s and the princes as mere imagery, because, in
the kingdom of Christ also, the cause of the kingdom of God is carried
on by human instruments, whom He furnishes with His own strength.
The words, "This (man) is peace," and "He protects," in ver. 5, show
indeed with sufficient distinctness, that, in the main, Christ is
the only Saviour,--the shepherds, His instruments only,--and their
world-conquering power, a derived one only. The apparent contradiction
of the passage before us to iv. 1-3, vii. 12--according to which the
heathen nations shall, in the time of the Messiah, spontaneously press
towards the kingdom of God--is removed by the remark, that we have here
before us two different streams which may as well flow together in
prophecy as they do in history. The zeal with which the nations press
towards the kingdom is, in part, greatly called forth by the fact,
that, in attacking the kingdom of Christ, they have experienced its
world-conquering power. The circumstance that the words, "This (man)
is peace," stand at the beginning, proves that the main idea is the
security of the kingdom of God against all hostile attacks. For the
like reason it is, towards the end, resumed in the words, "And He
protects," etc. But this affords no reason for saying, with _Caspari_:
"It forms part of the defence, it is indeed its consummation, that the
war is carried into Asshur." In the first hemistich of ver. 5, it is
intimated rather, that, in the time of the Messiah, the positions of
the world and of the people of God are changed,--that the latter
becomes world-conquering; and for this reason, every thought of their
own insecurity must so much the rather disappear. "The land of Nimrod"
is, according to Gen. x. 11, Asshur. The "gates" are those of the
cities and fortresses, corresponding with, "When he treads in our
palaces," in ver. 4. It weakens the sense to think of the gates of the
country, as such, _i.e._, the borders. The attack, on the contrary, is
directed against, and strikes the real centre of the seat of the
world's power, just as, formerly, the stroke was always directed
against Zion.

With regard to the remaining part of the chapter, we content ourselves
with a mere statement of the contents. The Congregation of the Lord
shall, at that time, not only be lovely and refreshing, ver. 6 (7),
(this is the constant signification of the [Pg 521] image of the dew,
compare Ps. cx. 3, cxxxiii. 3, lxxii. 6; the relative pronoun [Hebrew