Chapter V: Front Matter (5)

The Prophet beholds the joy of the Messianic time as present; he beholds the covenant-people numerous, free from all misery, and full of joy; full of delight he turns to the Lord, and praises Him for what He has done to His people.--One [Pg 81] of the privileges of the people of God is the increase which at all times takes place after they are sifted and thinned by judgments. Thus, _e.g._, it happened at the time after their return from the captivity, comp. Ps. cvii. 38, 39: "And He blesseth them, and they are multiplied greatly, and He suffereth not their cattle to decrease. They who were minished and brought low through affliction, oppression, and sorrow." But this increase took place most gloriously at the time of Christ, when a numerous multitude of adopted sons from among the Gentiles were received into the Church of God, and thus the promise to Abraham: "I will make of thee a great nation" ([Hebrew: gvi] as in the passage before us, and not [Hebrew: eM]), received its final fulfilment. From the arguments which we advanced in Vol. i. on Hosea ii. 1, it appears that the increase which the Church received by the reception of the Gentiles is, according to the biblical view, to be considered as an increase of the people of Israel. The fundamental thought of Ps. lxxxvii. is: Zion the birth-place of the nations; by the new birth the Gentiles are received in Israel. The manner in which the Gentiles show their anxiety to be received in Israel is described by Isaiah in chap. xliv. 5. The commentary on the words: "Thou multipliest the nation," is furnished to us by chap. liv. 1 ff., where, in immediate connection with the prophecy regarding the Servant of God who bears the sin of the world, it is said: "Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear, break forth into singing, and shout thou that didst not travail with child; for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the Lord." Comp. also chap. lxvi. 7-9, and Ezek. xxxvii. 25, 26: "And my servant David shall be their prince for ever. And I make a covenant with them and multiply them." Several interpreters, _e. g._ _Calvin_, _Vitringa_, suppose that the Prophet in this verse (and so likewise in the two following verses) speaks, in the first instance, of a nearer prosperity, of the rapid increase of the people after the Babylonish captivity. _Vitringa_ directs attention to the fact, that the Jewish people after the captivity did not only fill Judea, but spread also in Egypt, Syria, Mesopotamia, Asia Minor, Greece, and Italy. And surely we cannot deny that in this increase, no less than in the new flourishing of the people after the defeat of Sennacherib also, there is a _prelude_ to the real fulfilment; [Pg 82] and that so much the more that these precursory increases, happening, as they did, regularly after the decreases, were bestowed upon the covenant-people with a view to the future appearance of Christ. These increases enter into a still closer relation to the prophecy under consideration, if we keep in mind that in chap. vii. the Prophet anticipates in spirit the appearance of Christ, and that it is with this representation that, in the Section before us, chap. viii. 8, 10 are connected. In order to refute the explanation of _Umbriet_: "Thou hast multiplied the _heathen_, and thereby thou hast removed all joy; but now," &c., it will be quite sufficient to refer to the parallel passage, chap. xxvi. 15: "Thou increasest the _people_, O Lord, thou art glorified, thou removest all the boundaries of the land," where, just as in the verse before us, by [Hebrew: hgvi] "the people," Israel is designated; and that is frequently the case where the notion of the multitude, the mass only is concerned, comp. Gen. xii. 2.--"_Thou didst not increase the joy_" stands for: to whom thou formerly didst not increase the joy, to whom thou gavest but little joy, upon whom thou inflictedst severe sufferings. The antithesis is quite the same as in chap. viii. 23 (ix. 1), where the former distress is contrasted with the light which is now to shine upon them, the former disgrace with the later glory; and in the same manner in chap. ix. 1 (2), where the present _light_ is rendered brighter by being contrasted with the former _darkness_. The contrast of the present _increase_ with the former absence of joys shows that the joy is to be viewed as being connected with the increase, and that if formerly the joy was less, the reason of it was chiefly in the _decrease_. Ps. cvii. 38, 39, 41, shews how affliction and decrease, joy and increase, go hand in hand; farther, Jerem. xxx. 19: "And out of them proceed thanksgivings, and the voice of the merry ones; and I multiply them, and they do not decrease; and I honour them, and they are not small." The decrease is a single symptom only of a depressed, joyless condition, which everywhere in the kingdom of God shall be brought to an end by Christ. Most of the ancient translators (LXX., Chald., Syr.) follow the marginal reading [Hebrew: lv], "_to him_" hast thou increased the joy. According to many modern interpreters, [Hebrew: la] is supposed to be a different mode of writing for [Hebrew: lv]. But no _proof_ that could stand the test can be brought forward for [Pg 83] such a mode of writing; nor is there any reason for supposing that [Hebrew: la] stands here in a different sense from what it does in chap. viii. 23, and it would indeed be strange that [Hebrew: lv] should have been placed before the verb. At most, it might be supposed that the Prophet intended an ambiguous and double sense: not/(to him) didst thou increase the joy. But altogether apart from such an ambiguous and double sense, behind the negative, at all events, the positive is concealed; thou multipliest the people, and increasest to them the joy, thou who formerly didst decrease their joy, &c.; and it is to this positive that the words refer which, in Luke ii. 10, the angels address to the shepherds: [Greek: mê phobeisthe, idou gar euangelizomai humin charan megalên hêtis estai panti tô laô hoti etechthê humin sêmeron sôtêr, hos esti Christos Kurios]; comp. Matth. ii. 10.--In the following words, the Prophet expresses, in the first instance, the nature of the joy, then its greatness. The joy over the blessings received is a joy _before God_, under a sense of His immediate presence. The expression is borrowed from the sacrificial feasts in the courts before the sanctuary, at which the partakers rejoiced _before the Lord_, Deut. xii. 7, 12, 18, xiv. 26. In Immanuel, God with his blessings and gifts has truly entered into the midst of His people. With the joy at _the dividing of the spoil_, the joy is compared only to show its greatness, just as with the joy _in the harvest_; and it is in vain that Knobel tries here to bring in a dividing of spoil.

