Chapter 12

descending on the ladder.

[Pg 125]

In Gen. xlviii. 15, 16, we read of Jacob: "_And he blessed Joseph, and said, The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, and the God which fed me all my life long unto this day, the Angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads._"

In this passage, God first appears, twice in the indefiniteness of His nature, and then, specially, as the Angel concerned for Jacob and his posterity.

By the Angel, we cannot here understand a divine emanation and messenger, because no permanent character belongs to such; while here the whole sum of the preservations of Jacob, and of the blessings upon Ephraim and Manasseh, is derived from the Angel. And just as little can we thereby understand a created angel, according to the view of _Hofmann_, who, in S. 87, says: "Jacob here makes mention of God, not thrice, but twice only; first as the God of his fathers, and then as the God of his own experience, but in such a way that in ver. 16 he names, instead of God, the Angel who watched over him; and he does so for the purpose of denoting the special providence of which he had been the object."

The analogy of the threefold blessing of Aaron in Num. vi. 24-26 would lead us to expect that the name of God should be three times mentioned. No created angel could in this manner be placed by the side of God, or be introduced as being independent of, and co-ordinate with, Him. Such an angel can only be meant as is connected with God by oneness of nature, and whose activity is implied in that of God. The singular יברך is here of very special significance. It indicates that the Angel is joined to God by an inseparable oneness, and that his territory is just as wide as that of Elohim.[1] If by the angel we understand some created one, we cannot then avoid the startling inference, that God is, in all His manifestations, bound [Pg 126] absolutely to the mediation of the lower angels. In the history upon which Jacob looks back, the inferior angels do not appear at all as taking any part in all the preservations of Jacob. Twice only are they mentioned in his whole history,--in chap. xxviii. 12, and xxxii. 2. _Lastly_,--The angel cannot well be a collective noun; for we nowhere meet with the _ideal_ person of the angel, as comprehending within himself a real plurality. (Compare remarks on Ps. xxxiv. 8.) We should therefore be compelled to think of Jacob's protecting angel. But this, again, would be in opposition to the fact, that Scripture nowhere says anything of the guardian angels of any individual. Moreover, it is a plurality of angels that in xxviii. 12, xxxii. 2, serves for the protection of Jacob, and we nowhere find the slightest trace of one inferior angel being attached to Jacob for his protection.

Footnote 1: This significance of the singular was pointed out as early as in the third century by _Novatianus_, who, _de Trinitate_ c. xv. (p. 1016 in _Ode_), says: "So constant is he in mentioning that Angel whom he had called God, that even at the close of his speech he again refers, in an emphatic manner, to the same person, by saying, 'God bless these lads.' For had he intended that some other angel should be understood, he would have used the plural number in order to comprehend the two persons. But since, in his blessing, he made use of the singular, he would have us to understand that God and the Angel are quite identical."

* * * * *

In Exod. xxiii. 20, 21, Jehovah says to the children of Israel: "_Behold, I send an angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared. Beware of him, and obey his voice; do not rebel against him, for he will not pardon your transgressions: for My name is in him._"

