he consequence of their wickedness, and which, in
the preceding chapter, had been described as the cause of their own,
and the people's destruction; compare chap. x. 21: "For the shepherds
are become brutish, and do not seek the Lord; therefore they do not act
wisely, and their whole flock is scattered." But if here the
signification "to act wisely" be established, then it is also in all
those passages where [Hebrew: hwkil] is used of David; compare remarks
on chap. iii. For the fact, that the Prophet has in view these
passages, and that, according to him, the reign of David is, in a more
glorious manner, to be revived in his righteous Branch, appears from
the circumstance that every thing else has its foundation in the
description of David's reign, in the books of Samuel. Thus the words:
"And he ruleth as a king, and worketh justice and righteousness in the
land," refer back to 2 Sam. viii. 15: "And David reigned over all
Israel, and David wrought justice and righteousness unto all his
people." The foundation of the announcement of ver. 6 is formed by 2
Sam. viii. 14 (compare ver. 6): "And the Lord gave prosperity ([Hebrew:
vivwe]) to David in all his ways." But if [Hebrew: hwkil], wherever it
occurs of David, must be taken in this sense, then the LXX. are right
also in translating Is. lii. 13 by [Greek: sunesei]: for, in that
passage, just as in the verse under consideration, David is referred to
as the type of the Messiah. The phrase [Hebrew: ewh mwpT vcdqh] is by
_De Wette_ commonly translated: "to _exercise_ justice and
righteousness." But the circumstance that, in Ps. cxlvi. 7, he is
obliged to give up this translation, proves that it is wrong. [Hebrew:
ewh] must rather be explained by "to work," "to establish." [Hebrew:
mwpT] is here, as everywhere else, the objective right and justice;
[Hebrew: cdqh], the subjective righteousness. The _working_ of justice
is the means by which _righteousness_ is wrought. The forced dominion
of justice is necessarily followed by the voluntary, [Pg 415] just as
the judgments of God, by means of which He is sanctified _upon_
mankind, are, at the same time, the means by which He is sanctified
_in_ them. The high vocation of the King to work justice and
righteousness rests upon His dignity, as the bearer of God's image;
comp. Ps. cxlvi. 7; chap. ix. 23: "For I the Lord work love, justice,
and righteousness in the land." Chap. xxii. 15 is, moreover, to be
compared, where it is said of