Vers. 3, (4). "_For the yoke of his burden and the staff of his neck, the rod of his driver thou hast broken as in the day of Midian._"

In this verse, the reason of the people's joy announced in the preceding verse is stated: it is the deliverance from the world's power, under the oppression of which they groaned, or, in point of fact, were to groan. He who imposes the _yoke_ and the _staff_, the _driver_, (an allusion to the Egyptian taskmasters, masters, comp. Exod. iii. 7; v. 10), is Asshur, and the _whole_ world's power hostile to the Kingdom of God, which is represented by him, and which by Christ was to receive, and has received, a mortal blow. A prelude to the fulfilment took place by the defeat of Sennacherib under Hezekiah, comp. chap. x. 5, 24, 27; xiv. 25. After him. Babel had to experience [Pg 84] the destructive power of the Lord, the single phases of which, pervading, as they do, all history, are here comprehended in one great act. Although the definitive fulfilment begins first with the appearance of Christ in the flesh, who spoke to His people: [Greek: tharseite, egô nenikêka ton kosmon], yet after what we remarked on ver. 2, we are fully entitled to consider the former catastrophes also of the kingdoms of the world as preludes to the real fulfilment.--[Hebrew: wkM] "shoulder" does not suit as the _membrum cui verbera infliguntur_; it comes, as is commonly the case, into consideration as that member with which burdens are borne. The _staff_ or tyranny is a heavy _burden_, comp. chap. x. 27: "His burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder." "_As in the day of Midian_" is equivalent to: as thou once didst break the yoke of Midian. This event was especially fitted to serve as a type of the glorious future victory over the world's power, partly because the oppression by Midian was very hard,--according to Judges vii. 12, Midian, Amalek, and the sons of the East broke in upon the land like grasshoppers for multitude, and their camels were without number, as the sand by the seaside for multitude--partly because the help of the Lord (_thou_ hast broken) was at that time specially visible. "I will be with thee," says the Lord to Gideon in Judges vi. 16, "and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man;" and Judges vii. 2: "The people that are with thee are too many, as that I could give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying: Mine own hand hath saved me."

Vers. 4, (5). "_For every war-shoe put on with noise, and the garment rolled in blood: it is for burning, food of fire._"

We have here the reason why the tyranny is broken: _for_ the enemies of the Kingdom of God shall entirely and for ever be rendered incapable of carrying on warfare. If the noisy war-shoes, and their blood-stained garments are to be burned, they themselves must, of course, have been previously destroyed. But, if that be the case, then all war and tyranny are come to an end, "for the dead do not live, and the shades do not rise," chap. xxvi. 14. The parallel passages, Ps. xlvi. 10, and Ezek. xxxix. 9, 10, do not permit us to doubt that the burning of the war-shoes and of the bloody garments come into consideration here as a consequence of the destruction of [Pg 85] the conquerors. Nor can we, according to these passages, entertain, for a moment, the idea of _Meier_, that those bloody garments belong to _Israel_.

Vers. 5 (6). "_For unto us a child is horn, unto us a son is given, and the government is upon his shoulders, and his name shall be called Wonder-Counsellor, God-Hero, Ever-Father, Prince of Peace._"

