psalms, and remind us of the fact, that the prophecy before us moves on
the same ground as these psalms. On "incline your ear, and come unto
me, hear," comp. Ps. xlv. 11: "Hear, O daughter, and see, and _incline
thine ear_ (from the fundamental passage, the Singular is here
retained), and forget thy people and thy father's house." On "your soul
shall live," comp. Ps. xxii. 27: "The meek shall eat and be satisfied,
they shall praise the Lord that seek Him, _your heart shall live for
ever_." Analogous are the references to Ps. lxxii. in chap. xi. The
soul _dies_ in care and grief In the words: "I will grant to you," &c.,
there follow the glad tidings which are to heal the dying hearts.
[Hebrew: krt brit] is used of God, even where no reciprocal agreement
takes place, but where He simply confers grace; because every grace
which He bestows imposes, at the same time, an obligation, and may
hence be considered as a covenant. The onesidedness is, in such a case,
indicated by the construction with [Hebrew: l], comp. chap. lxi. 8:
"And I give them their reward in truth, and I make (grant) to them an
everlasting covenant," Jer. xxxii. 40; Ezek. xxxiv. 25; Ps. lxxxix. 4.
Since _to make a covenant_ is here identical with _granting mercy_,
[Hebrew: akrth] may also be connected with the subsequent "the constant
mercies of David," and there is no necessity for supposing a Zeugma.
The everlasting covenant here, is the new covenant in Jer. xxxi. 31-34;
for the words "I _will_ make" show that, here too, a new covenant is
spoken of. The substance of the covenant to be made is expressed in the
words: [Pg 347] "The constant mercies of David," &c. By "David," many
interpreters here understand the descendant of David, the Messiah, who,
in other passages also, _e.g._, Jer. xxx. 9, bears the name of His
type. Even _Abenezra_ refers to the fact that, in ver. 4, the Messiah
is necessarily required as the subject. The _constant_ mercies of David
are, according to this view--in parallelism with the "everlasting
covenant"--the mercies constantly continuing, in contrast to the merely
transitory mercies, such as had been those of the first David.
According to the opinion of other interpreters, David designates here,
as in Hos. iii. 5, the family of David who, in Ps. xviii., and in a
series of other psalms, speaks in the name of his whole family. As
regards the sense, this explanation arrives at the same result. For,
according to it, the Messiah is He i