real, but an ideal one. In
order to distinguish between condition and consequence,--in order to
put sufferings and glorification in the proper relation, he takes his
stand between the sufferings and the glorification of the Servant of
God, and from that position, that appears to him as being already past
which, in reality, was [Pg 328] still future. It is only an interpreter
so thoroughly prosaic as _Knobel_ who can advance the assertion: "No
prophet occupies, in prophecy, another stand-point than that which in
reality be occupies." In this, _e.g._, _Hitzig_ does not by any means
assent to him; for be (_Hitzig_) remarks on chap. lii. 7: "Proceeding
from the certainty of the salvation, the Prophet sees, in the Spirit,
that already coming to pass which, in chap. xl. 9, he called upon them
to do." And the same expositor farther remarks on Jer. vi. 24-26: "This
is a statement of how people would then speak, and, thereby, a
description of the circumstances of that time." But in our remarks on
chap. xi. and in the introduction to the second part, we have already
proved that the prophets very frequently occupy an ideal stand-point,
and that such is the case here, the Prophet has himself expressly
intimated. In some places, he has passed from the prophetical
stand-point to the historical, and uses the Future even when he speaks
of the sufferings,--a thing which appears to have been done
involuntarily, but which, in reality, is done intentionally. Thus there
occurs [Hebrew: iptH] in ver. 7, [Hebrew: twiM] in ver. 10, and,
according to the explanations of _Gesenius_ and others, also [Hebrew:
ipgie] in ver. 12 while, on the other hand, he sometimes speaks of the
glorification in the Preterite.[1] Compare [Hebrew: lqH] in ver. 8,
[Hebrew: nwa] in ver. 12. This affords a sure proof that we are here
altogether on an ideal territory. The ancient translators too have not
understood the Preterites as a designation of the real Past, and
frequently render them by Futures. Thus the LXX. ver. 14: [Greek:
ekstesontai--adoxesei]; _Aqui._ and _Theod._, ver. 2, [Greek:
anabesetai].--It is farther asserted, that the idea of a suffering and
expiating Messiah is foreign to the Old Testament, and stands in
contradiction even to its prevailing views of the Messiah. But this
objection cannot be of any weight; nor can it prove anything, as long
as, in the Church of Christ, the authority of Christ is still
acknowledged, who Himself declares that His wh