Christology of the Old Testament: And a Commentary on the Messianic Predictions. Vol. 2

by Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg

designates always him who is called. Modern Exegesis has tried everything with a view to deprive the names of their deep meaning, in order to adapt them to a Messiah in the ordinary Jewish sense, hence, to do that of which the Jews themselves had already despaired. But, in doing so, they have considered the names too much by themselves, overlooking the circumstance that the full and deeper meaning of the individual attributes, as it at first sight presents itself, must, in the connection in which they here occur, be so much the rather held fast. The names are completed in the number four,--the mark of that which is complete and finished. They form two pairs, and every single name is again compounded of two names. The first name is פלא יועץ. That these two words must be connected with one another (Theodor.--θαυμαστῶς βουλεύων) appears from the analogy of the other names, especially of אל גבּור with whom פלא יועץ forms one pair; and then from the circumstance that יועץ alone would, in this connection, be too indefinite. The words do not stand in the relation of the Status constructus, but are connected in the same manner as פלא אדם in Gen. xvi. 12. יועץ designates the attribute which is here concerned, while פלא points out the supernatural, superhuman degree in which the King possesses this attribute, and the infinite riches of consolation and help which are to be found in such a King. As a Counsellor, He is a Wonder, absolutely elevate d above everything which the earth possesses in excellency of counselling. As פלא commonly denotes "wonder" in the strictest sense (comp. chap. xxv. 1: "I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name, for thou hast done wonders," Ps. lxxvii. 15: "Thou art the God that doest wonders;" Exod. xv. 11); as it here stands in parallelism with אל God; as the whole context demands that we should take the words in their full meaning;--we can consider it only as an arbitrary weakening of the sense, that several interpreters explain פלא יועץ "extraordinary Counsellor." Parallel is Judges xiii. 18 where the Angel of the Lord, after having announced the birth of Samson, says: "Why askest thou thus after my name?--it is wonderful," פלאי, i.e., my whole nature is wonderful, of unfathomable depth, and cannot, therefore, be expressed by any human name. Farther--Revel. xix. 12 is to be compared, where Christ has a name written that no man knows but He himself, to intimate the immeasurable glory of His nature. That which is here, in the first instance, said of a single attribute of the King, applies, at the same time, to all others, holds true of His whole nature; the King is a Wonder as a Counsellor, because His whole person is wonderful. A proof, both of the connection of the two words, and against the weakening of the sense, is afforded by the parallel passage, chap. xxviii. 29, where it is said of the Most High God הפליא עצה, "He shows himself wonderful in His counsel."--The second name is אל גבּור "God-Hero." Besides the ability of giving good counsel, a good government requires also גבורה strength, heroic power: comp. chap. xi. 2, according to which the spirit of counsel and strength rest upon the Messiah. What may not be expected from a King who not only, like a David in a higher degree, possesses the greatest human measure of heroic strength, but who is also a God-Hero, and a Hero-God, so that with His appearance there disappears completely the contrast of the invisible Head of the people of God, and of His visible substitute,--a contrast which so often manifested itself, to the great grief of the covenant-people? The God-Hero forms the contrast to a human hero whose heroic might is, after all, always limited, אל גבור can signify God-Hero only, a Hero who is infinitely exalted above all human heroes by the circumstance that He is God. To the attempts at weakening the import of the name, chap. x. 21, where אל גבור is said of the Most High, appears a very inconvenient obstacle,--a parallel passage which does not occur by chance, but where שאר ישוב stands with an intentional reference to chap. vii.: "The remnant shall return, the remnant of Jacob, unto the Hero-God," who is furnished with invincible strength for His people; comp. Ps. xxiv. 8: "The Lord strong and a hero, the Lord a hero of war." The older Rationalistic exposition endeavoured to set aside the deity of the Messiah by the explanation: "strong hero." So also did Gesenius. This explanation, against which chap. x. 21 should have warned, has been for ever set aside by the remark of Hitzig: "Commonly, in opposition to all the usus loquendi, the word is translated by: strong hero. But אל is always, even in passages such as Gen. xxxi. 29, "God," and in all those passages which are adduced to prove that it means "princeps," "potens," the forms are to be derived not from אל, but from איל, which properly means 'ram,' then 'leader,' 'prince.'" By this explanation, especially the passage Ezek. xxxii. 21, which had formerly been appealed to in support of the translation "strong hero," is set aside; for the אלי גבּורים of that passage are "rams of heroes." Rationalistic interpreters now differ in their attempts at getting rid of the troublesome fact. Hitzig says, "Strong God"--he erroneously views גבּור, which always means "hero," as an adjective--"the future deliverer is called by the oriental not strictly separating the Divine and human, and He is called so by way of exaggeration, in so far as He possesses divine qualities." A like opinion is expressed by Knobel: "Strong God the Messiah is called, because in the wars with the Gentiles He will prove himself as a hero equipped with divine strength."

