet +they do not recover, and become wise for ever." "By a new impetus as it +were," says _Manger_, "he suddenly returns to expand the same argument, +and sets out again from things more sad." + +Ver. 4. "_Contend with your mother, contend; for she is not my wife, +and I am not her husband: and let her put away her whoredoms from her +face, and her adultery from her breasts._" + +_Calvin_ is of opinion that a contrast is here intended, inasmuch as +the Israelites were striving with God, and attributed to Him the cause +of their misfortune: "Do not contend with Me, but rather with your +mother, who, by her adultery, has brought down _righteous_ punishment +upon herself and upon you." But this interpretation is inadmissible; +because it proceeds [Pg 231] from the unfounded supposition that the +divorce is to be considered as having already taken place outwardly, +whilst the contending here clearly appears as one by which divorce may +yet be averted. The words, "Contend with your mother," rather mean, on +the contrary, that it is high time to call her to account, if they +would not go to destruction along with her. From this, however, we are +not entitled to infer that the moral condition of the children was +better than that of the mother. Without any regard to their moral +condition, the prophet only wishes to say that their interest required +them to do this. If it were not his intention just to carry out the +image of adultery, he might as well have called upon the mother to +contend against the children, as it is said in Is. li. 1: "Behold, for +your iniquities you have been sold, and for your transgression your +mother has been put away." In point of fact, the mother has no +standing-place apart from the children. _Vitringa_ says: "One and the +same people is called 'mother' when viewed in their collective +character; and 'children' when viewed in the individuals who are born +of that people. For a people is born from the people. For the whole +people is considered according to that which is radical in it, which +constitutes its nature and substance,--and, in this respect, it is +called the 'mother of its citizens.'" But we are as little entitled to +infer from this exhortation, that a reform, and an averting of the +threatened judgments, may still be hoped for. This is opposed by what +follows, where the wife appears as incorrigible, and her rejection as +unavoidable. The fundamental thought is, on the contrary, only +this:--that a reform is necessary if the threatened judgments are to be +averted. That this necessity, however, would not become a reality, the +prophet foresaw; and for this reason he speaks unconditionally in the +sequel. But from this again it must not be inferred that, in that case, +his exhortations and threatenings would be altogether in vain. Though +no reform was to be expected from the people, single individuals might, +nevertheless, be converted. At the same time, it was of great +importance for the future, that before the calamity should break in, a +right view of it should be opened up to the whole people. It is of +great importance, that if any one be smitten, he should know for what +reason. The instructions in the doctrines of Christianity, which a +criminal has received in childhood, may [Pg 232] often seem for a long +series of years to have been altogether in vain; but afterwards, +notwithstanding, when punishment has softened his heart, they bring +forth their fruits.--In the words, "For she is not my wife, and I am +not her husband," the ground of the exhortation is stated. Even for +this reason, the words cannot be referred to the _external_ dissolution +of the marriage, to the punishment of the wife; they signify rather the +_moral_ dissolution of the marriage--the guilt of the wife--and are +equivalent to: "our marriage is dissolved _de facto_." But in the case +of the spiritual marriage, this dissolution _de facto_ is always, +sooner or later, according to the greater or smaller measure of God's +forbearance, followed by the dissolution _de jure_; or, to speak +without figure, wherever there is sin, punishment will always follow. +God bears with much weakness on the part of His people; but wherever, +through this weakness, the relation to Him is essentially dissolved, He +there annuls the relation altogether. The [Greek: parektos logou +porneias] applies to spiritual marriages also. The surrender of the +main faculties and powers of our nature to something which is not God, +stands on a par with carnal adultery. Thus, then, the connection +betwixt "contend" and "for" clearly appears.--Many interpreters, +viewing the clause beginning with [Hebrew: ki] as parenthetical, would +connect the last words of the verse with [Hebrew: ribv]: "Contend with +your mother that she may put away." But the words are rather to be +considered as parallel with the first member; for "contend," etc., is +equivalent to: "seek to bring your mother to a better way," or: "let +your mother reform herself." Her crime is designated first as whoredom, +and then as adultery. The relation in which the two stand to one +another is plainly seen from chap. i. 2, where the notion of adultery +is paraphrased by: "whoring away from the Lord." By "whoredom," the +_genus_--carnal crimes in general--is designated; by "adultery," the +_species_, or carnal crime by which the sacred rights of another person +are, at the same time, violated. The idea of whoredom, when transferred +to a spiritual relation, implies chiefly the worldliness of those with +whom God has not entered into any special relation; whilst the idea of +adultery implies the worldliness of individuals and communities with +whom God has entered into a special marriage, and whose apostasy is, +for this reason, far more culpable. Leaving out of [Pg 233] view the +more aggravating circumstance, the prophet first speaks of whoredom in +the case of the children of Israel also.--The reason why the whoredom +is here attributed to the face, and the adultery to the breasts, is +well given by _Manger_: "We need not have any difficulty about seeing +adultery attributed to the very face and breasts. There is a certain +expressiveness in this conciseness which demonstrates, as it were +before our eyes, that, in her whole deportment, the wife was given over +to sensuality, and that her whole aim was only to excite to it, and to +practise it. For the face is, with women, the sign of dissolute +lasciviousness--as _Horace_ expresses it in his Odes, I. 19:-- + + Urit grata protervitas + Et vultus nimium lubricus aspici. + +Ezekiel, too, in chap. xxiii. 3, speaks of 'the pressed breasts of +Israel in Egypt.'" _Schmid_ states as the reason why just the face and +breasts are mentioned, "that Scripture, in order not to offend modesty, +forbears to mention the worse and grosser deeds of fornication." But +this is very little in harmony with the manner of Scripture--as may be +seen from a comparison of Ezek. xvi. and xxiii., and of ver. 12 of the +chapter before us. The reason rather is, that those parts are here +specially to be mentioned, in which the whoring nature openly manifests +itself; so that the highest degree of impudence is thereby expressed. +This then shows that there is no longer any halting, no longer any +struggle of the better against the evil principle. Such an impudent +whore he resembles who, without shame or concern, publicly exhibits his +devotedness to the world. In this way has _Calvin_ also explained it. +"There is no doubt," says he, "that the prophet here expresses the +impudence of the people, who in their hardihood, in their contempt of +God, in their sinful superstitions, and in every kind of wickedness, +had gone to such lengths, that they were like whores who do not conceal +their turpitude, but publicly prostitute themselves, yea, try to +exhibit the signs of their wickedness in their eyes, as well as in +their whole body." + +Ver. 5. "_Lest I strip her naked and expose her as in the day of her +birth, and make her like the wilderness, and set her like dry land, and +slay her by thirst._" + +In the marriage here spoken of, there was this peculiarity, that the +husband first redeemed the wife from a condition the [Pg 234] most +wretched and miserable, before he united himself to her; and hence +became her benefactor, before he became her husband. Compare iii. 2, +where the Lord redeems the wife from slavery; and Ezek. xvi. 4, where +the people appear as a child exposed, naked, and covered with filth, +upon whom the Lord has mercy,--whom He provides with precious clothing +and splendid ornaments, and destines for His spouse. During the +marriage, the husband continues his liberality towards his wife. But +now, the gifts, all of which had been bestowed upon her only with a +view to the marriage which was to take place or was already entered +upon, are to cease, because the marriage-tie has been broken by her +guilt. She now returns to the condition of the deepest misery in which +she had been sunk before her union to the Lord.--There is, in this, an +allusion to that which, in the case of actual marriage, the husband was +bound to give to his wife, viz., clothing and food; compare Is. iv. 1. +If God withdraws His gifts, the consequences are infinitely awful, +because, altogether unlike the natural husband, He has everything in +His possession; if He does not give anything to drink. He then slays by +thirst. If we keep in view this aggravation of the punishment, which +has its ground only in the person of the husband, it is evident that +we have here before us only a reference to the withdrawal of the +marriage-gifts which is the consequence of the divorce, and not, as +several interpreters--_e.g._, _Manger_--suppose, to a punishment of +adultery, alleged by them to have been common at that time, "that the +wife was stripped of her clothes, exposed to public mockery, and killed +by hunger and thirst." The eternal and universal truth which, in the +verse before us, is expressed with a special reference to Israel, is, +that all the gifts of God are bestowed upon individuals, as well as +upon whole nations, either in order to lead them to the communion of +life with Him, or because this communion already exists; just as our +Saviour says that to him who has successfully sought for the kingdom +of heaven, all other things shall be added, without any labour on +his part. If we overlook the truth that the gifts of God have this +object--if they be not received and enjoyed as the gifts of God--if the +spiritual marriage be refused, or if, having been already entered into, +it be broken,--sooner or later the gifts will be withdrawn.--The word +"naked" properly includes a whole clause: "I shall strip [Pg 235] her +so that she shall become naked." The verb [Hebrew: hcig], "to place," +"to set," has the secondary signification of public exhibition; compare +Job xvii. 6. The literal translation ought to be, "I shall expose her +as _the day_ of her birth;" and we must assume that there is here the +occurrence of one of those numerous cases, in which the comparison is +merely alluded to, without being carried out; compare, _e.g._, "Like +the day of Midian," Is. ix. 3; "Their heart rejoiceth like wine," Zech. +x. 7. The _tertium comparationis_ between the day of her birth and her +future condition is only the entire nakedness; compare Job i. 21. Any +allusion to the filth, etc., is less obvious; the prophet would have +been required to give an intimation of this in some manner. The two +parts of the first hemistich of the verse correspond with each other; +just as do the three parts of the second hemistich. In the first, the +withdrawal of clothing, and nakedness; in the second, the withdrawal of +food, and hunger and thirst. It is questionable whether the mention of +the birth-day here belongs merely to the imagery, is a mere designation +of entire nakedness, because man is never more naked than when he comes +into the world; or whether it is to be understood as belonging to the +thing itself, and refers to the condition of the people in Egypt to +which they are now to be reduced. In favour of the latter explanation, +there is not only the comparison of the parallel passage in Ezekiel, +but, still more, the purely matter-of-fact character of the entire +description. Israel is, in this section, not _compared_ to a wife, so +that _figure_ and _thing_ would be co-ordinate, but appears as the wife +herself. Ver. 17 also is in favour of this interpretation.--The words, +"I make her like the wilderness," which, by _Hitzig_ and others, are +erroneously referred to the country instead of the people, are +pertinently explained by _Manger_: "The prophet depicts a horrible and +desperate condition, where everything necessary for sustaining life is +awanting,--where she has to endure a thirst peculiar to an altogether +uncultivated and sunburnt wilderness." The comparison appears so much +the more suitable, when we remark that wilderness and desert are here +personified, and appear as hungry and thirsty. This, however, was too +poetical for several prosaic interpreters. Hence they would in both +instances supply a [Hebrew: b] after the [Hebrew: k], "as in the +wilderness" = "I place her in the condition in which she was formerly, +in the [Pg 236] wilderness." But it is self-evident that such a +supplying of the [Hebrew: b] is inadmissible. If we were to receive +this interpretation, we must rather assume that here also there is +merely a comparison intimated: "as the wilderness,"--for, "as she was +in the wilderness." But even then, the interpretation cannot, for +another reason, be admitted. The impending condition of the people did +not, in the least, correspond to what it was in the wilderness. The +natural condition of the wilderness was not then seen in all its +reality; the people of the Lord received bread from heaven, and water +from the rock. It has its antitype rather in such a condition as that +which is to follow upon the punishment, ver. 16. The Article indicates +that, by "the wilderness," we are here to understand, specially, the +Desert of Arabia,--the desert [Greek: kat' exochen]. But that this +comes into consideration only as one especially desolate, and not as +the former abode of the Israelites, appears from the following--"in dry +land," without the Article, and not, as otherwise we would expect, +"in _the_ dry land." _Finally_,--We have a parallel to this in the +threatening in Deut. xxviii. 48: "And thou servest thine enemy whom the +Lord thy God will send upon thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in +nakedness, and in great want." + +Ver. 6. "_And I will not have mercy upon her children, for they are +children of whoredoms._" + +It appears from ver. 7, that the children are to be repudiated on +account of their origin (compare the remarks on i. 2), and not on +account of their morals. _Michaelis_ says, "They have the same +disposition, and follow the same course as their adulterous mother; for +a viper bringeth forth a viper, and a bad raven lays a bad egg." The +cause of their rejection is, that they are children of whoredoms. That +they are such, is proved by the circumstance that their mother is +whoring. Compare also v. 7: "They have become faithless to the Lord, +for they have born strange children." In point of fact, however, a +sinful origin and a sinful nature are identical. + +Ver. 7. "_For their mother has been whoring, she who bore them has been +put to shame; for she has said, I will go after my lovers, the givers +of my bread and my water, of my wool and my flax, of my oil and my +drink._" + +[Hebrew: hvbiwh] is explained in a two-fold way. The common explanation +is: "She has practised what is disgraceful, she has acted [Pg 237] +shamefully." Others, on the contrary, explain: "She has been put to +shame, she has been disgraced." In this latter way it is explained by +_Manger_, who remarks, "that this word is stronger than [Hebrew: znh]; +that it implies not only an accusation of vile whoredom, but also that +she has been convicted of this crime, and as it were apprehended _in +flagranti_; so that, even if she were yet impudent enough, she could no +longer deny it, but must sink down in confusion and perplexity." This +latter exposition is, without doubt, the preferable one; for, 1. +[Hebrew: hvbiw] never occurs in the first-mentioned signification. +_Winer_ contents himself with quoting the passage before us. _Gesenius_ +refers, moreover, to Prov. x. 5. But the [Hebrew: bN mbiw] of that +passage is evidently a son bringing disgrace upon his parents,--in +xxix. 15 [Hebrew: amv] is added,--or making them ashamed, disappointing +their hopes. On the other hand, the signification, "to be put +to shame," "to be convicted of a disgraceful deed," is quite an +established one. Compare, _e.g._, Jer. ii. 26: "As the disgrace of a +thief when he is found, thus the whole house of Israel is _put to +shame_;" Jer. vi. 15: "They are put to shame, for they have committed +abomination; they shamed not themselves, they felt no shame;" compare +also Jer. viii. 9. In all these passages, [Hebrew: hvbiw] signifies +the shame forced upon those who have no sense of shame.--2. The +signification, "to act disgracefully," does not admit of a regular +grammatical derivation. _Gesenius_ refers to analogies such as [Hebrew: +hiTib], [Hebrew: hre]; but these would be admissible only if the _Kal_ +[Hebrew: bvw] signified, "to be infamous," while it means only "to be +ashamed." Being derived from [Hebrew: bvw], the verb can mean only "to +put to shame," in which signification it occurs, _e.g._, in 2. Sam. +xix. 6. But, on the other hand, the signification, "to be put to +shame," can be well defended. As the _Hiphil_ cannot have an +intransitive signification, it must, with this signification, be +considered as derived from [Hebrew: bwt], "_pudorem, ignominiam +contraxit_,"--a view which is favoured by Jer. ii. 26.--The "lovers" +are the idols; compare the remarks on Zech. xiii. 6. The [Hebrew: ki] +confirms the statement, that she who bare them has been whoring, and +has been put to shame by a further exposure of the crime and its +origin. The same delusion which appears here as the cause of the +spiritual adultery, is stated as such also in Jer. xlix. 17, 18. +Jeremiah there warns the people not to contract sin by idolatry, +because that was the cause of all their present misery, and would bring +upon them [Pg 238] greater misery still. But they answer him, that they +would continue to offer incense and drink-offerings to the Queen of +heaven, as they and their fathers had formerly done in their native +land; for, "since we left off to do so, we have wanted all things, and +were consumed by hunger and sword." The antithesis in Jer. ii. 13 of +the fountain of living waters, and the broken cisterns that hold no +water, has reference likewise to this delusion. But that which is the +_cause_ of the gross whoredom, is the _consequence_ of the refined one. +The inward apostasy must already have taken place, when one speaks as +the wife does in the verse before us. As long as man continues +faithfully with God in communion of life, he perceives, by the eye of +faith, the hand in the clouds from which he receives everything, which +guides him, and upon which everything--even that which is apparently +the most independent and powerful--depends. As soon as, through +unbelief, he has lost this communion with God, and heaven is shut +against him, he allows his eye to wander over every visible object, +looks out for everything in the world which appears to manifest +independence and superior power, makes this an object to which he shows +his love, soliciting its favour, and making it his god. In thus looking +around, the Israelites would, necessarily and chiefly, have their eyes +attracted by the idols. For they saw the neighbouring nations wealthy +and powerful; and these nations themselves derived their power and +wealth from the idols. To these also the Israelites now ascribed the +gifts which they had hitherto received; and this so much the rather, +because it was easier to satisfy the demands of these idols, than those +of the true God, who requires just that which it is most difficult to +give--the heart, and nothing else. And, being determined not to give it +to Him, they felt deeply that they could expect no good from Him. +Whatever good He had still left to them, they could consider as only a +gift of unmerited mercy, and destined to lead them to repentance,--a +consideration which makes a natural man recoil and draw back, inasmuch +as, in his relation to God, he always thinks only of merit. That which +we thus perceive in them is even now repeated daily. We need only put +in the place of idols, the abstract God of the Rationalists and Deists, +man's own power, or the power of other men, and many other things +besides, and it will at once be seen that the words, "I will go after +my lovers that give me my [Pg 239] bread," etc., are, up to the present +moment, the watch-word of the world.--"Bread and water" signify the +necessaries of life; "oil and (strong) drink," those things which serve +rather for luxuries.--"My bread," etc., is an expression of affection, +indicating that she regards these as most necessary, and to be sought +after, in preference to everything else. + +Ver. 8. "_Therefore, behold, I hedge up thy way with thorns, and I wall +her wall, and her paths she shall not find._" + +The apostate woman is first addressed: "_thy_ way;" but the discourse +then passes to the third person,--"her wall, her paths." We must not +conceive of this, as if the wife were to be shut up in a two-fold +way:--first, by a hedge of thorns, and then, by a wall; but the same +thing is expressed here by a double figure, as is also done in Is. v. +5. First, the shutting up is alone spoken of; it is afterwards brought +into connection with the effects to be thereby produced; and because +she is enclosed by a wall, she cannot find her path. "I wall her wall" +is tantamount to, "I make a wall for her." The words of the husband in +the verse under consideration form an evident contrast to those of the +wife in the preceding verse. _Schmid_ says: "The punishment is by the +law of retaliation. She had said, 'I will go to my lovers;' but God +threatens, on the contrary, that He will obstruct the way so that she +cannot go." The [Hebrew: hnni] points to the unexpectedness of the +result. The wife imagined that she would be able to carry out her +purpose with great safety and ease; it does not even occur to her to +think of her husband, who had hitherto allowed her, from weakness, as +she imagines, to go on her way undisturbed; but she sees herself _at +once_ firmly enclosed by a wall.--There can be no doubt, that, by the +hedging and walling about, severe sufferings are intended, by which +the people are encompassed, straitened, and hindered in every free +movement. For sufferings regularly appear as the specific against +Israel's apostasy from their God. Compare, _e.g._, Deut. iv. 30: "In +the tribulation to thee, and when all these things come upon thee, thou +returnest in the end of the days to the Lord thy God, and hearest His +voice;" Hosea v. 15: "I will go and return to My place till they become +guilty; in the affliction to them, they will seek Me." The figure of +enclosing has elsewhere also, undeniably, the meaning of inflicting +sufferings. Thus in Job iii. 23: "To the man whose way is hid, [Pg 240] +and whom God has hedged in round about;" xix. 8: "He hath fenced up my +way and I cannot pass, and upon my paths He sets darkness;" Lam. iii. +7: "He hath hedged me about, and I cannot get out; He hath made my +chain heavy;" compare also ibid. ver. 9; Ps. lxxxviii. 9.--The object +of the walling about is to cut her off from the lovers; the infliction +of heavy sufferings is to put an end to idolatrous tendencies.--The +words, "thy way," clearly refer to, "I will go after my lovers," in +ver. 7; and by "her paths which she cannot find," her whole previous +conduct in general is indeed to be understood, but chiefly, from the +connection with ver. 7, her former intercourse with idols. But here the +question arises:--How far is the remedy suited for the attainment of +this end? We can by no means think of an external obstacle. Outwardly, +there was, during the exile, and in the midst of idolatrous nations, +a stronger temptation to idolatry than they had in their native land. +Hence, we can think of an internal obstacle only; and then again we +can think only of the absolute incapacity of the idols to grant to the +people consolation and relief in their sufferings. If this incapacity +has been first ascertained by experience, we begin to lose our +confidence in them, and seek help where alone it can be found. As early +as in Deut. xxxii. we are told how misery proves the nothingness of +false gods, and shows that the Lord alone is God; compare especially +ver. 36 sqq. Jeremiah says in ii. 28, "And where are thy gods that thou +hast made thee? Let them arise and help thee in the time of trouble." +That which the gods cannot turn away, they cannot have sent; and if the +suffering be sent by the Lord, it is natural that help should be sought +from Him also. Compare vi. 1: "Come and let us return unto the Lord, +for He hath torn and He healeth us, He smiteth and He bindeth us up." + +Ver. 9. "_And she runs after her lovers and shall not overtake, and she +seeks them and shall not find; then she saith: I will go and return to +my first husband, for it was better with me then than now._" + +[Hebrew: rdP] has, in _Piel_, not a transitive, but an intensive +meaning. _Calvin_ remarks: "By the verb, insane fervour is indicated, +as indeed we see that idolaters are like madmen; it shows that such is +the perverseness of their hearts, that they will not at once return to +a sound mind." The distress at first only increases [Pg 241] the zeal +in idolatry; compare Jer. xliv. 17. Every effort is made to move the +idols to help. But if help be, notwithstanding, refused--and how could +it be otherwise, since they from whom it is sought are _Elilim_, +_i.e._, nothings?--they by and by begin to bethink themselves, and to +recover their senses. They discover the nothingness of their idols, and +return to the true God. This apostasy and return are in a touching +manner described by our prophet in xiv. 2-4 also. The words, "I will go +and return to my first husband," form a beautiful contrast to, "I will +go after my lovers," in ver. 7. This statement of the result shows that +God's mercy is then greatest and most effective, just when it seems to +have disappeared altogether, and when His punitive justice seems alone +to be in active exercise. For the latter is by no means to be excluded, +inasmuch as there is no suffering which does not, at the same time, +proceed from it, and no punishment which is inflicted solely on account +of the reformation. + +Ver. 10. "_And she, she does not know that I gave her the corn, and the +must, and the oil, and silver I multiplied unto her, and gold which +upon Baal they spent._" + +The prophet, starting anew, here returns to a description of her guilt +and punishment; and it is only from ver. 16 that he expands what, in +ver. 9, he had intimated concerning her conversion, and her obtaining +mercy. The words, "She saith," in that verse, belong thus to a period +more remote than the words, "She does not know," in the verse before +us. The things which are here enumerated were, in the case of Israel, +in a peculiar sense, the gift of God. He bestowed them upon the +Congregation as her Covenant-God, as her husband. They are thus +announced as early as in the Pentateuch; compare, _e.g._, Deut. vii. +13: "And He loveth thee, and blesseth thee, and multiplieth thee, and +blesseth the fruit of thy womb, and the fruit of thy land, thy corn, +thy must, and thy oil;" xi. 14: "And I give the rain of your land in +due season, and thou gatherest in thy corn, thy must, and thy oil." It +is certainly not accidental that Hosea enumerates the three objects, +just in the same order in which they occur in these two passages. By +the celebration of the feasts, and by the offering of the first-fruits, +the Israelites were to give expression to the acknowledgment, [Pg 242] +that they derived these gifts of God from His special providence--from +the covenant relation. The relative clause [Hebrew: ewv lbel] is +subjoined, as is frequently the case, without a sign of its relation, +and without a _pron. suff._, which is manifest from the preceding +substantive. Several interpreters, from the Chaldee Paraphrast down to +_Ewald_, give the explanation, "which they have made for a Baal," +_i.e._, from which they have made images of Baal, and appeal to viii. +4: "Their silver and their gold they have made into idols for +themselves." But we must object to this opinion on the following +grounds. 1. [Hebrew: ewh], with [Hebrew: l] following, is a religious +_terminus technicus_, with the sense of, "to make to any one," "to +appropriate," "to dedicate," as appears from its frequent repetition in +Exod. x. 25 sqq., and also from the fact that [Hebrew: lihvh] is +frequently omitted. The phrase is used with a reference to idolatry in +2 Kings xvii. 32; 2 Chron. xxiv. 7.--2. It cannot be proved that +[Hebrew: hbel], in the singular and with the Article, could be used for +"statues of Baal."--3. By this explanation we lose the striking +contrast between that which the Israelites _were doing_, and that which +they _were to do_. That which the Lord gave to them, they consecrated +to Baal, instead of to Him, to whom alone these embodied thanks were +due. And, not satisfied in withdrawing from the true God the honour and +thanks which were due to Him, they transferred them to His enemy and +worthless rival,--a proceeding which bears witness to the deep +corruption of human nature, and which, up to the present day, is +continually repeated, and must be so, because the corruption remains +the same. It is substantially the same thing that the Israelites +dedicated their gold to Baal, and that our great poets consecrate to +the world and its prince the rich intellectual gifts which they have +received from God. The words, "and she knew not," in both cases show +that they are equally guilty and equally culpable. He who bestows the +gifts has not concealed Himself; but they on whom they are bestowed +have shut their eyes, that they may not see Him to whom they are +unwilling to render thanks. They would fain wish that their liberal +benefactor were utterly annihilated, in order that they may not be +disturbed in the enjoyment of His gifts by a disagreeable thought of +Him,--in order that they may freely use and dispose of them, without +being obliged to fear their loss,--and in order that they may be able +to devote them, without any [Pg 243] obstruction, to a god who is like +themselves, who is only their own self viewed objectively (_ihr +objectivirtes Ich_). Parallel to the passage before us, and, it may be, +formed after it, is Ezek. xvi. 17, 18: "And thou didst take thy +ornament of My gold and of My silver which I gave thee, and madest to +thyself images of men, and didst commit whoredom with them. And thou +tookest thy broidered garments, and coveredst them, and My fat and Mine +increase thou gavest before them." _Hitzig_ understands, by the Baal +here, the golden calf, appealing to the fact that the real worship of +Baal had been abolished by Jehu. But no proof at all can be adduced for +the assertion that the name of Baal had been transferred to the golden +calf. It is self-evident, and is confirmed by 2 Kings xiii. 6, xvii. 16 +(in the latter of which passages the worship of Baal appears as a +continuous sin in the kingdom of the ten tribes), that the destruction +of the heathenish worship by Jehu was not absolute. But so much is +certain, that by the mention of Baal, the sin is here designated only +with reference to its highest point, and that, in substance, the +service of the calves is here included. In 1 Kings xiv. 9, it is shown +that the sin of worshipping Jehovah under the image of calves is on a +par with real idolatry; and in 2 Chron. xi. 15, the calves are put on a +footing with the goat-deities of Egypt. + +Ver. 11. "_Therefore I return, and take My corn in its time, and My +must in its season, and take away My wool and My flax to cover her +nakedness._" + +[Hebrew: lkN] stands here with great emphasis. It points to the eternal +law of God's government of the world, according to which He is +sanctified _upon_ them, _in_ whom He has not been sanctified; and this +so much the more, the closer was His relation to them, and the greater +were His gifts. From him who is not thereby moved, they will be taken +away; and nothing but his natural poverty and nakedness is left to him +who was formerly so richly endowed. And well is it with him if they be +taken from him at a time when he is able still to recognise the giver +in Him who taketh away, and may yet deeply repent of his +unthankfulness, and return to Him, as is said of Israel in iii. 5. If +such be done, it is seen that the ungrateful one has not yet become an +object of divine justice alone, but that divine mercy is still in store +for him. The longer God allows His [Pg 244] gifts to remain with the +ungrateful, the darker are their prospects for the future. That which +He gave in mercy, He, in such a case, allows to remain only in anger. +The words [Hebrew: awvb vlqHti] are commonly explained by expositors, +"I shall take again," inasmuch as two verbs are frequently found +together which, in their connection, are independent of each other--the +one indicating only an accessory idea of the action. But this mode of +expression occurs in general far more rarely than is commonly assumed; +and here the explanation, "I will return and take," is to be preferred +without any hesitation. Scripture says, that God appears even when He +manifests Himself only in the effects of His omnipotence, justice, and +love,--a mode of expression which is explained by that large measure of +faith which perceives, behind the visible effect, the invisible Author +of it; compare, _e.g._, Gen. xviii. 10, where the Lord says to Abraham, +that He would return to him at the same period in the following year; +whereas He did not return in a visible form, as then, but only in the +fulfilment of His promise. Thus God had formerly appeared to Israel as +the Giver; and now that they did not acknowledge Him as such. He +returns as the God that takes away. "She did not know that I gave, +therefore I shall return and take." That the words were to be thus +understood, the prophet, as it appears, intended to indicate by the +change of the tenses. It is quite natural that a verb, used as an +adverb, should be as closely as possible connected with that verb which +conveys the principal idea; and it would scarcely be possible to find a +single instance--at all events there are not many instances--where, in +such a case, a difference of the tense takes place. Altogether +analogous is Jer. xii. 15: "And it shall come to pass after I have +destroyed them, [Hebrew: awvb vrHmtiM], I will return and have +compassion on them;" where the sense would be very much weakened if we +were to translate, "I shall _again_ have compassion." There appears to +be the same design in the change of the tenses in iii. 5 also. What is +there said of Israel forms a remarkable parallel to what is here said +of God. God had formerly come, giving--Israel, taking; God now returns, +taking--Israel giving,--a relation which opens up an insight into the +whole economy of the sufferings.--"_My_ corn," etc., forms a contrast +to ver. 7, where Israel had spoken of all these things as _theirs_. +Whatever God gives, always remains [Pg 245] His own, because He gives +only as a loan, and on certain conditions. If any one should consider +himself as the absolute master of it, He makes him feel his error by +taking it away.--"In its time" and "in its season" are added, because +it was _then_, ordinarily, that God had appeared as _giving_, and +because _then_ they therefore confidently expected His gifts. But now +He appears at once as _taking_, because they were already so sure of +the expected gifts that they held them, as it were, already in their +hands; just as if, at Christmas--which corresponds to the harvest, the +ordinary season of God's granting gifts--parents should withdraw from +their children the accustomed presents, and put a rod in their place. +It is better thus to understand the expression, "in its time, etc.," +than to follow _Jerome_, who remarks, that "it is a severe punishment, +if at the time of harvest the hoped-for fruits are taken away, and +wrested from our hands;" for if, even at the time of the harvest, there +be a want of all things, how will it be during the remaining time of +the year.--The words, "to cover, etc.," are very concise, but without +any grammatical ellipsis, instead of, "which hitherto served to cover +her nakedness." As to the sense, the LXX. are correct in translating, +[Greek: tou me kaluptein ten aschemosunen autes]. For that which had +_hitherto_ been, is mentioned by the prophet only for the purpose of +drawing attention to what _in future_ will _not_ be.--It is the Lord +who must cover the nakedness; and this leads us back to the natural +poverty of man, who has not, in the whole world, a single patch or +shred--not even so much as to cover his shame, which is here specially +to be understood by nakedness. The same thought which is so well +calculated to humble pride--what have we that we have not received, and +that the Giver might not at any moment take back?--occurs also in Ezek. +xvi. 8: "I spread out My wings over thee, and covered thy nakedness." + +Ver. 12. "_And now I will uncover her shame before the eyes of her +lovers, and none shall deliver her out of My hands._" + +The [Greek: hapax legomenon] [Hebrew: nblvt] is best explained +by "decay," "_corpus multa stupra passum_." Being a femin. of a +Segholate-form, its signification can be derived only from the _Kal_; +but [Hebrew: nbl] always signifies "to be faded, weak, feeble;" in +_Piel_ it means, "to make weak," "to declare as weak," "to disgrace," +"to despise." As the signification of _Kal_ does not [Pg 246] imply the +Idea of ignominy, we cannot explain the noun, as several interpreters +do, by "_turpitudo_, _ignominia_." The [Greek: akatharsia] of the +LXX. is probably a free translation of the word according to our +view.--[Hebrew: leini] is constantly used for "_coram, inspectante +aliquo_," properly, "belonging to the eyes of some one," and cannot +therefore be explained here by "to the eyes," as if she were uncovered +to, or for, the lovers alone; these, on the contrary, are mentioned +only as fellow-witnesses. But in what respect do they come into +consideration here? Several interpreters are of opinion that their +powerlessness, and the folly of trusting in them, are intended to be +here pointed out. Thus _Calvin_ says: "The prophet alludes to the +impudent women who are wont, even by terror, to prevent their husbands +from using their rights. He says, therefore, this shall not prevent me +from chastising thee as thou deservest." Thus also _Stuck_, who +subjoins to the phrase "her lovers:" "who, if they had the strength, +might be a help to her." But it is altogether erroneous thus to +understand the verse. The words, "Before the eyes of the lovers," +rather mean, that the Lord would make her an object of disgust and +horror even to those who formerly sought after her. The idea is this: +Whosoever forsakes God on account of the world, shall, by God, be put +to shame, even in the eyes of the world itself, and all the more, the +more nearly he formerly stood to Him. This idea is here expressed in a +manner suited to the figurative representation which pervades the whole +section. _Jerome_ says: "All this is brought forward under the figure +of the adulterous woman, who, after she has been taken in the very act, +is exposed and disgraced before the eyes of all." The uncovering, as +guilt, is followed by the uncovering, as punishment; and every one (and +her lovers first) turns away with horror from the disgusting spectacle. +They now at once see her who, hitherto, had made a show with the +apparel and goods of her lawful husband, in her true shape as a +withered monster. That this explanation is alone the correct one, +appears from the parallel passages: compare, _e.g._, Nah. iii. 5: +"Behold, I come upon thee, saith the Lord of hosts, and uncover thy +skirts upon thy face, and make the heathen to see thy nakedness, and +kingdoms thy shame. And it cometh to pass, all that see thee shall flee +from thee:" Lam. i. 8: "Jerusalem hath committed sin, therefore she has +[Pg 247] become a reproach; all that honoured her, despise her, for +they have seen her nakedness; she sigheth and turneth away;" Jer. xiii. +26: "And I also (as thou hast formerly uncovered) uncover thy skirts +over thy face, and thy shame shall be seen;" Ezek. xvi. 37, 41; Is. +xlvii. 3.--But now, it might seem that, according to this explanation, +not the idols, but only the nations serving them, can be understood by +the lovers. But this is only in appearance. In order to make the scene +more lively, the prophet ascribes to the [Hebrew: aliliM], to them who +are nothing, life and feeling. If they had these, they would act just +as it is here described, and as their worshippers really acted +afterwards.--The second member of the verse, "And none shall deliver," +etc., is in so far parallel to the first, as both describe the +dreadfulness of the divine judgment. Parallel is v. 14: "For I will be +as one who roars to Ephraim, and as a lion to the house of Judah: I +will tear and go away, I will take away, and there is no deliverer." + +Ver. 13. "_And I make to cease all her mirth, her feast, and her +new-moon, and her sabbath, and all her festival time._" + +The feasts served a double purpose. They were days of sacred +dedication, and days of joy; compare Num. x. 10. Israel had violated +them in the former character--just as at present the sacred days have, +throughout the greater part of Christendom, the name only by way of +_catachresis_--and, as a merited punishment, they were taken away by +God in the latter character. They had deprived the festival days of +their sacredness; by God, they are deprived of their joy fulness. The +prophet, in order to intimate that he announces the cessation of the +festival days as days of gladness, premises "all her mirth," to which +all that follows stands in the relation of _species_ to _genus_. +[Hebrew: mwvw] does not here denote "joyful time:" it might, indeed, +according to its formation, have this signification: but it is never +found with it. It here means "joy" itself. (Compare the parallel +passages, Jer. vii. 34; Lam. i. 4: "The ways of Zion do mourn, because +none come to the feasts;" Amos viii. 10: "And I will turn your feasts +into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation;" Lam. v. 15; Is. +xxiv. 8, 11.) The three following nouns were very correctly +distinguished by _Jerome_. [Hebrew: mvedi], "feast," is the designation +of the three annual principal festivals. In addition to these, there +was in every month the [Pg 248] feast of the new-moon; and in every +week, the Sabbath. This connection is a standing one, which, even in +the New Testament (compare Col. ii. 16), still reverts. The words, "all +her festival time," comprehend the single _species_ in the designation +of the _genus_. That [Hebrew: mved] properly signifies "appointed +time," then, more specially, "festival time," "feast," appears from +Lev. xxiii. 4: "These are the [Hebrew: mvedi] of the Lord, the sacred +assemblies which you shall call [Hebrew: bmvedM], in their appointed +time." That the _feasts_ are not a single species co-ordinate with the +new-moons and Sabbaths, but the genus, appears from the fact that in +Lev. xxiii. the Sabbath opens the series of the [Hebrew: mvediM]. In a +wider sense, the new-moons also belonged to the [Hebrew: mvediM] +although they are not enumerated among them in Lev. xxiii. on account +of their subordinate character. In Num. x. 10, Is. i. 14, Ezra iii. 5, +the new-moons are mentioned along with the [Hebrew: mvediM] only as +the species by the side of the genus. But we are at liberty to think +only of the feasts appointed by God; for, otherwise, there would be no +room for the application of the _lex talionis_:--God takes from the +Israelites only what they had taken from Him. The days of the Baalim +are afterwards specially mentioned in ver. 15. The days of God are +taken from them; for the days of the Baalim they are punished. This +much, however, appears from the passage before us--and it is placed +beyond any doubt by several other passages in Hosea as well as in +Amos--that, outwardly, the worship, as regulated by the prescriptions +of the Pentateuch, had all along continued. (For the arguments in proof +of this assertion, the author's _Dissertations on the Genuineness of +the Pentateuch_, vol. i., are to be compared.) + +Ver. 14. "_And I make desolate her vine and fig-tree, whereof she said, +They are the wages of whoredom to me, that my lovers have given me; and +I make them a forest, and the beasts of the field eat them._" + +The vine and fig-tree, as the two noblest productions of +Palestine--_Ispahan_, in the "_Excerpta ex vita Saladini_," p. 10, +calls them "_ambos Francorum oculos_"--are here also connected with +each other, as is commonly done in threatenings and promises, as the +representatives of the rich gifts of God, wherewith He has blessed this +country.--[Hebrew: awr] is often placed before an entire sentence, to +mark it out as being relative in general. [Pg 249] It is the looser, +instead of the closer connection, = "of which."--[Hebrew: atnh] "wages +of prostitution," instead of which, in ix. 1 and other passages, the +form [Hebrew: atnN] occurs, requires a renewed investigation. It is +commonly derived from [Hebrew: tnh], to which the signification +"_largiter donavit, dona distribuit_," is ascribed. But opposed to +this, there is the fact that the root [Hebrew: tnh] is, neither in +Hebrew, nor in any of the dialects, found with this signification. It +has in Hebrew, Arabic, and Syriac, the signification "to laud," "to +praise," "to recount." But besides this [Hebrew: tnh], there occurs +another [Hebrew: tnh], not with the general signification "to give," +but in the special one, "to give a reward of whoredom;" in which +signification it cannot be a primitive word, but derived from [Hebrew: +atnh] = [Hebrew: ntN atnh], in the passage under consideration, and in +Ezek. xvi. 34. The supposition of a primitive verb [Hebrew: tnh], with +the signification "to give," is also opposed by the circumstance that +the noun which is said to be derived from it never occurs with the +general signification "gift," but always with the special one, "reward +of prostitution." [Hebrew: atnh] is rather derived from the first pers. +Fut. Kal of the verb [Hebrew: ntN], a "I will-give-thee," similar to +our "forget-me-not." The whore asks, in Gen. xxxviii. 16, [Hebrew: +mh-ttN li] ("what wilt thou give me?"), and the whoremonger answers, +[Hebrew: atN-lK] ("I will give thee"), ver. 18. From this there +originated, in the language of the brothel, a base word for such base +traffic. The sacred writers are not ashamed or afraid to use it. They +speak, throughout, of common things in a common manner; for the vulgar +word is the most suitable for the vulgar thing. The morality of a +people, or of an age, may be measured by their speaking of vulgar +things in a vulgar manner, or the reverse. Wherever, in the language, +the "_fille de joie_" or "_Freudenmaedchen_" has taken the place of the +"whore," a similar change will, in reality, have taken place. +Whatsoever the people of Israel imagined that they received from their +idols, they certainly will not have designated as a "reward of +prostitution," but as a "reward of true love." But the prophet at once +destroys all their pleasant imaginings by putting into their mouths the +corresponding expression,--an expression which must certainly have +sounded very rudely and vulgarly in their tender ears; for the tongue +and the ear become more tender, in the same degree in which the heart +becomes more vulgar. She who imagined herself so tender and +affectionate sees herself [Pg 250] at once addressed as a common +prostitute. The sweet proofs of the heartfelt mutual love which her +"lovers" gave her are called "wages of whoredom." This is indeed a good +corrective for our language, for our whole view of things, for our own +hearts, which are so easily befooled. All love of the world, all +striving after its favour, every surrender to the spirit of the age, is +whoredom. A reward of whoredom, which must not be brought into the +temple of the Lord (for it is an _abomination_ unto the Lord thy God, +Deut. xxiii. 19), is everything which it offers and gives us in return. +Like a reward of whoredom, it will melt away; "of wages of whoredom she +has collected, and to wages of whoredom it shall return."--This +derivation from the Future has a great many analogies in its favour; +among others, the whole class of nouns with [Hebrew: t] prefixed, in +which it is quite evident (although this has been so often overlooked) +that they have arisen from the Fut. If the [Hebrew: t] in these forms +originated from the _Hiphil_, how could it be explained that they are +more frequently connected with _Kal_? Even the very common occurrence +of the formation from the Future in the case of proper names, induces +us to expect, _a priori_, that it will be more frequent in appellative +names than is commonly supposed. The occurrence of the phrase +[Hebrew: ntN atnh], in the passages quoted, is also in favour of this +derivation. By it, the interchange of the two forms [Hebrew: atnh] and +[Hebrew: atnN] is easily accounted for. In the latter of these forms, +the _Nun_ which prevails in [Hebrew: ntN], but which had been dropped +at the beginning, again reappears. A variation in the form is, +moreover, quite natural in a word which originated from common life, +which is entirely destitute of accurate analogies, and is therefore, +as it were, without a model; for the other nouns of this class +are formed from the 3d pers. of the _Fut._--As regards, now, the +substance:--Egotism, and selfishness arising out of it, are the ground +of all desire for the love of that which is not God, especially in the +case of those who have already known the true God; for where this is +not the case, there may be, even in idolatry, a better element, which +seeks for a false gratification only because it does not know the true +one. From this, however, it appears, that the idolatry of the +Israelites (and this is only a species of the idolatry of all those who +have had opportunity to know the true God, and of whom it is true that +"the last is worse than the first") was [Pg 251] much lower than that +of the Gentiles, whose poets and philosophers, in part, zealously +opposed the dispositions which are here expressed; compare the passages +in _Manger_. Egotism is here, as it always is, folly; for it trusts in +him who himself possesses only borrowed and stolen goods, which the +lawful owner may, at every moment, take away from him. And in order +that such folly may appear as such, and very glaringly too. He appears +here indeed, and takes what He had in reality given out of His mercy, +but what, according to their imagination, they had received from the +idols as a reward.--The suffix in [Hebrew: wmtiM] refers to the vine +and fig-tree. The gardens of vines and fig-trees carefully tended, +hedged and enclosed round about, are to be deprived of hedges, +enclosures, and culture ([Greek: kathulomanei gar me kladeuomene he +ampelos], _Clem. Alex. Paed._ i. 1, p. 115 Sylb.), to be changed into a +forest, and given over to the ravages of wild beasts; for the words +"and eat them" are by no means to be referred to the fruits only. The +same image of an entirely devastated country is found in Is. vii. 23 +ff.; Mic. iii. 12. + +Ver. 15. "_And I visit upon her the days of the Baalim, to whom she +burnt incense, and put on her ring and her ornament, and went after her +lovers, and forgat Me, saith the Lord._" + +The days of the Baalim are the days consecrated to their worship, +whether they were specially set apart for that purpose, or whether they +were originally devoted to the worship of the Lord, whom they sought to +confound with Baal. _Manger_, and with him, most interpreters, are +wrong in understanding by the days of Baal, "all the time--certainly a +very long one--in which that forbidden worship flourished in this +nation." Such would be too indefinite an expression. When days of +the Baalim are spoken of, every one must think of days specially +consecrated to them,--their festivals. To this must be added, moreover, +the reference to the days of the Lord in ver. 13. In ver. 10, however, +only one Baal, [Hebrew: hbel], is spoken of; here there are several. +This may be reconciled by the supposition that one and the same Baal +was worshipped according to his various modes of manifestation +which were expressed by the epithets. But the plural may also be +explained--and this seems to be preferable--from 1 Kings xviii. 18, +where Baalim is tantamount to Baal and his associates (compare +_Dissertations on the Gen. of the Pent._ vol. i. p. 165); or from Lev. +xvii. 7, where [Hebrew: weiriM] denotes the Goat-idol, [Pg 252] and +others of his kind. The calves, the worship of which was, at the time +of Hosea, the prevailing one throughout the kingdom of the ten tribes, +are, in that case, comprehended in the Baalim.--In the words, "And she +put on her ring and ornament," the figurative mode of expression has +been overlooked by most interpreters. Misled by the [Hebrew: tqTir], +which refers directly to the spiritual adulteress, they imagined that +the wearing of nose-rings, and other ornaments, in honour of the idols, +was here spoken of. A more correct view was held by the Chaldee who +thus paraphrases: "The Congregation of Israel was like a wife who +deserted her husband, and adorned herself, and ran after her lovers. +Thus the Congregation of Israel was pleased to worship idols, and to +neglect My worship." A great many false interpretations have had their +origin in the circumstance, that they could not comprehend this liberty +of the sacred writers, who at one time speak plainly of the spiritual +antitype, and at another time transfer to it the peculiarities of the +outward type. Had this been kept in view, it would not, _e.g._, have +been asserted, that David had, in Ps. xxiii. 5, relinquished the image +of the good shepherd, because he does not speak of a trough which the +actual good shepherd places before his sheep, but of a table, placed +before them by the spiritual good Shepherd. In the passage under +consideration, the [Hebrew: tqTir] denotes an action performed by her +who is an adulteress in a spiritual point of view. In the words, "She +puts on," etc., her conduct is described under the figure of that of +her outward type. The actual correspondence is to be found in her +efforts of making herself agreeable,--in the employing of every means +in order to gain her spiritual lovers. The putting on of precious +ornaments comes into view, only in so far as it is one of these +efforts, and, indeed, a very subordinate one. The burning of incense, +the offering of sacrifices, etc., are, in this respect, of far greater +importance. The correctness of our interpretation is confirmed by those +parallel passages also, in which the same figurative mode of expression +occurs. Thus, _e.g._, Is. lvii. 9: "Thou lookest upon the king (the +common translation, "thou goest to the king," cannot be defended on +philological grounds) in oil (_i.e._, smelling of ointment), and +multipliest thy perfume,"--evidently a figurative designation, taken +from a coquetish woman, to express the employing of all means in, order +to gain favour;--Is. iv. 30: [Pg 253] "And thou desolate one, what wilt +thou do? For thou puttest on thy purple, for thou adornest thyself with +golden ornaments, for thou rentest thine eyes with painting. In vain +thou makest thyself fair; the lovers despise thee, they seek thy life." +In Ezek. xxii. 40-42, Jerusalem washes and paints herself, expecting +her lovers, and decks herself with ornaments; then she sits down upon a +stately couch; a table is prepared before her, upon which she places +the incense of the Lord, and His oil. In this last feature in Ezekiel, +the type disappears behind the thing typified, although not so +completely as is the case in the passage under consideration, in the +words, "She burns incense."--From what has been remarked, it appears +that, in substance, Hos. iv. 13, "They sacrifice upon the tops of the +mountains and bum incense upon the hills," is entirely parallel. The +two clauses, "She went after her lovers," and "she forgat Me," both +serve to represent the crime in a more heinous light. Sin must +certainly have already poisoned the whole heart, if occasion for its +exercise be spontaneously sought after. In reference to the latter, +_Calvin_ remarks: "Just as when a wife has for a long time lived with +her husband, and has been kindly and liberally treated by him, and then +prostitutes herself to lovers, and does not entertain or retain any +more love for him; such a depravity is nothing less than brutish." + +Ver. 16. "_Therefore, behold, I allure her, and lead her into the +wilderness and speak to her heart._" + +The consolation and promise here begin with as great abruptness as in +the first section. It is reported how the Lord gradually leads back His +unfaithful wife to reformation, and to reunion with Him, the lawful +husband. Great difficulty has been occasioned to interpreters by the +[Hebrew: lkN] at the commencement. Very easily, but at the same time +very inconsiderately, the difficulty is got over by those who give it +the signification, "_utique_, _profecto_;" but this cannot be called +interpreting. It must be, above all, considered as settled and +undoubted, that [Hebrew: lkN] can here have that signification only +which it always has; and this all the more, that in vers. 8 and 15 it +occurred in the same signification. This being taken for granted, the +"therefore" might be referred to the words of the wife in ver. 9, "I +will go and return to my first husband," and all which follows be +considered as only a kind of parenthesis. That the Lord begins again to +show Himself [Pg 254] kind to His wife would then have its foundation +in this:--that in her the first symptoms of a change of character +manifested themselves. But this supposition is, after all, too forced. +These words are too far away as that the prophet could have expected to +be understood, in thus referring to them in a manner so indefinite. +Several interpreters follow the explanation of _Tarnovius_: "Therefore, +because she is not corrected by so great calamities, I will try the +matter in another and more lenient way, by kindness." But the prophet +could not expect that his hearers and readers should themselves supply +the thought, which is not indicated by anything,--the thought, namely, +"because that former method was of no avail, or rather, because it +_alone_ did not suffice;" for it was by no means wholly in vain. When +the Lord had hedged up her way with thorns, the woman speaks: "I will +go and return;" and where tribulations are of no avail--tribulations +through which we must enter the kingdom of God--nothing else will. The +severity of God must precede His love. And even though this train of +thought should have occurred to them, they had no guarantee for its +correctness. It is most natural to take the [Hebrew: lkN] as being +simply co-ordinate with the [Hebrew: lkN] in vers. 8 and 11. The +"_because_," which, in all the three places, corresponds to the +_therefore_, is the wife's apostasy. Because she has forgotten God, He +recalls Himself to her remembrance, first by the punishment, and then, +after this has attained its end,--after the wife has spoken: "I will go +and return,"--by proofs of His love. The leading to Egypt, into the +wilderness, into the land of Canaan, rests on her unfaithfulness as its +foundation. Without it, the Congregation would have remained in +undisturbed possession of the promised land. By it, God is induced, +both according to His justice and His mercy, to take it from her, to +lead her back into the wilderness, and thence to the promised +land.--[Hebrew: pth], in the _Piel_, is a _verbum amatorium_; it +signifies "to allure by tender persuasion." There is to be a repetition +of the proceeding of God, by which He formerly, in Egypt, allured the +people to Himself, and induced them to follow Him into the wilderness, +from the spiritual and bodily bondage in Egypt. After the sufferings, +there always follows the alluring. God first takes away the objects of +sinful love, and then He comes alluring and persuading us that we +should choose, for the object of our love. Him who alone is worthy of, +and entitled to, love. He is not [Pg 255] satisfied with the strict +prosecution of His right, but endeavours to make duty sweet to us, and, +by His love, to bring it about that we perform it from love. After He +has thus allured us. He leads us from Egypt into the wilderness.--The +words, "I lead her into the wilderness," have been very much +misunderstood by interpreters. According to _Manger_, the wilderness +here is that through which the captives should pass on their return +from Babylon. But one reason alone is sufficient to refute this +opinion,--namely, that on account of the following verse, by the +wilderness (the article must not be overlooked), only that wilderness +can be understood which separates Egypt from Canaan. Others (_Ewald_, +_Hitzig_), following _Grotius_, understand by the wilderness, the +Assyrian captivity. _Kuehnoel_ has acquired great merit for this +exposition, by proving from a passage in _Herodotus_, that there were, +at that time, uncultivated regions in Assyria! The same reason which +militates against the former interpretation is opposed to this also. To +this it may be further added, that, according to it, we can make +nothing of the _alluring_. The Israelites were not _allured_ into +captivity by kindness and love; they were driven into it _against_ +their will, by God's wrath. _Moreover_, what according to this +interpretation is to be done with the [Hebrew: mwM] in ver. 17? Did, +perhaps, the vineyards of Canaan begin immediately beyond Assyria, or +does not even this rather lead us to the Arabian desert? It is certain, +then, that this desert is the one to be thought of here, and, in +addition, that it can only be as an image and type that the prophet +here represents the leading through the wilderness, as a repetition +of the former one in its individual form; inasmuch as it was, +substantially, equal with it. For they who returned from the Assyrian +captivity could not well pass through the literal Arabian desert; and +the comparison expressed in the following verse, "As in the day when +she went up from the land of Egypt," shows that here also a _decurtata +comparatio_ must take place. But, now, all depends upon determining the +essential feature, the real nature and substance, of that first leading +through the wilderness; because the leading spoken of in the verse +before us must have that essential feature in common with it. The +principal passage--which must guide us in this investigation, and which +is proved to be such by the circumstance that the Lord Himself referred +[Pg 256] to it when He was _spiritually_ led through the wilderness, +an event which, for a sign, _outwardly_ also took place in the +wilderness--is Deut. viii. 2-5: "And thou shalt remember all the way +which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to +afflict thee and to prove thee, to know what was in thy heart, whether +thou wouldst keep His commandments, or no. And He afflicted thee, and +suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with the manna which thou knewest +not, neither did thy fathers know, that He might make thee know that +man doth not live by bread only, but by everything which proceedeth out +of the mouth of the Lord doth man live. Thy raiment waxed not old upon +thee, neither did thy foot swell these forty years. And thou knowest +in thine heart, that as a father chasteneth his son, so the Lord thy +God chasteneth thee." The essential feature in the leading through +the wilderness is, accordingly, the _temptation_. By the wonderful +manifestations of the Lord's omnipotence and mercy, on the occasion of +Israel's deliverance from Egypt, a heartfelt love to Him had been +awakened in the people. (Compare the tender expression of it in the +Song in Exod. xv.; and also the passage in Jer. ii. 2: "I remember +thee, the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, thy going +after Me in the wilderness in a land not sown,"--which cannot but +refer to the very first time of the abode in the wilderness, before +the giving of the law on Sinai, as is evident from the mention of the +youth and espousals; for the latter ceased on Sinai, where the marriage +took place.) The whole conduct of the people at the giving of the +law,--their great readiness in promising to do all that the Lord should +command,--likewise bear testimony to this love. The Lord's heartfelt +delight in Israel during the first period of their marching through the +wilderness, of which Hosea speaks in ix. 10, likewise presupposes this +love. Thus the first station was reached. The people now hoped to be +put in immediate possession of the inheritance promised to them by the +Lord. But, because the Lord knew the condition of human nature. His way +was a different one. A state of temptation and trial succeeded that of +entire alienation from God. The first love is but too often--nay, it +is, more or less, always--but a flickering flame. Sin has not been +entirely slain; it has been only subdued for a moment, and only wants a +favourable opportunity [Pg 257] to regain its old dominion. It would +never be thoroughly destroyed, if God allowed this condition always to +continue; if by always putting on new fuel, if by uninterrupted proofs +of His love. He were to keep that fire burning continually. If the love +of the feelings and imagination is to become a cordial, thorough moral +love, it requires to be tried, in order that thus it may recognise +its own nothingness hitherto, and how necessary it is that it should +take deeper root. The means of this trial are God's afflicting us, +concealing Himself from us, leading us in a way different from that +which we expected, and, apparently, forsaking vis. But because He is +the merciful One who will not suffer us to be tempted above that we are +able,--because He Himself has commanded us to pray, "Lead us not into +temptation," _i.e._, into such an one as we are not able to bear, and +would thereby become a temptation inwardly,--He makes His gifts to go +by the side of His chastisements. He who suffered Israel to hunger, +gave them also to eat. He who suffered them to thirst, gave them also +to drink. He who led them over the burning sand, did not suffer their +shoes to wax old. But this counterpoise to tribulation becomes, in +another aspect, a new temptation. As Satan tries to overthrow us by +pleasure as well as by pain; so God proves us by what He gives, no less +than by what He takes away. In the latter case, it will be seen whether +we love God _without_ His gifts; in the former, whether we love Him in +His gifts. This second station is, to many, the last; the bodies of +many fall in the wilderness. But while a multitude of individuals +remain there, the Congregation of God always passes over to the third +station,--the possession of Canaan. The state of temptation is, to her, +always a state of sifting and purification at the same time. That +which is to the individual a calamity, is to her a blessing.--That +we have thus correctly defined the nature and substance of the leading +through the wilderness, is confirmed by the temptation of Christ +also, which immediately succeeded the bestowal of the Spirit, which +again corresponded to the first love. That this temptation of Christ +corresponded to the leading through the wilderness--in so far as +it could do so in the case of Him who was tempted in all things, +yet without sin; while in our case, there is no temptation, even +when resisted [Pg 258] victoriously, that is without sin--appears +sufficiently from its two external characteristics, viz., the stay in +the wilderness, and the forty days; but still more so, from the +internal feature,--the fact that the Saviour, in order to show the +tempter that He recognised in His own case a repetition of the stay in +the wilderness, opposed Him with a passage taken from the _locus +classicus_ concerning it, already quoted.--We now, moreover, cite the +parallel passages which serve as an explanation of the passage under +consideration, and as a confirmation of the explanation which we have +given. The most important is Ezek. xx. 34-38: "And I bring you _out +from the nations_, and gather you out of the countries wherein ye are +scattered, with a mighty hand and with a stretched-out arm, and with +fury poured out. And I bring you into the _wilderness of the nations_, +and there will I plead with you face to face; like as I pleaded with +your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I plead +there with you, saith the Lord God. And I cause you to pass under the +rod, and bring you into the bond of the covenant, and purge out from +among you the rebels, and them that transgress against Me; out of the +land of your pilgrimage (the standing designation of Egypt in the +Pentateuch) I will bring them forth, and into the land of Israel they +shall not come, and ye shall know that I am the Lord." Here also, the +stay in the wilderness appears as a state of trial, lying in the middle +between the abode among the nations (corresponding to the bondage in +Egypt, which was so not merely bodily, but spiritual also), and the +possession of Canaan. And the result of this trial is a different one, +according to the different condition of the individuals. Some shall be +altogether destroyed; even the appearance of the communion with the +Lord, which they hitherto maintained by having come out of the land +of pilgrimage along with the others, shall be taken away; whilst the +others, by the very means which brought about the destruction of the +former, shall be confirmed in their communion with the Lord, and be +more closely united to Him. Hosea, who, in consequence of the +personification of the Congregation of Israel, has the whole more +in view, regards chiefly the latter feature. A very remarkable +circumstance in Ezekiel, however, requires to be still more minutely +considered; because it promotes essentially the right understanding of +the passage before us. What is meant [Pg 259] by the "wilderness of the +nations?" Several interpreters think that it is the wilderness between +Babylon and Judea. Thus, for example, _Manger_: "_I am disposed to +think_ that the desert of Arabia itself is here called the wilderness +of the nations, on account of the different nomadic tribes which are +accustomed to wander through it." _Rosenmueller_ says: "He _seems_ to +speak here of those vast solitudes which the Jews had to pass through, +on their way from Babylon to Judea." But this "I am disposed to think," +and this "he seems," on the part of these interpreters, show that they +themselves felt the insufficiency of their own explanation. That +nomadic tribes are straying through that wilderness, is not at all +essential, and can therefore not be mentioned here, where only the +essential feature--the nature and substance of the leading through the +wilderness--are concerned. And we cannot at all perceive why just the +wilderness between Babylon and Judea should be called the wilderness of +the nations. It was no more travelled by nomadic tribes than was any +other wilderness. And just as little was it characteristic of it, that +it bordered upon the territories of various nations (_Hitzig_). Such a +designation would throw us upon the territory of mere conjecture, on +which we are, in Holy Scripture, never thrown, except through our own +fault. But it is quite decisive that the words, "I bring you out of the +wilderness of the nations," stand in a close relation to the words, "I +bring you out from the nations." From this it appears that the nations, +to which the Israelites are to be brought, cannot be any other than +those, out of the midst of whom they are to be led. In the first +leading out of the Israelites, the two spiritual conditions were +separated externally also. The first belonged to Egypt; the second, to +the wilderness. But it shall not be thus, in this announced repetition +of the leading. It is only spiritually that the Israelites, at the +commencement of the second condition, shall be led out from among the +nations, in the midst of whom they, outwardly, still continue to be. +The wilderness is in the second Egypt itself. The stay in the +wilderness is repeated as to its essence only, and not as to its +accidental outward form; just as in Zech. x. 12, the words, "And he +passeth through the sea," which apparently might imply a repetition of +the outward form merely, are limited to the substance by the subjoined +"affliction." From this we obtain for our passage (_Hitzig_ likewise +[Pg 260] remarks: Ezek. xx. 34-38 seems to depend on Hosea ii. 16) the +important result, that the leading of God which is here announced, is +not limited to a definite place, and as little, to a definite time. And +what is true of the leading through the wilderness, must necessarily +apply to the leading into Canaan also. Just as Egypt might begin, +and actually did begin, even in Palestine, inasmuch as Israel was +there in a condition of heavy spiritual and bodily bondage;--just +as, spiritually, they might already be in the wilderness, though, +outwardly, they were still under Asshur; so, the stay in the wilderness +might, relatively, have still continued in Canaan, even although--which +did not happen--the whole people should have returned thither with +Zerubbabel. What is it that makes Canaan to be Canaan, the promised +land, the land of the Lord? It is just this:--that the Lord is there +present with all His gifts and blessings. But such was by no means the +case in the new colony. Because the spiritual condition of those who +had returned was in conformity with the second--in part, even with the +first--rather than with. the last station, their outward condition was +so likewise. John the Baptist symbolized this continuation of the +condition of the wilderness, by his appearing _in the wilderness_, with +the preaching of repentance, and with. the announcement, that now the +introduction to the true Canaan was near at hand. By proclaiming +himself as the voice crying in the wilderness, announced by Isaiah, he +showed with sufficient plainness how false was that carnal view which, +without being able to distinguish the thought from its drapery, +understood, and still understands, by the wilderness spoken of in +this prophecy, some piece of land, limited as to space, and then +murmured that the actual limit did not correspond with the fancied +one.--As in the case of Israel, so in ours also, these conditions are +distinguished, not absolutely, but relatively only. Even he who has, in +one respect, been already led through to Canaan, remains, in another +respect, in the wilderness still. Canaan, in the full sense, does not +belong to the present world, but to the future, as regards both the +single individual, and the whole Church.--Another parallel passage is +Jer. xxxi. 1, 2: "At this time, saith the Lord, will I be the God of +all the families of Israel, and they shall be My people. Thus saith the +Lord, The people who have escaped from the sword find mercy in the +wilderness; [Pg 261] I go to give rest to Israel." In Rev. xii. +6, 14, the wilderness likewise designates the state of trial and +temptation.--[Hebrew: dbr el-lb], properly "to speak over the heart," +because the words fall down upon the heart, signifies an affectionate +and consolatory address; compare Gen. xxxiv. 3 ("And he loved the +damsel, and spoke over the heart of the damsel"), l. 21; Is. xl. 2. +Here they signify that the wife is comforted after she had been so +deeply cast down by the consciousness of her former unfaithfulness, +and by the experience of its bitter consequences. The view of those who +would here think only of the comforting words of the prophets is much +too limited,--although these words are, of course, included. We must +chiefly think of the _sermo realis_ of the Lord, of all the proofs of +affectionate and tender love, whereby He gives rest to the weary and +heavy-laden, and brings it about, that those who were formerly +unfaithful, but who now suffer themselves to be led by Him out of the +spiritual bondage into the spiritual wilderness, can now put confidence +in Him; just as, formerly. He comforted Israel in the wilderness, in +the waste and desolate land, in the land of drought and of the shadow +of death (Jer. ii. 6), and affectionately cared for all their wants, in +order that they might know that He is the Lord their God, Deut. xxix. +4, 5. + +Ver. 17. "_And I give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of +Achor_ (trouble) _for a door of hope; and she answers thither as in the +days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of Egypt._" + +The same faithful love which led into the wilderness, now leads into +Canaan also; and the entrance into the promised land is immediately +followed by the possession of all its gifts and blessings, which now +legitimately belong to the _faithful_ wife (_her_ vineyards), whilst, +formerly, they were taken from the unfaithful wife by the giver, ver. +14. [Hebrew: ntN] with [Hebrew: l] of the person, always means "to give +to some one." Hence _Simson_ is wrong in giving the explanation: "And I +make her of it, viz., the wilderness, her vineyards;" for the valley of +Achor was not situated in the wilderness, but in Canaan; compare Is. +lxv. 10. The signification "to give" is here suited to the second +member of the verse also. The valley of Achor is given to her in its +quality as a valley of hope. The _vineyards_ are mentioned with +reference to ver. 14, where the devastation of the vine is [Pg 262] +threatened. They are brought under notice as the noblest possession, as +the finest ornament of the cultivated land, in contrast with the barren +wilderness. [Hebrew: mwM], properly "from thence," is correctly +explained by _Manger_: "As soon as she has come out of that +wilderness." The explanation of _Roediger_ and others, "From that time," +is unphilological; [Hebrew: wM] is never an adverb of time.--According +to the opinion of many interpreters (_Calvin_, _Manger_, and others), +the valley of Achor here comes into consideration only because of its +fruitfulness, and its situation at the entrance of the promised land, +but not with any reference to the event which, according to Josh. vii., +happened there. But the circumstance that here, as in the whole +preceding context, the prophet, in almost every word, has before his +eyes the former leadings of Israel, compels us, almost involuntarily, +to have respect to that event. And, in addition, there is a still more +decisive argument. It cannot be denied that there is a contrast between +what the valley of Achor is by nature, and what it is made by the Lord; +there is too plain a contrast between the _hope_ and the _affliction_. +But if thus the meaning of the name is brought into view, then +certainly there must also be a reference to the event to which it owed +its name. But in order to have a right understanding of this reference, +we must find out what was the essential feature in the event, the +repetition of which is here announced. The people, when they were +entering into Canaan, were immediately deprived of the enjoyment of the +divine favour by the transgression of an individual--Achan--which was +only a single fruit from the tree of the sin which was common to all. +But God Himself, in His mercy, made known the means by which the lost +favour might be recovered; and thus the place, which seemed to be the +door of destruction, became the door of hope; compare _Schultens_ on +_Harari_ iii. p. 180. The remembrance of this event was perpetuated by +the name of the place; compare ver. 25: "And Joshua said. Why hast thou +troubled us? The Lord shall trouble thee this day. Therefore the name +of the place was called. The valley of Achor, unto this day." This +particular dealing of God, however, is based upon His nature, and must, +therefore, repeat itself when Israel again comes into similar +circumstances,--must be repeated, in general, whensoever similar +conditions arise. Even they who have already entered the [Pg 263] +promised land, who have already come to the full enjoyment of salvation +(_full_, in so far as it is considered as a whole, and designated as +the last station; but as this last station again has several steps and +gradations, this fulness can be relative only. If it were absolute, if +nothing more of the wilderness were left, then, of course, the case +here in question could no more occur; for a salvation absolutely full +presupposes a righteousness absolutely full);--even they who have +already come to the full enjoyment of salvation, and to a degree of +righteousness corresponding to this salvation, require still the mercy +of God; for, without it, they would soon lose their salvation again. +This mercy, however, is vouchsafed to them in abundant measure. The +whole manner in which God leads those who have obtained mercy, is a +changing of the valley of trouble into a door of hope. He will order +all things in such a way, that the bond of union betwixt Him and those +for whom all things must work together for good, instead of being +broken by sin--as it would be if He were justice alone--is only the +more strengthened. The same idea occurs again in ver. 21. The new +marriage-covenant is there founded not on justice only, but on mercy +also.--The words [Hebrew: venth wmh] are commonly explained, "She sings +there," or, "She there raises alternative songs." But both of these +interpretations are unphilological. For 1. [Hebrew: wmh] does not +signify "there," but "thither." Those passages which have been appealed +to for the purpose of proving that it may also sometimes signify +"there," or "at yonder place," all belong to the same class. The +opposite of the construction of the verbs of motion with [Hebrew: b] +takes place in them. As, in these verbs, the idea of rest is, for the +sake of brevity, omitted, so here, that of motion. Thus, _e.g._, Jer. +xviii. 2, "Go down to the potter's house, and _thither_ will I cause +thee to hear My voice," is a concise mode of expression for, "I will +send My voice thither, and cause thee to hear there;" 1 Chron. iv. 41, +"Which were found thither," instead of, "which were found there when +they came thither." We might, in the case of the passage under +consideration, most easily concede what we are contending against, that +[Hebrew: wmh] is used instead of [Hebrew: wM], as a kind of grammatical +blunder; but that the writer knew the difference between these two +forms clearly appears from the close of the verse, where, certainly, he +would not have put [Hebrew: wmh] for [Hebrew: wM]. These are the +instances adduced by _Winer_. _Gesenius_, further, refers [Pg 264] to +Is. xxxiv. 15: "_Thither_ makes her nest;" but the making of the nest +implies the placing of it. _Ewald_, moreover, appeals to Ps. cxxii. 5: +"_Thither_ sit the thrones for judgment." It is true that [Hebrew: iwb] +never signifies "to sit down," but it frequently implies it. He +appeals, further, to the Song of Solomon viii. 5: "_Thither_ thy mother +brought thee forth;" which is tantamount to--there she brought thee +forth, and put thee down. But [Hebrew: wmh] can so much the less +signify "there," that the instances alleged for the weakening of the +[Hebrew: h] _locale_ in other passages, will not stand the test. +_Ewald_ appeals to Ps. lxviii. 7: "God makes the solitary to dwell +[Hebrew: bith];" which, however, does not mean "_in_ the house," as +_Ewald_ translates, but "_into_ the house"--He leads them thither, and +makes them to dwell there. The idea of motion being sufficiently +indicated by the [Hebrew: h] itself, no other designation was required +in poetry, which delights in brevity. _Further_--Hab. iii. 11: "Sun and +moon stand [Hebrew: zblh], towards their habitation," __i.e.__, go into +their habitation and stand there. 2. The verb [Hebrew: enh] signifies +neither "to begin the discourse," nor "to sing," nor "to sing +alternately," nor "to correspond," nor "to be favourably disposed" +(_Ewald_), nor "to obey" (_Hitzig_), but always, and everywhere, "to +answer." All these explanations will lose their plausibility, if +we only consider, that it is not always necessary that a question +be expressed by words, but that it may be implied in the thing +itself--especially in the case of the lively Orientals, for whom +things, even the most mute, have a language. As examples, we cite only +1 Sam. xxi. 12:--"Did they not answer to him in dances, saying, Saul +has slain his thousands, but David his ten thousands!" Similarly also +xxix. 5. That even here, the signification "to answer" ought to be +retained, is plain from xviii. 7, compared with ver. 6. The coming +together of David and Saul was a silent question as to which was the +greater. Ps. cxlvii.: "Answer the Lord with praise." The real addresses +of the Lord were His blessings; compare vers. 2-6, 8 ff. By everything +which God gives He asks. What art thou doing to Me, since I am doing +that to thee? [Hebrew: enh] is often used of God, although no formal +question or prayer preceded; but the very relation itself implies +prayer and asking. It is in this sense that even the ravens are said to +cry to God. It is in this sense that God _answers_ His people before +they cry to Him. He who has nothing, prays by this very circumstance, +even without words, [Pg 265] yea, even without the gestures and posture +of one who is praying. Since, in these remarks, we have already refuted +the arguments which seemed most plausible, we may pass over other +objections which are less to the purpose. There is only the passage +Exod. xv. 21, which requires to be specially noticed, as it is in that +passage that the signification "to sing alternately" is supposed, +beyond any doubt, to be; and many interpreters assume that there is a +verbal reference to it in the passage under consideration. "And then +Miriam answered to them ([Hebrew: lhM], _i.e._, to the men), Sing ye to +the Lord," Moses sings first with the children of Israel, ver. 1, +"and then Miriam the prophetess took, etc., and _answered_." The +signification "to answer," is here quite evident. But, on the other +hand, it appears that that passage has not the slightest relation to +the one under consideration, inasmuch as there is not, in the latter, +any mention of a first choir, to which the second answers.--From what +has been hitherto remarked, it is settled that the translation, "And +she answers thither," is alone admissible. But now, since no _verbal_ +question or address has preceded here, the question arises:--Which +address by deeds called forth the answer? To this question an answer is +readily suggested by the reference of [Hebrew: wmh] to the preceding +[Hebrew: mwM]. The address must have come from that place to which the +answer is sent; hence, it can consist only in the giving of the +vineyards, and of the good things of the promised land generally. On +entering into it, she is welcomed by this affectionate address of the +Lord, her husband, and there she answers it. The following words, "As +in the days," etc., show what that is in which the answer consists. If, +at that time, Israel answered the Lord by a song of praise, full of +thanks for the deliverance from Egypt, now also they will answer Him by +a song of praise, for being led into Canaan. If history had given any +report of a hymn of praise sung by Israel when they entered into +Canaan, the prophet would have referred to it; but as it was, he could +only remind them of that hymn. And although the occasion on which it +was sung did not altogether correspond, it must be borne in mind, that +in this hymn (compare ver. 12 ff.) the passing through the Red Sea is +represented as a preparatory step, and as prefiguring the occupation of +Canaan--the latter being contained in it as in a germ. It is, moreover, +self-evident that the essential fundamental thought is [Pg 266] only +that of the cordial and deep gratitude of the redeemed,--that the form +only is borrowed from the previous manifestation of this thankfulness. +An image altogether similar, and arising from the same cause, is found +in Is. xii. also, where the reference to Moses' hymn of thanks is +manifested by employing the very words; and likewise in Is. xxvi.; and, +further, in Hab. iii. and Rev. xv. 3.--[Hebrew: imi] and [Hebrew: ivM] +are Nominatives, not Accusatives; which latter could not be made use of +here, because the discourse is not of an action extending through the +whole period, but of one happening at a particular point of that +period. The comparison is here also merely intimated, because the +_tertium comparationis_ is abundantly evident from what precedes: "As +the days of her youth," instead of, "As she once answered in the days +of her youth." + +Ver. 18. "_And it shall be at that day, saith the Lord, thou shalt call +Me, My husband, and shall call Me no more, My Baal._" + +The full performance of her duties corresponds with the full admission +to her rights. The prophet expresses this thought, by announcing the +removal of the two forms in which the apostasy of the people from the +true God--the violation of the marriage-covenant which rested on +exclusiveness--was at that time manifested. One of these was the mixing +up of the religion of Jehovah with heathenism, according to which they +called the true God "Baal," and worshipped Him as Baal; the other was +still grosser--was pure idolatry. The abolition of the former (compare +above, p. 176 f.) is predicted in this verse; the abolition of the +latter, in the verse following. Both are in a similar way placed beside +each other in Zech. xiv. 9: "In that day shall there be one Lord, +and His name one;" where the first clause refers to the abolition +of polytheism, and the second to the abolition of the mixing of +religion--of the hidden apostasy--which, without venturing to forsake +the true God entirely and openly, endeavours to mix up and identify Him +with the world. To the fundamental thought there are several parallels; +_e.g._, Deut. xxx. 5 ff.: "And the Lord thy God bringeth thee into the +land which thy fathers possessed; and the Lord thy God circumciseth +thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with +all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live." This +passage shows that the verse before us, no less than that which +precedes, contains a _promise_, and that the "calling," and the +"calling no more," is a work of divine [Pg 267] grace. To this we are +led also by the words, "I shall take away," in ver. 19, as well as by +the other parallel passages:--Jer. xxiv. 7: "And I give them an heart +to know Me, that I am the Lord; and they shall be a people to Me, and I +will be a God to them, for they shall return to Me with their whole +heart;" Ezek. xi. 19: "And I give them one heart, and a new spirit I +put within them, and take the stony heart out of their flesh;" compare +further Zech. xiii. 2. Another interpretation of the verse recommends +itself by its apparent depth. According to it, [Hebrew: bel] is to be +taken as an appellative noun, the "marriage-Lord," in contrast with +[Hebrew: aiw], "husband," and that the people are henceforth to be +altogether governed by love. But this interpretation must be objected +to, for a whole multitude of reasons. There is, _first_ of all, the +relation of this verse to the following one, which does not allow that +[Hebrew: bel], which there occurs as a proper name, should in this +place be taken as an appellative. There is, _then_, the arbitrariness +in defining the relation between [Hebrew: aiw] and [Hebrew: bel], the +former of which as little exclusively expresses the relation of love, +as the latter excludes it. (Compare Is. liv. 5, 6, lxii. 4; 2 Sam. xi. +26.) Further, it is incorrect to say that [Hebrew: bel] properly +means "Lord;" it means "possessor." _Still further_,--There is the +unsuitableness of the thought, which would be without any analogy in +its favour throughout Scripture. And, _lastly_, the relation of love to +God cannot, even in its highest consummation, do away with reference to +Him, etc. + +Ver. 19. "_And I take away the names of the Baalim out of her mouth, +and they shall no more be remembered by their name._" + +The people are to conceive such an abhorrence of idolatry, that they +shall be afraid of being defiled even by pronouncing the name of the +idols. The words are borrowed from Exod. xxiii. 