It now merely remains for us to view more particularly the quotation of these two verses in Matt. iv. 12-17. Ἀκούσας δὲ--thus the section begins--ὅτι Ἰωάννης παρεδόθη, ἀνεχώρησεν εἰς τὴν Γαλιλαίαν. Since, in these words, we are told that Jesus, after having received the intelligence of the imprisonment of John, withdrew into Galilee, we cannot for a moment think of His having sought in Galilee, safety from Herod; for Galilee just belonged to Herod, and Judea afforded security against him. The verb ἀναχώρεῖν denotes, on the contrary, the withdrawing into the angulus terrae Galilee, as contrasted with the civil and ecclesiastical centre. The time of the beginning of Christ's preaching (His ministry hitherto had been merely a kind of prelude) was determined by the imprisonment of John, as certainly as, according to the prophecy of the Old Testament, the territories of the activity of both were immediately bordering upon one another, and by that very circumstance the place, too, was indirectly determined; for it was fixed by the prophecy under consideration that Galilee was to be the scene of the chief ministry of Christ. If, then, the time for the beginning of the ministry had come, He must also depart into Galilee. The connection, therefore, is this: After he had received the intelligence of the imprisonment of John--in which the call to Him for the beginning of His ministry was implied--He departed into Galilee, and especially to Capernaum, vers. 12, 13; for it was this part of the country which, by the prophecy, was fixed as the main scene of His Messianic activity, vers. 14-16. It was there, therefore, that He continued the preaching of John, ver. 17.--Καὶ καταλιπὼν τὴν Ναζαρὲτ--it is said in ver. 13--ἐλθὼν κατῴκησεν εἰς Καπερναοὺμ τὴν παραθαλασσίαν, ἐν ὁρίοις Ζαβουλὼν καὶ Νεφθαλείμ. Christ had hitherto had His settled abode at Nazareth, and thence undertook His wanderings. The immediate reason why He did not remain there is not stated by Matthew; but we learn it from Luke and John. In accordance with his object, Matthew takes cognizance of this one circumstance only, that, according to the prophecy of the Old Testament, Capernaum was very specially fitted for being the residence of Christ. The town was situated on the western shore of the Lake of Gennesareth. Quite in opposition to his custom elsewhere, Matthew describes the situation of the town 80 minutely, because this knowledge served to afford a better insight into the fulfilment of the prophecy of the Old Testament. The designation τὴν παραθαλασσίαν stands in reference to ὁδὸν θαλάσσης, in ver. 15. Ἐν ὁρίοις, &c., may either mean: "In the borders of Zebulun and Naphtali," i. e. in that place where the borders of both the countries meet,--or τὰ ὅρια may, according to the analogy of the Hebrew גבולים, denote the borders in the sense of "territory," as in Matt. ii. 16. From a comparison of γῆ Ζαβουλὼν καὶ Νεφαλείμ of the prophecy in ver. 15, to which the words stand in direct reference, it follows that the latter view is the correct one. Whether Capernaum lay just on the borders between the two countries was of no consequence to the prophecy, and hence was of none to Matthew.--The phrase ἵνα πληρωθῇ does not, according to the very sound remark of De Wette, point to the intention, but to the objective aim. The question, however, is to what the ἵνα πληρωθῆ is to be referred,--whether merely to that which immediately precedes, viz., the change of residence from Nazareth to Capernaum, or, at the same time to ἀνεχώρησεν εἰν τὴν Γαλιλαίαν. The latter is alone correct. The prophecy which the Evangelist has in view referred mainly to Galilee, or the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali in general; but, according to the express remark of the Evangelist, Nazareth itself was likewise situated in Galilee. The advantage which Capernaum had over it was this only, that in Capernaum the ὁδὸν θαλάσσης of the prophecy was found again, and that, therefore, thence the πέραν τοῦ Ἰορδάνου of the prophecy also could be better realized, inasmuch as across the lake there was an easy communication from that place with the country beyond Jordan. The connection is hence this: After the imprisonment of the Baptist, Jesus, in order to enter upon His ministry, went to Galilee, and especially to Capernaum, which was situated on the lake, in order that thus the prophecy of Isaiah as to the glorification of Galilee, and of the region on the lake, might be fulfilled.--Matthew has abridged the passage. From chap. viii. 23 (ix. 1) he has taken the designation of the part of the country, in order that the agreement of fulfilment and prophecy might become visible. The words from γῆ--τῶν ἐθνῶν may either be regarded as a fragment taken out of its connection, so that they are viewed as a quotation, and as forming a period by themselves (this, from a comparison of the original, seems most natural);--or we may also suppose, that the Evangelist, having broken-up the connection with the preceding, puts these words into a new connection, so that, along with the ὁ λαός, which has become an apposition, they form the subject of the following sentence. At all events, ὁδόν takes here the place of the adverb, although it may not be possible to adduce instances and proofs altogether analogous from the Greek usus loquendi.