Volume I Part 16 (1/2)
”And then Miriam answered to them (???, _i.e._, to the men), Sing ye to the Lord,” Moses sings first with the children of Israel, ver. 1, ”and then Miriam the prophetess took, etc., and _answered_.” The signification ”to answer,” is here quite evident. But, on the other hand, it appears that that pa.s.sage has not the slightest relation to the one under consideration, inasmuch as there is not, in the latter, any mention of a first choir, to which the second answers.--From what has been hitherto remarked, it is settled that the translation, ”And she answers thither,” is alone admissible. But now, since no _verbal_ question or address has preceded here, the question arises:--Which address by deeds called forth the answer? To this question an answer is readily suggested by the reference of ??? to the preceding ???. The address must have come from that place to which the answer is sent; hence, it can consist only in the giving of the vineyards, and of the good things of the promised land generally. On entering into it, she is welcomed by this affectionate address of the Lord, her husband, and there she answers it. The following words, ”As in the days,” etc., show what that is in which the answer consists. If, at that time, Israel answered the Lord by a song of praise, full of thanks for the deliverance from Egypt, now also they will answer Him by a song of praise, for being led into Canaan. If history had given any report of a hymn of praise sung by Israel when they entered into Canaan, the prophet would have referred to it; but as it was, he could only remind them of that hymn. And although the occasion on which it was sung did not altogether correspond, it must be borne in mind, that in this hymn (compare ver. 12 ff.) the pa.s.sing through the Red Sea is represented as a preparatory step, and as prefiguring the occupation of Canaan--the latter being contained in it as in a germ. It is, moreover, self-evident that the essential fundamental thought is [Pg 266]only that of the cordial and deep grat.i.tude of the redeemed,--that the form only is borrowed from the previous manifestation of this thankfulness.
An image altogether similar, and arising from the same cause, is found in Is. xii. also, where the reference to Moses' hymn of thanks is manifested by employing the very words; and likewise in Is. xxvi.; and, further, in Hab. iii. and Rev. xv. 3.--??? and ??? are Nominatives, not Accusatives; which latter could not be made use of here, because the discourse is not of an action extending through the whole period, but of one happening at a particular point of that period. The comparison is here also merely intimated, because the _tertium comparationis_ is abundantly evident from what precedes: ”As the days of her youth,”
instead of, ”As she once answered in the days of her youth.”
Ver. 18. ”_And it shall be at that day, saith the Lord, thou shalt call Me, My husband, and shall call Me no more, My Baal._”
The full performance of her duties corresponds with the full admission to her rights. The prophet expresses this thought, by announcing the removal of the two forms in which the apostasy of the people from the true G.o.d--the violation of the marriage-covenant which rested on exclusiveness--was at that time manifested. One of these was the mixing up of the religion of Jehovah with heathenism, according to which they called the true G.o.d ”Baal,” and wors.h.i.+pped Him as Baal; the other was still grosser--was pure idolatry. The abolition of the former (compare above, p. 176 f.) is predicted in this verse; the abolition of the latter, in the verse following. Both are in a similar way placed beside each other in Zech. xiv. 9: ”In that day shall there be one Lord, and His name one;” where the first clause refers to the abolition of polytheism, and the second to the abolition of the mixing of religion--of the hidden apostasy--which, without venturing to forsake the true G.o.d entirely and openly, endeavours to mix up and identify Him with the world. To the fundamental thought there are several parallels; _e.g._, Deut. x.x.x. 5 ff.: ”And the Lord thy G.o.d bringeth thee into the land which thy fathers possessed; and the Lord thy G.o.d circ.u.mciseth thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy G.o.d with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live.” This pa.s.sage shows that the verse before us, no less than that which precedes, contains a _promise_, and that the ”calling,” and the ”calling no more,” is a work of divine [Pg 267]grace. To this we are led also by the words, ”I shall take away,” in ver. 19, as well as by the other parallel pa.s.sages:--Jer. xxiv. 7: ”And I give them an heart to know Me, that I am the Lord; and they shall be a people to Me, and I will be a G.o.d to them, for they shall return to Me with their whole heart;” Ezek. xi. 19: ”And I give them one heart, and a new spirit I put within them, and take the stony heart out of their flesh;” compare further Zech. xiii. 2. Another interpretation of the verse recommends itself by its apparent depth. According to it, ??? is to be taken as an appellative noun, the ”marriage-Lord,” in contrast with ???, ”husband,”
and that the people are henceforth to be altogether governed by love.
