moved within the limits of judicial proceedings,--just as it
happened in the history of Christ. But behind the human judgment, the
_divine_ is concealed, Jer. i. 16; Ezek. v. 8; Ps. cxliii. 2. This is
shown by what precedes, where the suffering of the Servant of God is so
emphatically and repeatedly designated as the punishment of sin
inflicted upon [Pg 290] Him by God.--[Hebrew: lqH] with [Hebrew: mN]
"to be taken away from;" according to _Stier_: "taken away from
suffering, being delivered from it by God's having taken Him to
himself, to the land of eternal bliss." This view, according to which
the words refer to the glorification of the Servant of God, has been
adopted by the Church. It is adopted by the Vulgate: "_De angustia
et judicio sublatus est_;" by _Jerome_, who says on this passage:
"From tribulation and judgment He ascended, as a conqueror, to the
Father;" and by _Michaelis_ who thus interprets it: "He was taken
away, and received at the right hand of the Majesty." By several
interpretations, the words are still referred to the state of
humiliation of the Servant of God: "_Through_ oppression and judgment
He was _dragged to execution_." But the Prophet has already, in ver. 3,
finished the description of the mere sufferings of the Servant of
God--vers. 4-7 exhibit the cause of His sufferings and His conduct
under them; [Hebrew: lqH] cannot, by itself, signify "to be dragged to
execution"--in that case, as in Prov. xxiv. 11, "to death" would have
been added; [Hebrew: mN] must be taken in the signification, "from,"
"out of," as in the subsequent [Hebrew: marC], compare 2 Kings iii. 9,
where [Hebrew: lqH] with [Hebrew: mN] signifies "to take from." In the
passage under consideration, as well as in those two passages which
refer to the ascension of Elijah, there is a distinct allusion to Gen.
v. 24, where it is said of Enoch: "And he was no more, for God had
_taken_ him."--_And His generation who can think it out?_ [Hebrew:
dvr], properly "circle," is not only the communion of those who are
connected by co-existence, but also of those who are connected by
disposition, be it good or bad.[6] Thus, the generation of the children
of God in Ps. lxxiii. 15; the generation of the righteous, Ps. xiv. 5;
the generation of the upright, in Ps. cxii. 2. Here, the generation of
the Servant of God is the communion of those who are animated by His
Spirit, filled with His life. This company will, after His death,
increase to an