13: "Ye shall not make +mention of the name of other gods, neither shall it be heard out of thy +mouth." The special expression of the idea must, as a matter of course, +be referred back to this idea itself, viz., the abhorrence of the +former sin and, hence, such a mention cannot here be spoken of as, +like that in the passage before us, has no reference to that sin. + +Ver. 20. "_And I make a covenant for them in that day with the beasts +of the field, and with the fowls of heaven, and with the creeping +things of the earth; and bow, and sword, and war I break out of the +land, and make them to dwell in safety._" + +[Pg 268] + +On the expression, "I make a covenant," _Manger_ remarks, "The +cause is here put for the effect, in order to inspire with greater +security." For the benefit of Israel, God makes a covenant with the +beasts, _i.e._, He imposes upon them obligations not to injure them. +The phrase [Hebrew: krt brit] is frequently used of a transaction +betwixt two parties, whereby an obligation is imposed upon only one of +the parties, without the assumption of any obligation by the other. A +somewhat different turn is given to the image in Job v. 23, where, by +the mediation of God, the beasts themselves enter into a covenant with +Job after his restoration. [Hebrew: rmw] never means "worm," but always +"what moves and creeps," both small and great, as, in Ps. civ. 25, is +subjoined by way of explanation. The three classes stand in the same +order in Gen. ix. 2. The normal order there established, "And the fear +of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast," etc., returns, +after the removal of the disturbance which has been produced by sin. +Upon the words, "I break," etc., _Manger_ makes the very pertinent +remark: "It is an emphatic and expressive brevity, according to which +breaking out of the land all instruments of war, and war itself, means +that He will break them and remove them out of the land." It is +self-evident that "war" can here, as little as anywhere else, mean +"weapons of war." The prophet, as it appears, had in view the passage +Lev. xxvi. 3 ff.: "If ye will walk in My statutes, and keep My +commandments and do them, I will give you your rains in due season, and +the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall +yield their fruit.... And I give peace in the land, and you dwell, and +there is none who makes you afraid; and I destroy the wild beasts out +of the land, and the sword shall not enter into your land." It is +so much the more obvious that we ought to assume a reference to +this passage, as Ezekiel also, in xxxiv. 25 ff., copies it almost +_verbatim_. On account of the fatal _If_, that promise had hitherto +been only very imperfectly fulfilled; and frequently just the +opposite of it had happened. But now that the condition is fulfilled, +the promise also shall be fully realized. But we must observe, with +reference to it, that, when we look to the present course of the world, +this hope remains always more or less ideal, because in reference to +the condition also, the idea is not yet reached by the reality. The +idea is this:--As evil is, as a [Pg 269] punishment, the inseparable +concomitant of sin, so prosperity and salvation are the inseparable +companions of righteousness. This is realized even in the present +course of the world, in so far as everything must serve to promote the +prosperity of the righteous. But the full realization belongs to the +[Greek: palingenesia], where, along with sin, evil too (which is _here_ +still necessary even for the righteous, in order to purify them) shall +be extirpated. Parallel are Is. ii. 4, xi.-xxxv. 9; Zech. ix. 10. + +Ver. 21. "_And I betroth thee to Me for eternity; and I betroth thee to +Me in righteousness and judgment, and in loving-kindness and mercy._" + +Ver. 22. "_And I betroth thee to Me in faithfulness, and thou knowest +the Lord._" + +The word [Hebrew: arw], "to espouse" (compare Deut. xx. 7, where it is +contrasted with [Hebrew: lqH]), has reference to the entrance into a +marriage entirely new, with the wife of youth, and is, for this reason, +chosen on purpose. "Just as if (so _Calvin_ remarks) the people had +never violated conjugal fidelity, God promises that they should be His +spouse, in the same manner as one marries a _virgo intacta_." It was +indeed a great mercy if the unfaithful wife was only received _again_. +Justly might she have been rejected for ever; for the only valid reason +for a divorce existed, inasmuch as she had lived in adultery for years. +But God's mercy goes still further. The old offences are not only +_forgiven_, but _forgotten_. A relation entirely new begins, into which +there enter, on the one side, no suspicion and no bitterness, and on +the other, no painful recollections, such as may pass into similar +human relationships, where the consequences of sin never disappear +altogether, and where a painful remembrance always remains. The same +dealing of God is still repeated daily; every believer may still say +with exultation: "Old things are passed away; behold, all things are +become new." It is the greatness of this promise which occasions the +direct address, whilst hitherto the Lord had spoken of the wife in the +third person. She shall hear face to face, the great word out of His +mouth, in order that she may be assured that it is she whom it +concerns; and in order to express its greatness, its joyfulness, and +the difficulty of believing it, it is repeated three times. _Calvin_ +says: "Because it was difficult to deliver the people from fear and +despair, and because they could not but be [Pg 270] aware how +grievously they had sinned, and in how many ways they had alienated +themselves from God, it was necessary to employ many consolations, that +thus their faith might be confirmed. One likes to hear the repetition +of the intelligence of a great and unexpected good fortune which one +has some difficulty in realizing. And what could a man, despairing on +account of his sins, less readily realize than the greatest of all +miracles--viz., that all his sins should be done away with, at once and +for ever? But the repetition is, in this case, so much the more full of +consolation, that, each time, it is accompanied with the promise of +some new blessing; that, each time, it opens up some new prospect of +new blessings from this new connection. First, there is the eternal +duration,--then, as a pledge of this, the attributes which God would +display in bestowing it,--and, finally, there are the blessings which +He would impart to His betrothed." The [Hebrew: levlM] points back to +the painful dissolution of the former marriage-covenant: This new one +shall not be liable to such a dissolution; for "the mountains shall +depart, and the hills be removed, but My kindness shall not depart from +thee, neither shall the covenant of My peace be removed, saith the +Lord:" Is. liv. 10. The attributes which God will display towards the +wife, and the conduct which she shall observe towards Him through His +mercy, are connected with [Hebrew: arwtiK li], "I betroth thee to Me," +by means of [Hebrew: b], which is often used to mark the circumstances +on which some action rests. Thus, in the case before us, the +betrothment rests upon what God vouchsafes along with it, inasmuch as +thereby only does it become a true betrothment. That the accompanying +gifts must be thus distributed--as we have done--first, the faithful +discharge of all the duties of a husband on His part, and then, the +inward communication of strength to her for the fulfilment of her +obligations; and that we are neither at liberty to refer, as do some +interpreters, everything to one of the two parties, nor to assume, as +others do, that everything refers to both at the same time--is proved +not only by the intervening repetition of "I betroth thee to Me," but +also by the internal nature of the gift's mentioned. [Hebrew: rHmiM], +"mercy," cannot be spoken of in the relation of the wife to God, nor +knowledge of God, in the relation of God to the wife. The four +manifestations of God which are mentioned here form [Pg 271] a double +pair,--righteousness and judgment, loving-kindness and mercy. The two +are frequently connected in a similar way; _e.g._, Is. i. 27: "Zion +shall be redeemed in judgment, and her inhabitants in righteousness." +They are distinguished thus:--the former, [Hebrew: cdq], designates the +_being just_, as a subjective attribute, with the dispositions and +actions flowing from it; the latter, [Hebrew: mwpT], denotes the +_objective right_.[1] A man can give to another his right or judgment, +and yet not be righteous; but God's righteousness, and His doing right +in reference to the Congregation, consists in this:--that He faithfully +performs the obligations which He took upon Himself when He entered +into covenant with her. This, however, is not sufficient. The +obligations entered into are reciprocal. If, then, the covenant be +violated on the part of the Congregation, what hope is left for her? In +order the more to relieve and comfort the wife, who, from former +experience, knew full well what she might expect from righteousness and +judgment alone, the Lord adds a second pair,--loving-kindness and +mercy, the former being the root of the latter, and the latter being +the form in which the former manifests itself, in the relation of an +omnipotent and holy God to weak and sinful man. [Hebrew: Hsd], properly +"love," man may also entertain towards God; although even this +word is very rarely used in reference to man, because God's love +infinitely exceeds human love; but God only can have [Hebrew: rHmiM], +"mercy," upon man. But still a distressing thought might, and must be +entertained by the wife. God's mercy and love have their limits; they +extend only to the one case which dissolves even human marriage--the +type of the heavenly marriage, the great mystery which the Apostle +refers to Christ and the Church. What, then, if this case should again +occur? Her heart, it is true, is now filled with pure love; but who +knows whether this love shall not cool,--whether she shall not again +yield to temptation? A new consolation is applied to the new distress. +God Himself will bestow what it is not in the power of man to +bestow--viz., faithfulness towards Him (compare [Hebrew: amvnh] used of +human faithfulness, in Hab. ii. 4; Jer. v. 3, vii. 28; the faithfulness +in this verse forms the contrast to the whoredom in i. 2), [Pg 272] and +the knowledge of Him. "Thou knowest the Lord" is tantamount to--"in My +knowledge." The knowledge of God is here substantial knowledge. +Whosoever thus knows God cannot but love Him, and be faithful to Him. +All idolatry, all sin, has its foundation in a want of the knowledge of +God. + +Ver. 23. "_And it comes to pass in that day, I will hear, saith the +Lord; I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth;_ Ver. 24. +_And the earth shall hear the corn, and the must, and the oil; and they +shall hear Jezreel_" (_i.e._, him whom God sows). + +The promise in this passage forms the contrast to the threatening in +Deut. xxviii. 23, 24: "And thy heaven that is over thy head shall be +brass, and the earth that is under thee shall be iron. The Lord will +give for the rain of thy land, dust, and dust shall come down from +heaven upon thee." The second [Hebrew: aenh] is, by most interpreters, +considered as a resumption of the first. But we obtain a far more +expressive sense, if we isolate the first [Hebrew: aenh], "I shall +hear," namely, all prayers which will be offered up unto Me by you, and +for you. Parallel, among other passages, is Is. lviii. 9, where the +reformed people are promised: "Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall +answer; thou shalt cry, and He shall say. Here I am." By a bold +_prosopop[oe]ia_, the prophet makes heaven to pray that it might be +permitted to give to the earth that which is necessary for its +fruitfulness, etc. Hitherto they have been hindered from fulfilling +their _destination_, since God was obliged to withdraw His gifts from +the unworthy people, ii. 11; but now, since this obstacle has been +removed, they pray for permission to resume their vocation. The +prophets in this manner give, as it were, a visible representation of +the idea, that there is in the whole world no good independent of +God,--nothing which, in accordance with its destination, is not +ours, and would indeed be ours, if we stood in the right relation to +Him,--nothing that is not His, and that will not be taken away from +us, if we desire the gift without the Giver. _Calvin_ remarks: "The +prophet shows where and when the happiness of men begins, viz., when +God adopts them, when He betrothes Himself to them, after having put +away their sins.... He teaches, also, in these words, that the heavens +do not become dry by some secret instinct; but it is when God withholds +His grace, that there is no rain by which the heavens water the earth." +God, then, here shows [Pg 273] plainly that the whole _order of nature_ +(as men are wont to say) is so entirely in His hand, that not one drop +of rain shall fall from heaven unless by His will,--that the whole +earth would produce no grass,--that, in short, all nature would be +sterile, unless He made it fruitful by His blessing. + +Ver. 25. "_And I sow her unto Me in the land, and I have mercy upon her +'who had not obtained mercy'_ (Lo-Ruhamah); _and I say to 'not My +people'_ (Lo-Ammi), _Thou art My people, and they say to Me, My God._" + +The three symbolical names of the children of the prophet here once +more return. The _femin. suffix_ in [Hebrew: zretih], referring to +[Hebrew: izreal], need not at all surprise us; for, in the whole +passage before us, the sign disappears in the thing signified. In point +of fact, however, _Jezreel_ is equivalent to Israel to be sowed anew. +(It is not the Israel to be _planted_ anew, which is a figure +altogether different; the sowing has always a reference to the +increase.) + + +Footnote 1: In our authorized version [Hebrew: mwpT] is almost +constantly rendered by "_judgment_," although evidently in the sense +pointed out by the author,--for which reason, this rendering has been +retained here.--Tr. + + + + CHAPTER III. + +"The significant couple returns for a new reference" (_Rueckert_). +First, in vers. 1-3, the symbolical action is reported. At the command +of the Lord, the prophet takes a wife, who, notwithstanding his +affectionate and faithful love, lives in continued adultery. He does +not entirely reject her; but, in order that she may come to recovery +and repentance, he puts her into a position where she must abstain from +her lovers. The interpretation of the symbol is given in ver. 4: +Israel, forsaken by the world, shall spend a long time in sad +seclusion. A glance into the more distant future, without any +symbolical imagery, forms the conclusion. The punishment will at length +produce conversion. Israel returns to the Lord his God, and to David +his king. + + * * * * * + +Ver. 1. "_Then said the Lord unto me, Go again, love a_ [Pg 274] _woman +beloved of her friend, and an adulteress, as the Lord loveth the sons +of Israel, and they turn to other gods and love grape-cakes._" + +The right point of view for the interpretation of this verse has been +already, in many important respects, established; compare p. 183 sqq. +We here take for granted the results there obtained. It is of great +importance, for an insight into the whole passage, to remark, that the +symbolical action in this section, just as in that to which chap. i. +belongs, embraces the entire relation of the Lord to the people of +Israel, and not, as some interpreters assume, one portion only, viz., +the time from the beginning of the captivity. This false view--of which +the futility was first completely exposed by _Manger_--has arisen from +the circumstance, that the prophet, in narrating the execution of the +divine commission, omits very important events. In the expectation that +every one would supply them, partly from the commission itself, and +partly from the preceding portions, where they had been treated of with +peculiar copiousness, he rather at once passes from the first +conclusion of the marriage, to that point which, in this passage, forms +his main subject, namely, the disciplinary punishment to which he +subjects his wife,--the Lord, Israel. The prophet's aim and purpose is +to afford to the people a right view of the captivity so near at hand; +to lead them to consider it neither as a merely accidental event, +having, no connection at all with their sins; nor as a pure effect of +divine anger, aiming at their entire destruction; but rather as being +at the same time a work of punitive justice, and of corrective love. +Between the second verse, "I purchased her to me," etc., and the third, +"Then I said unto her," etc., we must supply. And I took her in +marriage and loved her; but she committed adultery. That this is the +sound view, appears clearly from ver. 2. According to the right +exposition (compare p. 195 sqq.), this verse can be referred only to +the first beginning of the relation betwixt the Lord and the people of +Israel--to that only by which He acquired the right of property in this +people, on delivering them from Egypt. This is confirmed, moreover, by +the second half of the verse under consideration: "As the Lord loveth," +etc. Here the love of the Lord to Israel in its widest extent is spoken +of. Every limitation of it to a single manifestation--be it a [Pg 275] +renewal of love after the apostasy, or the corrective discipline +inflicted from love--is quite arbitrary; and the more so, because, by +the addition, "And they turned," etc., the love of God is represented +as running parallel with the apostasy of the people. The same result is +obtained from a consideration of the first half. For what entitles us +to explain "love" by "love again," or even by "_restitue amoris signa_" +as is done by those who hold the opinion, already refuted, that the +woman is _Gomer_? The word "love" corresponds exactly with "as the Lord +loveth." If the latter must be understood of the love of the Lord in +its whole extent,--if it does not designate merely the manifestation of +love, but love itself,--how can a more limited view be taken of the +former "love?" How could we explain, as is done by those who defend the +reference to a new marriage, the words, "Beloved of her friend, and an +adulteress," as referring to a former marriage of the wife, and as +tantamount to--who was beloved by her former husband, and yet committed +adultery? In that case, there would be the greatest dissimilarity +betwixt the type and the antitype. Who, in that case, is to be the type +of the Lord? Is it to be the former husband, or the prophet? If the +figure is at all to correspond with the reality,--the first member with +the second, the [Hebrew: re] can be none other than the prophet +himself.--Let us now proceed to particulars, [Hebrew: ahb], "love," is +stronger than [Hebrew: qH], "take," in chap. i. 2. There, marriage only +was spoken of; here, marriage from love and in love. This is still more +emphatically pointed out by the subsequent words [Hebrew: ahbt re], and +contrasted with the conduct of the wife, which is indicated by [Hebrew: +mnapt], so that the sense is this: "In love take a wife who, although +she is beloved by thee, her friend, commits adultery, and with whom--I +tell it to thee beforehand--thou wilt live in a constant antagonism of +love, and of ingratitude, the grossest violation of love." The word +"_love_" has a reference to the love preceding and effecting the +marriage; the word "_beloved_," to the love uninterruptedly continuing +during the marriage, and notwithstanding the continued adultery, unless +we should say--and it is quite admissible--that "love" implies, at the +same time, "to take out of love," and "to love constantly." Instead of +"beloved by _thee_" it is said, "beloved by her _friend_." Many have +been thereby misled; but it only serves to make the contrast more [Pg +276] prominent.[1] [Hebrew: re] has only one signification--that of +_friend_. It never, by itself, means "fellow-man," never "fellow-Jew," +never "one with whom we have intercourse." The Pharisees were quite +correct in understanding it as the opposite of enemy. In their gloss, +Matt. v. 43, [Greek: kai miseseis ton echthronsou], there was one thing +only objectionable--the most important, it is true--that by the friend, +they understood only him whom their heart, void of love, loved indeed; +not him whom they ought to have loved, because God had united him to +them by the sacred ties of friendship and love. Thus, what ought to +have awakened them to love, just served them as a palliation for their +hatred. Now this signification, which alone is the settled one, is here +also very suitable. He whom the wife criminally forsakes, is not a +severe husband, but her loving friend, whom she herself formerly +acknowledged as such, and who always remains the same. Entirely +parallel is Jer. iii. 20: "As a wife is faithless towards her _friend_, +so have ye been faithless to Me;" compare ver. 4: "Hast thou not +formerly called me. My father, _friend_ of my youth art thou?" Compare +also Song of Sol. v. 16. The correct meaning was long ago seen by +_Calvin_: "There is," says he, "an expressiveness in this word. For +often, when women prostitute themselves, they complain that they have +done it on account of the too great severity of their husbands, and +that they are not treated by their husbands with sufficient kindness. +But if a husband delight in having his wife with him, if he treat her +kindly and perform the duties of a husband, she is then less excusable. +Hence, it is this most heinous ingratitude of the people that is here +expressed, and set in opposition to the infinite mercy and kindness of +the Lord." For a still better insight into the meaning of the first +half of this verse, we subjoin the _paraphrasis_ by _Manger_: "Seek +thee a wife in whom thou art to have thy delight, and whom thou art to +treat with such love, that, even if she, by her unfaithfulness, violate +the sacred rights of matrimony, and thou, for that reason, canst no +longer live with her, [Pg 277] she shall still remain dear to thee, and +shall be willingly received again into thy favour, as soon as she shall +have reformed her life."--In the second half of the verse, there is a +verbal agreement with passages of the Pentateuch, so close that it +cannot certainly be accidental. Compare on [Hebrew: kahbt ihvh at-bni +iwral], Deut. vii. 8, [Hebrew: mahbt ihvh atkM],--an agreement which +undoubtedly deserves so much more attention, that we have already +established the relationship of the passage with ver. 2. On [Hebrew: +pniM al alhiM aHriM], compare Deut. xxxi. 18: "I will hide My face in +that day for all the evil they are doing, for they turn to other gods," +[Hebrew: pnH al alhiM aHriM]--[Hebrew: awiwi enbiM], "grape-cakes," +has, as to its substance, been already explained, p. 194 sqq. It is the +result of an entire misunderstanding, that some interpreters should +here think of the love of feasting and banqueting. Others (as +_Gesenius_) are anxious to prove that such cakes were used at the +sacrifices which were offered to idols. The grape-cakes are rather +idolatry itself; but the expression, "They love grape-cakes," adds an +essential feature to the words, "They turn to other gods." It points, +namely, to the sinful origin of idolatry. Earnest and strict religion +is substantial and wholesome food; but idolatry is soft food, which is +sought only by the dainty and squeamish. That which is true of +idolatry, is true also of the service of sin, and of the world in +general, which, in Job xx. 12, appears under the image of meat which +is, in the mouth, as sweet as honey from the comb, but which is, in the +belly, changed into the gall of asps. In the symbolism of the law, +honey signified the _lust_ of the world; compare my work _Die Opfer der +Heil. Schrift_, S. 44. It is only the derivation of [Hebrew: awiwiT], +the signification of which is sufficiently established by parallel +passages, which requires investigation. We have no hesitation in +deriving it from [Hebrew: aw], "fire;" hence it means properly, "that +which has been subjected to fire (compare [Hebrew: awh]) = that +which has been baked," "cakes." The derivation from [Hebrew: aww], +"to found," has of late become current; but the objections to it +are:--partly, that the transition from "founding," to "cake," is by no +means an easy one; partly and mainly, that there is not the slightest +trace of this root elsewhere in Hebrew. It is asserted, indeed, that +[Hebrew: awiwiM] itself is found in Is. xvi. 7, with a signification +which renders necessary the derivation from the verb [Hebrew: aww]. +But, even in that passage, the signification of [Pg 278] "cakes" must +be retained. The following reasons are in favour of it, and against the +signification "ruins," adopted by _Gesenius_, _Winer_, and _Hitzig_. 1. +The signification "cakes" deserves, _ceteris paribus_, a decided +preference, because it is established by the other passages. It is only +for reasons the most cogent that we can grant that one and the same +word has two meanings, and these not at all connected with each other. +2. The transition from the meaning "foundation," which alone can be +derived from the verb [Hebrew: aww], to that of "_ruins_," is by no +means so easy as those critics would represent it. With respect to a +rebuilding, for which the ruins' afford the foundation, they might, it +is true, be called foundations, compare Is. lviii. 12, but not where +destruction only is concerned. Who would speak of howling over +foundations, instead of howling over ruins? 3. The context is quite +decisive. If we translate [Hebrew: awiwiM] by "ruins," the subsequent +[Hebrew: ki] is quite inexplicable. This little word, upon which so +much depends, performs also the office of a guide: "For this reason +Moab howls, for Moab altogether does he howl, for the cakes of +Kirhareseth you do sigh, wholly afflicted; _for_ the vineyards of +Heshbon are withered, the vine of Sibmah, the grapes of which +intoxicated the lord of the nations," etc. Then, ver. 9, "Therefore I +weep with Jaeser for the vine of Sibmah." If there be no more grapes, +neither are there any more grape-cakes. The destruction of the +vineyards is therefore the cause of the howling for the cakes. +That such cakes, moreover, were prepared in many places in Moab, +sufficiently appears from the name of the place Dibhlathaim, _i.e._, +town of cakes. It may be remarked further, that we are not entitled to +assume a sing. [Hebrew: awiw] as given by lexicographers along with +[Hebrew: awiwh]; [Hebrew: dblh] likewise forms the plural [Hebrew: +dbliM]. + +Ver. 2. "_And I bought her to me for fifteen pieces of silver, and a +homer of barley, and a lethech of barley._" Compare the explanation of +this verse, p. 195 sqq. + +Ver. 3. "_And I said unto her. Thou art to sit for me many days: thou +art not to whore, and thou art not to belong to a man; and so I also to +thee._" + +The sitting has the accessory idea of being forsaken and solitary, +which may be explained from the circumstance, that he who is not +invited to go with us is left to sit. Thus, _e.g._, Gen. xxxviii. 11: +"Sit as a widow in thy fathers house, until Shelah [Pg 279] my son be +grown;" Is. xlvii. 8, where Babylon says, "I shall not _sit_ as a +widow," etc. The Fut. in this and the following verses must not be +taken in an imperative sense, as meaning, thou shalt sit for me, thou +shalt not whore; the explanation given in ver. 4, and in the parallel +passage in chap. ii. 8, 9, are alike opposed to it. The husband will +not subject his wife to a moral probation, but he will lock her up, so +that she must _sit_ solitary, and _cannot_ whore. With reference to +this. _Manger_ strikingly remarks: "There is, in that very severity, +the beginning of leniency; 'sit for me,' _i.e._, I who have been so +unworthily treated by thee, and who yet am thy most affectionate +husband, and who, though now at a distance from thee, will not +altogether forget thee." The [Hebrew: li] indicates that the sitting of +the wife must have reference to the prophet. Quite similar is Exod. +xxiv. 14: "And he said unto the elders, [Hebrew: wbv lnv], Sit ye here +for us until we return to you." The phrase itself, which must not be +explained by "to sit in expectation of some one," does not indicate in +what way the sitting has reference to him. The issue of the whole +proceeding, described in ver. 5, clearly shows, however, that it is not +inflicted by him as a merited punishment, as an effect of his just +indignation, but rather that we must think chiefly of his compassionate +love, which makes use of these means in order to render the reunion +possible.--The distinction between "to whore," and "to belong to a +man," is obvious: the former denotes _vagos et promiscuus amores_; the +other, connubial connection with a single individual; compare, _e.g._, +Ezek. xvi. 8; Lev. xxi. 3. But the question is,--Who is to be +understood by the "_man?_" Several refer it to the prophet exclusively. +Thus _Jerome_ says, "Thou shalt not shamefully prostitute thyself with +other lovers, nor be legally connected with me, the man to whom thou +art married." Others admit, at least, a co-reference to the prophet = +the Lord. By the words, "Thou art not to whore," they say that the +intercourse with the lovers is excluded; but, by, "Thou art not to +belong to a man," the intercourse with the husband also; so that the +sense would be, "Thou shalt not have connubial intercourse either with +me, or with any other man." But the correct view is to refer both to +the intercourse with the lovers; and so, indeed, that the former +designates the giving of herself up, now to one, then to another; +while the latter points to her entering [Pg 280] into a firm relation +to a single individual; just as, in point of fact, the relation of +Israel to the idols hitherto was a whoring. According as it suited +their inclination, they made, now this, and then that, god of the +neighbouring nations an object of their worship; whilst a marriage +connection would have been formed, if they had entered with any one of +them into a permanent and exclusive connection, similar to that which +had heretofore existed between them and the Lord. This explanation is +required by the words, "And so I also to thee," at the close of the +verse. If the words, "Thou shalt not belong to any man," referred to +the prophet, then "thou shalt not have any intercourse with me" would +imply, "I shall not have any intercourse with thee;" and did not +require any new mention to be made.--The questions, however, now +arise:--By what means was the state of things corresponding to the +figure to be brought about? By what is adulterous Israel to be +prevented from whoring, and from belonging to any man? By what means is +idolatry to be extirpated from among the people? The answer has been +already given in our remarks on chap. ii. 8, 9. The idols manifest +themselves to Israel in their supposed gifts. If these were taken from +them,--if they were entirely stripped, and plunged into want and +misery, they could not fail to recognise the vanity of all their +previous efforts, along with the vanity of the object of their worship, +while their love to him could not but vanish. The absolute inability of +the idols to afford consolation and help to the people in their +sufferings must have put an end to their showing them allegiance.--The +last words, "And I also to thee," are explained by the greater number +of interpreters to mean, "I also will be thine." _Manger_ explains them +thus: "I will not altogether break the tie of our love, nor marry +another wife; but I will remain thine, will at last receive thee again +into my favour, and restore thee to the position of my wife." _De +Wette_ interprets them thus: "But then I will come to thee;" _Umbreit_: +"And I also only to thee;" _Ewald_: "And yet I am full of love towards +thee." But the words, "And I also to thee," are rather tantamount +to--"I will conduct myself in a similar manner towards thee." Now two +things may constitute this equality of conduct. _Either_ it is +conceived thus:--that the prophet is placed in parallelism with the +wife. The latter has lost all claims upon the prophet; she has violated +connubial [Pg 281] fidelity, and, hence, has no title to demand that he +should observe it. But that which she cannot demand from him, he does, +from the necessity of his nature. He promises to her that, during the +proceeding which has commenced against her, he would not enter into any +new connection; and by holding out to her the hope of her returning, at +some future period, to her old relation to him, he makes it more easy +for her to break off the sinful connections which have destroyed it. +Without a figure: The Lord, from His forbearance and mercy, waits for +the reformation of those who hitherto were His people; does not drive +them to despair by receiving another people in their place. _Or_, The +prophet is placed in parallelism with the other man. As the wife does +not enter into any relation with that man, so the prophet also abstains +from any nearer intercourse with her. The latter explanation (adopted +by _Simson_ and _Hitzig_) is to be preferred. The exclusiveness cannot +in the same sense be applicable to the prophet, representing the Lord, +as to the wife, representing the people. So early as in Deut. xxxii. +21, we read: "They have moved Me to jealousy with that which is not +God, they have provoked Me to anger with their vanities; and I will +move them to jealousy with those which are not a people, I will provoke +them to anger with a foolish nation," After all that had, in the Song +of Solomon, been predicted regarding the reception of the Gentile +nations into the kingdom of God and Christ, and about the receiving +again into it of Israel, to be effected by their instrumentality +(compare my _Comment. on Song of Sol._, S. 239), the thought suggested +by the former view would be quite incomprehensible. Quite decisive, +however, is ver. 4, in which the thought, which is here in a symbolical +garb, is expressed in plain language. There, however, not only the +intercourse with the idols, but the connection with Jehovah also, +appears to be intermitted. The reason why the prophet does not enter +into a closer connection with the wife is, that her repentance is more +of a negative, than of a positive character. By want and isolation, her +hard heart is to be broken, true repentance to be called forth, and the +flame of cordial conversion and love to her husband, whose faithful +love she had so ill requited, to be enkindled in her. In favour of the +explanation given by us, and in opposition to that first mentioned, the +[Hebrew: nM] is decisive. Against this, that other explanation, [Pg +282] in its various modifications, tries its strength in vain. "I also +will be thine, or will adhere to thee," would require in the preceding +context, "Thou shalt be mine, or adhere to me;" but of this, there is +no trace. It is only in ver. 5 that, with an _after_, the conversion is +reported. In favour of that false interpretation it is said, and with +some plausibility, that the explanation would otherwise be more +extended than the symbol: The latter would contain the outward dealing +only; while the former, in ver. 5, would contain at the same time its +salutary effect. But, even according to this explanation, the words +would not correspond with ver. 5. _Here_, the showing of mercy would be +announced without the mention, even by a word, of the sincere return to +the husband--and this, altogether apart from the [Hebrew: gM], would be +quite unsuitable, and would, moreover, be opposed by the analogy of +chap. ii. 9--while, in ver. 5, not the showing of mercy, but only the +reformation, would form the subject. In that case, it ought not to have +been said, "They shall return to the Lord," but rather, "The Lord shall +return to them." But this plausible reason falls to the ground, along +with the unfounded supposition that the two last verses contain the +explanation. The correct view is, that the explanation is limited to +ver. 4. Ver. 5 must be considered as an appendix, in which, without any +figurative covering, the effect is described which will be produced +upon the nation by these outward dealings. The symbol and its +explanation extend only as far as the main object of the prophet in the +section under review,--that object being to present the impending +captivity in its true light, and thereby to secure against levity and +despair when it should appear. + +Ver. 4. "_For many days the children of Israel shall sit without a +king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without a +pillar, and without an Ephod and Teraphim._" + +[Hebrew: ki] is used because the reason of the performance of the +symbolical action lies in its signification. Concerning [Hebrew: iwb], +see the remarks on ver. 3; compare, moreover. Lament, i. 1: "How does +the city sit solitary that was full of people! she has become as a +widow."--The question is, whether, by the religious objects here +mentioned, such only are to be understood as belonged to the worship of +the idols, or such also as belonged to the worship of Jehovah. The +following furnishes the reply. The [Hebrew: mcbh] only [Pg 283] can be +considered as belonging exclusively to the idolatrous worship. Such +pillars always occur only as being consecrated to the idols--especially +to Baal. It cannot be proved in any way that, contrary to the express +command in Lev. xxvi. 1, Deut. xvi. 22, they were, in the kingdom of +Israel, consecrated to the Lord also; compare 2 Kings iii. 2, xvii. 10, +x. 26-28. On the other hand, among the objects mentioned, there is also +one, the [Hebrew: apvd], the mantle for the shoulders of the high +priest, on which the Urim and Thummim were placed, which must be +considered as belonging exclusively to the worship of Jehovah; at least +there is not the smallest trace to be found that it was part of any +idolatrous worship. It is true that _Gesenius_, in the _Thesaurus_, p. +135, gives _s. v._ [Hebrew: apvd], under 2, the signification _statua_, +_simulacrum idoli_, and, besides the passages under consideration, +refers to Jud. viii. 27, xvii. 5, xviii. 14, 17. But one requires only +to examine these passages a little more minutely, to be convinced that +the metamorphosis of Jehovah into an idol is as little justified as the +changing of the mantle into a statue. From the personal character of +Gideon, who was so zealous for the Lord against the idols, we cannot at +all think of idolatry in Jud. viii. 27. In the _Dissertations on the +Genuineness of the Pentateuch_, vol. ii. p. 80, it has been proved that +the Ephod of Gideon was a precious imitation of that of the high +priest. In chap. xvii. 5, we need only to consider these words: "And +the man Micah had an house of God, and made an Ephod and Teraphim, and +consecrated one of his sons, and he became a priest to him." +Afterwards, Micah took a _Levite_ for a priest. But for what reason +should he have been better suited for that purpose than any other man? +The answer is given in ver. 13: "Then said Micah, Now I know that +Jehovah will do me good, for the Levite has become a priest to me." The +ignorant man knows after all thus much, that the Levites alone are the +only legitimate servants of Jehovah, and he rejoices, therefore, that +he had now remedied the former irregularity. Jud. xviii. 14 does not +require any particular illustration, for it is the same Ephod which is +spoken of in that passage; but we must still direct attention to vers. +5 and 6 of that chapter. "Then they (the Danites) said unto him (the +Levite), Ask God, we pray thee, in order that we may know whether our +way in which we go shall be prosperous. And the priest said unto them, +Go in [Pg 284] peace, before _Jehovah_ is the way wherein ye go." Here, +then, we have a revelation given to the priest, as is alleged, by means +of Ephod and Teraphim; and this revelation is not ascribed to the +idols, but to Jehovah, whom alone the Levite wished to serve. From this +it appeal's that the graven image and the molten image--which, besides +Ephod and Teraphim, according to ver. 14, exist in the house of +Micah--must be considered as representations of Jehovah, similar to the +calvesin the kingdom of the ten tribes. In vol. ii. pp. 78, 79, of my +_Dissertations on the Genuineness of the Pentateuch_, it has been +demonstrated that the Ephod of Micah was, along with the Teraphim, an +apeing of the high-priestly Ephod with the Urim and Thummim. The four +objects mentioned in Judges xvii. and xviii. are such as were separable +although connected, and connected although separable. The _molten work_ +is the pedestal under the image; the image is clothed with the Ephod, +and in the Ephod were the Teraphim, from whom information and good +counsel for the future were expected. For, that this is the object of +the whole contrivance, is plain from chap. xviii. 5, 6, where the +priest asks counsel of God for the Danites.--With regard to the other +two objects mentioned in the verse before us, viz., the sacrifice and +Teraphim, a reference, at least exclusive, to idolatrous worship, +cannot be by any means maintained. As sacrifices are mentioned in the +widest generality, without any limitation in the preceding context, +there is certainly nothing which could in the least entitle us to +exclude the sacrifices which were offered to Jehovah. The Teraphim are +intermediate deities, by means of which the future is to be disclosed +(compare the remarks on Zech. x. 2); they might be brought into +connection with every religious system, but are found only once in +connection with any other religion than that of Jehovah,--and this in a +case where a non-Israelite is spoken of. It is true, however, that, in +substance, the Teraphim belong to the side of idolatry; for, wherever +they occur within the religion of Jehovah, they belong to a degenerate +condition of it only, which is on a par with idolatry. It would appear +that they are here contrasted with the Ephod, as the illegal means for +ascertaining the future, in opposition to the legal means. That the +Ephod was used for discovering the divine will, is seen from 1 Sam. +xxiii. 9, xxx. 7. The Teraphim, in like manner, served to explore [Pg +285] the future. A closer connection of the two seems to be indicated +by the circumstance that [Hebrew: aiN] is omitted before [Hebrew: +trpiM].--But how can we account for this strange intermingling of what +belonged to the idols with what belonged to Jehovah, since it cannot +but be done intentionally? It points to the dark mixture which at that +time existed among the people, and is a kind of ironical reflection +upon it.--The Lord makes them disgusted with idolatry, and all that +belongs to it, through His visitations, in which they seek in vain the +help of the idols, and become thoroughly acquainted with their vanity; +compare remarks in ver. 3. At the same time, however, all the pledges +of His grace are taken from them, so that they get into an altogether +isolated position. He withdraws from them their independent government, +the altar and priesthood--the former as a just punishment for their +rebellion against the dynasty ordained by God (compare chap. viii. 4), +of which, first Israel, and then Judah, had made themselves guilty.--As +regards the historical reference of this prophecy, interpreters are +divided, and refer it either to the Assyrian, the Babylonish, or the +Romish exile. The greater number of them, however, refer it exclusively +to the last. This is especially the case with the Jewish interpreters; +_e.g._, _Kimchi_, who says: "These are the days of the exile, in which +we are now; we have neither an Israelitish king nor an Israelitish +prince, but are under the dominion of the Gentiles and their kings." +The principal defenders of a direct reference to the Assyrian +captivity, are _Venema_ (_Dissert._ p. 232) and _Manger_. The decision +depends chiefly upon what we are to understand by "the children of +Israel." If these are the whole people, it is arbitrary to assign any +narrower limits to the _Word_ of God, than to His _deed_. The prophecy +must, in that case, comprehend everything in which the idea is +realized; and this so much the more, as the spiritual eye of the +prophet, directed to the idea only, does not generally regard the +intervals which, in the fulfilment, lie between the various +realizations of the _idea_. But now, ver. 5 would seem to lead us to +entertain the opinion, that, in the first instance, the prophet has in +view the children of Israel in the more limited sense only. The words, +"They shall return and seek David their king," imply a reference to the +then existing apostasy of the ten tribes from the dynasty of David. But +the future apostasy of the sons of Judah also from [Pg 286] David their +king may be as well _presupposed_ here, as, in chapter ii. 2, their +being carried away; and this so much the rather, as in chap. ii. 2, the +words, "They appoint themselves a king," suggest that the sons of Judah +also, no less than the sons of Israel, are without a head, and hence +have apostatized from David the king. And it is so much the more +natural to adopt such a supposition, as the Song of Solomon had already +described so minutely the rebellion of the whole people against the +glorious descendant of David--the heavenly Solomon--to which the +apostasy of the ten tribes from the house of David was only a prelude. +Considering the whole relation in which Hosea stands to the Song of +Solomon, we could scarcely imagine that, in this respect, he should not +have alluded to, and resumed its contents. _In the whole third chapter +there is nothing which refers exclusively to the ten tribes._ Chap. +iii. 2 has reference to all Israel. Throughout the whole Book of Hosea +also, as well as by the second Israelitish prophet Amos (compare the +remarks on Amos, chap ix.), Judah and Israel are viewed together, both +as regards apostasy and punishment (v. 5, 12, viii. 14, x. 11, etc.), +and as regards salvation, vi. 1-4, etc. Of special importance is the +comparison of the remarkable prophecy of Azariah in 2 Chron. xv. 2-4, +which was uttered at the time of Asa, king of Judah, and which so +nearly coincides with the one before us, that the idea suggests itself +of an allusion to it by Hosea: "Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and +Benjamin: The Lord will be with you, if you are with Him; and if ye +seek Him, He will be found of you; and if ye forsake Him, He will +forsake you. And many days will be to Israel when there is no true +God,[2] and no teaching priest,[3] and no law. Then they return in +their trouble unto Jehovah the God of Israel, and they seek Him, and He +is found of them." If the fundamental prophecy refer to all Israel, the +same must be the case with the prophecy under consideration. The +condition in which the Jews are, up to the present day, is described in +both of these prophecies with remarkable clearness; and hence we may +most confidently entertain [Pg 287] the hope, that there shall be a +fulfilment also of that which, in them as well as in the Song of +Solomon, has been foretold regarding the glorious issue of these +dealings of God. + +Ver. 5. "_Afterwards shall the children of Israel return and seek the +Lord their God, and David their king, and shall tremble to the Lord and +to His goodness in the end of the days._" + +[Hebrew: iwbv] must not by any means be regarded as modifying [Hebrew: +bqwv], so that both the verbs would constitute only one verbal idea. +This must be objected to, not only from the arguments already stated in +the remarks on chap. ii. 11, but, most decidedly, on account of the +parallel passage, chap. ii. 9, "I will go and return to my first +husband." Compare chap. vi. 1: "Come and let us return unto the Lord;" +v. 15, where the Lord says, "I will go and return to My place until +they become guilty and seek My face; in their affliction they will seek +Me;" Jer. l. 4: "In those days, and in that time, saith the Lord, the +children of Israel shall _come_, they and the children of Judah +together, weeping will they come, and seek the Lord their God,"--a +passage which, like Jer. xxx. 9, points to the one before us in a +manner not to be mistaken; Is. x. 21: "The remnant shall _return_, the +remnant of Jacob, unto the mighty God." The text, and the parallel +passages, most clearly indicate what is to be considered as the object +of their return, namely, the Lord their God, and David their king, from +whom they had so shamefully apostatized; so that those interpreters who +here think of a return to Canaan do not deserve a refutation. The +words, "Jehovah their God," at the same time lay open the delusion of +the Israelites (who imagined that they could still possess the true +God, in the idol which they called Jehovah), and rebuke their +ingratitude. _Calvin_ says, "God had offered Himself to them, yea. He +had had familiar intercourse with them,--He had, as it were, brought +them up on His bosom just as a father does his sons. The prophet, +therefore, indirectly rebukes, in these words, their stupendous +wickedness." The God of the Israelites, as well as the God of the Jews +after they had rejected Christ, stood to the God of Israel in the same +relation as does the God of the Deists and Rationalists to the God of +the Christians. The question here arises. Who is to be understood here +by "David their king?" Some interpreters refer it, after the example of +_Theodoret_ (t. ii. p. 2, p. 1326), to [Pg 288] Zerubbabel: but by far +the greater number of them, following the Chaldee ("And they shall obey +the Messiah, the son of David their king"), understand, thereby, the +Messiah. It is true that the latter exposition is quite correct as to +its substance, but not as to the form in which it is commonly +expressed. From the words, "They shall return and seek," it is evident +that the Messiah is here not called David as an individual, as is done +in other passages, _e.g._, Jer. xxx. 9. For the return presupposes +their having been there formerly, and their having departed; just as +the seeking implies neglecting. The expression, "their king," also +requires special attention. In contrast to the "king" in ver. 4 +(compare viii. 4, "They have made a king, and not by Me, a prince, and +I knew it not"), it shows that the subject of discourse is not by any +means a new king to be elected, but such an one as the Israelites ought +to obey, even now, as the king ordained for them by God. The sound view +is this: By the "king David" the whole Davidic house is to be +understood, which is here to be considered as an unity, in the same +manner as is done in 2 Sam. vii., and in a whole series of Psalms which +celebrate the mercies shown, and to be shown, to David and his +house.[4] These mercies are most fully concentrated in Christ, in whose +appearance and everlasting dominion the promises given to David were +first to be fully realized. The prophet mentions the whole--the Davidic +family--because it was only thus that the contrast between the apostasy +and the return could be fully brought out; but that, in so doing, he +has Christ especially in view--that he expected a return of the +children of Israel to David in Christ, is shown by the term [Hebrew: +baHrit himiM], which, in the prophets, never occurs in any other sense +than the times of the Messiah. (Compare, regarding this expression, the +remarks on Amos ix. 1.) This reason is alone sufficient to refute the +reference to Zerubbabel; although so much must indeed be conceded, that +the circumstance of part of the citizens of the kingdom of the ten +tribes adhering to him, the descendant of the house of David, may be +considered as a prelude of that general return. The close connection +betwixt the seeking of Jehovah their God and David their king, likewise +claims our attention. David and his family had been elected by God to +be the mediator between Him and the [Pg 289] people--the channel +through which all His blessings flowed clown upon the people--the +visible image of the invisible King, who, at the end of the days, was, +in Christ, most perfectly to reflect His glory. The Israelites, in +turning away from David their king, turned away, at the same time, from +Jehovah their God,--as was but too soon manifested by the other signs +of apostasy from Him, by the introduction of the worship of calves, +etc. He who refuses to acknowledge God in that which He has Himself +declared to be His visible image (from Christ down to every relation +which represents Him in any respect, _e.g._, that of the father to the +son, of the king to the subject), will soon cease to acknowledge +Himself. But as, first, the ten tribes, and afterwards, the entire +people, apostatized from God, by apostatizing from David, so, by their +apostasy from him, they excluded themselves from all participation in +the privileges of the people of God, which could flow to them only +through him. It is only when they return to David by returning to +Christ, that, from their self-made God, they come to the true God, and +within the sphere of His blessings. That the same thing is repeated +among ourselves in the case of those who have forsaken Christ their +King, and yet imagine still to possess God, and that it is only by +their returning to the brightness of His glory that they can attain to +a true union with the Lord their God, and to a participation in the +blessings which He bestows,--all this is so obvious as to require +nothing beyond a simple suggestion. A perfectly sound interpretation of +this passage is to be found in _Calvin_, who remarks: "David was, as it +were, a messenger of the Lord, and, hence, that defection of the ten +tribes was tantamount to a rejection of the living God. The Lord had, +on a former occasion, said to Samuel (1 Sam. viii. 7), 'They have not +rejected thee, but they have rejected Me.' But how much more was this +applicable in the case of David, whom Samuel had anointed at the +command of God, and whom the Lord had adorned with so many glorious +attributes, that they could not reject his rule without, at the same +time, publicly rejecting, to a certain extent, the Lord Himself! It is +true, indeed, that David was then dead; but Hosea here represents, in +his person, his everlasting dominion, which the Jews knew would last as +long as the sun and moon." The expression, [Pg 290] "They tremble to +the Lord," graphically describes the disposition of heart in him, who, +trembling with terror and anxiety on account of the surrounding danger +and distress, flees to Him who can alone afford help and deliverance. +That we must thus explain it,--that we cannot entertain the idea of any +trembling which proceeds from the inconceivable greatness of the +blessing--a disposition of heart so graphically described by _Claudian_ +in the words, + + "Horret adhuc animus, manifestaque gaudia differt + Dum stupet et tanto cunctatur credere voto,"-- + +and that we can as little think of a fearing or trembling which is the +consequence of the knowledge of deep sinfulness and unworthiness, is +shown by the parallel passage in chap. xi. 11: "They tremble as a bird +out of Egypt, and as a dove out of the land of Assyria." The bird and +the dove are here an emblem of helplessness. Substantially parallel is +also chap. v. 15: "In their affliction they will seek Me." Their +trembling is not voluntary; it is forced upon them by the Lord. But +that they tremble _to the Lord_--that, through fear, they suffer +themselves to be led to the Lord--is their free act, although possible +only by the assistance of grace. The manner in which the words, "and to +His goodness," are to be understood, is most plainly shown by the +words, "I will return to my first husband, for it was _better_ with me +then than now," chap. ii. 9. Along with the Lord, they have lost His +goodness also, and the gifts flowing from it. But distress again drives +them to seek the Lord, and His goodness, which is inseparable from +Himself. This explanation is confirmed by other parallel passages also; +_e.g._, Jer. xxxi. 12: "And they come and exult on the height of Zion, +and flow together to the goodness of the Lord ([Hebrew: Tvb ihvh]), to +corn, and must, and oil, and lambs, and cattle;" ver. 14: "My people +shall be satisfied with My goodness." Compare also Ps. xxvii. 13, xxxi. +20; Zech. ix. 17. We would therefore object to the opinion of several +interpreters, who would explain [Hebrew: Tvb ihvh] as being equivalent +to [Hebrew: kbvd ihvh], to His manifestation in the Angel of the Lord, +the [Greek: Logos], by whom His glory and goodness are made known. + + +Footnote 1: It is quite impossible to refer [Hebrew: re] to the +adulterers, and for this reason:--that it is always Israel's love to +the idols that is spoken of, but never the love of the idols to Israel. +In the explanation given in the words immediately following, it is not +the idols that take the initiative; it is Israel who turns to other +gods. + +Footnote 2: _J. D. Michaelis_ remarks: "In the present captivity they +do not, indeed, worship idols, but nevertheless they do not know, nor +worship, the true God, since they reject the Son, without whom the +Father will not be worshipped, John xvii. 3; 1 John ii. 23; 2 John 9." + +Footnote 3: The "priest" here corresponds with the "Ephod" in Hosea. + +Footnote 4: In 1 Kings xii. 16, also, David stands for the Davidic +dynasty. + + +[Pg 291] + + + THE PROPHET JOEL. + + PRELIMINARY REMARKS. + +The position which has been assigned to Joel in the collection of the +Minor Prophets, furnishes an external argument for the determination of +the time at which Joel wrote. There cannot be any doubt that the +Collectors were guided by a consideration of the chronology. The +circumstance, that they placed the prophecies of Joel just between the +two prophets who, according to the inscriptions and contents of their +prophecies, belonged to the time of Jeroboam and Uzziah, is thus +equivalent to an express testimony that he also lived, and exercised +his ministry, during that time. + +By this testimony we have, in the meanwhile, obtained a firm +standing-point; and it must remain firm, as long as it is not +overthrown by other unquestionable facts, and the Collectors are not +convicted of an historical error. But, as regards the latter point, +there is the greater room for caution, because all the other statements +which they have made are, upon a careful examination, found to stand +the test; for none of the other Minor Prophets is found to occupy a +place to which he is not entitled. But no such facts are to be found; +on the contrary, everything serves to confirm their testimony. + +It will not be possible to assign the prophecies of Joel to a later +period; for Amos places at the head of one of his prophecies one of the +utterances of Joel (compare Amos i. 2 with Joel iv. 16 [iii. 16]), as +the text, as it were, on which he is to comment. That we are not +thereby precluded from considering the two prophets as contemporaneous, +is shown by the altogether similar case of Isaiah, in his relation to +Micah. Isaiah, too, borrows, in chap. xiii. 6, a sentence from Joel i. +15, the peculiarity of which proves that the coincidence is not +accidental. Such verbal repetitions must not be, by any means, +considered as unintentional reminiscences. They served to exhibit that +the prophets acknowledged one another as the organs of the Holy +Spirit,--to testify the [Greek: akribe diadochen], the want of which in +the times after Ezra and Nehemiah is mentioned by Josephus as one of +the reasons why none of the writings of [Pg 292] that period could be +acknowledged as sacred. (See the Author's _Dissertations on the +Genuineness of Daniel_, p. 199.) _Further_,--The description of the +threatening judgment in chap. i. and ii. is, in Joel, kept just in that +very same generality in which we find it in the oldest prophecies that +have been preserved to us, viz., in Amos, in the first chapters of +Isaiah and of Hosea; whilst in later times, the threatening is, +throughout, particularized by the express mention of the instruments +who were, in the first instance, to serve for its fulfilment, viz., the +Assyrians and Babylonians. That which Judah had to suffer from the +former was so severe, that Joel, in chap. iv. 4 ff.--where he mentions, +although, as it were, only in the way of example, nations with which +Judah had hitherto already come into hostile contact--would scarcely +have passed them over in silence, in order to mention only the far +lesser calamity inflicted by other nations. + +But just as little can we think of an earlier period. It is certainly +not accidental, that among all the prophets whose writings have been +preserved to us, no one appeared at an earlier period; any more than it +is accidental, that no prophecies are extant of the distinguished men +of God in earlier times, of whom the historical books make mention, +especially Elijah and Elisha. It was only when the great divine +judgments were being prepared, and were approaching, that it was time, +through their announcement, to waken from the slumber of security +those who had forgotten God, and to open the treasures of hope and +consolation to the faithful. Formerly, the living, oral word of the +prophets was the principal thing; but now that God opened up to them a +wider view,--that their calling had regard not only to the present, but +also to the future time, the written word was raised to an equal +dignity. Nothing, then, but the most cogent reasons could induce us to +make, in the case of Joel only, an exception to so established a rule. + +But we cannot acknowledge as such, what _Credner_ (in his _Comment. on +Joel_, p. 41 sqq.) has brought forward to prove that Joel committed to +writing his prophecies as early as under the reign of Joash, _i.e._, +about 870-65 B.C., or from seventy to eighty years earlier than any of +the other prophecies which have come down to us. If we do not allow +ourselves to be carried away by the multitude of his words, we shall +find that the only remaining plausible argument is--that the Syrians +of Damascus [Pg 293] are not mentioned among the enemies of the +Covenant-people, as they are in Amos. From this, _Credner_ infers that +Joel must have prophesied before the first inroad of the Syrians on +Judea, which, according to 2 Kings xii. 18 ff.; 2 Chron. xxiv. 23 ff., +took place under Jehoash. But we need only look at that passage, in +order to be convinced that the mention of that event could not be +expected in Joel. The expedition of the Syrians was not directed +against Judea, but against the Philistines. It was only a single +detached corps which, according to Chronicles, incidentally, and on +their return, made an inroad on Judah; but Jerusalem itself was not +taken. This single act of hostility could not but be soon forgotten in +the course of time. It was of quite a different character from that of +the Ph[oe]nicians and Philistines mentioned by Joel, which were only +particular outbreaks of the hatred and envy which they continually +cherished against the Covenant-people, and which, as such, were +preeminently the object of punitive divine justice. But on what ground +does the supposition rest, that Joel must necessarily mention all those +nations, with which the Covenant-people came, at any time, into hostile +contact? The context certainly does not favour such an idea. The +mention of former hostile attacks in chap. iv. (iii.) 4-8 is altogether +incidental, as _Vitringa_, in his _Typ. Doctr. Proph._ p. 189 sqq., has +admitted: "The prophet," says he, "was describing the heavy judgments +with which God would, after the effusion of the Spirit, successively, +and especially in the latter days, visit the enemies of the Church, and +overthrow them, on account of the injuries which they had inflicted +upon it. And while he was doing so, those injuries presented themselves +to his mind, which in his own time, and in the immediate past, were +inflicted upon the Jewish people--a portion of the universal Church--by +the neighbouring nations, the Tyrians, Sidonians, and Philistines. To +them he addresses his discourse _in passing_ (_in transitu_), and +announces to them, in the name of God, that they themselves also would +not remain unpunished." The correctness of _Vitringa_, with his "_in +transitu_," is proved by the [Hebrew: vgM], as well as by the +circumstance, that vers. 9 ff. are closely connected with ver. 3; so +that vers. 4 ff. form a real parenthesis. How entirely out of place +would here have been any mention of the Syrians! There was necessarily +something required which was very striking, and [Pg 294] which, having +but recently occurred, was still vividly remembered. But the matter was +altogether different in the case of Amos. Joel has to do with the +enemies of Judah only; Amos, with those of the kingdom of Israel also, +among whom the Syrians were the most dangerous. Hence, he begins with +them at once. The crime with which he charges them in chap. i. 3, that +they had threshed the inhabitants of Gilead with threshing instruments +of iron, concerns the kingdom of Israel only. The same applies to the +Ammonites and Moabites also, who, in like manner, are mentioned by +Amos, and not by Joel. The Ammonites are charged in Amos i. 13 with +ripping up the women with child of Gilead, that they might enlarge +their border; and the crime of the Moabites, rebuked in chap. ii. 1, +occurred, very probably, during the time of, or after, the expedition +against them, mentioned in 2 Kings iii.--the real instigator of which +was the king of Israel. + +We must indeed be astonished that _Hitzig_, _Ewald_, _Meier_, _Baur_, +and others, after the example of _Credner_, have likewise declared in +favour of the view that the prophecies of Joel were composed under +Joash. None of the arguments, however, by which they attempt to support +their view, can stand examination. + +"There is nowhere, as yet, the slightest allusion to the Assyrians," +says _Ewald_. But neither is any such found in Amos, nor in the first +part of Hosea. An irruption, however, such as former times had not +known,--an overflowing, as it were, by the heathen, such as could by no +means proceed from the small neighbouring nations, but from extensive +kingdoms only, is here also brought into view. Joel is, in this +respect, in strict agreement with Amos, who embodies his prophecy +concerning this event, in chap. vi. 14, in these words: "For, behold, I +raise up against you, O house of Israel, Gentile people, saith the +Lord, the God of hosts, and they shall afflict you from Hamath unto the +river of the wilderness." + +"There breathes here still the unbroken warlike spirit of the times of +Deborah and David," _Ewald_ further remarks. But is there in the fourth +(third) chapter any trace of self-help on the part of the people? +Judgment upon the Gentiles is executed without any human +instrumentality, by God,--not by His earthly, but by His heavenly +"heroes," who are sent down [Pg 295] from heaven to earth, and who make +short work with these fancied earthly heroes. Compare chap. iv. (iii.) +11-13, where the address is directed to the heavenly ministers of God, +at the head of whom the Angel of the Covenant must be supposed to be: +Ps. ciii. 20; Rev. xix. 14. _Such_ a victory of the kingdom of God, all +the prophets announce,--not only Isaiah and Micah, but also Ezekiel, +_e.g._, in chap. xxxviii. and xxxix. + +"We perceive here the prophetic order in Jerusalem, still in the same +ancient greatness as when Nathan and Gad may have exercised their +office at the time of David. A whole people, without contradicting or +murmuring, still depend upon the prophet. He desires the observance of +a grievous ordinance, and willingly it is performed; his word is still +like a higher command which all cheerfully obey. Nor is any discord to +be seen in the nation, nor any wicked idolatry or superstition; the +ancient simple faith still lives in them, unbroken and undivided." So +_Ewald_ still further remarks. But this argument rests upon a false +supposition; a conversion of the people at the time of the prophet is +not at all spoken of. The pretended repentance is to take place _in +future_,--which, according to chap. i. 4, we must conceive of as being +still afar off, namely, in the time after the divine judgments have +broken in. And as to a progress in the apostasy of the people, it can +scarcely be proved that such took place in the time betwixt Joash and +Uzziah. Between these two, we do not find any new stage of corruption. +The idolatry of Solomon, and the abominations of Athaliah, had +exercised their influence, even as early as under Joash. How deep the +rent was which, even then, went through the nation, is shown by the +fact, that, according to 2 Chron. xxiv. 17, 18, after the death of +Jehoiada, Joash gave way to the _urgent demands of the prince's of +Judah_, and allowed free scope to idolatry. Moreover, the threatening +announcement of a judgment, which is to extend even to the destruction +of the temple, proves how deep the apostasy was at the time of Joel. +Where a judgment is thus threatened, which, in its terrors, far +surpasses all former judgments, the "ancient faith" certainly cannot +have been very vigorous. + +"The Messianic idea appears here in its generality and indefiniteness, +without being as yet concentrated in the person of an ideal king," +_Hitzig_ remarks. But if this argument were at all [Pg 296] valid, we +should have to go back even beyond the time of Joash. Solomon, David, +and Jacob already knew the personal Messiah. The prophets, however, do +not everywhere proclaim everything which they know. Even in Isaiah, +there occur long Messianic descriptions, in which the Messiah Himself +is not to be found. In Joel, moreover, everything is collected around +the person of the "Teacher of righteousness." + +"Joel," it is further remarked, "must have prophesied at a time when +the Philistine and other nations, who had become so haughty under +Jehoram, had but lately ventured upon destructive plundering +expeditions as far as Jerusalem, 2 Chron. xxi. 10 ff." This argument +would be plausible, if the injuries inflicted by the Philistines and +the inhabitants of Tyrus had not appeared in equally lively colours +before the mind of Amos (chap. i. 6-10), who, at all events, prophesied +between seventy and eighty years after these events. It is just this +fact which should teach caution in the application of such arguments. +The recollection of such facts could not be lost, as long as the +disposition continued from which they originated. It was as if they had +happened in the present; for, under similar circumstances, similar +events would have again immediately taken place. The passage chap. iv. +19, "Egypt shall be a desolation, and Edom shall be a desolate +wilderness, for the violence against the children of Judah, because +they have shed innocent blood in the land," shows also how lively was +the recollection of injuries sustained long ago. Egypt and Edom in that +passage are mentioned individually, in order to designate the enemies +of the people of God in general, and yet with an allusion to deeds +perpetrated by the Egyptians and Edomites properly so called. As the +suffix in [Hebrew: arcM] must be referred to the sons of Judah--for we +have no historical account of a bloody deed perpetrated against Judah +by the Edomites in their own land, and it was the land of Judah which +was invaded and devastated by the host of locusts--we can think, in the +case of the Egyptians, only of the invasion under Rehoboam (1 Kings +xiv.), and in the case of the Edomites, only of the great carnage which +they made in Judah, during the time at which David carried on war with +Aram in Arabia and on the Euphrates,--probably at a time when he had +sustained heavy losses in that warfare; compare my Comment. on Ps. +xliv. and lx. Of any [Pg 297] similar later occurrence there is no +account extant. It is only by a fanciful exposition that "the innocent +blood" can be found in 2 Kings viii. 20-22. The Edomites at that time +kept only a defensive position, and did not come into the land of +Judah. "The innocent blood" implies a war of conquest, and a hostile +inroad. + +"In chap. iv. (iii.) 4-7, Joel promises a return to the citizens of +Judah, who had been carried away by the Philistines under Jehoram; and, +hence, an age cannot have elapsed since that event." Thus _Meier_ +argues. But the words, "Behold, I raise them out of the place whither +ye have sold them," contain no special prediction, but only the +application of the general truth, that God gathers together the +dispersed of Judah, and brings back again the exiled of Israel; and it +is only requisite to compare concerning them. Gen. xv. 16, "In the +fourth generation they shall come hither again," and l. 24, "God will +visit you, and bring you out of this land." + +We thus arrive at the conclusion that Joel occupies the right place in +the Canon. + +The assertion that Joel belonged to the priestly order, is as baseless +as the similar one regarding Habakkuk, and as the supposition that the +author of the Chronicles was a musician. + +The book contains a connected description. It begins with a graphic +account of the ruin which God will bring upon His apostate +Congregation, by means of foreign enemies. These latter represent +themselves to the prophet in his spiritual vision as an all-destroying +swarm of locusts. The fundamental thought is this:--"Wheresoever the +carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together,"--wherever +corruption manifests itself in the Congregation of the Lord, punishment +will be inflicted. Because God has sanctified Himself _in_ the +Congregation, and has graciously imparted to her His holiness. He must +therefore sanctify Himself upon her,--must manifest His holiness in her +punishment, if she has become like the profane world. He cannot allow +that, after the Spirit has departed, the dead body should still +continue to appear as His kingdom, but strips off the mask of hypocrisy +from His degenerate Church, by representing her outwardly as that +which, by her guilt, she has become inwardly. This thought commonly +appears in a special [Pg 298] application, by the mention of the name +of the particular people whom the Lord is, in the immediate future, to +employ for the realization of it. In the case before us, however, He is +satisfied with pointing to the dignity and power inherent in Him. The +enemies are designated only as _people from the North_. But it was from +the North--from Syria--that all the principal invasions of Palestine +proceeded. Hence there is no reason either to think of one of them +exclusively, or to exclude one. On the contrary, the comprehensive +character of the description distinctly appears in i. 4. It is there, +at the very threshold, intimated, that the heathenish invasion will be +a fourfold one,--that Israel shall become the prey of four successive +extensive empires. Joel's mission fell at the commencement of the +written prophecy; and in harmony with this, he gives only an outline of +that which it was reserved for the later prophets to fill up, and to +carry out in its details, by the mention of the name of each single +empire, as the times moved on. It was enough that Joel prophesied the +destruction by these great empires, even before any one of them had +appeared on the stage of history, and that he was enabled to point even +to the fourfold number of them. + + +The threat of punishment, joined with exhortations to repentance, to +which the people willingly listened, and humbled themselves before the +Lord, continues down to chap. ii. 17. With this is connected the +proclamation of salvation--which extends down to chap. iii. 2 (ii. 29). +The showing of mercy begins with the fact, that God sends the _Teacher +of righteousness_. He directs the attention of the people to the design +of their sufferings, and invites the weary and heavy laden to come to +the Lord, that He may refresh them. His voice is heard by those who are +of a broken heart; and there then follows rich divine blessing, with +its consummation--the outpouring of the Spirit. Both--the sending of +the Teacher of righteousness, and the outpouring of the Spirit--had +their preliminary fulfilments; the first of which took place soon after +the commencement of the devastation by the locusts, in the time of the +Assyrians,--a second, after the destruction by the Babylonians had come +upon the people,--a third, after the visitation by the Greek tyranny +under the Maccabees. But the chief reference of the prophecy is, +throughout, to Christ, and to the vouchsafement [Pg 299] of the +blessing, and to the outpouring of the Spirit, originating in His +mediation. + +The announcement of salvation for the Covenant-people is, in the third +and last part, followed by the opposite of it, viz., the announcement +of judgments upon the enemies of the Congregation of God. Their hatred +of it, proceeding from hatred to God, is employed by Him, indeed, as a +means of chastising and purifying His Church; but it does not, for that +reason, cease to be an object of His punitive justice. The fundamental +idea of this part of the book is expressed in 1 Pet. iv. 17 by the +words: "For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of +God. And if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that +obey not the Gospel of God? And if the righteous scarcely be saved, +where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?" The description bears +here also, as in the second and first parts, a comprehensive character. +That which, in the course of history, is realized in a long series of +single acts of divine interposition against the enemies of the Church, +is here brought together in a single scene. The overthrow of Assyria, +Babylon, the Persian and Grecian monarchies, is comprehended in this +prophecy. But its final fulfilment must be sought for only in the +Messianic time. This is sufficiently evident from the relation of this +part, to the second. Having given ear to the Teacher of righteousness, +and the Spirit having been poured out upon her, the Congregation has +become an object of the loving providence of God. From this flows the +judgment upon her enemies. If, then, the promise of the Teacher of +righteousness and of the outpouring of the Spirit be, in substance, +Messianic, so, the judgment too must, in substance, bear a Messianic +character. The same appears from iv. (iii.) 18, according to which +passage, simultaneously with the judgments, there cometh forth, from +the house of the Lord, a fountain which watereth the valley of +Shittim--the waters of salvation which water the dry land of human +need. (Compare the remarks on Ezek. xlvii,; Zech. xiv. 8; and my +_Comment. on Revel._ xxii. 1.) This feature, however, clearly points to +the Messianic time. + +We must here, however, avoid confounding the substance with the +form,--the idea with the temporary clothing which the prophet puts upon +it, in accordance with the nature of prophetic [Pg 300] vision, in +which, necessarily, all that is spiritual must be represented in +outward sketches and forms. This form is as follows:--In the place +nearest to the temple, and which was able to contain a great multitude +of people, in the valley of Jehoshaphat, all nations are gathered. (The +valley very probably received its name from the appellation which, in +the passage under consideration, the prophet gives to it, in order to +mark its destination; for Jehoshaphat means, "the Lord judges," or +"Valley of Judgment."[1]) The Lord, enthroned in the temple, exercises +judgment upon them. In this manner--in outward forms of perception--the +idea is brought out, that the judgment upon the Gentiles is an effect +of the kingdom of God; that they are not punished on account of their +violation of the natural law, but because of the hostile position +which they had occupied against the teachers of God's revealed +truth,--against the Lord Himself who is in His Church. Every violation +of the natural law may be pardoned to those who have not stood in any +other relation to God, even although they should have [Pg 301] +proceeded to the most fearful extent in depravity. They who were once +disobedient, when the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah, +were not as yet given over to complete condemnation, but were kept in +prison until Christ came and preached to them. "This was the iniquity +of Sodom: fulness of bread, and abundance of peace, were in her and her +daughters; yet the hand of the poor and needy they did not assist; but +they were haughty and committed abomination before the Lord: therefore +He took them away as He saw good." But, nevertheless, the Lord will, at +some future time, turn the captivity (the misery) of this Sodom and her +daughters, and they shall be restored as they were before,--not +corporeally, for their seed is utterly rooted out from the earth, and +even their place is destroyed, but spiritually; compare Ezek. xvi. 49 +ff. But, on the other hand, far more severe punishments are inflicted +upon those who have rejected, not the abstract, but the concrete +God,--not the God who is shut up in the heavens, but the God who +powerfully manifests Himself on earth, in His Church. It is true, that +as long as this revelation is still an imperfect one--as it was under +the Old Testament dispensation--and hence the guilt of rejecting Him +less, mercy may still be shown. External destruction does not involve +spiritual ruin. Moab, indeed, is destroyed, so that it is no longer a +people, because it has exalted itself against the Lord; yet, "in the +latter days I will turn the captivity of Moab, saith the Lord," Jer. +xlviii. 47. But when the revelation of the grace of God has become +perfect, His justice also will be perfectly revealed against all who +reject it, and rise in hostility against those who are the bearers of +it: "Their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched, +and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh," Is. lxvi. 24. These +remarks contain the key to all which the Lord declares as to the future +judgment which, in its completion, belongs only to the future world. It +is not the world as such, but that world to which the Gospel has been +declared, and in the midst of which the Church has been founded, which +forms the object of it; compare Matt. xxiv. 14. + + +Footnote 1: _Hofmann_ (_Weissag. u. Erfuel._ i. S. 203) has revived the +explanation, according to which the valley of Jehoshaphat is to be +understood as the valley in which, under Jehoshaphat, judgment was +executed upon several Gentile nations. But this locality, the desert of +Thekoa, which was about three hours distance from Jerusalem (compare my +_Comment. on the Psalms_, in the _Introduction to Ps._ xlvi. xlviii. +lxxxiii.), is at too great a distance from the temple, where, according +to vers. 16 and 17, the Lord holds His judgment upon the nations. +Tradition has rightly perceived that the valley of Jehoshaphat can be +sought for only in the immediate vicinity of the temple. In favour of +the valley of Jehoshaphat now so called, "at the high east brink of +Moriah, the temple-hill" (_Ritter_, _Erdk._ xv. 1, S. 559; xvi. 1, S. +329), is also Zech. vi. 1-8 (compare the remarks on that passage). From +the circumstance that there is, first, the mention of the name, and, +then, the statement of its signification, "And I gather all nations, +and bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and _plead_ with +them there," _Hofmann_ infers that the name must have already existed +as a proper name. There is, however, an analogy in Num. xx. 1: "And the +people encamped at Kadesh;"--but the place received the name Kadesh +only because of the event to be subsequently related: previous to that, +its name was Barnea. (Compare _Dissert. on Gen. of the Pent._ vol. ii. +p. 310 ff.) The two theological names of the place, which arose only +from the event recorded in Num. xx., occur even as early as Gen. xiv. +7. The natural name of the valley of Jehoshaphat is, moreover, in all +likelihood, _King's Dale_; compare Gen. xiv. 17; 2 Sam. xviii. 18; and +_Thenius_ on this passage. + + +[Pg 302] + + JOEL I.-II. 17. + +We shall not dwell here for any length of time upon the history of the +expositions of this passage. It has been given with sufficient +minuteness by _Pococke_ and _Marckius_ among older writers, and by +_Credner_ among the more modern. We content ourselves with remarking +that the figurative exposition is the more ancient, having been adopted +by the Chaldee Paraphrast, and by the Jews mentioned by _Jerome_, and +that we cannot by any means, as _Credner_ does, derive it from +doctrinal considerations only; for many, with whom such considerations +weighed, as _Bochart_, _Pococke_, and _J. D. Michaelis_, do not approve +of it; whilst, on the other hand, there are among its defenders not a +few who were guided by just the opposite motives, such as _Grotius_, +_Eckermann_, _Berthold_ (Einl. S. 1607 ff.), and _Theiner_. Two +preliminary questions, however, require to be answered, before we can +proceed to the main investigation. + +1. Does Joel here describe a present, or a future calamity? The former +has been asserted, in former times, by _Luther_ and _Calvin_ (compare, +especially, his commentary on chap. i. 4), and in more recent times, +with special confidence, by _Credner_. But there is nothing to favour +this view. The frequent use of the Preterites would prove something in +support of it, provided only we were not standing on prophetical +ground. They are, moreover, found quite in the same manner in chap. +iv.--in that portion which, by all interpreters unanimously, is +referred to the future. And yet, if this view were to be acknowledged +as sound, it ought to commend itself by stringent considerations, +inasmuch as the prophetic analogy is, _a priori_, against it. There +is not found anywhere in the prophets so long and so detailed a +description of the present or the past. But, moreover, if we once give +up the reference to the future, we could think of the past only; for in +chap; ii. 18, 19, the description of the salvation following upon the +misery, is connected with the preceding context by the Future with _vav +conversivum_. If, then, the scene of inward vision be forsaken, and +everything referred to external reality, the calamity described in the +preceding context must likewise be viewed as one already entirely past, +and the salvation as already actually existing. It can be proved, +however, [Pg 303] from the contents, by incontrovertible special +reasons, that the reference to the future is alone the correct one. The +day of the Lord is several times spoken of as being at hand, which may +be explained from the circumstance, that God's judgment upon His Church +is a necessary effect of His justice, which never rests, but always +shows itself as active. When, therefore, its object--the sinful +apostasy of the people--is already in existence, its manifestation +must also of necessity be expected; and although not the last and +highest manifestation, yet such an one as serves for a prelude to it. +The day of the Lord is, therefore, continually coming, is never +absolutely distant; and its being spoken of as _at hand_ is a necessary +consequence of the saying, "Wheresoever the carcase is, there will the +eagles be gathered together,"--a declaration founded upon the divine +nature, and therefore ever true. (Compare my _Commentary on the +Apocalypse_ i. 1.) This designation is first found in i. 15: "Alas! for +the day, for the day of the Lord is _at hand_, and as a destruction +from the Almighty does it come." Here, two expedients for evasion have +been tried. _Justi_ maintained that "the day is at hand" was equivalent +to "the day is there,"--an opinion which does not deserve any further +refutation. _Holzhausen_, _Credner_, and _Hitzig_ suppose that, by "the +day of the Lord," we are not to understand the devastation by the +locusts, but some severe judgment, to which that served as a prelude. +This supposition is, however, opposed, first of all, by the verbal +parallel passage in Isa. xiii. 6: "Howl ye, for the day of the Lord is +at hand; it cometh as a destruction from the Almighty,"--where the day +of the Lord cannot be any other than that which is described in the +preceding context. But this opinion is further opposed by the +circumstance, that, in the subsequent context, there is not the +slightest trace of any other judgment than that of the devastation by +the locusts; on the contrary, with its termination, the whole period of +suffering comes to an end, as regards the Covenant-people, and the time +of blessing upon them and of judgment upon their enemies begins. But +the necessity for understanding, by "the day of the Lord at hand," the +devastation by the locusts, and hence, for viewing the latter as still +future, is even more clearly seen from the second passage, chap. ii. 1, +2: "Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in My holy +mountain; let all the [Pg 304] inhabitants of the land tremble, for the +day of the Lord _hath come_, for _nigh at hand_, a day of darkness and +gloominess, a day of clouds and fogs, as the morning-red spread upon +the mountains, a people numerous and strong; there hath not been the +like from eternity, neither shall there be any more after it, even +through the years of all generations." That, by "the day of the Lord," +which the prophet, from the standing-point of his inward vision, here +speaks of as having already come, and as being in reality nigh at hand, +we must understand the same day as that which is minutely described in +the preceding and subsequent context, viz., the devastation by the +locusts, appears, in the first place, from the verbal parallel passage, +Ezek. xxx. 2, which likewise speaks of one day only: "Thou son of man, +prophesy and say. Thus saith the Lord, Howl ye, woe for the day! For +the day is near, a day to the Lord, a day of clouds, the time of the +heathen it shall be." But what places the matter beyond all doubt are +the words: "A people numerous and strong." These words, by which, +according to what follows, the locusts only can be understood, form an +explanatory apposition to "the day of the Lord," "the day of darkness," +etc. To this we may further add, that, by the last words, this judgment +is represented as the most formidable, and the last by which Judea +shall be visited; so that we cannot by any means think of a subsequent +later day of the Lord. 2. Are the different names of the locusts +designations of various species of locusts, or are these, beside the +common name of the locusts, only poetical names, which denote the +qualities coming into consideration? _Credner_ has attempted to prove +the former. He maintains that Joel's description has to do with two +generations of locusts,--the first belonging to the end of one +year,--the second, to the beginning of the year following. The latter +he thinks to be the offspring of the former. In accordance with this +hypothesis, he explains the different names, [Hebrew: gzM] is, +according to him, the migratory locust, which visits Palestine chiefly +in autumn; [Hebrew: arbh], elsewhere the general name of locusts, here +the young brood; [Hebrew: ilq], the young locust in the last stage of +its transformation, or between the third and fourth casting of the +skin; [Hebrew: Hsil], the perfect locust, proceeding from the last +transformation, and, hence, as the brood proceeded from the [Hebrew: +gzM], [Hebrew: Hsil] would be the same [Hebrew: gzM]. + + +[Pg 305] + +It forms a general argument against this hypothesis, that, +according to it, the prophet should enter so deeply and minutely into +the natural history of locusts, that a Professor of that science might +learn from him. There is nothing analogous to this, either in Scripture +generally, or in the Prophets particularly. The difficulty, moreover, +increases, when we assume--what has been already proved--that the +description refers to the future. The religious impression which the +prophet has, after all, solely in view, would not gain, but suffer +by such a minute detail in the description of a future natural +event,--especially such as a devastation by locusts. + +A closer examination proves that the whole explanation of the names of +the locusts, upon which the hypothesis is built, is untenable. It +appears, then, that the prophet knows of only one kind of locusts, +which he divides into four hosts; and that, with the exception of +[Hebrew: arbh] the names are not those of natural history, but +poetical, and taken from the qualities of the locusts. + +Let us first demonstrate that the interpretation of [Hebrew: ilq], upon +which _Credner_ founds that of the other names, is inadmissible. This +interpretation, he maintains (S. 295), is put beyond all doubt by the +passage, Nah. iii. 16: "The [Hebrew: ilq] casts its skin and flies +away." The merchants, who constituted the principal part of the +population of Nineveh, are, according to him, compared to a [Hebrew: +ilq] which flies away, after having cast his skin for the third or last +time. But this passage of Nahum, when minutely examined and correctly +interpreted, is by itself sufficient to refute that opinion concerning +the [Hebrew: ilq]. In ver. 15, it is said concerning Nineveh: "There +shall the fire devour thee, the sword shall cut thee off, it shall eat +thee up, as the _licker_ ([Hebrew: kilq]): make thyself many as the +_lickers_, make thyself many as the locusts. Ver. 16: Thou hast +multiplied thy merchants like the stars of heaven; _lickers broke +through and flew away_. Ver. 17: Thy princes are like locusts, and thy +captains are as a host of grasshoppers, which camp on the hedges in the +day of cold. The sun has risen, and they flee away, and their place is +not known where they are." This passage just proves that [Hebrew: ilq] +must be _winged_ locusts. The inhabitants of Nineveh are numerous like +the locusts; numerous are her rich merchants; but suddenly there cometh +upon them a numberless host of locusts, who rob [Pg 306] them of +everything, and fly away. They who rob and fly away, in ver. 16, are +not the merchants, but the enemies. This becomes quite evident from the +comparison of ver. 15, where quite the same antithesis is found +between--"The sword shall eat thee up as the lickers" (Nominat.), and +"Make thyself many as the lickers." The verb [Hebrew: pwT], in its +common signification, _irruit_, _invasit ad praedam agendam_, is here, +in reference to the merchants, very significant. But what is decisive +against the explanation of _Credner_ is this:--that the signification +"to cast the skin" cannot be established at all, and that the whole +sense is utterly unsuitable. For the discourse is not here, by any +means, of mercenaries or foreign traders, but of the native merchants +of Nineveh, just as, in the subsequent verses, the discourse is +about her own nobles. How then could that image be suitable, which +must certainly denote a safe transition from one state into a +better?