The Prophet had hitherto spoken only of the salvation which is to spread from Galilee over the rest of the country; it is first here that its author, in all His sublime glory, comes before him; and, having come to him, the prophecy rises to exalted feelings of joy. In chap. vii. 14, the Prophet beholds the Saviour as being already born; hence the Preterites [Hebrew: ild] and [Hebrew: ntN]. If any one should imagine that from the use of these Preterites he were entitled to infer that the subject of the prophecy must, at that time, already have been born, he must also, on account of the Preterites in vers. 1 (2) suppose that the announced salvation had at that time been already bestowed upon Israel,--which no interpreter does. _Hitzig_ correctly remarks: "Because He is still _future_, the Prophet in His first appearance, beholds Him as a child, and as the son of another." _Whose_ son He is we are not told; but it is supposed to be already known. Ever since the revelation in 2 Sam. vii., the Messiah could be conceived of as the Son of David only; compare the words: "Upon the throne of David" in vers. 6 (7), and chap. xi. 1, lv. 3. As the Son of God the Saviour appears as early as in Ps. ii.; and it is to that Psalm that the "God-Hero" alludes, and connects itself. Alluding to the passage before us, we read in John iii. 16: [Greek: houtô gar êgapêsen ho theos ton kosmon] ("The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this,") vers. 6 [7], [Greek: hôste ton huion autou ton monogenê edôken].--When grown up, the Son has the government upon His shoulder. The Prophet contrasts Christ with the _world's power_, which threatened destruction to the people of God. This, then, refers to the _Kingly office_ of Christ, and the state of glory. Parallel is the declaration of Christ in Matt. xxviii. 18, [Greek: edothê moi pasa exousia]. The Lord has also, in John xviii. 37, confirmed the truth that He is _King_; and it is upon the ground of His own declaration that Pilate designates Him upon the cross as a King. Although His Kingdom is not of [Pg 86] this world, John xviii. 36, it is, just for that very reason, so much the more all-governing. The [Greek: enteuthen] in that passage is contrasted with the words "from heaven" in Dan. ii., by which, in that passage, its absolute superiority over all the kingdoms of the world, and its crushing power are declared to be indissolubly connected.--"_The shoulder_" comes, here also, as in vers. 3 (4), chap. x. 27, into consideration in so far as on it we _bear_; comp. Gen. xlix. 15; Ps. lxxxi. 7. The bearer of an office has it, as it were, on his shoulders.--The Jewish interpreters, despairing of being able, with any appearance of truth, to apply the following attributes to Hezekiah, insist that, with the exception of the last, they denote Him who calls, not Him who is called: the Wonderful, &c., called him Prince of peace. Altogether apart from the consideration that this is in opposition to the accents, the mentioning of so many names of Jehovah is here quite unsuitable; and, in all other passages, the noun put after [Hebrew: wmv qra] designates always him who is called. Modern Exegesis has tried everything with a view to deprive the names of their deep meaning, in order to adapt them to a Messiah in the ordinary Jewish sense, hence, to do that of which the Jews themselves had already despaired. But, in doing so, they have considered the names too much by themselves, overlooking the circumstance that the full and deeper meaning of the individual attributes, as it at first sight presents itself, must, in the connection in which they here occur, be so much the rather held fast. The names are completed in the number _four_,--the mark of that which is complete and finished. _They form two pairs, and every single name is again compounded of two names._ The first name is [Hebrew: pla iveC]. That these two words must be _connected_ with one another (_Theodor._--[Greek: thaumastôs bouleuôn]) appears from the analogy of the other names, especially of [Hebrew: al gbvr] with whom [Hebrew: pla iveC] forms one pair; and then from the circumstance that [Hebrew: iveC] alone would, in this connection, be too indefinite. The words do not stand in the relation of the _Status constructus_, but are connected in the same manner as [Hebrew: pra adM] in Gen. xvi. 12. [Hebrew: iveC] designates the attribute which is here concerned, while [Hebrew: pla] points out the supernatural, superhuman degree in which the King possesses this attribute, and the infinite riches of consolation and help which are to be found in such [Pg 87] a King. As a _Counsellor_, He is a _Wonder_, absolutely elevate d above everything which the earth possesses in excellency of counselling. As [Hebrew: pla] commonly denotes "wonder" in the strictest sense (comp. chap. xxv. 1: "I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name, for thou hast done wonders," Ps. lxxvii. 15: "Thou art the God that doest wonders;" Exod. xv. 11); as it here stands in parallelism with [Hebrew: al] God; as the whole context demands that we should take the words in their full meaning;--we can consider it only as an arbitrary weakening of the sense, that several interpreters explain [Hebrew: pla iveC] "extraordinary Counsellor." Parallel is Judges xiii. 18 where the Angel of the Lord, after having announced the birth of Samson, says: "Why askest thou thus after my name?--it is wonderful," [Hebrew: plai], _i.e._, my whole nature is wonderful, of unfathomable depth, and cannot, therefore, be expressed by any human name. _Farther_--Revel. xix. 12 is to be compared, where Christ has a name written that no man knows but He himself, to intimate the immeasurable glory of His nature. That which is here, in the first instance, said of a single attribute of the King, applies, at the same time, to all others, holds true of His whole nature; the King is a Wonder as a Counsellor, because His whole person is wonderful. A proof, both of the connection of the two words, and against the weakening of the sense, is afforded by the parallel passage, chap. xxviii. 29, where it is said of the Most High God [Hebrew: hplia ech], "He shows himself wonderful in His counsel."--The second name is [Hebrew: al gbvr] "God-Hero." Besides the ability of giving good counsel, a good government requires also [Hebrew: gbvrh] strength, heroic power: comp. chap. xi. 2, according to which the spirit of counsel and strength rest upon the Messiah. What may not be expected from a King who not only, like a David in a higher degree, possesses the greatest _human measure_ of heroic strength, but who is also a _God-Hero_, and a _Hero-God_, so that with His appearance there _disappears_ completely the contrast of the invisible Head of the people of God, and of His visible substitute,--a contrast which so often manifested itself, to the great grief of the covenant-people? The God-Hero forms the contrast to a human hero whose heroic might is, after all, always _limited_, [Hebrew: al gbvr] can signify God-Hero only, a Hero who is infinitely exalted above all human heroes [Pg 88] by the circumstance that He is _God_. To the attempts at weakening the import of the name, chap. x. 21, where [Hebrew: al gbvr] is said of the Most High, appears a very inconvenient obstacle,--a parallel passage which does not occur by chance, but where [Hebrew: war iwvb] stands with an intentional reference to chap. vii.: "The remnant shall return, the remnant of Jacob, unto the Hero-God," who is furnished with invincible strength for His people; comp. Ps. xxiv. 8: "The Lord strong and a hero, the Lord a hero of war." The older Rationalistic exposition endeavoured to set aside the deity of the Messiah by the explanation: "strong hero." So also did _Gesenius_. This explanation, against which chap. x. 21 should have warned, has been for ever set aside by the remark of _Hitzig_: "Commonly, in opposition to all the _usus loquendi_, the word is translated by: _strong hero_. But [Hebrew: al] is always, even in passages such as Gen. xxxi. 29, "God," and in all those passages which are adduced to prove that it means "_princeps_," "_potens_," the forms are to be derived not from [Hebrew: al], but from [Hebrew: ail], which properly means 'ram,'then 'leader,''prince.'" By this explanation, especially the passage Ezek. xxxii. 21, which had formerly been appealed to in support of the translation "strong hero," is set aside; for the [Hebrew: ali gbvriM] of that passage are "rams of heroes." Rationalistic interpreters now differ in their attempts at getting rid of the troublesome fact. _Hitzig_ says, "Strong God"--he erroneously views [Hebrew: gbvr], which always means "hero," as an adjective--"the future deliverer is called by the oriental not strictly separating the Divine and human, and He is called so by way of exaggeration, in so far as He possesses divine qualities." A like opinion is expressed by _Knobel_: "Strong God the Messiah is called, because in the wars with the Gentiles He will prove himself as a hero equipped with divine strength." The expression proves a divine nature as little as when in Ps. lxxxii. 1-6, comp. John x. 34, 35, kings are, in general, called [Hebrew: alhiM], "gods, _Like_ God, to be compared to Him, a worthy representative of Him, and hence, likewise, called God." It is true that there is one [Hebrew: al gbvr] only, and that, according to chap. x. 21, the Messiah cannot be [Hebrew: al gbvr] beside the Most High God, excepting _by partaking in his nature_. Such a participation in the nature, not His being merely filled with the power of [Pg 89] God, is absolutely required to explain the expression. It is true that in the Law of Moses all those who have to command or to judge, all those to whom, for some reason or other, respect or reverence is due, are consecrated as the representatives of God on earth; _e.g._, a court of justice is of God, and he who appears before it appears before God. But the name _Elohim_ is there given _in general only to the judicial court_, which represents God--to the _office_, not to the single individuals who are invested with it. In Ps. lxxxii. 1, the name _Elohim_ in the expression: "He judgeth among the gods" is given to the single, judging individual; comp. also ver. 6; but this passage forms an isolated exception. To explain, from it, the passage before us is inadmissible, even from chap. x. 21, where [Hebrew: al gbvr] stands in its fullest sense. It must not be overlooked that that passage in Ps. lxxxii. belongs to higher poetry; that the author himself there mitigates in ver. 6, in the parallel member, the strength of the expression: "I have said ye are _Elohim_, and sons of the Most High ye all;" and, finally, that there _Elohim_ is used as the most vague and general name of God, while here _El_, a personal name, is used. _Hendewerk_, _Ewald_, and others, finally, explain "_God's hero_," _i.e._, "a divine hero, who, like an invincible God, fights and conquers." But in opposition to this view, it has been remarked by _Meier_ that then necessarily the words ought to run, [Hebrew: gbvr al]. It is farther obvious that by this explanation the [Hebrew: gbvr al] here is, in a manner not to be admitted, disconnected and severed from those passages where it occurs as an attribute of the Most High God; comp. besides chap. x. 21; Deut. x. 17; Jer. xxxii. 18.