As the people are here told to beware of the Angel, because he will not pardon their transgressions, so Joshua xxiv. 19 warns them as regards the most high God: "Ye will not be able to serve Jehovah: for He is a holy (_i.e._, a glorious, exalted) God; He is a jealous God; He will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins." The energetic character of the reaction proceeding from the angel against all violations of His honour, is founded upon the words, "For My name is in him." By the "name of God" all His deeds are understood and comprehended, His glory testified by history, the display and testimony of His nature which history gives. (Compare the remarks in my commentary on Ps. xxiii. 2, xlviii. 11, lxxxiii. 17-19, lxxxvi. 11.) "My name is him;" _i.e._, according to Calvin, "My glory and majesty dwell in him." Compare here what in the New Testament is said of Christ: ἃ γὰρ ἂν ἐκεῖνος ποιῇ ταῦτα καὶ ὁ υἱὸς ὁμοίως ποιεῖ, John v. 19; ἵνα πάντες τιμῶσι τὸν υἱὸν καθὼς τιμῶσι τὸν πατέρα, John v. 23; ἐγὼ καὶ ὁ πατὴρ ἕν ἐσμεν, John x. 30; ἵνα γνῶτε καὶ πιστεύσητε ὅτι ἐν ἐμοὶ ὁ πατὴρ κᾀγὼ ἐν αὐτῷ, [Pg 127] John x. 38; οὐ πιστεύεις ὅτι ἐγὼ ἐν τῷ πατρὶ καὶ ὁ πατὴρ ἐν ἐμοί ἐστι, John xiv. 10; καθὼς σὺ πάτερ ἐν ἐμοὶ κᾀγὼ ἐν σοί, John xvii. 21; ἐν αὐτῷ κατοικεῖ πᾶν τὸ πλήρωμα τῆς θεότητος σωματικῶς, Col. ii. 9.--It is impossible that the name of God could be communicated to any other, Is. xlii. 8. The name of God can dwell in Him only, who is originally of the same nature with God.

* * * * *

After Israel had contracted guilt by the worship of the golden calf. He who had hitherto led them--Jehovah = the Angel of Jehovah--says, in Exod. xxxii. 34, that He would no more lead them Himself, but send before them His Angel, מלאכי: "_For I_ (myself) _will not go up in the midst of thee, for thou art a stiff-necked people, lest I consume thee in the way_;" xxxiii. 3, compared with xxiii. 21. The people are quite inconsolable on account of this sad intelligence, ver. 4.

The threatening of the Lord becomes unintelligible, and the grief of the people incomprehensible, if by the Angel in chap. xxiii. an ordinary angel be understood. But everything becomes clear and intelligible, if we admit that in chap. xxiii. there is an allusion to the Angel of the Lord κατ᾽ ἐξοχήν, who is connected with Him by oneness of nature, and who, because the name of God is in Him, is as zealous as Himself in inflicting punishment as well as in bestowing salvation; whilst in chap. xxxii. 34, the allusion is to an inferior angel, who is added to the highest revealer of God as His companion and messenger, and who appears in the Book of Daniel under the name of Gabriel, while the Angel of the Lord appears under the name of Michael.

On account of the sincere repentance of the people, and the intercession of Moses, the Lord revokes the threatening, and says in xxxiii. 14, "My face shall go." But Moses said unto Him, "If Thy face go not, carry us not up hence."

That פנים, _face_, signifies here the _person_, is granted by _Gesenius_: "The face of some one means often his personal presence,--himself in his own person." A similar use of the word occurs in 2 Sam. xvii. 11: "Thy face go to battle" (_Michaelis_: "Thou thyself be present, not some commander only"); and in Deut. iv. 37, where בפניו means _in_, or _with_, _his personal presence_: "He [Pg 128] brought them out with His face, with His mighty power out of Egypt."

The state of things has in xxxiii. 14, 15, evidently become again what it was in xxiii. 20, 21. The face of the Lord in the former passage, is the Angel of the Lord in the latter. Hence, we cannot here admit the idea of some inferior angel; we can think only of that Angel who is connected with the Lord by oneness of nature.

The connection between the face of the Lord in xxxiii. 14, 15, and the Angel in whom is the name of the Lord, in xxiii., becomes still more evident by Is. lxiii. 8, 9: "And He (Jehovah) became their Saviour. In all their affliction (they were) not afflicted, and the Angel of His face saved them; in His love and in His pity He redeemed them, and He bore and carried them all the days of old." The Angel of the face, in this text, is an expression which, by its very darkness, points back to some fundamental passage--a passage, too, in the Pentateuch--as facts are alluded to, of which the authentic report is given in that book. The expression, "Angel of the face," arose from a combination of Exod. xxiii. 20--from which the "Angel" is taken--and Exod. xxxiii. 14, whence he took the "face." To explain "Angel of the face" by "the angel who sees His face," as several have done, would give an inadequate meaning; for by the whole context, an expression is demanded which would elevate the angel to the height of God. Now, as in Exod. xxxiii. 14, "the face of Jehovah" is tantamount to "Jehovah in His own person," the Angel of the face can be none other than He in whom Jehovah appeal's personally, in contrast with inferior created angels. The Angel of the face is the Angel in whom is the name of the Lord.

