of the wicked world are represented as being inseparably connected with each other. Hence it cannot be conceived of otherwise, but that the Servant of God, who, in His person, represented the ideal of righteousness, should, in a very special manner, have been liable to this hostility. Moreover, it can be proved that, in some Psalms which refer to the suffering righteous one, David has, besides the individual and the whole people, in view, at the same time, his own family, and Him in whom it was to centre; comp. my commentary on Ps. Vol. iii. p. lxxx. ff. There seems here to be a special reference to Ps. xxii. 7, 8: "And I am a worm and no man, a reproach of man and despised of the people. All they that see me laugh me to scorn, open their lips, shake their heads;" and it is the more natural to assume this reference

that, in chap. lii. 14, liii. 3, this passage also is referred to. nię is, after the example of Kimchi, viewed by several interpreters as an infinitive form standing in place of a Noun, "despising or contemning," instead of "contempt," and this again instead of "object of contempt." Others view it as the Stat. construct. of an adjective with a passive signification. This latter view is

more natural; and the reason which Stier adduces against it, viz., that of verbs no such forms are found, cannot be con

נפש

literally the “ despised one בזה נפש

גרר

sidered as conclusive. of the soul" might, according to Ezek. xxxvi. 5: "Against Edom who have taken my land into their possession with the joy of all their heart, with the contempt of their soul," mean, "who is inwardly and deeply despised," the soul being viewed as the seat of the affections. But we are led to another explanation by the fundamental passage Ps. xxii. 7, and by the circumstance that is here parallel to , and that the latter corresponds to they in Ps. xxii. "The despised one of the soul" must, accor dingly, be he who is despised by every one. The soul corresponding to man in Ps. xxii. is, as it were, conceived of as a great concrete body. In a similar manner, "soul" is used for all that has a soul, in Gen. xiv. 21, where the king of Sodom says to Abraham: "Give me the soul, and take the goods to thyself."-" To the abhorrence of the people." in Piel never has another signification than" to abhor." Such is the signification in Job. ix. 31 also, where the clothes abhor Job plunged in the dirt, resist being

put on by him; likewise in Ezek. xv. 25, where Judah abhors his beauty, disgracefully tramples under feet his glory, as if he hated it. In favour of the signification: "To cause to abhor" (Rödiger: horrorem incutiens populo, qui abominationi est populo), interpreters cannot adduce even one apparent passage, except that before us. We are, therefore, only at liberty to explain, after the example of Kimchi: "to the people abhorring," i.e., to him against whom the people feel an abhorrence. is used of the Jewish people in Is. i. 4 also. Hofmann is of opinion that it ought to have the article, if it were to refer to the Jewish people. But no one asserts a direct reference to them; it designates, in itself, the mass only, in contrast to single individuals, just as in Ps. xxii. The abhorrence is felt by the masses— is popular. The fact that it is among Israel that the Servant of God meets this general abhorrence, is not implied in the word itself, but is suggested by the whole context. While and designate the generality of this hatred,

עם

points to the highest places of it. Of heathen rulers this word occurs in chap. xiv. 5; of native rulers, in chap. lii. 5, xxviii. 14. The heathen rulers can here come into consideration, in so far only as they are the instruments of the native ones; comp. John xix. 10: λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ Πιλάτος· ἐμοὶ οὐ λαλεῖς ; οὐκ οἶδας ὅτι ἐξουσίαν ἔχω σταυρῶσαί σε καὶ ἐξουσίαν ἔχω ἀπολῦσαί σε. The servant of rulers forms the contrast to the Servant of the Lord. But in the words: "Kings shall see," &c., it is described how the original dignity finally breaks forth powerfully, and reacts against the momentary humiliation. It was especially at the crucifixion that Christ presented himself as "He that was despised by every one, as the abhorrence of the people, as the servant of rulers." The historical commentary on these words we have in Matt. xxii. 39 1.: οἱ δὲ παραπορευόμενοι ἐβλασφήμουν αὐτὸν κ.τ.λ. ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ οἱ ἀρχιερεῖς ἐμπαίζοντες μετὰ τῶν γραμματέων καὶ πρεσβυτέρων ἔλεγον· ἄλλους ἔσωσεν κ.τ.λ. τὸ δ' αὐτὸ καὶ οἱ λῃσταὶ οἱ συσταυρωθέντες αὐτῷ ὠνείδιζον αὐτόν. — After "they shall see," the object must be supplied from ver. 6, viz., the brilliant turn which, under the Lord's direction, His destiny shall take,-His being constituted the light and salvation of the Gentiles. The kings who sit on their thrones rise up; the nobles who stand around the throne prostrate them

יראו

selves. The Servant of God is the concentration of Israel, ver. 3. Hence His glorification is, at the close, once more traced back to the Holy One of Israel; and that so much the rather, because the glorification which is bestowed upon Him, is bestowed upon Him for the benefit of the Congregation, whom He elevates along with himself out of the condition of deep abasement; comp. vers. 8 and 9. The verse before us forms the germ of that which, in chap. lii. 13, is carried out and expanded.

Ver. 8: "Thus saith the Lord: In the time of favour have I heard thee, and in the day of salvation have I helped thee; and I will preserve thee, and give thee for the Covenant of the people that thou mayest raise up the land, divide desolate heritages. Ver. 9. That thou mayest say to the prisoners: Go forth; to them that are in darkness: Come to light; they shall feed in the ways, and on all bure hills shall be their pasture."

