guring the
lowliness of the Messiah at the outset--a circumstance which is
expressly pointed out by the prophet himself--and partly, because it
was peculiar to the family of David during its obscurity; whilst
Jerusalem, on the contrary, belonged to their regal condition,--and the
Messiah [Pg 513] was to be born in the fallen tabernacle of David, to
be a rod from the cut off stem of Jesse, Is. xi. 1. That this reference
also was in the view of the prophet, seems to be evident from a
comparison of iii. 12, and iv. 8, 9, 14. At all events he considered
the family of David as having altogether sunk at the time of the
Messiah's appearing. The very threatenings in chap. i.-iii. imply the
destruction of the Davidic kingdom. This meets us, very distinctly, in
chap. iv.

* * * * *

Ver. 2. "_Therefore will He give them up until the time that she who is
hearing hath brought forth; and then the remnant of his brethren shall
return unto the sons of Israel._"

The description of what the Messiah is to bestow upon the
Covenant-people begins in this verse, and is carried on through the
whole chapter. By [Hebrew: lkN] the close connection of v. 1 with vi.
9-14 is indicated. _Michaelis_ remarks: "Because this is the counsel of
God, first to afflict Zion, on account of her sins, and, afterwards
only, to restore her through the Messiah to be born at Bethlehem." In
chap. iv. 9-14, it is implied that the giving up will not terminate
_before_ His birth; in v. 1, that it will come to an end _with_ His
birth. The whole time described in iv. 9-14 is a time of affliction,
of giving up Israel to the world's power in a threefold form of its
manifestation. In iv. 14, however, the affliction has reached its
highest point, and the lucid interval, mentioned in vers. 12, 13, has
fully expired. It is only when we look back to v. 1 alone, that the
"therefore" with which our verse opens is not explained, inasmuch as
there it is said only, that with the Messiah deliverance and salvation
would come, but not that the affliction would continue until He should
come.--[Hebrew: ntN] is similarly used in 2 Chron. xxx. 7: "And be not
ye like your fathers, and like your brethren who trespassed against
the Lord God of your fathers; therefore He gave them up to desolation
([Hebrew: vitnM lwmh]), as you see." With respect to the words, "Until
the time that she who is bearing hath brought forth," there is an
essential difference of o