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the Jews. The dependence of the former upon the Jewish christology will be rendered still more obvious by the remarks which we shall make in the following chapter, upon the period of Zoroaster's life, the recent date of the Zend books, the inclination of the Persians for synkretism, their readiness to adopt from foreigners, and most especially their dependence upon the Jews. Even for the doctrine of a plurality of saviours there are points of connexion to be found in revelation. Think, for example, simply of Elias the prophet, and Christ who appears in humiliation and sways the sceptre of the universe.

According to Abulfaraj (in the historia dynastiarum, p. 54), Zoroaster taught that in the last times a virgin would conceive without intercourse with a man, and at the period of the birth of her child a bright star would appear by day, with the sign of the virgin in the centre, and that on its appearance his disciples would arise to worship the child and bring him their presents. This is the word, which founded the heaven. It is possible that the subject is carried out rather clumsily here. But it is just as possible that some of the pupils of Zoroaster did actually go as far as this in the appropriation of the doctrines which they obtained from revelation.

That the Indian Krishnu, which is adduced by Stirm (Apologie des Christenthums, p. 181, ed. 2), as a heathen analogy to the Messianic anticipations, may probably be traced to Christian influence, so far as there is actually an agreement, has been pointed out by Wuttke (Geschichte des Heidenthums ii., p. 339).

APPENDIX III.

THE DIVINITY OF THE MESSIAH IN THE OLD

TESTAMENT.

No one will venture to deny that the Messiah was announced by the prophets, as one who was to be a partaker of human nature. He was not to manifest himself in a merely transient form, like Jehovah and his angel under the Old Testament, but to be born (Is. vii. 14; Micah v. 2), and to grow up by degrees to greatness and glory (Is. xi. 1, liii. 2). With reference to his human nature and descent, he is called a sprout of David (Jer. xxiii. 5, xxxiii. 15), the shoot from the root of Jesse (Is. xi. 1), the fruit of the land (Is. iv. 2). In the primary prophecy in Gen. xlix. he is referred to as the descendant of Judah, and on the ground of 2 Sam. vii., he is described in prophecy universally as a descendant of David.

There is less agreement as to the question, whether the doctrine of the divinity of the Messiah is contained in the Old Testament, particularly in the writings of the prophets. The early Church answered this question most decidedly in the affirmative; rationalism, on the other hand, has given in many ways a negative reply.

But it must be admitted at the very outset that this doctrine was found in the writings of the Old Testament by Christ himself. In Matt. xxii. 41-45 (Mark xii. 35-37; Luke xx. 41-44), he opposes the Pharisees, who expected merely a human Messiah, and adduces Ps. cx. to prove his divinity.

We are brought to the same result by an impartial examination of the Old Testament passages themselves. No doubt the early collection of materials requires to be sifted, but of the large number of passages, brought forward as bearing upon the divinity of the Messiah, there are not a few which will stand even the most rigid test.

We have already proved in vol. i., p. 48, that there is a hint at the superhuman nature of the Messiah even in the primary passage in Gen. xlix.

More distinct allusions occur in the Psalms, and, what is not accidental,' there are some to be met with in all the Messianic Psalms. The crowning point is found in Ps. cx. The Messiah is represented there as the Lord of the Church and of David himself, who appears here as the mouthpiece of the whole congregation (see my commentary in loc.), and also as one who is seated at the right hand of Omnipotence, and fully participates in the power of God over both heaven and earth. In Ps. ii. 12, the Messiah is introduced as the Son of God absolutely, as that Being in whom to trust is salvation, and whose wrath is destruction. In Ps. xlv. 7, 8, he is called God, Elohim. In Ps. lxxii. 5, 7, 17, everlasting dominion is attributed to him.

The central prophetic passage is Is. ix. 5, "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulders, and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, Divine Hero, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." What is said here directly of the Messiah as Counsellor, that he is a wonder, unconditionally exalted above everything ordinary, earthly, and human, on which account all the counsels of the heathen in opposition to him are of no avail, is applicable to everything connected with his person. The Messiah, moreover, is a divine hero; in his appearance there is an unconditional pledge of victory over the whole world, since he is infinitely superior to all human heroes from the simple fact that he is God. The name Everlasting Father also points to his divine

supremacy.