The third name is _Father of eternity_. That admits of a double explanation. Several interpreters refer to the Arabic _usus loquendi_, according to which he is called the father of a thing who possesses it; _e.g._, Father of mercy, _i.e._, the merciful one. This _usus loquendi_, according to the supposition formerly very current, occurs in Hebrew very frequently, especially in proper names, _e.g._, [Hebrew: Tvb abi]. "Father of goodness," _i.e._, the good one. According to this view. Father of eternity would be equivalent to Eternal one. According to the opinion of others. Father of eternity is _he who will ever be a Father_, _an affectionate provider_, comp. chap. xxii. 21, where Eliakim [Pg 90] is called "_Father_ to the inhabitants of Jerusalem;" Job xxix. 16; Ps. lxviii. 6. _Luther_, too, thus explains: "Who at all times feeds His Kingdom and Church, in whom there is a fatherly love without end." The _latter_ view is to be preferred unconditionally. Against the former view is the circumstance that all the other names stand in direct reference to the salvation of the covenant-people, while, in the mere eternity, this reference would not distinctly enough appear. And it has farther been rightly remarked by _Ewald_, that that _usus loquendi_ in Arabic always belongs to the artificial, often to jocular discourse. Whether it occur in Hebrew at all is still a matter of controversy; _Ewald_, § 27, denies that it occurs in proper names also. On the other hand, the paternal love, the rich kindness and mercy, exceedingly well suit the first two names which indicate unfathomable _wisdom_, and divine _heroic strength_. The rationalistic interpreters labour very hard to _weaken_ the idea of _eternity_. But the "Provider for life" agrees very ill with the _Wonder-Counsellor_, and the _God-hero_. The absolute eternity of the Messiah's dominion is, on the foundation of 2 Sam. vii., most emphatically declared in other passages also (comp. vol. i., p. 132, 133), and meets us here again immediately in the following verse. The name Ever-Father, too, leads us to _divine Majesty_, comp. chap. xlv. 17: "Israel is saved by the Lord with an _everlasting_ salvation; ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded in all _eternity_" chap. lvii. 15, where God is called [Hebrew: wkN ed] "the ever dwelling;" farther, Ps. lxviii. 6: "A _Father_ of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows is God in His holy habitation," where the providence of God for the _personae miserabiles_ is praised with a special reference to that which He does for His poor people.--_Hitzig's_ explanation: "Father of prey," does not suit the prophetic style, and has, in general, no analogy from Hebrew to adduce in its favour. The circumstance that, in the verse immediately following, the eternity of the government is mentioned, shows that [Hebrew: ed] must be taken in its ordinary signification "eternity."

