tation was opposed to the disposition [Pg 331] of the people.
How deeply rooted was this interpretation, appears even from the
declaration of John the Baptist, John i. 29: [Greek: ide ho amnos tou
Theou ho airon ten hamartian tou kosmou]. There cannot be any doubt
that, in this declaration, he points to the prophecy under
consideration, inasmuch as this passage is the first in Holy Scripture
in which the sin-bearing lamb is spoken of in a spiritual sense.
_Bengel_, following the example of _Erasmus_, remarks, in reference to
the article before [Greek: amnos]: "The article looks back to the
prophecy which was given concerning Him under this figure, in Is. liii.
7." As regards [Greek: Theou], compare ver. 10: "It pleased the Lord
painfully to crush Him," and ver. 2: "Before Him;" as regards [Greek:
ho airon], &c. comp. ver. 4, rendered by the LXX.: [Greek: houtos tas
hamartias hemon pherei]; comp. ver. 11.

An external argument of still greater weight is the testimony of the
New Testament. Above all, it is the declarations of our Lord himself
which here come into consideration. In Luke xxii. 37, He says that the
prophecies concerning Him were drawing near their perfect fulfilment
([Greek: ta peri emou telos echei]), comp. Matt. xxvi. 51, and that
therefore the declaration: "And He was reckoned among the
transgressors" must be fulfilled in Him. In Mark ix. 12, the Lord asks:
[Greek: pos gegraptai epi ton huion tou anthropou, hina polla pathe kai
exoudenothe], with a reference to "from man," and "from the sons of
man" in lii. 14,--to "He had no form nor comeliness" in ver. 2,--to
"despised," [Hebrew: nbzh], which, by _Symmachus_ and _Theodotian_ is
rendered by [Greek: exoudenomenos], in ver. 3. In the Gospel of John,
the Lord emphatically and repeatedly points out, that the words: "When
His soul hath given restitution," are written concerning Him; compare
remarks on ver. 10. After these distinct quotations and references, we
shall be obliged to think chiefly of our passage, in Luke xxiv. 25-27,
44-46 also. The opponents themselves grant that, if in any passage of
the Old Testament the doctrine of a suffering and atoning Messiah is
contained, it is in the passage under review. The circumstance also,
that the disciples of the Lord refer, on every occasion, and with such
confidence, the passage to the Lord, likewise proves that Christ
especially interpreted it of His sufferings and exaltation. Of Matt.
viii. 17, and Mark xv. 2