their gain unto the Lord, and their strength to the Ruler
of the whole earth._"

The figure is based upon the Eastern mode of threshing; compare
_Paulsen vom Ackerbau der Morgenl._ Sec. 40-42; _Niebuhr_, _Reise_ i. S.
151; and likewise Is. xxi. 10, xli. 15; Hab. iii. 12. Strictly
speaking, one characteristic only of the threshing oxen is here
considered, viz., the crushing power of their hoofs. The prophet,
however, extends the comparison to that also in which [Pg 475] the
bullock is formidable, even when it is not engaged in the work of
threshing, viz., to its horns. On this point 1 Kings xxii. 11 may be
compared, where the pseudo-prophet Zedekiah makes to himself iron
horns, and thus states the import of this symbolical action: "Thus
saith the Lord, With these shalt thou push Aram until it is destroyed."
The first person in [Hebrew: hHrmti] has perplexed several ancient
translators (_Syr._, _Jerome_), as well as many modern interpreters,
who, therefore, substitute the second person for it. But it is quite
appropriate. As at the beginning, where the Lord gathers the sheaf on
the threshing-floor, so at the close also, the prophet declares that
the victory is the work of God. It is He Himself, the true God, the
Lord of the whole earth, who reminds His rebellious subjects of their
true relation to Him, by vindicating to Himself a part of the good
things which He bestowed upon them; just as He once did in Egypt. This
thought contains the reason why, instead of the pronoun of the first
person, the noun is employed; so that it is equivalent to: To Me the
only God, the Lord of the whole earth. But it is altogether distorted,
if the first person here be changed into the second. With respect to
the import of the word, we must by no means think only of the gifts
of consecration which were brought to the temple. Such a view would
be necessary, only if the goods of the Covenant-people, or the
Covenant-people themselves, were introduced as that which is to be
consecrated. In that case we could understand, by that which is
consecrated, that only which is the exclusive property of the Lord,
which has been dedicated to Him exclusively, and for ever withdrawn
from the use of His subjects, and which, as far as they are concerned,
is as good as annihilated; compare Lev. xxvii. 28: "Everything
consecrated, which any one consecrates to the Lord, of man and of
beast, and of the field of his possession, shall not be sold nor
redeemed; ever