peace to all his seed,
Here the parallelism

to the heathen." There is one other passage where this
expression occurs. It is said of Mordecai, "He was
accepted of the multitude of his brethren, seeking the
wealth of his people, and speaking
jym-bab oiby a77." (Esth. x. 3.)
is against R. Isaac's intepretation; but I will give Aben
Ezra's commentary to show how a Jew would understand
the words in a passage having no relation to controversy.
He says, "Seeking the wealth of his people. It would
have been enough for him to have done good to those that
sought it of him, but behold he was himself seeking to
do good to his people. His seed.' These are his sons,
and his son's sons, and sons are always afraid of their
fathers. But he was in the habit of speaking peace at first
even to his sons, who were as his servants, and still more
to his people. This verse shows his high moral attain
ments and his meekness, as it is recorded of Moses, our
master, that he was a meek man above all men.” (Aben
Ezra in loc.) This shows, then, that Aben Ezra con-
sidered this expression to mean, not that he would make
peace between his seed, but that, in all humility and
meekness, he should speak words of peace to them. And
this meaning can easily be confirmed by the general
usage of the language. In the first place, when
is construed with an accusative, it is generally the ac-

דִּבֶּר הָאִישׁ אֲדֹנֵי הָאָרֶץ cusative of the thing spoken ; as

nis, “The man, the lord of the land, spake rough-
nesses with us." (Gen. xlii. 30.) 1721,
"Speak
the truth." (Zech. viii. 16.) 7277, "Thou hast
spoken falsehood." (Zech. xiii. 3.) So that, following
the idiom of the language, "He shall speak peace,"
would naturally mean, He shall speak words of peace.
But, besides, it is to be observed, that here it is followed
by a dative, and that in such cases the dative always
signifies the person spoken to, as may be seen on almost
every page of the Hebrew Bible; and then often

signifies to announce, or promise; as, of the blessings which Jacob announced to his sons, it is said, “This is it that their father spake unto them, . The Lord God of your fathers make you a thousand times so many more as ye are, and bless you, as he hath promised you, ." (Deut. i. 11.) Prophesy unto us smooth things, ni .” (Isaiah xxx. 10.) The usage of the language therefore determines, that there is no ground whatever for R. Isaac's interpretation, but that the true meaning of "He shall speak peace to the heathen," is, " He shall promise or announce peace to the heathen," which sense will confirm, not weaken, the claims of Jesus of Nazareth.

In connexion with this passage he makes another objection; he says, "Of the King Messiah it is said, He said,‘He shall speak peace to the Gentiles.' But Jesus, the Nazarene, says, I am not come to send peace, but a sword.' It is easy to show that these passages do not contradict one another, but the best answer is an appeal to facts. Did Christ speak peace to the Gentiles, and has his prediction of the arising of strife been fulfilled? If both things have really happened, which it is easy to show, then the event shows that there is no contradiction, and that, more satisfactorily than any argument.

One answer will suffice for his remaining objections, which are, I. In the days of the Messiah both Judah and Ephraim are to be gathered. II. That many nations shall be joined to the Lord. III. That Gog and Magog shall come up against Israel, and fall before the children of Judah and Ephraim. IV. That there shall be peace in all the world. V. That King Messiah's dominion shall extend over the whole earth. The fourth objection has been answered already. The second is answered by the conversion of the Gentiles from idolatry. And to the other three it is enough to reply, that the prophet does not promise that all these things are to happen as soon as

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the Messiah comes. The days of Messiah are to last from his coming to the end of the world, but the prophet does not mark out the period of this great interval, in which these events are to take place. On the contrary, arguing only from this prophecy, without a reference to others, we may infer, that Messiah's glory was not to commence with his coming. For the prophet describes him as "a lowly, afflicted man, and riding on an ass," which tells us plainly that his beginning is to be in humiliation, not in glory. And, further, the prophet gives a very significant intimation, that the deliverance of Israel was to be posterior to the spread of his dominion amongst the Gentiles; for, after the prediction that he should speak peace to the Gentiles, and that his dominion should be from sea to sea, he adds, most significantly, "As for thee also, by the blood of thy covenant I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water," which the Jewish commentators interpret of the deliverance of the Jews: now, if this deliverance was to take place immediately on the coming of the Messiah, why should he, as it were, make it a secondary event, and connect it with the preceding passage by an "also?" The very form of the address, "As for thee also,” intimates that there should be something wrong with Israel, but that, notwithstanding, they should be ultimately delivered.

Having thus answered the objections, I will now briefly show that the circumstances of our Lord's advent do answer to the prediction.

I. The time of his advent. The prophet here connects the coming of Messiah with the times of the second temple, and after the destruction of Damascus, Tyre, and Philistia, by the Greeks. At this time Jesus of Nazareth appeared.

II. The circumstances of his advent. He was just or righteous, so that none of his judges found any fault

in him, and he himself could challenge the Jews to convince him of sin. He was saved by the Lord from all his enemies, and rose triumphantly from the dead. He was lowly and afflicted, and he did literally ride into Jerusalem upon an ass.

III. The results of his coming. He spoke peace to the Gentiles, and his dominion does even now extend to the ends of the earth. Within three centuries from his appearance, Christianity held the sceptre of the world. And though Mahometanism offered a temporary obstacle to its extension, we now see that power prostrated, and Christianity holding within its grasp the means of universal empire. From India to America; from the extreme north, down to the newly-discovered islands of the Southern Ocean, Christianity possesses the ascendancy, and Christians, if not restrained by those principles of love, justice, and holiness, which Jesus has taught them, might, at any moment, take possession of the world. It is true, we, as well as the Jews, look for something far beyond this, but that which we see with our eyes, is a pledge that God will accomplish the remainder. Never since the beginning of the world did any form of religion possess such power, or extend so widely as the religion of Jesus. The most powerful, the most civilised, the most scientific nations that the world ever saw, acknowledge Jesus as their Lord, and the sun never sets upon his kingdom.

IV. Whilst his dominion has been spreading amongst the Gentiles, the Jews still remain in the pit where there is no water, as the prophet intimates, and God still cries to them, Turn to the strong-hold, ye prisoners of hope; and I will cause the Messiah to return to you.

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CHAPTER X.

1. "Ask ye."-In that time, if ye ask of God, blessed be He, rain in the time of the latter rain, the Lord who makes the lightnings will immediately hear your prayer, and make lightnings,* and will give rain. The lightnings shall be with the rain, as it is said, nibin in a, "And a way for the lightnings of the thunder."+ These are they which flash in the time of rain before the crash The root of this word is . Our rabbies, of blessed memory, have interpreted it to mean cloud. As to that which is said, "In the time of the latter rain," which is the last rain, and falls in the days of Nisan, the meaning is, Yea, even at the last, if they want rain, he will give it them, and the herb shall grow quickly.

comes.

(rain of rain). Two synonymes are here put together in regimen, as, "earth of dust" (Dan. xii. 2), and 1, "out of the miry clay" (Ps. xl. 3), to signify abundance of rain, which he will give to those who live in that time.

"To every one grass in the field."-To every one of them he will give grass in the field. Our rabbies, of blessed memory, have interpreted it thus: "In the time when Israel doeth the will of God, He doeth their will: so that if one man alone, and not the others, want rain, he will give rain to that one man, and if a man want one herb alone in his field or garden, and not another, he will give rain to that one herb, according as one of the saints

* Bright clouds; compare margin.

†Though Kimchi only quotes the last half of this verse, his allusion is really to the whole. "When he made a decree for the rain," &c. (Job xxviii. 24.)