The fourth name, _Prince of peace_, stands purposely at the end, and is to be considered as strongly emphatic. War, hostile oppression, the distress of the servitude which threatens the people of God,--these are the things which, in the first instance, [Pg 91] have directed the Prophet's eye to the Messiah. The name points back to Solomon who typified Christ's dominion of peace, and who himself, in the Song of Solomon, transfers his name to Christ (comp. my Comment. S. 1 ff.); then to the Shiloh, Gen. xlix. 10 (comp. vol. i, 84, 85). We should misunderstand the name were we to infer from it that, in the Messianic time, all war should cease. Were such to be the case, why is it that, immediately before, the Redeemer is designated as _God-Hero_? Peace is the aim; it is offered to all the nations in Christ; but those who reject it, who rise up against His Kingdom, He throws down, as the God-Hero, with a powerful hand, and _obtains by force_ peace for His people. But war, as far as it takes place, is carried on in a form different from that which existed under the Old dispensation. According to Micah v. 9 (10), ff., the Lord makes His people outwardly defenceless, before they become in Christ world-conquering; comp. vol. i., p. 515. According to chap. xi. 4, Christ smiteth the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips He slayeth the wicked.

Ver. 6 (7.) "_To the increase of the government and to the peace, there is no end, upon the throne of David and over his kingdom, so that he establisheth it, and supporteth it by justice and righteousness, from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of Hosts shall perform this._"

There is no reason for connecting this verse with the preceding one; in which case the sense would be: "For the increase of government and for peace without end." _For_ chap. ii. 7; Nah. ii. 10; Job. xvi. 3--in which [Hebrew: l] with [Hebrew: qC] occurs in the very same sense--clearly show that the [Hebrew: l] in [Hebrew: lwlvM] and [Hebrew: lmrbh] may very well be understood as a mere sign of the Dative. And the objection that the following [Hebrew: lhkiN], &c. would, in that case, be unsuitable, is removed if it be explained: so that He establisheth, &c., or: by His establishing, &c.; comp. _Ewald_, _Lehrbuch der Hebr. Sprache_ § 280 d. The words designate the basis on which the increase of government and the peace rest. The Kingdom of God will, through the Redeemer, acquire an ever increasing _extent_, and, along with it, perfect _peace_ shall be enjoyed by the world. For it is not by rude force that this kingdom is to be founded and established, as is the case with worldly kingdoms, in which increase of [Pg 92] government and peace, far from being always connected, are, on the contrary, irreconcilable opponents, but by _justice_ and _righteousness_. Parallel is Ps. lxvii. In vers. 11-15 of that Psalm, the Psalmist just points to that "by which all nations and kings are induced to do homage to that king; it is just that which, in the whole Psalm, appears as the root of everything else, viz., the absolute justice of the king." _Decrease_ of government and _war_ without end were, meanwhile, in prospect, and they were so, because those who were sitting on the throne of David did not support his kingdom by justice and righteousness. But the Psalmist intimates to the trembling minds that such is not the end of the ways of God with His people; that at last the idea of the Kingdom of God will be realized. From the fundamental passage, Ps. lxxii. 8-11, and parallel passages, such as chap. ii. 2, 4; Mic. v. 3 (4); Zech. ix. 10, it is obvious that, as regards the endless increase of the government, the Prophet thinks of all the nations of the earth. On the _peace_ without end, comp. Ps. lxxii. 7; chap. ii. 4; Mic. v. 4 (5), and the words: "He speaketh peace unto the heathen," Zech. ix. 10. The [Hebrew: l] designates the substratum on which the increase of dominion and the peace manifest themselves; the dominion of the Davidic family and its kingdom gain infinitely in extent, and in the same degree peace also increases. In these words the Prophet gives an intimation that the Messiah will proceed from David's family, comp. chap. xi. 1 where he designates Him as the twig of Jesse.--[Hebrew: hkiN] "to confirm," "to establish," used of throne and kingdom, 1 Sam. xiii. 13, comp. 14; 1 Kings ii. 12, comp. ver. 24, and farther, chap. xvi. 5.--The words: "from henceforth even for ever" do not, as _Umbreit_ supposes, refer to every thing in this verse, but to the words immediately preceding. That the words must be understood in their full sense, we have already proved in our remarks on the fundamental passage, 2 Sam. vii. 13: "And I will establish the throne of His kingdom for ever;" see Vol. i. p. 131. _Michaelis_ says: "So that that promise to David shall never fail." The [Hebrew: eth] does not refer to the _actual_, but to the _ideal_ present, to the first appearance of the Redeemer, to the words: "Unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given, and the government is upon His shoulder."--This great change is brought about [Pg 93] by the _zeal_ of the Lord who raises this glorious King to His people; comp. John iii. 16. The zeal in itself is only _energy_; the sphere of its exercise is, in every instance, determined by the context. In Exod. xv. 5; Deut. iv. 24; Nah. i. 2, the zeal is the energy of wrath. In the passage before us, as in the Song of Solomon viii. 6, and in chap. xxxvii. 32: "For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and escaped ones out of Mount Zion; the zeal of the Lord of hosts shall do this," the zeal of God means the energetic character of His love to Zion.