--_Credner_ moreover refers to Jer. li. 27, where to [Hebrew: +ilq] the quality [Hebrew: smr], _horridus_, is ascribed. This, +according to him, is to be referred to the rough, horn-like coverings +of the wings of the young locusts. But, according to the context, and +to the analogy of the parallel passage, li. 14, we should rather expect +that "horrid" is here a designation of the multitude. (Compare the +[Greek: hos akridon plethos] of the LXX.) But it is still more natural +to give to [Hebrew: smr] the signification of "awful," "terrible." +(Compare Ps. cxix. 120, where the verb occurs with the meaning "to +shudder.")--That by [Hebrew: ilq], not the young brood, but the winged +locusts are to be understood, appears also from a comparison of Ps. cv. +34 with Exod. x. 12 ff. In Exod. a single army of _flying_ locusts +overspread Egypt; the Psalmist, in recalling this event to memory, +says: "He spake, and the locusts came, and [Hebrew: ilq] without +number." From this passage, especially when compared with Ps. lxxvii. +46, where, instead of [Hebrew: ilq], [Hebrew: Hsil] is interchanged +with [Hebrew: arbh], which alone is found in Exod., it is very clearly +seen that [Hebrew: ilq], the _licker_, is nothing else than a poetical +epithet of the locusts. It never occurs, indeed, in prose; and this can +be the less accidental, as [Hebrew: gzM], the _gnawer_, is also never +found in prose writings, and [Hebrew: Hsil] only once, in the prayer of +Solomon, 1 Kings viii. 37--as that which it is in reality, as a mere +attribute to [Hebrew: arbh]. That [Hebrew: ilq] has its name from the +eating, is shown by Nah. iii. 15: "The sword shall eat thee up as the +[Hebrew: ilq]." And, in addition to this, we may [Pg 307] further urge, +that the exposition of [Hebrew: arbh] is altogether fictitious, and +contradicted by all the passages;--that the prophet in ii. 25 inverts +the order, and puts the [Hebrew: gzM] last, from which it is certainly +to be safely inferred that the arrangement in i. 4 is not a +chronological one;--that _Credner_ himself, by his being obliged to +grant that [Hebrew: gzM] and [Hebrew: Hsil] do not signify a particular +kind of locusts, raises suspicions against his interpreting the two +other names of particular kinds;--and that if this interpretation +were to be considered as correct, [Hebrew: gzM] and [Hebrew: Hsil] +must denote the locusts as fully grown. But that is by no means the +case. The origin of the name [Hebrew: gzM] is, moreover, clearly +shown by Amos iv. 9: "Your vineyards, your fig-trees, and your +olive-trees,--[Hebrew: hgzM] devours them." As regards the corn, other +divine means of destruction had been mentioned immediately before; the +trees alone then remained for the locusts, and they received a name +corresponding to this special destination, viz., [Hebrew: hgzM], the +_gnawer_.--The verb [Hebrew: Hsl] is, in Deut. xxviii. 38, used of the +devouring of the locusts, and [Hebrew: Hsil] never occurs excepting +where the locusts are viewed in this capacity. (Besides the passages +already quoted, compare Is. xxxiii. 4.) + +The following also may be considered. The description of the ravages of +the second brood is, according to _Credner_, to begin in chap. ii. 4. +But the suffix in ver. 4 refers directly to the winged locusts spoken +of in vers. 1-3; and in the verb [Hebrew: **] they are the subject. + +And now, every one may judge what value is to be attached to a +hypothesis which has everything against it, and nothing in its favour, +and the essential suppositions of which--such as the departure of the +swarms, their leaving their eggs behind, their death in the Red +Sea--are, as the author of the hypothesis himself confesses, passed +over in silence by the prophet. + +We may now proceed to the solution of our proper problem. There are no +general reasons, either against the figurative, or against the literal +interpretation; neither of them has any unfavourable prejudice which +can be urged against it. A devastation by real locusts is threatened, +in the Pentateuch, against the transgressors of the law, Deut. xxviii. +38, 39; against the Egyptians, the Lord actually made use of this, +among other methods of punishment; and a devastation in Israel by +locusts is, in Amos iv. 9, represented as an effect of divine +anger.--[Pg 308]On the other hand, figurative representations of that +kind are of very common occurrence. In Isaiah, _e.g._, the invading +Assyrians and Egyptians appear, in a continuous description, as swarms +of flies and bees. The comparison of hostile armies with locusts is +very common, not only on account of their multitude (from which +circumstance the locusts received their name in Hebrew), but also on +account of the sudden surprise, and the devastation: compare Judges vi. +5; Jer. xlvi. 23, li. 27; Judith ii. 11. Several times a hostile +invasion also is represented under the _image_ and _symbol_ of the +plague of the locusts. In Nah. iii. 15-17, the Assyrians appear in the +form of locusts,--and that this is not only on account of their +numbers, but also on account of the devastations which they make, is +shown by the comparison with the [Hebrew: ilq] in ver. 15;--and just in +the same manner are the enemies described who accomplish their +overthrow. And,--what is completely analogous,--in Amos vii. 1-3, the +prophet beholds the approaching divine judgment under the image of a +swarm of locusts, just as, in ver. 4, under that of a fire, and in ver. +7, under that of a plumb-line. All these three images are in substance +identical; their meaning is expressed in ver. 9 by the words: "The high +places of Isaac shall be desolate, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall +be destroyed." The locusts denote destroying hostile armies; the fire +denotes war; and the plumb-line, the destruction to be accomplished by +the enemies. It was so much the more natural to represent the divine +judgment under the image of a devastation by locusts--as is done also +in Rev. ix. 3 ff.--because, formerly, it had actually manifested +itself in this way in Egypt. The figurative representation had +therefore a significant substratum in the history of the past. But it +is, throughout, the custom of the prophets to describe the future under +the image of the analogous past, which, as it were, is revived in +it.--It ought to be still further remarked, that we must, _a priori_, +be the less indisposed to admit a detailed symbolical representation in +Joel, as the two prophets, betwixt whom he is placed, have likewise +such symbolical portions. + +The decision depends, therefore, upon the internal character of the +description itself. An allegory must betray itself as such, by +significant hints; where these are wanting, it is arbitrary to assume +its existence. Following the order of the [Pg 309] text, we shall bring +together everything of this kind which we find in it. + +The words, even, of the introduction,--"Hath any such thing happened in +your days, and in the days of your fathers? Of it you shall tell your +sons, and your sons to their sons, and their sons to the succeeding +generation,"--scarcely permit us to think of a devastation by locusts +in the literal sense. It could only be by means of the grossest +exaggeration--which, if it were far from any prophet, was certainly so +from the simple and mild Joel--that he could represent, as the greatest +disaster which ever befell, or should ever befall the nation, a +devastation by locusts which was, after all, only a transitory evil. +For it is the greatness of the disaster which is implied in the call to +relate it to the latest posterity; no later suffering should be so +great as to cause this one to be forgotten. + +We must not overlook the expression in ver. 6: "_For a nation_ +([Hebrew: gvi]) has come up over my land." "Nation," according to most +interpreters, is thought to signify the mere multitude; but in that +case, [Hebrew: eM] would certainly have been used, as is done in Prov. +xxx. 25, 26, concerning the ants. In [Hebrew: gvi] there is implied not +only the idea of what is hostile--this _Credner_ too acknowledges--but +also of what is profane. This, indeed, is the principal idea; and, on +this account, even the degenerate Covenant-people several times receive +the name [Hebrew: gvi]. That this principal idea is here likewise +applicable, is evident from the antithesis: "Over my land." It is true, +that the suffix cannot be referred to Jehovah, as is done by _J. H. +Michaelis_ and others, although the antithesis would thus most +strikingly appear; but as little can we refer it, as is done by modern +interpreters, to the prophet as an individual; for, in this case the +antithesis would be lost altogether. The comparison of vers. 7 and 19 +clearly shows that, according to a common practice (compare the +Introduction to Micah, and the whole prophecy of Habakkuk), the prophet +speaks in the name of the people of God. A strange, unheard-of event! A +heathen host has invaded the land of the people of God! The antithesis +is in ii. 18: "Then the Lord was jealous for His land, and spared His +people." We do not think that the prophet loses sight of his image. He +designates the locust as the heathen host; but he would not have chosen +this designation, which, when literally [Pg 310] understood, is very +strange, unless the matter had induced him to do so. If it be +understood figuratively, Amos vi. 14 entirely harmonizes with it.--In +the same verse (Joel i. 6) it is said: "His teeth, the teeth of a lion, +cheek teeth of a lion to him;" on which Rev. ix. 8 is to be compared. +This comparison is quite suitable to figurative locusts, to furious +enemies (compare Is. v. 29; Nah. ii. 12, 13; Jer. ii. 15, iv. 7, xlix. +19; Ezek. xxxii. 2; Dan. vii. 4), but not to natural locusts; for the +lion cannot possibly be the symbol of mere voracity. + +It is remarkable, that in the description of the locusts in this verse, +and throughout, their flying is not mentioned at all. It is only in +chap. ii. 2, "Day of darkness and gloominess, day of clouds and thick +darkness," that _Credner_ supposes such an allusion to exist. The +darkness is, according to him, in consequence of the swarm of locusts +coming up in the skies. But the incorrectness of such a supposition is +immediately perceived, upon a comparison of chap. ii. 10. Before the +host, and before it arrives, the earth quakes, the heavens tremble, sun +and moon cover themselves with darkness, and the stars withdraw their +shining. It is only after all this has happened, that the Lord +approaches at the head of His host. It is not from this host, +therefore, that the darkness can proceed. On the contrary, the +darkening of the heavens, as is quite conclusively shown by the +numerous almost literally agreeing parallel passages (compare the +remarks on Zech. xiv. 6), is the symbol of the anger of God, the sign +that He approaches as a Judge, and an Avenger. But in what way could +the omission of every reference to the flying of the locusts, in a +description so minute, be accounted for other than this: that the +reality presented nothing corresponding to this feature? + +It is only the heaviest and most continuous suffering, and not a +transitory plague by locusts, which can justify the call in i. 8: "Howl +like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth." This +verse forms the transition to ver. 9, where the sacrifice in the house +of Jehovah appears as cut off, and connects Joel with Hosea, in whom +the image, of which the outlines only are given here, appears finished. +Zion has also lost the friend of her youth--the Lord; compare Prov. ii. +17: "Who forsaketh the friend of her youth, and forgot the covenant of +her God;" Is. liv. 6; Jer. ii. 2, iii. 4.--Of great [Pg 311] importance +for the question under consideration are ver. 9: "The meat-offering and +drink-offering are cut off from the house of the Lord;" and ver. 13: +"Gird yourselves and lament, ye priests, howl ye ministers of the +altar, come, spend all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God; for +the meat-offering and drink-offering are withholden from the house of +your God." It is quite inconceivable that the want of provisions, +resulting from a natural devastation by real locusts, could have been +the reason that the meat-offering and drink-offering, which, in a +material point of view, were of so little value, should have been +withheld from the Lord; inasmuch as the cessation of it appears in +these passages as the consummation of the national calamity. During the +siege of Jerusalem by Pompey, the legal sacrifices existed, according +to _Josephus_ (_Arch._ xiv. 4, Sec. 3), even amidst the greatest dangers +to life, during the irruption of the enemies into the city, and in the +midst of the carnage. It is true that, during the last siege by the +Romans, when matters had come to an extremity, _Johannes_ ordered the +sacrifices to be discontinued. But this was done, not from want of +materials, but because there were none to offer them--from [Greek: +andron aporia], as _Josephus_ says (_Bell. Jud._ vi. 2, Sec. 1; compare +_Reland_ in _Havercamp_ on this passage)--and to the great +dissatisfaction of the people in the city, [Greek: ho demos deinos +athumei]. The national view is expressed in what _Josephus_ says on +this occasion to Johannes, to whom he had been sent by Titus on account +of this event: "If any man should rob thee of thy daily food, thou, +most wicked man, wouldst certainly consider him as thine enemy. Dost +thou then think that thou wilt have for thine associate in this war, +God, whom thou hast robbed of His eternal worship?" But the sound +explanation readily suggests itself, as soon as it is admitted that +behind the locusts the Gentiles are concealed. In that case, Dan. ix. +27, where the destroyer makes sacrifice and oblation to cease, is +parallel. The destruction of the temple is also announced by the +contemporary Amos in chap. ix.; compare ii. 5: "And I send fire upon +Judah, and it devours the palaces of Jerusalem." Of a similar purport, +in the time after Joel, is the passage in Micah, chap. iii. 12. + +The words in ver. 15--"Woe, for the day, for the day of the Lord is at +hand, and as destruction from the Almighty does it come,"--point to +something infinitely higher than a mere [Pg 312] desolation by locusts +in the literal sense. This appears from a comparison of Is. xiii. 6, +where they are taken, almost verbatim, from Joel, and used with a +reference to the judgment of the Lord upon the whole earth. This is +granted even by _Credner_ himself, when he makes the vain attempt +(compare S. 345) to refer them to a judgment different from the +devastation by the locust. The same is the case with _Maurer_ and +_Hitzig_. How, indeed, is it at all conceivable that a national +calamity, so small and transient as a devastation by real locusts would +have been, should have been considered by the prophet as the day of the +Lord [Greek: kat' exochen], as the conclusion and completion of all the +judgments upon the Covenant-people? A conception like this would imply +such low notions of God's justice, and such a total misapprehension of +the greatness of human guilt, as we find in none of the Old Testament +prophets, and, generally, in none of the writers of Holy Scripture. +That which the men of God under the Old Testament, from the +first--Moses--to the last, announce, is the total expulsion of the +people from the country which they defiled by their sins. + +The image suddenly changes in vers. 19 and 20: "To thee, O Lord, do I +cry. For fire devoureth the pastures of the wilderness, and flame +burneth all the trees of the field. Even the beasts of the field desire +for Thee; for the fountains of waters are dried up, and fire devoureth +the pastures of the wilderness." The divine punishment appears under +the image of an all-devouring fire. Now, since we cannot here think of +a literal fire, it is certain that, in the preceding verses also, a +figurative representation prevails. _Holzhausen_ and _Credner_ (S. +163), and others, attempt to evade this troublesome inference, by +asserting that fire and flame are here used instead of the heat of the +sun, scorching everything. But this assertion is, at all events, +expressed in a distorted and awkward manner. Fire and flame are never +used of the heat of the sun. According to this view, it ought rather to +be said that the prophet represents the consuming heat, under the image +of fire poured down from heaven. But even this cannot be entertained. +For the parallel passage chap. ii. 3, "Before him fire devoureth, and +after him flame burneth," shows that the fire, being immediately +connected with the locusts, cannot be a cause of destruction +independent of, and co-ordinate with, them. That the locusts are the +sole cause of [Pg 313] the devastation, and that there is not another +cause besides them, viz., the heat, is evident also from the words: "As +the garden of Eden is the land before them, and behind them a desolate +wilderness, and nothing is left by them." The burning anger of God is +represented under the image of a consuming and destroying fire, with a +reference to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, in which the divine +wrath really manifested itself in that way. Under the image of fire, +_war_ also, one of the principal punishments of God, is often +represented. Thus, fire means the fire of war in Num. xxi. 28: Amos i. +4, 7, 10, etc.; Jer. xlix. 27; Rev. viii. 8, 10. On the latter of these +passages, my Commentary may be compared. If, then, the fire spoken of +in this passage mean likewise the fire of war, and the locusts, the +heathen enemies, the difficulty presented by the connection of these +two things is solved. The comparison of Amos vii. here serves as a key. +In vers. 1-3, the divine punishment is represented by the prophet under +the image of a great army of locusts laying waste the country, which is +just beginning to recover under Jeroboam II. after the former +calamities inflicted by the Syrians; and then in ver. 4, under the +image of a great fire devouring the sea (_i.e._, the world), and eating +up the holy land. This analogy is so much the more important, the more +impossible it is to overlook, in other passages also, the points of +agreement betwixt Joel and Amos. But the symbolical representation goes +still further; it extends even to the details. The beasts of the field +are the barbarous, heathen nations. In ver. 19, the desolations are +described which the fire of war accomplishes among Israel; in ver. 20, +those which it effects among the Gentiles: compare the antithesis +between the beasts of the field and the sons of Zion in ii. 22. In Is. +lvi. 9, the beasts of the field likewise occur as a figurative +designation of the heathen. In Jer. xiv.--a prophecy which has been +distorted by expositors through a too literal interpretation--the image +is, in vers. 5, 6, individualized by the mention of particular wild +beasts--the hind and the wild ass. Joel himself indicates that +the beasts in this description must, in general, be understood +figuratively, by using in ver. 18 the word [Hebrew: nawmv], which can +be explained only by "become guilty," "suffer punishment." (Compare Is. +xxiv. 6: "Therefore curse devoureth the land, and they that dwell in it +become guilty;" and [Pg 314] Hos. xiv. 1.) The word [Hebrew: nanHh], +which is never used of beasts, likewise leads us to think of men. "How +do the beasts groan," is explained by "All the merry-hearted do groan," +in Is. xxiv. 7. The words [Hebrew: terg aliK], in which there is an +evident allusion to Ps. xlii. 2, must likewise appear strange, if the +description be understood literally. But what is decisive in favour of +the figurative interpretation is ii. 22: "Be not afraid, ye beasts of +the field, for the pastures of the wilderness are green with grass, for +the tree beareth her fruit, the fig-tree and vine do yield their +strength." The object of joy is here described, first, figuratively, +and then, literally. The pastures of the wilderness are green with +grass, _i.e._, the tree, etc. It is only thus that the [Hebrew: ki] can +be accounted for; it states the reason, only when the pastures of the +wilderness are not understood literally. _The fruits of the trees are +mentioned here as the ordinary food of the beasts of the field._ +_Hitzig_, it is true, remarks on this: "That many beasts of the field +feed upon fruits of trees which they gather up, and that, _e.g._, foxes +eat grapes also." But the point at issue here is the ordinary food; and +Gen. i. 29, 30, where the trees are given to man, and the grass to the +beasts, is decisive as to the literal or figurative interpretation. +Under the image of unclean beasts--especially wild beasts--the Gentiles +appear also in Acts xi. 6.--Nor can "the rivers of water" (ver. 20) be +understood literally. The water of rivers, brooks, and fountains, is, +in Scripture, the ordinary figure for the sources of sustenance, of +thriving, wealth, and prosperity; compare remarks on Rev. viii. 10. + +Chap. ii. 2 is to be considered as indicating the reason which induced +Joel to choose this figurative representation. The words, "There hath +not been anything the like from eternity, neither may there be any more +after it, even to the years of all generations," are borrowed, almost +verbally, from Exod. x. 14. The prophet thereby indicates that he +transfers the past, in its individual definiteness, to the future, +which bears a substantial resemblance to it. What was then said of the +plague of locusts especially, is here applied to the calamity thereby +prefigured. From among all the judgments upon the Covenant-people (for +these alone are spoken of), this judgment is the highest and the last; +and such the prophet could say, only if the whole sum of divine +judgments, up to their consummation, represented [Pg 315] itself to his +inner vision under the image of the devastation by locusts. The +absurdities into which men are led by the hypothesis of a later origin +of the Pentateuch, are here seen in a remarkable instance--viz., in the +assertion of _Credner_, that the passage in Exodus is an imitation of +that of Joel. The verse immediately following, "As the garden of Eden +(_i.e._, Paradise) the land is before him," has an obvious reference to +Genesis, not only to Gen. ii. 8, but also to xiii. 10, where the vale +of Siddim, before the divine judgment, is compared to the garden of +Jehovah--to Paradise. + +In chap. ii. 6 it is said, "Before him nations tremble." That the +mention of the _nations_ here is but ill adapted to the literal +interpretation, appears from the circumstance, that while _Credner_ +understands by the [Hebrew: emiM], Judah and Benjamin, _Hitzig_ +attempts to explain it by people. But if, by the locusts, the heathen +conquerors are designated, the [Hebrew: emiM] is quite in its place. +When the powerful heathen empires overflowed the land, Israel always +formed only a part of a large whole of nations; compare i. 19, ii. 22. +Amos describes how the fire of war and of the desire of conquest raged, +not only in Israel, but among all the nations round about, and consumed +them. In addition to Amos chap. i. compare especially Amos vii. 4, 5, +where, as objects of hostile visitation, are pointed out, first, the +sea, _i.e._, the world, and then, the heritage of the Lord. According +to Is. x. 6, the mission of Asshur was a very comprehensive one. In +Habakkuk and Jer. chap. xxv. the judgments which the Chaldeans +inflicted upon Judah, appear only as a part of a universal judgment +upon all nations. + +According to chap. ii. 7-9, the locusts take the city by storm. They +cannot be warded off by force of arms. They climb the wall. They fill +the streets, and enter by force into the houses. Peal locusts are not +dangerous to towns, but only to the fields. + +In chap. ii. 11, every feature is against the literal explanation. "And +the Lord giveth His voice before His army; for His camp is very +numerous, for he is strong that executeth His word; for the day of the +Lord is great and very terrible, who can comprehend it?" There is not +the remotest analogy in favour of the supposition which would represent +an army of locusts as the host and camp of God, at the head of which He +[Pg 316] Himself marches as a general, and before which He causes His +thunders to resound like trumpets. It is true that, in some Arabic +writer, this is mentioned as a Mosaic command: "You shall not kill +locusts, for they are the host of God, the Most High;" see _Bochart_ +ii. p. 482, ed. _Rosenmueller_ iii. p. 318. But who does not see that +this sentence owes its origin to the passage under consideration? Is. +xiii. 2-5, where the Lord marches at the head of a great army to +destroy the whole earth, may here be compared; and on Joel ii. 10, +"Before him the earth quaketh, the heavens tremble, the sun and the +moon mourn, and the stars withdraw their shining," Is xiii. 10 and Jer. +iv. 28 may be compared, where, in the view of threatening hostile +inundation, the earth laments, and the heavens above mourn. + +In ii. 17, "Give not Thine heritage to reproach, _that the heathen +should rule over them_" ([Hebrew: lmwl-bM gviM]), the prophet drops the +figure altogether, and allows the reality--the devastation of the +country by heathen enemies--to appear in all its nakedness. (It is +worthy of notice that by the term [Hebrew: gviM] in this verse, our +remarks on [Hebrew: gvi] in ii. 6 receive a confirmation.) The +defenders of the literal explanation have tried a twofold mode of +escaping from this difficulty. _Michaelis_ explains thus: "Spare Thy +people, and deliver them from that plague of locusts. For if they +should continue to swarm any longer, the greatest famine would arise, +and Thy people, in order to satisfy the cravings of hunger, would be +compelled to flee into the territories of heathen nations to serve them +for bread, and to submit not only to their sway, but to ignominy." But +every one must at once see how far-fetched this explanation is. In +all history we do not find any instance in which a devastation by +locusts--which affects the produce of one year only, and even this +never completely and throughout the whole country--has reduced a people +to the necessity of placing themselves under the dominion of foreign +nations. Modern interpreters--and especially _Credner_--take refuge in +another explanation: "Give not up Thine heritage to the mockery of +heathens over them." They assert that the signification "to mock" is +required by the parallelism. But we cannot see how, and why. The +ignominy of Israel consisted just in this, that they, the heritage of +the Lord, were brought under the dominion of the Gentiles, It is Just +by the parallelism that the signification "to rule" is required. For it +is the heritage [Pg 317] of the Lord, and the dominion of the Gentiles, +which form a striking contrast, and not their mockery. The very same +contrast is implied in ver. 18, in the words: "Then the Lord was +jealous for His land." In these, the prophet reports the manner in +which the Lord put away that glaring contradiction. They are not +natural locusts, but only the heathen enemies, who can be the objects +of the jealousy of the Lord; _His_ land. _His_ people, He cannot give +up as a prey to heathen nations. But _further_--and this alone is +sufficient to settle the question--the explanation is altogether +unphilological. The verb [Hebrew: mwl] never has the signification "to +mock;" the phrase [Hebrew: mwl mwl], "to form a proverb," is altogether +peculiar to Ezekiel, in whose prophecies it several times occurs. In +the other books, nothing occurs which would be, even in the smallest +degree, to the purpose, except that in the ancient language of the +Pentateuch [Hebrew: mwliM] occurs once, in Num. xxi. 27, in the +signification "poets." The verb [Hebrew: mwl] with [Hebrew: b] means +always, and without exception, "to rule over"--properly, "to rule by +entering into any one." Thus it occurs especially in that passage which +the prophet had in view, Deut. xv. 5, 6: "If thou wait hearken unto the +voice of Jehovah thy God ... thou shalt rule over many nations, and +they shall not rule over thee," [Hebrew: vmwlt bgviM rbiM vbK la +imwlv]. Compare also the verysimilar passages, Ps. cvi. 41: "And He +gave them into the hand of the heathen, and they that hated them ruled +over them," [Hebrew: vimwlv bM]; and Lament, v. 8: "Servants rule over +us," [Hebrew: Mwlv bnv]. That it is from prejudice alone that the +selection of the signification "to mock" can be accounted for, appears +also from the circumstance that all the old Translators (the LXX., +_Jonath._, _Syr._, _Vulg._) render it by "to rule." + +More than one proof is offered by ver. 20: "And I will remove from you +the Northman, and will drive him into the land dry and desolate; his +van into the fore sea, and his rear into the hinder sea; and his stench +shall come up, and his ill-savour shall arise, for he has magnified to +do." + +1. If we understand this literally, and refer it to real locusts, then +the designation by [Hebrew: hcpvni], _i.e._, "one from the North," "a +Northman," is inexplicable. It is true that there is no foundation for +the common assertion, that locusts move only from the South to the +North (compare _Credner_, S. 284); but in all history there is not one +instance known of locusts having come [Pg 318] to Palestine from the +North--from Syria. But even although occasionally single swarms, after +having come to Syria from their native country, the hot and dry South, +may have strayed thence to Palestine, such is not conceivable of so +enormous a swarm as is here described, which, with youthful strength, +devastated the whole of Palestine from one end to the other. Is it, +moreover, probable that the prophet, who, as we have already seen, +prophesies things future, would mention a circumstance so accidental +as the transient abode of a swarm of locusts in Syria? Such a +residence, _besides_, would not justify the assertion. The termination +[Hebrew: -i]--added to common names, indicates origin and descent. An +inhabitant of a town, for example, who should reside for a short +time in a village, could not for that reason be called a [Hebrew: +przi].--_Finally_--The native country of the real locusts is plainly +enough indicated by the words: "And I will drive him into the land dry +and desolate." Who does not see that, by these words, the hot and dry +southern countries are marked out, and that the prophet expresses the +thought, "The enemies will be driven back to the place whence they +came," by mentioning the country from which the real locusts used to +come? Our opponents are here greatly embarrassed. Some explain: "The +locusts marching northward,"--_Hezel_ and _Justi_, without the +slightest countenance from the _usus loquendi_: "The dark and fearful +host." This opinion was approved of by _Gesenius_ in the _Thesaurus_; +but in opposition to it _Hitzig_ may be compared, who himself gives the +explanation, "The Typhonic." _V. Coeln_ (_de Joelis aetate_, Marb. 1811, +p. 10). _Ewald_ and _Meier_ propose a change in the text. With the +reasons preventing us from referring the expression to the locusts In a +literal sense, we may combine the fact that the North is constantly +mentioned as the native land of the most dangerous enemies of Israel, +viz., the Assyrians and Chaldeans. And although this designation be. In +a geographical point of view. Inaccurate, this is outweighed by the +circumstance, that enemies always Invaded Palestine from Syria, after +having previously made that land a part of their dominions. Compare +Zeph. ii. 13: "And the Lord stretches out His hand over the _North_, +and destroys Assyria, and makes Nineveh a desolation--a dry +wilderness;" Jer. i. 14: "And the Lord said unto me, Out of the _North_ +the evil shall break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land;" Jer. +iii. 18, where [Pg 319] the land of the North is mentioned as the land +of the captivity of Judah and Israel; Jer. iv. 6, vi. 1, 22, x. 22, +xlvi. 24, where the people of the North form the antithesis to Egypt, +the African power; and Zech. ii. 10. _Jerome_ long ago remarked: "The +prophet mentions the North, that we might not think of real locusts, +which are wont to come from the South, but might, by the locusts, +understand the Assyrians and Chaldeans." + +2. That we have here to do with a poetical description, and not with +one of natural history, appears from a designation of the places to +which the locusts are to be driven. Among these, the dry and hot +southern country--the Arabian desert--is first mentioned; then, the +anterior sea, _i.e._, the Dead Sea, situated eastward of Jerusalem; and +lastly, the hinder, or Mediterranean Sea. That, according to the view +of the prophet, the dispersion in these different directions was to +take place in a moment, appears from the circumstance that, according +to his description, the van of the same army is driven into one sea, +and the rear, into the other sea. Now, every one very easily sees that +this is a physical impossibility, inasmuch as opposite winds cannot +blow at the same time. _Credner's_ explanation, according to which the +[Hebrew: pniM] of the locusts is intended to be the swarm of those who +first invaded Palestine, while [Hebrew: svpv] is their brood, deserves +mention in so far only as it affords a proof of the greatness of the +absurdities into which one may be deluded, after he has once adopted a +groundless hypothesis. + +3. The words, "For he has magnified to do," state the reason of the +destruction of the locusts. They are _punished_ in this manner, because +they have _committed sin_ by their proud haughtiness. Because they have +magnified to do, the Lord now magnifies Himself to do against them, +ver. 21; He glorifies Himself in their destruction, since, at the time +of their power, they glorified themselves, and trampled God under foot. +But sin and punishment necessarily imply responsibility; and it would +be indeed difficult to prove that, in the way of a poetical figure, any +prophet would ascribe such to irrational creatures; while, as regards +the heathen enemies of Israel, the thought here expressed is of +constant occurrence. + +In chap. ii. 25, "And I restore to you the years ([Hebrew: hwniM]) +which the locusts have eaten," etc., _several_ years of calamity are +spoken of. But we cannot agree with _Ewald_ in thinking that [Pg 320] +the land was, for several years, laid waste by locusts: we are +prevented from doing so by the single word [Hebrew: itr] in chap. +i. 4. _Bochart_ rightly remarks: "The produce of the new year cannot +be called the residue of the former year. That word is much more +applicable to the fruits of some fields, which are passed by, or to the +residue left in a field, which should be eaten up in the same year." As +little can we suppose, with _Ewald_, that the plural is here used with +reference to the effects produced, by the devastation of one year, upon +the ensuing years; for it is not a possible loss which is here spoken +of, but one which has actually taken place. The prophet then passes, +here also, from the image to the thing itself,--to the hostile +invasions extending over longer periods, which he describes under the +image of a devastation by locusts which, at one time, took place. + +Very strong arguments in favour of the figurative explanation are +furnished, in addition, by chap. iv. (iii.). The whole announcement of +punishment and judgment upon the heathen nations has sense and meaning, +only when, in the preceding context, there has been mention made of the +crime which they committed against the Lord and His people. In that +case, we have before us the three main subjects of prophecy,--God's +judgments upon His people by heathen enemies, their obtaining mercy, +and the punishment of the enemies. At the very beginning of chap. iv. +(iii.) the sufferings of Israel, described in chap. i. and ii., and the +judgment upon the heathen, are brought into the closest connection. +According to chap. iv. 1, 2, the gathering of the Gentiles is to take +place at a time when the Lord will return to the captivity of Judah and +Jerusalem, _i.e._, according to the constant _usus loquendi_ (compare +my Commentary on Ps. xiv. 7), when He will grant them, mercy, and +deliver them from their misery.[1] But that this misery can be none +other than that described in chap. i. and ii. appears simply from the +fact, that this has been declared to be the close of all the judgments +of God.--We must, _further_, not overlook the article [Pg 321] in +[Hebrew: at-kl-hgviM] in chap. iv. 2, and, accordingly, must not +translate, "I will gather all nations," but "all _the_ nations." And +how could this be explained in any other way than--all the nations +which are spoken of in the preceding chapters under the image of +locusts? But of special importance is the second part of the verse: +"And I plead there with them concerning My people, and My heritage +Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and distributed My +land."[2] It is quite impossible that there should here be the mention +of anything which happened before the time of Joel. Whatever period we +may assign to him, he belongs, at all events, to a time in which a +scattering of Israel among the Gentiles, and a distribution of their +land, had not as yet taken place. _Credner_, indeed, believes that +the calamities under Jehoram are sufficient to account for these +expressions. "At that time," he says, "the Edomites revolted from +Judah; Libnah, which belonged to Judah In the stricter sense, rebelled; +the Arabs and Philistines invaded the kingdom and plundered its +capital; those inroads did then not terminate without a diminution of +the territory of Judah." But all this is irrelevant; the discourse +concerns the distribution of the land of the _Lord_. The rebellion of a +heathen tributary people does not, therefore, here come under +consideration. Just as little can we see what Libnah has to do here. It +belonged, it is true, to the kingdom of Judah; but the heathen nations +had nothing to do with its rebellion;--for this, according to 2 Kings +viii. 22, and 2 Chron. xxi. 10, proceeded from the inhabitants, who +were dissatisfied with the bad government of the king, and was speedily +brought to a close. It cannot then be proved, that even some small +portion of the territory was lost at that time; far less, that the +whole country was apportioned anew. It is quite the same as regards the +dispersion among the Gentiles. The invasion of the Philistines cannot +[Pg 322] here come into consideration, because, in ver. 4, these +enemies are expressly distinguished from those who had effected the +dispersion of the people, and the distribution of the land: "And ye +also, what have ye to do with Me, O Tyre and Sidon, and all the borders +of Palestine?" The prophet can thus not be speaking of something which +had taken place at his time; but as little can he speak of something +still future, which had not been touched upon by him when he threatened +punishment upon the Covenant-people; for the devastation by the locusts +appears as the highest and last calamity of the future. Nothing, +therefore, remains but to suppose, that under the image of the +devastation by locusts, the devastation of the country by heathen +enemies, and the dispersion of its inhabitants, are described,--a +supposition which is confirmed by the great resemblance of the passage +under consideration to chap. ii. 17-19. _Vatke_ (_Theol. des A. Th._ i. +S. 462) founded upon the fact that the general exile is here predicted, +the assertion that Joel had prophesied only after the captivity. No +one, of course, has been willing to agree with him in this; but as long +as the devastation by the locusts is understood literally, it will not +be possible to undermine the grounds upon which he supports his views. +It is altogether in vain that people spend their labour in disputing +the fact, so obvious and evident, that the discourse here concerns the +total occupation of the land by the heathen, the total carrying away of +its inhabitants. + +It may be further remarked, that this passage at the same time +considerably strengthens the proof already adduced, that Joel foretells +future things in chap. i. and ii. A devastation by the locusts is +described in these chapters; but the substance of this figure does not +refer to the time of Joel. + +_Finally_--We must still direct attention to the words in iv. 17:--"And +Jerusalem shall be a sanctuary, and there shall no strangers pass +through her any more." This promise stands in evident contrast to the +former threatening, and becomes intelligible only by it. In it, +therefore, the _strangers_ must be represented under the figure of the +locusts. + +And now, after all these single proofs have been enumerated--proofs +which, if necessary, might easily have been strengthened and +increased--let us look back to this survey of the contents of the book, +and we shall see how, according to our view, [Pg 323] and according to +it alone, the prophecy of Joel forms an harmonious, complete, and well +finished whole, and that the prophet adheres closely to the outlines +already given by Moses, with the filling up and finishing of which all +other prophets also are employed. And let us, finally, add, that +exegetical tradition also bears a favourable testimony to the +figurative interpretation. + +We need not spend much time in considering the arguments advanced +against the figurative interpretation by _Credner_ (S. 27 ff.), +_Hitzig_, and others. They all rest upon an almost incomprehensible +ignoring of the nature of poetry, of the metaphor, and of the allegory. +Thus, _e.g._, _Credner_ says, "What man of sound sense will ever be +able to say of horses, horsemen and warriors, that they resemble horses +and horsemen? Who has ever seen horses and horsemen climbing over +walls? What shall we say concerning chap. ii. 20? Do land armies ever +perish in the sea, and, moreover, in two different seas? What is the +use of foretelling, in chap. ii. 22, 23, the ceasing of the drought, if +the prophet here thought of real enemies?" But in opposition to all +these and similar objections, let us simply keep in mind, that the +prophet does not by any means view the enemies as such, and only +incidentally compares them with locusts; but that in his inward vision +they represented themselves to him as locusts. It is just the +characteristic feature of the allegory, that the image becomes in it +substantial, and has the thing represented, not _beside_ it, but _in_, +_with_, and _under_ it. But it is just for this reason that many a +feature must be introduced which does not belong to the _real_ subject, +_i.e._, the figure, but to the _ideal_ only, _i.e._, the thing +represented thereby. It is for this very reason also, that the +metaphor, raised to the _ideal_ subject, may again be compared with the +_real_ subject. After all this we may well judge what right _Ewald_ has +to call the figurative explanation "an error, which, in consideration +of our present knowledge, becomes from day to day less pardonable." + +We remark further, that, in chap. i. 4, it is distinctly indicated that +Israel's visitation by the world's power will not be a simple one, but +will present various aspects: "That which the _gnawer_ has left, the +_locust_ devoureth; and that which the _locust_ hath left, the _licker_ +devoureth; and that which the _licker_ hath left, the _eater_ +devoureth." The opinion has been entertained, that "the prophet does +not say, one cloud of locusts after [Pg 324] another, or swarms of +locusts of every description have come up; but, on the contrary, that +they are all contemporary, and that all of them devour the same +things." But a succession is quite obvious. The four parties do not +devour at the same time; but the second devours what the first has +left. It is true that the succession appears as very rapid; but that is +a peculiarity belonging only to the vision. If there be _at all_ a +succession of those extensive empires representing the world's power, +there must in reality be considerable intervals between them. The +question then arises, however, whether the number _four_ is to be +considered as a round number, so that the thought would only be this, +that several nations are to visit the people of the Lord, or whether, +on the contrary, importance is to be attached to the number _four_ as +such. According to _Jerome_, the Jews followed the latter view. In +accordance with their view, the first swarm denotes the Assyrians, +together with the Chaldeans; the second, the Medo-Persians; the third, +the Grecian kingdoms; the fourth, the Romans. The analogies of the four +horns in Zech. ii. 1-4 (i. 18-21), the four beasts in Daniel, the seven +heads of the beast in Revelation--denoting the seven phases of the +world's power opposed to God--are decisive in favour of the latter +view; compare my _Commentary on Rev._ xii. 18, xiii. 1. Now, if we +follow this view at all, we must, in determining the four swarms, +certainly assent to the opinion of the Jews, as given in _Jerome_; and +this so much the more, as the four swarms are, in that case, exactly +parallel to the four beasts in Daniel, which denote the Chaldean, +Medo-Persian, Grecian, and Roman monarchies. The fact that the +Assyrians are taken together with the Chaldeans can be the less +strange, because, so early as in the prophecy of Balaam, Asshur and +Babylon are comprehended under the common name [Hebrew: ebr], _i.e._, +"that which is on the other side,"--the power on the other side of the +Euphrates; and are contrasted with the new empire which pressed on from +the West--from Europe. (Compare my _Dissertation on Balaam_, p. 593 +ff.)[3] It was the less possible to ascribe to the Assyrians an +independent position here, as Joel has to do mainly with Judah, upon +which no judgment of real importance was inflicted by the Assyrians. + + +Footnote 1: The well ascertained _usus loquendi_ must be here the less +given up, as, in the preceding context, to which this verse carries us +back, we are, it is true, told that the Lord will return and bestow +mercy; but the bringing back of the people is as little spoken of as +the carrying of them away, inasmuch as the express mention of which did +not suit the image of the devastation by locusts. + +Footnote 2: [Hebrew: Hlq] means, not "to divide among themselves," but +"to effect a new division," "to apportion the land anew," as, _e.g._, +Asshur distributed the territory of the ten tribes among the Aramean +Colonists, [Hebrew: Hlq] is used of the distribution of the land by +Joshua, in Josh. xiii. 7, xix. 51. In Mic. ii. 4, when the captivity +was impending, the people, in anticipation of it, utter their +lamentation in the words, "He distributes our fields;" compare Ps. lx. +8. + +Footnote 3: In the volume containing the "_Dissertations on the +Genuineness of Daniel_, etc.," published by T. and T. Clark. + + +[Pg 325] + + ON CHAPTER II. 23. + +"_And, ye sons of Zion, exult and rejoice in Jehovah your God; for He +giveth you the Teacher of righteousness, and then He poureth down upon +you rain, the former rain and the latter rain, for the first time._" + +The words, "In Jehovah your God," are an addition peculiar to the sons +of Zion. In reference to the _earth_, which the locusts had devastated, +it was in ver. 21 said only, "Fear not, exult and rejoice." In +reference to the beasts, _i.e._, to the heathen world, which was kept +in subjection by the conquerors of the world, but which is delivered by +the great deeds of the Lord, it is in ver. 22 said only: "Fear not." +They are only the sons of Zion who know and love the Author of +Salvation, and who receive from Him special gifts, besides the general +ones. + +There is considerable difference in the interpretations of this verse. +The words, [Hebrew: at-hmvrh lcdqh], are, by the greater number of +interpreters, translated, "The Teacher of righteousness." Thus, +_Jonathan_, the _Vulgate_, _Jarchi_, _Abarbanel_, _Grotius_, and almost +all the interpreters of the early Lutheran Church translate them. +Others take [Hebrew: mvrh] in the signification of "rain," and [Hebrew: +lcdqh] as qualifying its nature more accurately. Even in ancient times, +this explanation was not at all uncommon. Among the Rabbinical +interpreters, it was held by _Kimchi_, _Abenezra_, _S. B. Melech_, who +explain it of a _timely_ rain. _Calvin_, who rendered the [Hebrew: +lcdqh] by _justa mensura_, defends it with great decision, and declares +the other explanations to be forced, and unsuitable to the connection. +It is translated by "rain" in the English[1] and Genevan versions, and +by many Calvinistic interpreters, who differ, however, in the +translation of [Hebrew: lcdqh], and render it either: "In right time," +or "in right measure," or "in the right place," or "for His +righteousness," or "according to your righteousness." _Marckius_ is of +opinion that "rain" is necessarily required by the context; but that, +on account of [Hebrew: lcdqh], this rain must be understood spiritually +of the Messiah with His saving doctrine, and His Spirit. Among the +interpreters of the Lutheran Church, _Seb. Schmid_ thinks of "a rain in +due season." [Pg 326] Among modern interpreters, the explanation by +"rain" has become altogether so prevalent, that it is considered +scarcely of any importance even to mention the other. [Hebrew: lcdqh] +is explained by _Eckermann_: "In proof of His good pleasure;" by +_Ewald_, _Meier_, and _Umbreit_: "For justification;" by _Justi_: "For +fruitfulness;" and by the others (_Rosenmueller_, _Holzhausen_, +_Credner_, _Rueckert_, _Maurer_, and _Hitzig_) by: "In right measure." +We consider this explanation to be decidedly erroneous, and the other +to be the sound one; and this for the following reasons:--1. The great +difference, on the part of the defenders of the current opinion, as +regards the explanation of [Hebrew: lcdqh] certainly indicates, with +sufficient clearness, that, by this addition, a considerable +obstruction is put in its way. The most current explanation, by "_justa +mensura_," "in right measure," "sufficiently," is certainly quite +untenable. Even the fact, that it is not [Hebrew: cdq] but [Hebrew: +cdqh] which is used here, must excite suspicion. (On the difference +betwixt these two words, compare _Ewald_ in the first edition of his +Grammar, S. 312-13.) But what is quite decisive is the fact that these +two words, which occur with such extraordinary frequency, are never +found in a physical, but always in a moral sense only. The only passage +in which, according to _Winer_, [Hebrew: cdq] signifies "rectitude" in +a physical sense, is Ps. xxiii. 3: [Hebrew: megli cdq] which, according +to him, means: "Straight, right ways." But that verse runs thus: "He +restoreth my soul, He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His +name's sake." The path is a spiritual one; it is righteousness itself, +which consists in the actual declaration of being just, and in +justification, which are implied in the gift of salvation. With regard +to [Hebrew: cdqh], _Holzhausen_ (S. 120) maintains that it is used of a +measure which has its due size in Lev. xix. 35, 36. The words are +these: "Ye shall not do _unrighteousness_ in judgment, in measure, in +division. Balances of righteousness, weights of righteousness, ephas of +righteousness, shall ye have: I am the Lord your God who brought you +out of the land of Egypt." Even the contrast--so evident--with the +_unrighteousness_, shows distinctly that balances, measures, and +weights of righteousness are here such as belong to righteousness--are +in harmony with it. Even the root [Hebrew: cdq] never occurs in a +physical sense, but always, only in a moral sense. To this it must be +added, that the explanation, "Teacher of righteousness," [Pg 327] is +recommended by the parallel passage in Hos. x. 12, where, also, +teaching occurs in connection with righteousness: [Hebrew: vivrh cdq +lsM], "And the Lord will come and teach you righteousness." This +parallel passage is also opposed to _Ewald's_ explanation, "for +justification,"--the only explanation among those mentioned to which, +it must be admitted, no philological objection can be raised. But the +thought, "The early rain an actual justification of Israel," would be +rather strange, and so much the more so, because the wrath of God had +not manifested itself in a drought and want of water, but rather in the +sending of the army of locusts. + +2. That the giving of the [Hebrew: mvrh], in the first hemistich of the +verse, must denote a divine blessing different from the giving of the +[Hebrew: mvrh] in the second, is evident for this reason:--that, +otherwise, there would arise a somewhat meaningless tautology. They who +assigned to [Hebrew: mvrh] in the first hemistich, the signification of +"rain in general," have felt how very unsuitable is the twofold mention +of the early rain. To this must be added the use of the _Fut._ with +_Vav convers._, [Hebrew: vivrd]. By this form, an action is denoted +which _follows_ from the preceding one; but according to the current +explanation, one and the same action would here be expressed, only in +different words. It cannot be denied, indeed, that the form occurs by +no means rarely in a weakened sense, and is used only to express a +connection; and that for this reason, this argument is not, _per se_, +conclusive. Yet the original signification so generally holds, that we +can abandon it only for distinct and forcible reasons. In addition to +this, it must be considered that the addition of [Hebrew: gwM] to the +second [Hebrew: mvrh] distinctly marks out the latter as being +different in its meaning from the former. It must also be kept in mind +that it is one of the peculiarities of Joel to use the same words and +phrases, after brief intervals, in a different sense; compare +_Credner's_ remarks on ii. 20, iii. 5. + +3. The explanation by "Teacher" is far more obvious for the reason that +[Hebrew: mvrh] always occurs with the signification of "teacher" (even +in Ps. lxxxiv. 7, where the right translation is: "With blessing also +the teacher covereth himself"), and never with that of "rain," or +"early rain." This is rather the meaning of [Hebrew: ivrh]; and the +verb also never occurs in _Hiphil_, as it does in _Kal_, with the +signification "to sprinkle," "to water." [Pg 328] By this we are led to +the supposition that Joel, in the second hemistich, made use of the +uncommon form [Hebrew: mvrh] with the meaning of "early rain," solely +on account of the resemblance of the sound to the [Hebrew: mvrh] +occurring immediately before, with its usual signification; and that, +at the same time, he added [Hebrew: gwM] for the purpose of avoiding +ambiguity. What serves to confirm this supposition, is the circumstance +that Jeremiah, alluding to the passage under consideration, has, in +chap. v. 24, put [Hebrew: ivrh] in the place of [Hebrew: mvrh]; which +proves that the second [Hebrew: mvrh] in Joel ii. 23 has originated +only from its connection with the first, which is altogether wanting in +Jeremiah. + +4. A causal connection, similar to that which exists here betwixt the +sending of the Teacher of righteousness and the pouring out of the +rain, occurs also in that passage of the Pentateuch which the prophet +seems to have had in view, viz., Deut. xi. 13, 14: "And it shall come +to pass, _if ye shall hearken unto my commandments_ which I command you +this day, that ye love the Lord your God, and serve Him with all your +heart and with all your soul, that I will give you the rain of your +land in due season, the first rain and the latter rain ([Hebrew: ivrh +vmlqvw]), and thou shalt gather in thy corn, and thy must, and thine +oil." Here, as well as there, the righteousness of the people is the +_antecedens_; the divine mercies and blessings are the _consequens_. +Since the former does not exist, God begins the course of His mercies +by sending Him who calls it forth. This remark removes, at the same +time, the objection, that the mention of the Teacher of righteousness +is unsuitable in a connection where the prophet speaks of temporal +blessings only, and rises to spiritual blessings only afterwards, in +chap. iii. There existed for the Covenant-people no benefits which were +purely temporal; these were always, at the same time, signs and pledges +of the divine favour, which depended upon the righteousness of the +people, and this, in turn, upon the divine mission of a Teacher of +righteousness. + +5. The [Hebrew: brawvN] is also in favour of our explanation. It stands +in close relation to [Hebrew: aHri-kN] in chap. iii. 1, ii. 28. The +sending of the Teacher of righteousness has two consequences;--_first_, +the pouring out of the temporal rain--an individualizing designation of +every kind of outward blessings, and chosen with a reference to the +passage of the Pentateuch which we have just [Pg 329] cited, but with +special reference to the description of the calamity, under the figure +of a devastation by locusts;--and, _secondly_, the outpouring of the +spiritual rain--the sending of the Holy Ghost. It needs only the +pointing out of this reference, which has been overlooked by +interpreters,[2] to set aside the manifold and different explanations +of [Hebrew: brawvN] which are, all of them, unphilological, or give an +unsuitable sense.[3] + +But if any doubt should still remain, it would be removed by a parallel +passage in Isaiah, which depends upon the text under review, in a +manner not to be mistaken, and which, therefore, must be regarded as +the oldest commentary upon it. Isaiah is describing the condition of +the people subsequent to their having obtained mercy, after a long time +of deep misery, in chap. xxx 20: "And the Lord gives you the bread of +adversity, and the water of affliction; and then thy _teacher_ +([Hebrew: mvriK] is _singular_) shall no longer hide himself, and thine +eyes shall see thy teacher; Ver. 21: And thine ears hear a word behind +thee, This is the way, walk ye in it; do not turn to the right hand, +nor to the left." Accordingly, after they have put away what was evil, +ver. 22: "The Lord giveth the rain of thy seed, with which thou sowest +thy land," etc., ver. 23. The teacher is not a human teacher, but God. +_Human_ teachers had not concealed themselves; but that the Lord had +concealed Himself, is affirmed in the preceding verses. The words, +"Behind thee" (ver. 21), suggest the idea of a teacher of such a glory +that they could not look in his face (compare Rev. i. 10); and the +words, "Thine eyes see thy teacher," ver. 20, imply the idea of the +high majesty of the teacher, and suggest the idea of a revelation of +the glory of the Lord; compare Is. xl. 5, lii. 8. The Lord must first +manifest Himself as a Teacher, before He appears as a Saviour. In +Isaiah, the Lord Himself appears as the Teacher; as also in Hos. x. 12: +"It is time to seek the Lord, till He [Pg 330] come and teach you +righteousness;" while in Joel, on the contrary, it is the Lord who +giveth the Teacher. Both may be reconciled by the consideration, that +in the Teacher whom the Lord gives, the glory of the Lord becomes +manifest. + +It now only remains to inquire who is to be understood by the Teacher +of righteousness. (Teacher of righteousness is equivalent to: "Teaching +them how they should fear the Lord," 2 Kings xvii. 28.) It is referred +to the Messiah, not only by almost all those Christian interpreters who +follow this explanation, with the exception of _Grotius_, who +conjectures that Isaiah or some other prophet is to be thereby +understood; but also, after the example of _Jonathan_, by several +Jewish commentators; _e.g._, _Abarbanel_, who says: "This teacher of +righteousness, however, is the King Messiah, who will show the way in +which we must walk, and the works which we must do." Even on account of +the article, it is not possible to refer it to a single human teacher; +and this argument may, at the same time, be added to those which oppose +the explanation of [Hebrew: mvrh] by "an early rain." There can be only +the choice betwixt the Messiah as the long promised Teacher [Greek: +kat' exochen], and the _ideal_ teacher,--the collective body of all +divine teachers. But the latter view requires to be somewhat raised, +before it can be allowed to enter into the competition. That we have +not here before us an ordinary collective body, is shown by the +parallel passage in Isaiah, according to which the glory of the Lord is +to be manifested in the Teacher. And this is as little applicable to a +plurality of human teachers, as to a single individual. It is _further_ +proved by the fundamental passage in Deut. xviii. 18, 19, where, +indeed, the prophetic order is comprehended in an _ideal_ person. This, +however, has its reason only in the circumstance, that the idea of +prophetism was, at some future time, to find its realization in a +_real_ person. It is _further_ seen from the state of the Messianic +hopes at the time of Joel, and from the exceeding greatness of what is +here connected with the appearance of the Teacher of righteousness. In +addition to the allusion in Gen. xlix. 10 and Deut. xviii., the Messiah +appears as a Teacher in the Song of Solomon also, chap. viii. 2; and in +Is. lv. 4: "Behold, I give Him for a witness to the people, for a +prince and a lawgiver to the people;" as also in those passages of the +second part of Isaiah, in which He is declared to be the Prophet +[Greek: kat' exochen]. [Pg 331] When thus understood, the explanation +of the _ideal_ teacher may be preferable to the reference to Christ +exclusively. In favour of such a reference, there is the comprehensive +character and the _ideal_ import which are, in general, peculiar to the +prophecies of Joel. Such a reference is, moreover, favoured by the +expression itself, which points out only that which Christ has in +common with the former servants of God, viz., the teaching of +righteousness, and especially by a comparison with the fundamental +passages, Deut. xviii. + + +Footnote 1: The English version has "a teacher of righteousness," as a +marginal reading.--Tr. + +Footnote 2: Since the appearance of the first edition of this work, it +has been acknowledged also by _Ewald_, _Meier_, and _Umbreit_. + +Footnote 3: _Hitzig_ explains it: "In the first month." But altogether +apart from the consideration that it is only in a chronological +connection that "in the first" can stand for "in the first _month_," +this explanation is objectionable on the ground that the early rain and +the latter rain cannot, by any means, belong to the same month. There +is the less difficulty in explaining it by "first," as [Hebrew: +brawvnh] undeniably occurs, several times, in this signification; +compare, _e.g._, Zech. xii. 7. + + + + EXPOSITION OF CHAP. III. (II. 28-32.) + +Ver. 1. "_And it shall come to pass, afterwards, I will pour out My +Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy; +your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see +visions._" + +The communication of the Spirit of God was the constant prerogative of +the Covenant-people. Indeed, the very idea of such a people necessarily +requires it. For the Spirit of God is the only inward bond betwixt Him +and that which is created; a Covenant-people, therefore, without such +an inward connection, is an impossibility. As a constant possession of +the Covenant-people, the Spirit of God appears in Isaiah lxiii. 11, +where the people, in the condition of the deepest abandonment, say, in +the remembrance of the divine mercies, "Where is He that put His Holy +Spirit within him?" But it was peculiar to the nature of the Old +Testament dispensation, that the effusion of the Spirit of God was less +rich. His effects less powerful, and a participation in them less +general. It was only after God's relation to the world had been +changed by the death of Christ that the Spirit of _Christ_ could be +bestowed,--a higher power of the Spirit of God, standing to Him in the +same relation as the Angel of the Lord to the incarnate Word. The +conditions of the bestowal of the Holy Spirit were, under the Old +Testament, far more difficult to obtain. The view of Christ in His +historical personality, in His life, suffering, and death, was wanting. +God, although infinitely nearer to the Jews than to the Gentiles, yet +ever remained a God relatively [Pg 332] distant. Since the procuring +cause of the mercy of God--the merit of Christ--was not yet so clearly +seen, it was far more difficult to lay hold of it, and the by-path of +legalism was far nearer. It was thus only upon a few--especially upon +the prophets--that the direct possession of the Spirit of God was +concentrated; while the greater number, even among those of a better +disposition, enjoyed a spiritual life derived only from a union with +them, and hence it was less strong. It arose from the nature of the +case that, at some future time, there must take place a richer and more +powerful effusion of the Spirit of God; and it was just for this reason +that it was the desire of Moses, that such might take place, and that +the whole people might prophesy. Num. xi. 29, besides expressing such a +desire, is, at the same time, a prophecy. He wished nothing else than +that the people of God might attain to such a degree as to realize the +idea of a people of God; and this must come to pass at some future +time, because the omnipotent and faithful God could not leave His work +unfinished. But Moses himself immediately subjoins the prophecy to the +wish, as a clear proof, that behind the wish the prophecy is concealed: +"Would God that all the Lord's people were prophets! for the Lord will +give His Spirit upon them," etc.; which is equivalent to: "At some +future time, the whole people of the Lord shall be prophets, not +against, but agreeably to, my wish; for," etc. It is this promise of +Moses which is here resumed by Joel, with whom, subsequently. Is. in +chap. xxxii. 15, "Until the Spirit be poured upon us from on high;" +chap. xi. 9, liv. 13; Jer. xxxi. 33, 34; Ezek. xxxvi. 26 ff., and Zech. +xii. 10, connect themselves. The ultimate reference of the promise is +to the Messianic time; but the reference to the preparatory steps must +not, for this reason, be by any means excluded. The announcement of the +pouring out of the Spirit rests upon the insight into the nature of +God's relation to His kingdom. God's judgments, in which He draws near +to His people, in which the abstract God becomes a concrete God, excite +in the people a longing for a union with Him. Teachers sent by God give +a right direction to this longing, and then an outpouring of the Spirit +takes place. This proceeding does, and must continually, repeat itself +in the history of the Covenant-people. The perfect fulfilment at the +time of Christ could [Pg 333] not at all have taken place, unless the +imperfect fulfilment had already pervaded their whole earlier history; +and that there is, in the prophecy under consideration, no reference at +all to such imperfect fulfilments, could be maintained only, if there +existed in the text any hint that the prophet intended to speak of only +the last realization of the idea. But as the exclusion of all the +preliminary stages is entirely arbitrary, it is just as arbitrary to +separate, from the events which make up the main fulfilment in the +Messianic time, one particular event, viz., that which took place on +the first day of Pentecost. It is only to a certain extent that we can +affirm that the prophecy found its final fulfilment in this event, +viz., in as far as it formed the pledge of it,--in as far as the whole +succeeding development and progress were already contained in it,--in +as far as Joel's prophecy in words was then changed into an infinitely +more powerful prophecy in deeds. It is from overlooking the relation of +the prophecy to the thought which animates it, and from the error +arising from this, viz., that the fulfilment must necessarily fall +within a particular, limited period, that the various opposite +interpretations had their rise (compare the copious enumeration and +representation of these in _Dresde_, _Comparatio Joelis de Effusione +Spir. S. vatic. c. Petrina interpret._ _Wittemb._ 1782, _Spec._ 2), all +of which are partially true, and are false only by their one-sidedness +and exclusiveness. 1. Several interpreters think of an event at the +time of Joel. Thus Rabbi _Moses Hakkohen_, according to _Abenezra_, +_Teller_ on _Turrettine de interpret._ p. 59, _Cramer_ on the +_Scythische Denkmaeler_, p. 221.--2. Others insist on an exclusive +reference to the first Pentecost. Thus do almost all the Fathers of the +Church--among whom, however, _Jerome_ (on Joel iii. 1) felt the great +difficulties in the way of this view, arising from the context--and +most of the later Christian interpreters.--3. Others would refer it at +the same time to the events in Joel's time, and to those at the first +Pentecost. Of this opinion are _Ephraem Syr._, _Grotius_, and +_Turrettine_.--4. Others place the fulfilment altogether in the future. +Thus did the Jews as early as in the time of _Jerome_, and afterwards +Jarchi, Kimchi, and Abarbanel.--5. Others, finally, find in the first +Pentecost the beginning only of the fulfilment, and regard it as +pervading the whole Christian time. Thus, _e.g._, _Calovius_ (_Bibl. +illustr. ad. h. l._) says: "Although [Pg 334] that prophecy began to be +fulfilled in a remarkable manner on that feast of the Pentecost, yet +its reference is not to that solemn event only, but to the whole state +of these last, or New Testament times, _just after the manner of other +general promises_." These last words show that _Calovius_ was very near +the truth. But if the promise be a general one, by what are we entitled +to place the beginning of its fulfilment only at the times of the New +Testament, and to exclude all of that same gift which God bestowed in +Old Testament times? The insufficiency of the foundation for such a +limitation in the text itself is proved by the following confession of +_Dresde_ (l. c. p. 8), who even believes himself obliged to defend such +a limitation from the authority of the Apostle Peter, and to whom it +did not at all occur, that any other reference than to some particular +event was even possible: "It appears, therefore," he says, "that the +prophecy, considered in itself, is so expressed, that no one, except +the first author of the prophecy, will be able convincingly to define +the exact event to which it really refers." We shall afterwards see +that the testimony of the New Testament to which _Dresde_ here alludes, +does not by any means demand such a limitation. We have seen that Joel +points to a fourfold oppression of Israel by the world's power. The +_main_ fulfilment we must then expect at the time of the fourth; but +this can scarcely be the first fulfilment; for we cannot imagine that +the former calamities should have passed over the people altogether +without effect; and the divine gift of the Spirit goes always hand in +hand with the susceptibility of the people. By proving that fourfold +oppression, we have also furnished the proof that the prophecy of the +outpouring of the Spirit has a comprehensive character.--From the +already established reference of the [Hebrew: aHri-kN] to the [Hebrew: +brawvN] in chap. ii. 23, it is obvious that it is not so much a +determination of the succession of time, as of a succession in point of +importance, which is thereby given. Among the two effects of the +mission of the Teacher of righteousness, first, the lower, and +then, the higher, presents itself to the view of the prophet. The +determination of time is not the essential point; that serves only to +illustrate the internal relation of these two events, the gradation of +these divine blessings; although we are able to demonstrate that, even +as regards time, the prophecy was fulfilled in this order. For after +the destruction by the [Pg 335] Chaldeans, the temporal blessings were +restored to the people, before the main fulfilment of the promise of +the outpouring of the Holy Spirit took place; compare Ps. cvii. 33-42 +with Joel ii. 25-27.--The words, "I shall pour out," refer to the rain +in ver. 23. The idea of copiousness, opposed to the former scantiness, +is indeed implied in it. Yet it must not be exclusively considered; the +qualities of the rain alluded to in ver. 24 ff.--viz., the quickening +of what was previously dead, the fructifying power--must not be +overlooked.--The words, "Upon all flesh," are, by most of the Jewish +interpreters (_e.g._, _Kimchi_, _Abenezra_; compare _Lightfoot_ and +_Schoettgen_ on Acts ii. 16, 17), referred to the members of the +Covenant-people only; but by the Christian interpreters, whom even +Abarbanel joins, to all men. So, still, does _Steudel_ in the _Tuebinger +Pfingst-Programm_, 1820, p. 11. But in this latter explanation, one +thing has been overlooked--as, among the older interpreters, has been +well shown by _Calvin_,[1] and among the more recent, by _Tychsen_ +(_progr. ad h. l._ p. 5)--viz., that the subsequent words, "Your sons, +your daughters, your old men, your young men, the servants, the +handmaids," contain a specification of the [Hebrew: bwr]; so that the +_all_, by which it is qualified, does not do away with the limitation +to a particular people, but only with the limits of sex, age, and rank, +among the people themselves. The participation of the Gentiles in the +outpouring of the Holy Ghost did not, in the first instance, come into +consideration in this place, inasmuch as the threatening of punishment, +with which the proclamation of salvation is connected, had respect to +the Covenant-people only. _Credner_ has been led into a strange error, +by pressing the words [Hebrew: kl-bvwr] without any regard to the +connection. He imputes to the prophet the monstrous idea, that the +Spirit of God, the fountain of all which is good and great, well +pleasing to God, and divine, is to be poured out upon all animals also, +even upon the locusts.--The foundation for the promise of the Holy +Spirit is formed by Gen. ii. 7, compared with i. 26. It supposes that +the spirit of man, as distinguished from all other living things [Pg +336] on earth, is a breath from God.--There is here, moreover, the same +contrast betwixt [Hebrew: bwr] and [Hebrew: rvH] as in Gen. vi. 3 and +Is. xxxi. 3: "The Egyptians are men, and not God; their horses are +flesh, and not spirit." (Compare other passages in _Gesenius'_ +_Thesaurus_, _s. v._ p. 249.) _Flesh_, in this contrast, signifies +human nature with respect to its weakness and helplessness; the +_spirit_ is the principle of life and strength. As "your sons," etc., +is a specification of all flesh, so, the words, "They prophesy, they +dream dreams, they see visions," are a specification of: "I pour out My +Spirit." From this, it is evident that the particular gifts do not here +come into consideration according to their individual nature, but +according to that essential character which is common to them as +effects of the Spirit of God. Hence it is obvious also, that we are not +at liberty to ask why it is just to the sons and daughters that the +prophesying is ascribed, etc. The prophet, whose object it is only to +individualize and expand the fundamental thought, _i.e._, the +universality of the effects of the Spirit, chooses for this purpose the +extraordinary gifts of the Spirit,[2] because these are more obvious +than the ordinary ones; and from among the extraordinary ones, again, +those which were common under the Old Testament; without thereby +excluding the others, or, as regards the real import, adding anything +to the declaration, "I will pour out My Spirit." This appears also from +ver. 2, where, in reference to the servants and handmaids, the +expression returns to the former generality. In distributing the gifts +of the Spirit among the particular classes, the prophet has been as +little guided by any internal considerations, as, _e.g._, Zechariah, +when in chap. ix. 17 he uses the words, "Corn maketh the young men grow +up, and must, the maids." The remark made by _Credner_ and _Hitzig_, +after the example of _Tychsen_, that visions are ascribed to vigorous +youth, but dreams to feebler age, appears at once, from an examination +of the historical [Pg 337] instances, and from the comparison of Num. +xii. 6, to be unfounded. "Your sons and your daughters prophesy," etc., +is equivalent to: "Your sons and your daughters, your old men and your +young men, prophesy, have _divine_ dreams (a limitation to such is +implied in their being the effects of the outpouring of the Spirit), +and see visions;" and this again is equivalent to: "They will enjoy the +Spirit of God, with all His gifts and blessings." In this, and in no +other way, has the passage been constantly understood among the Jews. +If it had been otherwise, how could Peter have so confidently declared +the events on the feast of Pentecost, where there occurred neither +dreams nor visions, to be a fulfilment of the prophecy of Joel? It is +implied, however, in the nature of the case, that, in the principal +fulfilments of the prophecy of Joel, the extraordinary gifts of the +Spirit should be accompanied by the ordinary ones; for the former are +the witnesses and means of the latter, although, at the same time, the +basis also on which they rest; so that times like those which are +described in 1 Sam. iii. 1, where the Word of God is precious in the +country, and there is no prophecy spread abroad, must necessarily be +poor in the ordinary gifts of grace also. It is not in the essence, but +only in the form of manifestation, that the extraordinary gifts differ +from the ordinary ones,--just as Christ's outward miracles differ from +His inward ones. + +Ver. 2. "_And upon the servants also, and upon the handmaids, I will +pour out My Spirit in those days._" + +_Credner_ refers this to the Hebrew prisoners of war, living as +servants and handmaids among heathen nations, far away from the Holy +Land. But if the prophet had this in view, he must necessarily have +expressed himself with greater distinctness. Moreover, the relation to +the preceding verse requires that, as the difference of sex and age was +there done away with, so no allowance should here be made for the +difference of rank. The [Hebrew: gM] shows that the extension of the +gifts of the Spirit even to servants and handmaids, who, to the carnal +eye, appeared to be unworthy of such distinction, is to be considered +as something unexpected and extraordinary. That there is very little +correctness in the assertion of _Credner_, that "there could have been +scarcely any doubt as regards the participation of the Hebrew [Pg 338] +slaves," is sufficiently shown by the fact, that Jewish interpreters +have attempted, in various ways, to lessen the blessing here promised +to the servants and handmaids. Even the translation of the LXX. by, +[Greek: epi tous doulous mou kai epi tas doulas mou], may be considered +as such an attempt. In the place of the servants of men, who appeared +to them unworthy of such honour, they put the servants of God. +_Abarbanel_ asserts that the Spirit of God here means something +inferior to the gift of prophecy, which is bestowed only upon the free +people. Instead of regarding the Spirit of God as the root and fountain +of the particular gifts mentioned in the preceding verse, he sees in +Him only an isolated gift,--that of an indefinite knowledge of God. But +such a view is opposed even by the relation of the words, "I will pour +out My Spirit," in ver. 2, to the same words in ver. 1; and also by Is. +xi. 2, where "Spirit of God" is likewise used in a general sense, and +comprehends within itself all that follows. It is not without design +that the fact is so prominently brought out in the New Testament, that +the Gospel is preached to the poor, and that God chooses that which is +mean and despised in the eye of the world. The natural man is always +inclined to suppose that that which is esteemed by the world must be so +by God also. This is sufficiently evident from the deep contempt of the +Pharisees for the [Greek: ochloi]; compare, _e.g._, John vii. 49. + +Ver. 3. "_And I give wonders in the heavens, and on earth; blood, and +fire, and vapour of smoke._" + +The mercy bestowed upon the Congregation of God is accompanied by the +judgment upon her enemies. Since the Congregation has again become the +object of His favour, especially in consequence of the Holy Spirit +being poured out upon her, it cannot be but that He will protect her +against the persecution of the world, and avenge her upon it. In vers. +3 and 4, the _precursors_ of the judgment (_before_ cometh, ver. 4) are +described, and in chap. iv. throughout, the judgment itself. There is +here an allusion to an event of former times, and which is now to be +repeated on a larger scale, viz., the plagues inflicted upon Egypt in +consequence of the same law. The prophet had specially in view the +passage, Deut. vi. 22: "And the Lord gave signs and wonders, great and +sore, upon Egypt, upon Pharaoh, and upon all his household before our +eyes."--The wonders are divided [Pg 339] into those which are in +heaven, and those which are on earth; then those which are on earth are +in this verse designated individually; and afterwards, in ver. 4, those +which are in heaven. With regard to the former, many interpreters (the +last of whom is _Credner_) understand by the "blood," bloody defeats of +the enemies of Israel; by "fire and smoke," their towns and habitations +consumed by fire. But this interpretation cannot be entertained. The +very designation by [Hebrew: mvptiM] indicates that we have here to +think of extraordinary phenomena of nature, the symbolical language of +which is interpreted by the evil conscience, which recognises in them +the precursors of coming judgment. This is confirmed also by the more +particular statement of the signs in heaven, in ver. 4; for the signs +on earth must certainly be of the same class as these. It is confirmed +likewise by a comparison with the type of former times, which we have +pointed out; for it is from this, that the blood is directly taken. The +first plague is thus announced in Exod. vii. 17: "Behold, I smite with +the rod in mine hand upon the waters in the river, and they are turned +into blood." _Jalkut Simeoni_ (in _Schoettgen_, p. 210) remarks: "The +Lord brought blood upon the enemies in Egypt: thus also shall it be in +future times; for it is written, I will give wonders, blood and fire." +The same is the case as respects the fire. Exod. ix. 24: "And there +came hail, and _fire mingled_ with the hail." It is more natural to +suppose that the prophet borrowed these features, as, in the former +description of the judgment upon Israel, the plague of the locusts lies +at the foundation, and as the contents of the following verse have +likewise their prototype in those events. Compare Exod. x. 21: "And the +Lord said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand toward the heaven, and let +there be darkness over the land of Egypt." That it is not real blood +which is here meant, but that only which, by its blood-red colour, +reminds of blood (comp. _e.g._, "Waters red as blood," 2 Kings iii. +22), is shown by the fundamental passage, Exod. vii. 17, where the +water which had become red is called simply blood; compare my +work on _Egypt and the Books of Moses_, p. 106. Blood brings into +view the shedding of blood; the fiery phenomena announce that +the fire of the anger of God, and the fire of war, will be enkindled; +compare remarks on i. 19, 20.--The word [Hebrew: timrvt] requires a +renewed investigation. Interpreters [Pg 340] uniformly explain it by +"pillars,"--a signification which is altogether destitute of any +foundation; for the Chaldee [Hebrew: tmrh], to which they refer, is +not found with the signification "pillar." Such a meaning is quite +inappropriate in the single passage quoted by _Buxtorf_; the +signification "smoke," or "cloud of smoke," is necessarily required in +that place. As little are we at liberty to appeal to [Hebrew: tmr], +"palm," with which [Hebrew: timrh] has nothing at all to do. The +[Hebrew: i], which would be without any analogy if derived from +[Hebrew: tmr] (compare _Ewald_ on _Song of Sol._ iii. 6), requires the +derivation from [Hebrew: imr]. The word [Hebrew: timrh] is a noun +formed from the 3d pers. _fem. Fut._ of this verb with [Hebrew: h] +affixed (compare, on these nouns, the remarks on Hos. ii. 14, and my +work on _Balaam_, p. 434), and, as to its form, it corresponds +exactly with [Hebrew: tmvrh], derived from the 3d _fem. Fut._ of the +verb [Hebrew: mvr]. There cannot now be any doubt regarding the +signification of [Hebrew: imr]. Is. lxi. 6, and Jer. ii. 11, where +[Hebrew: hmir] and [Hebrew: himir] occur in the same verse, show that +it corresponds entirely with [Hebrew: mvr]. Hence _Ewald_ (l. c.) is +wrong in identifying it with [Hebrew: amr], the alleged meaning of +which is "to be high." Now in Hebrew, [Hebrew: mvr] and [Hebrew: imr] +occur only in the derived signification of "to transform," "to change," +"to exchange;" but the primary signification is furnished by the +Arabic, where it means: _huc illuc latus, agitatus fuit,---fluctuavit._ +(Compare the thorough demonstration by _Scheid_, _ad cant. Hisk._ p. +159 sqq.) [Hebrew: timrvt] can accordingly signify only "clouds" +or "_vortices_." (In Arabic, [Hebrew: mvr] means "dust agitated +by the wind.") The connection of this signification with that of +"_palpehrae_," "eye-lids," in which it occurs in the Talmudic and +Rabbinical languages, is very obvious. They were so called from their +continual motion hither and thither. Such a connection, however, we +must the more easily be able to prove, because that Talmudic and +Rabbinical use of the word cannot be derived from any other root than +an ancient Hebrew one. The [Greek: atmis] of the LXX. likewise leads to +our interpretation, rather than to the prevailing one. The former is, +in the only passage in which [Hebrew: timrvt] occurs, besides the one +under consideration, and where it likewise occurs in the connection +with [Hebrew: ewN], viz., in Song of Sol. iii. 6, at least as suitable +as the latter. We have to think here of such phenomena as those which +are described in Exod. xix. 18: "And Mount Sinai was altogether on a +smoke, because the Lord had descended upon [Pg 341] it in fire, and the +smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace." Here, as well as +there, the fire, and the accompanying smoke, represent, in a visible +manner, the truth that God is [Greek: pur katanaliskon], Heb. xii. 29. +The clouds of smoke are the sad forerunners of the clouds of smoke of +the divine judgments upon the enemies, and of the fire of war, in the +form of which the former commonly appear. Compare Is. ix. 18, 19: "And +they mount up like the lifting up of smoke.... And the people became as +the fuel of fire; no man spareth his brother." The belief--which +pervades all antiquity--that the angry Deity announced the breaking in +of judgments through the symbolical language of nature, is very +remarkable. This belief cannot be a mere delusion, but must have a deep +root in the heart. Nature is the echo and the reflection of the +disposition of man. If there prevail within him a fearful expectation +of things to come, because he feels his own sin, and that of his +people, all things external harmonize with that expectation; and, most +of all, that which is the natural image and symbol of divine punitive +justice, which would not, however, be acknowledged as such, were it not +for the interpreting voice within. Having regard to this relation of +the mind to nature, God, previous to great catastrophes, often causes +those precursors of them to appear more frequently and vividly, than in +the ordinary course of nature. In a manner especially remarkable, this +took place previous to the destruction of Jerusalem. Compare +_Josephus_, _d. Bell. Jud._ iv. 4, 5. "For during the night, a fearful +storm arose,--there arose boisterous winds with the most violent +showers, continual lightnings and awful thunders, and tremendous +noises, while the earth was shaken. It was, however, quite evident that +the condition of the universe was put into such disorder for the +destruction of men, and almost every one conjectured that these were +the signs of impending calamity." A great number of other signs and +precursors are mentioned by him in _B. J._ vi. 5, Sec. 3. These will never +be altogether absent, as certainly as punishment never comes without +sin, and sin never exists without the consciousness, without the +expectation, of deserved judgment. But the chief point in this mode of +viewing things, is not the sign itself, but the disposition of mind +which interprets it,--the consciousness of guilt, which fills the soul +with the thought of an avenging God,--the [Pg 342] _condition of +filings which brings into view the infliction of the judgment._ It is +by this that we can account for the circumstance that; in the Old +Testament, the darkening of the sun and moon, and other things, +frequently appear as _direct images_ of sad and heavy times. + +Ver. 4. "_The sun is turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, +before there cometh the great and terrible day of the Lord._" + +Among all interpreters, _Calvin_ has given the most admirable +interpretation of this verse: "When the prophet says that the sun +shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, these are +metaphorical expressions, by which he indicates that the Lord will show +signs of His wrath to all the ends of the earth, as if a whole +revolution of nature were to take place, in order that men may be +stirred up by terror. For, as sun and moon are witnesses of God's +fatherly kindness towards us, as long as, in their changes, they +provide the earth with light, so will they, on the other hand, says the +prophet, be the messengers of the angry and offended God.