* * * * *

When Joshua was standing with the army before Jericho, in a state of despondency at the sight of the strongly fortified city, a man appeared to him, with his sword drawn; and when he was asked by Joshua, "Art thou for us or for our adversaries?" he answers, in chap. v. 14, "Nay, for I am the Captain of the host of Jehovah, שר צבא יהוה, now I have come." This Captain claims for himself divine honour, in ver. 15, precisely in the same manner as the Angel of Jehovah in Exod. iii., by commanding [Pg 129] Joshua to put off his shoes, because the place on which he stood was holy. In chap. vi. 2 he is called Jehovah. For it is evident that we are not to think of another divine revelation there given to Joshua in any other way--as some interpreters suppose; because, in that case, the appearance of the Captain, who only now gives command to Joshua, would have been without an object. In chap. v. the directions would be wanting; in chap. vi. we should have no report of the appearance.

There can be no doubt that, by the host of the Lord, the heavenly host is to be understood; and _Hofmann_ (S. 291) has not done well in reviving the opinion of some older expositors (_Calvin_, _Masius_) which has been long ago refuted, viz., that the host of the Lord is "Israel standing at the beginning of his warfare," and in asserting that the prince of this host is some inferior angel. The Israelites cannot be the host of the Lord, that explanation is excluded by the comparison with the host of the Lord mentioned at the very threshold of revelation, in Gen. ii. 1; that which is commonly (Gen. xxxii. 2; 1 Kings xxii. 19; Neh. ix. 6; Ps. ciii. 21, cxlviii. 2, compared with 2 Kings vi. 27) so called, infinitely surpasses the earthly one in glory, and of it the Lord has the name Jehovah Zebaoth. It is only in two isolated passages of the Pentateuch that the appellation which properly belongs to the heavenly hosts of God is transferred to the earthly ones; and that is done in order to point out their correspondence, and thereby to elevate the mind. In the first of these passages, Exod. vii. 4, the "host of the Lord" is not spoken of absolutely, but it is expressly said what host is intended: "And I bring forth My host. My people, the children of Israel." The second passage, in Exod. xii. 41, is similarly qualified, and refers to the first. According to this view of _Hofmann_, the words, "now I have come," are quite inexplicable.[1] The Captain of the host of the Lord expresses Himself in such a manner as if, by His coming, everything were accomplished. But if he was only the commander of Israel--an inferior [Pg 130] angel--his coming was no guarantee for success, for his limited power might be checked by a higher one. But if the Captain of the host of Jehovah be the Prince of angels, we cannot by any means refer the divine honour which He demands and receives, to Him who sent Him, in contrast with Him who is sent; the higher the dignity, the more necessary is the limitation. If the honour be ascribed to Him, He must be a partaker of a divine nature.

Jesus not at all indistinctly designates Himself as the Captain of the Lord's host spoken of in our passage, in Matt. xxvi. 53: Ἢ δοκεῖς ὅτι οὐ δύναμαι ἄρτι παρακαλέσαι τὸν πατέρα μου, καὶ παραστήσει μοι πλείους ἢ δώδεκα λεγεῶνας ἀγγέλων; This passage alone would be sufficient to refute the view which conceives of the Angel of the Lord as a mere emanation and messenger. It also overthrows the opinion that he is an inferior angel, inasmuch as the Angel of the Lord here appears as raised above all inferior angels.

Thus there existed, even in the time of Moses, the most important foundation for the doctrine concerning Christ. He who knows the general relation which the Pentateuch bears to the later development of doctrine, will, _a priori_, think it impossible that it should have been otherwise; and, instead of neglecting these small beginnings, appearing, as it were, in the shape of germs, he will cultivate them with love and care.

