he fear of God, looking
sharply and deeply, and not blinded by any appearance, just and an
helper of the oppressed, an almighty avenger of wickedness, ver. 1-5.
By him all the consequences of the fall, even down to the irrational
creation, in the world of men and of nature, shall be removed, ver.
6-9. Around Him the Gentiles, formerly addicted to idols, shall gather,
ver. 10. In ver. 11-16 the Prophet describes what he is to do for
Israel, to whom the discourse was in the first instance addressed, and
upon whom it was to impress the word: "Fear not." Under Him they obtain
deliverance [Pg 97] from the condition of being scattered and exiled
from the face of the Lord, the removal of pernicious dissensions,
conquering power in relation to the world which assails them, and the
removal of all obstacles to salvation by the powerful arm of the Lord.

The reference of the prophecy to the Messiah is, among all the
explanations, the most ancient. We find it in the Targum of Jonathan,
who thus renders the first verse: [Hebrew: vipq mlka mbnvhi diwi vmwiHa
mbni bnvhi itrbi]. St. Paul quotes this prophecy in Rom. xv. 12, and
proves from it the calling of the Gentiles. In 2 Thes. ii. 8 he quotes
the words of ver. 4, and assigns to Christ what is said in it. In Rev.
v. 5, xxii. 16, Christ, with reference to ver. 1 and 10, is called the
root of David. The Messianic explanation was defended by most of the
older Jewish interpreters, especially by _Jarchi_, _Abarbanel_, and
_Kimchi_.[1] It is professed even by most of the rationalistic
interpreters, by the modern ones especially, without any exception
(_Eichhorn_, _De Wette_, _Gesenius_, _Hitzig_, _Maurer_, _Ewald_),
although, it is true, they distinguish between Jesus Christ and the
Messiah of the Old Testament,--as, _e.g._, _Gesenius_ has said:
"Features such as those in ver. 4 and 5 exclude any other than the
political Messiah, and King of the Israelitish state," and _Hitzig_: "A
political Messiah whose attributes, especially those assigned to him
ver. 3 and 4, are not applicable to Jesus."

But the non-Messianic interpretation, too, has found its defenders.
According to a statement of Theodoret, the passage was referred by the
Jews to Zerubbabel.[2] Interpreters more numerous and distinguished
have referred it to Hezekiah. This interpretation is mentioned as early
as by _Ephraem Syrus_; among the Rabbis it was held by _Moses
Hakkohen_, and _Abenezra_; among Christian interpreters, _G