srael, it is said: "And ye
shall be named priests of Jehovah, ministers of our God shall they call
you." Here the change of all Israel into the tribe of Levi is
announced; and the objection which, perhaps, might be brought forward,
that here only priests in general are spoken of, while Jeremiah speaks
of Levitical priests, is met by the second passage, chap. lxvi. 21:
"And from them also will I take for _Levitical_ priests saith the
Lord." It makes no difference for our purpose whether "from them" be
referred to the Gentiles (which is the correct view, compare p. 360),
as is done by _Vitringa_ and _Gesenius_, or to the Israelites living in
exile. For, although the latter interpretation be received, yet so much
is certain, that such shall be taken for Levitical priests as were not
descendants of Levi: for, otherwise, no _taking_, no special divine
mercy would have taken place. Even the Law already knows an _ideal_
priesthood by the side of the ordinary one; and such an one meets us
also in Ps. xcix. 6; compare my Commentary on that passage.--After
having thus fixed the sense of the promise referring to the Levitical
priesthood, it will not be difficult to discover the right view in
reference to the family of David. Here, too, a threefold fulfilment
takes place. 1. It was realized in the times immediately after the
captivity, when Zerubbabel, a scion of the Davidic house, became the
mediator of the mercies which God [Pg 467] as King, vouchsafed to His
people. To a certain degree, that mercy too comes in here which, at a
later period, God, in His capacity as King, bestowed upon the people by
means of civil rulers, who were not from the house of David. For, since
the dominion had been for ever transferred to the house of David, these
rulers can be considered only as being engrafted into it, as
representatives and vice-regents,--much in the same way as the
blessing, which was bestowed upon the people by the priestly office of
the non-priest Samuel, must be considered as being included in the
promise in reference to the Aaronic priesthood. For all that God
vouchsafed through those rulers, was for the sake of the Davidic house
only, which for ever had been destined to be the channel of His regal
blessings. If the kingdom of David had really been at an end, He would
not have given to the people even those rulers, and the deliverance and
prosperity granted to them,--as is clearly seen from a comparison of
the times, after the gre