But this interpretation must be objected to, for a whole mult.i.tude of reasons. There is, _first_ of all, the relation of this verse to the following one, which does not allow that ???, which there occurs as a proper name, should in this place be taken as an appellative. There is, _then_, the arbitrariness in defining the relation between ??? and ???, the former of which as little exclusively expresses the relation of love, as the latter excludes it. (Compare Is. liv. 5, 6, lxii. 4; 2 Sam. xi. 26.) Further, it is incorrect to say that ??? properly means ”Lord;” it means ”possessor.” _Still further_,--There is the unsuitableness of the thought, which would be without any a.n.a.logy in its favour throughout Scripture. And, _lastly_, the relation of love to G.o.d cannot, even in its highest consummation, do away with reference to Him, etc.
Ver. 19. ”_And I take away the names of the Baalim out of her mouth, and they shall no more be remembered by their name._”
The people are to conceive such an abhorrence of idolatry, that they shall be afraid of being defiled even by p.r.o.nouncing the name of the idols. The words are borrowed from Exod. xxiii. 13: ”Ye shall not make mention of the name of other G.o.ds, neither shall it be heard out of thy mouth.” The special expression of the idea must, as a matter of course, be referred back to this idea itself, viz., the abhorrence of the former sin and, hence, such a mention cannot here be spoken of as, like that in the pa.s.sage before us, has no reference to that sin.
Ver. 20. ”_And I make a covenant for them in that day with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven, and with the creeping things of the earth; and bow, and sword, and war I break out of the land, and make them to dwell in safety._”
[Pg 268]
On the expression, ”I make a covenant,” _Manger_ remarks, ”The cause is here put for the effect, in order to inspire with greater security.”
For the benefit of Israel, G.o.d makes a covenant with the beasts, _i.e._, He imposes upon them obligations not to injure them. The phrase ??? ???? is frequently used of a transaction betwixt two parties, whereby an obligation is imposed upon only one of the parties, without the a.s.sumption of any obligation by the other. A somewhat different turn is given to the image in Job v. 23, where, by the mediation of G.o.d, the beasts themselves enter into a covenant with Job after his restoration. ??? never means ”worm,” but always ”what moves and creeps,” both small and great, as, in Ps. civ. 25, is subjoined by way of explanation. The three cla.s.ses stand in the same order in Gen. ix.
2. The normal order there established, ”And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast,” etc., returns, after the removal of the disturbance which has been produced by sin. Upon the words, ”I break,” etc., _Manger_ makes the very pertinent remark: ”It is an emphatic and expressive brevity, according to which breaking out of the land all instruments of war, and war itself, means that He will break them and remove them out of the land.” It is self-evident that ”war” can here, as little as anywhere else, mean ”weapons of war.” The prophet, as it appears, had in view the pa.s.sage Lev. xxvi. 3 ff.: ”If ye will walk in My statutes, and keep My commandments and do them, I will give you your rains in due season, and the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.... And I give peace in the land, and you dwell, and there is none who makes you afraid; and I destroy the wild beasts out of the land, and the sword shall not enter into your land.” It is so much the more obvious that we ought to a.s.sume a reference to this pa.s.sage, as Ezekiel also, in x.x.xiv.
