transfer to him predicates (such as the right to universal sovereignty, Ps. 2: 2, and the union of an everlasting priesthood with his kingship, Ps. 110), which cannot find in him their full historical accomplishment, they typically point to the future realizer of the theocratic kingship. 2) Others maintain that the psalmist, filled with the idea of the theocratic kingship, really rises in these psalms to the view of an individual in whom this idea is perfectly realized, and hence, according to the mind of the spirit, is speaking of the coming Messiah. 3) Others again distinguish between the original signification of these psalms, by which they refer to an historical king, and the use which, as prophetic and Messianic songs of praise, they subsequently acquired in Divine worship.

Oehler holds that the third view is especially applicable to Ps. 45, but grants that the directly Messianic interpretation is fully borne out in Ps. 2, 72, and 110.

§ 231. The Development of the Idea of the Messiah in the Prophets. The Older Prophetic Writings. The Prophetic Doctrine concerning the Nature of the Messiah.

Full and detailed predictions of the Messiah are not met with till after the middle of the eight century, in Isaiah and Micah. Such Messianic prophecy is, however, by no means introduced by them as something absolutely new and till now alien to the prophetic consciousness.

1) To sum up the essential features of Messianic prophecy, let us inquire, what does prophecy teach concerning the nature of the Messiah? Does it attribute to Him a superhuman dignity? The meaning of almost all the passages on this subject has been made a matter of controversy.

We begin with Micah 5: 2-4. The words speak either 1) of an eternal and Divine origin of the Messiah (so Caspari, Boehl and others, the correct view), or state 2) that the entire sacred history from its very beginnings contains the goings forth of the Messiah, the preparatory elements of his coming (so Hofmann and Orelli). It is noticeable too that the prophets, however near at hand their intuition may make the advent of the Mes

siah, never speak of Him as the son of any actually existing king.

The passage Mic. 5: 3 is parallel with the prophecy Isa. 7: 14 of the birth of Immanuel from the virgin, a passage whose reference to the Messiah is demanded by its connection with Isa. 9: 6, though the interpretation at present prevailing regards it as only typically Messianic. The mysterious nature, however, of the expression can neither here nor in Micah be mistaken, and Ewald as well as Orelli and Boehl have defended its Messianic interpretation.

The exalted nature of the Messiah, however, is more definitely brought forward in Isa. 9: 6, 7. The Messiah is evidently regarded as a Divine being, though here also the expressions are mysteriously indefinite.

How close, side by side, the two lines of promise, the appearance of God and the appearance of the Messiah-run, and seem almost to touch without uniting, is shown also by the Messianic predictions of the subsequent prophets. In Jer. 23: 5; 33: 15 the Messiah is described as the Branch of righteousness, and "Branch" becomes even a proper name of the Messiah (Zech. 3: 8; 6: 12). The chief Messianic passage in Daniel is found in Dan. 7: 13, 14. Although the interpretation of this passage has been controverted, the traditional exegesis, as far as it can be followed back has regarded the Son of Man as the Messiah, who hence appears, as Paul says, as the Lord from heaven.

§ 232. The Office and Work of the Messiah.

2) With respect to the office and work of the Messiah, these are, as the name itself implies, first those of a king. His coming presupposes the rejection of the nation, and the deepest humiliation of the house of David; hence the Messianic kingdom rises from an abject to a glorious state. is expressed in Mic. 5: 2, but especially in Isa. this corresponds the description Zech. 9: 9, 10. the pomp of an earthly conqueror, but with lowly array and

This thought
II: 1. With
It is not with

riding upon an ass, that the Messiah makes His entry into Jerusalem. Beginning at Jerusalem, He founds a peaceful kingdom, which is to reach from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth.

An important question here arises: Does the Old Testament also speak of a suffering Christ? i. e., of one who atones by death and suffering for the sins of the people. The Messianic passages quoted hitherto do not involve this. But together with these statements, there is another prophetic view which points to a servant of God who suffers in the place of the people, to an act of atonement on which the dawning of the day of redemption depends, to the priesthood of the Messiah. To show the connection between this branch of prophecy and the whole doctrinal system of the Old Testament, it will be necessary to enter somewhat more into detail.

§ 233. The Office and Work of the Messiah, continued.

