. xxxiii. 15, not by any means equivalent
to: a righteous Branch of David. On the contrary, David is designated
as he to whom the act of raising belongs, for whose sake it is
undertaken. God has promised to him the eternal dominion of his house.
How much soever, therefore, the members of this family may sin against
the Lord,--how unworthy soever the people may be to be governed by a
righteous Branch of David, God, as surely as He is God, must raise Him
for the sake of David. The word [Hebrew: mlK] must not be overlooked.
It shows that [Hebrew: mlK], which, standing by itself, may designate
also another government than by a king, such as, _e.g._, that of
Zerubbabel, is to be taken in its full sense. And this qualification
was so much the more necessary, that the deepest abasement of the house
of David, announced by the Prophet in chap. xxii., compare especially
ver. 30, was approaching, and that thereby every hope of its rising to
_complete_ prosperity seemed to be set aside. Since, therefore, the
faith in this event rested merely on the word, it was necessary that
the word should be as distinct as possible, in order that no one might
pervert, or explain it away. _Calvin_ remarks: "He shall rule as a
King, _i.e._, He shall rule gloriously; so that there do not merely
appear some relics of former glory, but that He flourish and be
powerful as a King, and attain to a perfection, such as existed under
David and Solomon; and even much more excellent."--As regards [Hebrew:
hwkil], we have already, in our remarks on chap. iii. 15, proved that
it never and nowhere means "to prosper," "to be prosperous," but always
"to act wisely." It has been shown by _Calvin_ that even the context
here requires the latter signification. He says: "The Prophet seems
here rather to speak of right judgment than of prosperity and success;
for we must read this in connexion with one another: He shall act
wisely, and then work justice and [Pg 414] righteousness. He shall be
endowed with the spirit of wisdom, as well as of justice and
righteousness; so that he shall perform all the offices and duties of a
king." Yet _Calvin_ has not exhausted the arguments which may be
derived from the context. The _whole_ verse before us treats of the
endowments of the King; the whole succeeding one, of the prosperity
which, by these endowments, is imparted to the people. To this may
still be added the evident contrast to the folly of the former
shepherds, which was t