--The confidence with which Matthew explains chap. viii. 23, and ix. 1 of Christ can be accounted for only from the circumstance that he recognized Christ as He who in chap. ix. 5, 6, (6, 7) is described as the author of all the blessings designated in the preceding verses. It was therefore altogether erroneous in Gesenius to assert that there was the less reason for holding the Messianic explanation of chap. ix. 5, 6, as there was no testimony of the New Testament in favour of it.--It is quite obvious that Matthew does not quote the Old Testament prophecy in reference to any single special event which happened at Capernaum; but that rather the whole following account of the glorious deeds of Christ in Galilee, as well as in Peraea, down to chap. xix. 1, serves to mark the fulfilment of this Old Testament prophecy, and is subservient to this quotation. This passage of Matthew explains the reason, why it is that he, and Luke and Mark who closely follow him, report henceforth, until the last journey of Jesus to Jerusalem, exclusively facts which happened in Galilee, and in Peraea, which likewise was mentioned by Isaiah. The circumstance that this fact, which is so obvious, was not perceived, has called forth a number of miserable conjectures, and has even led some interpreters to assail the credibility of the Gospel. To Matthew, who wished to show that Jesus was the Christ, the Messiah promised in the Old Testament, the interest must, in the view of the prophecy under consideration, be necessarily concentrated upon Galilee; and Mark and Luke followed him in this, perceiving that it was not becoming to them to open up a path altogether new. This was reserved to the second Apostle from among the Evangelists.
Ver. 2 (3). "Thou multipliest the nation to which thou didst not increase the joy; they joy before thee like the joy in harvest, and as they rejoice when they divide the spoil."
The Prophet beholds the joy of the Messianic time as present; he beholds the covenant-people numerous, free from all misery, and full of joy; full of delight he turns to the Lord, and praises Him for what He has done to His people.--One of the privileges of the people of God is the increase which at all times takes place after they are sifted and thinned by judgments. Thus, e.g., it happened at the time after their return from the captivity, comp. Ps. cvii. 38, 39: "And He blesseth them, and they are multiplied greatly, and He suffereth not their cattle to decrease. They who were minished and brought low through affliction, oppression, and sorrow." But this increase took place most gloriously at the time of Christ, when a numerous multitude of adopted sons from among the Gentiles were received into the Church of God, and thus the promise to Abraham: "I will make of thee a great nation" (גוי as in the passage before us, and not עם), received its final fulfilment. From the arguments which we advanced in Vol. i. on Hosea ii. 1, it appears that the increase which the Church received by the reception of the Gentiles is, according to the biblical view, to be considered as an increase of the people of Israel. The fundamental thought of Ps. lxxxvii. is: Zion the birth-place of the nations; by the new birth the Gentiles are received in Israel. The manner in which the Gentiles show their anxiety to be received in Israel is described by Isaiah in chap. xliv. 5. The commentary on the words: "Thou multipliest the nation," is furnished to us by chap. liv. 1 ff., where, in immediate connection with the prophecy regarding the Servant of God who bears the sin of the world, it is said: "Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear, break forth into singing, and shout thou that didst not travail with child; for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the Lord." Comp. also chap. lxvi. 7-9, and Ezek. xxxvii. 25, 26: "And my servant David shall be their prince for ever. And I make a covenant with them and multiply them." Several interpreters, e. g. Calvin, Vitringa, suppose that the Prophet in this verse (and so likewise in the two following verses) speaks, in the first instance, of a nearer prosperity, of the rapid increase of the people after the Babylonish captivity. Vitringa directs attention to the fact, that the Jewish people after the captivity did not only fill Judea, but spread also in Egypt, Syria, Mesopotamia, Asia Minor, Greece, and Italy. And surely we cannot deny that in this increase, no less than in the new flourishing of the people after the defeat of Sennacherib also, there is a prelude to the real fulfilment; and that so much the more that these precursory increases, happening, as they did, regularly after the decreases, were bestowed upon the covenant-people with a view to the future appearance of Christ. These increases enter into a still closer relation to the prophecy under consideration, if we keep in mind that in chap. vii. the Prophet anticipates in spirit the appearance of Christ, and that it is with this representation that, in the Section before us, chap. viii. 8, 10 are connected. In order to refute the explanation of Umbriet: "Thou hast multiplied the heathen, and thereby thou hast removed all joy; but now," &c., it will be quite sufficient to refer to the parallel passage, chap. xxvi. 15: "Thou increasest the people, O Lord, thou art glorified, thou removest all the boundaries of the land," where, just as in the verse before us, by הגוי "the people," Israel is designated; and that is frequently the case where the notion of the multitude, the mass only is concerned, comp. Gen. xii. 2.