We must, in conclusion, still make a few remarks, on the interpretation of vers. 5 and 6. The older interpreters were unanimous in referring these verses to the Messiah. Even by the Jews, this explanation was abandoned at a subsequent period only. To the Messiah this passage is referred by the Chaldean Paraphrast, by the Commentary on Genesis known by the name _Breshith Rabbah_ in the exposition of Genesis xli. 44 (see _Raim. Martini Pugio fidei_, Vol. iii. sec. 3, chap. xiv. § 6), by Rabbi _Jose Galilaeus_ in the book _Ekha Rabbati_, a Commentary on Lamentations (see _Raim. Matt._ iii. 3 chap. 4, § 13). _Ben Sira_ (fol. 40 ed., Amstel. 1679), mentions among the eight names of the Messiah, the following from the passage before us: Wonderful, Counsellor, El Gibbor, Prince of Peace. But the late Jewish interpreters found it objectionable that the Messiah, in opposition to their doctrinal views, was here described as God; for doctrinal reasons, therefore, they gave up the received interpretation, and sought to adapt the passage to Hezekiah. Among these, however, _Rabbi Lipmann_ allows the Messianic explanation to a certain degree to remain. Acknowledging that the prophecy could not refer exclusively to Hezekiah, he extends it to all the successors from the House of David, including the Messiah, by whom it is to attain its most perfect fulfilment. Among Christian interpreters, _Grotius_ was the first to abandon the Messianic explanation. Even _Clericus_ acknowledges that the predicates are applicable to Hezekiah "_sensu admodum diluto_" only. At the time when Rationalism had the ascendancy, it became pretty current to explain them of Hezekiah. _Gesenius_ modified this view by supposing that the Prophet had connected his Messianic wishes and expectations with Hezekiah, and [Pg 94] expected their realization by him. At present this view is nearly abandoned; after _Gesenius_, _Hendewerk_ is the only one who still endeavours to defend it.

Against the application to Hezekiah even this single argument is decisive, that a glory is here spoken of, which is to be bestowed especially upon Galilee which belonged to the kingdom of the ten tribes. _Farther_--Although the prophecy be considered as a human foreboding only, how could the Prophet, to whom, everywhere else such a sharp eye is ascribed, that, from it, they endeavour to explain his fulfilled prophecies,--how could the Prophet have expected that Hezekiah, who was at that time a boy of about nine years of age, and who appeared under such unfavourable circumstances, should realize the hopes which he here utters in reference to the world's power, should conquer that power definitively and for ever, should infinitely extend his kingdom, and establish an everlasting dominion? How could he have ascribed divine attributes to Hezekiah who, in his human weakness, stood before him? _Finally_--The undeniable agreement of the prophecy before us with other Messianic passages, especially with Ps. lxxii. and Is. xi., where even _Gesenius_ did not venture to maintain the reference to Hezekiah, is decidedly in opposition to the reference to Hezekiah.

THE TWIG OF JESSE.
(Chap. xi., xii.)

These chapters constitute part of a larger whole which begins with chap. x. 5. With regard to the time of the composition of this discourse, it appears, from chap. x. 9-11, that Samaria was already conquered. The prophecy, therefore, cannot be prior to the sixth year of Hezekiah. On the other hand, the defeat of the Assyrian host, which, under Sennacherib, invaded Judah, is announced as being still future. The prophecy, accordingly, falls into the period between the 6th and the 14th year of Hezekiah's reign. From the circumstance that in it [Pg 95] the king of Asshur is represented as being about to march against Jerusalem, it is commonly inferred that it was uttered shortly before the destruction of the Assyrian host, and hence, belongs to the fourteenth year of Hezekiah. But this ground is not very safe. It would certainly be overlooking the liveliness with which the prophets beheld and represented future things as present; it would be confounding the _ideal_ Present with the _actual_, if we were to infer from vers. 28-32 that the Assyrian army must already have reached the single stations mentioned there. The utmost that we are entitled to infer from this liveliness of description is, that the Assyrian army was already on its march; but not even that can be inferred with certainty. In favour of the immediate nearness of the danger, however, is the circumstance that, in the prophecy, the threatening is kept so much in the background; that, from the outset, it is comforting and encouraging, and begins at once with the announcement of Asshur's destruction, and Judah's deliverance. This seems to suggest that the place which, everywhere else, is occupied by the threatening, was here taken by the events themselves; so that of the two enemies of salvation, proud security and despair, the latter only was here to be met. The prophecy before us opens the whole series of the prophecies out of the 14th year of Hezekiah, the most remarkable year of the Prophet's life, rich in the revelations of divine glory, in which his prophecy flowed in full streams, and spread on all sides.

