Zerubbabel) has his origin from the
days of old, from ancient times, _i.e._, he has descended from a house,
illustrious from ancient times, and governing for five hundred years."
Thus it is with all the Rationalistic interpreters. Among recent
faithful Christian expositors, _Jahn_ also (_Vatic. Mess._ 2, p. 147)
has been led away to the adoption of this opinion. But that he felt
strongly, at least, one of the difficulties which stood in its way,
viz., that if the reference to the family of David be assumed, it is
the mere age of the family, apart from every preference on the ground
of its dignity, which is mentioned to magnify the Messiah--appears from
the strange exegetical process which he employs for the purpose of
removing it. He supplies at the end, _celebris est_:--"His origin or
His family (thus he erroneously explains [Hebrew: mvcativ]) is
_celebrated_ from ancient times." One may see in this case how much, in
particulars, an individual still remains dependent upon a community,
even although, upon the whole, he may have freed himself from such
dependence. For it is certainly from this dependence alone that the
fact can be accounted for, that this commentator rejected an exposition
which must have been to him the most agreeable, which has everything in
its favour, and nothing against it,--and chose another instead, the
nakedness of which he was obliged to cover as well as he could, while,
in so doing, he was violating his _exegetical convictions_. _Ewald_
also permits himself to introduce into the passage what is necessary
for the sense which he has made up his mind to adopt. In place of the
simple antiquity, he puts: "Descended from the ancient, venerable royal
family of David." The view taken by _Hofmann_ is peculiar: "He comes
from the family of David, just as it had happened long ago, when that
family still belonged to the community of Bethlehem,--from the
community of Bethlehem does He come." _Weiss. u. Erf._ 1, S. 251. In
order to get at this rather superfluous repetition, he has substituted
the manner in which the family of David formerly existed, for "the days
of old, and eternity." The "origins" (this is the sense which he gives
to [Hebrew: mvcativ]) cannot be attributed to that portion only of
David's family which dwelt at Bethlehem; for He was descended from them
indirectly only, through the royal family of David.

[Pg 504]

3. The Jewish assertion, that in the prophecy there is no
allusion to the bi