--"Thou didst not increase the joy" stands for: to whom thou formerly didst not increase the joy, to whom thou gavest but little joy, upon whom thou inflictedst severe sufferings. The antithesis is quite the same as in chap. viii. 23 (ix. 1), where the former distress is contrasted with the light which is now to shine upon them, the former disgrace with the later glory; and in the same manner in chap. ix. 1 (2), where the present light is rendered brighter by being contrasted with the former darkness. The contrast of the present increase with the former absence of joys shows that the joy is to be viewed as being connected with the increase, and that if formerly the joy was less, the reason of it was chiefly in the decrease. Ps. cvii. 38, 39, 41, shews how affliction and decrease, joy and increase, go hand in hand; farther, Jerem. xxx. 19: "And out of them proceed thanksgivings, and the voice of the merry ones; and I multiply them, and they do not decrease; and I honour them, and they are not small." The decrease is a single symptom only of a depressed, joyless condition, which everywhere in the kingdom of God shall be brought to an end by Christ. Most of the ancient translators (LXX., Chald., Syr.) follow the marginal reading לו, "to him" hast thou increased the joy. According to many modern interpreters, לא is supposed to be a different mode of writing for לו. But no proof that could stand the test can be brought forward for such a mode of writing; nor is there any reason for supposing that לא stands here in a different sense from what it does in chap. viii. 23, and it would indeed be strange that לו should have been placed before the verb. At most, it might be supposed that the Prophet intended an ambiguous and double sense: not/to him didst thou increase the joy. But altogether apart from such an ambiguous and double sense, behind the negative, at all events, the positive is concealed; thou multipliest the people, and increasest to them the joy, thou who formerly didst decrease their joy, &c.; and it is to this positive that the words refer which, in Luke ii. 10, the angels address to the shepherds: μὴ φοβεῖσθε, ἰδοὺ γὰρ εὐαγγελίζομαι ὑμῖν χαρὰν μεγάλην ἥτις ἔσται παντὶ τῷ λαῷ ὅτι ἐτέχθη ὑμῖν σήμερον σωτὴρ, ὅς ἐστι Χριστὸς Κύριος; comp. Matth. ii. 10.--In the following words, the Prophet expresses, in the first instance, the nature of the joy, then its greatness. The joy over the blessings received is a joy before God, under a sense of His immediate presence. The expression is borrowed from the sacrificial feasts in the courts before the sanctuary, at which the partakers rejoiced before the Lord, Deut. xii. 7, 12, 18, xiv. 26. In Immanuel, God with his blessings and gifts has truly entered into the midst of His people. With the joy at the dividing of the spoil, the joy is compared only to show its greatness, just as with the joy in the harvest; and it is in vain that Knobel tries here to bring in a dividing of spoil.
Vers. 3, (4). "For the yoke of his burden and the staff of his neck, the rod of his driver thou hast broken as in the day of Midian."
In this verse, the reason of the people's joy announced in the preceding verse is stated: it is the deliverance from the world's power, under the oppression of which they groaned, or, in point of fact, were to groan. He who imposes the yoke and the staff, the driver, (an allusion to the Egyptian taskmasters, masters, comp. Exod. iii. 7; v. 10), is Asshur, and the whole world's power hostile to the Kingdom of God, which is represented by him, and which by Christ was to receive, and has received, a mortal blow. A prelude to the fulfilment took place by the defeat of Sennacherib under Hezekiah, comp. chap. x. 5, 24, 27; xiv. 25. After him. Babel had to experience the destructive power of the Lord, the single phases of which, pervading, as they do, all history, are here comprehended in one great act. Although the definitive fulfilment begins first with the appearance of Christ in the flesh, who spoke to His people: θαρσεῖτε, ἐγὼ νενίκηκα τὸν κόσμον, yet after what we remarked on ver. 2, we are fully entitled to consider the former catastrophes also of the kingdoms of the world as preludes to the real fulfilment.--שכם "shoulder" does not suit as the membrum cui verbera infliguntur; it comes, as is commonly the case, into consideration as that member with which burdens are borne. The staff or tyranny is a heavy burden, comp. chap. x. 27: "His burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder." "As in the day of Midian" is equivalent to: as thou once didst break the yoke of Midian. This event was especially fitted to serve as a type of the glorious future victory over the world's power, partly because the oppression by Midian was very hard,--according to Judges vii. 12, Midian, Amalek, and the sons of the East broke in upon the land like grasshoppers for multitude, and their camels were without number, as the sand by the seaside for multitude--partly because the help of the Lord (thou hast broken) was at that time specially visible. "I will be with thee," says the Lord to Gideon in Judges vi. 16, "and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man;" and Judges vii. 2: "The people that are with thee are too many, as that I could give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying: Mine own hand hath saved me."