In connexion with this passage, we must understand by the

1 The reason was pointed out in my commentary, vol. iv. p. 614, 615: "The deeper the consciousness of the sinfulness, weakness, and worthlessness of man in the minds of the Israelites, the greater the impossibility of their resting satisfied with a purely human Redeemer, who would be able to accomplish but very little, according to Israelitish ideas. A human king (in all the Messianic Psalms in the strict sense of the word the Messiah appears as a king), however glorious, could never effect, what the idea of the kingdom of God imperatively demanded, and what had been promised in the very first stages of Messianic prophecy, the bringing of the nations to obedience, the conferring of blessings upon all the families of the earth, and the acquisition of world-wide dominion."

name Immanuel in chap. vii. 14 something more than a king who is blessed of God.

In chap. xi. 4 divine omnipotence is attributed to the Messiah in the administration of punitive righteousness. Like God himself he inflicts punishment by the mere utterance of his almighty word.

The words of Micah v. 2, "His goings forth are the olden time, the days of eternity," give prominence to the majesty of his divine origin, in contrast with the humility of his human birth. In ver. 4, "And he shall stand and feed in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord," he is represented as so intimately connected with God, that the whole fulness of the divine strength and majesty is His, a description which rises far above any merely human level. Hand in hand with this passage goes Is. xl. 5, where the glory of the Lord is represented as revealed in the coming of Christ.

Daniel also recognises the union of a human and superhuman nature in the Messiah (chap. vii. 13, 14). The Messiah appears with the clouds of heaven, as Lord of nature, and omnipotent judge. The fact that he is compared to the son of man, indicates that along with his humanity there is another side, which reaches far beyond his merely human nature.

In Zechariah we find various intimations, that the Messiah is partaker of the divine nature. According to chap. xii. 10, Jehovah himself is pierced in the Messiah. In chap. xi. 13, Jehovah calls the miserable wages, paid to the good shepherd or Messiah, the goodly price, at which he, the Lord, is prised. In chap. xiii. 7, Jehovah calls the good shepherd the man, his neighbour, and thus points to the fact that he is connected with him by a secret unity of nature.

A distinct testimony to the participation of the Messiah in the divine nature is to be found in the last prophecy, that of Malachi. In chap. iii. 1, Jehovah says, that he will send a messenger to prepare the way before him; and immediately afterwards it is declared that, when this has been effected, the Messiah will come. Hence the coming of Jehovah and that of the Messiah are represented as identical. The Messiah, like the supreme God, is called, the Lord. The temple, which is spoken of everywhere else as belonging to the supreme God, is

referred to here as belonging to the Messiah. In ver. 2 sqq. a divine work is attributed to the Messiah, namely, the execution of judgment upon the ungodly, which is ordinarily imputed to Jehovah.

The unity of God is one of the fundamental doctrines of the Old Testament, Deut. vi. 4. Since, then, it cannot possibly be admitted that this doctrine is in any way contradicted, every passage in which the names, attributes, and works of God are imputed to the Messiah, contains a distinct declaration of his essential oneness with Jehovah. To this we must add the passages of Zechariah and Malachi, which have been already quoted, and in which this unity is expressly declared. If, however, we would enter into a deeper investigation of the relation in which Jehovah is represented as standing to the Messiah in the Old Testament Scriptures, we cannot do this without discussing the

מלאך אלהים,Old Testament doctrine of the Angel of God מלאך יהוה מלאך האלהים

We have already (in vol. i. p. 108) pointed to the fact, that this doctrine is not only most intimately connected with Christology, but contains its theological basis and fundamental condition. We have also collected together the most important materials to be found in the Pentateuch and the Book of Joshua in relation to this doctrine. Our first task now, is to complete the collection from the matters of fact contained in the remaining books. But before doing this we shall enter into a brief philological discussion.

לאך that

What is the primary meaning of the word ? Ewald (§ 160 p. 357) says: ", a messenger, literally a sending, the occupation itself and the end to be accomplished being generally considered, rather than the man." But it cannot be proved means to send. In Arabic this meaning only occurs in the fourth conjugation. And here it may readily be traced to the meaning "to labour," "to work," hence "to make a person work." The meaning to work is established by the derivative (work, opus, artificium), from which it is evidently not allowable to separate. According to Ewald, forms with denote "that with which anything is done, the instrument employed in the work, e.g., pp (quo aperitur) a key,

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