It is only at a late period, in Malachi iii. 1, that the doctrine of the Angel of the Lord is expressly brought into connection with that of Christ. But a knowledge of the divine nature of the Messiah is found at a much earlier period; and we can certainly not suppose that the doctrine of the Angel of the Lord, and that of a truly divine Saviour, should have existed by the side of each other, and yet that manifold forebodings regarding their close obvious connection should not have been awakened in the mind.

Footnote 1: _Seb. Schmid_ says: "I have now come with my heavenly host to attack the Canaanites, and to help thee and thy people. Be thou of good cheer; prepare thyself for war along with me, and I will now explain to thee in what manner thou must carry it on;" vi. 2 ff.

THE PROMISE IN 2 SAMUEL, CHAP. VII.

The Messianic prophecy, as we have seen, began at a time long anterior to that of David. Even in Genesis, we perceived [Pg 131] it, increasing more and more in distinctness. There is at first only the general promise that the seed of the woman should obtain the victory over the kingdom of the evil one;--then, that the salvation should come through the descendants of Shem;--then, from among them Abraham is marked out,--of his sons, Isaac,--from among his sons, Jacob,--and from among the twelve sons of Jacob, Judah is singled out as the bearer of dominion, and marked out as the person from whom, at length, should proceed the glorious King whose peaceful dominion is destined to extend over all the nations of the earth.

Whilst, hitherto, the tribe only had been pointed out, in the midst of which an imperishable dominion should be established, and out of which the Saviour was at last to come,--under David another feature was added by the determination of the _family_. This was done in the prophetic announcement which the Lord, by the prophet Nathan, addressed in 2 Sam. vii. to David, when he had adopted the resolution of building to the Lord a fixed temple, instead of the moveable tabernacle which had hitherto been used.

Ver. 1. "_And it happened when the king sat in his house, and the Lord had given him rest from all his enemies round about._ Ver. 2. _And the king said unto Nathan the prophet, See, now, I dwell in a house of cedar, and the ark of God dwelleth within curtains._" The question here is:--To what time is the occurrence to be assigned? The answer is:--To the time not long after David had obtained the dominion over all Israel. To this opinion we are led by the position which the report occupies in the Books both of Chronicles and of Samuel. The supposition is so very probable, that nothing short of very cogent reasons could induce us to abandon it. A narrative, in which David's accession to the throne is followed by the conquest of Jerusalem, and this by the building of his palace,--and this again by the bringing up of the ark of the covenant,--and this, still further, by David's anxiety for a fixed sanctuary, evidently agrees with the order in which these events followed each other. We can the less entertain any doubt concerning it, because we are expressly told, that the wars and victories of David reported in chap. viii. were subsequent to what is reported in chap. vii.; compare viii. 1. That the conquest of Jerusalem and the [Pg 132] building of his palace belong to the period soon after his accession to the throne, is both evident, and generally acknowledged; but that David's anxiety for a fixed sanctuary was awakened in him soon after the completion of his palace, is expressly stated in 1 Chron. xvii. 1. Instead of כי ישב in ver. 1 of our passage, we find there כאשר ישב, "when," or "as soon as" he dwelt. We cannot well think of any later period, as David's zeal for the building of the house of the Lord was closely connected with the question regarding the duration of his own family, which was so readily suggested by the fate of Saul, and which must necessarily have engaged his attention at a very early period. If he obtained the divine sanction for the building of the temple, that question also was thereby answered. _Further_,--It appears from ver. 12, that Solomon was not yet born at the time when David received the promise. The circumstance, too, that there are so many allusions to it in the Psalms of David, proves that this promise had been already given to him at the beginning of his reign.--One circumstance only has been adduced against assigning to it so early a period, viz., that the event is here placed within the time when the Lord had given David rest from all his enemies round about. But there is not one word which affirms that this rest was a definitive one; while, on the other hand, the contrary is alluded to by the circumstance that the Books of Chronicles make no mention at all of David's rest from his enemies, and is distinctly indicated by viii. 1. In 1 Chron. xiv. 17 it is said, after the account of David's victory over the Philistines (on which event the Books of Samuel report previous to chap. vii., viz. in v. 17-25): "And the name of David went out into all lands, and the Lord gave his fear upon all the heathen." This previous result was so much the more important, as the Philistines had been, for a long time, the most dangerous enemies of Israel, and David himself may have considered it as a definitive one,--may have imagined this truce to be a peace,--may not have been aware that he had yet to bear the burden of the most trying wars. Looking, then, to the passage in Deut. xii. 10, 11--in which the choice of a place where the Lord will cause His name to dwell, is connected with the giving of rest from all enemies round about--he might think that the present circumstance formed a call upon him to erect a sanctuary to [Pg 133] the Lord.[1] But the issue (compare viii. 1) soon made it manifest to him, that the supposition on which he proceeded was an erroneous one. We have a tacit correction of David's mistake in 1 Kings v. 17, 18: "Thou knowest how that David my father could not build an house unto the name of the Lord his God, for the wars with which they surrounded him, until the Lord put them under the soles of his feet. And now the Lord my God hath given me rest on every side, and there is neither adversary nor evil occurrence." It was only under Solomon that the period provided for by Deut. xii. really arrived. (Compare 1 Chron. xxii. 19.)