The prophecy divides itself into two parts. The first, chap. x. 5-34, contains the threatening against Asshur, who was just preparing to inflict the deadly blow upon the people of God. The fact that in chap. xi. we have not an absolutely new beginning before us, sufficiently appears from the general analogy, according to which, as a rule, the Messianic prophecy does not _begin_ the prophetical discourse; but still more clearly from the circumstance that chap. xi. begins with "and;" to which argument may still be added the fact that the figure in the first verse of this chapter evidently refers to the figure in the last verse of the preceding chapter. Asshur had there been represented as a stately forest which was to be cut down by the hand of the Lord; while here the house of David appears as a stem cut down, from the roots of which a small twig shall [Pg 96] come forth, which, although unassuming at first, is to grow up into a fruit-bearing tree. The purpose of the whole discourse was to strengthen and comfort believers on the occasion of Asshur's inroad into the country; to bring it home to the convictions of those who were despairing of the Kingdom of God, that He who is in the midst of them is greater than the world with all its apparent power; and thereby to awaken and arouse them to resign themselves entirely into the hands of their God. It is for this purpose that the Prophet first describes the catastrophe of Asshur; that, then, in chap. xi., he points to the highest glorification which in future is destined for the Church of God by the appearance of Christ, in order that she may the more clearly perceive that every fear regarding her existence is folly.

The connection of the two passages appears so much the more plainly when we consider, that that which, in chap. x., was said of Asshur, and especially the close in vers. 33 and 34: "Behold Jehovah of hosts cuts down the branches with power, and those of a high stature shall be hewn down, and the high ones shall be made low. And He cuts down the thickets of the forest with the iron, and Lebanon shall fall by the glorious one," _refers to him as the representative of the whole world's power_; that the defeat of Sennacherib before Jerusalem is to be considered as the nearest fulfilment only, but not as the _full_ and _real_ fulfilment.

From the family of David sunk into total obscurity--such is the substance--there shall, at some future period, rise a Ruler who, at first low and without appearance, shall attain to great glory and bestow rich blessings,--a Ruler furnished with the fulness of the Spirit of God and of His gifts, filled with the fear of God, looking sharply and deeply, and not blinded by any appearance, just and an helper of the oppressed, an almighty avenger of wickedness, ver. 1-5. By him all the consequences of the fall, even down to the irrational creation, in the world of men and of nature, shall be removed, ver. 6-9. Around Him the Gentiles, formerly addicted to idols, shall gather, ver. 10. In ver. 11-16 the Prophet describes what he is to do for Israel, to whom the discourse was in the first instance addressed, and upon whom it was to impress the word: "Fear not." Under Him they obtain deliverance [Pg 97] from the condition of being scattered and exiled from the face of the Lord, the removal of pernicious dissensions, conquering power in relation to the world which assails them, and the removal of all obstacles to salvation by the powerful arm of the Lord.

The reference of the prophecy to the Messiah is, among all the explanations, the most ancient. We find it in the Targum of Jonathan, who thus renders the first verse: [Hebrew: vipq mlka mbnvhi diwi vmwiHa mbni bnvhi itrbi]. St. Paul quotes this prophecy in Rom. xv. 12, and proves from it the calling of the Gentiles. In 2 Thes. ii. 8 he quotes the words of ver. 4, and assigns to Christ what is said in it. In Rev. v. 5, xxii. 16, Christ, with reference to ver. 1 and 10, is called the root of David. The Messianic explanation was defended by most of the older Jewish interpreters, especially by _Jarchi_, _Abarbanel_, and _Kimchi_.[1] It is professed even by most of the rationalistic interpreters, by the modern ones especially, without any exception (_Eichhorn_, _De Wette_, _Gesenius_, _Hitzig_, _Maurer_, _Ewald_), although, it is true, they distinguish between Jesus Christ and the Messiah of the Old Testament,--as, _e.g._, _Gesenius_ has said: "Features such as those in ver. 4 and 5 exclude any other than the political Messiah, and King of the Israelitish state," and _Hitzig_: "A political Messiah whose attributes, especially those assigned to him ver. 3 and 4, are not applicable to Jesus."

But the non-Messianic interpretation, too, has found its defenders. According to a statement of Theodoret, the passage was referred by the Jews to Zerubbabel.[2] Interpreters more numerous and distinguished have referred it to Hezekiah. This interpretation is mentioned as early as by _Ephraem Syrus_; among the Rabbis it was held by _Moses Hakkohen_, and _Abenezra_; among Christian interpreters, _Grotius_ was the first who professed it, but in such a manner that he assumed a higher reference to Christ. ("The Prophet returns to praise Hezekiah in words under which the higher praises of Christ are concealed.") He was followed by _Dathe_. The exclusive reference to Hezekiah was maintained by _Hermann v. d._ [Pg 98] _Hardt_, in a treatise published in 1695, which, however, was confiscated; then, by a number of interpreters at the commencement of the age of Rationalism, at the head of whom was _Bahrdt_. Among the expositors of the last decade, this interpretation is held by _Hendewerk_ alone.

The reasons for the Messianic interpretation, and against making Hezekiah the subject of the prophecy, are, among others, the following:--

1. _The comparison of the parallel passages._ The Messiah is here represented under the figure of a shoot or sprout. This has become so common, as a designation of the Messiah, that the name "Sprout" has almost become a proper name of the Messiah; compare the remarks on chap. iv. 2. A striking resemblance to ver. 1 is presented by chap. lviii. 2, where the Messiah, to express His lowliness at the beginning of His course, is, in the same manner as here, compared to a feeble and tender twig. Ps. lxxii. and the prophecies in chap. ii., iv., vii., ix., and Mic. v., present so many agreements and coincidences with the prophecy under consideration, that they must necessarily be referred to one and the same subject. The reception of the Gentile nations into the Kingdom of God, the holiness of its members, the cessation of all hostilities, are features which constantly recur in the Messianic prophecies.

