lii. 15, He is to sprinkle them with His blood; and this sprinkling is

there expressly stated as the reason of the reverential homage of the Gentile world. He is to justify them and to bear their sins, ver. 11, and to make intercession for them, ver. 12. All that does not apply to a worldly conqueror and ruler.--The merits of the Servant of God are then once more pointed out,--the merits by which He has acquired so exalted and all-important a position to himself, and, at the same time, to the Kingdom of God, of which He is the Head. "Because He hath poured out His soul unto death," [Hebrew: erh] in the _Niphal_, "to be poured out," means in _Piel_ "to pour out," Gen. xxiv. 20, and Ps. cxli. 8, where it is said of the soul: "Do not pour out my soul," just as here the _Hiphil_ is used. The term has been transferred to the _soul_ from the _blood_, in which is the soul. Gen. ix. 4: "Flesh with its soul (namely with its blood) you shall not eat." Ver. 5: "Your blood in [Pg 309] which your souls." [Hebrew: nmnh], "He was numbered," is here, according to the context, equivalent to: He caused himself to be numbered; for it is only that which was undergone voluntarily which can be stated as the reason of the _reward_. This voluntary undergoing, however, is not implied in the word itself, but only in the connection with: "He hath poured out His soul;" for that signifies a voluntary act. The [Hebrew: pweiM] here, just as the [Hebrew: rweiM] in ver. 9, are not sinners, but criminals. This appears from the connection in which the being "numbered with the transgressors" stands with the "pouring out of the soul unto death." We can hence think of executed criminals only. The pure, innocent One was not only numbered with sinners, such as all men are, but He was numbered with _criminals_. It is in this sense also that our Lord understands the words, in His quotation of them in Luke xxii. 37: [Greek: legô gar humin, hoti heti touto to gegrammenon dei telesthênai en emoi, to. kai meta anomôn elogisthê, kai gar ta peri emou telos echei]; Compare Matt. xxvi. 54, where the Lord strengthens His disciples against the offence of His being taken a prisoner, by saying, with a view to the passage before us: [Greek: pôs oun plêrôthôsin hai graphai, hoti houtô dei genesthai]; ver. 56, where, after having reproached the guards for having numbered Him with criminals: [Greek: hôs epi lêstên exêlthete meta machairôn kai xulôn sullabein me], He says to them: [Greek: touto de holon gegonen hina plêrôthôsin hai graphai tôn prophêtôn]. Mark, in chap. xv. 28, designates the fact that two robbers were crucified with Christ, as the most perfect fulfilment of our prophecy. It was in this fact that it came out most palpably, that Christ had been made like criminals. The rulers of the people caused two common criminals to be crucified with Him, just that they might declare that they put Him altogether among their number.--"And He beareth the sin of many, and for the transgressors He shall make intercession." By [Hebrew: vhva], it is indicated that the subsequent words are no more to be viewed as depending on [Hebrew: tHt awr].--[Hebrew: ipgie] must not, as is done by the LXX., be referred to the state of humiliation; for the Future in the preceding verses has reference to the exaltation. The parallel [Hebrew: nwa] must therefore be viewed as a _Praeteritum propheticum_. It corresponds with [Hebrew: isbl] in ver. 11, and, like it, does not designate something done but once by the Servant of God, but something which He does constantly. The intercession is [Pg 310] here brought into close connection with the bearing of the sin, by which Christ represents himself as being the true _sin-offering_ (comp. ver. 10, where He was designated as the true _trespass-offering_), and hence it is equivalent to: He will make intercession for sinners, by taking upon himself their sin,--of which the thief on the cross was the first instance. This close connection, and the deep meaning suggested by it, are overlooked and lost by those expositors who, in the intercession, think of prayer only. _The servant of God, on the contrary, makes intercession, by pleading before God His merit, as the ground of the acceptance of the transgressors, and of the pardon of their sins._ This is evident from the connection also in which: "For the transgressors He shall make intercession," stands with: "He was numbered with the transgressors." The vicarious suffering is thereby pointed out as the ground of the intercession. _Calvin_ says: "Under the Old Testament dispensation, the High-priest, who never went in without blood, made intercession for the people. What was there foreshadowed has been fulfilled in Christ. For, in the first place. He offered up the sacrifice of His body, and shed His blood, and thus suffered the punishment due to us. And, in the second place, in order that the expiation might profit us. He undertakes the office of an advocate, and makes intercession for all who, by faith, lay hold of this sacrifice." Comp. Rom. viii. 34: [Greek: hos kai entunchanei huper hêmôn]; Hebr.