25 ff., copies it almost _verbatim_. On account of the fatal _If_, that promise had hitherto been only very imperfectly fulfilled; and frequently just the opposite of it had happened. But now that the condition is fulfilled, the promise also shall be fully realized. But we must observe, with reference to it, that, when we look to the present course of the world, this hope remains always more or less ideal, because in reference to the condition also, the idea is not yet reached by the reality. The idea is this:--As evil is, as a [Pg 269]punishment, the inseparable concomitant of sin, so prosperity and salvation are the inseparable companions of righteousness. This is realized even in the present course of the world, in so far as everything must serve to promote the prosperity of the righteous. But the full realization belongs to the pa????e?es?a, where, along with sin, evil too (which is _here_ still necessary even for the righteous, in order to purify them) shall be extirpated. Parallel are Is. ii. 4, xi.-x.x.xv. 9; Zech. ix. 10.
Ver. 21. ”_And I betroth thee to Me for eternity; and I betroth thee to Me in righteousness and judgment, and in loving-kindness and mercy._”
Ver. 22. ”_And I betroth thee to Me in faithfulness, and thou knowest the Lord._”
The word ???, ”to espouse” (compare Deut. xx. 7, where it is contrasted with ???), has reference to the entrance into a marriage entirely new, with the wife of youth, and is, for this reason, chosen on purpose.
”Just as if (so _Calvin_ remarks) the people had never violated conjugal fidelity, G.o.d promises that they should be His spouse, in the same manner as one marries a _virgo intacta_.” It was indeed a great mercy if the unfaithful wife was only received _again_. Justly might she have been rejected for ever; for the only valid reason for a divorce existed, inasmuch as she had lived in adultery for years. But G.o.d's mercy goes still further. The old offences are not only _forgiven_, but _forgotten_. A relation entirely new begins, into which there enter, on the one side, no suspicion and no bitterness, and on the other, no painful recollections, such as may pa.s.s into similar human relations.h.i.+ps, where the consequences of sin never disappear altogether, and where a painful remembrance always remains. The same dealing of G.o.d is still repeated daily; every believer may still say with exultation: ”Old things are pa.s.sed away; behold, all things are become new.” It is the greatness of this promise which occasions the direct address, whilst hitherto the Lord had spoken of the wife in the third person. She shall hear face to face, the great word out of His mouth, in order that she may be a.s.sured that it is she whom it concerns; and in order to express its greatness, its joyfulness, and the difficulty of believing it, it is repeated three times. _Calvin_ says: ”Because it was difficult to deliver the people from fear and despair, and because they could not but be [Pg 270]aware how grievously they had sinned, and in how many ways they had alienated themselves from G.o.d, it was necessary to employ many consolations, that thus their faith might be confirmed. One likes to hear the repet.i.tion of the intelligence of a great and unexpected good fortune which one has some difficulty in realizing. And what could a man, despairing on account of his sins, less readily realize than the greatest of all miracles--viz., that all his sins should be done away with, at once and for ever? But the repet.i.tion is, in this case, so much the more full of consolation, that, each time, it is accompanied with the promise of some new blessing; that, each time, it opens up some new prospect of new blessings from this new connection. First, there is the eternal duration,--then, as a pledge of this, the attributes which G.o.d would display in bestowing it,--and, finally, there are the blessings which He would impart to His betrothed.” The ????? points back to the painful dissolution of the former marriage-covenant: This new one shall not be liable to such a dissolution; for ”the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed, but My kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of My peace be removed, saith the Lord:” Is. liv.