The expression proves a divine nature as little as when in Ps. lxxxii. 1-6, comp. John x. 34, 35, kings are, in general, called אלהים, "gods, Like God, to be compared to Him, a worthy representative of Him, and hence, likewise, called God." It is true that there is one אל גבּור only, and that, according to chap. x. 21, the Messiah cannot be אל גבּור beside the Most High God, excepting by partaking in his nature. Such a participation in the nature, not His being merely filled with the power of God, is absolutely required to explain the expression. It is true that in the Law of Moses all those who have to command or to judge, all those to whom, for some reason or other, respect or reverence is due, are consecrated as the representatives of God on earth; e.g., a court of justice is of God, and he who appears before it appears before God. But the name Elohim is there given in general only to the judicial court, which represents God--to the office, not to the single individuals who are invested with it. In Ps. lxxxii. 1, the name Elohim in the expression: "He judgeth among the gods" is given to the single, judging individual; comp. also ver. 6; but this passage forms an isolated exception. To explain, from it, the passage before us is inadmissible, even from chap. x. 21, where אל גבּור stands in its fullest sense. It must not be overlooked that that passage in Ps. lxxxii. belongs to higher poetry; that the author himself there mitigates in ver. 6, in the parallel member, the strength of the expression: "I have said ye are Elohim, and sons of the Most High ye all;" and, finally, that there Elohim is used as the most vague and general name of God, while here El, a personal name, is used. Hendewerk, Ewald, and others, finally, explain "God's hero," i.e., "a divine hero, who, like an invincible God, fights and conquers." But in opposition to this view, it has been remarked by Meier that then necessarily the words ought to run, גבור אל. It is farther obvious that by this explanation the גבור אל

here is, in a manner not to be admitted, disconnected and severed from those passages where it occurs as an attribute of the Most High God; comp. besides chap. x. 21; Deut. x. 17; Jer. xxxii. 18.

The third name is Father of eternity. That admits of a double explanation. Several interpreters refer to the Arabic usus loquendi, according to which he is called the father of a thing who possesses it; e.g., Father of mercy, i.e., the merciful one. This usus loquendi, according to the supposition formerly very current, occurs in Hebrew very frequently, especially in proper names, e.g., טוב אבי. "Father of goodness," i.e., the good one. According to this view. Father of eternity would be equivalent to Eternal one. According to the opinion of others. Father of eternity is he who will ever be a Father, an affectionate provider, comp. chap. xxii. 21, where Eliakim is called "Father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem;" Job xxix. 16; Ps. lxviii. 6. Luther, too, thus explains: "Who at all times feeds His Kingdom and Church, in whom there is a fatherly love without end." The latter view is to be preferred unconditionally. Against the former view is the circumstance that all the other names stand in direct reference to the salvation of the covenant-people, while, in the mere eternity, this reference would not distinctly enough appear. And it has farther been rightly remarked by Ewald, that that usus loquendi in Arabic always belongs to the artificial, often to jocular discourse. Whether it occur in Hebrew at all is still a matter of controversy; Ewald, § 27, denies that it occurs in proper names also. On the other hand, the paternal love, the rich kindness and mercy, exceedingly well suit the first two names which indicate unfathomable wisdom, and divine heroic strength. The rationalistic interpreters labour very hard to weaken the idea of eternity. But the "Provider for life"

