Chapter 69

a den of robbers, saith the Lord?" Other passages will be mentioned when we come to comment upon Dan. ix. 27. This inward victory must, according to divine necessity, [Pg 449] be followed by the outward one. The covenant-people which, inwardly, had submitted to the world, which, by its own guilt, had profaned itself, was, outwardly also, given up to the world, and was profaned in punishment. And this profanation, inflicted upon it as a punishment, again manifested itself just at that place, where the profanation by the guilt had chiefly manifested itself, viz., in the holy city, and in the holy temple. It is with a view to the former manifestation of the victory of the world over the Kingdom of God, that here the victory of the Kingdom of God over the world is described; and the imagery is just simple imagery. To the outward holiness of the city and of the temple, the outward unholiness of the places around Jerusalem is opposed. While the victory of the world over the Kingdom of God had been manifested by the profanation of these places, the victory of the Kingdom of God now appears under the image of the sanctification of these formerly unholy places. By what means that great change had been brought about; by what means the Kingdom of God, which now lay so powerlessly prostrate, should again obtain powers which it had never before possessed; by what means the servant was to be changed into a lord, it was unnecessary for the Prophet here to point out; it had been already mentioned in vers. 32-34. The difference consists in this, that the New Covenant is not like the Old, but that it first furnishes the right weapons by which sin and the world can be overcome, viz., an infinitely richer measure of the forgiveness of sins, of the graces of the Spirit.--We must still premise a general remark concerning the determination of the boundaries of the New Jerusalem here given, because this must guide us in determining the single doubtful places which are here mentioned. The correct view has been already given by _Vitringa_ in his Commentary on Isaiah xxx. 33: "The Prophet promises to the returning ones the restoration of the city of Jerusalem in its whole circumference; and he describes it in this way, that he begins from the Eastern wall, passes on thence, through the North side, to the West side, and thence, by the South side, returns to the East." For the Prophet begins with the tower of Hananeel which was situated at the East side of the town, near the sheep-gate; compare remarks on Zech. xiv. 10. Thence he proceeds to [Pg 450] the corner-gate, which was situated in that corner where the North and East met (compare l. c.), and hence comprehends the whole North side. He closes with the horse-gate, of which he expressly states that it was situated towards the East, and hence points out that he had again arrived at the place from which he set out. We have thus gained a firm foundation for determining those among the places mentioned, the situation of which is, in itself, doubtful.--Let us now proceed to the consideration of particulars. After [Hebrew: imiM], the _Keri_ inserts [Hebrew: baiM]. It is true that this fuller expression is commonly used by the Prophet; but, for that very reason, the more concise one is to be preferred, which alone has the authority of the MSS. in its favour, while the _Keri_ is nothing but a conjecture, perhaps not even that. The full expression having already occurred so frequently in the passage under consideration, the Prophet here, at the close, and for a change, contents himself with the mere intimation. The Prophet says intentionally: "The city is built to the Lord," so that "to the Lord" must be connected with "is built;" not "the city of the Lord." The latter expression had become so much a _nomen proprium_ of Jerusalem, that the full depth of its meaning was no more thought of. This new city is no more to be called simply the city of the Lord; it is truly to be built to the Lord, so that it belongs to Him.--In the first two points of the boundary, the tower of Hananeel and the Corner-gate, the second main idea of the passage does not yet come out so prominently. This is to be accounted for simply by the circumstance, that on the whole North side of the town there was not any unholy places. The Suffix in [Hebrew: ngdv] refers to the Corner-gate; the measuring line, [Hebrew: qvh] according to the _Kethibh_, [Hebrew: qv hmdh], which is the common form, according to the _Keri_, goes yet farther over against it, &c. By the words "over against," it is intimated that it now goes beyond the former dimensions of the town. [Hebrew: el] "over" (_Hitzig_ erroneously translates it "towards," or "by the side of it"), shows that the hill Gareb is included within the circumference of the new city. From the remarks formerly made, it appears that the hill Gareb, and Goah, places which are nowhere else mentioned, must have been situated on the West side; and, moreover, Gareb on the North-west [Pg 451] side[5] and Goah on the South-west side, [Hebrew: grb] has no other signification than "the leper;" and "the hill of the leper" can be the hill only, where the lepers had their abode. For, as early as in the second year after the Exodus from Egypt, these lepers were obliged to remain without the camp (comp. Numb. v. 3: "Without the camp shall ye send them, and not shall they defile their camp in the midst whereof I dwell"); and this law was so strictly enforced, that even Moses' sister was removed out of the camp. When they had come to Canaan, the provisions of the law in reference to the camp were transferred to the towns; comp. farther Lev. xiii. 46: "All the days that he has the leprosy, he shall be defiled; he shall dwell alone, without the camp shall his habitation be;" Luke xvii. 12. Even Uzziah could not be released from it; he lived without the city in Beth Chofshith, 2 Kings