sery in which
they had hitherto been lying, and to work a wonderful change in their
condition. In vers. 4-9, the Prophet takes the word, and describes the
salvation to be bestowed by the Servant of God. In vers. 10 and 11, the
Church appears, and expresses her joy and gratitude.

According to the Jewish and Rationalistic interpreters, the Prophet
himself is supposed to be speaking in vers. 1-3. That opinion was last
expressed by _Knobel_: "The author places before his promises a
remembrance of his vocation as a preacher of consolation." In favour of
the Messianic interpretation, in which our Lord himself preceded His
Church (Luke iv. 17-19), are conclusive, not only the parallel
passages, but also the contents of the prophecy itself, which go far
beyond the prophetic territory, and the human territory generally. The
speaker designates himself as He who is called, not merely to announce
the highest blessings to the Church, [Pg 352] but actually to grant
them. He does not represent himself as a mere Evangelist, but rather as
a Saviour.

Ver. 1. "_The Spirit of the Lord Jehovah is upon me, because the Lord
hath anointed me to preach glad tidings unto the meek; He hath sent me
to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and
opening to them that are bound._"

On the words: "The Spirit of the Lord Jehovah is upon me," compare
chap. xi. 2, xlii. 1. [Hebrew: ieN] always means "because of" The whole
succeeding clause stands instead of a noun, so that, in substance,
"because of" is equivalent to "because;" but it never can mean
"therefore." Nor would the latter signification afford a good sense.
The verb [Hebrew: mwH] must, in that case, be subjected to arbitrary
explanations. The anointing, whether it occurs as a symbolical action
really carried out, or as a mere figure, is always a designation of the
gifts of the Holy Spirit; compare 1 Sam. x. 1, xvi. 13, 14, and remarks
on Dan. ix. 24. Since, then, the anointing is identical with the
bestowal of the Spirit, the words: "because the Lord hath anointed me"
must not be isolated, but must be understood in close connection with
the subsequent words; so that the sense is: And He hath, for this
reason, endowed me with His Spirit, in order that I may preach good
tidings, &c. The [Hebrew: enviM] are the [Greek: praeis] in Matt. v. 5;
[Hebrew: eni] and [Hebrew: env] are never confounded with one another.
The LXX., whom Luke follows, have [Greek: ptochois]. This