2. There are features interwoven with the prophecy which lead to a more than human dignity of its subject. Even this circumstance is of importance here, that the _whole earth_ appears as the sphere of His dominion. Still more distinctly is the human sphere overstepped by the announcement that, under His government, _sin_, yea, even all destruction in the outward nature is to cease, and the earth is to return to the happy condition in which it was before the fall. According to ver. 4, He slays the wicked in the whole earth by His mere word,--a thing which elsewhere is said of _God_ only; and according to ver. 10, the heathen shall render Him religious reverence.

3. A _future_ scion of David is here promised. For [Hebrew: vica] in ver. 1 must be taken as a _praeteritum propheticum_, as is evident from its being connected with the preceding chapter, which has to do with future things, and in which the preterites have a prophetic meaning; as also by the analogy of the following preterites from which this can by no means be separated. But [Pg 99] at the time when this prophecy was composed, Hezekiah had long ago entered upon the government.

4. The circumstances under which the Prophet makes the King appear are altogether different from those at the time of Hezekiah. According to ver. 1 and 10, the royal house of David would have entirely declined, and sunk into the obscurity of private life, at the time when the Promised One would appear. The Messiah is there represented as a tender twig which springs forth from the roots of a tree cut down. In the circumstance, too, that the stem is not called after David, but after Jesse, it is intimated that the royal family is then to have sunk back into the obscurity of private life. This does not apply to Hezekiah, under whom the Davidic dynasty maintained its dignity, but to Christ only. _Farther_: In ver. 11 there is an announcement of the return of not only the members of the kingdom of the ten tribes, but also of the members of the kingdom of Judah from all the countries in which they were dispersed. This must refer to a far later time than that of Hezekiah; for at his time no carrying away of the inhabitants of Judah had taken place. This argument is conclusive also against the false modified Messianic explanation as it has been advanced by _Ewald_, according to which the Prophet is supposed to have expected that the Messiah would appear immediately after the judgment upon the Assyrians, and after the conversion and reform of those in the Church who had been spared in the judgment. The facts mentioned show that between the appearance of the Messiah, and the Present and immediate Future, there lay to the Prophet still a wide interval in which an entire change of the present state of things was to take place. Ver. 11 is here of special importance. For this verse opens up to us the prospect of a whole series of catastrophes to be inflicted upon Israel by the world's powers, all of which are already to have taken place at the time of the King's appearance, and which lay beyond the historical horizon at the time of the Prophet.

A certain amount of truth, indeed, lies at the foundation of the explanation which refers the prophecy to Hezekiah. The fundamental thought of the prophecy before us: "The exaltation of the world's power, is a prophecy of its abasement; the abasement of the Davidic Kingdom is a prophecy of its exaltation," [Pg 100] was, in a prelude, to be realized even at that time. But the Prophet does not limit himself to these feeble beginnings. He points to the infinitely greater realization of this idea in the distant future, where the abasement should be much deeper, but the exaltation also infinitely higher. To him who had first, by a living faith, laid hold of Christ's appearance, it must be easy, even in the present difficulty, to hope for the lower salvation.

The distinction between the "political Messiah" of the prophecy before us, and "Jesus of Nazareth"--a distinction got up by Rationalism--rests chiefly upon the fact that Rationalism knows Christ as the _Son of Man_ only, and is entirely ignorant of His true eternal Kingdom. Hence a prophecy which, except the intimation, in ver. 1, of His lowliness at first, refers altogether to the glorified Christ, could not but appear as inapplicable. But it is just by ver. 4, to which they chiefly appeal, that a "political Messiah" is excluded; for to such an one the words: "He smiteth the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips He slayeth the wicked" do not in the least apply. And so likewise vers. 6-9 altogether go beyond the sphere of a political Messiah, All that at first sight seems to lead to such an one belongs to the imagery which was, and could not fail to be, taken from the predecessors and types on the throne of David, since Christ was to be represented as He in whom the Davidic Kingdom attains to its full truth and glory.

In the whole section, the Redeemer appears as a _King_. This is altogether a matter of course, for He forms the antithesis to the king of Asshur. It is quite in vain that _Umbreit_ has endeavoured to bring political elements into the description. Thereby the sense is essentially altered. We must keep closely in view the Prophet's starting-point. Before those who were filled with cares and fears, lest the Davidic Kingdom should be overturned by the Assyrian kingdom, he holds up the bright image of the Kingdom of David, in its last completion. When they had received that into their hearts, the king of Asshur could not fail to appear to them in a light altogether different, as a miserable wretch. The giant at once dwindled down into a contemptible dwarf, and with tears still [Pg 101] in their eyes they could not avoid laughing at themselves for having stood so much in awe of him.

As is commonly the case in the Messianic prophecies, so here, too, no attention is paid to the development of Christ's Kingdom in time. Everything, therefore, is fulfilled only as to its beginning; and the complete fulfilment still stands out for that future in which, after the fulness of the Gentiles has been brought in, and apostate Israel has been converted, the consequences of the fall shall, in the outward nature also, be removed.

Ver. 1. "_And there cometh forth a twig from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit._"