--By the +darkness of the sun, by the bloody appearance of the moon, by the black +cloud of smoke, the prophet intended to express the idea, that +wheresoever men should turn their eyes, upwards or downwards, many +things would appear to fill them with terror. Hence the language of the +prophet amounts to this:--that never had the state of things in the +world been so miserable,--that never had there appeared so many and so +terrible signs of the anger of God."--We have already seen that the +prophet has before his eye the Egyptian type. The darkness upon the +whole land of Egypt, while there was light in the dwellings of the +Israelites, represented, in a deeply impressive manner, the anger of +God in contrast with His grace, of which the symbol is the shining of +His heavenly lights. The extinction of these is, in Scripture, +frequently the forerunner of coming divine judgments, or an image of +those which have been already inflicted; compare the remarks on Zech. +xiv. 6. Thus it has already occurred in the Book of Joel itself, in the +description of the former judgment; compare ii. 2: "Day of darkness and +gloominess, day of clouds and mist;" ii. 10: "Before Him quaketh the +earth, and trembleth the heaven; the sun and the moon mourn, and the +stars withdraw their shining." Thus it returns in iv. [Pg 343] 14, 15: +"The day of the Lord is near in the valley of judgment. The sun and the +moon mourn, and the stars withdraw their shining." The passages in +which, as in the one before us, the extinction has not a _figurative_, +but a _typical_ character, must not be limited to a single phenomenon. +Everything by which the brightness of the heavenly luminaries is +clouded or darkened, eclipses of the sun or moon, earthquakes, +thunderstorms, etc., fill with fear those in whose hearts the sun of +grace has set. + +Ver. 5. "_And it comes to pass, every one who calls on the name of the +Lord is saved; for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be such as have +escaped, as the Lord hath said, and amongst those who are spared is +whomsoever the Lord calleth._" + +We must first determine the signification of [Hebrew: pliTh]. The +greater number of interpreters explain it by "deliverance;" but it +means rather "that which has escaped." This appears, 1. from the form. +It is the fem. of the Adj. [Hebrew: pliT], the [Hebrew: -i] of which +has arisen from [Hebrew: --] by means of lengthening; hence it is that +[Hebrew: plTh] is thrice formed without [Hebrew: -i]. It is, then, an +adjective of intransitive signification. Now it is true that, by means +of the feminine termination, adjectives are changed into abstract +nouns, but never into such as indicate an action; but always into such +only for which, in Latin and Greek, the neuter of the adjective might +be used. This, however, is here inadmissible. 2. To this must be added +the constant use; as in Is. xxxvii. 31, 32: "And _that which has +escaped_ ([Hebrew: pliTt]) of the house of Judah, the _remnant_, taketh +root downward, and beareth fruit upward. For out of Jerusalem shall go +forth a _remnant_ ([Hebrew: warit]), and _that which has escaped_ +out of Mount Zion,"--a passage exactly parallel to the one under +consideration (compare also the following words in Is. xxxvii. 32: "For +the zeal of the Lord will do this," with "As the Lord hath said," +here). Is. iv. 2: "To that which has escaped," with which, "That which +is left in Zion, and that which remaineth in Jerusalem," in the +following verse, is identical; Is. x. 20: "The remnant ([Hebrew: war]) +of Israel, and that which has escaped of the house of Jacob;" Obad. +ver. 17: "And upon Mount Zion shall be that which has escaped,"--which +forms an antithesis to ver. 9: "And man shall be cut off from the Mount +of Esau;" and _finally_--Gen. xxxii. 9 (8): "And the camp which has +been left is for [Pg 344] the escaped." There does not thus remain a +single passage in which the signification "deliverance" is even the +probable one. The passages in Jeremiah, where [Hebrew: wrid vpliT] +occur together (xlii. 17, xliv. 14; Lam. ii. 2), show that [Hebrew: +pliTh] here is not different from [Hebrew: wridiM] in the subsequent +clause of the verse.--The expression [Hebrew: qra bwM ihvh] never is +used of a merely outward invocation, but always of such as is the +external expression of the faith of the heart; compare the remarks on +Zech. xiv. 9. Even on account of this stated condition, it is not +possible to think of the deliverance of the promiscuous multitude of +Israel, in contrast with that of the Gentiles; for the condition is one +which is purely internal, and it affords an important hint for the +right understanding of what follows. The [Hebrew: ki] by which it is +connected remains inexplicable, if Mount Zion and Jerusalem be +considered as a place of safety and deliverance for all who are +there externally. The same thing is evident from [Hebrew: pliTh]. +The sense is not by any means that all the inhabitants of Zion and +Jerusalem shall be delivered; but that there shall be some who have +escaped--viz., those who call on the name of the Lord; while those who +do not, shall be consumed by the divine judgment. The second condition +stated by the prophet--that of being called by the Lord--is in like +manner internal. The words [Hebrew: awr ihvh qra] have so evident a +reference to [Hebrew: awr-iqra bwM ihvh], that we cannot at all +suppose, as _Credner_ does, that they refer to other subjects. On the +contrary, they who _call on_ the Lord, are also they whom _He calls_ +from the general calamity into His protecting presence; and the prophet +has endeavoured, by the choice of the words, to bring out into view the +close connection of these two parties. They who call on the Lord, and +they whom the Lord calls (_Maurer's_ explanation: "And among those who +have escaped is every one who calls on the Lord" [compare Ps. xiv. 4], +gives a very feeble tautology), are the very same upon whom, according +to vers, 1 and 2, the fulness of the Spirit has been poured out.--The +words, "As the Lord has said," indicate, that the faithful ones may +safely take comfort from this promise; inasmuch as it is not the word +of men, but of God. We may see, from such parallel passages as Is. i. +20, xiv. 5, lviii. 14, how little reason we have for thinking that the +prophet here refers to some other prophecy. That the prophet, and not +the Lord Himself, is speaking in this verse, [Pg 345] is evident from +the words: "Who calls on the name _of the Lord_." It was, therefore, +very suitable to show, that it was by Immediate, divine commission that +the prophet had given utterance to the consolatory promise, that the +people of God would escape in these great and heavy judgments which +were to come upon the world. That it is very natural for believers to +fear that the punishments which threaten the world should fall upon +them also who are living _in_ the world, is shown by Rev. vii., the aim +of which is, throughout, to allay the anxious fear which might arise in +believers when considering the judgments which threaten the world. The +relation of the whole verse to what precedes and follows is this:--In +vers. 3 and 4, the prophet had stated the signs and forerunners of the +great and fearful day of the Lord. Now he points to the only, and the +absolutely sure means of standing on that day. Then, in chap. iv., +which is connected by [Hebrew: ki], he describes the judgment itself. + +If, now, we endeavour to discover the historical reference of vers. +3-5, we are met by a great variety of opinions. It is referred to the +destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans, by _Grotius_, _Cramer_, +_Turrettine_ (_de Scrip, s. interpret._ p. 331); among the Socinians, +in the _Raccovian Catechism_, p. 22, and by _Oeder_; and among the +Arminians, by _Episcopius_ in the _Instit. Theol._ p. 198. Others (as +_Jerome_) think of the resurrection of the Lord; others (as _Luther_) +of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit; others (as _Muenster_, _Capell_, +_Lightfoot_, _Dresde_, l.c. p. 22) of the destruction by the Romans. It +is referred to the judgment upon the enemies of the Covenant-people +soon after the return from the Babylonish captivity, by _Ephraem +Syrus_; to the impending overthrow of Gog, at the time of the Messiah, +by the Jewish interpreters; to the general judgment, by _Tertullian_, +_Theodoret_, and _Crusius_, In _Theol. Prophet._ i. p. 621; and to the +destruction of Jerusalem, and the general judgment at the same time, by +_Chrysostom_ and others. + +The great variety of these references has arisen solely from the +circumstance, that the prophecy has not been reduced to its fundamental +idea. This fundamental idea is:--The manifestation of God's punitive +justice upon all which is hostile to His kingdom, which runs parallel +with the manifestation of His grace towards the subjects of His +kingdom. This idea appears here, in all its generality, without +any temporal limitation [Pg 346] whatsoever. Not one of these +interpretations, therefore, can be absolutely right. They differ only +in this, that some of them are altogether false, inasmuch as they +assume a reference to events which do not at all fall under the +fundamental idea; while others are only limited and partial views of +the truth. + +To the first of these classes belong evidently the references to the +resurrection, and to the outpouring of the Holy Ghost. It is only by +detaching these verses from the following chapter that such a view +could arise. These events stand in no relation whatsoever to the +animating thought of the passage. There is a certain relation to that +thought in the reference to the destruction by the Chaldeans, in so far +as this was really a manifestation of divine punitive justice. But the +reference to this event would be admissible here, only if the prophet +were describing the manifestation of divine punitive justice _in +general_. But such is not the case. The comparison of chap. i. and ii. +shows that the subject of the prophecy is rather the manifestation of +divine justice in reference to those who are enemies to the kingdom of +God. The defenders of such a view have altogether misunderstood the +structure of the prophecy of Joel; for, otherwise, they would have seen +that that event belongs to the threatening of judgment in chap. i. and +ii., where the judgment upon the house of God is described; while, +here, there is a description of the judgment upon those who are +without. + +The same argument seems, at first sight, to apply also to the +destruction by the Romans. But on a closer examination, there appears +to be a difference betwixt these two events, and one which brings the +latter far more within the scope of the prophecy. The destruction by +the Romans was much more intimately connected with a total apostasy and +rejection, than was that by the Chaldeans. Even before the former +destruction, and immediately after the death of Christ, the former +Covenant-people had sunk down to the rank of the Gentiles. They were no +more apostate children, who were, by means of punishment, to be brought +to reformation, but enemies, who were judged on account of their +hostile disposition towards the kingdom of God. Malachi, in chap. iii. +23 (iv. 5), shows that such a time would come when that, which they +imagined to be intended only for the heathen by descent, should be +realized upon Israel after the flesh. The verbal repetition of the +words, "Before there [Pg 347] cometh the great and dreadful day of the +Lord," and their application to the judgment upon Israel, can be +accounted for only by his intention to oppose the prevailing carnal +interpretation of the prophecy under consideration. + +It will now be seen also, what the relation is which the phenomena at +the death of Christ, the darkening of the sun, the quaking of the +earth, the rending of the rocks (compare Matt. xxvii. 45, 51; Luke +xxiii. 44), occupy to the passage before us. They were like the +[Hebrew: mvptiM] here, actual declarations of the divine wrath, and +forerunners of the approaching judgment; and they were recognised as +such by the guilty, to whom this symbolical language was interpreted by +their consciences; compare Luke xxiii. 48: [Greek: Kai pantes hoi +sumparagenomenoi ochloi epi ten theorian tauten, theorountes ta +genomena, tuptontes heauton ta stethe, hupestrephon.] + +But we must not limit ourselves to the obduracy of the Covenant-people. +This we are taught, not only by the relation of chap. i. and ii. to iv. +2, but, with especial distinctness, by the renewal of this threatening +in Rev. xiv. 14-20, where the image of the vintage and winepress, in +particular, is borrowed from Joel; see iv. 12, 13. The objects of +judgment are there the heathen nations on account of their hostility to +the people of God, who, by Christ, and by the outpouring of the Spirit +procured by Him, have fully attained to that dignity. Nor is the +judgment there an isolated one. On the contrary, all which, in history, +is realized in an entire series of judicial acts, to be at last +consummated in the final judgment, is there comprehended in one great +harvest--in one great vintage. + +We have still to make a few remarks upon the quotation in Acts ii. 16 +ff. Nothing but narrow-mindedness and prejudice could deny that Peter +found, in the miracle of Pentecost, an actual fulfilment of the +promise in vers. 1 and 2. This becomes probable, not only from the +circumstance, that the reference of this prophecy to the Messianic +time was the prevailing one among the Jews (compare the passages in +_Schoettgen_, S. 413), but also from the translation of [Hebrew: +aHri-kN] by [Greek: en tais eschatais hemerais], by which, in the New +Testament, the Messianic time is always designated. To this must +also be added the express declaration in ver. 39, that the promise +was unto the generation then present. How could Peter have uttered +such a declaration, [Pg 348] if his view had been that the promise had +found its fulfilment in a time long gone past? At the same time, it +is equally certain, that Peter was so far from considering all the +riches of the promise to be completely exhausted by that Pentecostal +miracle, that he rather considered it to be only a beginning of the +fulfilment,--a beginning, indeed, which implies the consummation, as +the germ contains the tree. This is quite obvious from ver. 38: [Greek: +metanoesate kai baaptistheto hekastos humon.... kai lepsesthe ten +dorean tou hagiou pneumatos]. How could Peter, referring to the +prophecy, promise the gift of the Holy Spirit, promised in the prophecy +to those who should be converted, if the prophecy was already +completely fulfilled? But it is still more apparent from ver. 39: +[Greek hUmin gar estin he epangelia kai tois teknois humon, kai pasi +tois eis makran, hosousan proskalesetai Kurios ho Theos hemon.] The +question is, who are to be understood by those [Greek: eis makran]? No +one could have doubted that the Gentiles are thereby to be understood, +unless two things altogether heterogeneous had been confounded, viz., +the uncertainty of Peter concerning the _fact_ of the reception of the +Gentiles into the kingdom of God, and his uncertainty concerning the +_mode_ of their reception. Considering the condition of the Old +Testament prophecy, the latter is easily accounted for; but the former +cannot. To state only one from among the mass of arguments which prove +that Peter could not be ignorant of the _fact_, we observe that the +very manner in which, in Acts iii. 25, he quotes the promise given to +Abraham, that by his seed the nations should be blessed, proves that he +regarded the Gentiles as partakers of the kingdom of Christ. This is +rendered still more incontrovertible by the [Greek: proton] in ver. 26. +To understand, by [Greek: eis makran], foreign Jews, is inadmissible, +for the single reason that these were present in great numbers, and +hence, were included in the term [Greek: humin]. Now Peter, throughout, +addresses all those who were present. How then could he have here +confined himself, all at once, to a portion of these I There is, +moreover, a plain allusion to the close of Joel iii. 5, which the LXX. +translate [Greek: ous Kurios proskekletai]. This allusion contains, at +the same time, a proof of the concurrent reference to the Gentiles, +which is not in express words contained in the prophecy, provided we do +not put an arbitrary interpretation upon [Hebrew: bwr]. Attention is +thereby directed [Pg 349] to the fact, that, In that passage, +salvation, which requires, as its condition, a participation in the +outpouring of the Spirit, does not depend upon any human cause, but +solely upon the call of God--upon His free grace. In a manner entirely +similar, does St Paul, in Rom. x. 12, 13, prove, from the beginning of +Joel iii. 5, the participation of the Gentiles in the Messianic +kingdom: [Greek: Ou gar esti diastole Ioudaiou te kai hEllenos. ho gar +autos Kurios panton, plouton eis pantas tous epikaloumenous auton. Pas +gar hos an epikalesetai to onoma Kuriou, sothesetai.] If the calling on +God were the condition of salvation, access to it was as free to the +Gentiles as to the Jews. But if the prophecy has a distinct reference +to the still unconverted Jews, their children and the Gentiles, it is +then evident, that, according to the view of the Apostle, it did not +terminate in that one instance of Its fulfilment, but that, on the +contrary, it extends just as far as the thing promised--as the +outpouring itself of the Holy Spirit. This clearly appears, also, from +the allusions to the passage under consideration. In the accounts of +later outpourings of the Spirit; compare, _e.g._, Acts x. 45, xi. 15, +xv. 8. How, then, was it even possible that Peter should have limited +to the few who had already, at that time, received the Spirit, a +prophecy, in which the idea of generality is, intentionally, made so +prominent? But, even if the universal character of the prophecy had +been less distinct, Peter would certainly not have thought of confining +it in such a manner. Such a gross and superficial view of the +prophecies was far from Peter, as well as from the other Apostles. + +Another question remains to be answered. For what purpose does the +Apostle quote verses 3-5 also, inasmuch as, apparently, verses 1 and 2 +alone properly served his purpose; and what sense did he put upon them? +The answer Is given In ver. 40: [Greek: hEterois te logois pleiosi +diemartureto, kai parekalei, legon. Sothete apo tes geneas tes skolias +tautes.] Even in the few words In which Luke communicates to us the +brief summary of what Peter spoke In this respect, a reference to the +passage under consideration has been preserved to us. Peter made use of +the threatening which was, in the first Instance, to be fulfilled upon +the dark refuse of the Covenant-people, In order to Induce them, by +terror, to seek a participation in the promise which alone could +deliver them [Pg 350] from the threatened judgment. That he succeeded +in this, is shown by the words, [Greek: Egeneto de pase psuche phobos], +in ver. 43. Several interpreters have, by ver. 22, been led into a +total misconception of the sense in which Peter quotes vers. 3-5. It is +true, certainly, that the words [Greek: terasi kai semeiois] are not +used without reference to the passage in Joel. Peter directs attention +to the circumstance, that they who, from their hardness of heart, do +not acknowledge the [Greek: terata] and [Greek: semeia] with which God +accompanied the manifestation of His grace, shall be visited by [Greek: +terata] and [Greek: semeia] of a totally different nature, from the +fearful impression of which they shall not be able to escape. + +But let us now in addition consider some of the particulars. In +substance, the quotation by Peter agrees with the LXX.; but deviations +occur on particular points. At the very beginning, the LXX., adhering +more closely to the Hebrew text, have: [Greek: kai estai meta tauta]; +whereas Peter says: [Greek: kai estai en tais eschatais hemerais.] The +reason of this deviation is, that the Apostle intends to determine, by +this deviation, the expression, which in itself is wider and more +indefinite, in such a manner that the period to which the prophecy +specially refers, and hence also its application to the case in +question, should be rendered more obvious. In a case entirely similar, +Jeremiah, in chap. xlix. 6, employs the wider term [Hebrew: aHri-kN], +while in xlviii. 47 he makes use of the more definite [Hebrew: bahrit +himiM]. By the latter term, _Kimchi_ also explains the [Hebrew: +aHri-kN] in the passage before us; while _Jarchi_ (compare _Schoettgen_, +S. 210) explains it by the equivalent term [Hebrew: letid lba]. The +words [Greek: legei ho Theos] are wanting in the LXX., as well as in +the original Hebrew text. They have been taken from ver. 5, and, +contrasted with [Greek: to eiremenon dia tou prophetou Ioel], they +direct attention to the divine source of prophecy, and hence to the +necessity of its fulfilment. The two members, [Greek: kai hoi +presbuteroi humonenupnia enupniasthesontai, kai hoi neaniskoi humon +horaseis opsontai], Peter has reversed; probably in order to place the +young men together with the sons and daughters, and to assign the place +of honour to the old men. In the [Greek: doulous mou] and [Greek: +doulas mou], Peter follows the LXX., and that in a sense which only +expressly makes prominent a point really contained in the prophecy, +whether such was intended by the translators, or not; for the +circumstance that the servants of men were, at the same [Pg 351] time, +servants of God, formed the ground of their participation in the +promise. The same contrast is found, _e.g._, in 1 Cor. vii. 22, 23: +[Greek: hO gar en Kurio kletheis doulos apeleutheros Kuriou estin. +homoios kai ho eleutheros kletheis, doulos esti Christou. Times +egorasthete. me ginesthe douloi anthropon]; compare Gal. iii. 28; +Philem. 10. Hence it is equivalent to: Upon servants and handmaids of +men who are, at the same time, my servants and handmaids, and, +therefore, in spiritual things of equal rank with those who are free. +To give prominence to this perfect equality, is also the design of the +additional clause: [Greek: kai propheteusousi], subjoined after [Greek: +ekcheo apo tou pneumatos mou.] The circumstance that Peter thought it +necessary to add this clause, which, as we have proved, quite +harmonizes with the design of the prophet, seems to prove that, even at +his time, interpretations were current, in which an attempt was made to +diminish, or altogether to take away, in the case of servants and +handmaids, their participation in those blessings;--interpretations +similar to those of _Abarbanel_, and even of _Grotius_, who thus +paraphrases the verse: "Even to those who seem to be lowest, I will +certainly impart, although not prophesying and dreaming dreams, yet +certain extraordinary and heavenly motions." The antiquity of this +false interpretation is attested by _Jerome_ also, who probably was, in +this respect, altogether dependent upon his Jewish teachers. He +interprets, indeed, the servants and handmaids spiritually, and of such +as have not the spirit of freedom he says: "They shall neither have +prophecies, nor dreams nor visions, but, satisfied with the outpouring +of the Holy Spirit, they shall possess only the grace of faith and +salvation."--In ver. 3, Peter adds [Greek: ano] to [Greek: en to +ourano], and [Greek: kato] to [Greek: epi tes ges], in order to make +the contrast more obvious and striking. All the deviations from the +LXX., and the original text, are thus of the same kind, and intended to +bring out more distinctly what is implied in the passage itself. Not +one of them need to be accounted for by the circumstance, that the +Apostle quoted from memory. + + +Footnote 1: He says: "The sense in which the universality must be +understood is clearly indicated by what follows. For, it is first said, +in general, 'All flesh,' and afterwards, a specification is added, by +which the prophet intimates, that age or sex will not constitute any +difference, but that God will bring them all, without any distinction, +into the communion of His grace." + +Footnote 2: The two parallel members prove, in opposition to _Redslob_ +and others, that the verb [Hebrew: nba] here, as everywhere else, has +reference to an ecstatic condition, to the speaking in the Spirit, +although this is by no means limited to a revelation of the future. The +closeness of the connection between prophesying, dreaming dreams, and +seeing visions, is evident from Num. xii. 6, where visions and dreams +appear as the two principal forms of revelation to the [Hebrew: nbia]. + + +[Pg 352] + + + THE PROPHET AMOS. + + GENERAL PRELIMINARY REMARKS. + +It will not be necessary to extend our preliminary remarks on the +prophet Amos, since on the main point--viz., the circumstances under +which he appeared as a prophet--the introduction to the prophecies of +Hosea may be regarded as having been written for those of Amos also. +For, according to the inscription, they belong to the same period at +which Hosea's prophetic ministry began, viz., the latter part of the +reign of Jeroboam II., and after Uzziah had ascended the throne in +Judah. + +The circumstances of the prophet we learn, generally, from the words in +chap. i. 1: "Who was among the herdmen of Tekoah." If there existed no +other statement than this, there might be truth in the remark made by +many interpreters, that we cannot, from his having been a herdman, +infer that he was poor and low. It is shown, however, by a statement in +chap. vii. 14, that, by the "herdman," we are not to understand one who +was also possessed of flocks, or, like David, the son of such, but a +poor servant herdman. For, in that passage, the prophet replies to the +command of the priest Amaziah to get himself out of the country, to +which he did not belong, and to return to his native land: "I am no +prophet, nor the son of a prophet, but I am a herdman; and _such an one +as plucketh sycamores_. And the Lord took me from behind the flock, and +the Lord said unto me. Go prophesy unto My people Israel." The fruit of +the sycamores, called [Greek: atrophos] and [Greek: kakostomachos] by +_Dioscorides_, served as food for only the poorest and meanest. +_Bochart_ (_Hieroz._ t. i. p. 407 [385] _Rosenmueller_) remarks: "It is +the same as if he had said, that he was a man of the humblest +condition, and born in poor circumstances, so that he scarcely +maintained his life by scanty and frugal fare; that he had never +thought of obtaining the prophetical office in Israel, until a higher +power, viz., divine inspiration, impelled him to undertake it."[1] But +this passage merits our attention in another [Pg 353] point of view. In +what sense is it that Amos here denies that he is a prophet? It is +evidently in a very special sense that he does so. He obviously does +not mean thereby to deny that he possessed the gift of prophecy, or +held the prophetical office; for, otherwise, he would himself have +furnished weapons to his enemy, to whom he wishes to prove his right. +The following remarks will be found to contain the true answer. + +It cannot be proved in any way, that the schools of the prophets, +established by Samuel at a time when the circumstances of Judah and +Israel were altogether similar, were continued in the kingdom of Judah. +Every prophet there stands in an isolated position. The entire +prophetic order and institute bears rather a sporadic character. But in +the kingdom of Israel, where the prophetic order occupied a position +altogether different from that which it held in the kingdom of Judah, +inasmuch as, after the expulsion of the tribe of Levi, they had to +watch over all the interests of religion, the schools of the prophets +had a very important mission assigned to them. We must not by any means +imagine that their constitution was such, that after a few years' +training, the sons of the prophets attained to perfect independence. +The greater number of them remained during all their lifetime in the +position of sons. The schools of the prophets were a kind of +monasteries. Even those who, in consequence of their peculiar +circumstances, no longer remained there, but were scattered throughout +the country, continued always under their authority. One needs only to +read attentively the histories of Elijah and of Elisha, which afford us +the fullest information regarding these institutions, to be speedily +convinced of the soundness of the view which we have here presented. On +the subject of the organization of the schools of the prophets in the +kingdom of Israel, compare _Dissertations on the Genuineness of the +Pentateuch_, i. p. 185. f. + + +[Pg 354] + +But how can Amos adduce it as a proof of his divine mission, +that he is neither a prophet, nor, in the sense explained, a prophet's +son, _i.e._, that he was neither a superior nor an inferior member of +the prophetic order? The answer is,--It was the result of that +organization of the prophetic order, that the relation to the Lord was +one which was more or less mediate. To those who would not acknowledge +the immediate divine influence, some ground was thereby afforded for +doing so. Their training, their principles, the form of their +prophecies, all admitted of a natural explanation. It is true that the +_spirit_ which animated them baffled any such attempt; but that spirit +was not so easily perceived. In the case of any one, then, who appeared +as a prophet, without standing in that connection, and yet in the full +possession of all prophetic gifts,--in demonstration of the spirit and +of power, a natural explanation was far more difficult; especially if, +like Amos, he was, by his outward situation, cut off from all human +resources for education. But was Amos, for that reason, an uneducated +man? This is a question which one may answer either in the affirmative +or negative, according to what he understands by education. So much is +certain, that he was in possession of the essential part of a true +Israelitish education--viz., the knowledge of the law. The most +intimate acquaintance with the Pentateuch everywhere manifests itself; +compare in proof of this the _Dissertations on the Genuineness of the +Pentateuch_, i. p. 136 ff. There are too many instances, down to most +recent times, of living piety breaking, in this respect, through almost +impenetrable barriers, to allow us to consider this as a strange thing, +and to make it necessary for us to excogitate the various ways and +means by which Amos may have received this education. It is only on the +lower ground of the mere forms of language, that the rank of Amos not +unfrequently appears. In all the higher relations he shows himself a +type of the Apostles, who, although they were uneducated fishermen of +Galilee, exhibit the most distinguishing proofs of true education. + +Amos belonged to that circle of prophets who received a commission to +prophesy the ruin which was impending over the Covenant-people, before +any human probability existed for it. _Baur_, on Amos, S. 60, is of +opinion that "the definiteness with which he prophesies the destruction +of the kingdom of [Pg 355] Jeroboam, although its power was at that +time still flourishing, leads us to expect that he must have had +distinct indications of its speedy decay." In a certain sense we may +assent to this opinion. The prophet himself continually points to such +indications. These indications are the sins of the people. But if +_Baur_ endeavours to put political indications in the stead of these +moral ones; if he be of opinion that the Assyrians must, at that time, +have stood in a threatening attitude in the background, we must give to +his opinion a decided opposition. We can, in such an assertion, see +only an effect of that naturalistic mode of viewing things, which would +limit the horizon of the prophets to that of their own times.[2] Not +the slightest allusion to the Assyrians occurs. The supposition that +Calneh or Ktesiphon, in chap. vi. 2, appears as having already fallen +(through the Assyrians), rests upon an incorrect interpretation, just +as does the assertion that Hamath, in the same passage, is supposed to +be conquered; concerning the latter point, compare _Thenius_ on 2 Kings +xiv. 28. In the announcement of the carrying away into captivity beyond +Damascus, made in chap. v. 27, there appears nothing more than the +knowledge, that the catastrophe will not be brought about by that +heathen power which had hitherto brought ruin upon the kingdom of +Israel But, everywhere, we may see that the prophet--whom we have no +reason to think an especially ingenious politician--appeared at a time +when no one expected any danger. Amos prophesied at a time when the +morning-dawn had risen upon Israel, iv. 13, v. 8; "in the beginning of +the shooting up of the grass, and behold the grass was standing, after +the King (Jehovah) had caused to be mown," vii. 1; at a time when the +prosperity of the kingdom of the ten tribes was again budding forth. In +chap. viii. 9, the Lord threatens that He will cause the sun to go down +at noon, and bring darkness over the land in the day of _light_. In +chap. vi. 4-6, the prevailing careless luxury and [Pg 356] joy are +graphically described. Chap. v. 18 implies that the people mocked at +the threatening of the coming of the day of the Lord, the coming of +which could, therefore, not have been indicated by any human +probability. In chap. vi. 1, the prophet gives utterance to an +exclamation of woe over them that are secure in Zion, and that trust in +the mountain of Samaria. In chap. vi. 13, he opposes the delusion of +those "who rejoice in a thing of nought, who say, Have we not taken to +us horns by our own strength?" The people in the kingdom of the ten +tribes must accordingly have imagined that they were living in the +golden age of the fulfilment of Deut. xxx. 17, and must not have +thought for a moment that the axe was already laid to the root of the +tree. + +But we are not at liberty to seek the fulfilment of the prophecy of +Amos, only in the visitation by the Assyrians. That which happens to +the people of the ten tribes is, to the prophet, only a part of a +general visitation, which comes, not only upon all the neighbouring +nations, but upon Judah also, and which brings utter ruin upon the +latter, chap. ii. 4, 5, destroying the temple at Jerusalem, and driving +the house of David from the throne, ix. 1, 11. According to prophecy +and history, however, this catastrophe came upon Judah, not by Asshur, +but, in the first instance, by Babylon. + +The prophecy possesses a comprehensive character, such as we should be +led to expect from the close connection of Amos with Joel. It +comprehends everything which Judah and Israel, along with the +neighbouring people, had to suffer from the rising heathen powers; +compare vi. 14, v. 24, according to which, judgment shall roll down as +waters, and righteousness as a _continual_ stream.[3] + +In the case of Amos, also, interpreters have been at considerable pains +in fixing the time and the occasion of the single portions, but with as +little success as in the cases of Hosea and Micah. The very inscription +proves that we have before us a whole, composed at one time, and +containing the substance of [Pg 357] what the prophet had uttered +previously, and in a detached form. According to this inscription, the +book was composed only two years after the prophet's personal ministry +in the kingdom of Israel. But if there were such an interval betwixt +the oral preaching of the prophet and its having been committed to +writing, it is, _a priori_, not likely that the latter should have +followed the former, step by step. + +The words, "Two years before the earthquake," cannot be regarded as a +chronological date, intended to fix more definitely the exact time +within the more extended period previously stated, viz., "the days of +Uzziah and Jeroboam." For such a purpose they are ill suited, inasmuch +as the time of the earthquake is not fixed; and, moreover, any such +more definite determination would have been without either significance +or interest. This only was of importance, that the word of the Lord +should have been uttered in the days of Jeroboam, and that the prophecy +of the destruction should have been delivered at a time when the +Israelites enjoyed an amount of prosperity, such as they had not known +for a long time. It can scarcely be doubted that the earthquake under +Uzziah, the fearfulness of which is testified by Zech. xiv. 5, comes +under consideration only as the reason for the composition of the +book,--for committing to writing what had formerly been delivered +orally. The earthquake denotes, in the symbolical language of +Scripture, great revolutions, by which the form of the earth is +changed, and that which is uppermost, overturned; compare my remarks on +Rev. vi. 12. To point to such an earthquake had been the fundamental +thought of Amos' oral predictions. By the natural earthquake, he was +induced to commit them to writing, that they might go side by side with +the symbol, and serve as its interpreter. + +There is a plan in the arrangement of the book, which indicates that +the book is not a collection of separate discourses, but that it bears +an independent character. It is distinctly divided into two parts,--the +first, made up of naked prophecies, from chap. i. to chap. vi.; the +second, of such prophecies as are connected with a symbol, which is +always very simple, and very briefly described,--from chap. vii. to +chap. ix. + +In the first part, the prophet begins with the announcement of the +wrath of the Lord, ver. 2. He then reviews, in their [Pg 358] order, +those kingdoms upon which it shall be poured out, viz., Damascus, +Philistia, Tyrus, Edom, Ammon, Moab, and Judah: until at last the storm +reaches to Israel, and, according to _Rueckert's_ striking remarks, +remains suspended over it. + +In addition to Israel, there are seven nations, and the seven are +divided into three, and four; three not related to the people of the +ten tribes, and four related to them; the brotherly people of Judah +being introduced after three nations have been mentioned which are more +distantly related to Israel. + +According to _Rueckert_, it is only in chap. ii. 6-16 that the storm +which remained suspended over Israel is described; then in chap. +iii.-vi. there follow four threatening discourses, which are not +connected either with the preceding ones, or with each other. But the +correct view rather is, that this stationary suspension is described in +the whole of the first half,--in the main, indeed, even to the end of +the book. + +This is evident from the consideration that, if such were not the case, +the treatment of the main subject would be, as regards the extent of +the description, greatly disproportioned to the introduction; for chap. +i. to ii. 5 must be considered to be, throughout, merely introductory. +But as the ground on which we advance this assertion is made in +opposition to an unsound view, it requires a more particular +determination. It is assumed by many interpreters, that in the nations +besides Israel, the prophet reproves "some haughty excesses, but, +evidently, only as instances of the immorality prevailing" (_Jahn_, +_Einl._ 2, p. 404). But this view, according to which the prophet +might, instead of the various crimes mentioned, have noticed any other +crime, _e.g._, fornication, idolatry, etc., is certainly erroneous. It +is rather a _theocratic_ judgment of which he speaks throughout; they +are crimes against the theocracy, the punishment of which he announces. +These he considers as being more heinous than all others; for the guilt +of the latter is diminished by the circumstance of their having been +committed against the hidden God only, while the former have been +committed against the God who has manifested Himself, and who is living +among His people. For so much is evident, that the main cause of the +hatred of all the neighbouring nations against Israel was, that Israel +was the people of God. For where can an instance be found of a hatred +betwixt any [Pg 359] two of them, so inextinguishable, and continuing +through centuries? How entirely different is, _e.g._, the position of +Edom against Moab, from that of Edom against Israel? Three reasons +confirm the correctness of our assertion as to the purely theocratic +nature of the judgment. 1. The general announcement of the judgment. +"Jehovah roareth from Zion, and from Jerusalem He giveth His voice." +The very use of the name Jehovah here deserves attention. A judgment of +a general kind upon the heathen would belong to God as Elohim. It is +Elohim who is the God of the heathen,--the Creator, Preserver, and +Governor of the world, from whom blessings, as well as judgments upon +it, proceed. Now it might be said that Jehovah is used in the case of +the heathen also, for the sake of uniformity, because to Him belongeth +the judgment upon Judah and Israel. But that this is not the case, is +seen from the addition: "From Zion,--from Jerusalem." Every general +judgment proceeds from heaven; it is only as a theocratic God, that God +reigns in Zion and Jerusalem. This argument admits of no exception; all +that God does from Zion is theocratic deliverance, or theocratic +judgment.--2. The nature of the crimes themselves, which are cited by +way of example. It can certainly not be merely accidental, that they +are all such as were committed against the Covenant-people. There is +one only which forms an apparent exception, viz., that of the Moabites, +who are, in chap. ii. 1, charged with having burned into lime the bones +of the king of Edom. But, with the consent of the greater number of +interpreters, _Jerome_ remarks on this: "In order that God might show +that He is the Lord of all, and that every soul is subject to Him who +formed it. He punishes the iniquity committed against the king of +Edom." But in this remark of Jerome, the relation in which Idumea stood +to the Covenant-people is altogether lost sight of. It is only as a +vassal of their kings that the king of Edom here comes into view. This +is sufficiently manifest from 2 Kings iii., although the event narrated +there is different from that which is here alluded to, of which no +record has been preserved in history.[4] The hatred against the +Covenant-people, which the [Pg 360] Moabites were too weak openly to +exhibit, impelled them to this wicked deed against the king tributary +to them.--3. It must be carefully observed how the prophet, when coming +to Judah, introduces us, at once, into the centre of _theocratic_ +transgression, the forsaking of the living God, and the serving of +vain, dead idols. + +It will now be easily seen in what way the portion, chap. i.-ii. 5, +serves as an introduction to what follows. The prophecies against +foreign nations do not, as elsewhere, serve as a consolation, or as a +proof of the love of God towards His people, and of His omnipotence, or +as a means for destroying confidence in man's power, in man's help; +they are, on the contrary, intended, from the very outset, to give rise +in Israel to the question: If such be done in the green tree, what +shall be done in the dry? That question the prophet answers at large. +If severe punishment be inflicted, even upon those who have trespassed +against the living God, with whom they came into contact only +distantly, what will become of those to whom He manifested Himself so +plainly and distinctly,--among whom He had, as it were, gained a +form,--before whose eyes He had been so evidently set forth? The +declaration, "You only do I know of all the families of the earth; +therefore I shall visit upon you all your iniquities" (iii. 2), forms +the centre of the whole threatening announcement to Israel. And could +it indeed be introduced in any better way than by pointing out, how +even the lowest degree of knowledge was followed by such a visitation? +But now, that which under the Old Testament was the highest degree, +becomes, under the New Testament, only a preparatory step. The +revelation of God in Christ stands in the same relation to that +made to Israel under the Old Testament, as the latter stands to the +manifestation of His character and nature to the heathen, who came into +connection with the Covenant-people. Thus the fulfilment becomes to us +a new prophecy. If the rejection of God, in His inferior revelation, +was followed by such awful consequences to the temporal welfare of the +people of the Old Covenant, what must be the consequences of the +rejection of the highest and fullest revelation of God to the temporal +and spiritual welfare of the people of the New Covenant? This is a +thought which is further expanded in Heb. xii. 17 ff., and it forms the +essential feature of [Pg 361] the description of the judgment of the +world in the New Testament. This judgment has been but too often +thus misunderstood, as if it concerned the world as the world,--a +misunderstanding similar to that of the section before us. The Gospel +shall first be preached to every creature, and according as every +one has conducted himself towards the _living_ God, so he shall be +judged.--But it is not to the heathen nations only, but to Judah +also that, by way of introduction, destruction is announced. The +circumstance that not even the possession of so many precious +privileges, as the temple and the Davidic throne, could ward off the +well-merited punishment of sin, could not but powerfully affect the +hearts of the ten tribes. If God's justice be so energetic, what have +_they_ to expect? + +If we continue the examination of _Rueckert's_ view, it will soon +appear that the phrase, "Hear this word," in iii. 1, iv. 1, and v. +1, can alone be considered as the foundation on which it rests. But +these words do not at all prove a new commencement, but only a new +starting-point. This appears sufficiently from the absence of these +words at the alleged fourth threatening discourse in chap. vi.; and +likewise from a comparison of Hosea iv. 1 and v. 1: "Hear the word of +the Lord, ye children of Israel," and "Hear this, ye priests, and +hearken, ye house of Israel, and give ear, house of the king;" while +nothing similar occurs in the following chapters. That such an +exhortation was appropriate, even in the middle, is clearly seen from +Amos iii. 13. It cannot then, _per se_, prove anything in favour of a +new beginning. If it is to be regarded as such, the discourse must be +proved, by other reasons, to have been completed. But no such reasons +here exist. We might as reasonably assume the existence of ten +threatening discourses, as of four. The circumstance that we can +nowhere discover a sure commencement and a clearly defined termination, +shows that we are fully justified in considering the whole first part, +chap. i. to vi., as a connected discourse. + +The second part, which contains the visions of the destruction, is +composed, indeed, of various portions,--as might have been expected +from the nature of the subject. Each new vision, with the discourse +connected with it, must form a new section. Chap. vii., viii., and ix., +form each a whole. From the account which is added to the first vision; +and which relates [Pg 362] to the transactions between Amos and the +high priest Amaziah, which were caused by the public announcement of +this vision (chap. vii. 12-14), we are led to suppose that these +visions were formerly delivered singly, in the form in which we now +possess them. But that, even here, we have not before us pieces loosely +connected with each other in a chronological arrangement, is evident +from the fact, that the promises stand just at the end of the whole +collection. The prophet had rather to reprove and to threaten than to +comfort; but yet he cannot refrain, at least at the close, from causing +the sun to break through the clouds. Without this close there would be +wanting in Amos a main element of the prophetic discourse, which is +wanting in no other prophet, and by which alone the other elements are +placed in a proper light. + +It also militates against the supposition of a mere collection, that in +the last vision the prevailing regard to the kingdom of the ten tribes +disappears almost entirely, and that, like the third chapter of Hosea, +it relates to the whole of the Covenant-people,--in agreement with the +reference to the earthquake mentioned in the inscription, which the +prophet had experienced in Judah, and which brought into view, not a +particular, but a general, judgment. + +The symbolical clothing, however, forms the sole difference betwixt the +second part and the first. As the "real centre and essence of the book" +the second part cannot be regarded; the threatening is as clear and +impressive in the first part. + +That which is common to Amos with the contemporary prophets, is the +absolute clearness with which he foresees that, before salvation comes, +all that is glorious, not only in Israel, but in Judah also, must be +given over to destruction. Judah and Israel shall be overflowed by the +heathen world, the Temple at Jerusalem destroyed, the Davidic dynasty +dethroned, and the inhabitants of both kingdoms carried away into +captivity. But afterwards, the restoration of David's tabernacle (ix. +11), and the extension of the kingdom of God far beyond the borders of +the heathen world (ver. 12), take place. The most characteristic point +is the emanation of salvation from the family of David, at the time of +its deepest abasement. + + +Footnote 1: _Bochart_ remains unrefuted by the assertions of _Hitzig_, +_Baur_, and others, who make Amos the owner of a plantation of +sycamores, which, according to them, made him a wealthy man. [Hebrew: +bls] can be understood only of the plucking, or gathering of the fruits +of the sycamores. The "cutting of the bark" is by no means obvious, and +is too much the language of natural history. That the prophet's real +vocation is designated by [Hebrew: bvqr], and that [Hebrew: bvls wqmim] +is not, by any means, something independent of, and co-ordinate with +that, appears from ver. 15, where the [Hebrew: bvqr] is resumed. The +fruits of the sycamores may, occasionally, not have a disagreeable +taste, for him who eats them only as a dainty; but they are at all +events very poor ordinary food; compare _Warnekros_ in _Eichhorn's +Repert._ 11. 256. + +Footnote 2: The groundlessness of such a mode of viewing things is +shown by the prophecy of events such as that mentioned in i. 15: "The +people of Aram are carried away to Kir, saith the Lord;" compare the +fulfilment in 2 Kings xvi. 9. They had originally come from Kir, Amos +ix. 7. This circumstance furnished the natural foundation for the +prophecy, and it was certainly this circumstance also which induced the +conqueror to adopt his measures. But the supernatural character of the +definite prophecy remains, nevertheless, unshaken. + +Footnote 3: _Caspari_ in his commentary on Micah, S. 69, is wrong in +remarking: "Joel beholds the instruments of punitive justice upon +Israel, as numberless hosts only; Amos, already, as a single nation." +In Amos vi. 14 the [Hebrew: gvi] as little means a single nation, as it +does in the fundamental passage, Deut. xxviii. 49 ff., beyond the +definiteness of which Amos does not go. + +Footnote 4: Scarcely any doubt can, however, be entertained that we +have here before us a _consequence_ of the war mentioned in 2 Kings +iii., viz., the vengeance which the Moabites took for what they +suffered on that occasion. + + +[Pg 363] + + CHAPTER IX. + +The chapter opens with a vision. The temple, shaken by the Angel of the +Lord in its very foundations, falls down, and buries Judah and Israel +under its ruins. Without a figure,--the breach of the Covenant by the +Covenant-people brings destruction upon them. The prophet endeavours to +strengthen the impression of this threatening upon their mind, by +breaking down the supports of false security by which they sought to +evade it. There is no deliverance, no escape, vers. 2-4, for the +Almighty God is the enemy and pursuer, vers. 5, 6. There is no mercy on +account of the Covenant, for Israel is no more the Covenant-people. +They shall not, however, be altogether destroyed; but the destruction +of the sinful mass shall be accompanied by the preservation of a small +number of the godly, vers. 7-10. This great sifting is followed, +however, by the restoration; the tabernacle of David which is fallen, +the kingdom of God among Israel, connected with the family of David, +shall be raised up again, ver. 11; rendered glorious by its extension +over the heathen, ver. 12; and blessed with the abundance of the divine +gifts, vers. 12-15. + + * * * * * + +Ver. 1. "_I saw the Lord standing over the altar; and He said, Smite +the chapiter, and make the thresholds tremble, and break them upon the +heads of all; and I will kill their remnant by the sword: he that +fleeth away of them shall not flee away, and he that escapeth of them +shall not be delivered._" + + +The principal question which here arises is:--Who is here +addressed,--to whom is the commission of destruction given by the Lord? +As, in accordance with the dramatic character of the prophetical +discourse, the person is not more definitely marked out, we can think +of Him only who, throughout, executes God's judgments upon the enemies +of His kingdom. But He is the same to whom the preservation and +protection of the true members of His kingdom are committed, viz., the +Angel of the Lord. It was He, who, as [Hebrew: hmwHit], the destroying +Angel, smote the first-born of Egypt, Exod. xii. 2, 3, compared with +12, 13. It was from Him that the destruction of the [Pg 364] Assyrians +proceeded, 2 Kings xix. 34, 35; Is. xxxvii. 35, 36. After the numbering +of Israel, when the anger of the Lord was kindled against them, it was +He who inflicted the punishment, 2 Sam. xxiv. 1, 15, 16. As He +encampeth round about them who fear the Lord, so He is, in regard to +the ungodly, like the wind which carries away the chaff, Ps. xxxiv. 8, +xxxv. 5, 6.--In opposition to the objection raised by _Baur_,--"That, +with the exception of the passage in Is. vi., nowhere, in the books +composed before the Chaldee period, do angels appear to act as +mediators in the execution of the divine commands,"--it is sufficient +to refer to Joel iv. (iii.) 9-11, and, as regards _the_ Angel of the +Lord, to Hosea xii. 5 (4). But we have, in addition, a special reason +for thinking here of the Angel of the Lord. This is afforded to us by +the ninth chapter of Ezekiel, which must be considered, throughout, as +a further expansion of the verse under consideration, and as the oldest +and most trustworthy commentary upon it. In that chapter, there appear +(at the command of the Lord who is about to avenge the apostasy of His +people) the servants of His justice--six in number--and in the midst of +them, "a man clothed with linen;"--the former, with instruments of +destruction; the latter, with writing materials. They step (the scene +is in the temple) by the side of the brazen altar. Thither there comes +to them out of the holy of holies, to the threshold of the temple, the +glory of the Lord, and gives to Him who is clothed with linen the +commission to preserve the faithful, while the others receive a +commission to destroy the ungodly, without mercy. But now, Who is the +man clothed in linen? None other than the Angel of the Lord. This +appears from Daniel x. 5, xii. 6, 7, where Michael = the Angel of the +Lord (compare _Dissertations on the Genuineness of Daniel_, p. 135 ff.) +is designated in the same way,--a remarkable coincidence in these two +contemporary prophets, to which we omitted to direct attention in our +work on Daniel. It is _further_ evident from the subject itself. The +dress is that of the earthly high priest (_Theodoret_ remarks: "The +dress of the seventh is that of the high priest, for he was not +one of the destroyers, but the redeemer of those who were worthy of +salvation"); compare Lev. xvi. 4, 23. It is especially from the former +of these passages that the plural [Hebrew: bdiM] is to be accounted +for. According to it, the various parts [Pg 365] of the high priest's +dress are of linen. But the heavenly Mediator, High Priest, and +Intercessor, is the Angel of the Lord; compare, _e.g._, Zech. i. 12, +where He makes intercession for the Covenant-people, and the Lord +answers Him with good and comfortable words. Concerning the earthly +high priest as a type of Christ, and hence a type of the Angel of the +Lord, compare the remarks on Zech. iii. But we must not imagine that He +who is clothed with linen is commissioned solely for the work of +delivering the godly, and hence stands contrasted with the six +ministers of justice. On the contrary, these are rather to be +considered as being subordinate to Him, as carrying out the work of +destruction only by His command and authority. From Him, punishment no +less than salvation proceeds. This is sufficiently evident for general +reasons. The punishment and deliverance have both the same root, the +same aim, viz., the advancement of the kingdom of God. We cannot by any +means think of evil angels in the case of the six; such could be +assumed only in opposition to the whole doctrine of Scripture on the +point, which is always consistent in ascribing the punishment of the +wicked to the good angels, and the temptation of the godly, with the +permission of God, to the evil angels. In proof of this, we have only +to think of Job's trial, of Christ's temptation, and of the angel of +Satan by whom Paul was buffeted. This subject has already been very +well treated by _Ode_, who, in his work _De Angelis_, p. 741 ff., says: +"God sends good angels to punish wicked men, and He employs evil angels +to chasten the godly."[1] But if this be established, it is then +established at the same time, that the judgment here belongs to the +Angel of the Lord. For to Him, as the Prince of the heavenly host, all +inferior angels are subordinate, so that everything [Pg 366] which they +do belongs to Him.--To these general reasons, we may, however, add +special reasons which are altogether decisive. That He who is clothed +with linen is closely connected with the six, is indicated by the +number seven. He also appears at the side of the altar, and comes in +the midst of the others, who follow after Him, ver. 2. But of +conclusive significance are the words in chap. x. 2 and 7: "And the +Lord spake unto the man clothed with linen, and said, Go in between the +wheels under the cherubim, and fill Thine hand with coals of fire from +between the cherubim, and scatter them over the city. And He went in, +in my sight. And a cherub stretched forth his hand from between the +cherubim, unto the fire that was between the cherubim, and took, and +put it into the hands of Him who was clothed with linen. And He took it +and went out." The _fire_ here is not the symbolical designation of +wrath, but natural fire; for it is the setting on fire and burning of +the city which is here to be prefigured. The wheels denote the natural +powers,--in the first instance, the wind, chap. x. 13, but the fire +also; while the cherubim denote the living creation. The Angel of the +Lord is here expressly designated as He who executeth the judgments of +divine justice. + +The importance of the preceding investigation extends beyond the mere +clearing up of the passage under consideration. We have here obtained +the Old Testament foundation for the New Testament doctrine, that all +judgment has been committed to the Son, while the harmony of the two +Testaments is exhibited in a remarkable instance. Compare with the +already cited Old Testament declarations, such passages as Matt. xiii. +41: [Greek: Apostelei ho huios tou anthropou tous angelous hautou, kai +sullexousin ek tes basileias autou panta ta skandala, kai tous +poiountas ten anomian.] and xxv. 31: [Greek: hOtan de elthe ho huios +tou anthropou en te doxe hautou, kai pantes hoi angeloi met' autou, +tote kathisei epi thronou doxes hautou.] In order to be convinced of +the identity of the Angel of the Lord and Christ (compare above, p. 107 +sqq. and _Commentary on Rev._ i. p. 466), we may further direct +attention to the fact that the Angel of the Lord, who meets us +throughout the whole of the Old Testament, suddenly disappears in the +New Testament, and that to Christ all is ascribed which was in the Old +Testament attributed to the Angel of the Lord. + +[Pg 367] + +A second important question is:--What is to be understood by _the_ +altar, [Hebrew: hmzbH]? Several interpreters adopt the opinion of +_Cyril_, and think of the altar at Bethel, or some other idolatrous +altar in the kingdom of Israel. Others (_e.g._, _Marckius_) are of +opinion that the article stands here without meaning, and that it is +the intention of the prophet only to represent God as appearing on some +altar, leaving it undetermined on which, in order thereby to indicate +that He required the blood of many men. But against such expositions +the article is conclusive. _The_ altar can be that altar only, of which +every one would think, if an altar [Greek: kat' exochen], and without a +more definite designation, were spoken of. Such was the brazen altar, +or altar of burnt-offering in the outer court of the temple at +Jerusalem. That it was this altar, and not the altar of incense before +the holy of holies, which received, in the common language of the +people, the name of _the_ altar, is easily explained from the +circumstance that it stood in a much closer relation to the people than +did the other which was withdrawn from their view. On this altar all +the sacrifices were offered, and it must, throughout, be understood, +when _the_ altar of the Lord is spoken of; compare remarks on Rev. vi. +9. But that which removes all doubt is the comparison with the parallel +passage in Ezekiel. There, the scene is the temple at Jerusalem. The +ministers of justice step beside the brazen altar. At the threshold of +the temple-building proper, the glory of the Lord moves toward them. +This parallel passage, moreover, does not leave any doubt as to the +reason why the Lord appears here beside the altar. _Jerome_ remarks on +this: "They are introduced standing beside the altar, ready for the +order of their commander; so that they know every one whose sins are +not forgiven, and who is liable, therefore, to the sentence of the +Lord, and to destruction." The Lord's appearing beside the altar is a +visible representation of the truth, that wheresoever the carcase is, +there will the eagles be gathered together. The altar is the place of +transgression; it is there that there lies accumulated the unexpiated +guilt of the whole nation, instead of the rich treasure of love and +faith, which alone should be there, embodied in the sacrifice. The Lord +appears at the place of transgression, in order that He may be +glorified in the destruction of those who would not glorify Him in +their lives. [Pg 368]--Now several interpreters (_e.g._, _Michaelis_), +who have correctly defined the meaning of the altar, would infer from +the mention of the temple at Jerusalem, that the whole prophecy refers +to the kingdom of Judah. But such an assumption is altogether +inadmissible. Even the general reason, that a prophecy which refers +exclusively to Judah cannot be at all expected from a prophet who +had received his special mission to Israel, militates against it. +_Further_,--The close of this prophecy, the proclamation of salvation, +belongs, as we have already proved, to the whole collection. If this be +referred to Judah alone, there is then an essential element awanting in +that portion which is addressed to Israel; we should then have judgment +without mercy, threatening without consolation,--a thing which could +not well be conceived of, and would be without analogy in any of the +prophets. To this we must _further_ add the express references, or +co-references to Israel throughout the whole chapter,--such as the +mention of Carmel in ver. 3; of the children of Israel, in ver. 7; of +the house of Jacob, in ver. 8; of the house of Israel, in ver. 9; of +[Hebrew: prcihN], in ver. 11; of My people Israel, in ver. 14. The +whole assumption of an exclusive reference to Judah owes its origin to +the circumstance, that features which are only symbolical have been +erroneously interpreted as actual. But if they be viewed and explained +as symbols, every reason for denying the reference to Israel is then at +once removed. The temple symbolizes the kingdom of God; its falling +down upon the people is symbolical of the punishment which is inflicted +upon them, in consequence of this kingdom. The destruction of the +temple in the literal sense is not, primarily, spoken of; although +the latter, it is true, be inseparable from the former. If the +Covenant-people in general were outwardly desecrated, because they had +desecrated themselves inwardly, then also the outward sanctuary which +they had, by their wickedness, converted into a den of thieves, was +taken from them; compare the remarks on Dan. ix. 27. If Israel then, at +that time, still belonged to the kingdom of God (and this can certainly +not be doubted, and is sufficiently proved by the very mission of our +prophet to Israel), there exists no reason at all for excluding it. For +Israel also, the temple at Jerusalem formed the seat and centre from +which it was governed,--the place from which blessings and punishments +[Pg 369] proceeded. The prophet indeed, at the very opening of his +prophecies, describes the Lord as roaring from Zion, and uttering His +voice from Jerusalem. On the altar at Jerusalem the crimes of Israel +were deposited, no less than those of Judah; for there was the place +where the people of both kingdoms were to deposit the embodied +expression of their godly disposition. It was there, then, that, in +reality, the fruits of the opposite were lying, although, as regards +the place, they were offered elsewhere.--So much indeed is certain, +that the co-reference to Judah is necessarily required by the +symbolical representation. The rejection of Israel alone could not be +symbolized by the destruction of the temple. And no less does this +appear from the announcement of salvation. For this does not by any +means promise the re-establishment of the Davidic dominion among the +people of Israel, but the restoration of the entire fallen Davidic +government. The tabernacle of David that is fallen refers to the +destroyed temple. Both signify, substantially, the same thing. With the +destruction of the temple, the Davidic tabernacle also fell; and its +fall included the overthrow of the kingdom of Israel; for, in this +also, the Davidic race had still the dominion _de jure_, although it +was suspended _de facto_. + +The passage under consideration is remarkable also, inasmuch as it +furnishes a proof for the custom of designating the kingdom of God from +its existing seat and centre, and thus furnishes us, for other passages +also, with the right of freeing the thought from the figurative +clothing. + +A _further_ reason against referring _the_ altar to the altar at +Bethel, is, that the latter enjoyed no such pre-eminence in the +kingdom of Israel. The temple at Bethel was, to the ten tribes, by no +means what the temple at Jerusalem was to Judah. The law regarding the +unity of the place of worship was, among the ten tribes, regarded as +non-existing. Even in the verse immediately preceding, in viii. 14, Dan +and Beersheba had been mentioned as the chief seats of the Israelitish +worship; and in chap. iv. 4, Gilgal appears beside Bethel as possessing +the same importance. In chap. v. 5, Bethel, Gilgal, and Beersheba are +mentioned together. Hosea, in chap. viii. 11, reproves Israel for +having made many altars to sin. Hence, there did not exist in Israel +an altar [Greek: kat' exochen]. Such an altar existed only in +[Pg 370] Judah. Nor had the sanctuary at Bethel such importance, +as that it could be considered as the spiritual abode of the +whole people.--_Hofmann_ (_Weissagung u. Erfuellung_, S. 203) raises +the following objection against the reference to the altar at +Jerusalem:--"The prophet, it is true, reproves the sins in Judah as +well as those in Israel; but it is only to the kingdom of Jeroboam that +he announces destruction, while to the house of David he promises that +Jehovah would raise it up from its fallen condition." But in opposition +to this objection, we need only refer to ii. 5: "And I send fire in +Judah, and it devours the palaces of Jerusalem." Passages such as i. +14, 15, ii. 3, absolutely forbid us to make an exception of the palace +of the king; and, by chap. vii. 9, where destruction is announced to +all the sanctuaries of Isaac, we have as little warrant for excepting +the temple. To assume any such exceptions, would be contrary to the +analogy of all other threatenings. _Hofmann_ further objects (l. c. S. +204), "As the threatening announcement of the prophet had last remained +suspended over Israel, we are at liberty to think of the altar at +Bethel only." But already, in the third chapter, all Israel is +addressed, according to ver. 1; and we may further refer to v. 25, +where likewise Israel can mean only the whole people,[2] while in vi. +1, Judah is expressly mentioned beside Israel. The prophet employs, +throughout, the name of Israel with a certain ambiguity; so that it +would be vain to attempt to determine whether it be used in the wider, +or in the more limited sense. Wherever he wishes to be distinctly +understood as speaking of the ten tribes, he speaks of Joseph and +Samaria. Still less would the prophet have employed the names of Jacob +(iii. 13, vi. 8, vii. 2, 6) and of Isaac (vii. 9, 16), which were quite +uncommon as a designation of the ten tribes,[3] [Pg 371] if it had been +of importance, and intentional on his part strictly to separate the +boundaries of Judah from those of Israel, and, if there were not +everywhere here, only a special application to the ten tribes of that +which concerned the whole who were connected by a common fate. But it +is especially suitable, that just the close of the whole should, in a +remarkably distinct manner, bring into view the two kingdoms, the +destinies of which were so intimately connected.--_Hitzig_, further, +with a view to favour the reference to the temple in Bethel, adduces +the consideration that this vision is connected with the close of viii. +14, and forms a kind of explanation of it. But we have here an entirely +new beginning, just as in chap. viii. in its relation to chap. vii. The +three visions are altogether independent of, and co-ordinate with each +other.--[Hebrew: nbc] with [Hebrew: el] is commonly used of a prominent +position _at the side of_: Gen. xviii. 2; 1 Sam. iv. 20; compare +[Hebrew: emd] with [Hebrew: el] 1 Kings xiii. 1. In Ezek. ix. 1 also, +the angels stand at the side of the brazen altar, [Hebrew: ncb] can, of +course, never signify "_to be suspended_."--[Hebrew: hkptvr] is a +species of ornament at the top of the pillars; and [Hebrew: hspiM], +"the thresholds," are contrasted with each other, in order to give +expression to the thought that the building was to be shaken, and +destroyed from the highest part of it to the lowest,--from the top to +the bottom. The shaking of the thresholds occurs also in Is. vi. to +denote that the shaking extended to the deepest foundations. The +greater number of interpreters translate: "Strike the knop _so +that_ ... tremble," etc.; but the [Hebrew: virewv] must be viewed +rather as co-ordinate with [Hebrew: hK]: "And they may tremble," +equivalent to "Make to tremble."--The suffix in [Hebrew: bceM] refers +to the knops and threshold, or to the entire building, which is marked +out by the contrast of the highest and lowest portions. According to +_Ewald_ and _Umbreit_, it is intended to refer to the dashed pieces of +the altar; but nothing has been said about the destruction of the +altar. In Ezek. ix. 2 likewise, the altar is mentioned, not because it +was to be destroyed, but only because there the guilt is heaped up. The +casting down does not, in itself, imply the _breaking_, _dashing into +pieces_; it does so only by its being connected with the following +[Hebrew: braw]. The passage in Jer. xlix. 20 is analogous: "He shall +make their habitation desolate over them;" instead of: "He shall thus +make it desolate that they are buried beneath its ruins;" [Pg 372] +compare Jer. l. 45. [Hebrew: braw], properly understood, does not mean +"_upon_ the head;" the head is rather represented as the receptacle of +the tumbling ruins; they fall into their heads and crush them; compare +Ps. vii. 17. In what precedes, there is no definite noun to which +[Hebrew: klM] refers. This is to be explained by the dramatic character +of the whole representation which arises necessarily from the opening +phrase: "I saw." The same reason accounts for the peculiarity of +[Hebrew: hK] being employed without any designation of person. In his +inward vision, the prophet sees the whole people assembled before the +Lord at the threshold of the temple. The Lord appears before him as the +judge, at the place of the transgressions, at the side of the altar. At +His command, the whole assembled multitude are buried under the ruins +of the temple. From this also it is evident that a destruction of the +temple in a literal sense cannot be entertained; for how could a whole +people be buried under its ruins? The same appears also from [Hebrew: +raiti] at the commencement. This, then, shows that we have here before +us a symbolical representation, corresponding altogether to that which +we have in vii. 1, 4, 7, viii. 1. Hitherto, the Lord speaking to some +one, had given him the commission of destruction. He now continues +with: "I will kill." This also shows that the one who is addressed is +the Angel of the Lord. The same occurrence takes place in the greater +number of the passages in which the Angel of the Lord is spoken of. In +the action there is constant alternation; it is ascribed, at one time +to Him, at another, to Jehovah.--Several interpreters (_Marckius_, _De +Wette_, _Rueckert_, and others) explain [Hebrew: ahrit] by "posterity;" +others, after the example of the Chaldee ([Hebrew: warhvN]), by +"remnant;" and others, by "lowest of the people." We must here enter +into a closer examination of the significations of this word. It is +commonly supposed (compare _Gesenius_ and _Winer_) that, primarily and +properly, it signifies "the last and extreme part," and then "the end." +But that which is supposed to be the derived signification is rather +the original and proper one. The form of the word cannot furnish any +reason why this should not be the case, as is evident from what has +been remarked by _Ewald_: "As the feminine termination, in general, +forms abstract nouns, so also, not unfrequently, abstract nouns are +derived from other nouns, by means of the termination [Hebrew: -it]; +very frequently there is no [Pg 373] masculine in [Hebrew: -i] at all +at the foundation, but [Hebrew: -it] serves, in general, only as the +sign of derivation." The following reasons prove that the signification +"end" is the primary and proper one. 1. If the contrary were the case, +the masculine [Hebrew: -i] would also occur, and the feminine would be +met with as an adjective also. 2. [Hebrew: rawit] forms the constant +antithesis to [Hebrew: ahrit]; but it is universally admitted that the +former is, originally and properly, an abstract noun, and signifies +"beginning." The signification "end" must then be retained here also. +The word never has another signification (compare my work on Balaam, p. +465 ff.); it means only "end" in Its various relations. But the +posterity cannot here be thought of as the end; for the whole action is +concentrated in one point of time. Nor is the word ever used in the +sense of "posterity." With as little propriety can "end" mean "the +lowest of the people;" for one cannot see why just these should be +given up to the sword. "End," here, rather denotes "remnant,"--all +those who, at the overthrow of the temple, might escape. These, the +Lord will pursue with the sword. They who were buried under the temple +are the beginning, [Hebrew: rawit]; the latter are the [Hebrew: ahrit], +end. Corresponding to the shaking of the temple from the knops to the +thresholds, the thought is expressed in this manner, that from the +first to the last, [Hebrew: klM mqch] they should be subjected to the +divine punishment. An implied antithesis of quite the same kind, of +[Hebrew: aHrit] to [Hebrew: rawit] occurs also In iv. 2 (where _De +Wette_ and _Rueckert_ have likewise mistaken the sense), and in viii. +10.--On the last words of the verse, which are to be considered as a +further explanation of, "Their end, or remnant, I will kill by the +sword," _Cocceius_ remarks: "This slaughter becomes the more thorough, +inasmuch as even they who flee, or seemed to have fled, are not +excluded from it." The second member seems to contradict the first; for +if none be allowed to flee away, how can any have escaped? Several +Interpreters have been thereby induced to give to the verb [Hebrew: +nvs] the first time, the signification "to escape,"--the second time, +"to flee." But the contradiction is quite similar to that which occurs +in the preceding context also, when all are dashed to pieces by +the ruins, and yet a remnant is spoken of. It soon disappears when +we consider that it Is the intention of the prophet to cut off every +possible way of escape, by which carnal security endeavoured to +save [Pg 374] and preserve itself against the impression of his +discourse--that it is equivalent to: "_All_ shall be buried under the +ruins, and although some should succeed in escaping from this kind of +destruction, yet the sword of divine vengeance would be behind them, +and slay them; flight shall not be possible to any man; and even +although it might be to some, it would be of no avail to them, for God +would be their persecutor." But another apparent contradiction must not +be overlooked. Even here, the destruction is most emphatically +described as being quite general; as such, it is minutely represented +in vers. 2-4. One cannot fail to see how anxious the prophet is to cut +off, from every individual, the idea of the possibility of an escape. +On the other hand, it is announced in ver. 8, that the house of Jacob +shall not be utterly destroyed; according to ver. 9, all the godly +shall be preserved; according to ver. 10, the judgment is to be limited +to the sinners from among the people,--a limitation which is also +presupposed by the description in the 11th and subsequent verses. In +iii. 12, the preservation of a small remnant amidst the general +destruction had been promised. The greater number of interpreters, in +order to reconcile this apparent contradiction, assume an hyperbole in +vers. 1-4. But this assumption is certainly erroneous. The ground of +this great copiousness,--the reason why the prophet represents the same +thought in aspects so various,--is evidently to prevent every idea of +an hyperbole,--to show that the words are to be taken in all their +strictness of meaning. But the limitation may be arrived at, and +effected in a different, and legitimate way. There is, in the nature of +ungodliness, a levity which flatters every individual with the hope of +escape, even although a threatened general calamity should take place. +All the possibilities of deliverance are sought after in such a +disposition of mind, and are, by imagination, easily changed into +probabilities and realities, because just that is wanting which proves +them to be improbable and unreal, viz., the consciousness of a living, +omnipotent God. Thus men free themselves from fear, and with it, from +the troublesome obligation of escaping from it in another and a +legitimate way, viz., by true conversion. Now, it is this levity which +the prophet opposes. He shows that whatever possibility of deliverance +such levity may dream of, it never would become a reality, and this [Pg +375] for the simple reason, that they had not to deal with human +antagonists; from them an escape by human means would be possible, how +powerful and wise soever they might be. But they have to deal with an +omnipotent God, who, being also omnipresent, can arm all His creatures +against His despisers, so that they cannot retreat to any place where +He, who reigneth absolutely in heaven and on earth, has not ministers +of His vengeance. Every thought, then, of an escape by _human means_ is +here cut off. But with this, every thought of deliverance in any way is +taken from the _ungodly_, who are told by their own consciences +that GOD will not deliver them. But, on the other hand, the same +consideration could not but administer consolation to the godly. If no +one, should he even hide himself in heaven, can escape from God the +Avenger, then no one, were he even in the midst of his enemies, and +were the sword even already lifted up against him, can be lost from God +the Deliverer.--Another question has been asked, which relates to the +historical reference of the threatened punishment. It goes just as far +as the thought which lies at its foundation: "You only have I known of +all the families of the earth; therefore I shall visit upon you all +your transgressions." Those interpreters who think exclusively of +either the Assyrian, or the Chaldean, or the Roman destruction, are, in +the same way, partly right and partly wrong, at the same time. All +these events, and others besides, belong essentially to one whole. The +difference as to time and circumstances is that which is unessential. +That a prophet had exclusively in view any single one from among those +divine manifestations of punishment, can be asserted, only where he +himself has given express declarations to such an effect; and even +then, the prophecy is limited to that single event, as to its _form_ +only: its _idea_ is not lost by the single fulfilment. + +Ver. 2. "_If they break through into hell, from thence My hand shall +take them; if they ascend up into heaven, from thence I will take them +down._" + +The Future must not, either here, or in what follows, be understood as +_potentialis_: "Though they should conceal themselves;" but as the real +Future: "If they are to conceal themselves." That [Hebrew: aM] with the +Future is used only _de re dubia_, as _Winer_ asserts, is as erroneous +as to assert that, with the Preterite, [Pg 376] it supposes the +condition as existing. The correct view has been already given by +_Gesenius_ in the _Thesaurus_. By supposing the possibility of a +condition, impossible in reality, the denial of the consequence becomes +so much the more emphatic and expressive. That such a supposition is +made here, is evident from ver. 4, where the prophet passes over to the +territory of actual possibility, and where, therefore, we cannot +translate: "Though they should go." Such a supposition is, in general, +very frequent. It occurs, _e.g._, Matt. v. 29, where _Tholuch_ +(_Comment. on the Sermon on the Mount_) has been led very far astray +from the right understanding of [Greek: ei de ho ophthalmos sou ho +dexios skandalizei se, k.t.l.], by overlooking this _usus loquendi_. We +are not indeed at liberty to translate, "Though thy right eye should +offend thee;" but it must be decided by other arguments, whether the +condition here _supposed_ be one really possible; and these arguments +show that it is only for the sake of greater emphasis that there has +here been supposed as possible, what is impossible.--Heaven and Sheol +form a constant contrast between the highest height and the lowest +depth. From a merely imagined possibility, the prophet descends to the +real one. If, then, even the former be not able to afford protection, +because God's hand reaches even where one has escaped far from any +human power, how much less the latter!--[Hebrew: Htr] with the Accus. +signifies "to break through," Job xxiv. 16; with [Hebrew: b], "to make +a hole in anything;" thus Ezek. viii. 8, xii. 7, 12 ([Hebrew: Htr +bqir], "to make a hole in the wall"). These parallel passages show +that the Sheol must be conceived of as being surrounded with strong +walls,--by which is expressed its inaccessibility to all that is +living. The fundamental passage is in Ps. cxxxix. 7, 8: "Whither shall +I go from Thy Spirit, and whither shall I flee from Thy presence? If I +ascend up into heaven. Thou art there; if I make my bed in hell, +behold, Thou art there." David does not here speak in his own person, +but in that of his whole race. The Psalm is an indirect exhortation to +his successors on the throne, and at the same time to the people. "If +you are wicked," so he here addresses them, "you can never hope to +escape from the punishing hand of the Almighty." And since they have +become wicked, the words of David have acquired new emphasis. + +Ver. 3. "_And if they hide themselves on the top of Carmel,_ [Pg 377] +_from thence I will search and take them out; and if they hide +themselves from My sight in the bottom, of the sea, from thence I will +command the serpent, and he bites them._" + +The question here is:--Why is Carmel specially mentioned? Interpreters +remind us of the numerous caves of this mountain, which make it +peculiarly suitable for concealment. _O. F. von Richter_, in the +_Wallfahrten im Morgenlande_, S. 65, remarks on this point: "The caves +are extremely numerous in Carmel, especially on the west side. It is +said that there are more than a thousand, and that they were inhabited +in ancient times by monks, to whom, however, their origin cannot be +ascribed. In one part of the mountain, called 'the caves of the members +of the orders,' 400 are found beside each other. Farther down in the +hard limestone mountain, there is one which is distinguished by its +size, about 20 paces long, and more than 15 broad and high." Details +still more accurate are given by _Schulz_ in the _Leitungen des +Hoechsten_, Th. 5, S. 186, 303. According to him, the road is pure rock, +and very smooth, and so crooked, that those going before cannot see +those who follow them. "When we were only ten paces distant from each +other, we heard each other's voices, indeed, but were invisible to each +other, on account of the winding ways made in consequence of the +intervening by-hills.... Everywhere there are caves, and their mouths +are often so small that only one man can creep through at a time; the +approaches to them are so serpentine, that he who is pursued may escape +from his pursuer, and step into such a small opening, of which there +are frequently three or four beside each other, before his pursuer is +aware of it. Hence, if any one should hide himself there, it is +exceedingly difficult, yea, even impossible for the eyes of man to +discover him who is pursued." But this circumstance alone does not +exhaust the case, even if we still further add that the mountain was +then, as it is now (_Richter_, S. 66), covered with trees and +shrubberies up to the summit. The expression, "In the top," must not be +overlooked, and the less so, since it stands in evident antithesis to +the "_bottom_ of the sea,"--like the contrast of height and depth in +the preceding verse. Heaven and hell are represented on earth by the +top of Carmel, and the bottom of the sea. The height of Carmel must, +therefore, come also into consideration. This, it is true, is not very +great; _Buckingham_* [Pg 378] estimated it at 1500 feet (_v. Raumer_, +S. 40); but the prophet chose Carmel in preference to other higher +mountains, partly on account of the peculiarity already stated; +partly, and especially, on account of its position in the immediate +neighbourhood of the sea, over which its summit hangs, and which can be +seen to a great distance from it; compare 1 Kings xviii. 43, 44. Of +corporeal things it holds true, as it does of spiritual things, that +opposites, placed beside each other, become thereby more distinct. +A lower elevation, placed by the side of a depth, appears to the +unscientific eye to be much higher than another which is really so. +Moreover, the position of Carmel at the extreme western border of the +kingdom of Israel must also be considered. He who hides himself there, +must certainly be ignorant of any safer place in the whole country; +and if even then there be no more security, the sea alone is +left.--[Hebrew: cvh] occurs frequently with the signification "to +bid," to "command." The word is chosen on purpose to show, how even the +irrational creatures stand in the service of the omnipotent God; so +that it requires only a word from Him to make them the instruments of +His vengeance. That the prophet had a knowledge of a very dangerous +kind of sea-serpents (of which _Pliny_ xix. 4 speaks), need not be +supposed on account of the [Hebrew: mwM]. That was not of the slightest +consequence here. In v. 19 the serpent occurs in a particularizing +representation of the thought that God is able to arm all nature +against His enemies: "As if a man flees from the lion, and a bear meets +him; and he comes home, and leans his hand on the wall, and a serpent +bites him"--just the opposite of the assurance that "to those who love +God, all things shall work together for good." So early as in Deut. +xxxii. 24, apostates are threatened with the poison of the serpents of +the dust, besides the teeth of wild beasts; and what this threatening +implied, might have been well known to Israel from their former +history; compare Num. xxi. 6: "And the Lord sent against the people +serpents, and they bit the people, and much people of Israel died,"--a +passage to which Jeremiah alludes in chap. viii. 17, where he says; +"For behold I send against you serpents, basilisks, against which there +is no charm, and they bite you, saith the Lord." It is very probable +that to this the prophet also alludes in the passage before us. + +[Pg 379] + +Ver. 4. "_And if they go into captivity before their enemies, +from thence will I command the sword, and it slayeth them; and I set +Mine eyes upon them for evil and not for good._" + +[Hebrew: bwbi] means the state of exile. The circumstance of their +being carried into captivity might awaken the hope that mercy will be +granted to them; for, according to the natural course of things, he who +is carried away into captivity may be sure of his life; but nothing can +give security before God. The last words are strikingly illustrated by +_Calvin_, who says: "There is an antithesis in this sentence, inasmuch +as God had promised that He would be the protector of His people. But +as hypocrites are always apt to appropriate to themselves the promises +of God, without having either repentance or faith, the prophet here +declares, that the eye of God would be upon them, not to protect them, +as was His custom, but rather to add punishments to punishments. And +this sentence is worthy of notice, inasmuch as we are thereby reminded, +that although the Lord does by no means spare infidels. He yet observes +us more closely in order to punish us the more severely, when He sees +that we are utterly hardened and incurable." Under any circumstances, +the people of the Lord continue to be the objects of special attention. +They are more richly blessed; but they are also more severely punished. + +Ver. 5. "_And the Lord, Jehovah, of hosts, who toucheth the earth, and +it melteth, and all that dwell therein mourn; and it riseth up wholly +like the stream, and it sinketh down as the stream of Egypt._" + +The prophet continues to cut off every false hope with which levity +flatters itself. How can you think to escape, since you have the +Almighty God for your enemy! "The prophet," remarks _Jerome_, "speaks +thus, in order to impress them with the greatness of divine power, that +they might not imagine that He would perhaps not do what He had +threatened, or that His power was not equal to His will." Similar +descriptions of the divine omnipotence, as opposed to unbelief and weak +faith, are very numerous; _e.g._, iv. 13, v. 8, 27; Is. xl. 22, xlv. +12. We are not at liberty to translate: "And the Lord Jehovah of hosts +is He who toucheth." It is rather an abrupt mode of speech; and there +must be supplied, either at the beginning, "And who is your enemy?" or +at the end, "He is your opponent." [Pg 380] This abruptness of language +is quite in accordance with the subject, and belongs, moreover, to the +characteristic peculiarities of Amos. Altogether similar is v. 7, 8, +where Israel and their God are simply placed beside each other, and +every one is left to conclude for himself how such a God would act +towards such a people: "They who turn judgment to wormwood, and cast +righteousness to the earth. Making the Pleiades and Orion, and turning +the shadow of death into the morning, and making the day dark with +night, calling," etc. The accumulated appellations. Lord, Jehovah, of +hosts, likewise serve to point out the omnipotence of God. The believer +accumulates these appellations in his prayer in order to awaken his +confidence and hope; compare, _e.g._, Is. xxxvii. 