remark on the passage under consideration: "The Prophet, as if he were describing something which in his mind he had seen as certain long ago, here represents everything in the past, and scarcely makes an exception of this in the new start which he takes in the middle." At the time when the Prophet uttered this prophecy, even the darkness still belonged to the future. As yet the world's power had not gained the ascendancy over Israel; but here the light has already dispelled the darkness.

It now merely remains for us to view more particularly the quotation of these two verses in Matt. iv. 12-17. 'Akovoas dè thus the section begins -ὅτι Ιωάννης παρεδόθη, ἀνεχώρησεν eis Tv Taxiλalav. Since, in these words, we are told that Jesus, after having received the intelligence of the imprisonment of John, withdrew into Galilee, we cannot for a moment think of His having sought, in Galilee, safety from Herod; for Galilee just belonged to Herod, and Judea afforded security against him. The verb avaɣwpeîv denotes, on the contrary, the withdrawing into the angulus terrae Galilee, as contrasted with the civil and ecclesiastical centre. The time of the beginning of Christ's preaching (His ministry hitherto had been merely a kind of prelude) was determined by the imprisonment of John, as certainly as, according to the prophecy of the Old Testament, the territories of the activity of both were immediately bordering upon one another, and by that very circumstance the place, too, was indirectly determined; for it was fixed by the prophecy under consideration that Galilee was to be the scene of the chief ministry of Christ. If, then, the time for the beginning of the ministry had come, He must also depart into Galilee. The connection, therefore, is this: After he had received the intelligence of the imprisonment of John-in which the call to Him for the beginning of His ministry was implied-He departed into Galilee, and especially to Capernaum, vers. 12, 13; for it was this part of the country which, by the prophecy, was fixed as the main scene of His Messianic activity, vers. 14—16. It was there, therefore, that He continued the preaching of John, ver. 17.Καὶ καταλιπὼν τὴν Ναζαρέτ—it is said in ver. 13—ἐλθὼν κατώκησεν εἰς Καπερναοὺμ τὴν παραθαλασσίαν, ἐν ὁρίοις Ζαβου λὼν καὶ Νεφθαλείμ. Christ had hitherto had His settled abode at Nazareth, and thence undertook His wanderings. The imme

diate reason why He did not remain there is not stated by Matthew; but we learn it from Luke and John. In accordance with his object, Matthew takes cognizance of this one circumstance only, that, according to the prophecy of the Old Testament, Capernaum was very specially fitted for being the residence of Christ. The town was situated on the western shore of the Lake of Gennesareth. Quite in opposition to his custom elsewhere, Matthew describes the situation of the town so minutely, because this knowledge served to afford a better insight into the fulfilment of the prophecy of the Old Testament. The designation τὴν παραθαλασσίαν stands in reference to ὁδὸν θαλάσ ons, in ver. 15. 'Ev ópíois, &c., may either mean: "In the borders of Zebulun and Naphtali," i.e. in that place where the borders of both the countries meet,-or Tà öpia may, according to the analogy of the Hebrew, denote the borders in the sense of " teritory," as in Matt. ii. 16. From a comparison of yŷ Zaßovλὼν καὶ Νεφθαλείμ of the prophecy in ver. 15, to which the words stand in direct reference, it follows that the latter view is the correct one. Whether Capernaum lay just on the borders between the two countries was of no consequence to the prophecy, and hence was of none to Matthew.-The phrase va λnpwon does not, according to the very sound remark of De Wette, point to the intention, but to the objective aim. The question, however, is to what the "va npwon is to be referred,—whether merely to that which immediately precedes, viz., the change of residence from Nazareth to Capernaum, or, at the same time to ἀνεχώρησεν εἰς τὴν Γαλιλαίαν. The latter is alone correct. The prophecy which the Evangelist has in view referred mainly to Galilee, or the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali in general; but, according to the express remark of the Evangelist, Nazareth itself was likewise situated in Galilee. The advantage which Capernaum had over it was this only, that in Capernaum the odov Oaλáoons of the prophecy was found again, and that, therefore, thence the πέραν τοῦ Ἰορδάνου of the prophecy also could be better realized, inasmuch as across the lake there was an easy communication from that place with the country beyond Jordan. The connection is hence this: After the imprisonment of the Baptist, Jesus, in order to enter upon His ministry, went to Galilee, and especially to Capernaum, which was situated on the

lake, in order that thus the prophecy of Isaiah as to the glorification of Galilee, and of the region on the lake, might be fulfilled. -Matthew has abridged the passage. From chap. viii. 23 (ix. 1) he has taken the designation of the part of the country, in order that the agreement of fulfilment and prophecy might become visible. The words from γῆτῶν ἐθνῶν may either be regarded as a fragment taken out of its connection, so that they are viewed as a quotation, and as forming a period by themselves (this, from a comparison of the original, seems most natural);-or we may also suppose, that the Evangelist, having broken-up the connection with the preceding, puts these words into a new connection, so that, along with the ó λaós, which has become an apposition, they form the subject of the following sentence. At all events, ódóv takes here the place of the adverb, although it may not be possible to adduce instances and proofs altogether analogous from the Greek usus loquendi. -The confidence with which Matthew explains chap. viii. 23, and ix. 1 of Christ can be accounted for only from the circumstance that he recognized Christ as He who in chap. ix. 5, 6 (6, 7) is described as the author of all the blessings designated in the preceding verses. It was therefore altogether erroneous in Gesenius to assert that there was the less reason for holding the Messianic explanation of chap. ix. 5, 6, as there was no testimony of the New Testament in favour of it.—It is quite obvious that Matthew does not quote the Old Testament prophecy in reference to any single special event which happened at Capernaum; but that rather the whole following account of the glorious deeds of Christ in Galilee, as well as in Peraea, down to chap. xix. 1, serves to mark the fulfilment of this Old Testament prophecy, and is subservient to this quotation. This passage of Matthew explains the reason, why it is that he, and Luke and Mark who closely follow him, report henceforth, until the last journey of Jesus to Jerusalem, exclusively facts which happened in Galilee, and in Peraea, which likewise was mentioned by Isaiah. The circumstance that this fact, which is so obvious, was not perceived, has called forth a number of miserable conjectures, and has even led some interpreters to assail the credibility of the Gospel. To Matthew, who wished to show that Jesus was the Christ, the Messiah promised in the Old

Testament, the interest must, in the view of the prophecy under consideration, be necessarily concentrated upon Galilee; and Mark and Luke followed him in this, perceiving that it was not becoming to them to open up a path altogether new. This was reserved to the second Apostle from among the Evangelists.

Ver. 2 (3). "Thou multipliest the nation to which thou didst not increase the joy; they joy before thee like the joy in harvest, and as they rejoice when they divide the spoil."

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 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" (as in the passage before us, and not by), 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. f

VOL. II.

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; 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 Umbreit: "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 "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 joy 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