Ver. 3. "_And Nathan said to the king, Go, do all that is in thine heart, for the Lord is with thee._ Ver. 4. _And it came to pass that night that the word of the Lord came unto Nathan, saying:_ Ver. 5. _Go and tell My servant David, Thus saith the Lord, Shalt thou build Me a house to dwell in?_"

In ver. 5 the question is stated, the answer to which is the point at issue. In ver. 6, the exposition begins with כי, which refers to the whole of it, and not merely to the clause which immediately follows. Hitherto, the Lord has not had a fixed temple (ver. 6), nor has any such been wished for or desired by Him (ver. 7). By the grace of God, David has been raised to be ruler over the people (ver. 8), and the Lord has helped him gloriously (ver. 9), and, through him, His people (ver. 10). This mercy the Lord had already bestowed upon him, that, since the beginning of the period of the Judges, it was through him, first of all, that the people had obtained rest from all their enemies round about; but to this favour the Lord is now adding another, by announcing to him that He would make him an house (ver. 11). When David dies, his seed shall occupy the throne, and be established in the kingdom (ver. 12). It is he who shall build an house for the Lord who will establish for ever the throne of his kingdom, vers. 13-16.

David's zeal for the house of the Lord is thus acknowledged (compare Ps. cxxxii. 1), and so also is the correctness of his supposition, that the building of the fixed temple is intimately [Pg 134] connected with his being raised to be ruler over Israel. The first answer of Nathan remains correct; it is only more distinctly and closely defined and modified. David is to build the house,--not, however, in his own person, but in his seed, and after the Lord has begun to fulfil His promise, that He would make him an house.

But why was it that David himself was not permitted to build the house to the Lord? In this passage we obtain no answer. In Solomon's message to Hiram (1 Kings v. 17) an external reason only is stated--viz., that, by his numerous wars, David had been prevented from building a house to the Lord. There was a deeper reason than this; but the heathen could not comprehend it. It is contained in the words which, according to 1 Chron. xxviii. 3, David spoke to the people: "And God said unto me, Thou shalt not build an house for My name, because thou hast been a man of war, and hast shed blood;" and in the words of the Lord which, according to 1 Chron. xxii. 8, David repeated to Solomon: "Thou hast shed blood abundantly, and hast made great wars; thou shalt not build an house unto My name, because thou hast shed much blood upon the earth in My sight,"--a disclosure which David could have obtained only at a later period, and as a supplement to the divine communication which had been made to him through Nathan. For it is only after the revelation in 2 Sam. vii. that David had to carry on his most bloody wars. We must not, by any means, entertain the idea that these words express anything _blameworthy_ in David, and that the permission to build the temple was refused to him on account of his personal unworthiness. David stood in a closer relation to God than did Solomon. His wars were wars of the Lord, 1 Sam. xxv. 28. It is in this light that David himself regarded them; and that he was conscious of his being divinely commissioned for them, is seen, _e.g._, from Ps. xviii.: it was the Lord who taught his hands to war (ver. 35) and who gave him vengeance, and subdued the people unto him, ver. 48. The passages 1 Chron. xxii. 8, xxvii. 3, do not, in themselves, contain one reproachful word against David. On the contrary, the words, _in My sight_, in the former of these passages, rather lead us to suppose that David is, in his wars, to be considered only as a servant of the Lord (_Michaelis_: "_In My sight_--_i.e._, who am, as it were, the [Pg 135] highest judge, and the commander"). The reason is rather of a symbolical character. How necessary soever, under certain conditions, war may be for the kingdom of God,--as indeed the Saviour also says that (in the first instance) He had not come to send peace, but a sword,--it is after all only something accidental, and rendered needful by human corruption. The real nature of the kingdom of God is peace. Even in the Old Testament, the Lord of the Church appears as the Prince of Peace, Is. ix. 5. According to Luke ix. 56, the Son of Man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them. In order to impress upon the mind this view of the nature and aim of the Church, the Temple--the symbol of the Church--must not be built by David the man of war, but by Solomon, the peaceful, the man of rest, 1 Chron. xxii. 9.