16, where Hezekiah +begins his prayer to the Lord thus: "Jehovah, of hosts, God of Israel, +Thou who art enthroned on Cherubim, Thou art God alone for all the +kingdoms of the earth." But these appellations are held up to the +unbelievers, to cast down all their hopes. We have separated, of +hosts, from the preceding appellation of God by a comma. Ever since +_Gesenius_, in his Commentary on Is. i. 9, has asserted that [Hebrew: +cbavt] when connected with Jehovah, must be considered as a Genitive +depending upon it, his view has been pretty generally adopted. But it +is certainly erroneous. The instances by which _Gesenius_ endeavours to +prove the possibility of such a connection of proper names with +appellative names are not to the point. In "Bethlehem Jehudah" it is +only by a false interpretation that Jehudah is considered as standing +in the _status constr._ with Bethlehem (compare the remarks on Mic. v. +1 [2]); and with regard to [Hebrew: arM nhriM] it is to be remarked +that, in consequence of its many divisions, [Hebrew: arM] loses the +nature of a proper name. The two words, Jehovah Zebaoth, can no more be +immediately connected with each other than Jehovah (which is as perfect +a proper name as ever existed) ever has, or ever can have, the article. +Let us only consider the phrase [Hebrew: alhiM cbavt] in Ps. lxxx. 15, +and elsewhere, where a _status constr._ is out of the question; and, +_further_, the fact that wherever, as in the case under review, Adonai +precedes, the Mazorets have always given to [Hebrew: ihvh] the points +of [Hebrew: alhiM] but never of [Hebrew: alhi]; and let us, _finally_, +consider the far more frequent, full expression, [Hebrew: ihvh alhi +hcbavt] (_e.g._, iii. 13, iv. 13, v. 14), and we shall be convinced, +that even where the [Pg 381] simple [Hebrew: ihvh hcbavt] occurs, not +indeed [Hebrew: alhi] is simply to be supplied (if such were the case, +why is it that [Hebrew: hcbavt] never occurs alone?), but that the +notion of the Lord is to be taken from the preceding designations of +the sovereignty of God. Compare on [Hebrew: cbavt] the remarks in my +Commentary on Ps. xxiv. 10, where those also are refuted who, like +_Maurer_ (in his Comment. on Is. i. 9), maintain that it had simply +become a name of God.--The manifestations of God's omnipotence are, +after the general intimations of it are given, just such as might now +be expected; compare viii. 8. The _Fut. with Vav Conv._ [Hebrew: +vtmvz] does not here denote the Past, "And it melted," but only the +consequence of the preceding action, as continuous as that: "Who +toucheth the earth, and it melteth." A dissolution of the earth is to +be thought of,--similar to that condition in which it was before the +days of creation, and similar to its condition during the great flood. +Such a condition of dissolution takes place also when the earth is +visited by mighty kings desirous of making conquests. "Who toucheth the +earth, and it melteth,"--the truth of these words Israel had _first_ to +learn by sad experience when the wild hosts of Asshur were poured out +over the West of Asia. The passage in Ps. xlvi. 7 is parallel, where it +is said: "The heathen rage, kingdoms are shaken; He uttereth His voice +(which corresponds with, 'Who toucheth the earth,' in the verse before +us), and the earth _melteth_." The [Hebrew: mvz], "to melt," "to +dissolve," signifies, in that passage, the dissolving effect of the +divine judgments, the instruments of which are the conquerors. +_Further_,--Ps. lxx. 4: "The earth and all the inhabitants thereof are +melted,"--by the success of the conqueror of the world, the earth is, +as it were, dissolved, and sunk back into the chaotic state of +primitive time.--The words, "And it riseth up," are to be explained +from the fact that the earth, changed into a great stream, cannot be +distinguished from the water which covers it. The earth rises up, it is +overflowed,--the earth sinks down, the water subsides. The last clause +of the verse must not be translated--as is done by _Rosenmueller_, +_Gesenius_, _Maurer_--"It is overflowed as by the stream of Egypt." +This explanation is unphilological, and contrary, at the same time, to +the parallelism, which requires that [Hebrew: kiar] be, both the times, +understood in the same way. The verb [Hebrew: wqe] means only "to +sink," "to sink down," and is used of the subsiding water, Ezek. xxxii. +14; of the subsiding flame, [Pg 382] Num. xi. 2; and of a sinking town, +Jer. li. 64. The last words thus rather contain the opposite of the +clause immediately preceding. But the sinking does not, by any means, +signify a freedom from the waters, nor is it to be conceived of as +remaining. All which is expressed is the change only,--the ebb takes +the place of the flood, and _vice versa_. This, however, is, on the dry +land, a very sad condition. The inundation is here an emblem of hostile +overflowing. Water is frequently an emblem of enemies; compare Ps. +xviii. 17, cxliv. 7. Overflowing streams are emblematical of the crowds +of nations, who, with a view to conquest, overflow the whole earth. Is. +viii. 7, 8, xvii. 12; Jer. xlvii. 2, xlvi. 7, 8, where Egypt rises as +the Nile, just as, in the case before us, the earth; with this +difference, however, that there the rising is an active, while here it +is a passive one: "Who is this who riseth like the Nile, whose waters +are moved as the rivers? Egypt riseth up like the Nile, and his waters +are moved like rivers, and he saith, I will go up and cover the earth, +I will destroy the city and the inhabitants thereof;" Ezek. xxxii. 14: +"Then will I make sink their waters, and cause their rivers to run like +oil," equivalent to: The conquering power of Egypt shall cease. Amos +viii. 8 is a parallel passage, in which, after the description of the +prevailing sin, it is said: "Shall not the earth tremble for this, and +every one mourn that dwelleth therein? And it riseth up wholly like the +Nile, and is agitated, and sinketh down like the Nile of Egypt." The +earthquake is the symbol of great revolutions, by which that which is +highest is turned upside down; compare Haggai ii. 21, 22: "I shake the +heavens and the earth, and overthrow the throne of kingdoms, and +destroy the strength of the kingdom of the heathen;" while the +overflowing is emblematical of hostile inundation, of visitation by +war, in which the ebb succeeds the flood, and _vice versa_.--In his +negligent mode of writing--which frequently occurs in this book--the +prophet wrote [Hebrew: nwqh] instead of [Hebrew: nwqeh], corresponding +to the [Hebrew: wqeh] in the verse under consideration, just as in the +same verse he wrote [Hebrew: kar] instead of [Hebrew: kiar]. The +Mazorets, who everywhere disregarded the peculiarities of the +individual writers, have introduced the common form. + +Ver. 6. "_Who buildeth His upper chambers in the heaven, and His +vault--over the earth He foundeth it: who calleth the waters_ [Pg 383] +_of the sea, and poureth them out over the earth--Jehovah His name._" + +That [Hebrew: melvt] is here equivalent to [Hebrew: elivt], "upper +chambers" (compare 1 Chron. xvii. 17, where [Hebrew: melh] occurs with +the signification "high place"), is put almost beyond any doubt by the +parallel passage, Ps. civ. 3: "Who frameth with the waters His upper +chambers." The fundamental passage is Gen. i. 7: "God made the vault, +and divided between the waters which are under the vault, and the +waters which are above the vault." "The waters, viz., the upper +ones"--thus we have remarked in our commentary on that passage from the +Psalms--"are the material out of which the structure is reared. To +construct, out of the moveable waters, a firm palace, the cloudy sky, +firm as a molten looking-glass (Job xxxvii. 18), is a magnificent work +of divine omnipotence. The palace of clouds, as the upper part of the +fabric of the universe, gets the name _upper chambers_ of God; +the lower part is the earth." As all the other manifestations of +divine omnipotence in vers. 5, 6, are such as are to be called into +existence now, the upper chambers and the vault will here come into +consideration, in so far as from thence the torrents of rain are poured +forth; compare Ps. civ. 13, according to which the rain cometh from the +upper chambers of God; and Gen. vii. 11: "The same day broke forth all +the fountains of the great flood (the last member of our verse), and +_the windows of heaven were opened_." From the upper chambers of God, +whence once, at the time of the deluge, the natural rain came down, the +rain of affliction will now descend.--[Hebrew: wmv]--[Hebrew: hqvra] +already occurred, _verbatim_, in v. 8. [Hebrew: hqvra] stands in the +same relation to [Hebrew: viwpkM], as in ver. 5 [Hebrew: nvne] does to +[Hebrew: vtmvz] and is equivalent to: "Upon whose mere word the waters +of the sea cover the surface of the earth;" compare Gen. vi. 17: "And, +behold, I do bring the flood of waters upon the earth." The sea is the +common emblem of the heathen world; compare remarks on Ps. xciii., civ. +6-9. In chap. vii. 4, the "great flood" is contrasted with the "lot" in +Deut. xxxiii. 9,--the heathen world, with the people of God. The fire +of war, which the Lord kindles, devours both in the same way. Here, in +contrast with the deluge, the conquering inundation of the earth +proceeds from the midst of the heathen world, stirred up by the Lord, +and destroys first of all unfaithful Israel, who, had they been [Pg +384] faithful to the Covenant, would have been able to say, as in Ps. +xlvi. 2-4, "God is our refuge and strength, a help in trouble He +is found very much. Therefore will we not fear when the earth is +overturned, and the mountains shake in the midst of the sea; its waters +roar and foam, mountains tremble by its swelling." + +Ver. 7. "_Are you not as the sons of the Cushites unto Me, O children +of Israel? saith the Lord. Have not I brought up Israel out of the land +of Egypt, and the Philistines from Caphtor, and Aram from Kir?_" + +The prophet here deprives the people of another prop of false security. +They boasted of their election, by which God Himself, as they imagined, +had bound His hands. They considered the pledge of it--the deliverance +from Egypt--as a charter of security against every calamity, as an +obligation to further help in every distress, which God could not +retract even if He would. A great truth lay at the foundation of this +error,--a truth which has been disregarded by the greater number of +interpreter's, who have, in consequence, forced upon the prophet a +sense which is altogether false.[4] The election of the people, and +their deliverance from Egypt, were actually what they considered them +to be. God Himself had in reality thereby bound His hands; He _was +obliged_ to deliver the people. He _could_ not cast them off. The +election was an act of free grace; the manifestation of it in deeds was +an act of His righteousness. The people had a right to remind Him of +His duty, when He seemed not to perform it. Their election was then a +firm anchorage of hope, a rich source of consolation, the foundation of +all their prayers. But the error consisted in this, that the election +was usurped by those to whom it did not belong,--an error which is +continually repeating itself, and which shows itself in a fearful form, +especially in the case of those who believe in the doctrine of +Predestination. We need, for example, refer only to _Cromwell_, who, in +the hour of death, silenced, by this false consolation, all the +accusations of his [Pg 385] conscience. [Greek: Peritome men gar +hophelei], says the Apostle, in Rom. ii. 25, [Greek: ean nomon prasses. +ean de parabates nomou es, he peritome sou akrobustia gegonen]. The +deliverance from Egypt stands on the same footing as circumcision. The +former also was profitable; to those who showed themselves to be +children of Israel, it afforded the certainty that God would prove +Himself to be their God. For those, however, who had become degenerate, +it entered altogether into the circle of ordinary events. For them, it +became something that had altogether passed away--that did not carry +within itself any pledge of renovation. This error is here laid open by +the prophet, as he had already done in v. 14: "Seek good and not evil, +that ye may live, and _thus_ the Lord, the God of hosts, be with you." +He directs their attention to the fact, that, in the Covenant-relation, +which rests on reciprocity, the party who broke the Covenant had +nothing to ask, nothing to hope for. "_Be not_," etc.; the _tertium +comparationis_ is evidently the alienation from God. The "children of +Israel" (the appellation expressive of their dignity is intentionally +chosen in order to make more striking the contradiction between the +appearance and the reality) have become so degenerate, that they +are no more any nearer to God than the sons of the Cushites. Those +interpreters who regard sin alone as the _tertium comparationis_ +(_Cocceius_ says: "Ye are so alienated from Him, and so unfaithful, +that every one of you may be called a Cushite"), give too limited a +sense to the expression. "You are to Me," is rather equivalent to, "I +have not any more concern in you, you stand not to Me in any other +relation." But why are the Cushites alone mentioned as an example of a +people alienated from God? Their colour, perhaps, is more to be +considered in this, than their descent from Ham; the physical blackness +is viewed as an emblem of the spiritual. Thus they appear in Jer. xiii. +23: "Will indeed the Cushite change his skin, and the leopard his +spots? will you indeed be able to do good, who have been taught to do +evil?" But the fundamental passage is the inscription of Ps. vii., +where Saul, on account of his black wickedness, appears under the +symbolical name of Cush.--The right explanation of these first words +furnishes, at the same time, the key to the sound interpretation of the +words which [Pg 386] follow: It is only for the Covenant-people that +the deliverance from Egypt is a pledge of grace. But you are no longer +the Covenant-people; your being brought up out of Egypt, therefore, +stands on the same line with the bringing up of the Philistines from +their former dwelling-places in Caphtor to their present abodes, and +with the bringing up of the Syrians from Kir, in which no one will see +a pledge of divine grace, a preservative against every danger, and, +especially, an assurance of the impossibility of a new captivity. The +geographical inquiries regarding Caphtor and Kir would lead us too far +away from the subject which we are here discussing. The view which is +now prevalent, and according to which Crete is to be understood by the +former, is in contradiction to the old translations, which have +Cappadocia, and with Gen. x. 14,--as long as, in that passage, the +Colchians are to be understood by the Casluhim. But that point would +require a minute investigation, which may be more suitably carried on +at some other place. + +Ver. 8. "_Behold, the eyes of the Lord Jehovah are upon the sinful +kingdom, and I destroy them from off the face of the earth, saving that +I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, saith the Lord._" + +_The_ sinful kingdom, whether its name be Israel or Judah, or whether +it be called Egypt or Edom. The holy God has not by any means, as you +in your blindness imagine, given you a privilege to sin. A difference +exists between Israel and the others in this respect only, that utter +ruin does not take place in the case of the former, as it does in that +of the latter. For the distinction between the people of God and other +nations consists in this, that in the former, there always remains a +holy seed, an [Greek: ekloge], which the Lord must protect, and make +the nursery of His kingdom, according to the same necessity of His +nature as that by which He extirpates the sinners of His people. The +"sinful kingdom" forms the contrast with the righteous kingdom; the +article being here used in a generic sense. Similar are Is. x. 6: "_I +send him against impious people, and against the people of My wrath_ +(wheresoever there are such) _I give him command_;" and Ps. xxxiii. 12: +"Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people whom He hath +chosen for His inheritance;" on which latter passage _Michaelis_ +remarks, "Blessed is the nation, whichsoever it may be." The eyes of +[Pg 387] the Lord are open upon _the_ sinful kingdom, and hence also +upon the house of Jacob; it must be destroyed as all others are, but it +cannot be _destroyed like them_,--an idea which is prominently brought +out by the prefixed Infinit. [Hebrew: hwmid]. That is an erroneous +interpretation which understands by the sinful nation, Ephraim, and, +after the example of _Grotius_ ("I will destroy the kingdom, not the +people"), assumes that, by the house, in contrast with the kingdom, the +people are intended. Such a contrast betwixt the house and the kingdom +would have required a more distinct intimation. The house of Jacob, +when referred to the ten tribes, is identical with the kingdom. They +were a house only in so far as they were a kingdom. But it is both +against the words (in Obad. ver. 17, "house of Jacob" is likewise used +of the whole of the nation), and against the connection, to refer it to +the ten tribes. When, however, it is referred to the whole, a contrast +betwixt people and kingdom can the less have place, as, according to +ver. 11, the kingdom also shall be restored.--The first part of the +verse is almost literally identical with Deut. vi. 15: "For a jealous +God is Jehovah, thy God, in thy midst; lest the anger of Jehovah thy +God be kindled against thee, and He destroy thee from off the face of +the earth," [Hebrew: vhwmidK mel pni hadmh]. The prophet says nothing +new; he only resumes the threatening of the revered lawgiver.--The +construction of [Hebrew: eini ihvh] with [Hebrew: b] is explained by +the circumstance that, according to the context, the eyes of the Lord +can mean only His angry eyes--equivalent to the anger of the Lord in +the passage quoted from Deuteronomy; and the verbs and nouns expressive +of anger are connected by [Hebrew: b] with the object on which the +anger rests; compare Ps. xxxiv. 17. + +Ver. 9. "_For behold I command and shake the house of Israel among all +the nations, as one shaketh in a sieve, and not shall anything firm +fall to the ground._" + +The figure in this verse is, upon the whole, plain; but some of the +particulars require to be explained, and to be more accurately +determined. The signification "sieve," commonly assigned to [Hebrew: +kbrh], must be conceded to it. We must, however, here understand it of +such a sieve as serves similar purposes as a winnowing shovel, in which +the corn is violently shaken, and thus purified; and not of a sieve in +which, by mere sifting, the corn is freed from the dust which has +remained after the first [Pg 388] and proper cleansing. The latter is +assumed by _Paulsen_ (_vom Ackerbau der Morgenlaender_, S. 144), and, +along with him, by the greater number of interpreters. Such a sieve--a +kind of fan--is mentioned in Is. xxx. 24, in addition to the winnowing +shovel. It occurs likewise in Luke xxii. 31, where [Greek: suniazein] +is _vanno agitare_. The LXX. also have here adopted the explanation, +not of an ordinary sieve, but of an instrument which serves the same +purposes as the winnowing shovel: [Greek: dioti idou ego entellomai kai +likmio (A. likmeso) en pasi tois ethnesi ton oikon tou Israel, hon +tropon likmatai en to likmo.] _Hesych._ [Greek: likmo, ptuo]. To this +we are likewise led by the verb [Hebrew: hnievti], which is indicative +of a violent procedure, and by the occurrence of the same figure in so +many passages of Scripture; compare, _e.g._, Jer. li. 2; "I will send +against Babylon fanners that shall fan her, and shall empty her land;" +Jer. xv. 7, and Matt. iii. 12; while the use of the ordinary sieve for +such a purpose is never mentioned, nor is it ever employed for a +figure.--[Hebrew: bkl-hgviM] is not to be translated, "_by_ all +nations," but, as the corresponding [Hebrew: bkbrh] shows, "in," or +"among all nations." The many people are the spiritual sieve,--the +means of purging. The Lord, whose instruments they are, employs them +for the destruction of the ungodly. They are taken away by His secret +judgments, for the execution of which He employs the heathen; compare +ver. 10. Even the godly are violently shaken; but the hand of the Lord +secretly upholds them that they may not sink, but that the temptation +may serve for their spiritual growth; compare Luke xxii. 31, 32, where +the Lord distinctly alludes to the passage under consideration. The +corn is shaken; dust and impurity fall to the ground, the chaff flies +into the air. Many interpreters ascribe to [Hebrew: crvr] the +signification, "corn;" others, "little stone." But these significations +have been both assumed merely for the sake of the context. [Hebrew: +crvr], from [Hebrew: crr], _colligavit_, _constrinxit_, means, +primarily, "that which is tightly bound together;" then, "bundle," +"bag;" but here, as in 2 Sam. xvii. 13, "that which is compact, firm, +and solid," as opposed to that which is loose, dissolved, and thin. +That which is here meant is the solid, firm corn, as opposed to the +loose chaff, and the dust which falls to the ground through the sieve. + +Ver. 10. "_By the sword, shall die all the sinners of My people who +say, The evil will not come near, nor advance to us._" + +[Pg 389] + +In order that the preceding mitigation of the threatening of +punishment might not be appropriated by those to whom it did not +belong, the prophet, before passing on to the further detail of the +promise, once more presents the threatening in all its severity. "The +sinners who speak," etc., are they who usurped the promises of the +Covenant without having truly fulfilled its conditions,--who boasted +of, and trusted in, their belonging outwardly to the people of God +(compare iii. 2), and their zeal in the external performance of the +duties of worship (compare v. 21-23); and who therefore imagined that +the judgments of the Lord could not reach them, while, by their sins, +they did all in their power to draw them down upon them, v. 18, vi. 3. + +Ver. 11. "_In that day I will raise up the tabernacle of David that is +fallen, and wall up its breaches, and raise up its ruins, and build it +as the days of eternity._" + +The words, "In that day," are to be understood quite generally, viz., +as referring to a time after the divine judgments have broken in and +have completed their work upon Israel. The [Greek: meta tauta], by +which James renders it in Acts xv. 16, completely expresses the sense. +The assertion of _Baur_, "That the prophet must have conceived of the +restoration of the tabernacle of David as being near at hand, because +he recognised the instruments of judgment in the invading Assyrians," +falls to the ground along with the supposition on which it rests. The +prophet has nothing at all special to do with the invasion of the +Assyrians.--The Partic. [Hebrew: nplt], according to the usual +signification of the Partic., expresses a permanent condition. The very +expression, "tabernacle," suggests the idea of a sunken condition of +the house of David. The prophet sees the proud palace of David changed +into a humble tabernacle, everywhere in ruins, and perforated. The same +idea is expressed by a different image in Is. xi. 1. There the house of +David is called the cut off trunk of Jesse, which puts forth a new +shoot. _Hofmann_ and others are of opinion that the prophet designates +the house of David as a fallen tabernacle, on account of its abasement +at the time then present. "At present," he says, "the lofty house of +David is a [Hebrew: skh nplt] when compared with the power of Jeroboam; +but the latter shall fall, and the former shall raise itself again from +its decay." But this designation is certainly not applicable to [Pg +390] the house of David under a king like Uzziah, nor, in general, to +the whole time of the existing Davidic kingdom. The fact that Amos +foresees the deep fall of Judah, is placed beyond all doubt even by ii. +5. It is impossible that the announcement of the restoration which is +to _follow_ only after this fall, should altogether ignore the latter. +This is, moreover, proved by the parallel passages. The predictions of +all the prophets are pervaded by the foresight of the Messiah's +appearing at the time of the deepest debasement of the Davidic dynasty, +and after the total loss of the royal dignity; compare the remarks on +Mic. iv. 8, vi. (2); Is. xi. 1, liii. 2; Ezek. xvii. 22-24.--It might +now appear as though the prophet here only supposed the ruin of the +house of David, without having, in the preceding context, expressly +mentioned it; but such is not the case. The whole of the preceding +threatening of punishment relates to the ruin of the house of David; +for when the kingdom suffers, the reigning family cannot but suffer +also. This close connection of the two is pointed out by the prophet +himself in the subsequent words. The change of the suffixes is there +certainly not without a reason. The suffix in [Hebrew: prcihN] refers +to the two kingdoms; that in [Hebrew: hrist] to David; and that in +[Hebrew: bnitih] to the tabernacle, while the subject of [Hebrew: +iirwv] (ver. 12) is the people. By this it is intimated that David, his +tabernacle, the kingdoms, and the people, are in substance one--that +one stands and falls with the other. They who overlook the co-reference +to Judah, in the preceding verses, do not know what to make of the +suffix in [Hebrew: prchN] (compare the expression "these kingdoms," +used of Judah and Israel in vi. 2), and, in their uncertainty, +conjecture sometimes one thing and sometimes another.--[Hebrew: imi] is +Nominat., not Accusat. The comparison is merely intimated; compare +remarks on Hos. ii. 17. The circumstance that the happy days of the +times of David and Solomon are here spoken of as "days of eternity"--of +the remotest past (compare Mic. vii. 14)--implies that the prophet sees +a long interval between the present and the predicted event.--The +foundation of this prophecy is the promise to David in 2 Sam. vii.; +compare especially ver. 16: "And thine house and thy kingdom shall be +sure in eternity before thee, and thy throne shall be firm in +eternity." This reference has also been pointed out by _Calvin_, who +remarks: "When the prophet says, 'as in the days of old,' he confirms +[Pg 391] the doctrine that the dignity of the house would not always +flow in an equal current, but that, nevertheless, there would always be +such a restoration as would make it easily perceptible that God's +promise of an eternal dominion to David had not been in vain." The +dominion of David had already suffered a considerable shock by the +separation of the two kingdoms, existing at the prophet's time; but it +was in future to sink even far more deeply, and the people along with +it. But, with all these things, God's promise remains true. The +judgments do not shut up the way for His mercy, but rather prepare it. +That it was only through the family of David that the promised +salvation could be imparted to the people, the prophet plainly +declares. If it were not so, how could he have identified the +tabernacle of David with the two kingdoms, and with the people? As to +the person of the restorer, he does not more particularly designate it. +The main thing with him, as with Hosea (compare the remarks on Hos. ii. +2, and iii. 5), is to impress upon the people of Israel the conviction, +that salvation could come to them only from a reunion with Judah--from +their joining again the house of David; compare Ezek. xxxvii. 22: "And +I make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel, and +one king shall be king to them all; and they shall be no more two +nations, and they shall be no more divided into two kingdoms." But if +this was sure and established, there could then be no more any doubt as +to the person. It was at that time generally known that the promise +given to David would be finally fulfilled in the Messiah; and it was +generally acknowledged by the ancient Jews, that the passages under +consideration refer to the Messiah. _Jerome_ remarks: "The Jews refer +everything which, in this and the other prophets, is foretold +concerning the building up of Jerusalem and the temple, and the happy +condition of all things, to themselves, and foolishly expect that all +shall be fulfilled in a carnal sense." It is from the passage under +review that the Messiah received the name [Hebrew: br npliM], _filius +cadentium_--He who springs forth from the fallen family of David; +compare _Sanhedrin_, fol. 96, 2: R. Nachman said to R. Isaac, Hast thou +heard when [Hebrew: br npiliM] is to come? The latter answered: Who is +he? R. Nachman said: The Messiah. R. Isaac: But is the Messiah thus +named? R. Nachman: Certainly, in Amos ix. 11: [Pg 392] "In that day I +will raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen." In _Breshith +Rabbah_, sec. 88, we read: "Who would have expected that God should +raise up again the fallen tabernacle of David? And yet we read in Amos +ix. 11, 'In that day,' etc. And who could have hoped that the whole +world could yet become one flock? And yet, such is declared in Zeph. +iii. 9: 'Then will I turn to the people in pure lips, that they all may +call upon the name of the Lord, and serve Him with one lip.' But all +that is prophesied only in reference to the Messiah." See _Schoettgen_, +p. 70, and other passages, especially from the _Sohar_, ibid. p. 111, +566. + +Ver. 12. "_In order that they may possess the remnant of Edom, and of +all the heathen upon whom My name is called, saith the Lord that doeth +this._" + +_Calvin_ remarks on this verse: "This main point is plainly declared to +us, that there is here promised an extension of the kingdom under +Christ; and it is just as if the prophet had said that the Jews were +enclosed within narrow limits, even when the kingdom of David did most +flourish, inasmuch as, under Christ, God is to extend their territory, +so that they shall rule far and wide." There is here an evident +allusion to the times of David, which, in the last words of the +preceding verse, formed the subject of discourse. This is quite plain +also from the mention of the Edomites. These had been made subject by +David; but afterwards, availing themselves of the commencing fall of +David's tabernacle, they had again freed themselves. Not only they, +however, but all the other heathen nations, shall be again subjected to +the raised up tabernacle of David. That former event served as a type +and prelude to the latter, and formed moreover a prophecy of it in +deeds, inasmuch as both rested on the same foundation, viz., God's +protection of His Church, and His care for His kingdom. It is for this +reason too, that, with an allusion to the former event, the verb +[Hebrew: iirwv] is chosen. By this verb, expression is given only to +the fact of their agreement, and to points in which those events agree; +but it gives no indication of _how far_ they agree, or in what respects +they differ; this is to be declared in the subsequent words. The +prophet, however, in speaking only of the _remnant_ of Edom, looks back +to the threatening in chap. i. They only who have been preserved in the +judgment which is there announced, are to come [Pg 393] under the +blissful dominion of the kingdom of David. As Israel, so also the +Gentiles, must be prepared for the coming of the kingdom of Christ by +crushing judgments. The judgment upon Israel is only a single portion +of a great judgment upon all nations. Into this connection it is +brought by the very opening chapters of this book. In chap. v. 8, vii. +7, there is likewise an intimation of great calamities and shakings, +which are to come upon the heathen world. The submission of the remnant +of the heathen world, however, will not be an abasement, but, on the +contrary, an exalting of them; this is shown by the words, "Upon whom +My name is called." These words do not allow us to think of such a +relation of Edom and the other nations to Israel, as existed at the +time of David in the case of the conquered nations. They are never used +to designate a form of allegiance to the Lord so low and false, but +always denote the relation of close and cordial allegiance. The heathen +are in future to be considered and treated as those who are consecrated +to the Lord, and who belong to His holy people,--just as Israel is now +considered and treated. Compare, as to the use of these words with +reference to Israel, Deut. xxviii. 9, 10: "The Lord shall raise thee +_an Holy people unto Him_, as He hath sworn unto thee ... and all +people of the earth see that the name of the Lord is called upon thee, +and are afraid of thee." In this verse, the expression, "The name of +the Lord is called upon thee," corresponds with "holy people." Jer. +xiv. 9: "And Thou, O Lord, art in the midst of us, and Thy name is +called upon us." Is. lxiii. 19: "We are those over whom Thou hast not +reigned from eternity, and upon whom Thy name has not been called." As +regards the use of these words in reference to the temple, compare, +further, Jer. vii. 10, 11: "And ye come and stand before Me in this +house, upon which My name is called. Is, perhaps, this house upon which +My name is called, a den of robbers in your eyes?" The exceeding +greatness of their wickedness is denounced in these words; and the +ground why it is so great, is not by any means the fact, that the +temple, as was indeed the case with that at Bethel, bore the name of +the house of God only by the caprice of the people, but that it really +was the house of God, and that God, in His gracious condescension, was +there _really_ present, as a type of His dwelling in Christ; compare +Deut. xii. 5: "The place which [Pg 394] the Lord your God shall choose +out of all your tribes, to put His name there." _Finally_, These words +are used in reference to single individuals, whom God, in a special +sense, has made His own, His representatives, the bearers of His word, +the mediators of His revelations, in Jer. xv. 16: "I found Thy words +and I did eat them, and Thy words became unto me the joy and rejoicing +of my heart: for Thy name was called upon me, Jehovah, God of hosts," +etc., equivalent to, "For I was the messenger and representative of +Thee, the Almighty God."--_Hitzig_, _Hofmann_, and _Baur_ explain the +expression, "Upon whom My name is called," by, "Upon all the nations +who once, at the time of David, were in subjection to the people of +God." The use of the Preterite has been urged in favour of this +explanation; but it is certainly very rash to assert, on the ground of +this, that "this view alone is admissible according to the rules of +grammar." The statement of _Ewald_, Sec. 135 _a_, is exactly applicable to +this case: "The _Perfectum_, when used with reference to some future +event, either mentioned or conceived of, may as well indicate the past +which _then_ has taken place." The sense might thus be: "All the +heathen upon whom then My name will be called." In the same sense, the +Preterite is used in another passage, quoted by _Hofmann_ for a +different purpose--viz., 2 Sam. xii. 28: "In order that I may not take +([Hebrew: alkd]) the city, and my name be called ([Hebrew: nqra]) upon +it." It militates, however, against their view, that the name of the +Lord being called upon any one, has, according to all the parallel +passages, a sense too profound to admit of a relation to the Lord so +loose and external being thereby designated. It is used only of such as +are received into the condition of the people and sons of Jehovah, Hos. +ii. 1 (i. 10). _Further_, The mere restoration of the Davidic dominion +over the heathen is a very meagre thought, which is far from coming up +to what Jacob had foretold in Gen. xlix. 10, and to what David and +Solomon expected of the future; compare, _e.g._, Ps. lxxii. 11: "And +all kings worship Him, all the heathen serve Him."--The closing words, +"Thus saith the Lord that doeth this," are intended to strengthen faith +in a promise which appears to be incredible, by calling attention to +the fact, that the person who promises is also the person who carries +it out to its fulfilment; compare Jer. xxxiii. 2: "Thus saith the Lord +that makes it, the Lord that forms it, [Pg 395] to carry it out, the +Lord is His name." This closing formula is also very ill suited for so +meagre a prediction as that of the restoration of the old borders, of +which Israel, under the reign of Uzziah and Jeroboam, was not so very +far short. It was, probably, solely from a false interpretation of the +passage under review, that an important historical event had its rise. +Hyrcanus compelled the Idumeans, who were conquered by him, to be +circumcised, and in that way to be incorporated into the Theocracy; so +that they lost entirely their national existence and name (_Jos. Arch._ +xiii. 9, 1; _Prideaux Hist. des Juifs_, vol. v. p. 16). This proceeding +differed so materially from that which was ordinarily followed--for +David did not think it at all necessary to adopt a similar proceeding +against the Idumeans, and the other nations which were conquered by +him--that it necessarily requires some special reason to account for +it; and such a reason is furnished by the passage under consideration. +Hyrcanus washed to be instrumental in the fulfilment of the prophecy +contained in it; but in this he failed. He did not consider, 1. That +the reception of Edom into the kingdom of God is here brought into +connection with the restoration of the tabernacle of David, and hence +could be brought about only by a king of the house of David. He did not +consider, 2. That the matter here in question is not such a reception +into the kingdom of God as depends upon the will of man, but a +spiritual reception, which carries along with it the full enjoyment of +divine blessings. That it was, however, easy for Hyrcanus to fall into +such a mistake, is shown by the example of _Grotius_, who confined +himself to this merely apparent fulfilment, although he had the real +fulfilment before his eyes. By a similar misunderstanding of Old +Testament prophecies, other important events also were brought about; +_e.g._, according to the express testimony of Josephus, the building of +the Egyptian temple, and, as we shall afterwards see, the building of +the temple by Herod. + +It now only remains to consider the quotation of this passage in the +New Testament, in Acts xv. 16, 17. _Olshausen_ has directed attention +to a difficulty regarding it, which has been overlooked by the greater +number of interpreters. He says that one cannot well see how the +quotation bears upon the point at issue. Both parties were at one as to +the duty of admitting the Gentiles into the kingdom of God. The only +question was [Pg 396] about the manner of their reception--whether +with, or without, circumcision--and as to this, the prophecy, which +confines itself to the fact only, does not contain any express +declaration. But this difficulty has its sole foundation on the +erroneous view that James was stating two reasons altogether +independent of each other;--the first in ver. 14, God's declaration by +facts, in His having given His Holy Spirit to the Gentiles, without +their having been circumcised; and then, in vers. 16, 17, the testimony +of the Old Testament. But the sound view rather is, that both together +form only one reason. Apart from that testimony which God, the Searcher +of hearts, had given to the Gentiles by the gift of the Holy Spirit, +and by making no difference betwixt them and Israel, the prophetic +declaration would have been without any significance; but it acquires +this significance when combined with the testimony of God. It is now +also that the silence of James, in reference to that condition which +was demanded by those of a pharisaic tendency, gains significance. +Simeon has declared how God at first was pleased to take a people for +His name out of the Gentiles; and after the _fact_ of their reception +has been so expressively declared, the Old Testament passage, where +this reception is spoken of, is not cognizant of any other _mode_. The +Apostle does not content himself with quoting ver. 12; he first cites +ver. 11, because it furnished the proof that the declaration contained +in ver. 12 referred to that time. That event, with which the conversion +of the Gentiles is here immediately connected, had already taken place +in Christ, at least as to the germ, which contained within itself the +whole substance which afterwards displayed itself. But it was the main +thought only which came into consideration in ver. 11, and therefore it +is somewhat abbreviated. In the quotation, the translation of the LXX. +evidently forms the foundation. + +The quotation of ver. 12 agrees, almost _verbatim_, with the LXX. It +follows them in their important deviation from the Hebrew text. Instead +of, "In order that they may occupy the remnant of Edom," the LXX. read, +[Greek: hopos an ekzetesosin hoi kataloipoi ton anthropon me] (instead +of [Greek: me] Luke has [Greek: ton kurion], which is found in the +_Cod. Alex._ also, but has very likely come in from Luke). It is of +very little consequence to determine in what manner the translation of +the LXX. arose; whether they had a different reading, [Hebrew: lmeN +idrwv warit adM], [Pg 397] before them; or whether they merely read +erroneously; or whether, according to _Lightfoot_ (in his remarks on +Acts xv. 16, 17), they intentionally thus altered the words; or +whether it was their object to express the sense only generally and +approximately (in the last two cases we should be obliged to suppose +that, by a kind of play, and in order to represent, in an outward +manner, the substantial agreement of the thought, they chose words +exactly corresponding to the Hebrew text, with the exception of a +change of a few letters,--a thing which frequently occurs in the +Talmud, and even in Jeremiah when compared with the older prophets); +only, we must set aside the idea of a really different reading,--a +reading resting on the authority of good Manuscripts, inasmuch as such +an idea would be irreconcilable with the deviations of the LXX. +elsewhere, and with the unanimity of the Hebrew Manuscripts in the +passage before us. The assertion of _Olshausen_, however, that, in the +Hebrew form, the passage would not have been suitable for the purpose, +and that therefore it is probable that, on this occasion, Greek must +have been spoken in the assembly, does indeed deserve our attention. + +Whether or not the latter was the case, we leave undecided. That it was +probable, may be proved from other grounds, but it by no means follows +from the reason stated by _Olshausen_. The passage was suited for the +proof, as well according to the Hebrew text, as according to the +Alexandrian version; for the latter is quite correct and faithful in so +far as the sense is concerned. The _occupying_, in the sense in which +it is used by Amos, has the _seeking_ for its necessary supposition. +For how, indeed, can spiritual possession, spiritual dominion by the +people of the Lord exist, unless the Lord has been sought by those who +are to be ruled over? Compare the declaration: "The isles shall wait +for His law," Is. xlii. 4. The words, "And of all the heathen," +following immediately after Edom, evidently prove that Amos mentions +Edom, only by way of individualizing; and the Idumeans, especially, as +a people, only because their former, specially violent hatred to the +Covenant-people (compare i. 11) made their future humble submission +more evidently a work of the omnipotence of God, and of His love +watching over His people; and at the same time there may be a reference +also to the former subjection by David. The LXX. [Pg 398] have done +nothing more, than at once to substitute for the particular, the +general which comprehends this particular,--a particular which is, by +Amos too, designated as a part of the general.[5] + +Ver. 13. "_Behold, days come, saith the Lord, and the ploughman +reacheth to the reaper, and the treader of the wine-press to him that +soweth seed. And the mountains drop must, and all the hills melt._" + +The fundamental thought in this passage is this:--Wheresoever the Lord +is, there also is the fulness of His gifts.--The imagery in the first +hemistich is taken from Lev. xxvi. 3-5: "If ye shall walk in My laws, +and keep My commandments and do them; then I will give your rains in +their seasons, and the land gives its produce, and the tree of the +field gives its fruit. And your threshing _reaches_ to the vintage, and +the vintage _reaches to the sowing_ time." After the Lord has purified +His congregation by His judgments, then the joyful time of blessing, +prophesied by His servant Moses, shall likewise come. _Cocceius_ says: +"One shall reap, the other shall immediately plough; one shall scatter +the seeds in the ploughed field, while another shall, at the same time, +tread the grapes,--a work is wont to be done at the last time of the +year. There shall be continual work, and continual fruit, and a +fruitfulness such as that in the land of the Troglodytes which +_Scaliger_ (_Exercit._ 249, 2) thus describes: 'Throughout the whole +year there is sowing and reaping at the same time; at one place the +seed is committed to the fields, and at another the wheat shoots up, at +another it gets ears, at another it is reaped, at another it is +collected, and [Pg 399] brought to the threshing-places, and thence to +the barn.'"--The second hemistich agrees with Joel iv. (iii.) 18 (which +is certainly not accidental; compare the introduction to Joel): "At +that time the mountains shall drop must, and the hills go with milk." +From a comparison of this passage it appears that the melting of the +hills can mean only their dissolving into rivers of milk, must, and +honey, with an allusion to the description of the promised land in the +Pentateuch (Exod. iii. 8) as a land flowing with milk and honey. + +Ver. 14. "_And I turn Myself to the captivity of My people Israel, and +they build waste cities, and dwell, and plant vineyards, and drink +their wine; and they make gardens and eat their fruit._" + +The captivity is a figure of misery. With reference to [Hebrew: wvb +wbvt] compare the remarks on Joel. + +Ver. 15. "_And I plant them in their land, and they shall no more he +plucked up out of their land which I have given them, saith the Lord +thy God._" Compare p. 227 seqq. + + +Footnote 1: _Hofmann_, _Schriftbeweis_ I. S. 312, objects: "If this +were correct, Paul ought to have delivered that fornicator at Corinth +(1 Cor. v. 5), or Hymeneus and Alexander (1 Tim. i. 20), not to Satan, +but to the good angels." But the individuals mentioned were members of +the Church of Christ, and they were delivered to Satan, not for their +absolute destruction, but for their salvation: [Greek: hina to pneuma], +(which of course was still in existence; and it is just the [Greek: +pneuma] that separates between the world and the Church, compare Ps. +li. 13) [Greek: sothe en te hemera tou Kuriou, hina paideuthosi me +blasphemein.] It is, as in the case of Job, a punishment with a view to +purification, for which power is given to Satan, Heb. xii. 6. These +passages, then, serve only to confirm the view which we have expressed. + +Footnote 2: The same is probably the case in vi. 14: "For behold I +raise up against you, O house of Israel, saith the Lord God of Hosts, +heathen people; and they shall afflict you from Hamath unto the river +of the wilderness." The river of the wilderness can here be none other +than the river of Egypt, which commonly appears as the boundary of the +whole. Compare 1 Kings viii. 65; 2 Chron. vii. 8, where Solomon +assembles the whole people from Hamath unto the river of Egypt; Josh. +xv. 4, 47; 2 Kings xxiv. 7; Is. xxvii. 12. They who think of the +boundary of the kingdom of the ten tribes only, are at a loss, and have +recourse to uncertain conjectures. + +Footnote 3: In Micah i. 15 the entire people are called Jacob. The same +occurs also in Hos. x. 11, xii. 3 (2). + +Footnote 4: _Hitzig_ says: With a disposition of mind different from +that in iii. 2, the prophet says here, "You enjoy no privileges with +me, you are to me like all others." A strange disposition of mind +indeed for a prophet! An interpretation which results in such thoughts, +which cannot be entertained for a moment, is self-condemned. + +Footnote 5: Whether, however, it was James or Luke who quoted these +words according to the version of the LXX., this passage is one of the +many hundreds which prove that the violent urging and pressing for an +improvement in our (German) authorized version of the Scriptures, as it +proceeded from _von Meier_ and _Stier_, is exaggerated. The Saviour and +His Apostles adopted, without hesitation, the version current at their +time, when its deviations concerned not the thought but the words. If +we proceed upon this principle, how will the mountain of complaints +melt away which has been raised against _Luther's_ translation of the +Scriptures. But it is true that, even then, weighty objections remain. +The revision of it is a want of the Church; but it is not so urgent +that we may not, and must not, wait for the time when it may be +satisfied without danger. If it were undertaken at present, the +disadvantages would far outweigh the advantages. To everything there is +a season; and it is the duty of the wise steward to find it out, and to +know it. + + + + + THE PROPHECY OF OBADIAH. + +We need not enter into details regarding the question as to the time +when the prophet wrote. By a thorough argumentation, _Caspari_ has +proved, that he occupies his right position in the Canon, and hence +belongs to the earliest age of written prophecy, _i.e._, to the time of +Jeroboam II. and Uzziah. As bearing conclusively against those who +would assign to him a far later date, viz., the time of the exile, +there is not only the indirect testimony borne by the place which +this prophecy occupies in the collection of the prophets which is +chronologically arranged, but there are also the following facts;--that +those who are to inflict the predicted calamity upon Judah are not at +all more definitely characterized than in the first part of Hosea, in +Joel, and Amos;--that, in like manner, the heathen power from which the +overthrow of Edom is to proceed, is neither mentioned, nor more +definitely pointed out in any other way;--that Jeremiah already made +use of Obadiah's prophecy; and if such be denied, the older foundation +would then be withdrawn from the prophecy of Jeremiah--which would be +contrary [Pg 400] to the analogy of Jeremiah's prophecies against +foreign nations;--and, finally, that, in vers. 12-14, the prophet +exhorts the Edomites neither to rejoice nor to co-operate in the +destruction of Jerusalem, because, otherwise, they would certainly +receive the well-merited reward of such wickedness committed against +the Covenant-people, to whom they were so nearly related. Such an +exhortation would have been out of place, after the wickedness had been +committed.--The view of _Hofmann_ (which was revived by _Delitzsch_ in +his treatise, "When did Obadiah prophesy?" [_Guerike's Zeitschrift_ 51, +_Hft._ 1])--according to which the capture of Jerusalem by the +Philistines and Arabians under Jehoram (2 Chron. xxi. 16 ff.) was the +occasion of the prophecy before us, and according to which Obadiah is +thus made the oldest among all the prophets in the Canon, and separated +by nearly a century from the three prophets who preceded him--overlooks +the fact that only cogent reasons could induce us to assume so isolated +a position, since it is certainly not a matter of accident that the +written prophecy began its course under the reign of Jeroboam +and Uzziah. The guilt and punishment of Edom are, in like manner, +spoken of in the Preterite; and it is inadmissible to understand the +Preterites as historical, in so far as they refer to the guilt, and as +prophetical, in so far as they refer to the punishment. The words, "Day +of their destruction," in ver. 12, are decisive against every other +catastrophe upon Judah, but that of the Chaldean. Ver. 20, when rightly +interpreted, supposes the carrying away of Israel and Judah, and hence +allows us to think only of the Assyro-Chaldean catastrophe. In ver. 21, +Mount Zion is forsaken, and "the saviours" return to it from the land +of captivity. + +In strict accordance with the position of the book in the Canon, is the +fact, that Obadiah connects himself most closely with Joel, and, +excepting him, among all the prophets, with Amos only; compare +_Caspari_, S. 20 ff., 35; _Haevernick_, _Einleitung_ II. S. 318. Of +greater importance than the coincidences in particulars, is the fact +that the prophecy of Obadiah, upon the whole, connects itself most +closely and immediately with the fourth (third) chapter of Joel--that +in the prophecy of Obadiah, we have indeed a _variation_ on that +chapter. The judgment upon Judah, which Joel announces in the first +part, [Pg 401] is here supposed to have already taken place; and this +might be done so much the rather, because, even in Joel, the prophetic +_Plerophory_, with which rationalistic interpreters are so much +puzzled, has changed the Future into the Present and Past--as, even +there, the destruction of Jerusalem, and the overflowing of the whole +country by the heathen, are represented as already existing. It is only +the judgment upon the heathen, and the restoration of Israel, which +Obadiah represents in his prophetic picture. + +Like Hosea (in the first three chapters), Joel, and Amos, so Obadiah +also, received the mission to point out the catastrophe threatened by +the world's power, even before the latter existed on the scene of +history. It was to the Covenant-people a source of rich consolation +that it was so clearly and distinctly foretold to them, even before it +had an existence, and the points of view from which it must be regarded +were opened up to them. He, however, distinctly points to one idea +only, just because there were already predecessors to whose prophecies +he could refer. He did not receive the mission to call to repentance, +or to represent the judgment as a well-deserved punishment--although, +_indirectly_, in him as well as in Joel, these thoughts also occur, as +certainly as the supposed destruction of Judah and Israel could only be +the punishment of their sin; he has to point out only the salvation +subsequent to the overflowing by the heathen world, the conquering +power of the kingdom of God which, in the end, will manifest itself, +and deeply to impress upon the Covenant-people the words: [Greek: +tharseite, ego nenikeka ton kosmon.] The glaring contrast betwixt +the _idea_--according to which the kingdom of God was to be all +prevailing--and the _reality_, in which it is pressed into a corner, +shall in future increase still more. Even from this corner, the people +of God shall be driven. But death is the transition to life; the +uttermost degree of sufferings, the forerunner of deliverance and +salvation. Not a restoration only is in store for the people of +God--they even obtain the dominion of the world; but to the heathen +world, which is at enmity with God, their exaltation is a forerunner +of destruction. + +All which Obadiah had to say in reference to the heathen, God-hating +world, and to the form which, in future, Israel's [Pg 402] relation to +it would assume, has been exemplified by him in the case of Edom. For +the fact, that it is only the heathen power individualized which we +have before us, is shown by the transition to the heathen in general in +ver. 15, according to which, Edom comes into consideration only as a +part of the whole: "For near is the day of the Lord upon _all the +heathen_." So also is it in ver. 16: "For as ye[1] have drunk upon My +holy mountain, so shall _all the heathen_ drink continually;[2] and +they drink, and sup up, and they are as though they were not." When +speaking of the guilt, he mentions Edom only; when speaking of +punishment, he introduces all the heathen at once. According to ver. +17, Israel shall occupy the possessions of _all the heathen_. And even +the last words of the whole prophecy, "And the kingdom shall be the +Lord's," show that it bears a universal character,--that in the case of +Edom, we have only a principle exemplified which applies to all the +enemies of the kingdom of God. The leading thought is: The kingdom of +God shall obtain universal dominion, which follows the deepest +abasement of the people of God, and of which the fullest and most +perfect realization must be sought in Christ. + +The animating thought could be so much the better individualized in the +case of Edom, as its natural relation to Israel was one of special +nearness, and its hatred specially deep; and as, moreover, it at all +times considered itself the rival of Israel, of whose advantages it was +envious. That which Amos, the cotemporary of Obadiah, says of Edom in +chap. i. 11--"He pursues his brother with the sword, and corrupts +his compassions, and his anger tears perpetually, and he keeps his +wrath for ever"--shows how exceedingly well he was fitted to be a +representative of the enemies of the kingdom of God. It was so much the +more obvious thus to represent Edom as a particular and individualizing +exemplification of this principle, as the prophets of that period had +not as yet received any more definite disclosures as to the threatening +kingdoms of the future, while Edom, in his [Pg 403] hatred against the +people of God, stood before their eyes. The germ of this is to be found +in Joel iv. (iii.) 19, where Edom already appears as a representative +and type of the God-hating heathen world, which is to be judged by the +Lord, after the judgment upon Judah. + +In Obadiah, we find a fulness of remarkable glances into the +future compressed within a narrow space. The chief events are the +following:--1. The capture of Jerusalem, the total carrying away of the +entire people, both of Judah and Israel, to a far distance, vers. 20, +21. 2. The return of Israel, the cessation of the separation of the two +kingdoms, ver. 18 (compare Hos. ii. 2 [i. 11]; Amos ix. 11, 12), and +his elevation to the dominion of the world by the "Saviours," ver. 21. +3. The judgment upon Edom by heathen nations, vers. 1-9. Jeremiah, in +xxvii. 2 ff., compared with xxv., more distinctly points out the +Chaldeans as the heathen instruments of the judgment upon Edom and all +the people round about; and Matt. i. 3, 4, shows the weight of the +sufferings which were inflicted by them upon Edom. 4. The occupation of +the land of Edom by Judah. One realization of this prophecy took place +in the time of the Maccabees; but we must not confine ourselves to +this. As, in the main, Edom is only a type of the God-hating heathen +world, the true and real fulfilment can be sought in Christ alone. +Compare the remarks, p. 98, with reference to Moab in Balaam's +prophecy. + +The prophecy of Obadiah is divided into three parts:--the destruction +of Edom by heathen nations summoned by Jehovah, vers. 1-9; the cause of +it, his wickedness against Judah, vers. 10-16; Judah, on the contrary, +rises with Joseph from this humiliation, and becomes a conqueror of the +world, vers. 17-21. This last part claims our closer consideration. + +Ver. 17. "_And upon Mount Zion shall be they that have escaped, and it +is holy_ (compare Joel iii. 5, iv. 17 [ii. 32, iii. 17]), _and the +house of Jacob occupies their possessions._" + +The suffix in [Hebrew: mvrwihM] refers to all the heathen in ver. 16. +The kingdom shall be the Lord's, according to ver. 16, and the dominion +of His people extends as far as His own. We have here the general +prophecy; and in what immediately follows, the application to Edom. The +first two clauses serve as a foundation for the third. The holiness +has, so to speak, not only a [Pg 404] defensive, but also an offensive +character. Its consequence is the dominion of the world. + +Ver. 18. "_And the house of Jacob becomes a fire, and the house of +Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau stubble, and they kindle them, +and devour them; and there shall not be any remaining to the house of +Esau; for the Lord has spoken._" + +Besides the whole of the people, that part of them (the house of +Joseph, the people of the ten tribes) is specially mentioned which one +might have expected to be excluded. That there is none remaining to the +house of Esau (and to all who are like him) agrees with the declaration +uttered by Joel in iii. 5 (ii. 32): "Amongst those who are spared, is +whomsoever the Lord calleth." They, however, whom the Lord calls, are, +according to the same verse, they who call on the name of the Lord. +But the characteristic of Edom is his hatred against the kingdom of +God,--and that excludes both the calling on the Lord, and the being +called by the Lord. The single individual, however, may come out of the +community of his people, and enter into the territory of saving grace, +as is shown by the example of Rahab. In the further description of the +conquering power, which the people of God shall, in future, exercise, +we are, in ver. 19, first met by Judah and Benjamin. + +Ver. 19. "_And they of the south possess the Mount of Esau, and they +from the low region, the Philistines; and they_ (_i.e._, they of Judah, +the whole, of whom they of the South and of the low region are parts +only) _possess the fields of Ephraim, and the fields of Samaria, and +Benjamin--Gilead._" + +It is obvious that we have here before us only an individualized +representation of the thought already expressed in Gen. xxviii. 14: +"And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt break +forth to the East and to the West, to the North and to the South; and +in thee, and in thy seed, all the families of the earth are blessed;" +compare also Is. liv. 3: "Thou shalt break forth on the right hand and +on the left, and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles."--[Hebrew: ngd] +is the south part of Judea, at the borders of Edom; [Hebrew: wplh] the +low region on the West, at the borders of the Philistines. As, +according to the vision of the prophet, the exaltation of Judah is +preceded by his total overthrow and captivity (compare vers. 11-14, 20, +21), the tribe of Judah, which, before the catastrophe, was settled in +[Pg 405] the South and low region, is here meant. That [Hebrew: at] can +be taken only as the sign of the Accus., and "Mount of Esau," +accordingly, as the object only, appears from ver. 20, according to +which the South is vacant. Judah thus extends in the South, over Edom, +in the West, over Philistia, in the North, over the former territory of +the ten tribes, and hence also over the territory of Benjamin, which +formerly lay betwixt Judah and Joseph. Benjamin is indemnified by +Gilead. The whole of Canaan comes thus to Judah and Benjamin. Joseph, +to whose damage, according to ver. 18, this enlargement of Judah's +territory must lead, must be transferred altogether to heathenish +territory. We expect to find, in ver. 20, how he is indemnified. + +Ver. 20. "_And the exiles of this host of the children of Israel (shall +possess) what are Canaanites unto Zarephath, and the exiles of +Jerusalem that are in Sepharad shall possess the cities of the South._" + +The circumstance that the Athnach stands below [Hebrew: sprd] indicates +that [Hebrew: irwv] implies the common property of the exiles of this +host, and of the exiles of Jerusalem. The "Sons of Israel," in this +context, can only be the ten tribes; for they are here indemnified for +their former territory, which, according to ver. 19, has become the +possession of Judah. "The exiles of this host" is equivalent to: "This +whole host of exiles,"--the whole mass of the ten tribes, carried away +according to prophetic foresight (compare Amos v. 27: "And I carry you +away beyond Damascus, saith the Lord, the God of hosts"), as opposed to +a piecemeal carrying away, such as had once already taken place before +the time of the prophet in respect to Judah, but not in respect to the +children of Israel; compare Joel iv. (iii.) 6. That the "Canaanites +unto Zarephath"--_i.e._, the Ph[oe]nicians, whose territory formed part +of the promised land, but had never, in former times, come into the +real possession of Israel--are the objects of conquest, and that, +hence, we cannot explain as _Caspari_ does, "Who are among the +Canaanites, even unto Zarephath," is evident from the circumstance, +that all the neighbouring nations appear as objects of the conquering +activity;--that the great mass of the Israelitish exiles were not among +the Canaanites;--that the [Hebrew: b] could, in that case, not have +been omitted;--and that the South country is too small [Pg 406] a space +for the children of Israel, and of Jerusalem together. Sepharad, the +very name of which is scarcely known, is mentioned as a particularizing +designation of the utmost distance. The description becomes complete by +its returning to the South country, from which it had proceeded. The +South country penetrates to Edom; the inhabitants of Jerusalem extend +beyond the South country. + +Ver. 21. "_And saviours go up on Mount Zion to judge the Mount of Esau, +and the kingdom shall be the Lord's._" + +[Hebrew: elv] is to be accounted for from the consideration, that the +deliverance and salvation imply the entire overthrow--the total +carrying away of the people. The Saviour [Greek: kat' exochen] is +hidden beneath the "saviours;" compare Judges iii. 9, 15; Neh. ix. 27. +But even here, everything is connected with human individuals; and the +more glorious the salvation which the prophet beholds in the future, +viz., the absolute dominion of the Lord, and His people, over the +world, the less can it be conceived that the prophet should have +expected the realization of it by a collective body of mortal men +without a leader. But the plural intimates that the antitype is not +without types,--that the head cannot be conceived of without members. +In Jer. xxiii. 4, we read: "And I raise up shepherds over them +which shall feed them;" and immediately afterwards the one good +shepherd--Christ--forms the subject of discourse.--"And the kingdom +shall be the Lord's."--His dominion, till _then_ concealed, shall now +be publicly manifested, and the people of the earth shall acknowledge +it, either spontaneously, or by constraint. The coming of this kingdom +has begun with Christ, and, in Him, waits for its consummation. The +opinion of _Caspari_, that the contents of vers. 19 and 20, as well +as the close of this prophecy, belong altogether to the future, +rests on a false, literal explanation, the inadmissibility of which +is sufficiently evident from the circumstance that the Edomites, +Philistines, and Canaanites have long since disappeared from the scene +of history; so that there exists no longer the possibility of a literal +fulfilment. + + +Footnote 1: The fact that, _everywhere_, the discourse is addressed to +the Edomites, proves that here also Edom is addressed. The [Hebrew: ki] +and the [Hebrew: kawr] in this verse, compared with those in the +preceding verse, likewise suggest this. Compare, moreover, Joel iv. +(iii.) 3, to which passage there is already an allusion in ver. 11. + +Footnote 2: Namely, the cup of punishment, of divine wrath. + + +[Pg 407] + + + + THE PROPHET JONAH. + +It has been asserted without any sufficient reason, that Jonah is older +than Hosea, Joel, Amos, and Obadiah,--that he is the oldest among the +prophets whose written monuments have been preserved to us. The passage +in 2 Kings xiv. 25, where it is said, that Jonah, the son of Amittai +the prophet, prophesied to Jeroboam the happy success of his arms, and +the restoration of the ancient boundaries of Israel, and that this +prophecy was confirmed by the event, cannot decide in favour of this +assertion, because it cannot be proved that the victories of Jeroboam +belonged to the _beginning_ of his reign. On the other hand, it is +opposed, _first_, by the position of the book in the collection of +the Minor Prophets, which, throughout, is chronologically arranged, +and which is tantamount to an express testimony that Jonah wrote +_after_ Hosea, Joel, Amos, and Obadiah. _Then_,--the circumstance that +Nineveh is mentioned here, and that too in a way which implies that, +even at that time, the hostile relations of the Assyrians to the +Covenant-people had already begun, while in the first part of Hosea, in +Joel, Amos, and Obadiah, no reference to the Assyrians is as yet found. +Even ancient interpreters, as _Chr. B. Michaelis_, _Crusius_ (in the +_Theol. Proph._ iii. S. 38), inferred from this mention of Nineveh, +that the book had been composed in consequence of the first invasion of +the Assyrians under Menahem, who ascended the throne 13 years after the +death of Jeroboam II. _Finally_,--the book begins with _and_. Wherever +else, in the canonical books of the Old Testament, such a beginning +occurs, it indicates a resumption of, and a junction with, former links +in the chain of sacred literature; compare Judges i. 1; 1 Sam. i. 1; +Ezek. i. 1. That the expression, "And it came to pass," with which the +book opens, is intended to establish the connection with the prophecy +of Obadiah, which occupies the immediately preceding place in the +Canon, is intimated by the internal relation of the two books to each +other. The prophecy of Obadiah bears, throughout, a hostile aspect to +the heathen world; it appears to him as the object only of God's +judging activity. Jonah, on the other hand, received the mission, +distinctly to point out the other aspect of the matter, and [Pg 408] +thereby, not indeed to correct, but certainly to supplement his +predecessor. + +The time was approaching when the heathen world was to pour out its +floods upon the people of God. It was obvious that the position +of Israel towards it became one altogether repulsive, that the +susceptibility of the heathen for salvation was denied, and God's mercy +was limited to Israel. Narrow-minded exclusiveness received a powerful +support from the oppression and haughtiness of the heathen. Whilst +other prophets opposed such exclusiveness by their words, by announcing +the extension of salvation to the Gentiles, Jonah received the mission +to illustrate, by a symbolical action, the capacity of the heathen for +salvation, and their future participation in it. The effect of this +must necessarily have been so much the greater, as the whole of the +little book is exclusively devoted to this subject, as it appeared at +the first beginning of the conflict, and as Nineveh is mentioned here, +for the first time, in so peaceable and conciliatory a relation, and in +close harmony and connection with the announcement of the willing +submission of the heathen world to the dominion of Shiloh, spoken of in +Gen. xlix. 10. It is remarkably impressive to see how spirit here +triumphs over nature--a triumph which appears so much the brighter +because the prophet himself pays his tribute to nature; for it was +because he listened to the voice of nature, that, at first, he intended +to flee to Tarshish. The reason why the commission of the Lord was so +disagreeable to him, we learn from chap. iv. 2. He was afraid lest the +preaching of repentance, which was committed to him, might turn away +the judgments of the Lord from Nineveh, the metropolis of that country +which threatened destruction to Israel. He knew the deep corruption of +his own people, and foreboded the issue which the extension of the +means of grace to the Gentiles might very easily bring about in the +end. But yet, he felt almost irresistibly impelled to carry out the +commission of God, and in order to cut himself off from the possibility +of following the voice which called him to the east, he resolved to go +to the far distant west. The voice, however, followed him even there; +but the farther he advanced on his journey, the more difficult it +became for him to follow it. At a later period, when the Lord granted +mercy to Nineveh, he was angry and wished to die, not by any means +because he [Pg 409] felt himself injured in his honour as a prophet (as +was erroneously supposed, even by _Calvin_), but because he grudged to +the Gentiles the mercy which he considered as a prerogative of Israel +only, and because he was anxious for the destruction of Nineveh as the +metropolis of that kingdom which was destined to be the rod of +chastisement for his own people. He was thus actuated by the same +ardent love for his people which called forth the wish of St Paul, that +he might become an anathema for his brethren,--by the same disposition +of mind which prevailed in the elder brother at the return of the +prodigal son (Luke xv. 25 ff.), and which at first would manifest +itself even in Peter, Acts x. 14 ff. The Jewish sentence (_Carpzov. +Introd._ 3, p. 149), "Jonah was anxious for the glory of the Son, but +he did not seek the glory of the Father," is very significant. Jonah +exhibits, in a very striking way, the thoughts of his old man, in order +that Israel might recognise themselves in his image. But we are not at +liberty to say that the prophet represented the people only. It is true +that, as one of the people, he also entertained those thoughts; but, +besides these, he entertained other thoughts also. The voices of the +Lord which he heard were spiritual; and such voices can be heard only +when there is something akin in the heart. Not even with one step did +Jonah touch the territory of the false prophets, who prophesied out of +their own hearts. He retained all his human weakness to himself, and +the Word of God stood by the side of it in unclouded brightness, and +obtained absolute victory. + +There can be no doubt that we have before us in the Book of Jonah the +description of a symbolical action,--that his mission to Nineveh has an +object distinct from the mission itself,--that it is not the result +attained by it in the first instance which is the essential point, but +that it is its aim to bring to light certain truths, and in the form of +fact, to prophesy future things. The truths are these:--_First_, that +the Gentiles are by no means so unsusceptible of the higher truth as +vulgar prejudice imagined them to be. This was manifested by the +conduct of the sailors, who, at last, offer sacrifices and even vows to +Jehovah; but, in a more striking manner, by the deep impression which +the discourse of Jonah produced upon the Ninevites. In this we have the +actual proof of Ezek. iii. 5, 6, where the prophet represents his +mission as one of peculiar difficulty--more [Pg 410] difficult, even, +than it would have been if addressed to the Gentiles: "Had I sent thee +to them, surely they would have hearkened to thee." _Further_,--that it +is not in His relation to Israel only, but in His relation to the +Gentiles also, that the Lord is "gracious and merciful, slow to anger +and of great kindness," chap. iv. 2. The view which these words, at +once, open up into the future, is, that at some future period the Lord +will grant to the Gentiles the preaching of His word, and admission +into His kingdom. The glory of His mercy and grace would have +been darkened, if the revelation of them had been for ever limited +to a particular, small portion of the human race. Nineveh, the +representative of the heathen multitude, is very significantly called +the "great city" at the very outset, in i. 2, and "a great city for +God," in iii. 3, for which, as _Michaelis_ remarks, God specially +cared, on account of the great number of souls; compare iv. 11. + +If the symbolical and prophetical character of the book be denied, the +fact of its having its place among the prophetical, and not among the +historical, books, admits of no explanation at all. For so much is +evident, that this fact cannot be satisfactorily accounted for by the +circumstance that the book reports the events which happened to a +prophet. The sound explanation has been already given by _Marckius_: +"The book is, in a great measure, historical, but in such a manner, +that in the history itself there is hidden the mystery of the greatest +prophecy, and that Jonah proves himself to be a true prophet, by the +events which happened to him, not less than by his utterances." A +similar explanation is given by _Carpzovius_: "By his own example, as +well as by the event itself, he bore witness that it was the will of +God that all men should be saved, and should come to the knowledge of +the truth," 1 Tim. ii. 4. + +We are led to the same conclusion by the representation itself. This +differs very widely from that given in the historical books. The +objection raised by _Hitzig_ against the historical truth,--viz., that +the narrative is fragmentary,--that it wants completeness,--that a +number of events are communicated only in so far as is required by the +object of gaining a foundation for the graphic representation of the +doctrinal contents,--cannot be set aside so easily as is done by +_Haevernich_ when he says: [Pg 411] "By arguments of a nature so flimsy, +suspicions may be raised against the truth of every historical report." +We cannot but confess that, to the writer, history is indeed a means +only of representing a thought to which he is anxious to give currency +in the Church of God. It is just for this reason that he abstains from +graphically enlarging, because that would have been an obstacle to his +purpose. The narrative of a symbolical action which took place +outwardly, comes, in this respect, under the same law as the narrative +of a symbolical action belonging to the internal territory, and to that +of the parable. The narrative would lose the character of perspicuity +which is so necessary for the whole matter, if it were complete in the +subordinate circumstances. + +It also tells in favour of the symbolical character of the history of +Jonah, that the missionary activity on behalf of the Gentiles does not +properly belong to the vocation of the prophets, their mission being to +the two houses of Israel only. In the entire history, not even a single +example is to be found of a prophet who, for the good of the heathen +world itself, went out among them. The history of Elisha, in 2 Kings +viii. 7 ff., has, without sufficient reason, been adduced by +_Haevernick_. According to the visions of the prophets themselves, the +conversion of the heathen is not to be accomplished _at present_, but +in the Messianic time, and by the Messiah Himself. If, then, the book +itself is not to stand altogether isolated, the symbolical character of +Jonah's mission must be acknowledged. But then it is only in the form +that it differs from the announcements of the extension of salvation to +the heathen also,--announcements which occur in the other prophets +also. That which these exhibited in words merely, is here made +conspicuous by deeds. The influence thereby produced upon the heathen +appears then only as the means, while the real purpose is to make an +important truth familiar to the Congregation of God, and, by a striking +fact, to remove the prejudices which prevailed in it. + +_Finally_,--If the symbolical character of the facts be denied, the +mission of Jonah appears to be almost divested of every aim; for the +good emotions of the crew, and the repentance of the Ninevites, +evidently did not lead to any lasting result. If anything else were +aimed at than the prefiguring of future events, the prophet might +better have stayed at home; an unassuming [Pg 412] ministry in some +corner among the Covenant-people would have carried along with it a +greater reward. + +If, on the other hand, the symbolical character of the history of Jonah +be admitted, remarkable parallels in the history of Jesus present +themselves. The Saviour, in the days of His flesh, was satisfied with +the prophetic intimation of the future farther extension of His +salvation. That which He Himself did for this extension, in those +particular cases where the faith of non-Israelites obtruded itself upon +Him, must, in its isolation, be viewed as an embodiment of that +intimation,--as a prophecy by deeds. He says in Matt. xv. 24: "I +am not sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel;" but if, +nevertheless. He purposely makes His abode in the territory of Tyre and +Sidon; if there He hears the prayer of the Canaanitish woman to heal +her daughter, after having first tried her faith, then His purpose +evidently is: That His prophecy in words concerning the extension of +salvation to the Gentiles, might find a support in His prophecy +in deeds. Jesus, prefiguring the future doings of His servants, +passed over the boundaries of the Gentiles. Whilst the Jews had +rejected the salvation offered to them, and forced Jesus to retire +into concealment, the heathen woman comes full of faith, and seeks Him +in His concealment. The Canaanitish woman is a representative of the +heathen world, the future faith of which she was called to prefigure by +sustaining the trial. From her example, the Apostles were to learn what +might be expected from the Gentiles when the time should arrive for +proclaiming the Gospel to them also. In Matt. x. 5, 6, the Lord speaks +to the Apostles: "Go not in the way of the Gentiles, and into any of +the cities of the _Samaritans_ enter ye not; but go rather to the lost +sheep of the house of Israel." His own conduct, however, as it is +reported in John iv., stands in contradiction to this command to His +Apostles, so long as its prophetical significance is not acknowledged. +That which was, on a large scale, to be done by Christ in the state of +glorification, was prefigured by Him, on a smaller scale, in the state +of humiliation. The ministry of Christ in Samaria bears the same +relation to the later mission among this people, that the single +instances of Christ's raising the dead do to the general resurrection. +The Lord afterwards did not foster the germs which had come forth among +the Samaritans; He, in the meantime, left them altogether [Pg 413] to +their fate. That prelude was quite sufficient for the object which He +then had in view, and nothing further could be done without violating +the rights of the Covenant-people, to which, in the conversation as +recorded by John, the Lord as expressly pays attention, as He does in +Matt. x. + + + THE PROPHET MICAH. + + PRELIMINARY REMARKS. + +Micah signifies: "Who is like Jehovah;" and by this name, the prophet +is consecrated to the incomparable God, just as Hosea was to the +helping God, and Nahum to the comforting God. He prophesied, according +to the inscription, under Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. We are not, +however, entitled, on this account, to dissever his prophecies, and to +assign particular discourses to the reign of each of these kings. On +the contrary, the entire collection forms only one whole. At the +termination of his prophetic ministry, under Hezekiah, the prophet +committed to writing everything which was of importance for all coming +time that had been revealed to him during the whole duration of that +ministry. He collected into one comprehensive picture all the detached +visions which had been granted to him in manifold repetition; giving us +the sum and substance (of which nothing has been lost in the case of +any of the men inspired by God) of what was spoken at different times, +and omitting all which was accidental, and purely local and temporary. + +This view, which alone is the correct one, and which contributes so +largely to the right understanding of the prophet, has been already +advanced by several of the older scholars. Thus _Lightfoot_ (_Ordo +temporum_, opp. i. p. 99) remarks: "It is easier to conceive that the +matter of this whole book represents the substance of the prophecy +which he uttered under these various kings, than to determine which of +the chapters of this book were uttered under the particular reign of +each of these kings." _Majus_ also (_Economia temporum_, p. 898) says: +"He repeated, at a subsequent period, what he had spoken at different +[Pg 414] times, and under different kings." In modern times, however, +this view had been generally abandoned; and although, at present, many +critics are disposed to return to it, _Hitzig_ and _Maurer_ still +assert, that the book was composed at different periods. + +We shall now endeavour to prove the unity of the book, _first_, from +the prophecies themselves. If we were entitled to separate them at all, +according to time and circumstances, we could form a division into +three discourses only; viz., chap. i. and ii.; chap. iii.-v.; and chap. +vi. and vii. For, 1. Each of these discourses forms a whole, complete +in itself, and in which the various elements of the prophetic +discourse--reproof, threatening, promise--are repeated. If these +discourses be torn asunder, we get only the _lacera membra_ of a +prophetic discourse. 2. Each of these three discourses, forming an +harmonious whole, begins with [Hebrew: wmev], _hear_. That this is not +merely accidental, appears from the beginning of the first discourse, +[Hebrew: wmev emiM klM], "Hear, all ye people." These words literally +agree with those which were uttered by the prophet's elder namesake, +when, according to 1 Kings xxii. 28, he called upon the whole world to +attend to the remarkable struggle betwixt the true and false prophets. +It is evidently on purpose that the prophet begins with the same words +as those with which the elder Micah had closed his discourse to Ahab, +and, it may be, his whole prophetic ministry. By this very circumstance +he gives intimation of what may be expected from him, shows that his +activity is to be considered as a continuation of that of his +predecessor, who was so jealous for God, and that he had more in common +with him than the mere name. _Rosenmueller_ (_Prol. ad Mich._ p. 8) has +asserted, indeed, that these words are only put into the mouth of +the elder Micah, and that they are taken from the passage under +consideration. But the reason which he adduces in support of this +assertion, viz., that it cannot be conceived how it could ever have +entered the mind of that elder Micah to call upon all people to be +witnesses of an announcement which concerned Ahab only, needs no +detailed refutation. Why then is it that in Deut. xxxii. 1, Is. i. 2, +heaven and earth are called upon to be witnesses of an announcement +which concerned the Jewish people only? Who does not see that, to the +prophet, Israel appears as too small an audience [Pg 415] for the +announcement of the great decision which he has just uttered; in the +same manner as the Psalmist (compare, _e.g._, Ps. xcvi. 3) exhorts to +proclaim to the Gentiles the great deeds of the Lord, because Palestine +is too narrow for them?--But now, if it be established that it was with +a distinct object that the prophet employed the words, "Hear ye," does +not the circumstance that they are found at the commencement of the +three discourses, which are complete in themselves, afford sufficient +ground for the assumption, that it was the intention of the prophet, +not indeed absolutely to limit them to the beginning of a new discourse +(compare, on the contrary, iii. 9[1]), but yet, not to commence a new +discourse without them; so that the want of them is decisive against +the supposition of a new section? 3. As soon as an attempt is made to +break up any of these three discourses, many particular circumstances +are at once found, upon a careful examination, to prove a connection +of the sections so close, as not to admit of a separation without +mutilating them. Thus chap. i. and ii. cannot be separated from each +other, for the reason that the promise in ii. 12, 13, refers to the +threatening in i. 5. That promise refers to all Israel, just as does +the threatening in chap. i.; whilst in the threatening and reproof in +chap. ii. the eye of the prophet is directed only to the main object of +his ministry, viz., to Judah. + +But even these three divisions, which hitherto we have proved to be the +only divisions that do exist,[2] can be considered as such, in so far +only as in them the discourse takes a fresh start, and enters upon a +new sphere. They cannot be considered as complete in themselves, and +separated from one another by the [Pg 416] difference of the periods of +their composition; for even in them there are found traces of a close +connection. Even the uniform beginning by "Hear" may be considered as +such. The second discourse in iii. 1 begins with [Hebrew: vamr]; but +the _Fut._ with _Vav convers._ always, and without exception, connects +a new action with a preceding one, and can never be used where there is +an absolutely new commencement. Its significance here, where it is used +in the transition from the promise to a new reproof and threatening, +has been very strikingly brought out thus, by _Ch. Bened. Michaelis_: +"But while we are yet but too far away from those longed-for times, +which have just been promised, I _say_ in the meanwhile, viz., in order +to complete the list of the iniquities of evil princes and teachers, +begun in chap. ii." The words of iii. 1, "Hear, I pray you, ye heads of +Jacob, and ye princes of the house of Israel," have an evident +reference to ii. 12: "I will assemble Jacob all of thee, I will gather +the remnant of Israel." In the new threatening, the prophet chooses +quite the same designation as in the preceding promise, in order to +prevent the latter from giving support to false security. It is not by +any means Samaria alone, but all Israel, which is the object of divine +punishment. It is only a remnant of Israel that shall be gathered. But +the reference to the preceding discourse is still more obvious in ver. +4: "Then they shall cry unto the Lord, and He will not answer; and may +He hide[3] His face from them at this time, as they have behaved +themselves ill towards Him in their doings." Now, as in vers. 1-3 +divine judgments had not yet been spoken of, the terms "then," and "at +this time," can refer only to the threatenings of punishment in ii. 3 +ff., which have a special reference to the ungodly nobles. + +Thus the result presented at the beginning, is confirmed to us by +internal reasons. The inscription[4] announces the oracles [Pg 417] of +God which came to Micah under the reign of three kings; while the +examination of the contents proves that the collection forms a +connected whole, written _uno tenore_. How, now, can these two facts be +reconciled in any other way than by supposing that we have here before +us a comprehensive picture of the prophetic ministry of Micah, the +single component parts of which are at once contemporaneous, and yet +belonging to different periods? This supposition, moreover, affords +us the advantage of being allowed to maintain all the historical +references in their fullest import, without being led to disregard the +one, while we give attention to the other; for nothing is, in this +case, more natural, than that the prophet connects with one another +different prophecies uttered at different times. + +The weight of these internal reasons is increased, however, by external +reasons which are equally strong. When Jeremiah was called to account +for his prophecy concerning the destruction of the city, the elders, +for his justification, appealed to the [Pg 418] entirely similar +prophecy of Micah in iii. 12: "Therefore shall Zion for your sake be +ploughed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps of ruins, and the +mountain of the house as the high places of the forest." In Jer. xxvi. +18, 19, it is said, "Micah prophesied in the days of Hezekiah, king of +Judah, and spake to all the people of Judah, etc. Did Hezekiah, king of +Judah, and all Judah, put him to death? Did he not fear the Lord, and +besought the Lord, and the Lord repented Him of the evil which He had +pronounced against them?" All interpreters admit that this passage +forms an authority for the composition of the discourse in iii.