less, sorrowful solitude, is again received by him, and sees
herself surrounded by numerous children. The time of punishment is now
at an end, and the time of mercy is breaking.

Chap. lii. 13. "_Behold, my Servant shall act wisely, He shall be
exalted and extolled, and be very high._"

[Hebrew: hwkil] always means "to act wisely" (LXX. [Greek: sunesei];
_Aquil. Sym._: [Greek: episthemonisthesetai]), never "to be successful"
(the Chaldean, whom most of the modern interpreters follow, renders it
by [Hebrew: iclH]), and this ascertained sense (comp. Remarks on Jer.
iii. 15; xxiii. 5, where the verb is used of the Messiah, just as it is
here), must here be maintained so much the more, that our passage
evidently refers to David, the former servant of God. Of him it is said
in 1 Sam. xviii. 14, 15: "And David was acting wisely in all his ways,
and the Lord was with him. And Saul saw that he was acting very wisely,
and was afraid of him;" comp. 1 Kings ii. 3, where David says to
Solomon: "And keep the charge of the Lord thy God ... in order [Pg 265]
that thou mayest act wisely in all that thou doest, and whithersoever
thou turnest thyself;" Ps. ci. 2, where David, speaking in the name of
his family, says: "I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way;" and 2
Kings xviii. 7, where it is said of Hezekiah: "And the Lord was with
him, and whithersoever he went forth, he acted wisely." According to
these fundamental and parallel passages, the expression, "He shall act
wisely" refers to the administration of government, and is equivalent
to: He shall rule wisely like his ancestor David. _Stier_ is wrong in
opposing the view, that the Messiah here presents himself as King. He
says: "The King has here stepped behind the Prophet, Witness, Martyr,
Saviour;" but in chap. liii. 12, the royal office surely comes out with
sufficient distinctness. We must never forget that the different
offices of Christ are intimately connected with one another by the
unity of the person. The _prosperity and success_ which the Servant of
God enjoys, are first brought before us and detailed in what follows;
and appear, just as in the fundamental passages quoted, as the
consequence of acting wisely: "My Servant shall, after having, through
the deepest humiliation, attained to dominion, administer it well, and
thereby attain to the highest glory." To the words: "He shall act
wisely" correspond, afterwards, the words: "The pleasure of the Lord
shall prosper b