sion to the passage before us, in Luke ix. 51: éyéveto dè tậ συμπληροῦσθαι τὰς ἡμέρας τῆς ἀναλήψεως αὐτοῦ, καὶ αὐτὸς τὸ πρόςωπον αὑτοῦ ἐστήριξε τοῦ πορεύεσθαι εἰς Ἱερουσαλήμ.

Ver. 8. "He is near that justifieth me; who will contend with me? Let us stand together; who has a right upon me, let him

come near me.”

In the confidence and assurance of Christ, His redeemed ones, too, partake, those that hear the voice of the Servant of God, ver. 10, comp. Rom. viii. 33, 34, where this and the following verse are intentionally alluded to. The justification is one by deeds. It took place and was fulfilled, in the first instance, in the resurrection and glorification of Christ, and, then, in the destruction of Jerusalem.- by literally, "the master of my right," i.e., he who according to his opinion or assertion which, by the issue is to be proved to be false, has a right over me, comp. the év éμoi our exec ouder which, in John xiv. 30, the Lord says in reference to the chief of His enemies.

Ver. 9. "Behold the Lord Jehovah will help me; who is he that shall condemn me? Lo, they shall wax old as a garment, the moth shall eat them."

That which is said here in reference to the enemies of Christ is, in chap. li. 8, with a reference to our passage, said of the opponents of those who know righteousness, and in whose heart is the law: "The moth shall eat them up like a garment." Enmity to Christ and His Church is, to those who entertain it, a prophecy of sure destruction. The words: "The moth shall eat them" are farther expanded in ver. 11, where it is described how the people who ventured to condemn the Servant of God, become a prey to destruction.

The Servant of God closes with a double address; first, to the godly; and then, to the ungodly.

Ver. 10. "Who is among you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the word of His Servant? When he walketh in darkness, in which there is no light to him, let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God."

From the words: "Of mine hand," in ver. 11, it appears that the Servant of God is continuing the discourse. Hence "the voice of His Servant," q.d., the voice of me who am His Servant. By the words: "Among you," the address is directed to the

whole of the people. In this, two parties are distinguished. The first is formed by those who fear the Lord, and obey the voice of His Servant. Both of these things appear as indissolubly connected. The fear of God must necessarily prove itself in this, that He whom He has sent is obeyed. It is a mere imagination on the part of the people to think that they can fear God without obeying the voice of His servant; comp. John v. 23. There is in this an allusion to the emphatic "Unto him ye shall hearken," which, in Deut. xviii. 15, had been said in reference to the Prophet. From ver. 11 it appears that the darkness in which those walk who fear the Lord, is not to be understood of personal individual calamity which befals this or that godly one, nor of the sufferings which happen to the pious godly party, in contrast to the ungodly wicked, but rather that we have before us the foresight of a dark period of sufferings which, after the appearance of the Servant of God, shall be inflicted upon the whole people; so that both of the parties,-that devoted to the Servant of God, and that opposed to Him,-are thereby affected, but with a different issue. For in ver. 11, it is described how the ungodly, who likewise walk in darkness, endeavour to light up their darkness by a fire which they have kindled, but do so to their own destruction. Behind the exhortation: "Let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God," there is concealed the promise: he may trust, his darkness shall be changed into light, his sorrow into joy. When the destruction of Jerusalem approached, the cry came to believing Israel: "Lift up your heads, for your redemption draweth nigh," Luke xxi. 28. In the destruction of apostate Israel, not obeying the Servant of God, but persecuting His faithful ones, they beheld the beginning of the victory of the true people of God over the world.

Ver. 11. "Behold all ye that kindle a fire, that gird sparks, -walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled. From mine hand is this to you; ye shall lie down in pain."

The image begun in the preceding verse is continued. The pious walk in confidence and patience through the lightless darkness, until the Lord kindles a light to them. Those who do not hear the Lord, who do not obey the voice of His Servant, kindle a fire which is to light up their darkness; but instead of