-v. +under Hezekiah; but we cannot well limit it in this way, we must extend +it to the whole collection. For, even apart from the reasons by which +we proved that the entire book forms one closely connected whole, +it is most improbable that the elders should have known, by an oral +tradition, the exact time of the composition of one single discourse, +which has no special date at the head of it. Is it not a far more +natural supposition, that they considered the collection as a whole, of +which the component parts had, indeed, been delivered by the prophet at +a former period, but had been repeated, and united into one description +under Hezekiah; and that they mentioned Hezekiah, partly because it +could not be determined with certainty whether this special prediction +had already been uttered under one of his predecessors, and, if so, +under which of them; and partly, because among the three kings +mentioned in the inscription, Hezekiah alone formed an ecclesiastical +authority? + +But just as that quotation in Jeremiah furnishes us with a proof that +all the prophecies of Micah, which have been preserved to us, were +committed to writing under Hezekiah, so we can, in a similar manner, +prove from Isaiah, chap. ii., that they were, at least in part, uttered +at a previous period. The problem of the relation of Is. ii. 2-4 to +Micah iv. 1-3, cannot be solved in any other way than by supposing, +that this portion of a prophecy which, in Jeremiah, is assigned to the +reign of Hezekiah, was uttered by Micah as early as under the reign of +Jotham, and that soon after it Isaiah, by placing the words of Micah at +the head of his own prophecies, expressed that which had come to him +also in inward vision; for, being already known to the people, they +could not fail to produce their impression. [Pg 419] Every other +solution can be proved to be untenable. 1. Least of all is there any +refutation needed of the hypothesis which is now generally abandoned, +viz., that the passage in Isaiah is the original one; compare, against +this hypothesis, _Kleinert_, _Aechtheit des Jes._ S. 356; _Caspari_, S. +444. 2. Equally objectionable is another supposition, that both the +prophets had made use of some older prophecy--one uttered by Joel, as +_Hitzig_ and _Ewald_ have maintained. The connection in which these +verses stand in Micah, is by far too close for such a supposition. We +could not, indeed, so confidently advance this argument, if the +connection consisted only in what is commonly brought forward, viz., +that upon the monitory announcement of punishment in chap. iii., there +follows, in chap. iv. 1 ff., the _consolatory_ promise of a glorious +future for the godly, and that the [Hebrew: ihih] in ver. 1 evidently +connects it with what immediately precedes. But the reference and +connection are far more close. The promise in iv. 1, 2, is, throughout, +contrasted with the threatening in iii. 12. "The mountain of the house +shall become as the high places of the forest,"--hence, despised, +solitary, and desolate. In iv. 1, there is opposed to it, "The mountain +of the house of the Lord shall be established on the top of the +mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills, and upon it people +shall flee together." "Zion shall be ploughed as a field, and Jerusalem +become a heap of ruins." Contrasted with this, there is in iv. 2 the +declaration: "For the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the +Lord of Jerusalem." The desolate and despised place now becomes the +residence of the Lord, from which He sends His commands over the whole +earth, and of which the brilliant centre now is Jerusalem. In order to +make this contrast so much the more obvious, the prophet begins, +in the promise, with just the mountain of the temple, which, in the +threatening, had occupied the last place; so that the opposites are +brought into immediate connection. Nor is it certainly merely +accidental that, in the threatening, he speaks of the mountain of the +house only, while, in the promise, he speaks of the mountain of the +house of the Lord; compare Matt. xxiii. 38, where "your house," +according to _Bengel_, "is the house which, in other passages, is +called the house of the Lord," just as the Lord, in Exod. xxxii. 7, +says to Moses, "_Thy people._" The temple must have ceased to be the +house of the Lord, before it would be destroyed; for [Pg 420] which +reason, as we are told In Ezekiel, the Shechinah removed from it before +the Babylonish destruction. And in point of form, the [Hebrew: ihih] in +iv. 1 so much the more corresponds with the [Hebrew: thih] in iii. 12, +as from the latter [Hebrew: ihih] must be supplied for the last clause +of the verse; compare _Caspari_, S. 445. That ver. 5 must not be +separated from the prophecy which Isaiah had before him, is seen from a +comparison of Is. ii. 5: "O house of Jacob, come ye and let us walk in +the light of the Lord." According to the true interpretation, "the +light of the Lord" signifies His grace, and the blessings which, +according to what precedes, are to be bestowed by it; and "to walk in +the light of the Lord," means to participate in the enjoyment of grace. +These words, accordingly, are closely related to those in Mic. iv. 5: +"For all the people shall walk, every one in the name of his god, and +we will walk in the name of the Lord our God for ever and ever:" +_i.e._, the fate of the people in the heathen world corresponds to the +nature of their gods; because these are nothing, they too shall sink +down into nothingness, while Israel shall partake in the glory of his +God. There is the same thought, and in essentially the same dress, both +in Isaiah and Micah,--only that the words which in Micah embody a pure +promise, are transformed by Isaiah into an exhortation that Israel +should not, by their own fault, forfeit this preference over the +heathen nations, that they should not wantonly wander away into dark +solitudes, from the path of light which the Lord had opened up before +them. This transformation in Isaiah, however, may be accounted for by +the consideration, that he was anxious to prepare the way for the +reproofs which now follow from ver. 6; whilst Micah, who had already +premised them, could continue in the promise. It is also in favour of +the originality of the passage in Micah, that the text which, in +Isaiah, appears as a variation, appears as original in Micah; so that +both cannot be equally dependent upon a third writer. 3. There now +remains only the view of _Kleinert_, according to which the prophecy of +Micah, in chap. iii.-v., was first uttered under the reign of Hezekiah; +and, under the reign of the same king, but somewhat later, the +prophecy, in chap. ii.-iv. of Isaiah, who avails himself of it. But, +upon a closer examination, this view also proves untenable. Isaiah's +description of the condition of the people in a moral point of view, +the general spread of idolatry [Pg 421] and vice, exclude every other +period in the reign of Hezekiah except the first beginning of it, when +the effect and influence of the time of Ahaz were still felt; so that +even _Kleinert_ (p. 364) is obliged to assume, that not only the +prophecy of Micah, but also that of Isaiah, were uttered in the first +months of the reign of this king. But other difficulties--and these +altogether insuperable--stand in the way of this assumption. In the +whole section of Isaiah, the nation appears as rich, flourishing, and +powerful. This is most strongly expressed in chap. ii. 7: "His land is +full of silver and gold, there is no end to his treasure; his land is +full of horses, and there is no end to his chariots." To this may be +added the description of the consequences of wealth, and of the +unbounded luxury, in iii. 16 ff.; and the threatening of the withdrawal +of all power, and all riches, as a strong contrast with their present +condition, upon which they, in their blindness, rested the hope of +their security, and hence imagined that they stood in no need of the +assistance of the Lord, iii. 1 ff. Now this description is so +inapplicable to the commencement of Hezekiah's reign, that the very +opposite of it should rather be expected. The invasion by the allied +Syrians and Israelites, the oppression by the Assyrians, and the +tribute which they had to pay to them, the internal administration, +which was bad beyond example, and the curse of God resting on all their +enterprises and efforts, had exhausted, during the reign of the ungodly +Ahaz, the treasures which had been collected under Uzziah and Jotham, +and had dried up the sources of prosperity. He had left the kingdom to +his successors in a condition of utter decay. To these, other reasons +still may be added, which are in favour of the composition of it under +Jotham, while they are against its composition under Hezekiah; +especially the circumstance of their standing at the beginning of the +collection of the first twelve chapters (a circumstance which is of +great weight, inasmuch as these chapters are, beyond any doubt, +arranged chronologically), but still more, the indefiniteness and +generality in the threatening of the divine judgments, which the +prophecy of Micah has in common with the nearly contemporaneous +chapters i. and v. of Isaiah, whilst the threatenings out of the first +period of the reign of Ahaz have at once a far more definite character. +By these considerations we are involuntarily led back to a period when +Isaiah still [Pg 422] pre-eminently exercised the office of exhorting +and reproving, and had not yet been favoured with special revelations +concerning the events of a future which, at that time, was as yet +rather distant,--perhaps as far as the time when Jotham administered +the government for his father, who was at that time still alive; +compare 2 Kings xv. 5. By this hypothesis. Is. iii. 12 is more +satisfactorily explained than by any other; and we are no longer under +the necessity of asserting, that the chronological order is interrupted +by chap. vi.; for this certainly could not have been intended by the +collector. The solemn call and consecration of the prophet to his +office, accompanied by an increased bestowal of grace, must be +carefully distinguished from the ordinary ones which were common to him +with all the other prophets. But if the prophecy of Isaiah was uttered +as early as under Jotham (which has lately been most satisfactorily +proved by _Caspari_ in his _Beitraege zur Einl. in das Buch Jesaias_, S. +234 ff.), that of Micah also must have existed at that time, and must +have been in the mouths of the people. And since its composition is +assigned to the reign of Hezekiah, it follows that the prophet +delivered anew, under the reign of this king, the revelations which he +had already received at an earlier period. + +It will not be possible to infer with certainty from vers. 6, 7, as +_Caspari_ does, that the book was committed to writing before the +destruction of Samaria, and hence, before the sixth year of Hezekiah. +Since the book gives the sum and substance of what was prophesied +under three kings, all that is implied in vers. 6, 7, is, that the +destruction of Samaria was foretold by Micah; but the prophecy itself +may have been committed to writing even after the fulfilment had +taken place. But, on the other hand, according to the analogy of Is. +xxxix., and xiii. and xiv., we are led by iv. 9, 10, to the time of +Sennacherib's invasion of Judea, in which the prophetic spirit of +Isaiah likewise most richly displayed itself, and in which he was +privileged with a glance into the far distant future. + +The exordium in chap. i. and ii., and the close in vi. and vii., are +distinguished by the generality of the threatening and promise which +prevails in them. They have this in common with the first five chapters +of Isaiah, and thus certainly afford us pre-eminently an image of the +prophetic ministry of Micah, in the time previous to the Assyrian +invasion; whilst the main [Pg 423] body (especially from iv. 8) +represents to us particularly the character of the prophecy during the +Assyrian period. + +We shall now attempt to give a survey of the contents of Micah's +prophecy. + +Upon Samaria and Jerusalem--the kingdom of the ten tribes, and Judah--a +judgment by foreign enemies is to come. Total destruction, and the +carrying away of the inhabitants, will be the issue of this judgment, +and, as regards Judah more particularly, the total overthrow of the +dominion of the Davidic dynasty. + +Samaria is first visited by this judgment. This is indicated by the +fact that it is first mentioned in the inscription, and that in i. 6, +7, the judgment upon Samaria is, first of all, described; but +especially by the circumstance that Samaria, in i. 5, appears as the +chief seat of corruption for the whole people, whence it flowed upon +Judah also, i. 14, and particularly, vi. 16. We expect that where the +carcases first were, there the eagles would first be gathered together. + +As the first, and principal instrument of the destructive judgment upon +Judah, Babylon is mentioned in iv. 10. + +As the representative of the world's power, at the time then present, +Asshur appears in v. 4, 5. If destruction is to fall upon the kingdom +of the ten tribes _before_ it falls upon Judah--which is most +distinctly foretold by Hosea in i. 4-7--then, nothing was more obvious +than to think of Asshur as the instrument of the judgment. That to +which Micah, on this point, only alludes, is more fully expanded by +Isaiah. + +Judah is delivered from Babylon, but without a restoration of the +kingdom, iv. 10, compared with ver. 14 (v. 1). + +But a second catastrophe comes upon Judah, inasmuch as many heathens +gather themselves against Jerusalem, with the intention of desecrating +it, but yet in such a manner that, by the assistance of the Lord, it +comes forth victoriously from this severe attack, chap. iv. 11-13. Then +follows a third catastrophe, in which Judah becomes anew and totally +subject to the world's power, iv. 14 (v. 1). + +From the deepest abasement, however, the Congregation of the Lord rises +to the highest glory, inasmuch as the dominion returns to the old +Davidic race, iv. 8. From the little Bethlehem, the native place of +David, where his race, sunk back again into [Pg 424] the lowliness of +private life, has resumed its seat, a new and glorious Ruler proceeds, +born, and at the same time eternal, and clothed with the fulness of the +glory of the Lord, v. 1, 3 (2, 4), by whom Jacob obtains truth, and +Abraham mercy, vii. 20, compared with John i. 17; by whom the +Congregation is placed in the centre of the world, and becomes the +object of the longing of all nations, iv. 1-3, delivered from the +servitude of the world, and conquering the world, v. 4, 5 (5, 6), vii. +11, 12; and at the same time lowly, and inspiring the nations with +fear, v. 6-8 (7-9). To such a height, however, she shall attain after, +by means of the judgment preceding the mercy, all that has been taken +from her upon which she in the present founded the hope of her +salvation, v. 9-14 (10-15). + + +Footnote 1: It must not, however, be overlooked, that there the term +"hear" is only a resumption of "hear" in iii. 1 (and, to a certain +extent, even of that in i. 2), intimating, that that which they are +about to hear, will concentrate itself in a distinct and powerful +expression,--the acme of the whole threatening in iii. 12. + +Footnote 2: Besides the division into three sections, there is, to a +certain extent, a division also into two. By [Hebrew: vamr] in iii. 1, +the first and second discourses, or the exordium and principal part, +are brought into a still closer connection,--a connection founded upon +the circumstance that the reproof and threatening of the first part are +to be here resumed, in order that thus a comprehensive representation +may be given. It is only in iii. 12 that the threatening reaches its +height. But yet the tripartition remains the prominent one. This cannot +be denied without forcing a false sense and a false position upon ii. +12, 13. + +Footnote 3: The _Fut. apoc._ forbids us to translate: "He will hide." +In order to express his own delight in the doings of divine justice, +the prophet changes the prediction into a wish, just as is the case in +Is. ii. 9, where the greater number of interpreters assume, in +opposition to the rules of grammar, that [Hebrew: al] stands for +[Hebrew: la]. + +Footnote 4: Against the genuineness of the inscription, doubts have +been raised by many, after the example of _Hartmann_, and last of all +by _Ewald_ and _Hitzig_; but it is established by the striking +allusions to, and coincidences with it, in the text. With the mention +of Micah's name in the former, the allusion to this name in the _close_ +of the book, in chap. vii. 18, corresponds. The circumstance of Micah +being called the Morasthite, accounts for the fact that, in this +threatening against the cities of Judah, in i. 14, it is Moresheth +alone which is mentioned. In the inscription, Samaria and Jerusalem +are pointed out as the objects of the prophet's predictions; and +it is in harmony with this, that in i. 6, 7, the judgment upon +Samaria is first described, and then the judgment upon Judah; that the +prophet--although, indeed, he has Judah chiefly in view--frequently +gives attention to the ten tribes also, and includes them,--as in the +promise in ii. 12, 13, v. 1 (2), where the Messiah appears as the Ruler +in Israel, and vers. 6, 7 (7, 8), of the same chapter; and that in iii. +8, 9, Judah is represented as a particular part only of the great +whole. _Finally_--It is peculiar to Micah, that he thus views so +specially the two _capitals_; and this again is in harmony with the +inscription, where just these, and not Israel and Judah, appear +as the subjects of the prophecy. It is in the capitals that Micah +beholds the concentration of the corruption (i. 5); and to them the +threatening also is chiefly addressed, i. 6, 7, iii. 12. Of the +promise, also, Jerusalem forms the centre.--The statement, too, in the +inscription--that Micah uttered the contents of his book under various +kings--likewise receives a confirmation from the prophecy. The mention +of the high places of Judah in i. 5, and of the walking in the statutes +of Omri, and in all the works of the house of Ahab, refers especially +to the time of Ahaz; compare 2 Kings xvi. 4; 2 Chron. xxviii. 4, 25; +further, 2 Kings xvi. 3; 2 Chron. xxviii. 2; and _Caspari_ on Micah, S. +74. On the other hand, the time of Hezekiah is suggested by v. 4, 6 (5, +6), which implies that already, at that time, Asshur had appeared as +the enemy of the people of God,--and so likewise by the prophecy in iv. +9-14. + + + + CHAP. I. AND II. + +The prophet begins with the words: "_Hear, all ye people, hearken, O +earth and the fulness thereof, and let the Lord God be witness against +you, the Lord from His holy temple. For, behold, the Lord cometh forth +out of His place, and cometh down, and treadeth upon the high places of +the earth. And the mountains are melted under Him, and the valleys are +cleft, as wax before the fire, as waters poured down a steep place. For +the transgression of Jacob is all this, and for the sins of the house +of Israel._" Vers. 2-5. + +This majestic exordium has been misunderstood in various ways: _First_, +by those who, like _Hitzig_, would understand by the people, [Hebrew: +emiM] in ver. 2, the tribes of Israel. We shall show, when commenting +on Zech. xi. 10, that this is altogether inadmissible. But in the +present case especially, this interpretation must be rejected; partly +on account of the reference to the words of the elder Micah, and partly +on account of the parallel terms, "O earth and the fulness thereof," +which, according to the constant _usus loquendi_, lead us far beyond +the narrow limits of Palestine. On the other hand, they who by the +[Hebrew: emiM] rightly understand the nations of the whole earth, are +mistaken in this, that they consider them as mere witnesses, whom the +Lord calls [Pg 425] up against His unthankful people, instead of +considering them as the very same against whom the Lord bears witness; +and that they come into consideration from this point of view, clearly +appears from the words, "The Lord be witness against you." As regards +[Hebrew: ed] with [Hebrew: b] following, compare, _e.g._, Mal. iii. +5.--Another mistake is committed in the definition of the way and +manner of the divine witness. The greater number of interpreters +suppose it to be the subsequent admonitory, reproving, and threatening +discourse of the prophet. Thus, _e.g._, _Michaelis_, who explains: "Do +not despise and lightly esteem such a witness, who by me earnestly and +publicly testifies to you His will." But in opposition to this view, it +appears from ver. 3, that here, as well as in Mal. iii. 5, "And I will +come near to you in judgment, and I am a swift witness against the +sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against those that swear +to a lie," the witness is a real one,--that it consists in the actual +attestation of the guilt by the punishment, viz., by the divine +judgment described in vers. 3, 4. The words, "The Lord cometh forth +out of His place, and cometh down," there correspond to, "From His holy +temple,"--from which it is evident, at the same time, that by the +temple, the heavenly temple must be understood. + +We have thus, in vers. 2-4, before us the description of a sublime +theophany, not for a partial judgment upon Judah, but for a judgment +upon the whole world, the people of which are called upon to gather +around their judge--whom the prophet beholds as already approaching, +descending from His glorious habitation in heaven, accompanied by the +insignia of His power, the precursors of the judgment--and silently to +wait for His judicial and penal sentence.[1] + +But how is it to be explained that with the words, "For the +transgression of Jacob is all this," etc., there is a sudden transition +to the judgments upon Israel, yea, that the prophet [Pg 426] goes on as +if Israel alone had been spoken of? Only from the relation in which +these two judgments stand to one another. For they are perfectly one in +substance. They are separated only by space, time, and unessential +circumstances; so that we may say that the general judgment appears in +every partial judgment upon Israel. In order to give expression to the +thought, that it is the _judge of the world_ who is to judge Israel, +the prophets not unfrequently represent the Lord appearing to judge the +whole world; and in Israel, the _Microcosmos_, it was indeed judged. We +have a perfectly analogous case, _e.g._, in Is. chap. ii.-iv. It is +only by means of a very forced explanation, that it can be denied that +after the prophet has, by a few bold touches, from ii. 6-9, described +the moral debasement of the Covenant-people, and marked out pride as +its last source, the last judgment upon the whole earth forms the +subject of discourse. In that judgment there will be a most clear +revelation of the vanity of all which is created--a vanity which, in +the present course of the world, is so frequently concealed--and that +the Lord alone is exalted, and that those who now shut their eyes will +then be compelled to acknowledge these truths. That Isaiah has this +general judgment in view, is too clearly proved by the sublimity of the +whole description, by the express mention of the whole earth, _e.g._, +ii. 19, and by not limiting, in the individualized description in ver. +12 sqq., the high and lofty which is to be brought low to Judah alone, +but by extending it to the whole world. But in iii. 1 ff. the prophet +suddenly passes over to the typical, penal judgment upon Judah; and the +[Hebrew: ki], at the commencement, shows that he does not consider this +subject as one altogether new, but as being substantially identical +with the preceding subject. This reminds us forcibly of the mode in +which, in the prophecies of our Lord, the references to the destruction +of Jerusalem, and to the last judgment, are connected with one another. +In the "burden of Babylon" in chap. xiii. likewise, the judgment of the +Lord upon the whole earth is first described. Nor is it only on the +territory of prophecy that this close connection of the general +judgment with the inferior judgments upon the Covenant-people appears. +In Ps. lxxxii. 8, _e.g._, after the unrighteousness prevailing among +the Covenant-people has been described, the Lord is called upon to come +to judge, not them [Pg 427] alone, but the whole earth; compare my +Commentary on Ps. vii. 8, lvi. 8, lix. 6. + +The prophet thus passes over, in ver. 5, from the general +manifestation of divine justice to its special manifestation among the +Covenant-people, and mentions here, as the most prominent points upon +which it will be inflicted, Samaria and Jerusalem, the two capitals, +from which the apostasy from the Lord spread over the rest of the +country. He mentions Samaria first, and then, in vers. 6, 7, he +describes its destruction which was brought about by the Assyrians, +before he makes mention of that of Jerusalem, because the apostasy took +place first in Samaria, and hence the punishment also was hastened on. +The latter circumstance, which is merely a consequence of the former, +is in an one-sided manner made prominent by the greater number of +interpreters, who therein follow the example of _Jerome_. It was at the +same time, however, probably the intention of the prophet to be done +with Samaria, in order that he might be at liberty to take up +exclusively the case of Judah and Jerusalem--the main objects of his +prophetic ministry. + +He makes the transition to this in ver. 8, by means of the words: "_On +that account I will wail and howl, I will go stripped and naked; I will +make a wailing like the jackals, and a mourning like the ostriches._" +"_On that account_"--_i.e._, on account of the judgment upon Judah, to +be announced in the subsequent verses. It is commonly supposed that the +prophet here speaks in his own person; thus, _e.g._, _Rosenmueller_: +"The prophet mourns in a bitter lamentation for the number and +magnitude of the calamities impending over the Israelitish people." But +the correct view rather is, that the prophet, when, in his inward +vision, he sees the divine judgments not remaining and stopping at +Samaria, but poured out like a desolating torrent over Judah and +Jerusalem, suddenly sinks his own consciousness in that of his +suffering people. We have thus here before us an imperfect symbolical +action, similar to that more finished one which occurs in Is. xx. 3, 4, +and which can be explained only by a deeper insight into the nature of +prophecy, according to which the dramatic character is inseparable from +it. The transition from the mere description of what is present in the +inward vision only, to the prophet's own action, is, according to this +view, very easy. If we confine ourselves to the passage before us, the +following [Pg 428] arguments are in favour of our view. 1. The +predicates [Hebrew: will] and [Hebrew: ervM] cannot be explained upon +the supposition that the prophet describes only his own painful +feelings on account of the condition of his people. Even if [Hebrew: +ervM] stood alone, the explanation by "naked," in the sense of +"deprived of the usual and decent dress, and, on the contrary, clothed +in dirt and rags," would be destitute of all proof and authority. No +instance whatsoever is found of the outward habit of a mourner being +designated as nakedness. But it is still more arbitrary thus to deal +with [Hebrew: will], whether it be explained by "deprived of his mental +faculties on account of the unbounded grief of his soul,"--as is +done by several Jewish expositors (who, in the explanation of this +passage, would have done much better, had they followed the Chaldee, +in whom the correct view is found; only that he, giving up the +figurative representation, substitutes the third person for the first, +paraphrasing it thus: "On that account they shall wail and howl, they +shall go stripped and naked," etc.),--or by "badly clothed," as is done +by the greater number of Christian expositors. The signification +"robbed," "plundered," is the only established one; compare [Hebrew: +wvll] in Job xii. 17-19. The parallel passages, in which nakedness +appears as the characteristic feature of the captives taken in war, +show how little we are entitled to depart from the most obvious +signification, in these two words. Thus we find immediately afterwards, +in ver. 11: "Pass ye away, ye inhabitants of Saphir, having your shame +naked;" on which _Michaelis_ remarks: "With naked bodies, as is the +case with those who are led into captivity after having been stripped +of their clothes." Thus Is. xx. 3, 4: "And the Lord said. Like as My +servant Isaiah walketh _naked_ and _barefoot_ three years, for a sign +and wonder upon Egypt and Ethiopia, so shall the king of Assyria lead +away the prisoners of Egypt, and the prisoners of Ethiopia, young men +and old men, _naked_ and _barefoot_;" compare Is. xlvii. 3.--2. The +term [Hebrew: htplwti], in ver. 10, is in favour of the supposition, +that the prophet here appears as the representative of the future +condition of his people. The _Imperat. fem._ [Hebrew: htplwi] of the +marginal reading is evidently, as is commonly the case, only the result +of the embarrassment of the Mazorets. The reading of the text can be +pointed as the first person of the Preterite only; for the view of +_Rosenmueller_, who takes it as the [Pg 429] second person of the +Preterite, which here is to have an optative signification, is, +grammatically, inadmissible. _Rueckert's_ explanation, "In the house of +_dust_ (_zu Staubheim_), I have strewed dust upon me," is quite +correct. But if _here_ we must suppose that the prophet suddenly passes +over from the address to his unfortunate people, to himself as their +representative, why should not this supposition be the natural one in +ver. 8 also? + +The correctness of the view which we have given is further +strengthened, if we compare the similar lamentations of the prophets in +other passages, in all of which the same results will be found. In Jer. +xlviii. 31, _e.g._, "Therefore will I howl over Moab, and cry out over +all Moab, over the men of Kir-heres shall _he_ groan," the "he" in the +last clause sufficiently shows how the "I" in the two preceding +clauses, is to be understood,--especially if Is. xvi. 7, "Therefore +Moab howleth over Moab," be compared. But if this interpretation be +correct in Jeremiah, it must certainly be correct in Is. xv. 5 also: +"My heart crieth out over Moab,"--a passage which Jeremiah had in view; +and this so much the more, that in Is. xvi. 9-11--where a similar +lamentation for Moab occurs: "Therefore do I bewail as for Jazer for +the vine of Sibmah; I water thee with my tears, O Heshbon and +Elealeh.... Therefore my bowels sound like a harp for Moab, mine +inward parts for Kirhareseth"--it is quite unsuitable to think of a +lamentation of the prophet, which is expressive of his own grief. This +was seen by the Chaldee, who renders "_my_ bowels" by "bowels of the +Moabites,"--a view the correctness of which has been strikingly +demonstrated by _Vitringa_: "Although," he says, "the emotion of +compassion be by no means unsuitable in the prophet, yet no one will be +readily convinced that the prophet was so much concerned for the vines +of Sibmah and Jazer, and for the crops of the summer-fruits of a nation +hostile and opposed to the people of God, that it should have been for +him a cause for lamentation and wailing." In Is. xxi., in the prophecy +against Babylon, and in the lamentation in vers. 3, 4, "Therefore are +my loins filled with pain, pangs take hold upon me as the pangs of a +woman that travaileth, etc., the night of my pleasure has been turned +into terror," it is clearly shown in what sense such lamentations are +to be understood. By "the night of pleasure," we can, especially by a +comparison of Jeremiah, understand only the night of the capture of +Babylon, [Pg 430] in which the whole city was given up to drunkenness +and riot. But it is impossible that the prophet should say that this +night--the precursor of the long-desired day for Israel--had been +turned for him into terror. Either the whole lamentation is without any +meaning, or the prophet speaks in the name of Babylon, and that, not of +the Babylon of the present, but of the Babylon of the future. This must +be granted, even by those who assert that this portion was composed at +a later period; so that, even from this quarter, the soundness of our +view cannot be assailed. + +In ver. 9, the prophet returns to quiet description, from the +symbolical action to which he had been carried away by his emotions. +The subject of this description he states in the words: "_It cometh +unto Judah; it cometh unto the gate of my people, unto Jerusalem._" By +individualizing, he endeavours to give a lively view of the thought, +and to impress it. He begins with an allusion to the lamentation of +David over Saul and Jonathan in 2 Sam. i. 17 ff., which is so much the +more significant, that in this impending catastrophe, Israel also was +to lose his king (compare iv. 9), and that in it David was to +experience the fate of Saul. He then indicates the stations by which +the hostile army advances towards Jerusalem, and describes how, from +thence, it spreads over the whole country, even to its southern +boundary, and carries away the inhabitants into exile. But, in doing +so, he always chooses places, whose names might, in some way, be +brought into connection with what they were now suffering; so that the +whole passage forms a chain of _paronomasias_. These, however, are not +by any means idle plays. They have, throughout, a practical design. The +threatening is thereby to be, as it were, localized. The thought of a +divine judgment could not but be called forth in every one who should +think of one of the places mentioned. Jerusalem is first spoken of in +ver. 9 as the centre of the life of Judah: "The gate of my people," +etc., being tantamount to "_the_ city or metropolis of it." Then, it +appears a second time in ver. 12, in the middle between five Judean +places preceding and five following it,--the number ten, which is the +symbolical signification of completeness, indicating that the judgment +is to be altogether comprehensive. The five places mentioned after +Jerusalem are all of them situated to the south of it. That the [Pg +431] five places, the mention of which precedes that of Jerusalem, are +all to be sought to the north of it, and that, hence, the judgment +advances from the north in geographical order, as is the case in Is. x. +28 ff. also, is evident from the fact that Beth-Leaphrah, which is +identical with Ophrah, is situated in the territory of Benjamin, and +that Beth-Haezel, which is identical with Azal in Zech. xiv. 5, was +situated in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem. Hence, we cannot suppose +that Zaanan here is identical with Zenan, which is situated in the +south of Jerusalem, Josh. xv. 37, nor Saphir with Samir. + +The question still arises, In what event did the threatening of +punishment, contained in chap. i., find its fulfilment? _Theodoret_, +_Cyril_, _Tarnovius_, _Marckius_, _Jahn_, and others, refer it to the +Assyrian invasion. _Jerome_ referred it to the Babylonish captivity: +"The same sin," he says, "yea, the same punishment of sin which shall +overturn Samaria, is to extend to Judah, yea, even unto the gates of my +city of Jerusalem. For, as Samaria was overturned by the Assyrians, so +Judah and Jerusalem shall be overturned by the Chaldeans." This opinion +was adopted by _Michaelis_ and others. + +At first sight, it would appear as if the circumstance, that the +judgment upon Judah is brought into immediate connection with that upon +Israel, favoured the first view. But this argument loses its weight +when we remark, that the events appear to the prophet in inward vision, +and, therefore, quite irrespective of their relation in time; that the +continuity of the punitive judgment upon Israel and Judah only, points +out distinctly the truth, that both proceed from the same cause, viz., +the relation of divine justice to the sin of the Covenant-people. It is +this truth alone which forms the essence and soul of the prophetic +threatenings; and with reference to that, the difference in point of +time, which is merely accidental, is altogether kept out of view. +Another argument in favour of the Assyrian invasion might be derived +from the expression, "_to_ Jerusalem," in ver. 9, inasmuch as the +Chaldean invasion visited Jerusalem itself. But, because the calamity +was not by any means to stop at Judah, but to overflow even it, it is +shown by the preceding expression, "unto Judah," that [Hebrew: ed] +(compare on this word, _Dissertations on the Genuineness of Daniel_, p. +55 seq.) must, in both cases, be explained from a tacit antithesis with +the expectation, [Pg 432] that the judgment would either stop at the +boundary of Judah, or, although this should not be the case, would at +least spare the metropolis. The prophet contents himself with +representing that this opinion was erroneous. Although this passage +itself asserts nothing upon the point as to whether Jerusalem itself is +to be thought of as the object of the divine punishment, or whether it +will be spared, the following reasons show that the former will be the +case. Even ver. 5 does not admit of our expecting anything else. +Jerusalem is there marked out as the chief seat and source of +corruption in the kingdom of Judah, just as is Samaria in the kingdom +of Israel. The declaration which is there made forms the foundation of +the subsequent threatening. How is it possible, then, that, while in +the kingdom of Israel it is concentrated upon Samaria, in the kingdom +of Judah the seducer should be altogether passed over, and punishment +announced to the seduced only? That such is not the intention of the +prophet, is clearly seen from ver. 12: "_For evil cometh down from the +Lord upon the gate of Jerusalem._" The [Hebrew: ki] alone is sufficient +to prevent our limiting the sense of these words, so that they mean +only that evil will come no farther than to the gate of Jerusalem, and +will stop there. The _Particula causalis_ proves that they are the +ground of the declaration in ver. 11, and that the mourning will not +cease at Beth-Haezel, "the house of stopping;" compare the remarks on +Zech. xiv. 5. But, altogether apart from this connection, the words +themselves furnish a proof. They contain a verbal reference to the +description of the judgment upon Sodom and Gomorrha, Gen. xix. 24. +Jerusalem is marked out by them as a second Sodom (compare Is. i. 10), +upon which the divine judgments would discharge themselves. As a second +mark of this extension to Jerusalem, the carrying away of the people +into captivity is added (compare vers. 11, 15, 16), which, in the +promise in chap. ii. 12, 13, is supposed to have taken place. It is not +Israel alone, but the whole Covenant-people, who are in a state of +dispersion, and are gathered from it by the Lord. + +Now, both of these marks are not applicable to the Assyrian invasion; +and if once we suppose the divine illumination of the prophet, it +cannot be regarded as the real object of his threatenings. This, too, +is equally inadmissible, if we consider the matter from a merely human +point of view. The predictions [Pg 433] of the prophets with regard to +Assyria are, from the very outset, rather encouraging. It is true that +they are to be, in the hand of the Lord, a rod of chastisement for His +people, but these are never to be altogether given up to them for +destruction. By an immediate divine interference, their plan of +capturing Jerusalem is frustrated. Thus the matter is constantly +represented in Isaiah; thus also in Hosea i. 7. We can, moreover, +adduce proofs from Micah himself, that his spiritual eye was not +pre-eminently, or exclusively, directed to the Assyrians. In the +prophecy from chap. iii. to v., where he describes the judgment upon +Judah in a manner altogether similar to that in which he mentions it +here, he passes over the Assyrians altogether in silence. Babylon is, +in iv. 10, mentioned as the place to which Judah is to be led into +captivity. + +Yet here, as well as everywhere else in the threatenings and promises +of the prophets, we must beware, lest, in referring them to some +particular historical event, we lose sight of the animating idea. If +this, on the other hand, be rightly understood, it will be seen that a +particular historical event may indeed be pre-eminently referred to, +but that it can never exhaust the prophecy. Although, therefore, the +main reference here be to the destruction by the Chaldeans, we must not +on that account exclude anything in which the same law of retaliation +was manifested, either before, as in the invasion of the Syrians and +Assyrians; or afterwards, as in the destruction by the Romans. The +prophet himself points, in iv. 11-14 (iv. 11-v. 1), to two other phases +of the divine judgment which are to follow upon that by the Chaldeans. + +After the prophet has thus hitherto described the impending divine +judgment in great general outlines, he passes on, in chap. ii., to +chastise particular vices, which, however, must always be at the same +time, yea, prominently, considered as indications of the wholly +depraved condition of the nation, and of the punishments to follow upon +it. One feature upon which he here chiefly dwells, and which must, +therefore, have been a peculiarly prominent manifestation of the sinful +corruption, consists in the acts of injustice and oppression committed +by the great, the description of which presents striking resemblances +to that in Is. v. 8 ff. The prophet interrupts this description only in +order [Pg 434] to rebuke the false prophets, who reproved him for the +severity of his discourses, and asserted that they were unworthy of the +merciful God. Such severity, answered the prophet, was true mildness, +because it alone could be the means of warding off the approaching +punitive judgment; that his God did not punish from want of +forbearance--from want of mercy; but that the fault was altogether that +of the transgressors, who drew down upon themselves, by force. His +judgments.[2] + +The prophecy closes with the promise in vers. 12, 13. It is introduced +quite abruptly, in order to place it in more striking contrast with the +threatening; just as, in iv. 1, there is a similar abrupt and +unconnected contrast between the promise and the threatening.[3] It is +only brief; far more so than in the subsequent discourses, and far less +detailed than it is in them. The prophet desires first of all to +terrify sinners from their security; and for this reason, he causes +only a very feeble glimmering of hope to fall upon the dark future. + +Ver. 12. "_I will assemble, surely I will assemble, O Jacob, thee +wholly: I will gather the remnant of Israel. I will bring_ [Pg 435] +_them together as the sheep of Bozrah; as a flock on their pasture, +they shall make a noise by reason of men._ Ver. 13. _The breaker goeth +up before them; they break through, pass through the gate and go out, +and their King marches before them, and the Lord is on the head of +them._" + +The remark, that almost all the features of this description are +borrowed from the deliverance out of Egypt, will throw much light upon +the whole description. In the midst of oppression and misery, Israel, +while there, increased by means of the blessing of the Lord, hidden +under the cross, to greater and greater numbers; compare Exod. i. 12. +When the time of deliverance had arrived, the Lord, who had for a long +time concealed Himself, manifested Himself again as their God. First, +the people were gathered together, and then, the Lord went before +them,--in a pillar of cloud by day, and in a pillar of fire by night: +Exod. xiii. 21. He led them out of Egypt, the house of bondage: Exod. +xx. 2. So it is here also. Ver. 12 describes the increase and +gathering, and ver. 13 the deliverance. In both passages, Israel's +misery is represented under the figure of an abode in the house of +bondage, or in prison, the gates of which the Lord opens--the walls of +which He breaks down. In this allusion to, and connection with, the +former deliverance, Micah agrees with his contemporaries, Hosea and +Isaiah. The deeper reason of this lies in the typical import of the +former deliverance, which forms a prophecy by deeds of all future +deliverances, and contains within itself completely their germ and +pledge; compare Hosea ii. 1, 2 (i. 10, 11); Is. xi. 11 ff.: "And the +Lord shall stretch forth His hand a _second time_ to redeem the remnant +of His people.... And He sets up an ensign for the nations, and gathers +together the dispersed of Israel, and assembles the scattered of Judah +from the four corners of the earth.... And the Lord smites with a curse +the tongue of the Egyptian sea, and shakes His hand over the river, in +the violence of His wind, and smites it to seven rivers, so that one +may wade through in shoes. And there shall be a highway to the remnant +of His people, ... like as it was to Israel in the day when he came up +out of the land of Egypt." This reference to the typical deliverance +clearly shows, that in the description we have carefully to separate +between the thought and the language in which it is clothed. + +[Pg 436] + +Ver. 12. The _Infin. absol._, which in both the clauses +precedes the _tempus finitum_, expresses the emphasis which is to be +placed on the _gathering_, as opposed to the carrying away, and the +scattering formerly announced; for the latter, according to the view of +man, and apart from God's mercy and omnipotence, did not seem to admit +of any favourable turn. By "Jacob" and "Israel," several interpreters +understand Judah alone; others, the ten tribes alone; others, both +together. The last view is alone the correct one. This appears from i. +5, where, by Jacob and Israel, the whole nation is designated. The +promise in the passage before us stands closely related to the +threatening uttered there. All Israel shall be given up to destruction +on account of their sins; all Israel shall be saved by the grace of +God. This assumption is confirmed by a comparison of the parallel +passages in Hosea and Isaiah, where the whole is designated by the two +parts, Judah and Israel. Micah does not notice this division, because +that visible separation, which even in the present was overbalanced by +an invisible unity, shall disappear altogether in that future, when +there shall be only one flock, as there is only one Shepherd. The +expression, "remnant of Israel," in the second clause, which +corresponds to, "O Jacob, thee wholly," in the first, indicates, that +the fulfilment of the promise, so far from doing away with the +threatening, rather rests on its preceding realization. The +Congregation of God, purified by the divine judgments, shall be +_wholly_ gathered. Divine mercy has in itself no limits; and those +which in the present are assigned to it by the objects of mercy, shall +then be removed.--The words, "I will bring them together," etc., +indicate equally the faithfulness of the great Shepherd, who gathers +His dispersed flock from all parts of the world, and the unexpected and +wonderful increase of the flock; compare Jer. xxiii. 3: "And I will +gather the remnant of My flock out of all countries whither I have +driven them, and lead them back to their pasture-ground, and they are +fruitful and increase;" and xxxi. 10: "He that scattereth Israel will +gather him and keep him as a shepherd does his flock."--Bozrah we +consider to be the name of a capital of the Idumeans in Auranitis, four +days' journey from Damascus. The great wealth of this town in flocks +appears from Is. xxxiv. 6 (although a slaughter of men is spoken of in +that passage, yet evidently the wealth of Bozrah in natural [Pg 437] +flocks is there supposed), and can with perfect ease be accounted for +from its situation. For, in its neighbourhood, there begins the +immeasurable plain of Arabia, which, on one side, continues without +interruption as far as _Dshof_, into the heart of Arabia, while, +towards the North, it extends to Bagdad, under the name of _El Hamad_. +Its length and breadth are calculated to amount to eight days' journey. +It contains many shrubs and blooming plants; compare _Burkhardt_ and +_Ritter_.[4] Several interpreters consider [Hebrew: bcrh] to be an +appellative, and assign to it the signification "sheepfold," "cote." +But there is no reason whatsoever in favour of such a meaning of +Bozrah, while there is this argument against it, that the probable +signification of [Hebrew: berh] as the name of a town is "_locus +munitus_" = [Hebrew: mbcr] or [Hebrew: bcrvN]. It can hardly be +supposed that the word should at the same time have had the +significations of "fortress" and "fold." It is, moreover, more in +harmony with the prophetical character to particularize, than to use a +general term. As is shown, however, by the last member (with which, +according to the accents, the words, "As [Pg 438] a flock on their +pasture," must be connected), the point of comparison is not the +assembling and gathering, but the multitude, the crowd,--"As the sheep +of Bozrah" being thus tantamount to, "So that in multitude they are +like the sheep of Bozrah." [Hebrew: hdbrv], from [Hebrew: dbr], is, +contrary to the general rule, doubly qualified, both by the article and +by the suffix. This has been accounted for on the ground that the +little suffix had gradually lost its power. But it is perhaps more +natural to suppose that the article sometimes lost its power, and +coalesced with the noun. The frequent use of the _Status emphaticus_ in +undefined nouns, in the Syriac language (compare _Hofmann_, _Gram. +Syr._, p. 290), presents an analogy in favour of this opinion.--The +last words graphically describe the noise produced by a numerous, +closely compacted flock. The plur. of the Fem. refers to the +sheep.--[Hebrew: MN] denotes the _causa efficiens_. They make a noise; +and this noise proceeds from the numerous assembled people. The same +connection of figure and thing occurs in Ezek. xxxiv. 31: "And ye +([Hebrew: vatN]) are My flock, the flock of My pasture are ye men;" +compare Ezek. xxxvi. 38. + +Ver. 13. The whole verse must be explained by the figure of a prison, +which lies at the foundation. The people of God are shut up in it, but +are now delivered by God's powerful hand. By the "breaker," many +interpreters understand the Lord Himself. But if we consider, that in a +double clause, at the end of the verse, the Lord is mentioned as the +leader of the expedition if we look to the type of the deliverance from +Egypt, where Moses, as the breaker, marches in front of Israel; and if, +further, we look to the parallel passage in Hosea, where, with an +evident allusion to that type, the children of Israel and of Judah +appoint themselves one head; we shall rather be disposed to understand +by the "breaker" the _dux et antesignanus_ raised up by God. With the +raising up and equipping of such a leader every divine deliverance +commences; and that which, in the inferior deliverance, the typical +leaders, Moses and Zerubbabel, were, Christ was in the highest and last +deliverance. To Him the "breaker" has been referred by several Jewish +interpreters (compare _Schoettgen_, _Horae_ ii. p. 212); and if we +compare chap. v., where that which is here indicated by general +outlines only is further expanded and detailed, we shall have to urge +against this interpretation this objection only, viz., that it +excludes the [Pg 439] typical breakers,--that, in the place of the +_ideal_ person of the breaker, which presents itself to the internal +vision of the prophet, it puts the individual in whom this idea is most +fully realized.--The words [Hebrew: viebrv wer] are, by several +interpreters, referred to the forcing and entering of hostile gates. +Thus _Michaelis_, whom _Rosenmueller_ follows: "No gate shall be so +fortified as to prevent them from forcing it." But this interpretation +destroys the whole figure, and violates the type of the deliverance +from Egypt which lies at the foundation. For the gate through which +they break is certainly the gate of the prison.--The three verbs--"They +break through, they pass through, they go out"--graphically describe +their progress, which is not to be stopped by any human power.--The +last words open up the view to the highest leader of the expedition; +compare besides, Exod. xiii. 21; Is. lii. 12: "For ye shall not go out +in trembling, nor shall ye go out by flight. For the Lord goeth before +you, and the God of Israel closeth your rear;" Is. xl. 11; Ps. lxxx. 3. +In the exodus from Egypt, a visible symbol of the presence of God +marched before the host, besides Moses, the breaker. On the return from +Babylon, the Angel of the Lord was visible to the eye of faith only, as +formerly when Abraham's servant journeyed to Mesopotamia, Gen. xxiv. 7. +At the last and highest deliverance, the breaker was at once the King +and God of the people. + +As this prophecy has no limitation at all in itself, we are fully +entitled to refer it to the whole sum of the deliverances and salvation +which are destined for the Covenant-people; and to seek for its +fulfilment in every event, either past or future, in the same degree as +the fundamental idea--God's mercy upon His people--is manifested in it. +Every limitation to any particular event is evidently inadmissible; +but, most of all, a limitation to the deliverance from the Babylonish +captivity, which, especially with regard to Israel, can be considered +as only a faint prelude of the fulfilment. They, however, have +come nearest to the truth who assume an exclusive reference to +Christ,--provided they acknowledge, that the conversion of the first +fruits of Israel, at the time when Christ appeared in His humiliation, +is not the end of His dealings with this people. + + +Footnote 1: The reference to the general judgment would indeed +disappear, if we suppose [Hebrew: bkM] in ver. 2 to be addressed to +_Israel_. It seems, indeed, to be in favour of this supposition, that, +in 1 Kings xxii. 28, the people alone are called upon as witnesses, and +that in Deut. xxxi. 28, xxxii. 1, and Is. i. 2, heaven and earth, and +in Hos. vi. 1, the mountains also, are called upon only in order to +make the scene more solemn. But the reference of [Hebrew: bkM] to the +nations mentioned immediately before, is too evident. + +Footnote 2: Ver. 6 must be translated thus: _Not shall ye drop_ +(prophesy),--_they_ (the false prophets) _drop; if they_ (the +individuals addressed, the true prophets) _do not drop to these_ (the +rapacious great), _the ignominy will not cease_, _i.e._, the +ignominious destruction breaks in irresistibly. The fundamental passage +in Deut. xxxii. 2, and ver. 11 of the chapter before us, show that +[Hebrew: hTiP] has not the signification, "to talk," which is assigned +to it by _Caspari_. The false prophets must be considered as the +accomplices of the corrupted great, especially as to the bulwark which +they opposed to the true prophets, and their influence on the nation, +and on their own consciences,--as indeed material power everywhere +seeks for such a spiritual ally. If this be kept in view, the censure +and threatening acquire a still greater unity. + +Footnote 3: To a certain extent, however, verse 11 forms the +transition: "If one were to come, a wind, and lie falsely: I will +prophesy to thee of wine and of strong drink,--he would be the prophet +of this people." Such a prophet Micah, indeed, is not; but although he +neither can nor dare announce salvation _without_ judgment, he has, in +the name of the Lord, to announce salvation _after_ the judgment. The +very singular opinion, that in vers. 12, 13, the false prophets are +introduced as speaking, is refuted by the single circumstance that, in +ver. 12, the gathering of the _remnant_ of Israel only is promised, and +hence the judgment is supposed to have preceded. It is no less +erroneous if, instead of considering ver. 11 as introductory to vers. +12, 13, the latter be made to depend upon ver. 11, and be therefore +considered as, to a certain extent, accidental. + +Footnote 4: After the example of _v. Raumer_, _Robinson_, _Ritter_ +(_Erdk._ 14, 101), it has now become customary to distinguish between +two Bozrahs,--one in Auranitis, and the other in Edom. But the +arguments adduced for this distinction are not of very great weight. +Nowhere is a "high situation" in reality ascribed to the Bozrah in +Edom. The assertion, that Edom was always limited to the territory +between the Dead Sea and the Red Sea, is opposed to Gen. xxxvi. 35, +according to which passage, even in the time before Moses, the Edomitic +king, Hadad, smote Midian in the field of Moab; and further, to Lam. +iv. 21, according to which Edom dwells in the land of Uz, which can be +sought for only in _Arabia Deserta_. We need to think only of that +branch of the Midianites who had gone over to _Arabia Deserta_, whilst +their chief settlement continued in _Arabia Petraea_. But the following +arguments may be adduced _against_ the distinction. 1. Bozrah is +constantly and simply spoken of, without any further distinctive +designation. 2. The Edomitic Bozrah must have been a great and powerful +city, which agrees well with the "mighty ruins" in _Hauran_, but not +with the much more insignificant ruins near _Busseireh_ in _Dshebal_. +3. It is improbable that so important a city as that of Bozrah in +Auranitis should never have been mentioned in Scripture.--But not +satisfied with a double Bozrah, even a third, in Moab, has been assumed +on the ground of Jer. xlviii. 24. But it is certainly strange that +Bozrah, in that passage, is mentioned as the last of all the Moabitish +towns, and that, immediately after its mention, there follow the words, +"Upon all the cities of the land of Moab, far and near." It may be that +Bozrah was conquered by the Edomites and Moabites in common, or that, +in later times, the latter obtained a kind of possession of the town in +common with the former. + + +[Pg 440] + + CHAP. III.-V. + +The discourse opens with new reproofs and threatenings. It is _first_, +in vers. 1-4, directed against the rapacious great, who in ver. 2 are +described as murderers of men (compare Sirach xxxi. 21: "He who taketh +from his neighbour his livelihood, _killeth_ him"), and in ver. 3, as +eaters of men, because they turn to their own advantage the necessaries +of life of which they have robbed the poor. The discourse _then_ passes +over to the false prophets, vers. 5-7. Their character is described as +hypocritical, weak, and selfish, and is incidentally contrasted with +the character of the true prophet, as represented by himself, whose +strength is always renewed by the Spirit of the Lord, and who, in this +strength, serves only truth and righteousness, and holds up their +sins to the people deluded by the false prophets, ver. 8. This the +prophet continues to do in vers. 9-12. The three orders of divinely +called rulers, upon whom the life or death of the Congregation was +depending,--the princes, the priests, and the prophets (compare remarks +on Zech. x. 1),--have become so degenerate, that they are not at all +concerned for the glory of God, but only for their own interest. And +while they have thus inwardly apostatized from Jehovah, they are +strengthened in their false security by the promises which God has +given to His people, and which they, altogether overlooking the fact +that these are conditional, referred, in hypocritical blindness, to +themselves. But God will, in a fearful manner, punish them for this +apostasy, and frighten them from their security. The Congregation of +the Lord, which has been desecrated inwardly, shall be so outwardly +also. Zion shall become a corn-field; Jerusalem, the city of God, shall +sink into rubbish and ruins; the Temple-hill shall again become what it +was previous to its being the residence of God, viz., a thickly wooded +hill, which shall then appear in all its natural lowness, and be +considered as insignificant when compared with the neighbouring +mountains.--In the whole section, the twelve verses of which are +equally divided into three portions of four verses each, the prophet +views chiefly the great, and the civil rulers. The false prophets, whom +he takes up in the second of these subdivisions (vers. 5-8), come under +consideration as their helpers only. In the third subdivision, [Pg 441] +the discourse is again directed to the great alone, in vers. 9, 10. The +two other orders are added to them in vers. 11, 12 only; and the +charges raised against them refer to their relation to the great. The +_priests_ are not by any means reproved because they made teaching a +profession, from which they derived their livelihood, but because, for +bribes, they interpreted the law in a manner favourable to the +rapacious lusts of the great, and thereby, no less than the false +prophets, assisted them in their wickedness.--The charge raised in ver. +10 against the great,--"Building up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with +iniquity,"--has been frequently misunderstood. The words must not be +explained from Hab. ii. 12, but from Ps. li. 20, where David prays to +the Lord, "Build Thou the walls of Jerusalem," which he had destroyed +by his blood, ver. 16. The word "building" is used ironically by Micah, +and is tantamount to: "Ye who are destroying Jerusalem by blood and +iniquity (compare ver. 12: 'For your sakes Zion shall be ploughed as a +field'), instead of building it up by righteousness." Righteousness +builds up, because it draws down God's blessing and protection; but +unrighteousness destroys, because it calls down the curse of God. + +The unfaithfulness of the Covenant-people can nevertheless not make +void the faithfulness of God. The prophet, therefore, passes suddenly +from threatening to promise. _Calvin_ thus expresses the relation of +these two: "But I must now come to the little remnant. Hitherto I have +spoken about the judgment of God, which is near at hand, upon the +king's councillors, upon the priests and prophets, upon the whole +people in short, because they are all wicked and ungodly, because the +whole body is pervaded by contempt of God, and by desperate obstinacy. +Let them receive, then, that which they all have deserved. But I now +gather the children of God apart, for to them too I have a message to +deliver." + +The intimate relation of the first part of the promise to the preceding +threatening has been already demonstrated, p. 420. The Mount of Zion, +which forms the subject of vers. 1-7, shall, in future, not only be +restored to its former dignity, but it shall be exalted above all the +mountains of the earth. The kingdom of God, which is represented by it, +shall, by the glory imparted to it by a new revelation of the Lord +(compare ver. 7: "And [Pg 442] the Lord shall be King over them on +Mount Zion"), outshine all the kingdoms of the world, and exercise an +attractive power upon their citizens; so that they flow to Zion, there +to receive the commands of the Lord, vers. 1, 2. By the sway which the +Lord exercises from Zion, peace shall have its dwelling in the heathen +world, ver. 3, and, consequently, the Congregation of the Lord ceases +to be a prey to injury from the world's power, ver. 4^a. How incredible +soever it may appear, this promise shall surely be fulfilled; for +omnipotent faithfulness has given it, ver. 4^b, and has given it indeed +for this very purpose; for it is altogether natural, and to be +expected, that the glory of the Lord should in all eternity display +itself in His dealings with His people, ver. 5. In vers. 6, 7, the +promise receives a new impetus, by which it connects itself with ver. +4^a. In that time of mercy, the Lord will put an end to all the misery +of His people. + +Ver. 1. "_And it shall come to pass at the end of the days, that the +mountain of the house of the Lord shall be firmly established on the +top of the mountains, and exalted above the hills, and people flow unto +it._" + +The words, "And it shall come to pass," excite the attention to the +great and unexpected turn which things are to take. The expression, +[Hebrew: baHrit himiM], is explained by many as meaning: "In times to +come," "in future." But we have already proved, in our work on +_Balaam_, p. 465 seq., that the right explanation is: "At the end of +the days." This is the explanation given by the LXX. also, who commonly +render it by [Greek: en tais eschatais hemerais]; and by the Chaldee +Paraphrast, who translates it by [Hebrew: bsvP ivmia]. The reasons +which seem, at first sight, to favour the signification "in future," +are invalidated by these two considerations:--_first_, that it is not +at all necessary that the end be just absolutely the last, but only the +end of those events which the speaker is reviewing; and, _second_, that +it altogether depends upon the will of the speaker, what extent he is +to assign to the beginning and to the end. The expression is used by +the prophets in a manner different from that of the Pentateuch. The +prophets use it almost exclusively with a reference to the Messianic +times,--an _usus loquendi_ which originated in Deut. iv. 30. They +divide the whole duration of the kingdom of God into two parts, the +beginning and the end,--the state of humiliation, and [Pg 443] the +state of glorification. The line of demarcation is formed by the birth +of the Messiah, according to v. 2 (3): "He will give them up until she +who is bearing brings forth."--"The mountain of the house of the Lord" +is, according to the common _usus loquendi_, not Moriah, but the whole +mountain of Zion, of which Moriah was considered as a part; compare Ps. +lxxvi. 3, lxxviii. 68. In ver. 8, the prophet speaks of two parts only, +Zion and Jerusalem. In iii. 12, Zion only, as the better part, is first +spoken of; and then, in the second clause, Jerusalem and the mountain +of the house, the latter corresponding to Zion, are contrasted with +each other, or Jerusalem and Mount Zion considered in its highest +quality as the temple-mountain.--[Hebrew: nkvN], "fixed," "firmly +established," implies more than, simply, "placed." It shows that the +change is not merely momentary, but that the temple-mountain shall be +exalted for ever, and that no earthly power shall be able to abase it. +It thus goes hand in hand with the declaration in ver. 7: "The Lord +shall be king over them from now _until eternity_." The same word +[Hebrew: nkvN] is used in 1 Kings ii. 45 of the immutable firmness of +the throne of David: "The throne of David shall be firmly established +before the Lord for ever;" compare 2 Sam. vii. 12, 13. The commentary +on [Hebrew: nkvN] is given by Dan. ii. 44: "And in the days of these +kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall not be +destroyed in all eternity ... it shall break in pieces and destroy all +these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever." That [Hebrew: braw hhriM] +does not mean, "at the head of the mountains," _i.e._, standing at the +head, as the first among them (as _Hitzig_ and others think), but "on +the summit of the mountains" (the [Hebrew: b] is used in a similar +manner in Judg. ix. 7, compared with 1 Sam. xxvi, 13), is evident from +the fact that [Hebrew: braw], in connection with [Hebrew: hr], is +constantly used of the summit of the mountains, and, hence, cannot be +used in a figurative sense, in this connection. The sense can therefore +be this only: "Zion, in future, so pre-eminently stands out from among +the other mountains, that these serve, as it were, only for its +foundation." Now, the elevation of the temple-mountain is considered, +by several interpreters, as a _physical_ one. Passages from Jewish +commentaries, in which the expectation is expressed that, in the days +of the Messiah, Jehovah would bring near Mount Carmel and Tabor, and +place Jerusalem on [Pg 444] the summit of them, will be found in +_Galatinus_, _de Arcanis Catholicae Veritatis_, L. v. c. 3. The literal +explanation has, in recent times, been defended by _Hofmann_ and +_Drechsler_. But _Caspari_, by pointing out the exact correspondence +between the words, "The mountain of the house of the Lord shall be +firmly established on the top of the mountains," and the words in ver. +2, "The law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the Lord from +Jerusalem," has proved in a very striking manner that the elevation is +a moral one. "As 1^b corresponds to 2^a, so does 1^a to 2^b; ver. 1^a +is the ground of ver. 1^b; ver. 2^a, by which ver. 1^b is further +expanded, is the consequence of 2^b. Hence 2^b must be substantially +identical with ver. 1^a; but 2^b speaks of something that points to the +moral height of Mount Zion, and states something upon which it is +based." To this it may be added, that height, in a moral sense, is +often ascribed to the temple-mountain, even with reference to the +ante-Messianic time, and that the passage under consideration could be +disjoined from these by force only. It is upon such a view of it, +indeed, that the use of [Hebrew: elh] in reference to the journeys to +Jerusalem rests, just as it is here used in ver. 2. We may, moreover, +compare Ps. xlviii. 3; Ezek. xvii. 22, 33: "And I plant upon a mountain +high and elevated. On the high mountains of Israel I will plant it;" +but especially Ps. lxviii. 16: "Mountain of God is the mountain of +Bashan, the top of mountains is the mountain of Bashan." Ver. 17. "Why +do ye tops of mountains insidiously observe the mountain which God +desireth for His residence? Yea, the Lord will dwell in it for ever." +The mountain of God is, in these verses, an emblem of the kingdoms of +the world, which are powerful through God's grace. In ver. 16, the +Psalmist declares what the mountain of Bashan is. In ver. 17, he +rejects the unfounded claims which it raises on account of its real +advantages. Although it be great, yet Mount Zion is infinitely +greater, and vain are all its efforts to overturn this relation. +This passage, then, leads to another argument against the literal +interpretation. We find in it the kingdoms represented under the figure +of mountains,[1]--a mode of representation which is of very frequent +occurrence in Scripture; compare my Commentary on [Pg 445] Ps. lxv. 7, +lxxvi. 5; Rev. viii. 8, xvii. 9. The more difficult it was to separate, +according to the Israelitish conception, _mountain_ and _kingdom_, the +more natural it was to find, in the passage before us, expression given +to the thought, that the kingdom of God would, in future, be exalted +above all the kingdoms of the world. If we take into account the common +practice of employing "mountain" in a figurative sense, it is natural +to suppose that not the exaltation alone is to be understood +figuratively, but that the mountain itself also is to be regarded +chiefly in its symbolical signification,--as the symbol of the kingdom +of God in Israel; although, in this aspect, we should expect, at least +in the beginning of the relation, that the thing itself should still be +connected with the symbol; afterwards they may be disjoined without any +hesitation. The deep grief which must, of necessity, have been called +forth by the announcement in iii. 12, did not regard the mountain as +such. It had, for its real object, the condition of the kingdom of God +which was prefigured by the condition of the mountain; and it is just +this to which the consolation has respect.--But by what means is the +exaltation of the temple-mountain to be effected? _Cocceius_ has +already directed attention to the circumstance, that it must not be +supposed to consist in the flowing of the people unto it; for that is +not the _cause_, but the _effect_. We find the correct answer in ver. +2: "The law goeth forth of Zion, and the word of the Lord from +Jerusalem;" and in ver. 7: "And the Lord will be king over them on +Mount Zion." The exaltation will, accordingly, be effected by a +glorious manifestation of the Lord within His congregation; in +consequence of which, Zion becomes the centre of the whole earth. That +this manifestation is to take place in Christ, is brought out only +subsequently; compare especially, v. 1, 3 (2-4). A parallel passage is +also Ezek. xl. 2, where Mount Zion is likewise seen exalted in the +Messianic time. + +Ver. 2. "_And many nations go and say, Come and let us go up to the +mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob, that He may +teach us His ways, and that we may walk in His path; for from Zion the +law shall go forth, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem._" + +From the words, "And many nations go," to "paths," we have an expansion +of--"People flow unto it." Zech. viii. 20-23 are founded upon, and +serve as a commentary on the passage before [Pg 446] us. The people go +to one another, and send messengers to one another; a powerful +commotion pervades the heathen world, which causes them to seek Zion, +that had formerly been despised by them. It makes no substantial +difference whether the going is to be understood physically or +spiritually,--whether the people flow to the literal Mount Zion, or to +the Church, which is thereby prefigured. All that is requisite is, that +the commencement of their going and flowing must belong to a time in +which the symbol and the thing symbolized were still connected,--when +the literal Zion was still the seat of the Church. The _plurality_ +of nations forms a contrast with the _unity_, but not with the +_universality_, as is shown by a comparison of the parallel passage in +Isaiah, where the "many people" are preceded by the mention of "all the +heathens ([Hebrew: kl-hgviM], _i.e._, the whole heathen world) flow +unto it," instead of--"People flow unto it," as in Micah. Formerly, +_one_ people only went to Zion, in order there to offer to the Lord +their worship, and to be taught His ways, Exod. xxiii. 17, xxxiv. 23; +Deut. xxxi. 10 sqq.; now, many people flow thither. In the anticipation +of this future glory of Mount Zion, which will infinitely outshine that +of the present, the sad interval described in iii. 12, during which the +mountain of the house is altogether forsaken, may be more easily borne. +The connection of [Hebrew: hvrh] with [Hebrew: mN], which is rather +uncommon, may be most simply explained by viewing the instruction +as proceeding from its object. "The ways of the Lord" are the ways +in which He would have men to walk,--that mode of life which is +well-pleasing to Him. The contrast of it is walking in one's own ways. +Is. liii. 6,--regulating of one's life according to the desires of +one's own corrupt heart.--The last words, "For from Zion, etc.," are +not to be conceived of as spoken by the people, stirring up and +encouraging one another, but by the prophet. They state the reason why +the people are so anxious to go to Zion; and this accounts also for the +circumstance that Zion is so emphatically placed at the beginning. Zion +shall, at that time, be the residence of the true God, and proved to be +such by glorious revelations; and from it His commands go forth over +the whole earth. [Hebrew: ica], "to go out," stands here, as in ver. 1, +in the sense of "to go forth." As the sphere for the going forth of the +law from Zion is not limited, it must be considered in as wide an +extent as possible; in harmony with the preceding words, [Pg 447] +according to which we must think of "people," "many nations," as being +comprehended within this sphere.--We must not overlook the fact that +the article is awanting before [Hebrew: tvrh], and that the law is not +more strictly defined as the law of God. It is intended, in the first +place, only to indicate that despised and desolate Zion is to be the +seat of legislation for the whole earth. The law itself is then more +strictly defined as the word of God. Many interpreters understand +[Hebrew: tvrh] here as meaning religion in general;[2] the going forth +is explained by them of its spreading itself. From Zion, true religion +is to extend over all the nations; and hence it is that to Zion the +eyes of all of them are directed. Thus, _e.g._, _Theodoret_, who +remarks: "This is the preaching of the Gospel, which began at +Jerusalem, and from thence, as from its source, flowed over all the +earth, offering drink to those who came to it in faith." But [Hebrew: +tvr] never signifies "doctrine," "religion," any more than does +[Hebrew: mwpT]: it is always used as meaning "law;" and this sense of +it can with the less propriety be departed from here, as the people, +according to what precedes, flow to Zion not in order to seek religion +in general, but laws for their conduct in life. But even if we were to +follow _Caspari_, and to modify the explanation thus, "The law, which +was formerly confined to Zion, and hence to a narrow circle, shall go +forth from thence into the wide world,"--weighty objections to it would +still remain. If "to go forth" were to be understood as meaning "to +spread," the sphere of the going forth would have been more closely +determined; as, _e.g._, in Is. xlii. 1: "He shall bring forth judgment +_to the Gentiles_." In Is. li. 4, "Law shall _go out_ from Me, and My +judgment I will make for a light of the people," _to go out_ is +tantamount to, _to go forth_. "Mine arms shall judge the people," in +li. 5, is parallel to it. [Hebrew: ica] in itself does not mean "to go +forth." _Further_--The circumstance that the law spreads from Zion, +does not account sufficiently for the zeal with which the nations flow +to Zion. If it _goes out_, there is then no need for their seeking +for it at its home. In Zech. viii. 20-23, also, the thronging of the +people to Zion, in order to enter there into a closer relation to the +Lord, forms the subject of discourse. Zion, as the place where the +Lord of [Pg 448] the whole earth issues His orders, as if from His +residence (Is. xi. 10), forms an appropriate contrast to "Zion shall be +ploughed as a field,"--a suitable parallel to the exaltation of the +temple-mountain above all the mountains of the earth, to which the +prophet here returns, after having, in the first part of the verse, +expanded the thought: "People flow unto it;" and to vers. 7, 8 also, +where Zion appears likewise as the seat of dominion. + + +Ver. 3. "_And He judges among many people, and rebukes strong nations, +even unto a distance. And they heat their swords into ploughshares, and +their spears into pruning-knives; nation shall not lift up a sword, +against nation, neither shall they learn war any more._" + +It appears strange to us that here we see ourselves transferred all at +once to the sphere of the general description of the Messianic time; +for, according to the whole context, and to the contrast with chap. +iii., we expect such predictions as will serve especially for the +consolation of the daughter of Zion, whose heart had been pierced by +the announcement that the mountain of the house should become a wooded +hill, and that she herself should be given into the power of the +Gentiles. But this difficulty is removed by remarking that this verse +only prepares the way for ver. 4, where there is a representation of +the advantage which accrues to the daughter of Zion from the spirit of +peace, which, through the powerful influence of Zion's God, has become +prevalent in the heathen world. It is from failing to perceive the +connection of the two verses, that the remark of _Hitzig_ has arisen: +"It is very probable that Micah, if he had been the (original) author, +would rather have mentioned the change and restoration of Jerusalem, +than the change of the arms."--The subject is the Lord. That it was +through _Christ_, who as early as in the Song of Solomon appears as the +true Solomon, that the Lord would carry out what is here announced, the +prophet could, according to his plan, detail only afterwards. In chap. +iv. 1-7, he describes how Zion is glorified by what the Lord does from +thence; in ver. 8, by the restoration of the dominion of the Davidic +race; and in v. 1 ff., by the appearance of the Messiah. It is +especially from v. 3 (4), according to which the Messiah stands and +feeds in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the +Lord His God,--and from v. 4 (5), according [Pg 449] to which He is +the Peace, that we infer with certainty that the judging also shall +be done by His mediation. In Isaiah we meet the person of the Messiah +in the prophecy of chap. iv., which, along with that in chap. ii., +belongs to one discourse, and supplements it. The judging and rebuking +([Hebrew: hvkiH] with [Hebrew: l], "to rebuke," "to reprove") refer to +the strifes among the nations which hitherto could not be allayed, +because there was wanting the counterpoise to selfishness which was +productive of wrong. But such a counterpoise is now given in the word +of God, which, carried home by His Spirit, penetrates deeply into the +heart.--"_Strong_ nations," who were hitherto most ready to seize the +sword. The words, "And they beat," etc., refer to Joel iv. (iii.) +10, where the heathen beat their ploughshares into swords, their +pruning-knives into spears; and they do so to the prejudice of the +people of God, which the prophet, although apparently he speaks in +general terms, has specially in view. By this allusion Micah indicates +that, with reference to the disposition of the heathen world, Joel has +spoken a word, true, indeed, but giving only a partial view. The words +of _Justinus_ in the _Dialogus cum Tryphone_--"For, having learned the +fear and worship of God from the Law and Gospel which came to us +through the Apostles from Jerusalem, we have fled for refuge to the God +of Jacob, and the God of Israel; and we, who formerly were filled with +war and murder, and every wickedness, have put away the instruments of +war from the whole earth, and have, every one of us, changed the swords +into ploughshares, and the spears into agricultural implements, and +cultivate the fear of God, justice, brotherly love, faith, hope," +etc.,--show that, even soon after the appearance of Christ, it was held +that the fulfilment of this prophecy had commenced. But it was +acknowledged by the prophet also, that even after the appearance of the +salvation, this description would, in the meantime, give only a partial +exhibition of the truth; inasmuch as not every one will submit to the +judging activity of the Lord, how powerful soever may be the effect of +the new principle which entered into the life of the nations; for in v. +4, 5 (5, 6) he speaks of the nations which, in the Messianic time, +attack the people of God; in ver. 8 (9), of their adversaries and +enemies; and in ver. 14 (15), of such as do not hear. But the [Pg 450] +imperfect fulfilment is a pledge and guarantee for that which is +perfect, as it will take place when, by the last judgment, they have +been removed who have obstinately preserved within themselves the +spirit of strife and hatred. According to the predictions of the +prophets--compare especially Is. xi. 6, 7--peace shall, at some future +period, be extended even to the irrational creation, and the strife +which has come upon earth by the fall, shall entirely cease from it. + +Ver. 4. "_And they sit every man under his vine, and under his +fig-tree, and none maketh them afraid; for the mouth of the Lord of +hosts hath spoken it._" + +This verse contains a description of the happy consequences which the +peaceful influence which goes forth from the Lord to the heathen world, +shall have upon Israel. For Israel is the subject in [Hebrew: iwbv], +and the verse does not at all pretend to give a description of "a +Solomonic time for all the nations." This is shown by what is stated, +in the following verse, as to the ground of this happy change, as well +as by a comparison of the fundamental passages. Lev. xxvi. 6: "And I +give peace in the land, and ye lie down, and none maketh you afraid;" +and 1 Kings v. 5 (iv. 25): "And Judah and Israel dwelt safely every man +under his vine and fig-tree, from Dan to Beersheba, all the days of +Solomon;" and of the parallel passages, Micah v. 4 (5); Zech. iii. 10. +It is _further_ shown by the connection with what precedes, where great +calamity, and the devastation of their whole country had been predicted +to Israel,--and by the mention of the vine and fig-tree, which are +characteristic of the land of Israel. The words, "For the mouth of the +Lord," etc., point out the pledge, which the person of Him who promises +affords for the fulfilment of the promise, which appears incredible. + +Ver. 5. "_For all the nations shall walk, every one in the name of +their God; and we will walk in the name of the Lord our God for ever +and ever._" + +The causal particle [Hebrew: ki] states the ground of the fact that the +Lord of hosts has spoken this, and given the promise of the final +safety of Israel, and of his enjoying peace after the strife, in +consequence of God's exercising dominion from Zion over the whole +heathen world; while this peace after the strife is then more fully +described in vers. 6, 7. The lot of every people corresponds to the +nature of their God. And now, how [Pg 451] could it be otherwise, than +that all other nations should be humbled, because their gods are idols, +while Israel, on the other hand, is exalted and endowed with +everlasting salvation and prosperity, because his God is the only true +God? Is. xlv. 16, 17 is parallel: "They shall be ashamed, and also +confounded, all of them; they shall go to confusion, the makers of +idols. Israel is saved by the Lord, with an everlasting salvation; ye +shall not be ashamed nor confounded in all eternity."--"The name of the +Lord" is the complex whole of His excellency which is revealed, and +proved by deeds; compare Prov. xviii. 10: "The name of the Lord is a +strong tower; the righteous runneth into it and is exalted." Inasmuch +as the name of the Lord is to manifest itself in His dealings with His +people, it represents itself as the way in which they are to walk: the +prayer of the Psalmist in Ps. xxv. 5, that the Lord would lead him in +His _truth_, forms a parallel to this; and so does also what he says in +ver. 9 of the same Psalm, that "He guides the meek in _judgment_." But +exactly corresponding is Zech. x. 12: "And I strengthen them in the +Lord, and _in His name shall they walk_" = in the path of His name, so +that the latter manifests itself in His dealings with them; compare the +remarks on that passage. In favour of our exposition, moreover, is the +comparison of the passage Is. ii. 5, the evidently requisite harmony of +which with the passage under consideration is obtained, only if the +latter be understood as we have explained it. The _light_, _i.e._, the +salvation of the Lord spoken of there, corresponds with the name of the +Lord in the passage under review. Several interpreters explain: "They +may walk, they may worship their gods. Although all nations should be +idolaters, yet we, inhabitants of Judah, shall faithfully worship +Jehovah." Against this explanation _Caspari_ remarks, "An exhortation, +or a resolution which implies an exhortation, is here not easily +justified, because it would stand in the midst of promises." Moreover, +the [Hebrew: ki] cannot be explained according to this interpretation, +as appears with sufficient clearness from the remark of _Justi_: "This +verse does not seem to be so closely connected with the preceding one." +The connection is more firmly established by the explanation of +_Tarnovius_, _Michaelis_, and others: "Surely so brilliant a lot must +fall to us; for we are faithful worshippers of the true God, while all +other nations walk after their idols." [Pg 452] But the objections to +tins explanation are: (1) the circumstance that it is rather unusual to +found the salvation of the people upon their covenant-faithfulness (of +which, from the preceding reproof, we cannot entertain very high +notions), instead of founding it upon God's grace and faithfulness, +compare vii. 18-20;[3] (2) the repeated use of the Future, while, +according to it, we should have expected the Preterite, at least in the +first member; and (3), and most decisive of all, the expression, "For +ever and ever;" compare the expression, "From henceforth, even for +ever," in ver. 7. + +Ver. 6. "_In that day, saith the Lord, I will assemble that which +halteth, and that which hath been driven out I will gather, and that +which I have afflicted._ Ver. 7. _And I make that which is halting a +remnant, and that which is far off a strong nation, and the Lord +reigneth over them in Mount Zion from henceforth, even for ever._" + +The expression "in that day" does not refer to "at the end of the +days," in ver. 1, but is connected with, and resumes ver. 4^a That the +verb [Hebrew: asP] has here the signification "to assemble," and not +that "to receive," is shown by ii. 12, and especially by Ezek. xi. 17. +The word refers to the announcement of Israel's being carried away, +which was formerly made, and with which the scattering is connected. +They are assembled for their return to the Holy Land. Such an +assembling, however, is meant, as is connected with the full enjoyment +of salvation, and in which the Congregation truly manifests itself in a +close unity, as a kingdom of priests. In the passage, Zeph. iii. 19, +which is founded upon the one under review, we find "I save" instead of +"I assemble." Of such a description, the assembling under Zerubbabel +was not; compare Nehem. ix. 36, 37. It can therefore come into notice +only as a prelude to the true assembling.--"The Fem. sing, of the +Partic.," says _Hitzig_, "must be understood collectively; and it is +not several subjects, but predicates of the same subject, viz., of the +whole of Israel, [Pg 453] which are thereby designated." The "halting," +which is a condition of bodily helplessness and weakness, occurs also +in Ps. xxxv. 15, and xxxviii. 18, as a designation of adversity and +misery.--The expression, "to make a remnant," forms the contrast to +total annihilation. While these words show that a limit will be put to +the _diminution_, the following words predict a vast _increase_. In the +words, "In Mount Zion," the contrast with iii. 12 appears once more at +the close of the section. As regards [Hebrew: mlK ihvh], compare Ps. +xciii. 1. It does not refer to the constant government of the Lord, but +to a new and glorious manifestation of it--as it were to a new +ascension to the throne. The expression, "From henceforth," refers to +the _ideal_ present. In spirit, the prophet is in that time when the +Lord is just entering upon His government. The words, "The Lord +reigneth ... for ever," are thus beautifully illustrated by _Calvin_: +"Micah does not here mention the descendants of David, but Jehovah +Himself; not as if he wished thereby to exclude that dominion of David, +but in order to show that God would make it manifest that He was the +author of that dominion, yea, that He Himself held all the power. For, +although God governed the ancient people by the hand of David, and by +the hand of Josiah and Hezekiah, _yet there was, as it were, a shadow +placed between, so that God's government was then perceived darkly +only._ The prophet, therefore, here expresses, that there would be some +difference betwixt that shadowy government, and the future new dominion +which He was openly to set up by the advent of the Messiah. And this +was truly and solidly fulfilled in Christ's person. For although Christ +was the true seed of David, yet He was also, at the same time, Jehovah, +viz., God made manifest in the flesh." With respect to this promise, +however, it must also be kept in mind that it will be finally fulfilled +only in the future, when the kingdom and throne of glory (compare Matt. +xix. 28) shall be set up. + +The prophet had hitherto described the kingdom which was to be +established anew, as a kingdom of God, without mentioning the channel +through which His mercy was to be poured out upon the Congregation--the +mediator who was to represent Him among them. His representation, +therefore, was still defective; it still wanted the connection with the +promise given to David, and so frequently celebrated by him, and by +other [Pg 454] holy Psalmists and Prophets--the promise of the eternal +dominion of David's house. According to this promise, every new, great +manifestation of grace, must be through some descendant of this family +as a mediator. This house must ever form the substratum on which the +divine power and the divine nature, in its most complete manifestation, +showed themselves. This blank is supplied in ver. 8. + +"_And thou tower of the flock, hill of the daughter of Zion, unto thee +it will come; and to thee cometh the former dominion, the kingdom of +the daughter of Zion._" + +In the words immediately preceding it is said: "And the Lord reigneth +over them from henceforth, even for ever." We have here, then, a +prediction of the dominion of the house of David, by whose mediation +the Lord is to reign; compare v. 3 (4), where it is said of Him in whom +the Davidic race is to centre, "And He stands, and feeds in the +strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord His God." +All interpreters agree that the Davidic race is designated by the +"Tower of the flock," and by "the hill of the daughter of Zion;" but, +with respect to the ground of this designation, they are very much at +variance. A great number of them (_Grotius_, and among the recent +interpreters, _Rosenmueller_, _Winer_, _Gesenius_, _De Wette_) think of +that Tower of the flock, in the neighbourhood of which Jacob, according +to Gen. xxxv. 21, took up his abode for a time. They say that, +according to _Jerome_, this Tower of the flock was situated in the +immediate neighbourhood of Bethlehem; that it is used here only by way +of a _metalepsis_ for Bethlehem, and that Bethlehem again designates +the Davidic race; so that the passage agrees altogether with v. 1 (2). +But, upon a closer examination, this interpretation appears to be +objectionable, for the following reasons. 