although
such a reference is in opposition to the express words of these
verses,--which, for a Naturalistic tendency, are rather inconvenient.
The contradiction in these two prophecies _Ewald_ endeavours to
reconcile by the evidently erroneous supposition, that the carrying
away in ver. 10 must be conceived of as only a partial one,--a
supposition which is invalidated by a simple comparison of iii. 12.
According to _Hitzig_, the prophet has, in vers. 11-13, [Pg 474]
overcome the despondency expressed in vers. 9, 10, and has raised
himself to confidence in God. He thus makes the prophet distinctly
contradict himself in one breath,--a supposition which does not even
deserve a refutation. Even if we were entirely to separate this passage
from its connection, how ill does the activity here ascribed to Judah
agree with the oppression by the Assyrians! This activity of Judah
supposes that it has to do with many small nations. Against the great
Asiatic empires, a direct and immediate interposition of the Lord is
_everywhere_ referred to. The salvation, however, which is here
announced to Judah, can be only an imperfect one, and cannot go beyond
what they really received at the time of the Maccabees. This is
sufficiently evident from the circumstance, that it belongs to a time
in which Judah has no king of the Davidic house; for him they have
already lost in ver. 9, and receive again only in v. 1 (2), in Christ;
and it is certain that the Davidic house was the channel through which
all the true and great mercies of the Lord were bestowed upon His
people.

Ver. 12. "_And they know not the thoughts of the Lord, neither
understand they His counsel; for He gathereth them as the sheaf for the
threshing-floor._"

The particle "and" is here used, where we, for the sake of a closer
connection, would employ "but." The thoughts of the Lord are
these,--that the sufferings, after having served their purpose as
regards Zion, shall pass over to the enemies, so that they shall
themselves be destroyed by Zion, while they so confidently thought to
inflict destruction upon Zion. The [Hebrew: ki] introduces the reason
of their not knowing the way of the Lord. If they knew it, they would
not express such desire and hope; _for it is they themselves_ whom the
Lord gives over to destruction.

Ver. 13. "_Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion, for I make thine horn
iron, and thy claws brass; and thou crushest in pieces many people, and
I consecrate