Ver. 6. "_For I have not dwelt in any house from the day that I brought up the children of Israel out of Egypt even to this day, and have walked in a tent and in a tabernacle._ Ver. 7. _In all that I have walked among the children of Israel, have I spoken one word with any of the tribes of Israel whom I commanded to feed My people Israel, saying. Why build ye Me not a house of cedar?_"

According to several interpreters, these words are intended as a consolation to David for the delay in building the temple, and convey this sense: that God did not require the temple, that the building of it was of no consequence,--as sufficiently appears from the circumstance of His not having hitherto urged it. But such a view would ill agree with the great importance which David continues, even afterwards, to ascribe to the building of the temple,--with the grand efforts of Solomon towards it,--and with the exulting words which are uttered by the latter, in 1 Kings viii. 13, after the work has been accomplished: "I have built Thee an house to dwell in, a settled place for Thee to abide in for ever." A comparison of 1 Kings viii. 16-20 furnishes us with a clue to the right interpretation. In that passage, the period before David is contrasted with that during which David lived. (Compare the עתה, _now_, in ver. 8.) Hitherto, everything in the government had borne a provisional character, and, hence, the sanctuary also. But now that, after the unsettled state of things under [Pg 136] the Judges and Saul, _the definitive government_ has been called into existence with David, to whom the Lord will make an house, the _definitive sanctuary_ also shall be built,--only, that it shall not be founded by David, but by his seed.[2] The words, _I have walked_--literally, I have been walking, I have continued walking--_in a tent and in a tabernacle_, indicate not only that the Lord dwelt in a portable sanctuary, but also, that the place of this sanctuary was oftentimes changed, from one station to another in the wilderness, then to Gilgal, Shiloh, Nob and Gibeon. This changing of the place of the tabernacle is still more distinctly pointed out, in the parallel passage in 1 Chron. xvii. 5: "And I have been from tent to tent, from tabernacle to tabernacle;" _i.e._, I went from one tent into the other, _e.g._, from the dwelling-place of Shiloh into that of Nob,--a mode of expression which pays no attention to the circumstance whether or not the tent was materially the same. Instead of, "With any of the tribes of Israel," we find in 1 Chron. xvii. 6, "With any of the judges of Israel,"--a parallel passage which very well explains the main text. The tribes come into consideration through their judges, who, in the Book of Judges, always appear as judges in Israel, and procured a temporary [Pg 137] superiority to the tribe from which they proceeded.[3] The שבטי, which has been doubted, is rendered certain by 1 Kings viii. 16. (Compare, moreover, Ps. lxxviii. 67, 68.)--The reason why no such word came to any one of these tribes is, that the superiority of none of them was permanent; the election of all of them was merely temporary. The continuance of the tent-temple was intended to indicate that the state of things was, in general, provisional only, and that a new order of things was at hand. The creation of a settled sanctuary was to be coincident with the establishment of an abiding kingdom, to which the grace of God was vouchsafed. It was an evil omen for Saul that the erection of a fixed sanctuary was not even mooted under him. The close of Ps. lxxviii. likewise points out the intimate connection of the kingdom and the sanctuary.