In Ps. 22 a guiltless sufferer, exposed to ruthless enemies and undergoing agonizing torture, prays for deliverance from his misery. While he is wrestling in prayer, faith triumphs. Then follows a description how, in consequence of this Divine act of deliverance, all who are afflicted and exposed to death find refreshment at the sacrificial feast made by the rescued sufferer. This description at the end of the psalm recalls especially the predicted feast of the Messianic days (Isa. 25: 6—8), which God is preparing upon Mount Zion for all nations. Whether the psalm was occasioned by the experience of a David, a Jeremiah, or some other servant of God, the details are minutely descriptive of the Messiah and far surpass anything that could be predicated of any Old Testament character.

That the intercession of the righteous for a sinful nation is effectual, is a thought running through the entire Old Testament. The prophecy of redemption is not complete till it beholds an individual advocating the cause of the people before God; and this is the servant of Jehovah (Isa. 53), which can only refer to an individual. Prophecy rises to the intuition of one in whom the image of the faithful servant is complete,-of one

who, not for his own sins, but as a substitute of the people and for their sins, lays down his life as an offering for sin, a payment in full for debt, but is, notwithstanding the prophetic message which points to him, despised and regarded by the people, for whom he appears, as stricken of God for his own transgressions, who is, moreover, treated even in death like the violent wicked and like those whom a curse follows even to the grave. But God leads him from the grave to glory, so that he is now the author of righteousness to many, and divides the spoil with the strong.

$234. The Office and Work of the Messiah, continued.

In Zechariah the Messiah distinctly appears as the future redeemer of the people, and indeed as their atoning High Priest. This future atoner to whom the present priesthood typically refers, is the Branch, the son of David, the Messiah (Zech. 6: 9-15; 12: 10—13).

PART III. OLD TESTAMENT WISDOM (§ 235—250).

§ 235. General Preliminary Remarks.

The Old Testament Wisdom (Hhokhma) forms, with the law and prophecy, a special department of knowledge, to which three of the canonical books of the Old Testament (Job, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes), and, in virtue of their matter, many of the Psalms also, pre-eminently belong. The law gives the commandments and claims of Jehovah. Prophecy proclaims the word of the Lord, which reveals His counsels, and discloses the object of God's mode of government. The Hhokhma does not in an equal manner refer its matter to direct Divine causation. It has even been styled the philosophy of the Hebrews. But Old Testament wisdom is nevertheless essentially different from other philosophy. It is based, indeed, upon the observation of nature and human affairs, and especially in the latter respect upon experience as handed down by the ancients (Job 12: 7-13; 5: 27; 8: 8-10). In such investigations of nature and human life, however, it is placed under a regulative factor which Greek wisdom does

not possess; it starts from a supernaturalistic assumption which the latter lacks. Its mode of procedure, is to endeavor, by means of that key of knowledge which revelation affords, better to understand God's ways in the world, and through the knowledge of God's will furnished by the law, better to determine the duties of human life. The Old Testament wisdom begins by abasing the self-sufficiency of natural knowledge, and giving glory to Divine revelation, i. e., it begins with the fear of the Lord, as it so often designates its subjective principle of knowledge (compare Prov. 30: 1-6).

§ 236. General Preliminary Remarks, continued.

But how now does the Hhokhma obtain an objective principle of knowledge? The Israelitish mind, reflecting on the acts and ways of God as handed down, and on the Divine ordinances by whose discipline it has been strengthened, attains to the perception of their marvelous adaptation to their purpose, especially when it compared the law of Israel with the laws and statues of heathenism. This impression of the adaptation of the law to its purpose, which the Israelitish mind received, is, expressed in numerous passages of the Old Testament (Ps. 147: 19, 20; 19: 7-11), but especially Ps. 119, which proclaims in 176 verses the praises of the law. From the perception of the adaptation of the theocratic ordinances to the purpose of their institution the mind then advances to the thought of an all-embracing and ail-ruling purpose. The purposes and government of God being then recognized outside the theocracy also, the universe is regarded not as a mere product of the power of God, who can create what He will (Ps. 115: 3; 135: 6), but as the product of the Divine plan. Thus arises the thought of the the Divine wisdom as the principle of the world; and this it is which is the objective principle of the Hhokhma. The task now presented to the Israelitish mind was to show that a Divine teleology exists everywhere, even beyond the boundary defined by the theocratic ordinances,-a task to which, in prospect of the inexhaustible fulness here offered, it devoted itself with delight.