Vers. 4, (5). "For every war-shoe put on with noise, and the garment rolled in blood: it is for burning, food of fire."
We have here the reason why the tyranny is broken: for the enemies of the Kingdom of God shall entirely and for ever be rendered incapable of carrying on warfare. If the noisy war-shoes, and their blood-stained garments are to be burned, they themselves must, of course, have been previously destroyed. But, if that be the case, then all war and tyranny are come to an end, "for the dead do not live, and the shades do not rise," chap. xxvi. 14. The parallel passages, Ps. xlvi. 10, and Ezek. xxxix. 9, 10, do not permit us to doubt that the burning of the war-shoes and of the bloody garments come into consideration here as a consequence of the destruction of the conquerors. Nor can we, according to these passages, entertain, for a moment, the idea of Meier, that those bloody garments belong to Israel.
Vers. 5 (6). "For unto us a child is horn, unto us a son is given, and the government is upon his shoulders, and his name shall be called Wonder-Counsellor, God-Hero, Ever-Father, Prince of Peace."
The Prophet had hitherto spoken only of the salvation which is to spread from Galilee over the rest of the country; it is first here that its author, in all His sublime glory, comes before him; and, having come to him, the prophecy rises to exalted feelings of joy. In chap. vii. 14, the Prophet beholds the Saviour as being already born; hence the Preterites ילד and נתן. If any one should imagine that from the use of these Preterites he were entitled to infer that the subject of the prophecy must, at that time, already have been born, he must also, on account of the Preterites in vers. 1 (2) suppose that the announced salvation had at that time been already bestowed upon Israel,--which no interpreter does. Hitzig correctly remarks: "Because He is still future, the Prophet in His first appearance, beholds Him as a child, and as the son of another." Whose son He is we are not told; but it is supposed to be already known. Ever since the revelation in 2 Sam. vii., the Messiah could be conceived of as the Son of David only; compare the words: "Upon the throne of David" in vers. 6 (7), and chap. xi. 1, lv. 3. As the Son of God the Saviour appears as early as in Ps. ii.; and it is to that Psalm that the "God-Hero" alludes, and connects itself. Alluding to the passage before us, we read in John iii. 16: οὕτω γὰρ ἠγάπησεν ὁ θεὸς τὸν κόσμον
("The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this,") vers. 6 [7], ὥστε τὸν υἱὸν τὸν μονογενῆ ἔδωκεν.--When grown up, the Son has the government upon His shoulder. The Prophet contrasts Christ with the world's power, which threatened destruction to the people of God. This, then, refers to the Kingly office of Christ, and the state of glory. Parallel is the declaration of Christ in Matt. xxviii. 18, ἐδόθη μοι πᾶσα ἐξουσία. The Lord has also, in John xviii. 37, confirmed the truth that He is King; and it is upon the ground of His own declaration that Pilate designates Him upon the cross as a King. Although His Kingdom is not of this world, John xviii. 36, it is, just for that very reason, so much the more all-governing. The ἐντεῦθεν in that passage is contrasted with the words "from heaven" in Dan. ii., by which, in that passage, its absolute superiority over all the kingdoms of the world, and its crushing power are declared to be indissolubly connected.--"The shoulder" comes, here also, as in vers. 3 (4), chap. x. 27, into consideration in so far as on it we bear; comp. Gen. xlix. 15; Ps. lxxxi. 7. The bearer of an office has it, as it were, on his shoulders.--The Jewish interpreters, despairing of being able, with any appearance of truth, to apply the following attributes to Hezekiah, insist that, with the exception of the last, they denote Him who calls, not Him who is called: the Wonderful, &c., called him Prince of peace. Altogether apart from the consideration that this is in opposition to the accents, the mentioning of so many names of Jehovah is here quite unsuitable; and, in all other passages, the noun put after שמו קרא