ere distinctly mentions the daughter of Jerusalem,
because the kingdom of Israel had obscured the glory of the true
kingdom. The prophet hence testifies, that God was not unmindful of His
promise, and would so arrange it that Jerusalem should recover its lost
dignity, and the whole people be gathered unto one body." But this
explanation must be rejected on philological grounds. [Hebrew: mmlkt]
is _status constr._; the [Hebrew: l] serves, therefore, only as a
circumlocution of the genitive; and it is not admissible to supply the
Verb Substant. To this, moreover, there must be added the reference [Pg
464] to what precedes. The dominion over the daughter of Jerusalem is
to come to the tower which commands the daughter of Zion, not, by any
means, to the daughter of Zion herself. The prophet makes Jerusalem to
represent the kingdom of God; and, in so doing, he probably has regard
to the relation of Zion and of the king's castle to the town, by which
was symbolized the relation which the Davidic dynasty occupied to the
kingdom of God.

* * * * *

CHAP. IV. 9-14.

At the close of the last chapter, the prophet had announced severe
judgments. In the verses immediately preceding, he had given glorious
promises. In that which follows, he now combines these two elements;
and it is only in chap. v. that the promise again appears, purely, and
by itself. The judgments are thus introduced into the middle of the
proclamation of salvation, in order that the faithful might thus be
preserved from forming any vain hopes, which, if not confirmed by the
result, are apt to be exchanged for much deeper despondency. But this
same circumstance contained within it an indirect consolation; for it
is certain that He who causes future events to be foretold, overrules
them also; and "He who sends them, can also turn them." For the
greatest cause of our despondency under the cross is certainly the
doubt which we entertain as to whether it really comes from God. The
prophet, however, affords _direct_ consolation also. Whensoever he
speaks of any calamity, he immediately subjoins the announcement of
divine deliverance. The intimation of the sufferings, in this section,
differs essentially from the former ones. It is not, like these, in a
threatening, but in an affectionate character; indeed, in vers. 11-13,
the consolation preponderates even outwardly. From this, it is
sufficiently evident, t