The time of favour may be either the time when God shows His delight in, and favour to His Servant, and, in Him, to the Church, q. d., of delight in thee, mercy for thee,—in which case, chap. lx. 10. would be parallel: "In my wrath I smote thee, and in my favour have I had mercy on thee;" or, "in the time of favour," may be equivalent to: "at the agreeable, acceptable time" (LXX which Paul follows in 2 Cor. vi. 1, 2 kaipŵ deкtô, Vulg. tempore placito); in contrast to a preceding unacceptable time, in which the Lord seemed to have forsaken His Servant, in which it appeared, as if He had laboured in vain, and spent His strength for nought and vanity. Acceptable is the time to all parties, not only to the Servant of God, but also to those who are to be redeemed through Him; and not less to God, to whom it is a joy to pour out upon His Servant the rivers of His salvation. The Preterites in ver. 8 must be viewed as prophetic Preterites. Concerning "Covenant of the people," compare remarks on chap. xlii. 6. The idea of the people is more closely defined and qualified by vers. 6 and 7. The souls who have been cut off from their people, because they have broken the covenant of the Lord, and despised His Servant, are justly passed by. But since y can here be understood of the better portion of the people only, of the invisible Church in the midst of the visible, the Servant of God cannot be the better portion of the people.-In the words: "That thou mayest raise up the land, divide desolate heritages,'

the bestowal of salvation is described under the image of the restoration of a devastated country. In ver. 9, the misery of the Congregation of God is described under the image of pining away in a dark prison; comp. remarks on chap. xlii. 7. With the second half of the verse, there begins a more general description of the glorious salvation which the Lord will grant to His people; and the person of the Mediator steps into the background, in order afterwards to come forth more prominently. The ways and bare hills have come into consideration as places which, in themselves, are completely barren, and which the wonderful grace of God can alone cause to bud and flourish.

CHAP. L. 4—11.

The Servant of God here also appears as speaking. In ver. 4, He intimates His vocation: God has bestowed upon Him the gift of comforting those who are weary and heavy laden. He then at once turns to His real subject,-the sufferings which, in fulfilment of this vocation, He has to endure. The Lord has inwardly manifested to Him that, in the exercise of His office, He shall experience severe trials; and willingly has He borne all these sufferings, all the ignominy and shame, vers. 5, 6. With this willingness and fortitude He is inspired by His firm confidence in the Lord, who, He certainly knows, will help Him and destroy His enemies, vers. 7-9. The conclusion, in vers. 10 and 11, forms the prophetic announcement of the different fates of the two opposing parties among the people. At the foundation of this lies the foresight of heavy afflictions which, after the appearance of the Servant of God, will be laid upon the covenant-people. That portion of the people who are devoted to the Servant of God, are told to hope in the midst of the misery, and may hope; their sorrows shall be turned into joy. But the ungodly who, without regarding the Lord, and without hearkening to His Servant, would help themselves, will bring destruction upon themselves by their self-willed doings, and shall be visited by the avenging hand of the Servant of God.

An intimation of the lowliness of Christ at His first appearance occurs as early as in chap. xi. 1. In chap. xlii. 4, the words: "He shall not fail nor run away," intimate that the Servant of God has to struggle with great obstacles and difficulties in the exercise of His calling. According to chap. xlix. 4, He will labour in vain among the great mass of the covenantpeople, and spend His strength for nought and vanity. In ver. 7, it is expressly intimated that severe sufferings shall be inflicted upon Him by the people. That which was there alluded to, is here carried out and expanded. But the suffering of the Servant of God is here described from that aspect only which is common to Christ with His members. It is first in chap. liii. that its vicarious power is pointed out. The Servant of God comes here before us in His deepest humiliation. Even in the description of His vocation in ver. 4, the most unassuming aspect, the prophetic office only, is brought forward. It is only quite at the close that a gentle intimation is given of the glory concealed behind the lowliness: He there appears as the judge of those who have rejected Him.

In the Messianic explanation of this Section, the Lord himself has gone before His Church. We read in Luke xviii. 31, 32, πapaλαβὼν δὲ τοὺς δώδεκα εἶπε πρὸς αὐτούς· ἰδοὺ ἀναβαίνομεν εἰς Ἱεροσόλυμα καὶ τελεσθήσεται πάντα τὰ γεγραμμένα διὰ τῶν προφητῶν τῷ υἱῷ τοῦ ανθρώπου· παραδοθήσεται γὰρ τοῖς ἔθνεσι καὶ ἐμπαιχθήσεται καὶ ὑβρισθήσεται καὶ ἐμπτυσθήσεται καὶ μαστιγώσαντες ἀποκτενοῦσιν αὐτόν. There cannot be any doubt that the Lord here distinctly refers to ver. 6 of the prophecy under consideration. There is, at all events, no other passage in the whole of the Old Testament, except that before us, in which there is any mention made of being spat upon. But in other respects, too, the reference is visible: "I gave my back to the smiters (μαστιγώσαντες, LXX. εἰς μάστιγας), and my cheeks to those plucking (μπaixonσeтai—the plucking of the beard, an act of degrading wantonness), my face I hid not from shame (ißpioOnσera) and spitting." Bengel draws attention to the fact of how highly Christ, in the passage quoted, placed the prophecy of the Old Testament: "Jesus most highly valued that which was written. The word of God which is contained in Scripture is the rule for all which is to happen, even for that which is to hap