ays of these
kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall not be
destroyed in all eternity ... it shall break in pieces and destroy all
these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever." That [Hebrew: braw hhriM]
does not mean, "at the head of the mountains," _i.e._, standing at the
head, as the first among them (as _Hitzig_ and others think), but "on
the summit of the mountains" (the [Hebrew: b] is used in a similar
manner in Judg. ix. 7, compared with 1 Sam. xxvi, 13), is evident from
the fact that [Hebrew: braw], in connection with [Hebrew: hr], is
constantly used of the summit of the mountains, and, hence, cannot be
used in a figurative sense, in this connection. The sense can therefore
be this only: "Zion, in future, so pre-eminently stands out from among
the other mountains, that these serve, as it were, only for its
foundation." Now, the elevation of the temple-mountain is considered,
by several interpreters, as a _physical_ one. Passages from Jewish
commentaries, in which the expectation is expressed that, in the days
of the Messiah, Jehovah would bring near Mount Carmel and Tabor, and
place Jerusalem on [Pg 444] the summit of them, will be found in
_Galatinus_, _de Arcanis Catholicae Veritatis_, L. v. c. 3. The literal
explanation has, in recent times, been defended by _Hofmann_ and
_Drechsler_. But _Caspari_, by pointing out the exact correspondence
between the words, "The mountain of the house of the Lord shall be
firmly established on the top of the mountains," and the words in ver.
2, "The law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the Lord from
Jerusalem," has proved in a very striking manner that the elevation is
a moral one. "As 1^b corresponds to 2^a, so does 1^a to 2^b; ver. 1^a
is the ground of ver. 1^b; ver. 2^a, by which ver. 1^b is further
expanded, is the consequence of 2^b. Hence 2^b must be substantially
identical with ver. 1^a; but 2^b speaks of something that points to the
moral height of Mount Zion, and states something upon which it is
based." To this it may be added, that height, in a moral sense, is
often ascribed to the temple-mountain, even with reference to the
ante-Messianic time, and that the passage under consideration could be
disjoined from these by force only. It is upon such a view of it,
indeed, that the use of [Hebrew: elh] in reference to the journeys to
Jerusalem rests, just as it is here used in ver. 2. We may, moreover,
compare Ps. xlviii. 3; Ezek. xvii. 22, 33: "A