1. It is anything but +fixed that that Tower of the flock was situated in the immediate +neighbourhood of Bethlehem. It cannot be inferred from the passage in +Genesis, and as little can it be proved from _Jerome_. In the _Quest. +ad Genes. Opp._ iii. p. 145, Frcf., he first mentions the opinion of +the Jews, according to which, by the "Tower of the flock" is to be +understood the place on which the temple was afterwards built, and then +says: "But if we follow the direction of the road, we find, by +Bethlehem, a 'place of the shepherds,' which was so called, either +because it was there [Pg 455] that, at the birth of the Lord, the +angels sang their hymn of praise; or because Jacob fed his flock there, +and gave this name to the place; or, which is more likely, because even +then the future mystery was, by a revelation, shown to him." According +to this, _Jerome_ does not know anything of a "Tower of the flock" near +Bethlehem. From the direction of the road which Jacob took, he only +_surmises_ that it was situated thereabouts; and since there was, in +the neighbourhood of Bethlehem, a place called "the place of the +shepherds," he, from a mere combination, declares this to be identical +with the Tower of the flock; while, after all, he is so cautious as not +at once to reject the only true derivation of this name from the +shepherds at the birth of Christ. By this, the other passage in the +book _de locis Hebr._ must be judged, where _Jerome_ expressly delivers +his supposition as if it were historical truth: "Bethlehem, the city of +David ... and about a thousand paces (_passus_) distant is the tower +_Ader_, which is called 'the Tower of the flock,' indicating that, by +some vision, the shepherds had, beforehand, been made conscious of the +birth of the Lord." That tradition knew but little of any "Tower of the +flock" in the neighbourhood of Bethlehem, appears also from _Eusebius +Onom._ s. v. _Gader._ p. 79, ed. _Cleric_: "The tower Gader ... While +Jacob dwelt there, Reuben went in to Bilhah." _Eusebius_ evidently knew +nothing more regarding the "Tower of the flock" than what we also may +learn from the passage in Genesis. He does not venture to offer even a +conjecture as to its position. The same ignorance is shown by the Jews, +mentioned by _Jerome_, who certainly would not have thought of a +reference to the temple, if a place called "Tower of the flock" had +existed in the neighbourhood of Bethlehem. 2. But even assuming the +existence of the Tower of the flock in the neighbourhood of Bethlehem, +is it anything else than the assumption of a pure _quid pro quo_, to +assert, without assigning any reason, that the "Tower of the flock" +stands for Bethlehem? _Rosenmueller_, at least, has felt this. He makes +the attempt to assign a reason: "In substituting, however, an unknown +hamlet in the neighbourhood of Bethlehem, for Bethlehem itself, he +intended to indicate that the dominion of David would be altogether +weakened and brought low." But this reason is certainly not by any +means sufficient; Bethlehem was, in itself, so small, that no further +[Pg 456] diminution was required; compare v. 1 (2). It had, moreover, +been always small, and had not by any means sunk down in the course of +time from former greatness. Hence, such a designation, in contrast with +its former glory, would be entirely out of place; and even supposing +that it were not, the mode of this designation would always be +inexplicable, unless we could assume a closer reference of the "Tower +of the flock" to the Davidic family. It is only by establishing such a +reference, that the whole explanation can be saved and confirmed. For +this purpose, it would be necessary to suppose that Bethlehem, and the +district belonging to it, were the general designation of the native +place of the Davidic family, while the "Tower of the flock" was the +special one. But there is not the slightest ground on which to support +this hypothesis. Everywhere, Bethlehem itself appears as the residence +of Jesse, the father of David (compare 1 Sam. xvi. 1, 18, 19, xvii. +12), and likewise of Boaz, Ruth ii. 4. + +The incorrectness of another explanation is still more evident. +According to it, we are, by the "Tower of the flock," to understand +a tower which is alleged to have stood at Jerusalem, near to the +Sheep-gate. But the existence of such a tower is supported by no +evidence whatsoever, and does not become even probable by the existence +of a sheep-gate; for a Tower of the flock is not a tower which stands +near the Sheep-gate, but a tower which is erected for the protection of +the flock, as is clearly seen from _Migdal Eder_ in Genesis. But, even +supposing that such a tower existed, is there anything which could +somehow make it a suitable designation of the Davidic family? + +Let us now proceed to the establishment of our own opinion, by which +the arguments advanced against the other explanations will be +considerably strengthened. Concerning the situation of Jerusalem, +_Josephus_, _de B. J._ i. 6, c. 13, remarks as follows: "It was built +on two hills fronting each other, separated by a chasm running between, +down to which the houses were situated. One of the hills, on which the +upper part of the city lay, was much higher and longer than the other. +And, because it was fortified, it was called the Citadel of King +David," etc. These two hills are Akra and Zion. The city situated upon +the latter, is, in other passages also, described by Josephus to be +very high and steep; _e.g._, vi. 40: [Greek: ten ano polin perikremnon] +[Pg 457] [Greek: ousan]. The sight afforded by the towers in this steep +height is, by him, compared with that of the beacon at Alexandria from +the sea (_B. J._ vi. c. 6: "It resembled in shape the lighthouse as +seen by people sailing up to Alexandria"). Compare the similar +representation of _Tacitus_, _Lib._ 5. _Histor._ c. 11 (_Reland_ ii. p. +848 sqq.). + +On the summit of this high and steep hill, in the upper town, was +situated the royal castle, called the "upper house of the king," Neh. +iii. 25. Its situation could not fail to afford to it extraordinary +security. This is sufficiently shown by the ridicule of the Jebusites, +when David, who did not build, but only enlarged it, was about to +besiege it. They were of opinion that the lame and the blind would be +sufficient for its defence, 2 Sam. v. 7-9; compare _Faber's Archaeol._ +p. 191. + +Far above this royal castle, which David first selected for his +residence (compare 2 Sam. v. 9: "And David dwelt in the castle and +called it the City of David, and built it round about"), a tower jutted +prominently out, and afforded a majestic sight. It is frequently +mentioned in Scripture. The principal passage is Neh. iii. 25: +"Opposite the tower which standeth out from the upper house of the king +(appositely the Vulgate: _quae eminet de domo regis excelsa_) in the +court of the prison;" compare ver. 26, where the tower standing out, +and elevated far above the king's castle, is likewise spoken of. +Concerning the words, "In the court of the prison," we obtain some +information from Jer. xxxii. 2: "Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in +the court of the prison, [Hebrew: bHcr hmTrh], which is in the house of +the king of Judah;" compare Jer. xxxviii. 6, according to which the pit +into which the prophet was let down, was in the court of the prison. +According to these passages, the court of the prison formed, agreeably +to the customs of the East, part of the royal castle on Zion; and it +was in this court that the tower rose. The other principal passage is +in the Song of Solomon iv. 4: "Thy neck is like the tower of David +built for arms; a thousand bucklers are hanging on it, all arms of +heroes." According to this passage, the majestic appearance which the +tower afforded was still further increased by the glittering arms which +covered it. _Doepke_ and others think of the armour of conquered heroes; +but that we must rather think of the armour of David's own heroes, +appears from Ezek. xxvii. 10, 11, where it is said of [Pg 458] the +hired troops of the Tyrians, "Shield and helmet they hanged up in +thee," and is confirmed by the constant designation of David's faithful +ones, as _his heroes_; compare Song of Sol. iii. 7: "Threescore heroes +stand around the bed of the king, of the heroes of Israel;" and 1 +Chron. xii. 1: "These were among the heroes, helpers in the war." The +expression in the Song of Solomon iv. 4, "All shields of the heroes," +indicates that the armour of all those who were received into the +number of the heroes, was hung up on that tower, as an outward sign of +this reception, as a kind of diploma of it. The circumstance that this +tower, which is certainly quite identical with the tower mentioned by +Nehemiah, is called the tower of David, refutes the supposition of +_Clericus_, on Nehemiah, _l.c._, according to which, it is not the +castle of David or Zion which is spoken of in that passage, but another +castle and its tower in the lower town, supposed to have been built by +Solomon. This hypothesis is refuted, moreover, by that passage itself, +inasmuch as the castle is there designated as the upper, or high one. + +Now, it is this tower which Micah considers as the symbol of the +Davidic house; and in so doing, he follows the example of the Song of +Solomon, where it is the symbol of the lofty elevation of Israel, the +centre and life-blood of which was the Davidic family. It scarcely +needs any lengthened demonstration to show how well suited it was for +this signification, how very naturally it represented the thing +signified. It was indeed the most elevated part of the castle, the +main-mast, as it were, of the ship, which, since the elevation of the +Davidic family to the royal dignity, had been for centuries, and was +still to be, the seat of the Davidic race. Its height was a symbol of +the royal dignity and authority. Its relation to the whole of the rest +of the city, which it overlooked and commanded, and which looked up to +it with astonishment, symbolized the relation of the subjects to their +king. + +Micah calls this tower the "Tower of the flock." The main reason for +this appellation must be sought in what immediately precedes, in vers. +6 and 7. As in chap. ii. 12, 13, so here also, Micah represented the +Covenant-people under the figure of a flock that was to be gathered +from its dispersion and estrangement, and protected against every +hostile attack. Could anything then be more natural than that, +continuing the image [Pg 459] which he had begun, he should call the +tower, which, to him, symbolized the family by whom, under the guidance +of the Lord, that gathering should be accomplished, the "Tower of the +flock?"[4] It is just this close connection with what precedes which +furnishes an important proof for the correctness of our explanation, +for which the way was prepared by all those expositors who, like +_Jerome_, _Theodoret_, _Cyril_, _Cocceius_, and _Paulus_ (_ueber die +Evang._ i. p. 189), understand [Hebrew: mgdl edr] as an appellative, +and regard, as the ground of the appellation, the protection and the +refuge. In the East, they look out from the towers of the flock, +whether beasts of prey or hostile bands be approaching. It is into +these that the flocks are driven, in those regions where there are no +towns and villages, as soon as danger appears; compare the proofs in +_Faber_, l.c., p. 192 ff. There was so much the stronger reason for +Micah's choosing this figurative mode of representation, as he had the +type immediately before his eyes. According to 2 Chron. xxvi. 10, +xxvii. 4, Uzziah and Jotham erected, in the woods and pasture grounds, +castles and towers for the protection and refuge of the flocks. But, +besides this main reason, there seems to have existed a secondary one +for choosing this appellation. They who adhere so firmly to the "Tower +of the flock," mentioned in Genesis, are not altogether wrong. Except +in that passage, [Hebrew: mgdl edr] nowhere occurs in precisely the +same manner as it stands here. If, then, we consider that, besides this +reference, there occur in Micah other plain references to the +Pentateuch (and very numerous they are, compared with the extent of his +prophecies; compare, _e.g._, ii. 12, 13. [vide supra], vi. 4, 5, vii. +14, where the words [Hebrew: wkni lbdd] receive light from Num. xxiii. +9 only[5]); and still more, if we consider that, in v. 1 (2), the +appellation Bethlehem Ephratah is likewise taken from Gen. xxxv. 19, +and that it is in ver. 21 of the same chapter that the "Tower of the +flock" is mentioned,--we shall certainly not be guilty of trifling, if +we assert that there is a suspicion of error and unsoundness against +all those interpretations which cannot connect the "Tower of the flock" +[Pg 460] in Micah with that which is spoken of in Genesis. But the +explanation which we have given is not liable to this charge. For why +should not Jacob, and the tower which he built for the protection of +his literal flocks, serve the prophet as a type and substratum for the +relation of a spiritual Shepherd? We must not overlook the truth, that +the main and secondary reasons which we have adduced, do not stand +beside each other, but run into each other,--are related to each other +as the general and particular. For the reason why the prophet had +specially in view the "Tower of the flock" which had been built by +Jacob was certainly this only: that it partook of the nature of all +such towers of the flocks. The _tertium comparationis_ is not thereby +changed; the figure is only more individualized, and, therefore, more +striking and impressive. A reference to the pastoral life of the +Patriarchs is certainly one of the reasons of the frequent use +of images taken from pastoral life. In a different way, _Hitzig_ +endeavours to come to the same result. He supposes that the "Tower of +the flock" mentioned in Genesis was not situated in the neighbourhood +of Bethlehem, but is identical with the tower of the castle on Zion, +and of the castle of Millo which David already found existing, and +which was only more strongly fortified by him and by Solomon, 2 Sam. v. +9; 1 Kings ix. 15, 24, xi. 27. The figure of the "Tower of the flock" +was so much the more appropriate in the passage under consideration, as +the founder of the royal dynasty had been, for a long time, a shepherd +of the lambs, before he was elected to be a shepherd of the people, and +had thus himself prefigured his future relation--a circumstance to +which allusion is frequently made in Scripture itself; compare 2 Sam. +v. 2, vii. 8; 1 Chron. xi. 2; Ps. lxxviii. 70-72. + +After having thus ascertained what is to be understood by the "Tower +of the flock," there can be no great difficulty in explaining the +"hill of the daughter of Zion." The daughter of Zion is Zion itself, +personified, and represented as a virgin; and if her hill be spoken +of, what else can be meant, than Mount Zion in the more restricted +sense--the Mount [Greek: kat' exochen], before which Akra and Moriah +are changed into plains? We have thus a most appropriate relation of +the two appellations to each other,--the tower of the flock being the +particular, and the hill of the daughter of Zion, the general. [Pg 461] +_Further_,--We obtain the most perfect harmony and agreement with the +last words of the verse. The hill which, morally and physically, +commands the daughter of Zion, is the same which obtains dominion over +the daughter of Jerusalem. _Finally_,--We see the most striking +contrast with iii. 12, and the most admirable connection with iv. 1-7, +in which, everywhere, Mount Zion is spoken of, and the exaltation is +described which, after its deep abasement, it shall obtain in the +future, by the flowing of the heathens to it, and by the dominion of +the Lord to be there exercised. + +It is only in appearance that our explanation is contradicted by +passages of the Old Testament, and of _Josephus_, where _Ophel_ is +mentioned as a particular place; compare _Bachiene_ 2. 1, Sec. 76; +_Hamelsveld_ 2, S. 35 ff. The supposition of several interpreters, +that this _Ophel_ is some particular hill (compare, _e.g._, _Vitringa +de Templo Ezech._ L. i. c. iii. p. 159, and his _Commentary on +Isaiah_ xxxii. 13), has already been invalidated by _Reland_ (p. 855), +and _Faber_ l.c., p. 347, who rightly remark, that _Josephus_, in +enumerating the hills of Jerusalem, makes no mention of _Ophel_, but +speaks always only of the place _Ophel_. All the difficulties, however, +which stand in the way of the other assumptions, are removed by the +following view of the matter. Mount Zion was called [Hebrew: hepl], the +Hill [Greek: kat' exochen], and this word became, by and by, a _nomen +proprium_, and, in this state, as well as in its transition to +the _nomen proprium_, was used without the Article. From this it +followed--and numerous analogies everywhere occur--that the foot of +the mountain, the place where it was connected with the lower part of +the temple-mountain by means of a deep valley, acquired this name in +preference, and received it, as it were, as a _nomen proprium_. At this +foot of Zion--and hence over against the temple, and near it--dwelt the +Nethinim, the temple servants, Neh. iii. 26; and _Josephus_ says, that +the wall surrounding Mount Zion extended on the east side to the place +which was called _Ophel_, and ended at the eastern porch of the temple +(_de Bell. Jud._ vi. 6). + +The view which we have taken, not only of _Ophel_, but of this whole +passage, receives an important confirmation by Is. xxxii. 13, 14: "Upon +the land of My people come up thorns and briars, for they shoot up in +all the houses of joy, in the joyous city. For palaces are forsaken, +tumult of the city is [Pg 462] forsaken, _hill_ and _tower_ are around +caves (_i.e._, it is only this which they have to protect) for ever, a +joy of wild asses, a pasture of flocks." In this threatening of +punishment, _hill_, [Hebrew: epl], and _tower_, [Hebrew: bHN] (properly +"a watch-tower," corresponding to [Hebrew: mgdl]), are joined, just as +in Micah's promise; and this is a certain proof of the unsoundness of +all those explanations which would sever the two in Micah. Perhaps +there is, in that passage of Isaiah, the addition of a third object, +standing in the middle between the two, viz., the castle of the king +which was situated on Zion, and of which the highest and strongest part +was formed by the tower. There seems, at least, to be better ground for +understanding this by [Hebrew: armvN] than the temple, as is done by +_Vitringa_. It will, nevertheless, be better to understand the palace +collectively, and to view it as being parallel to the houses of joy in +ver. 13. So much is, at all events, evident, that here also, _Ophel_ +cannot be understood of the lowest part of Mount Zion, inasmuch as it +had nothing distinguished about it that could account for its being +mentioned in this context; and to this, the circumstance of its being +connected with the tower, must, moreover, be added. _Faber_, l.c., has +convincingly proved, that _Ophel_, in the stricter sense, neither had, +nor could have, any fortifications. + +[Hebrew: ediK], "unto thee," seems here to have that emphasis which +originally belongs to [Hebrew: ed]. It indicates that the object in +motion really reaches its goal, while [Hebrew: al] originally expresses +only its direction towards the goal. It points to all the obstacles +which seem to render it impossible for the dominion to reach its goal, +and represents them as such as shall be overcome by divine omnipotence. +This is quite in accordance with the scope of the whole representation, +which _Calvin_ thus appositely points out: "The prophet endeavours to +confirm the faith and hope of the godly, that they might look forward +to the distant future, and not dwell only upon the present destruction; +that they might rather believe that the matter was in the hands of God, +who had promised, that He who raised the dead, would also restore the +kingdom of David, which had been destroyed." + +Several interpreters, _e.g._, _Rosenmueller_, connect [Hebrew: tath] +immediately with what follows: "The kingdom shall come and attain." +But, in opposition to this, there are not only the _accents_ +(_Michaelis_; "The _Athnach_ is intended to keep the mind [Pg 463] of +the reader in suspense for some time, and to direct his attention to +what follows"), but also the change of the tenses, which is intended +just to prevent this connection, and the weak sense which would be the +result, inasmuch as one of the verbs would be a pleonasm. It must +rather be supposed, therefore, that the subject in [Hebrew: tath] is +indefinite. The remark which _Haevernick_, in his _Commentary on +Daniel_, S. 386, makes on the omission of the indefinite subject, is +here fully applicable, although he himself makes a wrong application of +it to that passage: "The indefinite subject," he says, "has a special +emphasis. By the omission of the definite idea, it is, as it were, left +to the reader to supply everything possible (in the passage under +consideration, the compass of all that is glorious), for which the +writer cannot find language." + +The "first," _i.e._, former, or ancient "dominion," refers to the +splendid times under David and Solomon; but, at the same time, it +supposes a period when the dominion is altogether taken away from the +dynasty of David. Such a period had already been announced by the +prophet, in his first discourse, inasmuch as it is implied in the +carrying away of all Judah into captivity; and still more distinctly in +iii. 12, according to which, Zion, the seat of the Davidic dominion, is +to be ploughed as a field. This announcement, with the express mention +of the king, returns in ver. 9, and, contrasted with It, the +announcement of the restoration of the Davidic dominion in v. 1 (2). + +The last words of the verse are, by many expositors (_Calvin_, +_Michaelis_, and _Rosenmueller_), translated thus: "And the kingdom, I +say, shall belong to the daughter of Jerusalem;" so that Jerusalem +would here be, not the _object_, but the _subject_ of dominion. The +sense, according to this explanation, is best brought out by _Calvin_: +"The prophet here distinctly mentions the daughter of Jerusalem, +because the kingdom of Israel had obscured the glory of the true +kingdom. The prophet hence testifies, that God was not unmindful of His +promise, and would so arrange it that Jerusalem should recover its lost +dignity, and the whole people be gathered unto one body." But this +explanation must be rejected on philological grounds. [Hebrew: mmlkt] +is _status constr._; the [Hebrew: l] serves, therefore, only as a +circumlocution of the genitive; and it is not admissible to supply the +Verb Substant. To this, moreover, there must be added the reference [Pg +464] to what precedes. The dominion over the daughter of Jerusalem is +to come to the tower which commands the daughter of Zion, not, by any +means, to the daughter of Zion herself. The prophet makes Jerusalem to +represent the kingdom of God; and, in so doing, he probably has regard +to the relation of Zion and of the king's castle to the town, by which +was symbolized the relation which the Davidic dynasty occupied to the +kingdom of God. + + * * * * * + + CHAP. IV. 9-14. + +At the close of the last chapter, the prophet had announced severe +judgments. In the verses immediately preceding, he had given glorious +promises. In that which follows, he now combines these two elements; +and it is only in chap. v. that the promise again appears, purely, and +by itself. The judgments are thus introduced into the middle of the +proclamation of salvation, in order that the faithful might thus be +preserved from forming any vain hopes, which, if not confirmed by the +result, are apt to be exchanged for much deeper despondency. But this +same circumstance contained within it an indirect consolation; for it +is certain that He who causes future events to be foretold, overrules +them also; and "He who sends them, can also turn them." For the +greatest cause of our despondency under the cross is certainly the +doubt which we entertain as to whether it really comes from God. The +prophet, however, affords _direct_ consolation also. Whensoever he +speaks of any calamity, he immediately subjoins the announcement of +divine deliverance. The intimation of the sufferings, in this section, +differs essentially from the former ones. It is not, like these, in a +threatening, but in an affectionate character; indeed, in vers. 11-13, +the consolation preponderates even outwardly. From this, it is +sufficiently evident, that it must have a different destination. Whilst +the threatening was intended chiefly for the ungodly, it has, just as +much as the preceding pure promise, the truly godly members of the +Theocracy also in view, and aims at strengthening them in the manifold +temptations into which they must fall, in consequence of the sufferings +which [Pg 465] always come upon them also at the same time, on account +of their outward, and therefore also their inward, connection with the +wicked. + +A glance at the great catastrophes, which were to precede the +appearance of Christ, was here just in its proper place. In the +preceding context, the prophet had mentioned the restoration of the +former dominion. Here, he describes how the dominion is lost ("There is +no king in thee," ver. 9), and what shall happen during the period of +this loss. He then further details, in v. 1 (2) sq., in what manner the +dominion is to be restored. + +It is a threefold suffering, joined with deliverance from it, which +presents itself to the prophet in his inward vision, and which he +describes accordingly. This is evident from the three-fold [Hebrew: +eth], compare vers. 9, 11, 14, which, each time, indicates when a new +scene presents itself to the prophet. This, further, appears from the +different character which each one bears. In the case of the +announcement in vers. 9 and 10, viz., the carrying away to Babylon, it +is alone the Lord's hand which delivers His people. In the calamity +described in vers. 11-13, He grants to Israel courage in war, and +victory to his _arms_. The plans of the enemies to destroy Zion are +frustrated, while in the former calamity they succeeded. In ver. 14, +Zion is anew represented as sorely pressed by enemies, and captured by +them. According to v. 1, which is closely connected with what precedes, +the deliverance is accomplished by the Messiah, in whom the promise of +the restoration of the dominion of the house of David over the daughter +of Zion is fulfilled. + + * * * * * + +Ver. 9. "_Now why dost thou raise a cry? Is there no king in thee, or +is thy councillor gone? For pangs have seized thee as a woman in +travail._" + +Zion, mourning at the time of the carrying away into captivity, stands +before the prophet's spirit, and is addressed by him. This ought never +to have been overlooked. But since, nevertheless, it has been so, we +quote from the multitude of analogous instances, at least one which is +altogether incontrovertible, and where the writer likewise transfers +himself into the time of the [Pg 466] captivity, viz., the passage in +Hos. xiii. 9-11, which, in other respects also, shows a great +resemblance to the one under consideration: "This has destroyed thee, O +Israel, that thou wast against Me, against thine help. Where is now thy +king? Let him deliver thee in all thy cities. And where are thy judges? +Surely thou didst say: Give me kings and princes. And I gave thee a +king in Mine anger, and took him away in My wrath." It is quite +impossible to entertain, even for a moment, the thought that, in this +passage, Hosea speaks of the real past and present, inasmuch as he +prophesied before the destruction of the kingdom of the ten tribes. +Micah opens his representation just with the moment that Jerusalem is +captured by the enemies; and he announces to her that her sufferings +are not yet at an end,--that she must wander into exile. The progress +of the thought in the verse under consideration is this:--The prophet +sees Zion dissolved in grief and lamentation. Full of sympathy, he asks +of her the cause of this mourning,--whether, it may be, it was caused +by the loss of her king; and he himself answers this question in the +affirmative, because such a cause could alone account for such a grief. +Now, in order fully to realize the mourning of Zion over her king, we +must bear in mind that the visible head was a representative of the +invisible one,--the mediator of His mercies: that hence, his removal +was a token of divine anger, and an extinction of every hope of +salvation. Every other king is, indeed, likewise an anointed of the +Lord; but the king of Israel was so in a totally different sense. How +deeply, from this point of view, the loss of the king was felt, at the +time when that which is here merely the _ideal_ present became the +_real_ present, is seen from Lam. iv. 20: "The breath of our life, the +anointed of the Lord, is taken a prisoner in their pits, he of whom we +said. Under his shadow we shall live among the heathen." In Zech. iv. +the civil magistrates, along with the ecclesiastical authorities, +appear as the greatest gift of God's grace; henceforth these two shall +again be the medium through which the Lord communicates His gracious +gifts to the Congregation, just as they had been before the captivity. +It must further be borne in mind, that all the promises for the future +were bound up with the regal institution. With its extinction, +therefore, everything seemed to be lost; every prospect of a better +future seemed to have disappeared. The reference in [Pg 467] Jer. viii. +19, where the king is the Lord Himself, to the passage before us, is +very beautiful, and full of deep meaning. It points out the truth, that +the loss of the earthly king is a consequence of their having forced +the heavenly King to withdraw from the midst of them.--The "councillor" +is preeminently the king himself; compare Is. ix. 5, where Christ, in +whom the Davidic dynasty is to attain to the full height of its +destination, appears as the councillor in the highest sense. Other +councillors, it is true, are not thereby excluded; they form, however, +only a group around the king as their centre; compare Is. iii. 3. + +Ver. 10. "_Travail and break forth, O daughter of Zion, like a woman +who bringeth forth; for now shalt thou go forth out of the city, and +thou dwellest in the field, and comest till to Babylon: there shalt +thou be delivered, there the Lord shall redeem thee out of the hand of +thine enemies._" + +The consolation begins with the words [Hebrew: wM tncli] only; the +whole remaining part of the verse is of a mournful character. In the +words, "Travail and break forth," one aspect only of the figure of the +parturient woman is brought into view, viz., the pain; but not the joy +following upon the pain; compare remarks on v. 2. The Imperative is +thus not, as some interpreters erroneously assume, an _Imper. +consolationis_, but an intimation that the pain would reach its height, +put into the form of an exhortation to submit to it. Much more +satisfactorily than by many of the later expositors, the sense of this +verse has been thus fixed by _Calvin_: "The sum and substance is, that +although God would, according to His promise, take care of the people, +the faithful should have no reason from this to indulge in joy, as if +they were to be exempt from all troubles; on the contrary, the prophet +exhorts them that they should rather prepare themselves to undergo all +kinds of misery, so that, when driven out of their own land, they +should not only, like straying people, wander about in the fields, but +should be driven to Babylon as into a grave. But while he thus prepares +the faithful to bear the cross, he subjoins the hope of salvation, +viz., that God would deliver them, and redeem them from thence out of +the hands of their enemies."--The [Hebrew: Hvli] resumes the preceding, +where the prophet had, at the point of time where he had taken his +stand, viz., the capture of the city, represented that calamity of this +[Pg 468] people, under the image of the pains of child-bearing. It thus +becomes equivalent to--Thou shalt be obliged to bear, not only the +pains which precede the birth, but also the highest of all pains, viz., +the pains of the birth itself. What the latter are in relation to the +former, that, in the view of the prophet, is the carrying away out of +the Holy Land,--the expulsion from the face of God (an expulsion +similar to that of Cain when he was obliged to flee from Eden), when +compared to the mere capture. Hence the close connexion with what +follows, by means of [Hebrew: ki]. The word [Hebrew: vgHi] (the _o_ is, +for the sake of euphony, employed instead of _u_; just as in ver. 13 +[Hebrew: dvwi]) is, by most interpreters, translated, "And lead out." +But we must object to this, on the ground that [Hebrew: gvH] has always +an intransitive signification only, viz., "to break forth;" and this +signification is here quite suitable, more so even than the transitive; +for it marks more emphatically the _pain_ during the birth, which is +here the only point: Jer. iv. 31. It is, as it were, a dissolution of +the whole nature, a violent breaking of it into pieces. The "now," just +as the "now" at the commencement of the description of the scene, +belongs to the _ideal_ standing-point, where the carrying away is just +at hand; for this is the period of the future into which the prophet +has been carried. The "dwelling in the field" is the intervening +station between the "going forth" and "the coming to Babylon." In the +open air, exposed to all the inclemencies of the weather (compare the +expression, "Under the dew of heaven," in Dan. iv. 22, 30 [25, 33]), +the prisoners were collected for the purpose of being afterwards +carried away. The word [Hebrew: ed], as well as the twofold [Hebrew: +wM], are emphatic. Irresistibly, the divine _judgment_ advances to its +last goal; but as irresistibly does divine _mercy_ wrest from the +enemies the prey which seemed to have been given to them even for +ever.--The futility of all attempts to explain away the distinct +prophecy of the Babylonish captivity in this passage has been shown in +the _Dissertations on the Genuineness of Daniel_, p. 151 sqq. How even +_Caspari_ could join in these attempts, it is difficult to explain. +Even he is of opinion that the prophet had expected the catastrophe to +come from Asshur. Chap. v. 4, 5 (5, 6) cannot be decisive _for_ the +reference to Asshur. For the circumstance that Asshur appears there as +the type of the future enemies of the kingdom of God, implies, indeed, +that he occupied the first place among the enemies [Pg 469] at the time +of the prophet; but it by no means Implies that he must occupy a place +in the outline of the future catastrophes of the people of God. Such a +catastrophe was not to proceed from him, but rather from an enemy who +had not yet at that time appeared on the scene, although his power was +already germinating, as is shown by Is. xxxix. and other passages. The +oppression of Judah by Asshur was indeed a heavy one; but it was +transitory, and did not by any means constitute an era. From the +relation in which vers. 9-14 (iv. 9-v. 1) stands to ver. 8, it +sufficiently appears that the oppression by the Chaldeans must here +form the commencement, although the Assyrian oppression must be added +to it as an introduction and a prelude. According to this relation, the +point at issue here can be only the cessation of the dominion of the +Davidic family. From. Jer. xxvi. 18, 19, _Caspari_ endeavours to prove +that Micah had in view, in the first instance, the Assyrians only. But +that passage of Jeremiah refers to Mic. iii. 12, where the prophecy has +a general character, and where the instruments of the divine judgment +are not expressly mentioned, as is the case here. On the other hand, +the following arguments are opposed to the reference to the Assyrians. +1. The prophet does not mention Asshur, but Babylon. Nothing is, +certainly, proved by the circumstance that, at the time of the prophet, +Babylon was still under the Assyrian dominion; for Babylon comes here +into consideration, not so much as a place, but as a hostile power. The +place, as such, was of no consequence, and the mention of it was not +required by the character of the prophecy. 2. If the announcement +referred to Asshur, the result would contradict the prophecy. _Caspari_ +says, that by the repentance and conversion of the people, the +fulfilment had been averted. But with such a view of prophecy, +the position of the prophetic institution becomes untenable, and +historically incomprehensible. The Mosaic regulation, that whosoever +prophesied anything that did not take place should be punished with +death, would in that case lose all practical significance; for there +would always have been at hand the excuse, that by the repentance the +execution of that sentence of punishment had been repealed. From the +nature of the case, and from that Mosaic regulation, it follows that +special announcements expressed absolutely must be fulfilled +absolutely; and not a single fact in the history of prophetism [Pg 470] +stands in contradiction to this truth. Jonah's announcement to Nineveh, +indeed, has been appealed to; but, in reply, we remark simply, that the +words of that announcement have not been communicated to us, while we +see from the result that it was conditional only. Such a decided +repentance would scarcely have been called forth by it among the +inhabitants of Nineveh, had repentance not been expressly declared in +it as a means of deliverance. 3. Micah everywhere goes hand in +hand with his contemporary Isaiah. But the latter always opposes +energetically the despondency of Judah in the face of Asshur, and +declares that his proud power would be broken at Jerusalem (as had been +already prophesied by Hosea in i. 4-7), and that, while the kingdom of +the ten tribes would be destroyed, Judah would experience the +protecting hand of the Lord. _Caspari_ contradicts himself in thus +making these two men of God to differ in so essential a point. For a +man like _Hitzig_, it may be quite befitting to say, "Micah did not +possess the firm, courageous faith which was displayed by Isaiah." 4. +It is quite impossible to get rid of the obvious parallelism of the +passage under consideration with Is. xxxix. 6, 7, where the rising of +the Babylonish empire, the destruction of the Davidic kingdom by it, +and the carrying away of Judah to Babylon, are clearly and distinctly +predicted. And in a number of other prophecies, Isaiah likewise +declares or supposes, that that which the Assyrians threatened in vain, +would at some future period, when the iniquity of the people had become +full, be carried out by Babylon with her Chaldeans. It is scarcely +conceivable how _Caspari_, acknowledging as he does the genuineness of +these prophecies of Isaiah, could think of dissevering from them the +prophecy now under consideration.--Declarations like that before us, +where, in clear and distinct outlines, a future event is foretold one +hundred and fifty years before it takes place, inflict a death-blow +upon the naturalistic view of the prophetic institution, as is +sufficiently evident from _Hitzig's_ embarrassment, and from his +efforts to free himself from the bands of this troublesome fact. + +Ver. 11. "_And now many nations assemble themselves against thee, that +say: Let her be profaned, and let our eyes look upon Zion._" + +Israel, with its claim of being alone the people of the only true God, +was a thorn in the eyes of the nations. These here [Pg 471] burn with +eager desire to prove, actually and by deeds, that this presumptuous +claim was unfounded, and, by the destruction of the city, to take from +it its fancied holiness, and the glory of holiness. Destruction and +profanation are, in their view, inseparably connected. The contrast to +the verse under review is formed by vii. 10: "And mine enemy shall see +it, and shame shall come upon her who said. Where is the Lord thy God? +Mine eyes shall behold her, now shall she be trodden down as the mire +of the streets." The words, "Where is the Lord thy God?" entirely agree +in substance with, "Let her be profaned!" But the desire of profaning +Jerusalem must be conceived of as the human motive only. According to +the view of Scripture generally, and of Micah particularly, all the +distress of the people of God has its foundation in _sin_; and from the +whole context, and especially from v. 2 (3), where this event also is +comprehended within the time when God's people are given up, it clearly +appears that, notwithstanding the happy issue, we have here before us a +heavy calamity. By a new phase of sin, a new phase of judgment is +brought about; and by a new phase of worldliness, a new phase of +aggression by the world's power.--It is owing to a striving after +variety, that the word "and" here stands before "now," while it is +omitted in the third scene. It may stand, or it may be omitted, because +the various catastrophes are independent of each other, and yet, at the +same time, form a connected whole, as is evident from the words, "He +will give them up," in v. 2 (3), by which they are connected together. +The heavy oppression of Judah appears here under the form of a +siege of its centre, in accordance with the scope of prophecy, which, +everywhere, seeks to impart vividness and animation to the scene, by +uniting into one picture that which is separated by time and space. The +historical reference of the prophecy is thus very accurately stated by +_Calvin_: "Although the Babylonish captivity has come to an end, and +Israel has been restored from it, the promised kingdom shall not +immediately come. Before that takes place, the neighbouring nations +shall assemble themselves against Jerusalem, with the desire of +profaning it, and of enjoying a pleasant spectacle. This took place +under Antiochus." That to which the prophet here simply alludes, but +yet in such a way that the right reference cannot possibly be mistaken +(since a great hostile aggression is here described, which should +happen [Pg 472] after the people have returned from Babylon, and which +is removed by the piety and courage of the people themselves; and +since, after this second oppression, there follows a third, which is +described in ver. 14, there certainly remains no other alternative: the +times of the Maccabees are those which can alone be thought of), +is further detailed by Zechariah in ix. 11 ff. At his time, the +deliverance from the first calamity had already taken place; and he +expressly states the names of the enemies; just as, in the prophecy +under review, the authors of the first calamity are expressly named. +That which is especially characteristic, and which points to the time +of the Maccabees, is, moreover, the special mention of many nations, +which are united in their decided hatred against Jerusalem as a city, +and against Judah as the people of the Lord, taken in connection +with the character of the war as a _religious war_ in the strictest +sense,--it being an attempt of heathenism to destroy the Congregation +of the Lord as such. _These features are found in no other catastrophe +during the time between Micah and Christ._ And that the aggression +belongs to the period before the appearing of the Saviour, is evident +from the whole context, as well as from v. 2 (3). In the time of the +Maccabees, it was not with Syria alone that Judah had to do; but all +the heathen nations without exception, with which Judah had any +connection at that time, united themselves for a decisive stroke +against the kingdom of God. Their purpose was to extirpate the whole +race of Jacob, 1 Macc. v. 2. Striking remarks upon the real nature of +the struggle at that period, as a struggle of faithful Judaism against +Heathenism, the latter of which had gained a considerable party +among the people themselves, are made by Stark, in "_Gaza und die +Philistaeische Kueste_," _Jena_, 52, S. 481 ff. Among other things, he +says: "The national distinctions in the boundaries of Palestine had by +no means ceased, but continued under the general cover of the Egyptian +and Syrian administration in a varied, unyielding, and hostile manner. +There were the Idumeans in the whole of the south of Palestine to near +Jerusalem; then, the Philistines, or when called by their cities, the +Gazeans and Ashdodians; the Ph[oe]nicians, the Samaritans or Chutteans, +the mixed population of Galilee, the Arabs of Perea.... As soon as the +Jewish people, who, up to that time, had been altogether insignificant +in a political point of view, rose against [Pg 473] the Syrian empire, +at first for their religious peculiarities, then, for their political +independence, and, finally, even for the recovery of the _ideal_ +possession of their country--an idea which had been kept alive by +tradition,--it could not but be that those who were naturally the +supports and centres of the Syrian operations, became the objects of +the hostile Jewish operations; and that the whole national portion of +the population, although not Greeks, were anew inflamed by their old +hatred of, and opposition to, Judaism; so that they considered that +Hellenic struggle as also a national one. This period thus produced at +the same time a revival of the old national struggle of the inhabitants +of Palestine, modified and increased by the struggle of Hellenism with +the national reaction which served as a superstructure for it." The +objection, raised even by _Caspari_, that a prophecy of the victorious +struggles in the time of the Maccabees must be strange and surprising +in a prophet of the Assyrian period, will not startle those who look at +the analogies--such as the prophecy in Is. vi. In the latter prophecy, +first the Chaldean, and then the Roman catastrophes, are described in +sharp outlines, but without any mention of the names of the instruments +of punishment. It is only in reference to the executors of the first of +these judgments that more distinct disclosures were given to the +prophet himself at a subsequent period. The announcement in Zech. ix., +where the Greeks are expressly mentioned, is, in reality, not less +miraculous. According to all prophetical analogies, it is _a priori_ +probable that this detailed prophecy of the Maccabean period, and the +similar one in Daniel, should have been preceded by some older prophecy +which refers to the same facts, but only in general outlines, such as +we have in the passage under consideration. If any doubt should +still remain, it would be removed by a glance at the conflicting +interpretations. _Ewald_ and _Hitzig_ think of the Assyrian invasion, +to which vers. 9, 10, are likewise referred by them, although +such a reference is in opposition to the express words of these +verses,--which, for a Naturalistic tendency, are rather inconvenient. +The contradiction in these two prophecies _Ewald_ endeavours to +reconcile by the evidently erroneous supposition, that the carrying +away in ver. 10 must be conceived of as only a partial one,--a +supposition which is invalidated by a simple comparison of iii. 12. +According to _Hitzig_, the prophet has, in vers. 11-13, [Pg 474] +overcome the despondency expressed in vers. 9, 10, and has raised +himself to confidence in God. He thus makes the prophet distinctly +contradict himself in one breath,--a supposition which does not even +deserve a refutation. Even if we were entirely to separate this passage +from its connection, how ill does the activity here ascribed to Judah +agree with the oppression by the Assyrians! This activity of Judah +supposes that it has to do with many small nations. Against the great +Asiatic empires, a direct and immediate interposition of the Lord is +_everywhere_ referred to. The salvation, however, which is here +announced to Judah, can be only an imperfect one, and cannot go beyond +what they really received at the time of the Maccabees. This is +sufficiently evident from the circumstance, that it belongs to a time +in which Judah has no king of the Davidic house; for him they have +already lost in ver. 9, and receive again only in v. 1 (2), in Christ; +and it is certain that the Davidic house was the channel through which +all the true and great mercies of the Lord were bestowed upon His +people. + +Ver. 12. "_And they know not the thoughts of the Lord, neither +understand they His counsel; for He gathereth them as the sheaf for the +threshing-floor._" + +The particle "and" is here used, where we, for the sake of a closer +connection, would employ "but." The thoughts of the Lord are +these,--that the sufferings, after having served their purpose as +regards Zion, shall pass over to the enemies, so that they shall +themselves be destroyed by Zion, while they so confidently thought to +inflict destruction upon Zion. The [Hebrew: ki] introduces the reason +of their not knowing the way of the Lord. If they knew it, they would +not express such desire and hope; _for it is they themselves_ whom the +Lord gives over to destruction. + +Ver. 13. "_Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion, for I make thine horn +iron, and thy claws brass; and thou crushest in pieces many people, and +I consecrate their gain unto the Lord, and their strength to the Ruler +of the whole earth._" + +The figure is based upon the Eastern mode of threshing; compare +_Paulsen vom Ackerbau der Morgenl._ Sec. 40-42; _Niebuhr_, _Reise_ i. S. +151; and likewise Is. xxi. 10, xli. 15; Hab. iii. 12. Strictly +speaking, one characteristic only of the threshing oxen is here +considered, viz., the crushing power of their hoofs. The prophet, +however, extends the comparison to that also in which [Pg 475] the +bullock is formidable, even when it is not engaged in the work of +threshing, viz., to its horns. On this point 1 Kings xxii. 11 may be +compared, where the pseudo-prophet Zedekiah makes to himself iron +horns, and thus states the import of this symbolical action: "Thus +saith the Lord, With these shalt thou push Aram until it is destroyed." +The first person in [Hebrew: hHrmti] has perplexed several ancient +translators (_Syr._, _Jerome_), as well as many modern interpreters, +who, therefore, substitute the second person for it. But it is quite +appropriate. As at the beginning, where the Lord gathers the sheaf on +the threshing-floor, so at the close also, the prophet declares that +the victory is the work of God. It is He Himself, the true God, the +Lord of the whole earth, who reminds His rebellious subjects of their +true relation to Him, by vindicating to Himself a part of the good +things which He bestowed upon them; just as He once did in Egypt. This +thought contains the reason why, instead of the pronoun of the first +person, the noun is employed; so that it is equivalent to: To Me the +only God, the Lord of the whole earth. But it is altogether distorted, +if the first person here be changed into the second. With respect to +the import of the word, we must by no means think only of the gifts +of consecration which were brought to the temple. Such a view would +be necessary, only if the goods of the Covenant-people, or the +Covenant-people themselves, were introduced as that which is to be +consecrated. In that case we could understand, by that which is +consecrated, that only which is the exclusive property of the Lord, +which has been dedicated to Him exclusively, and for ever withdrawn +from the use of His subjects, and which, as far as they are concerned, +is as good as annihilated; compare Lev. xxvii. 28: "Everything +consecrated, which any one consecrates to the Lord, of man and of +beast, and of the field of his possession, shall not be sold nor +redeemed; every consecrated thing is most holy to the Lord." But here, +where He who consecrates is the Lord, while the goods are those of the +heathen, the latter only are to be considered as being excluded from +the possession, and as those in reference to whom the goods are +consecrated goods; while the people of God must, on the other hand, be +considered as partaking in what He has acquired. The community of goods +between these two is rendered prominent in other passages also where +the object required it. Thus, _e.g._, [Pg 476] Joel iv. (iii.) 5, where +the Ph[oe]nicians and Philistines are charged: "My silver and My gold +ye have taken, and My precious things, the goodly ones, ye have carried +into your palaces." That we cannot here think of the temple-treasure is +evident, not only from a comparison of ver. 4, where the attempts of +these nations to avenge themselves on Israel on account of former +injuries, are expressly represented as attempts to take vengeance upon +God, but also from history, which knows nothing of the plunder of the +temple by Ph[oe]nicians and Philistines. The mention of the _gain_ +points to the _male parta_,--and this is the more strictly applicable, +the nearer the relation is in which he who is robbed stands to the Lord +of the earth. With the _gain_, the substance in general is lost.--The +fundamental thought of the verse, which is here expressed only with +an application to a special case, is that of the victory of the +Congregation of the Lord over the world. This was perceived by +_Calvin_, who strikingly demonstrates how this declaration is ever +anew realized, and how its complete fulfilment is reserved only for +the second coming of Christ. He has erred, however, in this, that +looking only to the eternal import of the thought, he overlooked the +circumstance that it is here expressed with reference to a definite +event in which it was to be realized. + +Ver. 14. "_Who thou gatherest thyself in troops, O daughter of troops. +They lay siege against us, they smite the judge of Israel with the rod +upon the cheek._" + +A new scene presents itself to the prophet. Zion, victorious on the +preceding occasion, appears here as powerless, and locked up within her +walls. She is captured; and ignominious abuse is cast upon the leaders +of the deeply abased people.--We need not here dwell for any length of +time upon the numerous expositions of [Hebrew: ttgddi]. There is only +one, viz., "thou shalt press thyself together," which affords an +appropriate contrast; while this contrast is lost when it is +translated, as _Hofmann_ does, by: "thou shalt lacerate thyself" +(compare what _Caspari_ has advanced against it). "Thou shalt press +thyself together" does not, moreover, destroy the import of Hithpael, +and has especially the use of the Hithp. of [Hebrew: gdd], in Jer. v. +7, in its favour. The Hithpael in this signification is probably a +Denominative of [Hebrew: gdvd]. The person addressed, the [Hebrew: +bt-gdvd], can be none other than the [Hebrew: bt-civN ] in ver. 13. For +it is she who is addressed by the prophet [Pg 477] in each of the new +scenes announced by [Hebrew: eth], and she is, generally, the only one +to whom the discourse is, throughout the whole section, addressed. The +intentional paronomasia occasioned by the designation "daughter of +troops," _i.e._, who appeared in warlike array, evidently alludes to +[Hebrew: bt-civN ], and refers to the description of Zion as a brave +victorious hero, in the preceding verses. The _enemy_ is immediately +afterwards spoken of in the third person. The words, "Siege (not by any +means 'a wall,' as _De Wette_ maintains) they lay, or direct against +us," clearly indicate that the pressing of themselves together, which +forms a contrast with the former courageous excursions indicated by +[Hebrew: gdvd], is the consequence of fear, weakness, and hostile +oppression. The words are therefore strikingly paraphrased by _Justi_, +thus: "But now, why dost thou thus press thyself together, thou who +wast accustomed to press others?" This, however, only must be kept in +mind, that [Hebrew: bt-gdvd] implies an allusion to the fact that the +warlike disposition continues even in the present, notwithstanding the +feebleness forced upon her,--a very characteristic feature. In saying, +"They lay siege against _us_," instead of "against _thee_," the prophet +is carried away by his emotions to show himself as one of the people +whom he sees to be oppressed by so heavy sufferings. As indicated by +the word "now" also, he is, in spirit, in the midst of them. The +ignominious treatment of the judge of Israel supposes that the prophet +sees, in his inward vision, the capture of the city as having already +taken place; for it is impossible to conceive of the judge, the soul of +the city, as being outside of it. This judge of Israel is an _ideal_ +person, formed by the prophet in order that he might be able to +contrast him with the Ruler of Israel in v. 1 (2), who represents all +the theocratic authorities; compare, _e.g._. Is. iii. 12, where the +corrupted leaders of the Theocracy present themselves to the prophet in +the person of a large child. To speak, in such a case, of a collective +noun, as is usually done, is out of place. But it may be observed that +it is not a king who is here spoken of, but, very significantly, a +judge of Israel only, probably with reference to the times before Saul, +when Israel was governed by judges. The royal dominion which, according +to the announcement in ver. 9, shall be destroyed by Babylon, shall be +restored by the Messiah only (compare v. 1 [2], iv. 8), who is not +[Hebrew: wpT iwral], but, like His great ancestor [Pg 478] David, +[Hebrew: mvwl biwral]; compare 2 Sam. xxiii. 3. There can be no doubt +that, in this connection, the _Judge_ is spoken of as distinguished +from, and contrasted with, the _King_. But even by itself, the mention +of the _Judge_ cannot but be startling. It would have been against the +object of the prophet to have mentioned any inferior persons, when +there existed a superior one; and if the _King_ was thereby denoted, +why should he have been designated thus?--It is on purpose that +[Hebrew: iwral], which is the _nomen dignitatis_ of the people, is +here chosen. It more emphatically points out the unworthiness of the +treatment, as well as the contrast between the reality and the idea in +the destinies of the nation,--a contrast, it is true, which Israel has +called forth by the preceding contrast between the reality and the idea +with regard to his conduct. Since Israel has inwardly profaned himself +by his own guilt, he is now, as a just punishment, profaned outwardly +also.--With respect, now, to the historical reference of this +disastrous announcement, its fulfilment cannot be sought for in any +other event than the invasion by the Romans. Among the sufferings of +the people, which are here described in general outlines, this is the +only one recorded in history, with the exception of those already +mentioned. Isaiah, the contemporary of Micah, likewise announced, as +early as in chap. vi., that upon those who should return from the +captivity a second judgment would be inflicted, by which the national +independence should be destroyed. This judgment is described with +remarkable clearness and distinctness by the post-exilic prophets, +inasmuch as, to them, it appeared already more in the foreground; +compare the remarks on Zech. v. and xi.; Dan. ix. The only plausible +argument against this reference is this,--that the capture of the city +by the Romans was subsequent to the appearance of the Messiah, and that +it is, after all, the latter which forms the subject of the +announcement of salvation in v. 1 (2), which, again, refers to the +sufferings described in the verse before us. This argument, however, is +set aside by the following considerations. 1. The prophet, indeed, +designates the misery which was inflicted by those enemies upon the +Covenant-people only according to its acme, viz., the siege and capture +of the city; but he, nevertheless, views it in, and understands it of, +its whole extent, and from its first beginnings. These, then, in so far +as the Romans are concerned, fall in the time before Christ, for the +Jewish [Pg 479] people were already subjected to the Roman dominion by +Pompey. 2. This alone, however, is not sufficient. If, with _Vershuir_ +(_de celebri oraculo Mic._ iv. 14, in the _Dissert. Philol. exeg._ +Leuw. 1775), we confine ourselves to the capture by Pompey, we cannot, +by any means, get rid of the feeling that that fulfilment does not +exhaust the prophecy. But we are, on the other hand, quite entitled to +add that highest point, viz., the destruction of Jerusalem by the +Romans, along with all its still existing consequences, if only we +consider, that the announcement of salvation in chap. v.--as is shown +by its contents, and by its accordance with the analogy of all the +Messianic prophecies--is not limited to the short period of the first +appearance of Christ. That comes into consideration rather as the grain +of seed only from which the tree grew up, under which all the fowls of +heaven were to dwell. Hence it is, that the salvation, no less than the +punishment, is a continuous one, until, at the end of the days, it +appears in its glorious consummation. But if it be established that +Christ is presented as the only Saviour from the calamity here +described, then that calamity must still continue for those who reject +Him, yea, it must still be increased. It is only by giving up their +opposition that they can be delivered from the yoke which presses upon +them. The election, on the other hand, is, from the very beginning, +received into the communion of His kingdom, which extends over the +whole world. Here, however, that which has been already remarked in +reference to vers. 11-13 finds its application. The siege and capture +of Zion are pre-eminently the means of representing the idea of the +heavy oppression and deep abasement of Israel, and of the cessation of +its political independence, although it must not upon any account be +overlooked, that the natural form of the representation is, at the same +time, the natural form of the realization of the idea that Judah could +not be destroyed without the siege and capture of Jerusalem, its +centre. + + +Footnote 1: We must not by any means suppose, as has been done last of +all by _Caspari_, that the mountains are here regarded as places of +worship. + +Footnote 2: Thus does _Calvin_, who says: "He speaks after the manner +of the prophets, who under the term 'law' used to comprehend the whole +doctrine of God." + +Footnote 3: _Caspari_, indeed, is of opinion, that the walking in the +name of the Lord is not to be considered as a merit, on account of +which the salvation is granted, but as a mercy which has been bestowed +upon Israel, and which forms the ground of the salvation. But this +feature is not at all intimated; and we are the less at liberty to +introduce it, as the walking in the name of the gods is parallel to the +walking in the name of the Lord. + +Footnote 4: _Caspari_ very properly refers here to v. 3 (4), where the +Messiah, in whom the former dominion is to come to the Tower of the +flock, is represented as a shepherd. + +Footnote 5: Micah's references to the Pentateuch are made the subject +of a most thorough disquisition by _Caspari_, S. 419 ff. + + + + CHAP. V. 1. + +"_And thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, too little to be among the thousands of +Judah, out of thee shall come forth unto Me_ (one) [Pg 480] _to be +Ruler in Israel; and His goings forth are the times of old, the days of +eternity._" + +The close connection of this verse with what immediately precedes +(_Caspari_ is wrong in considering iv. 9-14 as an episode) is evident, +not only from the [Hebrew: v] copulative, and from the analogy of the +near relation of the announcement of salvation to the prophecy of +disaster in the preceding verse (for if the connection with ver. 14 be +overlooked, the announcement of disaster contained in it remains +without a corresponding consolation,--and this would be against the +analogy of vers. 9, 10, 11-13); but more strikingly so from the +contrast of the [Hebrew: mvwl biwral] with the [Hebrew: wpT iwral]. The +_Judge_ of Israel in his deepest abasement, is here contrasted with the +_Ruler_ of Israel in His highest divine glory. The connection is seen +also in the indication of Bethlehem's natural littleness, as contrasted +with the greatness to be bestowed upon it by God. What could have +induced the prophet thus strongly to point out this circumstance, had +it not been that he considered Bethlehem as the type of the Jewish +people in their misery, described in the preceding verse, and the +miraculous elevation of the former, to be accomplished by divine +omnipotence, as the pledge of a like result for the whole people? There +is, moreover, a reference to the _beginning_ of the pretended episode. +In iv. 9, it was said: "There is no king in thee;" here, it is +announced that from Bethlehem there comes forth a glorious Ruler in +Israel. But, on the other hand, there is also a close connection with +ver. 8, as has been rightly perceived by Caspari. This connection and +reference are sufficiently indicated by the like form. The address to +Bethlehem here corresponds with the address to "the Tower of the flock" +there,--the "Ruler," [Hebrew: mvwl], here, with the "dominion," +[Hebrew: mmwlh], there. There, the dominion returns to the house of +David; here, the august person is described by whom this return is +effected, after the events, described iv. 9-14, have come upon the +Covenant-people. That the Ruler here comes forth out of Bethlehem, +corresponds with iv. 8 in so far as there the dominion _returns_ to the +Tower of the flock, to the hill of the daughter of Zion, which implies +the overthrow of the Davidic kingdom, and the return of the family of +David to the condition in which it lived at Bethlehem before the time +of David,--which must necessarily precede its final glory.--According +to _Bachiene_ [Pg 481] ii. 2, S. 7 ff., Bethlehem and Ephratah are to +be distinguished, so that the former designates the town alone, and the +latter at the same time its whole environs,--so that Bethlehem Ephratah +would be equivalent to Bethlehem situated in Ephratah. But even if we +were to agree with this opinion, we must not, by any means, consider +the two words as standing in the _stat. constr._, any more than the +corresponding [Hebrew: bit-lHM ihvdh ] in Judges xvii. 9, xix. 1, 2, +18. For as a _Nomen proprium_ is equivalent to a noun with the article, +it can never stand in the _stat. constr._ with another noun. We +should thus be obliged to assume that, by way of brevity, common in +geographical designations, both appellations were placed unconnectedly +beside each other, without any indication of their relation, just as in +addressing a letter, we would simply write Berlin, Prussia. But if we +compare Gen. xxxv. 19, where Ephratah is simply declared to be +identical with Bethlehem ([Hebrew: aprth hva bit lHM]);--and if we +consider that the prophet had already alluded to the contents of that +chapter (compare remarks on iv. 8), and that he regards the events +which formerly happened in the neighbourhood of Bethlehem as a type of +those which were to take place in future;--that in ver. 2 (3) he brings +the new birth which is there to happen in parallelism with one which +had formerly occurred in its nearest neighbourhood, and that it is just +in the account of the latter that the designation occurs,--we shall +have the strongest reason for understanding here also the two names as +a designation of the town, without deciding whether the above-mentioned +difference, as regards other passages, be well founded or not. +Interpreters commonly assert that the sole ground of the twofold +designation of the place is the intention of distinguishing it from +another Bethlehem in the tribe of Zebulun; compare Josh. xix. 15. But +in that case, we should rather have expected the common Bethlehem +Judah, instead of Bethlehem Ephratah. There can be no doubt, that the +prophet, in choosing this designation, was guided by a regard to that +passage in Genesis. One might also suppose that the prophet wished to +allude, at the same time, to the appellative significations of these +nouns, viz., "house of bread," and "field of fruit," and to lay stress +upon their typical import: the place, the blessing of which, as regards +temporal things, is indicated by its name, shall, at some [Pg 482] +future time, be blessed and fruitful in a higher sense. It is just in +Micah, who is fond of making significant allusions to names, that such +a supposition is very natural, as is shown, not only by chap. i., but +also by vii. 18, where he gives an interpretation of his own name. As, +however, the two names elsewhere also occur thus connected, without any +attention being given to their signification, the prophet would not +have omitted giving a hint upon this point. It is not the way of +Scripture to make any allusions which cannot be understood with +certainty. We shall, therefore, be obliged to suppose that, after the +common name, the prophet mentions, in addition, the ancient name +rendered sacred by memory from the time of the Patriarch, and by the +authority of the most ancient documents of revelation (compare, besides +Gen. xxxv. 19, Gen. xlviii. 7), in order thereby to impart greater +solemnity to the discourse, and to intimate what great things he had to +say of Bethlehem. In accordance with this designation by two names, is, +then, the circumstance that the address is directed to Bethlehem.--The +word [Hebrew: ceir] forms an apposition to Bethlehem: "little to be," +instead of, "who art too little to be." If the sense were to be, "thou +art little," the [Hebrew: ath] would not have been omitted after +[Hebrew: ceir]. The circumstance that Bethlehem is addressed as a +masculine (comp. [Hebrew: ath], [Hebrew: ceir], and [Hebrew: mmK]) may +be accounted for by the prophet's viewing the town in the image of its +_ideal_ representative; compare remarks on Zech. ix. 7. In such a case, +the gender may be neglected; compare, _e.g._, Gen. iv. 7, where sin, +[Hebrew: HTat], appears as a masculine noun, on account of the image of +a ravenous beast. Such personifications occur very frequently. Thus, +nothing is more common in the Mosaic law than that Israel is addressed +as one man. This has been frequently misunderstood, and, in +consequence, that which refers to the whole people has been applied to +the single individual. Thus it is even in the Decalogue. In Is. v. 7, +the people of Judah appear as the _man_ Judah. + +The _littleness_ of Bethlehem is sufficiently evident from the +circumstance of its being left out in the catalogue of the towns of the +tribe of Judah, in Joshua (compare _Bachiene_, Sec. 192). This induced the +LXX. to insert it in Josh. xv. 60 along with several other towns which +had been omitted; and, in doing so, they were probably guided, not so +much by a regard to its outward [Pg 483] importance, as by the interest +which attached to it from the recollection of an event of former times +(compare Gen. xxxv.), from its being the birth-place of David, and +still more, from the prophecy under consideration, by which the eyes of +the whole nation were directed to this place, outwardly so unimportant. +The assertion of _Jerome_, that the Jews omitted the name in the Hebrew +text, in order that Christ might not appear as a descendant of the +tribe of Judah, has received from _Reland_ (S. 643) a more thorough +refutation than it deserved. _Keil_, in his commentary on Joshua, +has lately renewed the attempt to prove, from internal reasons, the +genuineness of the addition; but, from the whole condition of the Alex. +Version, it is very dangerous to trust to such arguments. The very +reasons which _Keil_ brings forward in support of the addition, +are just those which might have induced the LXX. to make it. The +circumstance that they added to Bethlehem the name Ephratah, plainly +indicates the reason which induced them to introduce Bethlehem +specially. Bethlehem is likewise omitted in the catalogue of the towns +of Judah, in Neh. xi. 25 ff., and can therefore have occupied among +them a very low place only, although it is mentioned in Ezra ii. 21, +Neh. vii. 26. In the New Testament, it is called a mere village +([Greek: kome], John vii. 42). _Josephus_, indeed, occasionally +gives it the title of a town (compare Luke ii. 4, 11); but, in +other passages, he designates it by [Greek: chorion], _Ant._ v. 2, +8.--[Hebrew: ceir lhivt] means properly, "little in reference to +being," instead of, "too little to be,"--the wider expression being +used to indicate the relations of the town to the being, where we use +the more limited expression.--Instead of the "thousands of Judah," +[Hebrew: wri alpiM] ought to have been employed, as it appears, in +order strictly to maintain the personification. The representative of +Bethlehem is too small to be numbered among the heads of Judah. Several +expositors (_J. D. Michaelis_, _Justi_) have thereby been induced to +point [Hebrew: balpi] instead of [Hebrew: balpi]. But this supposed +emendation is set aside by the consideration that [Hebrew: alvP] is +only the special designation of the Edomitish princes, and occurs in a +general sense, only by way of _Catachresis_, in Zechariah, who lived at +a time when the Hebrew language was nearly extinct. The most simple +explanation is, that the prophet views the thousands, or the families +of Judah, no less than the town Bethlehem, as _ideal_ existences; in +which [Pg 484] case, the personification is maintained throughout. +Moreover, there would not be any insurmountable difficulty in the way +of supposing that the prophet had given up the personification; for +these are frequently not strictly adhered to by the prophets, who +constantly pass from the figure to the thing prefigured. This may be at +once seen from the preceding verse, in the first clause of which, Zion +appears personified as a woman, while immediately afterwards there +follows, "against us."--[Hebrew: alP], "thousand," is frequently used +for designating a family, because the number of its members usually +consisted of about a thousand; compare Num. i. 16, where it is said of +the twelve princes of the tribes: "Heads of the thousands of Israel are +they;" Num. x. 4; Josh. xxii. 14, 21; Judg. vi. 15; 1 Sam. x. 19. On +the division of Israel into thousands, hundreds, etc.--a division which +existed before the time of Moses--compare what has been advanced in my +Dissertations on the _Genuineness of the Pentateuch_, ii. p. 341 sqq. +It is self-evident that the thought here is, that Bethlehem is too +little to constitute a thousand _by itself_. Communities, however, +which were not sufficiently numerous to constitute, by themselves, a +generation or family, were reckoned with others, and formed with them +an artificial generation, an artificial family; for the divisions of +generations and families were, owing to the great significance which +numbers had in ancient times, connected with numerical relations. An +instance of this kind occurs in 1 Chron. xxiii. 11, 12, where it is +said of four brothers that they had not sons enough, and were, for +that reason, reckoned as one family only. Being merely _part_ of a +generation, Bethlehem had no place among the generations. The sense is +clearly this: Bethlehem occupies a very low rank among the towns of +the Covenant-people,--can scarcely show herself in the company of +her distinguished sisters, who proudly look down upon her.--It is +altogether a matter of course that [Hebrew: ica], "to go out," may be +used also of "being born," of "descent," inasmuch as this belongs to +the general category of going out; compare, _e.g._, 2 Kings xx. 18. We +must, however, confine ourselves to the general idea of "going forth," +"proceeding," and not consider Bethlehem as the father of the Messiah. +In opposition to _Hofmann_, this is proved by _Caspari_, from Jer. xxx. +21: "And their governor shall proceed from the midst of them;" and from +Zech. x. 4. [Pg 485]--[Hebrew: ica] is without a definite subject. It +is best to supply "one," which is evidently implied in what follows. +The construction, which might otherwise appear somewhat strange, has +been occasioned by the desire of making perceptible, by the very words, +and their position, the contrast between the divine greatness and the +natural littleness of Bethlehem:-- + + Thou art little to be among the thousands of Judah;-- + From thee shall come forth unto me, to be a Ruler in Israel. + +From a place which is too little to form a single independent member of +the body, the head proceeds. From this contrast appears also the reason +why it is said, "Ruler in Israel," while we should have expected to +hear of the Ruler of Israel [Greek: kat' exochen],--a circumstance +on which _Paulus_ lays so much stress in opposing the Messianic +interpretation.--Had the prophet adopted the latter expression, not +only would this contrast have been less striking, but the other also, +which is likewise intended, viz., the contrast with the Judge of +Israel, in the preceding verse, who loses his dignity. The prophet +was, in the first instance, concerned more about the _genus_ than the +_individual_,--more about the idea of dominion in general, than about +the mode and kind of it. The individual is, afterwards, however, partly +in this verse itself, partly in the following verse, so distinctly +characterized, that he cannot be by any means mistaken. Nothing more, +it is true, is implied in these words, than that, at some future time, +there would come forth from Bethlehem a Ruler over all Israel; and +if these words stood isolated, and if it could be proved that, after +the time of Micah, there came forth from Bethlehem a Ruler over +all Israel, besides the Messiah--a thing which, however, cannot be +proved--then, indeed, it might be questionable which of the two to +choose. _Caspari's_ exposition, "Will _he_ come forth," has this +against it, that, in the preceding verses, the Messiah was not yet +spoken of, and, hence, that He cannot simply be supposed as known; and +least of all--if the acquaintance with Him were to be supposed from +other passages--could He have been introduced with a simple unaccented +_he_: the [Hebrew: hva] could not have been omitted in this case. The +case in iv. 8 is but little analogous, for the subject in [Hebrew: +tath] is there an indefinite one.--[Hebrew: li] is, by several +interpreters, referred to the prophet. Thus _Rosenmueller_, [Pg 486] +following _Michaelis_, says, "_To me_, _i.e._, for my good, the prophet +says, in the name of his whole people." But the reference to God is +required by the contrast between human littleness and divine greatness. +_Calvin_ remarks on it: "By this word, God declares that His decree to +give up the people was not such, that Tie should not be willing to +restore them after some time. He therefore calls the faithful back to +Himself, and reminds them of His counsel, just as if He said, 'I have +indeed rejected you for a time, but not so as that I am not filled with +compassion for you.'" The import of the [Hebrew: li], viz., that God +could exalt that which was low, the believer saw, in a type, in David; +and there is no doubt that the prophet was anxious indirectly to +refer them to this type, and thereby to strengthen their faith in +the promise, which appeared almost incredible. He (David) had been +a native of the humble, little Bethlehem, the youngest among his +brothers, without power, without renown. In order that the [Hebrew: li] +might become the more evident, the Lord, at his election, gave such a +direction to the circumstances, that this, his natural lowliness, might +be most strikingly exhibited. It was God who raised him from being a +shepherd of lambs, to be a shepherd of nations. + +In contrast with the Messiah's human and lowly origin. His divine and +lofty dignity is prominently brought out in the last words of the +verse,--a contrast similar to that in the case of Bethlehem, to which +the prophet thereby refers. Here also, the prophet has so clearly +expressed the contrast by the words themselves, that, upon the _homines +bonae voluntatis_ among the interpreters of all ages, it has most +forcibly impressed itself. Thus, _e.g._, _Chrysostom_, _demonstratio +adv. Judaeos et Gentiles, quod Christus sit Deus_, opp. T. V., p. 739: +"He exhibits both Godhead and manhood. For in the words, 'His goings +forth are from the beginning, from the days of eternity,' His existence +from all eternity is revealed; while in the words, 'Shall come forth +the ruler who feeds My people Israel,' His origin according to the +flesh is revealed." A more minute inquiry into the meaning of these +words must begin with the investigation of [Hebrew: mvcativ]. The +greater number of interpreters agree in this, that [Hebrew: mrcah], +the feminine form of the more common [Hebrew: mvca] here denotes the +action of the going forth. But this is opposed by the following +considerations. 1. The use of the plural. Those especially [Pg 487] who +here think of the eternal going forth of the Son from the Father, +cannot by any means Justify it. Several among them consider it as +_plur. majest._ Thus, _e.g._, do _Tarnovius_ and _Frischmuth_, in the +_Dissert. de Nativitate Messiae_, in the remarks on this passage, Jena +1661. But although such a plural exists, indeed, in Hebrew, and many +traces of it are to be found (compare my _Dissertations on the +Genuineness of the Pentateuch_, i. p. 267 ff.), it could appear here, +of course, in the suffix only, not in the noun. Others suppose that the +plural stands here simply for the singular. Now, there are, it is true, +three cases in which such does apparently take place:--the first, when +a definite individual out of the multitude is meant,--when accordingly, +not the _number_, but the general idea only is concerned;--the second, +when a noun in the plural gradually loses its plural signification, +because the etymology and original signification have become +indistinct;--the third, when the plural stands for the abstract. Not +one of these cases, however, is applicable here. Those interpreters +have most plausibly removed the difficulty who understand [Hebrew: +mvcativ] to be really a repeated act of going forth, and refer it to +the Old Testament doctrine of the Angel of the Lord. Thus _Jerome_: +"Because He had always spoken to them through the prophets, and became +in their hands the Word of God." _Tremellius_ and _Junius_: "The goings +forth, _i.e._, the declarations and demonstrations of, as it were, a +rising sun; He from the very beginning revealed and manifested Himself +to all created things, by the light of His word, and the excellency of +His works; just as the rising sun manifests himself from the moment of +his rising, by the light and its effects." _Cocceius_: "I cannot, +however, be persuaded to believe that the plural [Hebrew: mvcativ] is +here used without emphasis. For the Son has not gone forth from the +Father, like a man from a man, who begins to exist only when he is +brought forth from a man, and when he goes forth, ceases to be brought +forth and to go out. In all the days of eternity, the Son proceeds from +the Father, and is the eternal [Greek: apaugasma tes doxes autou]." But +this circumstance is, in general, against this explanation, that the +contrast with the going forth from Bethlehem, which is completed in one +act, does not admit of the mention of a manifold going forth, and that, +in this contrast, the arising, the origin of the existence of the +Messiah, can alone be thought of; while, more specially, _Jerome_, [Pg +488] _Tremellius_, and _Junius_, who, with _Piscator_ also, limit the +going forth to the relation to created things only, are contradicted by +[Hebrew: mimi evlM], by which the going forth is placed beyond the +beginning of creation; and _Cocceius_, by the fact that the [Hebrew: +mlaK ihvh] in the Old Testament, differently from the [Greek: Logos] in +the New Testament, appears always as going forth from God, in relation +to the world only. But although the "time of old and the days of +eternity" should be considered as the place of the going forth, yet the +plural cannot be explained, as is done by _Caspari_, from the +circumstance that "a person is always descended from several;" for the +transferring of such a _usus loquendi_ to a relation, to which in +itself it is not applicable, could be admitted only when it could be +demonstrated to be altogether common and firmly established. But the +plural might indeed, although only with some difficulty, be vindicated +and accounted for from the circumstance, that two points of going forth +are mentioned, which, as it were, suppose a twofold act. 2. But even if +the singular were used, the explanation of the act of going forth would +not be admissible. It is contrary to the idea of nouns with [Hebrew: +m], that they could be used as _nomina actionis_. It is only with +writers living at a time when the language was dying out, that a few +instances of this erroneous use can be found. [Hebrew: m] denotes the +place where, the instrument wherewith, the time wherein, and perhaps +the way and manner whereby, something is done, or is. _Further_--It may +signify also the thing itself which is done, or is; but, in no writer +of the living and flourishing language, does it ever denote the action +itself. _Caspari_, indeed, attempts to prove that "there occurs in the +older books a number, by no means inconsiderable, of nouns with +[Hebrew: m], which undeniably denote an action;" but what he has +advanced on this point requires still to be minutely sifted, and to be +more closely examined; compare, _e.g._, on Num. x. 2, my pamphlet on +"_The Day of the Lord_," S. 32. But we are quite satisfied with what is +granted by _Caspari_ himself (compare _Ewald's Lehrbuch d. Hebr. Spr._ +Sec. 160), that it is against the nature and common use of this form to +denote the action. Even by this concession, a presumption is raised +against the correctness of an interpretation which would ascribe to +[Hebrew: mvca], here, and in other passages, the signification of going +forth, viewed as an action. The passages quoted by _Winer_ in favour of +the signification, _egressus_, [Pg 489] are the following: 1. Hos. vi. +3, where it is said of the Lord [Hebrew: kwHr nkvN mvcav], "firm like +the morning-dawn is His going forth." But [Hebrew: mvca] is there, not +the action, but the place and the time of the going forth, as is +evident from the word "firm" also. 2. Ezek. xii. 4: "And thou shalt +go forth at even in their sight, [Hebrew: kmvcai gvlh]." Several +interpreters agree that [Hebrew: mvca] here signifies the kind and mode +of the going forth. _Vatablus_ says, "It denotes the deportment of +him who goes forth, and means, Thou shalt go forth in sorrow, and +indignant." But it is better, with _Haevernick_, to refer it to the +time: "According to the goings forth of prisoners, at the time when +emigrants of this kind prefer to go forth from their places." 3. Num. +xxxiii. 2: "And Moses wrote down [Hebrew: at mvcaihM], 'the places of +their goings out.'" 4. Ps. xix. 7, it is said of the sun: [Hebrew: mqch +hwmiM mvcav], "from the end of the heaven is his going forth," which is +tantamount to--The end of the heaven is the place from which he goes +forth. 5. 1 Kings x. 28: [Hebrew: vmvca hsvsiM awr lvlmh mmcriM], which +_De Wette_ translates, "And the export of the horses which Solomon had, +(was) from Egypt." But a more accurate translation is, "And the place +of coming forth of the horses which Solomon had was Egypt," or, more +literally still, "from Egypt,"--a concise mode of expression for, "The +place from which the horses of Solomon came forth was Egypt,"--just as +in the preceding example. In proof of the signification, "action of +going out," _Ch. B. Michaelis_ refers, moreover, to 2 Sam. iii. 25, +where _De Wette_ translates, "Thou knowest Abner, the son of Ner; he +came to deceive thee, and to see thy going out and thy coming in, and +all that thou doest." But a more accurate translation would be, "The +place from which thou goest out, and to which thou art going;" +compare Ezek. xliii. 11. In all other passages--and these are rather +numerous--the signification "place of going out," or "that which goes +out," is quite obvious. Even _Caspari_ grants that the signification +"place of going out" has, _a priori_, the greatest probability in +its favour.