here, that the persons represented in chap. xii. 1-9 as receiving the powerful help of the Lord, are the same as those who are described in chap. xii. 10 sqq. as mourning in bitterness. A proof to the contrary, however, may be found in the circumstance, that the conversion is preceded by the victorious conflict with the heathen world. Again the people, as we see them at the end of chap. xi., cannot possibly be those referred to in chap. xii. 1-9. The former can only be the objects of punitive justice, not of saving grace. The conclusion to which we are brought, therefore, is rather that the persons referred to in chap. xii. 1-9 are the poor sheep, who are represented in chap. xi. as giving heed to the good shepherd, along with such believing Gentiles as had been received as part of Israel. But it is unnatural to suppose, that Zechariah passes all at once from the death of Christ to the final history of the kingdom of God, that he makes no allusions to the glorious events which lie between, to the splendid triumphs over the heathen world which have already taken place, and that he says nothing further about the intimation given in chap. ix. 10, "he speaks peace to the heathen, and his dominion is from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth." It cannot be said that the fact may be explained from the peculiar interest taken in the history of Israel. The Christian Church is from its very commencement the legitimate continuation of Israel, the wicked having been rooted out from the nation, and those who were Gentiles by birth having been incorporated into Israel on the ground of their faith. The Saviour himself clearly indicated this at the very outset, by calling his Church "Israel" (Matt. xix. 28); and it was from this point of view alone, that the number of apostles appointed for the whole Church (Matt. xxviii. 19), corresponded to that of the tribes of Israel. According to Paul there is but one olive tree, one people of God, one Israel from the beginning to the end. In Rom. xi. 18, Israel is represented as the root of the Christian Church. In Rom. xi. 7,-" the election hath obtained it, the rest are hardened,"-the emphasis must not be laid upon the latter in a one-sided manner. According to Eph. ii. 12 and 19, when the Gentiles come to Christ, they are incorporated into the "commonwealth of Israel," as "fellow citizens with the saints" ("Israelis;" Bengel). That Israel is the root of the

Christian Church is also apparent from the intercessory prayer of Christ (John xvii. 6-8), where he refers to the Church on earth as founded already, before a single Gentile had been admitted into it.'-There is just as little ground for restricting the second part of the prophecy to the final history of the Church, as for limiting the first in this way.

The first day of Pentecost, which is evidently included in chap. xii. 10, enters a decided protest against such a limitation. In both parts there are combined into one picture both that which is gradually realised in history, and that which takes place in a series of distinct events.-We have a repetition of the first part in the prophecy of the fall of Rome, as the heathen mistress of the world, in Rev. xvii., and in the announcement of the victory of Christ over the ten kings, the instruments employed in inflicting his judgments upon Rome, in Rev. xix. 11-21, where the means employed by Christ are hunger, pestilence, and especially murderous discord. Even chap. xvii. 14 of the Book of Revelation, where the victory obtained by Christ over the heather through the power of the word is thus described, "these shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome thein: for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful," is to be regarded as included in this prophecy. Our remarks on Ps. xcvii. are also applicable here," the coming of Christ partook of the character of a judgment even with regard to those of the heathen, who submitted to the Gospel: the worthlessness of their whole existence was thus brought to light, and deep shame took the place of pride and haughty contempt of Zion."

We must call attention here to the strict agreement between the first and second portions of Zechariah, to which we have already alluded. Chap. ix. and x. correspond exactly to chaps. i. iv. In both we have a description of the blessings to be bestowed upon the covenant nation previous to the coming of Christ, but still more especially of those to be enjoyed in consequence of his coming. Chap. xi. answers to chap. v. In both we find an account of the divine judgments, which would be inflicted upon the unbelieving and ungodly portion of the covenant

xi.

1 See the remarks on Hosea ii. 1 (vol. i. p. 209 sqq.), or Rev. vii. 4 and

nation, after its ungodliness had been most openly displayed in the rejection of the Messiah. Chap. vi. 1-8 contains a brief notice of the events which are more fully described in the prophecy before us and in chap. xiv.

Ver. 1. "The burden of the word of the Lord upon Israel: Thus saith the Lord, which stretcheth forth the heaven and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him."

