_A bastard shall dwell in Ashdod, and I will cut off the pride of the
Philistines._
ממזר (or רזממ) may be rendered a _stranger_, as well as a _bastard_,
αλλογενεις in the Septuagint, which renders the sense more obvious.
_And I will cut off the pride of the Philistines._ These denunciations
appear chiefly directed against the Philistines, in whom pride, avarice,
and ambition, are specified as the great offences. The delivery of Ashdod
into the hands of a stranger is the judgment pronounced against them in
this verse, as the last means of their humiliation. But here the tone of
the prophecy changes, and instead of further punishments, we find repeated
promises of blessings and mercy; _he that is left shall be for our God,
and as a Governor in Judah_,—and in the verse following—_He_ (the Messiah
being manifestly meant here) _shall speak peace to the Heathen_.—Whence
then this change? We are led to seek, and naturally expect to find, some
ground for it. And accordingly the next verse unfolds the reason, and
explains the occasion of this change in the counsel of Heaven; a change
resting not on their own merits, but on Divine Mercy. For such a
construction will this verse bear, quite as well as the one usually put
upon it; and this construction is far more in unison with the context,
than the received one.
Verse 7. :והסרתי דמיו מפיו ושקציו מבין שניו ונשאר גמ-הוא לאלהינו והיה כאלף
ביהודה ועקרון כיבוסי
_And I will take away his blood from out of his mouth, and his
abominations from between his teeth, and he that is left, even he shall be
for our God, and he shall be as a Governor in Judah, and Ekron as a
Jebusite._
With scarcely any alteration in the translation, the words, even as they
stand, admit of a very different acceptation from that in which they are
commonly taken; and instead of being a figurative expression, borrowed
from the rescuing its prey from the jaws of a lion; in which sense the
Jews take it, as a promise to themselves of deliverance from their
enemies; the words more literally taken, will convey the promise of mercy
and redemption to the remaining Gentiles: whose sin and pollution are to
be taken away, who are to be reclaimed to the worship of the true God, and
admitted to a full participation in all the blessings, promised to Israel
by the coming of the Messiah.
The Gentiles were esteemed polluted by eating things unclean, which were
prohibited to the Jews. Certain animals—things strangled—and the blood in
particular were among the forbidden food. The new covenant removed this
prohibition, thereby taking away the pollution from between his teeth, as
it ceased to be a cause of pollution. The command given to St. Peter, Acts
x. 14, to kill and eat, where all manner of food was presented to him, was
expressly received by him as a command to preach the Gospel to the
Gentiles, or to admit them into the Messiah’s kingdom; and this admission
was unaccompanied with any such prohibition, nor was it subsequently
given.
Eating things sacrificed to idols was another cause of pollution which the
New Covenant removed, by taking away the cause in the abolition of
idolatry. This literal fulfilment of the words of the prophecy may,
however, be figuratively understood, to foreshew the remission of sins
through Christ, and the admission of the Heathen nations to the hopes of
everlasting life founded on the Gospel.
The only change required in the English version is to read _But_, for
_And_, which are expressed alike by the Hebrew ו, and to understand שקציו
(or ויצקש) _his abominations_, in the sense most appropriate to it, as
alluding to the worship of idols, and we have the sense already expressed,
which perfectly harmonizes with the context. Whereas, taken in the other
sense, what becomes of the antithesis? Who is _he that is left_, that
_shall be for our God_, and _as a chief in Judah_? Surely it cannot be the
Jew, who shall be as a Jew. But the next words are decisive, declaring
that Ekron and the Jebusite, both Gentiles, are here intended.
_And Ekron as a Jebusite._ This mode of rendering leaves, indeed, the
force of these words rather ambiguous; but there can be no intelligible
sense put upon the כי (or יכ), but that of _in like manner as_, or, _as
well as_; that is, Ekron as well as the Jebusite, shall both be as
Governors in Judah.
Verse 8. :וחניתי לביתי מצבה מעבר ומשב ולא יעבר עליהם עוד נגש כי עתה ראיתי
בעיני
_And I will encamp about mine house because of the army, because of him
that passeth by, and because of him that returneth; and no oppressor shall
pass through them any more: for now have I seen with mine eyes._
It is not certain, though probable, from 1 Sam. xxvi. 5-7, that the Jews
had entrenched camps; if so, the passage would be clearer by rendering
וחניתי (or יתינחו) _I will entrench_ instead of _encamp_; though the sense
is sufficiently obvious, as meaning to afford protection against the army,
&c. The house of God, to which protection is promised, is his Temple,
figuratively denoting true religion purified from idolatry; the great
spiritual adversary constantly warring with Israel, and, as we learn from
Scripture, frequently prevailing; which is probably the warfare here
alluded to. But if taken literally, this passage conveys the promise that
the Messiah’s kingdom should put an end to oppression and injustice. The
exact import of the expression, _for now have I seen with mine eyes_, is
not very evident; but may imply God’s foreseeing the unfitness of the Jews
to receive a spiritual Messiah; who, in consequence of their rejection of
him, would be given to the Gentiles.
Verse 9. :גילי מאד בת ציון הריעי בת-ירושלם הנה מלכך יבוא לך צדיק ונושע הוא
עני ורכב על חמור ועל עיר בן אתנות
_Rejoice greatly, Daughter of Zion, shout, oh Daughter of Jerusalem,
behold thy King cometh unto thee; he is just and having salvation, lowly
and riding upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass._
There is no ambiguity in the purport of this verse, which is the coming of
the Messiah, as all commentators allow; but I can in no wise agree with
Lowth and others, that this verse is a rhapsodical digression from the
subject of the rest of the chapter, in which the Prophet being wrought up
to the highest pitch of enthusiasm, breaks off from the immediate object
of his vision to foretel the coming of the Messiah, and then returns back
to his former subject. On the contrary, I can see nothing like digression
here, but one connected and consistent object throughout; this verse being
the keystone of the arch, which binds together those which precede and
those which follow it, forming the whole into one united and compact body.
Instead of a digression from the subject, I regard this verse as the clue
to guide us through the labyrinth, by fixing and determining the subject
of all the rest.
_Behold thy King cometh unto thee_: יבוא (or אובי) is really the future
tense, literally _shall come_, and changing it to the present, _cometh_,
seems unnecessary, if it does not in some degree interfere with the
chronological order of the events predicted afterwards.
_Just and having salvation._ This is certainly an ambiguous rendering of
נושע (or עשונ) the past participle of the verb ישע (or עשי) to save, which
literally signifies _being saved_, and the emphatic הוא (or אוה)
_himself_, following it, more strongly marks the sense, as _having
obtained salvation himself_.
_Riding on an ass, and a colt, the foal of an ass._ The connective ו
_and_, should certainly be rendered here by _even_, or, _to wit_, and not
by _and_, which makes it appear that the Messiah was to ride upon two
asses.