10. The attributes which G.o.d will display towards the wife, and the conduct which she shall observe towards Him through His mercy, are connected with ?????? ??, ”I betroth thee to Me,” by means of ?, which is often used to mark the circ.u.mstances on which some action rests. Thus, in the case before us, the betrothment rests upon what G.o.d vouchsafes along with it, inasmuch as thereby only does it become a true betrothment. That the accompanying gifts must be thus distributed--as we have done--first, the faithful discharge of all the duties of a husband on His part, and then, the inward communication of strength to her for the fulfilment of her obligations; and that we are neither at liberty to refer, as do some interpreters, everything to one of the two parties, nor to a.s.sume, as others do, that everything refers to both at the same time--is proved not only by the intervening repet.i.tion of ”I betroth thee to Me,” but also by the internal nature of the gift's mentioned. ?????, ”mercy,” cannot be spoken of in the relation of the wife to G.o.d, nor knowledge of G.o.d, in the relation of G.o.d to the wife. The four manifestations of G.o.d which are mentioned here form [Pg 271] a double pair,--righteousness and judgment, loving-kindness and mercy. The two are frequently connected in a similar way; _e.g._, Is. i. 27: ”Zion shall be redeemed in judgment, and her inhabitants in righteousness.” They are distinguished thus:--the former, ???, designates the _being just_, as a subjective attribute, with the dispositions and actions flowing from it; the latter, ????, denotes the _objective right_.[1] A man can give to another his right or judgment, and yet not be righteous; but G.o.d's righteousness, and His doing right in reference to the Congregation, consists in this:--that He faithfully performs the obligations which He took upon Himself when He entered into covenant with her. This, however, is not sufficient. The obligations entered into are reciprocal. If, then, the covenant be violated on the part of the Congregation, what hope is left for her? In order the more to relieve and comfort the wife, who, from former experience, knew full well what she might expect from righteousness and judgment alone, the Lord adds a second pair,--loving-kindness and mercy, the former being the root of the latter, and the latter being the form in which the former manifests itself, in the relation of an omnipotent and holy G.o.d to weak and sinful man. ???, properly ”love,” man may also entertain towards G.o.d; although even this word is very rarely used in reference to man, because G.o.d's love infinitely exceeds human love; but G.o.d only can have ?????, ”mercy,” upon man. But still a distressing thought might, and must be entertained by the wife. G.o.d's mercy and love have their limits; they extend only to the one case which dissolves even human marriage--the type of the heavenly marriage, the great mystery which the Apostle refers to Christ and the Church. What, then, if this case should again occur? Her heart, it is true, is now filled with pure love; but who knows whether this love shall not cool,--whether she shall not again yield to temptation? A new consolation is applied to the new distress. G.o.d Himself will bestow what it is not in the power of man to bestow--viz., faithfulness towards Him (compare ?????
used of human faithfulness, in Hab. ii. 4; Jer. v. 3, vii. 28; the faithfulness in this verse forms the contrast to the wh.o.r.edom in i.
2), [Pg 272]and the knowledge of Him. ”Thou knowest the Lord” is tantamount to--”in My knowledge.” The knowledge of G.o.d is here substantial knowledge. Whosoever thus knows G.o.d cannot but love Him, and be faithful to Him. All idolatry, all sin, has its foundation in a want of the knowledge of G.o.d.
Ver. 23. ”_And it comes to pa.s.s in that day, I will hear, saith the Lord; I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth;_ Ver. 24.
_And the earth shall hear the corn, and the must, and the oil; and they shall hear Jezreel_” (_i.e._, him whom G.o.d sows).