Ver. 8. "_And now, thus shalt thou say unto David My servant: Thus saith the Lord, of hosts, I took thee from the sheep-cote,_[4] _from behind the sheep, to be ruler over My people, over Israel._ Ver. 9. _And I was with thee whithersoever thou wentest, and have cut off all thine enemies from before thee, and have made thee a great name like unto the name of the great men that are upon the earth._ Ver. 10. _And I gave room unto My people Israel, and planted them, and they dwell in their place, and they shall no more be frightened, and the sons of wickedness shall afflict them no more as heretofore._"

Seven divine benefits are here enumerated,--one in ver. 8, which forms the foundation of all the others, and three in each of the two following verses,--in ver. 9, what the Lord has given to David,--in ver. 10, what, through him, He has given to Israel. These benefits are so many symptoms that a _definitive_ order of things has now taken the place of the _provisional_ one, and that, hence, the moveable sanctuary will now be soon followed by the settled one. In the first member of ver. 10, there is an enumeration of the benefits which the [Pg 138] people have already received through David; in the second and third members, an enumeration of the benefits to be constantly bestowed upon them through him. A commentary upon it is formed by Ps. lxxxix. 22-24, in which it is said of David: "With whom My hand shall be continually. Mine arm also shall strengthen him. The enemy shall not exact upon him, nor the son of wickedness afflict him. And I crush his enemies before him, and will smite those who hate him."

Ver. 11. "_And since the day that I commanded judges over My people Israel, I have given thee rest from all thine enemies. And the Lord telleth thee, that the Lord will make thee an house._"

The first part of this verse comprehends all the benefits formerly enumerated;--the second adds another, which, however, is closely connected with the previous ones. The circumstance that the Lord first gave rest to David, and, in him, to the people, was a sign of his election which could not but manifest itself afterwards in the care for his house. The promise, "The Lord will make thee an house," was to David an answer to prayer, as is shown by Ps. xxi. 3, 5, lxi. 6, cxxxviii. 3. Even the thought of building the temple was a question put to the Lord, as to whether He would, in harmony with His past conduct, give a duration to his house, different from that of the house of Saul.

Ver. 12. "_And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I shall cause thy seed to rise up after thee which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom._"

The הקים does not signify the beginning of existence, but the elevation to the royal dignity. זרע, _seed_, denotes the posterity, which, however, may consist of one only, or be represented by a single individual. In the parallel passage, 1 Chron. xvii. 11, the words run thus: "Thy seed which shall be of thy sons," _i.e._, who shall be one of thy sons (Luther). The truth of the promise, "I shall establish his kingdom," became manifest, _e.g._, in the vain machinations of Adonijah. That the fulfilment of this promise must be sought in the history of Solomon, in whom the difference between the house of David and that of Saul first became evident (instead of, "I establish," in ver. 12, we find, in the second member of ver. 13, "I establish for ever"), is seen from 1 Kings viii. 20, where Solomon says, "And the Lord hath performed His word which [Pg 139] He spake; for I am risen up in the room of David my father, and sit on the throne of Israel, as the Lord promised." (Compare 1 Kings ii. 12: "And Solomon sat upon the throne of David his father, and his kingdom was established greatly.")

Ver. 13. "_He shall build an house for My name, and I establish the throne of his kingdom for ever._"