agrees very ill with the Wonder-Counsellor, and the God-hero. The absolute eternity of the Messiah's dominion is, on the foundation of 2 Sam. vii., most emphatically declared in other passages also (comp. vol. i., p. 132, 133), and meets us here again immediately in the following verse. The name Ever-Father, too, leads us to divine Majesty, comp. chap. xlv. 17: "Israel is saved by the Lord with an everlasting salvation; ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded in all eternity" chap. lvii. 15, where God is called שכן עד "the ever dwelling;" farther, Ps. lxviii. 6: "A Father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows is God in His holy habitation," where the providence of God for the personae miserabiles is praised with a special reference to that which He does for His poor people.--Hitzig's explanation: "Father of prey," does not suit the prophetic style, and has, in general, no analogy from Hebrew to adduce in its favour. The circumstance that, in the verse immediately following, the eternity of the government is mentioned, shows that עד must be taken in its ordinary signification "eternity."

The fourth name, Prince of peace, stands purposely at the end, and is to be considered as strongly emphatic. War, hostile oppression, the distress of the servitude which threatens the people of God,--these are the things which, in the first instance, have directed the Prophet's eye to the Messiah. The name points back to Solomon who typified Christ's dominion of peace, and who himself, in the Song of Solomon, transfers his name to Christ (comp. my Comment. S. 1 ff.); then to the Shiloh, Gen. xlix. 10 (comp. vol. i, 84, 85). We should misunderstand the name were we to infer from it that, in the Messianic time, all war should cease. Were such to be the case, why is it that, immediately before, the Redeemer is designated as God-Hero? Peace is the aim; it is offered to all the nations in Christ; but those who reject it, who rise up against His Kingdom, He throws down, as the God-Hero, with a powerful hand, and obtains by force peace for His people. But war, as far as it takes place, is carried on in a form different from that which existed under the Old dispensation. According to Micah v. 9 (10), ff., the Lord makes His people outwardly defenceless, before they become in Christ world-conquering; comp. vol. i., p. 515. According to chap. xi. 4, Christ smiteth the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips He slayeth the wicked.

Ver. 6 (7.) "To the increase of the government and to the peace, there is no end, upon the throne of David and over his kingdom, so that he establisheth it, and supporteth it by justice and righteousness, from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of Hosts shall perform this."

There is no reason for connecting this verse with the preceding one; in which case the sense would be: "For the increase of government and for peace without end." For chap. ii. 7; Nah. ii. 10; Job. xvi. 3--in which ל with קץ occurs in the very same sense--clearly show that the ל in לשלום and למרבה may very well be understood as a mere sign of the Dative. And the objection that the following להכין, &c. would, in that case, be unsuitable, is removed if it be explained: so that He establisheth, &c., or: by His establishing, &c.; comp. Ewald, Lehrbuch der Hebr. Sprache § 280 d. The words designate the basis on which the increase of government and the peace rest. The Kingdom of God will, through the Redeemer, acquire an ever increasing extent, and, along with it, perfect peace shall be enjoyed by the world. For it is not by rude force that this kingdom is to be founded and established, as is the case with worldly kingdoms, in which increase of government and peace, far from being always connected, are, on the contrary, irreconcilable opponents, but by justice and righteousness. Parallel is Ps. lxvii. In vers. 11-15 of that Psalm, the Psalmist just points to that "by which all nations and kings are induced to do homage to that king; it is just that which, in the whole Psalm, appears as the root of everything else, viz., the absolute justice of the king." Decrease of government and war without end were, meanwhile, in prospect, and they were so, because those who were sitting on the throne of David did not support his kingdom by justice and righteousness. But the Psalmist intimates to the trembling minds that such is not the end of the ways of God with His people; that at last the idea of the Kingdom of God will be realized. From the fundamental passage, Ps. lxxii. 8-11, and parallel passages, such as chap. ii. 2, 4; Mic. v. 3 (4); Zech. ix. 10, it is obvious that, as regards the endless increase of the government, the Prophet thinks of all the nations of the earth. On the peace without end, comp. Ps. lxxii. 7; chap. ii. 4; Mic. v. 4 (5), and the words: "He speaketh peace unto the heathen," Zech. ix. 10. The ל designates the substratum on which the increase of dominion and the peace manifest themselves; the dominion of the Davidic family and its kingdom gain infinitely in extent, and in the same degree peace also increases. In these words the Prophet gives an intimation that the Messiah will proceed from David's family, comp. chap. xi. 1 where he designates Him as the twig of Jesse.--הכין "to confirm," "to establish," used of throne and kingdom, 1 Sam. xiii. 13, comp. 14; 1 Kings ii. 12, comp. ver. 24, and farther, chap. xvi. 5.--The words: "from henceforth even for ever" do not, as Umbreit supposes, refer to every thing in this verse, but to the words immediately preceding. That the words must be understood in their full sense, we have already proved in our remarks on the fundamental passage, 2 Sam. vii. 13: "And I will establish the throne of His kingdom for ever;" see Vol. i. p. 131. Michaelis says: "So that that promise to David shall never fail." The עתה does not refer to the actual, but to the ideal present, to the first appearance of the Redeemer, to the words: "Unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given, and the government is upon His shoulder."--This great change is brought about by the zeal of the Lord who raises this glorious King to His people; comp. John iii. 16. The zeal in itself is only energy; the sphere of its exercise is, in every instance, determined by the context. In Exod. xv. 5; Deut. iv. 24; Nah. i. 2, the zeal is the energy of wrath. In the passage before us, as in the Song of Solomon viii. 6, and in chap. xxxvii. 32: "For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and escaped ones out of Mount Zion; the zeal of the Lord of hosts shall do this," the zeal of God means the energetic character of His love to Zion.

