the circumstance that she comes into view here in a relation which
is altogether one-sided, viz., only as regards the one event of the
birth of the Messiah.--Among the blessings which the Messiah is to
confer upon the Congregation of the Lord, there is first of all viewed
the fundamental blessing, the condition of all others, viz., the change
which He is to effect in the disposition of the Covenant-people. [Pg
516] It is this which, above and before everything else, needs to be
changed, if Israel is not any more to be given up; for Israel which
is so only by name and in appearance, is the legitimate prey of
the world.--By the Brethren of the Messiah, the members of the Old
Covenant-people, His brethren according to the flesh, can alone be
understood. There is no Old Testament analogy for referring the
expression to the Gentiles. We are led to the reference to Israel by
the connection with the first member of the verse. The brethren are
such as have become the Messiah's brethren by the circumstance that He
has been born of the Bethlehemitish woman "who is to bring forth"
(_Caspari_). We are led to it, _further_, by v. 1, according to which,
the Messiah is to be Ruler in Israel; and, _still further_, by the
fundamental passage in Ps. xxii. 23: "I will declare Thy name unto my
brethren," where, according to the address in ver. 24, the brethren are
all the descendants of Israel, among whom a great awakening is to be
produced.--The construction of [Hebrew: wvb] with [Hebrew: el] may be
explained by the remark of _Ewald_: "[Hebrew: el] stands in its primary
local signification with verbs also, when the thing moves to another
thing, and remains upon it." Of a material return the verb [Hebrew:
wvb] with [Hebrew: el] is thus used in Prov. xxvi. 11, Eccles. i.
6;--of a spiritual return, 2 Chron. xxx. 9: [Hebrew: bwvbkM el ihvh]
"when ye return to the Lord," properly, "upon the Lord;" and Mal. iii.
24 (iv. 6): "And he makes return the hearts of the fathers to the sons,
[Hebrew: el bniM],"--which latter passage has a striking resemblance to
the one under review. In the latter signification [Hebrew: wvb] must be
taken here also.--By the "sons of Israel," here, as ordinarily, the
whole of the Covenant-people are signified, and that by its highest
and holiest name. From this holy communion, the wicked--the souls
which, according to the expression of the Lord, are cut off from their
people--are separated and dissevered; compare my comm