זיקות

that, they are consumed by the fire. Thus the Servant of God, who brings this destruction upon them, obtains His right upon them.-The fire is often in Scripture the fire of war, chap. ix. 18; Jer. li. 5.; Rev. viii. 27-10. According to several interpreters (Hitzig, Ewald, Knobel), it is assumed that the discourse is here not of "self-assistance by rebellion," but "of the attacks of the wicked upon the godly, and of the destruction, into which these attacks turn out for their authors." But this view is opposed by the circumstance that the darkness is common to both parties; hence, it must come from some other quarter. The fire which the wicked kindle is destined to enlighten the darkness in which they also are, which is especially evident from the words: "Walk in the light of your fire." They now have a light which enlightens their darkness; but this self-created light consumes them. To gird stands for, "to surround one's self with a girdle," "to put on a girdle." In substance it is equivalent "to provide one's self with it."-The arra λeyóuevov cannot with certainty be explained from the dialects. The connection and parallelism are in favour of the signification "sparks," "flames," which is found as early as in the Septuagint (pλóya), and Vulg. (flammas). In Syriac, has the signification "lightning." Those who explain it by "fiery darts" are not at liberty to refer it to the in Prov. xxvi. 18. The signification "flames" (not "sparks," as Stier holds), is, in that passage, quite suitable; simple arrows could there not be mentioned after the fiery darts without making the discourse feeble.- "walk ye," is equivalent to: "ye shall walk," yet with an intimation of the fact that this result, as we are immediately afterwards expressly told, proceeds from the speaker: sic volo, sic jubeo. The words: "From mine hand is this to you," are, by those who make the Prophet the subject of this prediction, supposed to be spoken by Jehovah. But throughout the whole section, the Lord is always only spoken of, and never appears as speaking. The words are in harmony with the exalted dignity which, elsewhere also, is attributed by the Prophet to the Servant of God who plants the heavens, and lays the foundation of the earth, chap. li. 16; whose mouth the Lord makes like a sharp sword, chap. xlix. 2; who is the personal salvation, the Saviour for the whole earth, chap. xlix. 6; and the embodied Covenant for the covenant-people, chaps. xlii.

זקים

זיקא

שכב

6, xlix. 8. The last passages, especially, are of no small importance. The saving and judging activity go hand in hand, and cannot be separated. We have here thus the Old Testament beginnings and preparation for the doctrine of the New Testament, that the Father has given all judgment to the Son. The Servant of God, in the highest sense, is Lord and judge of the fellow servants.-Thein yh serves for designating the condition: so that you belong to pain. occurs in chap. xliii. 17 of the Egyptians lying down; comp. Ps. xli. 9: "He that lieth shall rise up no more." In the announcement that Israel's attempt to help themselves would turn out to their destruction, the Song of Solomon, in chap. iii. 1—3, v. 7, has preceded our Prophet: "The daughter of Zion in her restlessness endeavours to bring about, by worldly, rebellious doings, the Messianic salvation. It is in vain; what she is seeking she does not find, but the heavenly watchmen find her."

CHAPTER LI. 16.

Ver. 1. "And I put my words in thy mouth, and cover thee in the shadow of mine hand, that thou mayest plant the heaven and lay the foundation of the earth, and say unto Zion: Thou art my people."

The discourse in chap. li. 1—lii. 12 is not addressed to the whole of Israel, but to the election. They are, in chap. li. 1, called those that follow after righteousness, that seek the Lord; in ver. 7, those who know righteousness, in whose heart is the law of the Lord. These the Prophet seeks to comfort and strengthen by pointing to the future glorious mercies of the Lord.

The Section chap. li. 4-8 comforts the elect by the coming of the salvation, by the dominion of the people of God over the whole world; points to the foundation of these successes, viz., the eternity of the salvation and righteousness for the Church; and exhorts them that, having this eternal salvation before them,

they might patiently bear the temporal reproach of the world given over to destruction.

In vers. 9-11, the Church calls upon the Lord to do as He had promised; and this prayer, founded upon His almighty love which in times past had so gloriously manifested itself, passes over, at the close, into hope and confidence.

In vers. 12-16 follows the answer of the Lord, who exhorts the Church to be stedfast, by reminding her that her opponents are weak mortals, while the omnipotent God is her protector; and announces that, with the same omnipotence which He manifests in nature, He would soon bring about her deliverance, and that He would do so by His Servant, in whom all His promises should be Yea and Amen, and whom, at the close, He addresses, committing to Him the work of redemption. According to the current opinion, the discourse in ver. 16 is addressed to the people. But, in that case, we must also make up our minds to view the Infinitive with as Gerund. "planting," or "by planting,”—a supposition which is beset with great difficulties. It was only by an inconsistency that Stier, who, in chap. xlix. rejects this view, could here agree to it. And, farther, it is obvious that the words at the close: "Thou art my people," are the words which, according to the commencement of the verse, are put into the mouth of the speaker, and that, hence, the planting of heaven and earth, which prepares for this speaking, belongs to Him. If this be not supposed, one does not at all see to what the: "I put my words in thy mouth," is to refer. What farther militates against this explanation is the unmistakeable relation of the passage before us to chaps. xlix., 1., which it is impossible to refer to the people. The same reason is also against the supposition of Gesenius and Umbreit, that the discourse is addressed to the prophetical order. Nor is it defensible to explain: "to plant the heaven and lay the foundation of the earth," by: to establish the new state of Israel. To these arguments it may be added that, according to this explanation, the words: "Thou art my people," are unsuitable; for Israel was not the people of the Prophet, but the people of God and of His Servant. The discourse is addressed rather to the Messiah, compare the parallel passages, chap. xlix., especially ver. 2, and chap. 1., especially vers. 4 and 5. Considering the