We have already seen (chap. ix. 1), that s never means utterance, but always burden, and that it only occurs in the superscription of prophecies containing threatenings of evil. In such cases the proper name, which follows it in the construct state, or is connected with it by or by, indicates the object of the threats contained in the prophecy, or of the coming judgments. It is without ground, therefore, that some propose to render s prophecy in this one passage, and to give to y the meaning of. The double y in ver. 2, which points to the pressing calamity, and also they in ver. 3, correspond to v, in the sense of burden. An exceptional rendering of the word here is all the more inadmissible, when we compare the perfectly analogous superscription in chap. ix. 1, and that in Mal. iii. 1, which is almost word for word the same. It is also equally indisputable, that Israel can only refer to the covenant nation. This was its highest and holiest name, which could not be transferred to any other. How then are we to explain the fact, that the announcement which follows holds up before the people of the covenant the prospect of salvation? We reply that severe calamities, to be endured by the people of God, form the starting point of the section (chaps. xii.—xiv.), to the whole of which in a certain sense the heading "burden over Israel" belongs, in contradistinction to the burden of Hadrach in chap. ix. 1. In the words of Christ in Matt. xxiv. 9, "ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake," we have the New Testament version of this prophecy. There is a mitigation of the announcement, however, in the name "Israel." The word of the Lord cannot press as a burden upon Israel, in the same sense as upon Hadrach. The words of the Psalms are applicable here: "Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivereth him out of them all." In Psalms lxxiii. 1,

it is said, "truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart," notwithstanding the severe afflictions, with which they are visited, a passage which bears upon the verse before us, inasmuch as the limiting clause shows that by Israel we are to understand the election alone, the true Israelites, in whom there is no guile, to the exclusion of the false seed.-In ver. 1 Israel is mentioned; in vers. 2-9 Jerusalem and Judah; in ver. 10 sqq. the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. The reason of this variation, which is evidently not accidental, is the following: Israel the most sacred name is placed, with the strongest emphasis, at the head. It is afterwards scrupulously avoided, to render it the more conspicuous, that it is used here in an emphatic sense. In vers. 2-9 the covenant nation is designated Judah and Jerusalem,-a combination for which Zechariah shows a strong predilection in the first part also. (Compare i. 12, ii. 2, where Israel, the sacred name, is placed side by side with Judah and Jerusalem, and ii. 16). This may be accounted for, from the circumstances of the time succeeding the captivity, when Judah took the lead unconditionally, and the other tribes attached themselves to it. That Israel does not merely mean Judah here, but that Judah, on the contrary, is the name given to the whole nation, is evident from chap. x., where the return of Joseph and Ephraim is depicted. The latter cannot be regarded as excluded in this instance. Lastly, the change of name in ver. 10 sqq. shows that the Church is regarded there from a different point of view. The predicates connected with the name of God serve at the outset to allay any doubts that might arise from the discrepancy, between the promise and the actual circumstances, by pointing to the omnipotence of the author of the former. What is here implied, is explicitly stated in chap. viii. 6: "if it be marvellous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in these days, should it also be marvellous in mine eyes? saith the Lord of hosts." The par

1 There is a parallel in Is. xlii. 5, "Thus saith God the Lord, he that created the heavens and stretched them out, he that spread forth the earth and that which cometh out of it, he that giveth bread to the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein." The two passages cannot be unconnected. For not only are the three points mentioned the same in both, but they occur in the same order, and the context is the same. In both passages the omnipotence of God is appealed to as the guarantee of the certain realisation of the

ticiples and are not to be understood as referring exclusively to the past. In direct opposition to the mechanical view of the works of God, as standing, when once created, in just the same relation to Him as a house to the builder, the upholding of these works is represented in the Scriptures as being, in a certain sense, a continuous creation. Every day God spreads out the heavens, every day He lays the foundations of the earth, which would wander from its orbit and fall into ruins if it were not upheld by His power. The last predicate, also, does not refer merely to the first creation of the spirit of man, but to the constant exertion of the power of God both to create and to sustain. The formation of the human spirit is brought forward here with peculiar prominence as one of the many works of the almighty power of God, because this is the ground of the unrestrained and constant influence which is exerted upon the spirits. of men, by Him who "turns the hearts of kings as the waterbrooks." Why should not the creator of the spirits of all men, the "God of the spirits of all flesh" (Num. xvi. 22, xxvii. 16), be able to smite all the riders of the enemy with blindness, and fill the leaders of his people with holy boldness, as he is represented as doing in vers. 4 and 6?

Ver. 2. "Behold, I make Jerusalem a basin of reeling to all the nations round about, and even over Judah it will be, in the siege against Jerusalem."

occurs indisputably in Ex. xii. 22, and several other passages in the sense of "basin." The reason why a basin is introduced here in the place of the cup, which we find in the earlier passage upon which this is based, has been plausibly explained by Schmieder thus: "a basin, to which many may put their mouths so as to sip and drink at the same time." meaning asyn in the earlier passage, ness." The giddiness is regarded here as a state in which the bodily strength is weakened. The point of comparison is the helplessness and misery of the condition. The cup of giddiness

has the same יעל

"reeling," "giddi

Messianic salvation. As proofs that Isaiah is the earlier of the two, we may mention, first, that it is a customary thing with Isaiah to introduce such epithets in connection with the name of God, especially in the second part, in accordance with the character of his commission as expressed in the words, "Comfort ye, comfort ye, my people;" and secondly, that Zechariah refers to such passages as these, of an earlier date, in almost every verse.