31; Lev. xxvi. 42 (the covenant of Jacob,
the covenant of Isaac, &c.) According to _Knobel_: "the true theocrats
are to become a covenant of the people, the restorers of the
Israelitish Theocracy, they themselves having connection and unity by
faithfully holding fast by Jehovah, and by representing His cause."
This explanation, [Pg 223] also, is opposed to the _usus loquendi_,
according to which "covenant of the people" can have the sense only of
"covenant with the people," not a covenant among the people. And,
_farther_, the parallel passage in chap. xlix. 8 is opposed to this
interpretation also, inasmuch as, in that passage, the Servant of the
Lord is called [Hebrew: brit eM], not on account of what He is in
himself, but on account of the influence which He exercises upon
others, upon the whole of the people: "That thou mayest raise up the
land, distribute desolate heritages, that thou mayest say to the
prisoners: Go forth," &c. In that passage the land, the desolate
heritages, the prisoners, &c., evidently correspond to the people.
_Finally_--A covenant is a relation between two parties standing
opposite one another. "The word is used," says _Gesenius_, "of a
covenant formed between nations, between private persons, _e.g._, David
and Jonathan, between Jehovah and the people of Israel." But here no
parties are mentioned to be united by the covenant.

Ver. 7. "_That thou mayest open blind eyes, bring out them that are
bound from the prison, and from the house of confinement them that sit
in darkness._"

On account of the connection with the "for the Light of the Gentiles,"
which would stand too much isolated, if, in the words immediately
following, Israel alone were again the subject of discourse, the
activity of God here mentioned refers, in the first instance, to the
_Gentiles_; and the words: "them that sit in darkness," moreover,
evidently point back to "for the Light of the Gentiles." But from chap.
xlix. 9, and also from ver. 16 of the chapter before us, where the
blindness of Israel is mentioned, it appears that Israel too must not
be excluded. Hence, we shall say: It is here more particularly
described how the Servant of God _proves_ himself as the Covenant of
the people and the Light of the Gentiles, how He puts an end to the
misery under which both equally groan. It will be better to understand
_blindness_, in connection with imprisonment, sitting in darkness, as a
designation of the need of salvation, th