We must, in conclusion, still make a few remarks, on the interpretation of vers. 5 and 6. The older interpreters were unanimous in referring these verses to the Messiah. Even by the Jews, this explanation was abandoned at a subsequent period only. To the Messiah this passage is referred by the Chaldean Paraphrast, by the Commentary on Genesis known by the name Breshith Rabbah in the exposition of Genesis xli. 44 (see Raim. Martini Pugio fidei, Vol. iii. sec. 3, chap. xiv. § 6), by Rabbi Jose Galilaeus in the book Ekha Rabbati, a Commentary on Lamentations (see Raim. Matt. iii. 3 chap. 4, § 13). Ben Sira (fol. 40 ed., Amstel. 1679), mentions among the eight names of the Messiah, the following from the passage before us: Wonderful, Counsellor, El Gibbor, Prince of Peace. But the late Jewish interpreters found it objectionable that the Messiah, in opposition to their doctrinal views, was here described as God; for doctrinal reasons, therefore, they gave up the received interpretation, and sought to adapt the passage to Hezekiah. Among these, however, Rabbi Lipmann allows the Messianic explanation to a certain degree to remain. Acknowledging that the prophecy could not refer exclusively to Hezekiah, he extends it to all the successors from the House of David, including the Messiah, by whom it is to attain its most perfect fulfilment. Among Christian interpreters, Grotius was the first to abandon the Messianic explanation. Even Clericus acknowledges that the predicates are applicable to Hezekiah "sensu admodum diluto" only. At the time when Rationalism had the ascendancy, it became pretty current to explain them of Hezekiah. Gesenius modified this view by supposing that the Prophet had connected his Messianic wishes and expectations with Hezekiah, and expected their realization by him. At present this view is nearly abandoned; after Gesenius, Hendewerk is the only one who still endeavours to defend it.

Against the application to Hezekiah even this single argument is decisive, that a glory is here spoken of, which is to be bestowed especially upon Galilee which belonged to the kingdom of the ten tribes. Farther--Although the prophecy be considered as a human foreboding only, how could the Prophet, to whom, everywhere else such a sharp eye is ascribed, that, from it, they endeavour to explain his fulfilled prophecies,--how could the Prophet have expected that Hezekiah, who was at that time a boy of about nine years of age, and who appeared under such unfavourable circumstances, should realize the hopes which he here utters in reference to the world's power, should conquer that power definitively and for ever, should infinitely extend his kingdom, and establish an everlasting dominion? How could he have ascribed divine attributes to Hezekiah who, in his human weakness, stood before him? Finally--The undeniable agreement of the prophecy before us with other Messianic passages, especially with Ps. lxxii. and Is. xi., where even Gesenius did not venture to maintain the reference to Hezekiah, is decidedly in opposition to the reference to Hezekiah.