The promise in this pa.s.sage forms the contrast to the threatening in Deut. xxviii. 23, 24: ”And thy heaven that is over thy head shall be bra.s.s, and the earth that is under thee shall be iron. The Lord will give for the rain of thy land, dust, and dust shall come down from heaven upon thee.” The second ???? is, by most interpreters, considered as a resumption of the first. But we obtain a far more expressive sense, if we isolate the first ????, ”I shall hear,” namely, all prayers which will be offered up unto Me by you, and for you. Parallel, among other pa.s.sages, is Is. lviii. 9, where the reformed people are promised: ”Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and He shall say. Here I am.” By a bold _prosopopia_, the prophet makes heaven to pray that it might be permitted to give to the earth that which is necessary for its fruitfulness, etc. Hitherto they have been hindered from fulfilling their _destination_, since G.o.d was obliged to withdraw His gifts from the unworthy people, ii. 11; but now, since this obstacle has been removed, they pray for permission to resume their vocation. The prophets in this manner give, as it were, a visible representation of the idea, that there is in the whole world no good independent of G.o.d,--nothing which, in accordance with its destination, is not ours, and would indeed be ours, if we stood in the right relation to Him,--nothing that is not His, and that will not be taken away from us, if we desire the gift without the Giver. _Calvin_ remarks: ”The prophet shows where and when the happiness of men begins, viz., when G.o.d adopts them, when He betrothes Himself to them, after having put away their sins.... He teaches, also, in these words, that the heavens do not become dry by some secret instinct; but it is when G.o.d withholds His grace, that there is no rain by which the heavens water the earth.” G.o.d, then, here shows [Pg 273]plainly that the whole _order of nature_ (as men are wont to say) is so entirely in His hand, that not one drop of rain shall fall from heaven unless by His will,--that the whole earth would produce no gra.s.s,--that, in short, all nature would be sterile, unless He made it fruitful by His blessing.
Ver. 25. ”_And I sow her unto Me in the land, and I have mercy upon her 'who had not obtained mercy'_ (Lo-Ruhamah); _and I say to 'not My people'_ (Lo-Ammi), _Thou art My people, and they say to Me, My G.o.d._”
The three symbolical names of the children of the prophet here once more return. The _femin. suffix_ in ??????, referring to ??????, need not at all surprise us; for, in the whole pa.s.sage before us, the sign disappears in the thing signified. In point of fact, however, _Jezreel_ is equivalent to Israel to be sowed anew. (It is not the Israel to be _planted_ anew, which is a figure altogether different; the sowing has always a reference to the increase.)
Footnote 1: In our authorized version ???? is almost constantly rendered by ”_judgment_,” although evidently in the sense pointed out by the author,--for which reason, this rendering has been retained here.--Tr.
CHAPTER III.
”The significant couple returns for a new reference” (_Ruckert_).
First, in vers. 1-3, the symbolical action is reported. At the command of the Lord, the prophet takes a wife, who, notwithstanding his affectionate and faithful love, lives in continued adultery. He does not entirely reject her; but, in order that she may come to recovery and repentance, he puts her into a position where she must abstain from her lovers. The interpretation of the symbol is given in ver.
4: Israel, forsaken by the world, shall spend a long time in sad seclusion. A glance into the more distant future, without any symbolical imagery, forms the conclusion. The punishment will at length produce conversion. Israel returns to the Lord his G.o.d, and to David his king.
Ver. 1. ”_Then said the Lord unto me, Go again, love a_ [Pg 274]_woman beloved of her friend, and an adulteress, as the Lord loveth the sons of Israel, and they turn to other G.o.ds and love grape-cakes._”
The right point of view for the interpretation of this verse has been already, in many important respects, established; compare p. 183 sqq.
We here take for granted the results there obtained. It is of great importance, for an insight into the whole pa.s.sage, to remark, that the symbolical action in this section, just as in that to which chap. i.
belongs, embraces the entire relation of the Lord to the people of Israel, and not, as some interpreters a.s.sume, one portion only, viz., the time from the beginning of the captivity. This false view--of which the futility was first completely exposed by _Manger_--has arisen from the circ.u.mstance, that the prophet, in narrating the execution of the divine commission, omits very important events. In the expectation that every one would supply them, partly from the commission itself, and partly from the preceding portions, where they had been treated of with peculiar copiousness, he rather at once pa.s.ses from the first conclusion of the marriage, to that point which, in this pa.s.sage, forms his main subject, namely, the disciplinary punishment to which he subjects his wife,--the Lord, Israel. The prophet's aim and purpose is to afford to the people a right view of the captivity so near at hand; to lead them to consider it neither as a merely accidental event, having, no connection at all with their sins; nor as a pure effect of divine anger, aiming at their entire destruction; but rather as being at the same time a work of punitive justice, and of corrective love.