gate is
the correct translation of [Hebrew: iqrav]. And when _Jerome_, in
opposition to the Alex., remarks that, according to the Hebrew, the
translation ought to be: _Nomen ejus vocabunt_, he does not contend
against their use of the Singular _per se_, but only against their
arbitrarily supplying "Jehovah" as the subject; against their
explaining "The Lord shall call," instead of "one" shall call. The
manner in which the false reading [Hebrew: iqrav] first arose, is
clearly seen from the reasons by which its later defenders endeavour to
support it; compare especially _Schulze_ l. c. The chief argument is
the erroneous supposition that the third Plur. only could be used
impersonally. To this was farther added the use of the rarer Suffix
[Hebrew: v] instead of the common [Hebrew: -hv]--But from internal
reasons, too, the reading [Hebrew: iqrav] is objectionable; the
designation of the object of calling cannot be omitted.--There cannot
be any doubt that we are not allowed to refer the Suffix in [Hebrew:
iqrav] to Israel, (_Ewald_: "And this is their name by which they call
them,") but to the Messiah. For it is only in this case, that those who
call, viz., Judah or Israel, the Members of the Church, are indirectly
mentioned in the preceding words; and the Messiah is, in both verses,
the chief person to whom all the other clauses refer. At all events,
the _then_ could not, in that case, have been omitted, as in this
context every thing depends upon the connection of the salvation with
the person of the King; and this connection must be clearly and
distinctly expressed. We now come to [Hebrew: ihvh cdqnv]. Great
difference of opinion prevails as to the explanation of these words.
The better portion of the Jewish interpreters, indeed, likewise
consider them as names of the Messiah, but not in such a manner that He
is called "Jehovah," and then, in apposition to it, "Our
righteousness," but rather in such a manner that [Hebrew: ihvh cdqnv]
is an abbreviation of the whole sentence. Thus the Chaldean, who thus
paraphrases: "And this is the name by which they shall call him:
Righteousness [Pg 419] will be bestowed upon us from the face of the
Lord;" _Kimchi_, "Israel shall call the Messiah by this name: The Lord
our righteousness, because at His time, the righteousness of the Lord
will be to us firm, continuous, everlasting;" the [Hebrew: spr eqriM]
(in _Le Moyne_, p. 20): "Scripture calls the name of the Messiah: The
Lord our ri