13:
"And He sitteth and ruleth upon the throne, and He is a Priest upon His
throne."--It has now become current to derive [Hebrew: izh] from
[Hebrew: nzh] in the signification "to leap"--"He shall cause to leap.
This explanation made its appearance at first in a very cautious way."
_Martini_ says: "I myself feel how very far from a right and sure
interpretation that is, which I am now, but very timidly, to advance,
regarding the sense of the received reading [Hebrew: izh]." By and by,
however, expositors hardened themselves against the decisive objections
which stand in the way of it. These objections are the following. 1.
The Hebrew _usus loquendi_ is in [Hebrew: nzh] so sure, that we are not
entitled to take the explanation from the Arabic. The verb is, in
Hebrew, never used except of _fluids_. In _Kal_, it does not mean "to
leap," but "to spatter," Lev. vi. 20 (27): "And upon whose garment is
_spattered_ of the blood;" 2 Kings ix. 33; Is. lxiii. 5. In _Hiphil_,
it is set apart and used exclusively for the holy sprinklings; and the
more frequently it occurs in this signification, the less are we at
liberty to deviate from it. 2. "He shall make to leap" would be far too
indefinite,--a circumstance [Pg 273] which appears from the vague and
arbitrary conjectures of the supporters of this view. _Gesenius_, in
his Commentary, _Stier_, and others, think of a leaping for joy, in
support of which they have quoted the _Kamus_, according to which the
verb is used of wanton asses! According to _Gesenius_ in the
_Thesaurus_, _Hofmann_, and others, the Gentiles are to leap up, in
order to show their _reverence_ for the Servant of God. According to
_Hitzig_ and others, it is to leap for _astonishment_, while, according
to _Umbreit_ and others, it is for _joyful admiration_. One sees that
the mere "He shall make to leap" is in itself too meaningless; and
interpreters are obliged to make the best addition which they can.--3.
According to this explanation, no cause is assigned by which the homage
of the Gentiles is called forth; and that cause can the less be
omitted, that the horror of the Jews is traced back to its cause. The
parenthesis in ver. 14 lacks its antithesis; and that this antithesis
must lie in [Hebrew: izh], is rendered probable even by the
circumstance, that this word signifies, in a formal point of view,
something which the Servant of God does, and not something which the
Gentiles do, while we should, by the antithesis