--To this it may be added, that the signification "place +of going out" is recommended here, even by the contrast with what +precedes, inasmuch as there Bethlehem, is mentioned as the place from +which the Euler in Israel is to come forth. With this place of going +out, another and a higher one is contrasted. This contrast also shows +us how the [Hebrew: MN] [Pg 490] in [Hebrew: mqdM] and [Hebrew: mimi +evlM] must be understood, viz., in the same manner as [Hebrew: nN] in +[Hebrew: mmK]; for the evident reference of [Hebrew: mvcativ] to +[Hebrew: ica li] shows that it must correspond with it. Hence the +literal translation would be, "And His places of going out are from the +times of old, from the days of eternity," which is equivalent to--The +places from which He goes forth are the times of old, the days of +eternity,--just as in the two passages, Ps. xix. 7; 1 Kings x. 28. The +[Hebrew: mN] might very well have been omitted; but its insertion +here has arisen chiefly from a desire to make the reference to the +corresponding clause outwardly also more perceptible. This reference +shows also, that the explanation of [Hebrew: mN] by _prae_, which was +proposed by _Pococke_ and others, is inadmissible, besides involving an +absurdity, inasmuch as nothing can be _before_ eternity; while, on the +other hand, this reference alone affords a satisfactory explanation of +the plural. According to it, the words, "From the time of old, from the +days of eternity," contain a gradation. _First_, the existence of the +Messiah before His birth in time, in Bethlehem, is pointed out in +general; and _then_, in contrast with all time, it is vindicated to +eternity. This could not fail to afford a great consolation to Israel. +He who hereafter, in a visible manifestation, was to deliver them from +their misery, was already in existence,--during it, before it, and +through all eternity. + + + HISTORY OF THE INTERPRETATION. + + 1. AMONG THE JEWS. + +This History, as to its essential features, might, _a priori_, be +sketched with tolerable certainty. From the nature of the case, +we could scarcely expect that the Jews should have adopted views +altogether erroneous as to the subject of the prophecy in question; +for the Messiah appears in it, not in His humiliation, but in His +glory--rich in gifts and blessings, and Pelagian self-delusion will, +_a priori_, return an affirmative answer to the question as to whether +one is called to partake in them. But, on the other hand, the prophecy +contains a twofold ground of offence which had to be removed, and +explained away at any [Pg 491] expense. One of these, the eternity of +the Messiah--which was in contradiction to the popular notions, and +conceivable only from a knowledge of His Godhead--could not but exist +at all times; while the second of these--the birth at Bethlehem--made +its appearance, and exercised its influence, only after the birth of +Christ. That this should be set aside, was demanded by two causes. +_First_, there was the desire of depriving the Christians of the proof, +which they derived from the birth at Bethlehem, for the proposition +that He who had appeared was also He who was promised. And, _secondly_, +there was the difficulty of any longer deriving from Bethlehem the +descent of Christ, after, by an ordinance of Hadrian (compare _Reland_, +S. 647), all the Jews had been expelled from Bethlehem and its +neighbourhood. This difficulty was strongly urged against them by +Christian controversialists; compare _Tertullian cont. Jud._ c. xiii., +"How then can the Ruler be descended from Judah, and how can He come +forth from Bethlehem, as, in the present day, there is not one of +Israel left there, of whose family Christ may be born?" The actual +history furnishes facts and details which only confirm and enlarge +what, in its essential features, we have sketched _a priori_. + +1. The reference to the Messiah was, at all times, not the private +opinion of a few scholars, but was publicly received, and acknowledged +with perfect unanimity. As respects the time of Christ, this is obvious +from Matt. ii. 5. According to that passage, the whole Sanhedrim, when +officially interrogated as to the birth-place of the Messiah, supposed +this explanation to be the only correct one. But if this proof required +a corroboration, it might be derived from John vii. 41, 42. In that +passage, several who erroneously supposed Christ to be a native of +Galilee, objected to His being the Messiah on the ground that Scripture +says: [Greek: hoti ek tou spermatos Dabid kai apo Bethleem tes komes, +hopou en Dabid, ho Christos erchetai.] But even after Christ had +appeared, the interest in depriving the Christians at once of the +arguments which, in their controversies, they derived from this +passage, was not sufficiently strong to blind the Jews to the evident +indications contained in this passage, or to induce them to deprive +themselves of the sweet hope which it afforded. This, it is true, would +be the case nevertheless, if we were to rely upon, and believe in the +assertion of _Chrysostom_ (_Hom._ 7, [Pg 492] in Matt. c. 2, in _Nov. +Test._, t. i. p. 80, ed. Frcf.): "Some of them, in their impudence, +assert that this prophecy has a reference to Zerubbabel;" of +_Theodoret_ (on this passage): "The Jews have tried to refer this to +Zerubbabel, which evidently fights against the truth;" of _Theophylact_ +(on Matt. ii.); and of _Euthymius Zigabenus_ (in iv. _Evang._ t. +1, p. 61, ed. Mat.). But the supposition is here forced upon us--a +supposition which, in another case also (compare remarks on Zech. ix. +9, 10), we must acknowledge to be well-founded--that the Fathers, +having in their controversies with the Jews sometimes met a reference +to Zerubbabel, forced it upon the Jews, even when the latter themselves +refused it. And there can be the less difficulty in admitting this +supposition, as the apparently fourfold testimony may be easily reduced +to a single one,, viz., to that of _Chrysostom_. If these statements +had any truth in them, some traces, at least, of this interpretation +must be found among the Jews themselves. This, however, is not +the case. All the Jewish interpreters adhere to the Messianic +interpretation, and in this they are headed by the Chaldee, who +paraphrases the words [Hebrew: mmK li ica] in this way: [Hebrew: mnK +qdmi ipq mwiHa], _i.e._, From thee Messiah shall go out before me. + +2. A twofold method has been tried to remove the first ground of +objection mentioned above. In ancient times, they gave their full sense +to the words, "Of (or from) the days of eternity," but substituted the +name of the Messiah for His person. This we meet with as early as in +the Chaldee, who says: [Hebrew: dwmih amir mlqdmiN mivmi elma], _i.e._, +"Whose name is said (or called) from the days of old, from the days of +eternity." Thus also the _Pirke R. Elieser_, ch. iii., where, with a +reference to the passage before us, the name of the Messiah is +mentioned among the seven things created before the world existed, +viz., along with the Law, Hell, Paradise, the Throne of Glory, the +Temple, Repentance; compare _Schoettgen_ ii. S. 213. According to +_Eisenmenger_ i. S. 317, the same, with some change, is found in the +Talmud, _Tract. Pesachim_, fol. 54, col. i., and _Nedarim_ f. 39, c. 2. +We cannot, in that explanation by the Chaldee, understand "name" in its +emphatic signification, in which it often occurs in Scripture, viz., as +an expression and image of the substance,--a signification in which the +"name" of the Messiah would be equivalent to "the glory of the +Messiah," or to "the Messiah [Pg 493] in His glory." This is evident +from the [Hebrew: amir], _i.e._, "said" or "spoken," of the Chaldee, +which does not allow of our thinking of the creation of a substance; +and not less from the consideration, that if this signification of +"name" were assumed, the aim and object which he had in view in +substituting "name" for "person" at all, would have been missed. The +name of the Messiah expresses His nature, the idea of His existence. +The creation or pronouncing of this name marks, accordingly, the rise +of this idea in God,--His forming the decree of redemption by the +Messiah. By this explanation--which we again meet with, afterwards, in +_Calvin_, and which we shall then consider more minutely--a mere +existence in thought, was substituted for the real existence of the +Messiah,--His predestination, for His pre-existence.--But in aftertimes +they came still further down. To supply "the name," was too arbitrary +to admit of their resting satisfied with such an explanation. Almost +unanimously they now came to the supposition, that the words of the +passage under consideration merely marked the descent of the Messiah +from the ancient, royal house of David. Thus _Abenezra_: "All this is +said of David; the words also, 'His goings out are of old,' refer to +David." _Aberbanel_ (_Praec. Sal._ p. 62): "The goings out of the +family from which that Ruler is to be descended are of old, and of the +days of eternity, _i.e._, of the seed of David, and the rod of Jesse, +which is of Bethlehem-Judah." On the similar expositions of _Kimchi_ +and others, compare _Frischmuth l.c._, and _Wichmannshausen_, _Dissert. +on the pass._, Wittenb. 1722, S. 6 ff. We could not urge against this +exposition that [Hebrew: mvcavt] is erroneously understood either as +"going out," or, as "family;" and that, in the latter signification, +the _usus loquendi_, as well as the evident reference to [Hebrew: ica], +are disregarded. For that might be given up, and yet the explanation +would stand as to its substance. Even then, it might be translated: +"His goings out (in the signification of 'places of going out') are the +days of old, the days of eternity," _i.e._, the very ancient times; so +that there would be ascribed to the time something which belongs to +that which exists in it, viz., to the family of David. But the +following reason is decisive against it. Every one will admit that the +eternal origin of the Messiah forms a far more suitable contrast with +His temporal origin from Bethlehem, than His descent from the ancient +family of [Pg 494] David. The latter would come into consideration +here, only on account of its antiquity; a reference to its dignity is +not made by even a single word, nor is the family itself mentioned at +all in the text; but the attribute of antiquity, and that alone, is +nevertheless taken from it, and ascribed to the Messiah. But now, we +cannot at all see what pre-eminence in this respect the family of David +enjoyed above other families, and how, therefore, it could have been an +honour for the Messiah to be descended from it. How strange would, +according to this explanation, be the words, "of the days of eternity," +which, as a climax, are added to, "of days of old!" What reason could +there have existed for the prophet to exalt, by a hyperbolical +expression, a limited time to eternity? As regards His human origin, +the Messiah had not the slightest advantage over other mortals, as far +as the age of the family was concerned. What, then, was the use of such +a hyperbole in a matter which, in this connection, was of no +consequence, and which could not in any way serve for His exaltation? +It is just this, however, which after all is required by the contrast. +What kind of consolation would thereby have been afforded to the +people? Certainly no one doubted that the Messiah would have parents, +and ancestors reaching back to a hoar antiquity. But was there anything +gained by this, since He had it only in common with the lowest and +feeblest among the people? How does this shallow, unmeaning, and yet so +much pretending contrast in reference to the Messiah, suit the other +contrast in reference to Bethlehem, which is so brilliant and exalted? +And now what reason is there for preferring that explanation which is +so unnatural, to the other, which is so natural, so obvious, which +presents a contrast so beautiful, and opens up to the Covenant-people a +source of consolation so rich? Is it this, perhaps, that the eternity +of the Messiah is not mentioned anywhere else in the Old Testament? But +the eternity of the Messiah is only a single feature of His divine +nature, and just that feature which, according to the context, came +here into special consideration. _Caspari_ very correctly remarks: "The +prophet pointed out just the feature of the pre-existence, and of the +eternal existence of the Messiah, and these only, because the +announcement of His origin from the little Bethlehem led just to this, +and to this alone." The intimation of the divine nature of the Messiah +is, [Pg 495] however, as old as the Messianic prediction in general; +compare, concerning this, my remarks on Gen. xlix. 10. In a more +definite shape, and in a more distinct form, it appears as early as in +the Messianic Psalms. But it is found, in sharply defined outlines, in +Isaiah, and specially in ix. 5, where, just as in the passage before +us, the divine glory of the Messiah is contrasted with the lower aspect +of His existence; and the closer the points of contact are between +Isaiah and Micah, the less can we refuse to acknowledge such here. This +circumstance also must prevent us from doing so, that immediately +afterwards, in ver. 3 (4), the divine dignity and nature of the Messiah +meet us anew. This passage requires, as its foundation, the one upon +which we are now commenting. Moreover, the eternity which, in contrast +with His birth in time, is here ascribed to the Messiah, corresponds +with the eternity of His existence and dominion after His birth, which +is repeatedly ascribed to the Messiah, and, most prominently, in Is. +ix. 5, where He receives the name "Father of eternity," _i.e._, He who +will be Father in all eternity.--Some one, perhaps, would infer from +the subjoined words, "of the days," that [Hebrew: evlM] is here to be +understood in a limited sense. But who does not know that, when +eternity is predicated in contrast with a limited duration of time, +just to make the contrast the more striking, those measures of time, +which are properly applicable to the latter only, are transferred to +the former? For in order to be able to compare things, a certain +resemblance between them must necessarily be first established. Thus in +Dan. vii. 9, God is called "the Ancient of Days;" thus it is said of +Him in Ps. cii. 28, "Thy years have no end;" and the New Testament +frequently speaks in the same way of eternal times. We are, in our +thoughts, generally so much bound to time, that we can conceive of +eternity only as "time without time." It cannot by any means be +satisfactorily or incontrovertibly proved from vii. 14, 20, that +[Hebrew: qdM] and [Hebrew: imi evlM] here designate merely the +ancient time. All which that passage proves is, that such a sense is +possible--and this, no one probably has ever doubted--but not that it +is applicable in this connection. If the connection be considered, +Prov. viii. 22, 23, will then be acknowledged to be parallel,--a +passage in which the eternal existence of Wisdom is spoken of in a +similar manner. + +3. That, in the prophecy under consideration, Bethlehem is [Pg 496] +marked out as the birth-place of the Messiah, was held as an undoubted +truth by the ancient Jews. This appears from the confident reply of the +Sanhedrim to the question of Herod as to the birth-place of Christ. And +it is not less evident from John vii. 42. The circumstance that, after +the tumult raised by Barcochba, not only Jerusalem, but Bethlehem also, +was, by the Emperor Adrian, interdicted to the Jews as a residence, +renders it probable that this interpretation was not given up +immediately after the death of Christ. But even after this edict of +Adrian, and after the difficulty had appeared in all its force, they +did not, for a considerable time, venture to assert that the prophecy +knew nothing of Bethlehem as the birth-place of the Messiah. It is with +the later Rabbinical interpreters only, who were better skilled in the +art of distorting, that this assertion is found. The ancient Jews +endeavoured to evade the difficulty by the fable, dressed up in various +ways, that the Messiah was indeed born at Bethlehem, on the day of the +destruction of the temple, but that, on account of the sins of the +people. He was afterwards carried away by a storm, and had, since that +time, remained, unknown and concealed, in various places. Thus speak +the Talmud, the very ancient commentary on Lamentations, _Echa +Rabbati_, and the very old commentary on Genesis, _Breshith Rabba_ +(compare the passages in _Raim. Martini_, S. 348-50; _Carpzovius_ and +_Frischmuth_, l.c.). Indeed, we can trace this fiction still farther +back. Closely connected with it is the explanation of [Hebrew: epl +bt-civN] by "darkness of the daughter of Zion" ([Hebrew: cpl] being +confounded with [Hebrew: apl]), _i.e._, hidden on account of Zion. This +explanation is found as early as in Jonathan. The concealment of the +Messiah is only an isolated feature of this fiction. The fiction +itself, indeed, has its roots, not only in the passage under review, +but also in the endeavour to remove the contradiction between the +destruction of the temple, and the firm expectation of the Messiah's +appearing during the time of its existence,--an expectation founded on +passages of the Old Testament. This concealment of the Messiah is +mentioned as early as in the _Dialogus cum Tryphone_ (No. 8 _Bened. +Ven._; compare also p. 114): "Christ, even if he be born, and exist +anywhere, is unknown, and neither manifests himself in any way, nor has +he any power until Elijah come, etc." In order to be convinced that, at +the time when this book was composed, [Pg 497] and hence in the second +century, the fiction was already fully developed, we need only compare +the account in _Breshith Rabba_. After Elijah, at the time of the birth +of the Messiah, had visited his mother in Bethlehem Judah, and consoled +her who was afflicted on account of the destruction of the temple, +which was contemporaneous with her delivery, he withdraws. "After five +years had elapsed, he said, I will go and see the Saviour of Israel, +whether he be nursed up in the manner of kings or of ministering +angels. He went and found the woman standing at the door of her house, +and said to her: My daughter, in what state is that boy? And she +answered him: Rabbi, did I not tell thee that it is a bad thing to +nurse him, because, on the day on which he was born, the temple was +destroyed? But this is not all; for _he has feet and walks not, he has +eyes and sees not, he has ears and hears not, he has a mouth and does +not speak at all, and there he lies like a stone._" + +The Rabbinical interpreters felt, however, that this fiction, being +destitute of all warrant, was of no use to them in their controversies +with Christians; and it was to these that their view was chiefly +directed. Hence they sought to remove the difficulty by means of the +interpretation; and as all had the same interest, the result was that +the distorted explanation became as generally prevalent, as the correct +one had formerly been. _Kimchi_, _Abenezra_, _Abendana_, _Abarbanel_, +and, in general, all the later Rabbins (compare the passages in +_Wichmannsh._ l. c. S. 9), maintain that Bethlehem is mentioned here as +the birth-place of the Messiah indirectly only,--in so far only as the +Messiah was to be descended from David the Bethlehemite. There cannot +well be a prepossession in favour of this exposition. The circumstance +that, formerly, no one ever thought that it was even possible to +explain the passage under review in any other way than that, in it, +Bethlehem is spoken of as the birth-place of the Messiah, and that this +exposition was discovered and introduced, only at a time when the other +could no longer be received, raises, _a priori_, strong suspicions +against it. And this suspicion is fully confirmed by a closer +examination. _Caeteris paribus_, that explanation which here finds +Bethlehem mentioned as the birth-place of the Messiah, would deserve +the preference, even for this reason, that the passage, as thus +understood, fills up a blank [Pg 498] in the Messianic prophecy,--and +that from the whole analogy, we are led to expect that no such blank +would be left. Should the family from which Christ was to descend, +the time at which He was to appear, the part of the country which +was pre-eminently to enjoy His blessings, and so many other things +concerning Him, have been so minutely foretold, and not the place where +He was to be born? Even the question of Herod, [Greek: pou ho Christos +gennatai]; shows how much reason we have, _a priori_, to expect such a +prediction. He supposes that, as a matter of course, the birth-place of +the Messiah must have been determined in the Old Testament; he only +inquires about the place where. But the matter is not so, that there +could be any choice at all betwixt the two explanations. If we suppose +that it is only the descent of the Messiah from the family of David +which is here announced, the contrast between the natural littleness of +Bethlehem, and its divine greatness, would be very far from being +appropriate. After the family of David had, for centuries, resided and +ruled at Jerusalem, the natural littleness of Bethlehem came very +little into further consideration. It was not this which could render +improbable the appearance of the Messiah. It was only the downfall of +Jerusalem, and the destruction of the King's Castle, which were in +opposition to the belief in the Messiah's appearance. And, in like +manner, the glory, resulting from His appearance, was not imparted to +Bethlehem, but to Zion. Hence it is that, in iv. 8, where the prophet +wishes to declare the descent of the Messiah from the family of David, +he contrasts the glorification of Zion, and especially of the King's +Castle, with its previous degradation.--_Further_--There is not a +single instance to be found of a place, in which the ancestors of some +one resided centuries ago, being spoken of as the place of his descent. +Is there a single passage in which Bethlehem is mentioned as the +native place of any of the kings from the Davidic dynasty who were +born at Jerusalem, or as the native place of Zerubbabel who was born at +Babylon? For further details concerning this argument, _Huetius_, _dem. +Evang._ p 579 _ed. Amstel._ 1680, maybe compared.--_Further_--The +relation of the passage under review to the parallel passage Is. +viii. 23 (ix. 1) must not be overlooked. As in the latter text, the +_province_ is marked out which, by the appearance of the Messiah, is +to be raised from the deepest degradation [Pg 499] to the highest +glory, so, in the passage under consideration, the _place_ is +designated.--_Finally_--If any doubt yet remained, it must surely be +removed by the fulfilment,--by the fact that Christ was actually born +at Bethlehem; and this so much the more, that this fact cannot be +looked upon as an accidental circumstance, for Bethlehem was not the +residence of His parents. + +But the Jews endeavoured, in another way, to wrest from Christian +controversialists the advantage afforded by this passage. They denied +altogether that Christ was born at Bethlehem. Thus _Abr. Peritsol_ +(compare _Eisenmenger_, l. c. S. 259): "Since they called Him Jesus the +Nazarene, and not Jesus the Bethlehemite, it is to be inferred that He +was born at Nazareth, as it is written in the _Targum_ of Jerusalem." +Upon this point, however, there existed no unanimity among them. _David +Gans_, in the Book _Zemach David_, mentions, without any remark, +Bethlehem as the birth-place of the Messiah (S. 105 of _Vorst's_ +translation). + + 2. AMONG THE CHRISTIANS. + +The conviction that Christ is the subject of the prophecy under +consideration was so much the prevailing one in the Christian Church, +that the mention of any of its defenders is altogether superfluous. It +were more interesting to learn who were the opponents of it. The +assertion of _Huetius_, l. c., that _Chrysostom_, _Theophylact_, and +_Euthymius Zigabenus_ attempted an explanation by which it was referred +to Zerubbabel, rests on a misapprehension resulting from want of +memory. _Huetius_ himself ascribes to them that very view which they +most decidedly oppose as the one alleged to be held by the Jews. +But this interpretation was actually advanced by _Theodorus_ of +_Mopsueste_, whose exegetical tendencies it admirably suited. Along +with several other interpretations, it was condemned by the Council at +Rome, under Pope Vigilius; compare _H. Prado_ on Ezek. _prooem. Sect._ +3, and _Hippol. a Lapide in prophet. min. prooem._, and in the remarks +on this passage. The immediate successor of _Theodorus_ was _Grotius_. +His book _de veritate relig. Christ._--where in i. 5, Sec. 17 (p. 266, ed. +Oxon. 1820), he proves [Pg 500] against the Jews the Messianic dignity +of Christ, from the circumstance that He was, in accordance with the +passage, born at Bethlehem--might, indeed, entitle us to infer that he +was not confirmed in this opinion. But perhaps he only imagined that, +in a popular work, he needed not to be so careful, and that, even +according to his own views, he had retained a certain right to this use +of the passage, inasmuch as he considered Zerubbabel as a type of +Christ, and the birth of the latter at Bethlehem as an outward +representation of His descent from the Davidic family. It was at the +commencement of the Rationalistic period, when an easier mode of +evading the reference to Christ had not as yet been discovered, that +the reference to Zerubbabel was seized upon. It is found in _Dathe_ and +_Kuehnoel_ (_Mess. Weissagungen_, S. 88). The latter, however, changed +his opinion (compare Commentary on Matt. ii.), after such a mode had +been discovered, by referring the prophecy to the _ideal_ Christ. From +that time onwards, the reference to the _ideal_ Christ is found in +almost all the Rationalistic interpreters. The distinctness with which +the marks here given, viz., the birth in time at Bethlehem, and the +eternity of the origin, lead to the _historical_ Christ; and the +difficulty of explaining these when the prophecy is referred to the +_ideal_ Messiah, are rendered sufficiently evident by the efforts which +all these interpreters, without exception, have made to explain these +marks away. Who does not discover, in these very efforts, a confession +of their force, on the supposition that they can be, as they have +already been, demonstrated to have an actual existence? God Himself has +borne witness by facts against this explanation; for He ordered the +circumstance in such a manner that, by the birth of Christ at +Bethlehem, the prophecy was fulfilled. But how can a fulfilment be +spoken of by those who do not believe in prophecy, but see in it human +conjectures only, since the very idea of prophecy necessarily implies +divine inspiration? How should God have impressed His own seal upon +mere human conjectures, as He would have done by effecting an apparent +fulfilment? He would Himself have surely become the author of error by +so doing. _Finally_,--We shall afterwards see that, in the New +Testament, this passage has been explained in the strictest sense, +of the historical Christ; and the attempts of the Rationalistic +interpreters to divest that [Pg 501] quotation of its import, will +furnish us with a proof, that it is not truth for which they are +concerned, but the removal only, at any rate and cost, of a fact which +is irreconcilable with their system. All that has been advanced by them +(_e.g._, by _Justi_ and _Ammon_) against the reference to the +historical Christ, rests on their misapprehension of Christ's Regal +office. The Regal office of Christ is by no means a poetical image, but +the most _real_ among all kingly offices; yea. His kingdom is that from +which all others derive their existence and reality. It rests, +_further_, on their ignorance as regards the final history of the +Messianic kingdom. Of the whole history of Christ, they know a single +fragment only, viz.. His first appearance in His humiliation; and even +this they know, and can know, only very imperfectly. His invisible +dominion existing even now, they do not recognise, because it is beheld +with the eye of faith only; and His future visible manifestation of it +they do not believe, because they have not experienced in their own +hearts the invisible power of Christ, which is a pledge and earnest of +this visible success. It rests, _finally_, on their ignorance of the +prophetic vision, which necessarily requires that the kingdom of +God under the Old Testament should serve as a substratum for the +description of the kingdom of Christ. It can be demonstrated, from the +intimations contained in this passage, in which the Messiah appears +in His glory, how little it is contradictory to others, in which +He is represented in His lowest humiliation. Through humiliation to +glory,--this is the proposition which lies at the foundation of +the announcements of the prophet concerning the destinies of the +Covenant-people, and which he distinctly expresses in regard to +Bethlehem. That this proposition is applicable to the Head not less +than to the members,--to Him who was born, not less than to the place +where He was born, appears from the circumstance that He was to be born +at the time of the deepest degradation of the Davidic dynasty, iv. 8, +and not at Jerusalem, where His Royal ancestors resided, but at +Bethlehem. + +2. As regards the last words of this verse, the same twofold false +interpretation which we noticed among Jewish interpreters, is found +among Christian expositors also. One of these, which, besides in other +Jewish interpreters, occurs in _Jarchi_ ("_and His goings out_, etc.; +just as in Ps. lxxii. 17, it was said that His name [Pg 502] should +continue as long as the sun;--thus _Jonathan_ also translated it"), +changes the eternal origin of Christ into an eternal predestination. +This view was held by _Calvin_: "These words," he says, "signify that +the rising of the Prince who was to rule the nations would not be +something sudden, but long ago decreed by God. I know that some +pertinaciously insist that the prophet speaks here of Christ's eternal +essence, and as far as I am concerned, I _willingly_ acknowledge that +Christ's eternal Godhead is here proved to us; but as we shall never +succeed in convincing the Jews of this, I prefer to hold that the words +of the prophet signify that Christ would not thus suddenly proceed from +Bethlehem, as if God had formerly decreed nothing concerning Him." He +speaks indeed of his "_willingly_ acknowledging;" but that he was not +very much in earnest in his willingness, appears from what follows: +"Others advance a new and ingenious view," etc. It is only from the +relation of _Calvin_ to the earlier interpreters, that we can account +for his advancing an exposition so very arbitrary. These had, _ad +majorem Dei gloriam_, advanced a multitude of forced expositions. +Calvin, who very properly hated such interpretations ("I do not like +such distorted explanations," he says, in his commentary on Joel ii.), +always regarded them with suspicion; and whensoever there was the +appearance of any motive which may possibly have guided them in +adopting a certain explanation, he himself, rather than concur with +them, falls upon the most unnatural explanations in return. The best +refutation of his exposition is to be found in _Pococke_. It is absurd +to suppose that the actual going forth of Christ from Bethlehem is here +contrasted with one which is merely imaginary,--the action, with a mere +decree. It is without any analogy that some one should be designated +as actually existing, or going forth, who exists merely in the divine +foreknowledge, or the divine predestination.--The other view, which +regards the last words of this verse as referring to the Messiah's +descent from the ancient family of David, is found among all +interpreters who, from some cause, were prevented from adopting the +sound one. It is thus with the Socinians (compare, _e.g._, _Volkel de +vera religione_, l. 5, c. 2), some of whom, in order the more surely to +set aside a passage so damaging to their system, supposed that, +according to its proper sense, it did not refer to Christ at all; +_e.g._, _Jo. Crellius_, who, in his exposition of Matt. ii., asserts +that it refers indefinitely to [Pg 503] some one of the family of David +who, after the Babylonish captivity, was to rule the nation. It is thus +with _Grotius_ also, who says: "He (Zerubbabel) has his origin from the +days of old, from ancient times, _i.e._, he has descended from a house, +illustrious from ancient times, and governing for five hundred years." +Thus it is with all the Rationalistic interpreters. Among recent +faithful Christian expositors, _Jahn_ also (_Vatic. Mess._ 2, p. 147) +has been led away to the adoption of this opinion. But that he felt +strongly, at least, one of the difficulties which stood in its way, +viz., that if the reference to the family of David be assumed, it is +the mere age of the family, apart from every preference on the ground +of its dignity, which is mentioned to magnify the Messiah--appears from +the strange exegetical process which he employs for the purpose of +removing it. He supplies at the end, _celebris est_:--"His origin or +His family (thus he erroneously explains [Hebrew: mvcativ]) is +_celebrated_ from ancient times." One may see in this case how much, in +particulars, an individual still remains dependent upon a community, +even although, upon the whole, he may have freed himself from such +dependence. For it is certainly from this dependence alone that the +fact can be accounted for, that this commentator rejected an exposition +which must have been to him the most agreeable, which has everything in +its favour, and nothing against it,--and chose another instead, the +nakedness of which he was obliged to cover as well as he could, while, +in so doing, he was violating his _exegetical convictions_. _Ewald_ +also permits himself to introduce into the passage what is necessary +for the sense which he has made up his mind to adopt. In place of the +simple antiquity, he puts: "Descended from the ancient, venerable royal +family of David." The view taken by _Hofmann_ is peculiar: "He comes +from the family of David, just as it had happened long ago, when that +family still belonged to the community of Bethlehem,--from the +community of Bethlehem does He come." _Weiss. u. Erf._ 1, S. 251. In +order to get at this rather superfluous repetition, he has substituted +the manner in which the family of David formerly existed, for "the days +of old, and eternity." The "origins" (this is the sense which he gives +to [Hebrew: mvcativ]) cannot be attributed to that portion only of +David's family which dwelt at Bethlehem; for He was descended from them +indirectly only, through the royal family of David. + +[Pg 504] + +3. The Jewish assertion, that in the prophecy there is no +allusion to the birth at Bethlehem of Him who was to come, could not +fail to be repeated by _Grotius_ and his supporters, inasmuch as +Zerubbabel was not born at Bethlehem. "Zerubbabel," he says, "is +rightly said to have been born at Bethlehem, because he was of the +family of David which had its origin there." This is, in like manner, +repeated by the Rationalistic interpreters, in order to avoid the too +close coincidence of the prophecy with the actual history of Christ, +_e.g._, by _Paulus_ and _Strauss_ (both, in their "Life of Jesus"), and +by _Hitzig_. It is remarkable, however, that, in order the more +securely to attain this object, some have gone so far even as to follow +the example of several Jews, and of the infamous _Bodinus_ (_de abditis +rerum sublimium arcanis_, l. 5, compare the refutation by _Huetius_, +l.c. p. 701), and to characterize the evangelical account concerning +the birth of Christ at Bethlehem as unworthy of credit. Such has been +the case with _Ammon_ especially. + + + THE QUOTATION IN MATT. II. 6. + +Several interpreters, _Paulus_ especially, have asserted that the +interpretation of Micah which is here given, was that of the Sanhedrim +only, and not of the Evangelist, who merely recorded what happened and +was said. But this assertion is at once refuted when we consider the +object which Matthew has in view in his entire representation of the +early life of Jesus. His object in recording the early life of Jesus is +not like that of Luke, viz., to communicate historical information to +his readers. The historical event which he could suppose to be already +known to _his_ readers, comes into his view only in so far as it served +for the confirmation of Old Testament prophecies. Hence it is that he +touches upon any historical circumstance, just when the mention of it +can serve for the attainment of this purpose. Thus, the design of the +genealogy is to prove that, in accordance with the prophecies of the +Old Testament, Christ was descended from Abraham, through David. Thus +all which he mentions in chap. i. 18-21, serves only to prepare the way +for the quotation of the prophecy of Isaiah, that the Messiah was to be +born of a [Pg 505] virgin, which is subjoined in ver. 22, with the +words: [Greek: touto de holon gegonen hina plerothe.] Even the [Greek: +holon] proves that all which precedes is mentioned solely with a view +to the prophecy. The [Greek: parermeneia] of _Olshausen_ which refers +the [Greek: holon] to the whole, in contrast with the particular, can +be accounted for only from the embarrassment into which this +commentator could not here avoid falling by his interpretation of the +prophecy of Isaiah, according to which a semblance of agreement is, +with the utmost difficulty, made out betwixt it, and the event in which +Matthew finds its fulfilment. Moreover, all the single features of the +account have too distinct a reference to the prophecy which is to be +afterwards quoted. It is from a regard to it, that he is most anxious +to point out that Christ was conceived by a pure and immaculate virgin, +that, in ver. 25, he expressly adds that before the birth of Jesus, +Mary had had no connubial intercourse with Joseph, because Immanuel was +not only to be conceived, but born of a virgin. The words, [Greek: +kaleseis to onoma autou Iesoun], correspond exactly with [Greek: kai +kalesousi to onoma autou Emmanouel]. The Evangelist explains the latter +name by [Greek: meth' hemon ho Theos], which, again, cannot be without +an object, for the name of Jesus (_Gottheil_, _God-Salvation_) has, +with him, the same signification. We pass over, in the meantime, the +section ii. 1-12. In ver. 13 there follows the account of the flight +into Egypt with a reference to Hos. xi. 1. This passage refers, in the +first instance, to Israel; but Israel does not here come into view +according to its carnal condition, but only according to its divine +destination and election,--as is evidently shown by the designation +"Son of God." Israel was called to preserve the truth of God in the +midst of error, to proclaim among the Gentiles the mighty acts of God, +and to be His messenger and ambassador. In this respect Israel was a +type of the Messiah, and the latter, as it were, a concentrated and +exalted Israel. It is from this relation alone that many passages in +the second part of Isaiah can be explained; and in Is. xlix. 3, the +Messiah is expressly called Israel. If, then, there existed between +Israel and the Messiah such a relation of type and Antitype;--if this +relation was not accidental, but designed by God, it will, _a priori_, +appear to us most probable that the abode of the children of Israel in +Egypt, and the residence of Christ in the same country, have a relation +to each other. This supposition rests upon the perception of the [Pg +506] remarkable coincidence which, by divine Providence, generally +exists betwixt the destinies of typical persons, and those of the +Antitype, so that the former may be considered as an actual prophecy of +the latter. But this coincidence must here not be sought in the stay in +the same country only; this circumstance served only to direct +attention to the deeper unity, to represent it outwardly. It was not +from their own choice, but from a series of the most remarkable +dispensations of Providence, and on the express command of God, that +Israel went to Egypt. They thereby escaped from the destruction which +threatened them in the land for which they were really destined. They +were there prepared for their destiny; and when that preparation was +finished, they were, agreeably to the promise of God, which was given +to them even before they went down into Egypt, introduced into that +land in which their destiny was to be realized. The same providence of +God which there chose the means for the preservation of His kingdom, +which was at that time bound up with the existence of the typical +Israel, chose the same means now also when their hopes concentrated +themselves in the person of their future Head. It was necessary that +Egypt should afford Him a safe abode until the danger was over.--There +then follows, in vers. 16-19, the account of the murder of the children +of Bethlehem, with a sole reference to Jer. xxxi. 15, and just on +account of it. Here, too, we must not think of a simple simile only. In +Jeremiah, the mother of Israel laments over the destruction of her +children. The Lord appears and comforts her. Her grief is, at some +future time, to be changed into joy. She is to see the salvation which +the Lord will still bestow upon her sons. That which, therefore, +constitutes the essence of that passage is the contrast of the merited +punishment which Israel drew down upon themselves by their sins, with +the unmerited salvation which the mercy of the Lord will bestow upon +them. Now, quite the same contrast is perceptible in the event under +consideration. In the same manner as the tyranny of the Chaldeans, so +that of Herod also was a deserved punishment for the sins of the +Covenant-people. Herod, by birth a foreigner, was, like Nebuchadnezzar, +a rod of correction in the hand of the Lord. The cruel deed which, +with divine permission, he committed at the very place in which the +Saviour was born, was designed actually and visibly to remind the +Covenant-people [Pg 507] of what they had deserved by their sins,--was +intended also to be a matter-of-fact prophecy of the impending more +comprehensive judgment, and thus to make it manifest that so much the +more plainly, the sending of the Messiah was purely a work of divine +mercy, destined for those only who would recognise it as such. From +this it appears that the Old Testament event, to which the prophet, in +the first instance, refers, viz., the carrying away into captivity, and +the deliverance from it, were prophecies by deeds of those New +Testament relations (in which, however, the typical relation of the +murder of the children at Bethlehem, as we have stated it, must not be +overlooked);--that both were subject to the same laws, that both were a +necessary result of the working of the same divine mercy, and that +hence, a declaration which, in the first instance, referred to the +first event, might at the same time be considered as a prophecy of the +second.--Vers. 19 and 20 have for their foundation Exod. iv. 19, where +the Lord, after having ordered Moses to return to Egypt, subjoins the +words: [Greek: tethnekasi gar pantes hoi zetountes sou ten psuchen]. +That which the Lord there speaks to Moses, and that which, here. He +speaks to Joseph, proceed from the same cause. Like all servants of +God under the Old Testament, Moses is a type of Christ. There is +the same overruling by divine Providence, the same direction of all +events for the good of the kingdom of God. Moses is first withdrawn +from threatening danger by flight into distant regions. As soon as it +is time that he should enter upon his vocation, the door for the return +to the scene of his activity is opened to him. Just so is it with +regard to Christ.--Vers. 21-23 have for their sole foundation the +prophetic declaration: [Greek: hoti Nazoraios klethesetai] (compare, +on these words, the remarks on Is. xi.). The particular circumstances +which are mentioned, viz., that Joseph had the intention of settling +in Judea, but received from God the command to go into Galilee, are +designed only to make it more perceptible that the fulfilment of this +prophecy was willed by God. + +From this summary it sufficiently appears that the object of Matthew in +chap. i. and ii. was by no means of an historical, but rather of a +doctrinal nature; and since this is the case, all the objections fall +to the ground, which _Sieffert_, solely by disregarding this object of +the writer, has lately drawn from these [Pg 508] chapters against the +genuineness of Matthew's Gospel. And if we apply this to the question +before us, it follows that the section ii. 1-12 must likewise have an +Old Testament foundation. That this foundation can, in the first +instance, be sought for only in the prophecy of Micah, becomes evident +from the circumstance, that Bethlehem is, in ver. 1, mentioned as +Christ's birth-place. If we now take into consideration the fact that +the Evangelist does not mention at all that the parents of Jesus +formerly resided at Nazareth, just because it had no reference to any +prophecy of the Old Testament (it is merely by designating, in the +account of the birth of Jesus, Bethlehem as the place of His parents, +that he intimates that that which had been previously reported had +happened in a different place),--and that, on the other hand, he +mentions the residence of the Holy Family at Nazareth, after their +return from Egypt, evidently for the sole purpose of bringing it into +connection with a prophecy,--it becomes quite evident that it is not +from any historical interest that this circumstance, which was known to +all his readers, is mentioned. To this it may be further added, that +the account given in vers. 1-6, especially the communication of the +answer of the Sanhedrim to the question of Herod, would, according to +the proved object and aim of Matthew, stand altogether without a +purpose, unless he had considered the answer of the Doctors as being in +harmony with the truth, and hence as superseding his usual formula, +[Greek: hina plerothe]. In order to show how much Matthew was guided by +a regard to the Old Testament, and how frequently, at the same time, he +contented himself with a mere allusion, supposing his readers to be +acquainted with the Old Testament--as is quite evident from vers. 20 +and 23--we must further consider the second Old Testament reference +which he has in view in vers. 1-12. The passages to which he refers are +Ps. lxxii. 10: "The kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts;" and Is. +lx. 6: "All they from Sheba shall come, they shall bring gold and +incense, and they shall show forth the praises of the Lord." The +representation, in these and other similar passages, is, in the first +instance, a figurative one. Gifts are in the East a sign of allegiance. +The fundamental thought is this: "The most distant, the wealthiest, and +the most powerful nations of the earth shall do homage to the Messiah, +and consecrate to Him themselves and all that they have." But that +which is [Pg 509] prophesied by a figurative representation in these +Old Testament passages began to be fulfilled by the symbolical action +of the Magi, by which the image was represented externally; for the +gold, incense, and myrrh which they consecrated to the new-born King of +the Jews symbolized the homage which they offered to Him; and these +gifts are certainly expressly mentioned by Matthew for this reason, +that they occur in the Old Testament passages. As this event formed, in +one respect, the beginning of the fulfilment, so, in another, it formed +a new prophecy by deeds,--the type of a new, greater, and more proper +fulfilment. The Apostles considered these Magi as the types and +representatives of the whole mass of heathen nations who were, at a +subsequent period, to do homage to the Messiah. They were the +ambassadors, as it were, of the heathen world, to greet the new-born +King, just as the shepherds, whom God Himself had chosen, were the +deputies of the Jews. In my work on Balaam, pp. 480-482, I have proved +that, even with these references, the contents of the passage are not +yet exhausted,--that there still remains a prominent point, viz., the +star which the Magi saw, and that this refers to Balaam's prophecy of +the star proceeding from Jacob. + +But if it be established that the view of the prophecy under +consideration, which the Evangelist reports as that of the Sanhedrim, +must, at the same time, be considered as his own, we must also suppose +that the quotation, even in its particulars, is approved by him, and +that the view which was first advanced by _Jerome_ ("I believe that he +wished to exhibit the negligence of the scribes and priests, and wrote +it down as it had been spoken by them"), and recently by _Paulus_, +cannot be made use of in order to justify the deviations,--if any +should indeed be found. In order to ascertain this, we must examine +more closely the quotation in its relation to the original text of +the passage, Matt. ii. 6: [Greek: Kai su Bethleem, ge Iouda oudamos +elachiste ei en tois hegemosin Iouda. ek sou gar exeleusetai +hegoumenos, hostis poimanei ton laon mou, ton Israel.] The first thing +which demands our attention is [Greek: ge Iouda] for the Ephratah of +the original. The reason of this deviation is to be sought for in the +circumstance, that the place appears as Bethlehem Judah in 1 Sam. xvii. +12, where it is mentioned with a reference to David. The deviation at +the beginning has, accordingly, the same purpose [Pg 510] as that at +the close. As regards the grammatical exposition of [Greek: ge Iouda], +it stands for: Bethlehem situated in the land of Judah,--a short mode +of expression which is common in geographical and other similar +designations, just as in the Old Testament also we find [Hebrew: +bit-lHM ihvdh], for: Bethlehem situated in the land of Judah. The +assertion of many interpreters, that [Greek: ge] has here the +signification "town," is as objectionable as the attempt to change the +text, made by _Fritzsche_, who advances nothing on the whole verse that +can stand examination. The Evangelist here as little follows the LXX. +as he does the Hebrew text. The former has here: [Greek: kai su +Bethleema, oikos Ephratha] (thus without an article. _Cod. Vatic._). +_Fritzsche_ thinks that [Greek: oikos] had been brought into the text +from the margin. But the translator evidently considered "Ephratah" to +be the proper name of Caleb's wife (1 Chron. ii. 19, 50, iv. 4), from +whom others also, _e.g._, _Adrichomius_ (compare _Bachiene_ ii. 2, Sec. +190), derived the name of the place, and did nothing else than express +more definitely, by the subjoined [Greek: oikos], the relation of +dependence which, as he supposed, was indicated by the Genitive. The +apparent contradiction, that the prophet calls Bethlehem small, whereas +the Evangelist speaks of it as by no means small, has already been so +satisfactorily explained by ancient and modern interpreters (compare, +_e.g._, _Euthymius Zigabenus_ _l. c._ p. 59: "Although in appearance +thou art small, yet, truly, thou art by no means the least among the +principalities of the tribe of Judah;" _Michaelis_: "Micah, looking to +the outward condition, calls it small; Matthew, looking to the birth of +the Messiah, calls it by no means small, inasmuch as, by that birth, +that town was in a wonderful manner adorned and exalted"), that +we need not dwell upon it. We only remark, that the supposition of +_Paulus_, that the members of the Sanhedrim understood the verse +interrogatively--"Art thou, perhaps, too small," etc.--receives no +confirmation from the passage in _Pirke Eliezer_, c. 3, which he quotes +in favour of it, but which he saw only in the Latin translation of +_Wetzstein_; for, in the original text, the verse is quoted in literal +agreement with the Hebrew original; compare _Eisenmenger_, i. p. 316. A +comparison with the Chaldee, who with similar liberty paraphrases, +"Thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, shalt soon be numbered," clearly shows +that the deviation has arisen rather from an endeavour to express +the sense more [Pg 511] clearly and definitely. On such deviations, +_Calvin_ strikingly remarks: "Let the reader always attend to the +purpose for which the Evangelists quote Scripture passages, that they +may not scrupulously insist upon single words, but be satisfied +with this,--that the Scriptures are never distorted by them to a +different sense."--Micah introduces Bethlehem in the person of its +representative; but this figure Matthew has dropped at the beginning. +Instead of the Masculine [Hebrew: ceir] he puts the Feminine [Greek: +elachiste]; and, on the other hand, he renders [Hebrew: balpi] by +[Greek: en tois hegemosi], which, in a way not to be mistaken, suggests +this representation. _Fritzsche_ announces himself as the man who would +heal this _f[oe]dum sol[oe]cismum_ which had not hitherto been remarked +by any one. He proposes to read: [Greek: Kai su Bethleem tes Ioudaias +oudamos elachiste ei en tois hegemosin Iouda],--"and thou Bethlehem, by +no means the smallest part of the land of Judah, art," etc. But +altogether apart from the arbitrary change of [Greek: ge Iouda],--which +certainly no one could ever have been tempted to put for the more +simple [Greek: tes Ioudaias],--the personification could even then not +have been maintained, and the _f[oe]dus sol[oe]cismus_ would still +remain. Even although the [Greek elachiste] be understood in accordance +with the "_elegantissimus Graecorum usus_," Bethlehem must, after all, +be treated as a thing--as a town. Nor is the case much improved by the +assistance which _Fritzsche_ immediately afterwards endeavours to give +to the text: [Greek: kai su Bethleem, ge Iouda, oudamos elachiste ei en +tais hegemosin Iouda], "among the principal towns of the families in +Judea." Is there an instance in which [Greek: hai hegemones] means the +"principal towns?" Moreover, the relation of [Greek: hegemosin] to the +subsequent [Greek: hegoumenos], which requires the Masculine, has been +overlooked.--Micah personifies Bethlehem from the outset. Matthew +first introduces Bethlehem as a town, but afterwards passes to the +personification by speaking of the [Greek: hegemones]; instead of +the tribes. For this he had a special reason in the regard to the +subsequent [Greek: hegoumenos]. Bethlehem, although outwardly small, +is, notwithstanding, when regarded from a higher point of view, even in +the present by no means small among the _leaders_ of Judah, for, from +it, in the future, the great _leader_ of Judah shall proceed. This +relation, which is so evident, must the rather be assumed, that in +Micah also a contrast occurs which, as to the sense, is altogether +similar. It serves, at the [Pg 512] same time, for a proof against the +assumption that the Gospel of Matthew was originally written in the +Aramean language,--a view which is, generally, opposed also by the +free handling of the Old Testament text in the whole quotation. The +inconsistency in the use of the personification is, further, the more +easy of explanation, since it is altogether of an _ideal_ character, +and, substantially, person and town are not distinguished.--The last +words in Micah, "And His goings forth," etc., have been omitted by +Matthew, because they were not needed for his purpose, which was to +show that, according to the prophecies of the Old Testament, the +Messiah was to be born at Bethlehem. On the other hand, the [Hebrew: +biwral] of Micah is paraphrased by: [Greek: hostis poimanei ton laon +mou, ton Israel]. These words refer to 2 Sam. v. 2: "And the Lord says +to thee, _Thou shalt feed My people Israel_, and thou shalt be a prince +over Israel." They point out the typical relation between the first +David who was born at Bethlehem, and the second David, the Messiah. + +With respect to the relation betwixt prophecy and its fulfilment, we +must here still make a general remark. It is everywhere evident +(compare the remarks on Zech. ix. 9), that the fulfilment of the +prophecies of the Old Testament forms a secondary purpose of the events +of the New Testament, but that in none of the latter this fulfilment is +the sole object. Every one, on the contrary, has its significance apart +from the prophecy; and it is by this significance that prophecy and +history are equally governed. This general remark is here also +confirmed. The birth of Christ at Bethlehem testified, in one respect, +for the divine origin of the prophecy of the Old Testament, and, in +another, that Jesus is the Christ. But its main object, altogether +independent of this, was to represent, outwardly also, the descent of +Christ from David. This was recognised by the Jews even, at the time of +Christ, as appears from the addition [Greek: hopou en Dabid], John vii. +42. Of the two seats of the Davidic family, viz., Bethlehem and +Jerusalem, the former is chosen, partly, because, from its external +littleness, it was, generally, very suitable for prefiguring the +lowliness of the Messiah at the outset--a circumstance which is +expressly pointed out by the prophet himself--and partly, because it +was peculiar to the family of David during its obscurity; whilst +Jerusalem, on the contrary, belonged to their regal condition,--and the +Messiah [Pg 513] was to be born in the fallen tabernacle of David, to +be a rod from the cut off stem of Jesse, Is. xi. 1. That this reference +also was in the view of the prophet, seems to be evident from a +comparison of iii. 12, and iv. 8, 9, 14. At all events he considered +the family of David as having altogether sunk at the time of the +Messiah's appearing. The very threatenings in chap. i.-iii. imply the +destruction of the Davidic kingdom. This meets us, very distinctly, in +chap. iv. + + * * * * * + +Ver. 2. "_Therefore will He give them up until the time that she who is +hearing hath brought forth; and then the remnant of his brethren shall +return unto the sons of Israel._" + +The description of what the Messiah is to bestow upon the +Covenant-people begins in this verse, and is carried on through the +whole chapter. By [Hebrew: lkN] the close connection of v. 1 with vi. +9-14 is indicated. _Michaelis_ remarks: "Because this is the counsel of +God, first to afflict Zion, on account of her sins, and, afterwards +only, to restore her through the Messiah to be born at Bethlehem." In +chap. iv. 9-14, it is implied that the giving up will not terminate +_before_ His birth; in v. 1, that it will come to an end _with_ His +birth. The whole time described in iv. 9-14 is a time of affliction, +of giving up Israel to the world's power in a threefold form of its +manifestation. In iv. 14, however, the affliction has reached its +highest point, and the lucid interval, mentioned in vers. 12, 13, has +fully expired. It is only when we look back to v. 1 alone, that the +"therefore" with which our verse opens is not explained, inasmuch as +there it is said only, that with the Messiah deliverance and salvation +would come, but not that the affliction would continue until He should +come.--[Hebrew: ntN] is similarly used in 2 Chron. xxx. 7: "And be not +ye like your fathers, and like your brethren who trespassed against +the Lord God of your fathers; therefore He gave them up to desolation +([Hebrew: vitnM lwmh]), as you see." With respect to the words, "Until +the time that she who is bearing hath brought forth," there is an +essential difference of opinion as to the explanation of the main +point. One class of interpreters--comprehending _Eusebius_ and _Cyril_, +and by far the greatest number of the ancient Christian expositors; and +among the more recent, _Rosenmueller_, _Ewald_, _Hitzig_, _Maurer_, and +_Caspari_--understand [Pg 514] by "her who is bearing," the mother +of the Messiah. Another class understands thereby the Congregation +of Israel. The latter, however, differ from each other as to the +signification and import of the figure of the birth. Some--_Abendana_, +_Calvin_, and _Justi_--suppose the _tertium comparationis_ to be the +joy following upon the pain. Others--_Theodoret_, _Tarnovius_ ("until +Israel, like a fruitful mother, has brought forth a numerous progeny"), +_Vitringa_ (in his _Commentary on Revel._ S. 534)--suppose it to be the +great increase. Let us first decide between these two modifications of +that view which refers the words to the Congregation of Israel. The +former--the joy following after the pain--appears to be inadmissible +for this single reason, that among the very numerous passages of the +Old Testament where the image of a birth is employed, there does +not occur even one, in which the joy following after the pain is +made prominent, as is the case in the well-known passage in the New +Testament. On the contrary, in all the passages which come into +consideration on this point, it is rather the pain accompanying the +birth which is considered. Thus Mic. iv. 10; Is. xxvi. 17; Jer. iv. 31: +"For I hear a voice as of a woman in travail, anguish as of her that +bringeth forth her first-born child, the voice of the daughter of +Zion, she groaneth, spreadeth her hands: Woe to me, for my soul is +wearied, through them that kill;" xxx. 6, xlix. 24; Hos. xiii. 13. To +consider the pain alone, however, as the _tertium comparationis_, +is inadmissible, because, in that case, we would obtain the absurd +meaning: the suffering shall continue until the suffering cometh. It is +likewise impossible to understand the bringing forth as the highest +degree of affliction,--so that the sense would be: the Lord will give +them up until the distress reaches its highest point,--because this +meaning could apply only in the event of the lower degrees, the pains +before the birth, being also mentioned. They who hold and defend the +second modification of this view, can indeed refer to, and quote, a +large number of parallel passages--almost all of them from the second +part of Isaiah--where this image occurs with a similar signification. +Thus, _e.g._. Is. liv. 1: "Shout for joy, O barren, thou that didst +not bear; break forth into shouting and exult, thou that didst not +travail; for more numerous are the sons of the desolate than the sons +of the married wife, saith the Lord;" xlix. 21, 22, lxvi. 7-9. But we +must nevertheless prefer [Pg 515] to this explanation, that which +refers the words to the mother of the Messiah, for the following +reasons. 1. If the words were to be referred to the Congregation of +Israel, we should expect the Article before [Hebrew: ivldh]. For the +Congregation of Israel is substantially mentioned in what immediately +precedes; she is only a personification of those who are to be given +up. 2. It is true that, frequently, the personification is not +consistently carried out; but the circumstance that here, in the same +sentence, the children of Israel are spoken of in the plural ("He will +give _them_ up"), and that no trace of a personification is found in +what follows, but that, on the contrary, the children of Israel are +mentioned expressly, makes the pretended personification appear in +rather an abrupt manner, so that such an assumption would be admissible +in a case of necessity only. 3. If referred to the Congregation of +Israel, the relation of the Messiah to that great event, and epoch, is +not intimated by a single word. Of Him ver. 1 speaks, and of Him vers. +3-5. How then can it be that in ver. 2 there should all at once be a +transition to the general Messianic representation? 4. The suffix in +[Hebrew: aHiv], which refers to the Messiah, requires that He should be +indirectly mentioned in what precedes; and such is the case, only when +the [Hebrew: ivldh] is she who is to bring forth the Ruler announced in +ver. 1. 5. It appears from the reference to Gen. xxxv., which we have +already pointed out and proved, that the prophet has in view one who is +to bring forth in Bethlehem. Bethlehem, which had in ancient times +already become remarkable by a birth, is in future to be ennobled by +another birth, infinitely more important. 6. The comparison of Is. vii. +14, where likewise the mother of the Messiah is mentioned; compare +the remarks on that passage. 7, and lastly--The evident reference of +"Until the time that she who is bearing hath brought forth" to "From +thee shall come forth," suggests the mother of the Messiah. That +she is designated as "she who brings forth," may be explained from +the circumstance that she comes into view here in a relation which +is altogether one-sided, viz., only as regards the one event of the +birth of the Messiah.--Among the blessings which the Messiah is to +confer upon the Congregation of the Lord, there is first of all viewed +the fundamental blessing, the condition of all others, viz., the change +which He is to effect in the disposition of the Covenant-people. [Pg +516] It is this which, above and before everything else, needs to be +changed, if Israel is not any more to be given up; for Israel which +is so only by name and in appearance, is the legitimate prey of +the world.--By the Brethren of the Messiah, the members of the Old +Covenant-people, His brethren according to the flesh, can alone be +understood. There is no Old Testament analogy for referring the +expression to the Gentiles. We are led to the reference to Israel by +the connection with the first member of the verse. The brethren are +such as have become the Messiah's brethren by the circumstance that He +has been born of the Bethlehemitish woman "who is to bring forth" +(_Caspari_). We are led to it, _further_, by v. 1, according to which, +the Messiah is to be Ruler in Israel; and, _still further_, by the +fundamental passage in Ps. xxii. 23: "I will declare Thy name unto my +brethren," where, according to the address in ver. 24, the brethren are +all the descendants of Israel, among whom a great awakening is to be +produced.--The construction of [Hebrew: wvb] with [Hebrew: el] may be +explained by the remark of _Ewald_: "[Hebrew: el] stands in its primary +local signification with verbs also, when the thing moves to another +thing, and remains upon it." Of a material return the verb [Hebrew: +wvb] with [Hebrew: el] is thus used in Prov. xxvi. 11, Eccles. i. +6;--of a spiritual return, 2 Chron. xxx. 9: [Hebrew: bwvbkM el ihvh] +"when ye return to the Lord," properly, "upon the Lord;" and Mal. iii. +24 (iv. 6): "And he makes return the hearts of the fathers to the sons, +[Hebrew: el bniM],"--which latter passage has a striking resemblance to +the one under review. In the latter signification [Hebrew: wvb] must be +taken here also.--By the "sons of Israel," here, as ordinarily, the +whole of the Covenant-people are signified, and that by its highest +and holiest name. From this holy communion, the wicked--the souls +which, according to the expression of the Lord, are cut off from their +people--are separated and dissevered; compare my commentary on Ps. +lxxiii. 1. The whole description of the prevailing corruption, and +especially vii. 1, 2, show us to what an extent this separation existed +at the time of the prophet. But, by the Saviour, this separation is to +be abolished, and the lost and wandering are to be brought back to the +communion of the church,--a work which, according to Rom. xi., will be +perfected in the future only.[1] + +[Pg 517] + +Ver. 3. "_And He stands and feeds in the strength of the Lord, +in the majesty of the name of the Lord His God; and they dwell, for now +shall He be great unto the ends of the earth._" + +In this verse we are told what the Saviour shall do for awakened and, +thus, inwardly united Israel. "He stands," has here not the +signification of "He abides," but belongs merely to the graphic +description of the habit of the shepherd; compare Is. lxi. 5: "And +strangers stand and feed your flocks." The shepherd stands, leaning +upon his staff, and overlooks the flock. The connection of "He feeds" +with "in the strength of the Lord," we cannot better express than +_Calvin_ has done in the words: "The word 'to feed' expresses what +Christ will be towards His people, _i.e._, towards the flock committed +to Him. He does not exercise dominion in the Church like a formidable +tyrant who keeps down his subjects through terror, but He is a +Shepherd, and treats His sheep with all the gentleness which they can +desire. But, inasmuch as we are surrounded on all sides by enemies, the +prophet adds: 'He shall feed in the strength,' etc.; _i.e._, as much +power as there is in God, so much protection there will be in Christ, +when it is necessary to defend and protect His Church against enemies. +We may learn, then, from this, that we may expect as much of salvation +from Christ as there is strength in God." The great King is so closely +united to God, that the whole fulness of divine power and majesty +belongs to Him. Such attributes are never given to any earthly king. +Such a king has, indeed, strength in the Lord, Is. xlv. 24; "The Lord +giveth strength to His king, and exalteth the horn of His anointed," 1 +Sam. ii. 10; but the whole strength and majesty of God are not his +possession. The passage [Pg 518] in Is. ix. 5 (6) is parallel,--where +the Messiah is called [Hebrew: al gbvr], God-hero.--The "name of God" +points to the rich fulness in deeds, by which He has manifested the +glory of His nature. The Messiah will be the brightness and image of +this His glory,--a glory which is manifested by acts, and not a glory +which is inactive and concealed. "They dwell" forms a contrast to the +disquietude and scattering, and we are, therefore, not at liberty to +supply "safely" before it. The last words are deprived of their meaning +and significance by explanations such as that of _Dathe_: "His name +shall attain to great renown and celebrity." The ground of the present +rest and safety of the Congregation of the Lord rather is this,--that +her Head has now extended His dominion beyond the narrow limits of +Palestine, over the whole earth; compare iv. 3.--2 Sam. vii. 9 cannot +here be compared, as there the _name_ of the Lord is not spoken of as +it is here. That the "being great" here implies real dominion +(_Maurer_: _auctoritate et potentia valebit_), which alone can afford a +pledge for the dwelling in safety, is shown also by the fundamental +passages Ps. ii. 8, lxxii. 8; compare Zech. ix. 10. In Luke i. 32 the +passage before us is referred to. The "now" does not by any means form +a contrast with a former condition of the Messiah, but with the former +condition of the Congregation when she did not enjoy so powerful a +Ruler. + +Ver. 4. "_And this_ (man) _is peace. When Asshur comes into our land, +and when he treads in our palaces, we raise against him seven +shepherds, and eight princes of men._ Ver. 5. _And they feed the land +of Asshur with the sword, and the land of Nimrod in its gates; and He +protects from Asshur when he comes into our land, and when he treads +within our borders._" + +"And this man (He whose glory has just been described) is peace,"--He +bestows that which we have so much needed, and longed for with so +much anxiety in these troublous times before His appearing. In a +similar manner, and with reference to the passage before us, it is +said in Ephes. ii. 14: [Greek: autos estin he eirene hemon], compare +also Judges vi. 24: "And Gideon built an altar there unto the +Lord, and called it Jehovah-Peace, [Hebrew: ihvh wlvM]." Abandoning +this explanation, which is so natural, _Jonathan_, _Grotius_, +_Rosenmueller_, and _Winer_ explain: "And _there_ will be peace to +us,"--an interpretation, however, which is inadmissible even on +philological grounds, [Hebrew: zh] is nowhere used, either [Pg 519] as +Adverb, loci = "here," or as Adverb, temp. = "then." As regards the +latter, such passages as Gen. xxxi. 41--"These are to me twenty years," +instead of, "twenty years have now elapsed"--are, of course, not at all +to the purpose. But of such a kind are almost all the examples quoted +by _Nolde_. In Esther ii. 13 [Hebrew: bzh] is used. The verb [Hebrew: +hcil] in ver. 5 is likewise in favour of understanding [Hebrew: zh] +personally; compare also Zech. ix. 10: "And He shall speak peace unto +the nations."--There can scarcely be any doubt that the words allude to +the name of Solomon, and that the Messiah is represented in them as the +Antitype of Solomon. Upon this point there is the less room for doubt, +because even Solomon himself called the Messiah by his name in the Song +of Solomon; and in Is. ix. 5 (6) also, He is, with an evident allusion +to the name of Solomon, called the Prince of Peace.--All which follows +after these words, to the end of ver. 5, is only a particularizing +expansion of the words: "And this (man) is peace." Interpreters have +almost all agreed, that Asshur, the most dangerous enemy of the +Covenant-people at the time of the prophet, stands here as a type of +the enemies of the Covenant-people. Even _L. Baur_ has translated: "And +though another Asshur," etc., with a reference to the passage in +_Virgil_ to which allusion had already been made by _Castalio_: "_Alter +erit tum Tiphys et altera quae vehat Argo delectos heroas._" That the +prophet, however, was fully conscious of his here using Asshur +typically, appears from iv. 9, 10. For, according to these verses, the +first of the three catastrophes which preceded the birth of the +Messiah, proceeds from a new phase of the world's power, viz., from the +Babylonian empire, the rising of which implies the overthrow of the +Assyrian. But the figurative element in the representation goes still +farther. From ver. 9 ff.--according to which the Lord makes His people +outwardly defenceless, before they become, in Christ, the conquerors of +the world--it is obvious that the spiritual struggle against the +world's power is here represented under the image of the outward +struggle, carried on with the sword. One might be tempted to confine +the thought of the passage to this: "The Messiah affords to His people +the same protection and security as would a large number of brave +princes with their hosts," inasmuch as the bestowal of these was, under +the Old Testament, the ordinary means by which the Lord delivered His +people. If, however, the spiritual character [Pg 520] of the struggle +only be maintained, there is no sufficient reason for considering the +seven and more shepherds and the princes as mere imagery, because, in +the kingdom of Christ also, the cause of the kingdom of God is carried +on by human instruments, whom He furnishes with His own strength. +The words, "This (man) is peace," and "He protects," in ver. 5, show +indeed with sufficient distinctness, that, in the main, Christ is +the only Saviour,--the shepherds, His instruments only,--and their +world-conquering power, a derived one only. The apparent contradiction +of the passage before us to iv. 1-3, vii. 12--according to which the +heathen nations shall, in the time of the Messiah, spontaneously press +towards the kingdom of God--is removed by the remark, that we have here +before us two different streams which may as well flow together in +prophecy as they do in history. The zeal with which the nations press +towards the kingdom is, in part, greatly called forth by the fact, +that, in attacking the kingdom of Christ, they have experienced its +world-conquering power. The circumstance that the words, "This (man) +is peace," stand at the beginning, proves that the main idea is the +security of the kingdom of God against all hostile attacks. For the +like reason it is, towards the end, resumed in the words, "And He +protects," etc. But this affords no reason for saying, with _Caspari_: +"It forms part of the defence, it is indeed its consummation, that the +war is carried into Asshur." In the first hemistich of ver. 5, it is +intimated rather, that, in the time of the Messiah, the positions of +the world and of the people of God are changed,--that the latter +becomes world-conquering; and for this reason, every thought of their +own insecurity must so much the rather disappear. "The land of Nimrod" +is, according to Gen. x. 11, Asshur. The "gates" are those of the +cities and fortresses, corresponding with, "When he treads in our +palaces," in ver. 4. It weakens the sense to think of the gates of the +country, as such, _i.e._, the borders. The attack, on the contrary, is +directed against, and strikes the real centre of the seat of the +world's power, just as, formerly, the stroke was always directed +against Zion. + +With regard to the remaining part of the chapter, we content ourselves +with a mere statement of the contents. The Congregation of the Lord +shall, at that time, not only be lovely and refreshing, ver. 6 (7), +(this is the constant signification of the [Pg 521] image of the dew, +compare Ps. cx. 3, cxxxiii. 3, lxxii. 6; the relative pronoun [Hebrew: +awr] must be referred to the grass, mentioned immediately before; that +which the dew descending from heaven is to the grass, Israel will, in +his heavenly mission, be to the heathen world), but at the same time +fearful and irresistible, vers. 7, 8 (8, 9); the latter of these +qualities shall show itself not only as a curse in the case of +obstinate despisers, but also as a blessing in the case of those who +are estranged from the kingdom of God, through ignorance only. Resuming +then the last words of ver. 8 (9), "All thine enemies shall be cut +off," the prophet declares that before this word shall be fulfilled, +the destructive activity of the Lord will be manifested in Israel +itself. He will cut off by His judgments, and by the catastrophes +described in iv. 9-14, everything in which, in the present, they placed +a carnal confidence, everything by which they became externally strong +and powerful (_Caspari_: "A cutting off, in the first instance, of all +wherewith elsewhere enemies are commonly cut off"), and so likewise all +idolatry, to which the Chaldean catastrophe already put a violent end. +It is only of such a termination by force, and not of a purely inward +effect of the "gentle power of the Spirit then poured out upon them," +that the words here, as well as in reference to the horses, etc., +permit us to think. The two kinds of objects of false confidence are +then, in conclusion, in ver. 13 (14) once more summed up,--when the +cities, just as in ver. 10 (11), come into view as fortresses only. If +thus the path be cleared and prepared for the Lord, He will, on behalf +of His people, execute vengeance upon the heathen world. + + +Footnote 1: After the example of _Hofmann_, _Caspari_ gives this +exposition: "And the remnant of His brethren, viz., the inhabitants of +Judah, shall return from the captivity to Canaan, along with the sons +of Israel, _i.e._, the ten tribes." But the return from the captivity +never appears in the prophets, as a work of the Messiah. It has here +taken place long before His appearing: chap. iv. 10, iv. 11-14 supposes +it to have taken place, and Zion to be in existence. The "brethren of +the Messiah" can neither be the inhabitants of Judah especially, nor +the sons of Israel, the ten tribes, unless the antithesis to Judah be +distinctly expressed. It is absurd to suppose that the ten tribes +should appear as those chiefly who are to be redeemed. [Hebrew: wvb], +which means "to return," cannot be used simply of a return to the +country, while [Hebrew: wvb] with [Hebrew: el] can, according to the +_usus loquendi_, be understood only in the sense of "to return to," +etc., etc. + + + + CHAP. VI. VII. + +We shall now, in conclusion, give a survey of the third and closing +discourse of the prophet. After an introduction in vi. 1, 2, where the +mountains serve only to give greater solemnity to the scene (in the +fundamental passages Deut. xxxii. 1, and in Is. 1, 2, "heaven and +earth" are mentioned for the same purposes, inasmuch as they are the +most venerable parts of creation; "contend _with_ the mountains" by +taking them in and applying to [Pg 522] them as hearers), the prophet +reminds the people of the benefits which they have repaid with +ingratitude, vers. 3-5. (In ver. 5 those facts also which served as a +proof of its truth, are considered as part of Balaam's answer.) He +then, in vers. 6-8, shows the fallacy of the imagination that they +could satisfy the Lord by the observance of the mere outward forms of +worship, though such should be increased to the utmost, and performed +in a manner totally different from that in which it was in the present, +and points out the spiritual demands already made even by the law, and +especially by Deut. x. 12, a compliance with which could alone be +pleasing to the Lord. From vi. 9-vii. 6, he shows to how limited an +extent these demands are complied with by the people,--how true and +cordial piety and justice have disappeared from the midst of them,--and +how, therefore, the threatenings of the law must, and shall be +fulfilled upon them. The reproof and threatening are then followed by +the announcement of salvation, which refers indeed to the Messianic +times, but without any mention in it of the person of the Messiah, the +brightness of which meets us only in the main body of the prophecy. The +main thought here also is the entirely altered position of Israel in +their relation to the heathen world. "A day is coming"--so it is said +in ver. 11--"to build thy walls; in that day shall the law be far +removed." [Hebrew: gdr] is used especially of the walls and fences of +vineyards; and under the image of a vineyard, Israel appears as early +as in the Song of Solomon. The wall around the vineyard of Israel is +the protection against the heathen world; Is. v. 5. The "law" is, +according to the context, in which the heathen oppressors are spoken +of, that which is imposed by them upon the people of God; Ps. xciv. 20. +Ver. 12. "_A day it is when they shall come to thee from Asshur, and +from the cities of Egypt, and from Egypt to the river, and to sea from +sea, and to mountain from mountain._" It is not enough that the people +of God are freed from the servitude of the world. They shall become the +objects of the longing of the nations, even the most powerful and +hostile. They become the magnet which attracts them; compare iv. 1, 2. +From among the heathen nations Asshur and Egypt are first specially +mentioned, as the two principal representatives of hostility against +the kingdom of God in the present and past, and, at the same time, as +the two most powerful empires at the time of the prophet [Pg 523]--the +latter quality being indicated by the circumstance of Egypt's appearing +under the name [Hebrew: mcvr], "fortress." But then, by the expressions +"from sea to sea," "from mountain to mountain," which are equivalent to +"from every sea to every sea," etc., all barriers in general are +completely removed; compare in v. 3 (4) the words: "He shall be great +unto the ends of the earth." (The subject in [Hebrew: ibva] can only be +the inhabitants of these countries themselves, not the Jews living +there. If the latter had been intended, a more distinct indication of +it would have been required. The Masculine Suffix [Hebrew: ediK] "to +thee," _i.e._, not to Zion but to Israel, is opposed to such a +reference. This shows clearly that they who come are different from +Israel. In entire harmony with this prophecy is Is. xix. 18-25.) But, +before such glory can be bestowed upon the people of God, the +irrevocable judgment must first have done its fearful work, ver. 13; +compare the fundamental passage Lev. xxvi. 33, and Is. i. 7. In ver. 14 +the announcement of salvation takes a new start. Vers. 18-20 form the +sublime close, not only of the last discourse, but also of the whole +book, as is clearly indicated by the coincidence of the words, "Who is, +O God, like unto Thee?" ver. 18, with the mention of Micah's name in +the inscription. The name of the prophet, by which he is dedicated to +the incomparable God, has been confirmed by the contents of his +prophecy. The New Testament parallel passage is Rom. xi. 33-36: +"_Who is, O God, like unto Thee; pardoning iniquity, and remitting +transgression to the remnant of His heritage? He retaineth not His +anger for ever, because He delighteth in mercy._" "Who is, O God, like +unto Thee?" so the people once already sang after the redemption from +Egypt. Thus it resounds still more loudly in the view of the antitypal +redemption, by which the fundamental definition of the divine nature in +Exod. xxxiv. 6, 7, and David's praise of divine mercy in Ps. ciii., are +fully realized. "He will return and have compassion upon us (according +to the promise in Deut. xxx. 3), will overcome our iniquities (which, +like a cruel tyrant, like Pharaoh of old, subjected us to their power, +Ps. xix. 14), and cast all their sins into the depth of the sea," as +once He cast the proud Egyptians, Exod. xv. 5-10. "Thou wilt give truth +to Jacob, and mercy to Abraham, as Thou hast sworn unto our fathers +from the days of old." + +[Pg 524] +[Blank Page] + +[Pg 525] + + + + Works Published by T. & T. Clark, Edinburgh. + + PROSPECTUS + + OF THE + + ANTE-NICENE CHRISTIAN LIBRARY. + +MESSRS CLARK of Edinburgh, Publishers of the Foreign Theological +Library, beg respectfully to invite attention to the Prospectus of a +Collection of all the works of the Fathers of the Christian Church, +prior to the Council of Nicaea, to be Edited by + + REV. ALEXANDER ROBERTS, D.D., + Author of 'Discussions on the Gospels,' Etc.; + + AND + + JAMES DONALDSON, LL.D., + Author of 'A Critical History of Christian Literature and Doctrine + from the Death of the Apostles to the Nicene Council.' + + +THE writings of the early Christians are allowed on all hands to be of +great importance, and to be invested with a peculiar interest; and +regrets have often been expressed that it should be so difficult to +know their contents. Many of them are mere fragments; and where +complete works exist, the text is often so corrupt, and the style is so +involved, that even a good classical scholar is repelled from their +perusal. If the student of Latin and Greek meets with obstacles, the +merely English reader is absolutely without the means of information. +The greater part of the most important writings have never been +translated; and those translations which have been made are, with the +exception of the few executed in recent times, for the most part loose, +inaccurate, and difficult to procure. To supply this great want is the +object of the Ante-Nicene Christian Library. All the Christian writings +antecedent to the Nicene Council have been put into the hands of +competent translators. These will make it their first and principal aim +to produce translations as faithful as possible, uncoloured by any +bias, dogmatic or ecclesiastical. They will also endeavour, in brief +notes, to place the English reader in the position of those acquainted +with the original languages. They will indicate important variations in +the text; they will give different translations of the same passage +where more than one have been proposed; they will note the various +meanings attributed to the words in ecclesiastical controversies; and +when the ancient documents appear in widely different forms, the +various forms will be presented. At the same time, they will strive to +combine with this strict accuracy and faithfulness as much elegance as +may be consistent with the main aim. Short biographical [Pg 526] and +explanatory notices will be prefixed to each translation; and in every +case where there is variety of opinion, the writer will abstain from +expressing his own sentiments, and confine himself simply to an +impartial statement of the opinions of the most noteworthy critics on +the point. + +The following are the works which are now being translated:-- + +I. The Apostolical Fathers, including the Epistles of Clemens Romanus, +the Epistles of Ignatius in their various forms, the Epistle of +Barnabas, the Epistle of Polycarp, the Epistle to Diognetus, and the +Pastor of Hermas, with the Martyria of Ignatius and Polycarp. + +II. The undoubted and doubtful works of Justin Martyr,--the Apologies, +the Dialogue with Trypho, the Oratio ad Gentiles, the Cohortatio, the +De Monarchia, and the fragments on the Resurrection, along with the +Martyrium of one Justin. + +III. The works of Tatian, Athenagoras, Theophilus of Antioch, Hermias, +and the fragments of the rest of the Apologists. + +IV. Irenaeus: All his extant works. + +V. Clemens Alexandrinus: All his extant works. + +VI. Origen. The Series will include the De Principiis, and the Contra +Celsum. The rest of his works will be translated if the Series is +successful. + +VII. The fragments of Julius Africanus, and of the other writers given +in Dr Routh's Reliquiae Sacrae. + +VIII. The works generally ascribed to Hippolytus, along with the +recently discovered Refutatio Omnium Haeresium. + +IX. The works ascribed to Dionysius of Alexandria, Gregory +Thaumaturgus, Methodius, and others of the same period. + +X. The Recognitions and the Clementine Homilies, the Letters of Clemens +on Virginity, the Constitutions, the Canons of the Apostles, Decrees of +Councils till the period of the Nicene Council, and the Martyria +written within the period, and generally believed to be genuine. + +XI. The Apocryphal Gospels, and other Apocryphal Literature of the New +Testament. + +XII. The Octavius of Minucius Felix. + +XIII. The entire works of Tertullian. + +XIV. All the genuine works of Cyprian. + +XV. Arnobius adversus Gentes. + +XVI. The works of Lactantius. + +XVII. The extant works of Novatian, Victorinus, Commodianus, and other +Christian Latin writers preceding the Council of Nice. + +[Pg 527] + +It is intended to include in the Series every Christian writing and +document produced before the Nicene Council, whether in Greek, Latin, +Syriac, Arabic, AEthiopic, or in any other language. The list includes a +number of works, some portions of which are generally believed to have +been written after the Council of Nice; but as other portions were, or +may have been, written before that time, it has been thought the safer +course to give them fully. Only those works which are now allowed on +every hand to have been written after the Nicene Council, will be +excluded. + + +It is believed that the writings comprised in the above Synopsis will +form about sixteen or eighteen Volumes, in demy octavo, of a size +similar to the Publishers' Foreign Theological Library; and the Series +will be published at the same rate to Subscribers, namely-- + + FOUR VOLUMES for ONE GUINEA. + +Each work will have a separate Index; and a very complete Index to the +whole Series will be published in a separate Volume, especial care +being taken hi its compilation. + +The Publishers' arrangements are such, that the publication, once +commenced, will proceed very rapidly; so that, whilst no Subscriber +will be required to take the work more rapidly than four Volumes +annually, it is highly probable that the whole may be finished at a +much earlier period, for the convenience of those who may desire to +have their sets completed. The Volumes will be handsomely bound in +cloth, with red edges; but Subscribers may have them with uncut edges, +by intimating their wish with their order. + +They will be greatly obliged by intending Subscribers filling up the +accompanying Slip, and returning it to them speedily, as this will very +much facilitate their arrangements. + +** _When not paid in advance, the retail Bookseller is entitled to +charge 24s_ + +* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * + + + .......................................186 . + +I request Messrs Clark to insert my name in their list of Subscribers +to the ANTE-NICENE CHRISTIAN LIBRARY, and to forward the books as +published, through my bookseller, + + _Mr_ ........................................................ + + (_Signed_)................................................... + +If it is preferred to have the works forwarded direct per railway or +book post (at cost of postage), It is requested that it be so stated. +The Subscription is payable in advance, annually, on or before the +FIRST Issue for each Year. + +[Pg 528] + +Now ready, in Four Volumes, demy 8vo, price 32s., handsomely bound in +cloth, + + THE COMPARATIVE GEOGRAPHY + + OF + + PALESTINE + + AND THE + + SINAITIC PENINSULA. + + By CARL RITTER, + + PROFESSOR OF GEOGRAPHY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF BERLIN. + + Translated and Adapted to the use of Biblical Students, by + + WILLIAM L. GAGE. + + + +CARL RITTER, the late Professor of Geography in the University of +Berlin, is known by name to many who are comparatively uninformed +respecting the extent and value of his labours. In portraying the +connection of geography with the physical sciences, Alexander von +Humboldt had no superior; while in establishing the relation between +geography and history, CARL RITTER was as unquestionably pre-eminent. A +chair was created for him in the Berlin University as early as 1820. He +lived to occupy it for forty years, and to confer no less honour upon +the city where he resided, and the institution in which he taught, than +upon his own name. And though but slight glimpses of his career have +been caught by the people of Great Britain, yet such references to him +as that in the Preface to Robinson's _Biblical Researches_, and works +of a similar character, will convince the readers of this country that +whatever comes from his pen must have great and permanent value. + +Professor RITTER'S main work relates to Asia, and includes +therefore all of that territory which is known as the Holy Land. To +this,--including the Lebanon district, Palestine proper, the country +east of the Jordan, and the Sinaitic Peninsula,--RITTER devotes a +space equal to 6000 pages of the size employed in Messrs Clark's +publications. To translate a mass so voluminous as this would be +evidently impracticable; and yet the immense erudition and power of +graphic description of Professor RITTER, conjoined with the fact that +he brought to the study of the Holy Land, not the unbelief of a +rationalist, but living faith of a genuine Christian, has convinced the +publishers that a portion of his great work would be a welcome offering +to all students of Biblical Geography. + +Messrs Clark accordingly now publish a translation executed by REV. +WILLIAM L. GAGE, a pupil and friend of the lamented RITTER, comprising +that portion of the volumes relating to the Holy Land, which, in his +judgment as editor, shall be the most acceptable addition to our +biblical literature. The work is comprised in four octavo volumes. MR +GAGE has been engaged for several years in the study and interpretation +of Professor RITTER'S writings, and has enjoyed the active co-operation +of many of the most eminent living geographers. + +The main object which has been held in view in condensing and in +selecting from the original, is to prepare the work for the use of +biblical students. Everything illustrating the Bible bas been +considered of prime importance, and everything has been retained, +needful to maintain the unity of the work. Notes are added, indicative +of discoveries made since RITTER wrote, and the object has never been +lost from sight--to make the work worthy of taking the same place in +English that it has already done in German literature. + + + + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Christology of the Old Testament: And +a Commentary on the Messianic Predictions, v. 1, by Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHRISTOLOGY OF OLD TESTAMENT, V.1 *** + +***** This file should be named 30410.txt or 30410.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/0/4/1/30410/ + +Produced by Charles Bowen (produced from scanned images +of public domain material from Google Books) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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