The general establishment which was spoken of in ver. 12 precedes the building of the temple; the eternal establishment mentioned in ver. 13 follows the building of the temple, or is coincident with it. It is evident, that the first clause of the verse refers, in the first instance, to the building of the temple which was undertaken by Solomon. (Compare 1 Kings v. 19, where Solomon says, "Behold, I purpose to build an house unto the name of the Lord my God, as the Lord spake unto David my father, saying. Thy son whom I will set upon thy throne in thy stead, he shall build the house unto My name.") We shall not, however, be at liberty to confine ourselves to what Solomon, as an individual, did for the house of the Lord. The building of the house here goes hand in hand with the eternity of the kingdom. We expect, therefore, that the question is not about a building of limited duration. If a building of only a limited duration were meant, such, surely, might have been erected long ago, even in the period of the Judges. The contrary, however, is quite distinctly brought out in 1 Kings viii. 13, where, at the dedication of the temple, Solomon says, "I have built Thee an house to dwell in, a fixed place for Thee to abide in _for ever_." If, then, with the eternity of the kingdom of David's house the eternity of the temple to be built by him be closely bound up, the destruction of the latter can be only _temporary_, and the consequence of the apostasy and punishment of the Davidic race,--of which vers. 14 and 15 treat. Or, if it be definitive, it can concern the _form_ only. If the building of the temple fall into ruins, it is only the Davidic race from which its restoration can proceed; the local relation of the royal palace to the temple prefigured their close union. Hence, the building of the temple by Zerubbabel was likewise comprehended in the words, "He shall build an house for My name." It was impossible that the second temple could be reared otherwise than under the direction of David's family. But we must go still farther. The essence of the temple consists in its being a symbol, an outward [Pg 140] representation of the kingdom of God under Israel. The real import of our passage then is,--that henceforth the kingdom of David and the kingdom of God should be closely and inseparably linked together. As the third phase, therefore, in the fulfilment of our prophecy, John ii. 19 must come under consideration: λύσατε τὸν ναὸν τοῦτον, καὶ ἐν τρισὶν ἡμέραις ἐγερῶ αὐτόν. (Regarding the sense of this passage, and the symbolical meaning of the tabernacle and temple, compare "_Dissertations on the Genuineness of the Pent._" vol. ii. p. 514 ff.) "House of God" is, in ver. 14 of the parallel text, used of the Church, and in parallelism with "kingdom of God,"--a sense in which it occurs as early as in Num. xii. 7.[5] This _usus loquendi_ is quite common in the New Testament; compare 1 Tim. iii. 15; 2 Cor. vi. 16; Heb. iii. 6. In the first two phases of the temple of Solomon, the house consists in the first instance of ordinary stones,--although, even at that time, the _spiritual_ is concealed behind the _material_; but in its third phase, the material is altogether thrown off, and the house is entirely spiritual--consisting of living stones, 1 Pet. ii. 5.--That the expression, "for ever," in the second clause of the verse, is to be taken in its strict and full sense, is proved not only by the threefold repetition, but also by a comparison with the numerous secondary passages, in which the duration of the Davidic dominion appears as absolutely unlimited. In Ps. lxxxix., for example, where the promise is repeated, "for ever" corresponds with, "as the days of heaven" in ver. 30,--with "as the sun" in ver. 37,--and with "as the moon" in ver. 38. The final fulfilment of this promise is pointed out by the words of the angel to Mary, in Luke i. 32, 33: οὗτος ἔσται μέγας (compare ver. 9 here), καὶ υἱὸς ὑψίστου κληθήσεται (compare ver. 14), καὶ δώσει αὐτῷ κύριος ὁ Θεὸς τὸν θρόνον Δαυὶδ τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτοῦ. Καὶ βασιλεύσει ἐπὶ τὸν οἶκον Ἰακὼβ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας, καὶ τῆς βασιλείας αὐτοῦ οὐκ ἔσται τέλος.

Ver. 14. "_And I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to Me. If he commit sin, I will chastise him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men._ Ver. 15. _And My mercy shall not depart away from him, as I caused it to depart away from Saul, whom I put away before thee._"

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Wheresoever God is, in the Old Testament, designated as _Father_, there is a reference to the deepest intensity of His love,--a love which is similar to that of a father towards his son. (Compare remarks on Ps. ii. 7.) Sonship to God has this significancy here also, as is shown by what immediately follows, where, in explanation of it, the promise of indestructible love is connected with it. But this relationship, in its highest and closest form, cannot exist betwixt God and a mere man. It is only when the Davidic family is viewed as centring in Christ, that the words can acquire their full truth. To this, the quotation in Heb.