Chapter XIII: Front Matter (13)

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 לכן 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 לכן 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 לכן as being simply co-ordinate with the לכן 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.--פתה, 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. _Kuehnöl_ 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 משם 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." _Rosenmüller_ 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.--דבר על־לב, 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. נתן with ל 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. משם, properly "from thence," is correctly explained by _Manger_: "As soon as she has come out of that wilderness." The explanation of _Rödiger_ and others, "From that time," is unphilological; שם 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 וענתה שמה are commonly explained, "She sings there," or, "She there raises alternative songs." But both of these interpretations are unphilological. For 1. שמה 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 ב 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 שמה is used instead of שם, 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 שמה for שם. 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 ישב 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 שמה can so much the less signify "there," that the instances alleged for the weakening of the ה _locale_ in other passages, will not stand the test. _Ewald_ appeals to Ps. lxviii. 7: "God makes the solitary to dwell ביתה;" 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 ה itself, no other designation was required in poetry, which delights in brevity. _Further_--Hab. iii. 11: "Sun and moon stand זבלה, towards their habitation," _i.e._, go into their habitation and stand there. 2. The verb ענה 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? ענה 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 (להם, _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 שמה to the preceding משם. 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.--ימי and יום 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, בעל is to be taken as an appellative noun, the "marriage-Lord," in contrast with איש, "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 בעל, 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 איש and בעל, 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 בעל 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._"

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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 כרת ברית 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. רמש 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 παλινγενεσία, 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 ארש, "to espouse" (compare Deut. xx. 7, where it is contrasted with לקח), 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 לעולם 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 ארשתיך לי, "I betroth thee to Me," by means of ב, 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. רחמים, "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, צדק, designates the _being just_, as a subjective attribute, with the dispositions and actions flowing from it; the latter, משפט, 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. חסד, 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 רחמים, "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 אמונה 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 אענה is, by most interpreters, considered as a resumption of the first. But we obtain a far more expressive sense, if we isolate the first אענה, "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 _prosopopœia_, 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 זרעתיה, referring to יזרעאל, 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 משפט 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.