as the most
vague and general name of God, while here _El_, a personal name, is
used. _Hendewerk_, _Ewald_, and others, finally, explain "_God's
hero_," _i.e._, "a divine hero, who, like an invincible God, fights and
conquers." But in opposition to this view, it has been remarked by
_Meier_ that then necessarily the words ought to run, [Hebrew: gbvr
al]. It is farther obvious that by this explanation the [Hebrew: gbvr
al] here is, in a manner not to be admitted, disconnected and severed
from those passages where it occurs as an attribute of the Most High
God; comp. besides chap. x. 21; Deut. x. 17; Jer. xxxii. 18.

The third name is _Father of eternity_. That admits of a double
explanation. Several interpreters refer to the Arabic _usus loquendi_,
according to which he is called the father of a thing who possesses it;
_e.g._, Father of mercy, _i.e._, the merciful one. This _usus
loquendi_, according to the supposition formerly very current, occurs
in Hebrew very frequently, especially in proper names, _e.g._, [Hebrew:
Tvb abi]. "Father of goodness," _i.e._, the good one. According to this
view. Father of eternity would be equivalent to Eternal one. According
to the opinion of others. Father of eternity is _he who will ever be a
Father_, _an affectionate provider_, comp. chap. xxii. 21, where
Eliakim [Pg 90] is called "_Father_ to the inhabitants of Jerusalem;"
Job xxix. 16; Ps. lxviii. 6. _Luther_, too, thus explains: "Who at all
times feeds His Kingdom and Church, in whom there is a fatherly love
without end." The _latter_ view is to be preferred unconditionally.
Against the former view is the circumstance that all the other names
stand in direct reference to the salvation of the covenant-people,
while, in the mere eternity, this reference would not distinctly enough
appear. And it has farther been rightly remarked by _Ewald_, that that
_usus loquendi_ in Arabic always belongs to the artificial, often to
jocular discourse. Whether it occur in Hebrew at all is still a matter
of controversy; _Ewald_, Sec. 27, denies that it occurs in proper names
also. On the other hand, the paternal love, the rich kindness and
mercy, exceedingly well suit the first two names which indicate
unfathomable _wisdom_, and divine _heroic strength_. The rationalistic
interpreters labour very hard to _weaken_ the idea of _eternity_. But
the "Provider for life" agrees very ill with the _Wonder-Counsellor_,
and the _God-hero_. The absolute eternit