a return to the
country, while [Hebrew: wvb] with [Hebrew: el] can, according to the
_usus loquendi_, be understood only in the sense of "to return to,"
etc., etc.

CHAP. VI. VII.

We shall now, in conclusion, give a survey of the third and closing
discourse of the prophet. After an introduction in vi. 1, 2, where the
mountains serve only to give greater solemnity to the scene (in the
fundamental passages Deut. xxxii. 1, and in Is. 1, 2, "heaven and
earth" are mentioned for the same purposes, inasmuch as they are the
most venerable parts of creation; "contend _with_ the mountains" by
taking them in and applying to [Pg 522] them as hearers), the prophet
reminds the people of the benefits which they have repaid with
ingratitude, vers. 3-5. (In ver. 5 those facts also which served as a
proof of its truth, are considered as part of Balaam's answer.) He
then, in vers. 6-8, shows the fallacy of the imagination that they
could satisfy the Lord by the observance of the mere outward forms of
worship, though such should be increased to the utmost, and performed
in a manner totally different from that in which it was in the present,
and points out the spiritual demands already made even by the law, and
especially by Deut. x. 12, a compliance with which could alone be
pleasing to the Lord. From vi. 9-vii. 6, he shows to how limited an
extent these demands are complied with by the people,--how true and
cordial piety and justice have disappeared from the midst of them,--and
how, therefore, the threatenings of the law must, and shall be
fulfilled upon them. The reproof and threatening are then followed by
the announcement of salvation, which refers indeed to the Messianic
times, but without any mention in it of the person of the Messiah, the
brightness of which meets us only in the main body of the prophecy. The
main thought here also is the entirely altered position of Israel in
their relation to the heathen world. "A day is coming"--so it is said
in ver. 11--"to build thy walls; in that day shall the law be far
removed." [Hebrew: gdr] is used especially of the walls and fences of
vineyards; and under the image of a vineyard, Israel appears as early
as in the Song of Solomon. The wall around the vineyard of Israel is
the protection against the heathen world; Is. v. 5. The "law" is,
according to the context, in which the heathen oppressors are spoken
of, that which is imposed by them upon the people