d at the beginning, and, in it, the Prophet gives
to the congregation of God a guarantee for her deliverance. That which
Jacob had said of Judah, who, to him, appeared as the invincible lion
of God, is here applied to Zion, the city where David encamped, the
centre of the kingdom of Judah.

Ezekiel, in his lamentation over the princes of Israel who, [Pg 94] in
his time, were standing just at the brink of the abyss, says in chap.
xix. 2: "Thy mother was a lioness, who lay down among lionesses, and
brought up her whelps among young lions." The mother is the
congregation of Judah. The image of the lion points to the blessing of
Jacob, and its fulfilment in history. "Judah once couched in a
threatening position, endangering his adversaries,[19] in the midst of
lions, _i.e._, among the other powerful kingdoms fond of conquests."
(_Haevernick_.)

In Ezek. xxi. 15, 18 (10-15), the Lord, with an evident allusion to
Gen. xlix. 10, announces the (temporary) destruction of the sceptre of
His son (_i.e._, Israel or Judah), a sceptre which despises all other
sceptres.

In vers. 30-32 (25-27) of the same chapter, Ezekiel foretells, in the
name of the Lord, a complete overturning of all relations, a total
revolution, in which the Davidic kingdom especially is brought down, a
condition of affairs in which rest and safety will not anywhere be
found. This state of things is to continue "until He comes to whom is
the judgment; to Him I will give it."

The reference of this passage to Gen. xlix. cannot be mistaken. It was
recognised, indeed, by the ancient translators; only that most of them
erroneously found in it an explanation instead of an allusion.

Instead of the words, "to whom is the judgment," we should, from the
expression used in Gen. xlix. 10, "Until Shiloh cometh," have expected,
"to whom is peace;" but Ezekiel has filled up Gen. xlix. 10 from Ps.
lxxii. 1-5, where judgment and righteousness appear as the basis of the
peace which the Anointed One shall bring. And _peace_ occupies the
background in Ezekiel also. The advent of Him to whom is the judgment,
in contrast with the injustice and wickedness of those who were
hitherto the bearers of the sceptre, puts an end to strife, confusion,
and destruction. That, in like manner, in Gen. xlix., the _judgment_
occupies the background, we see plainly, from the commentary upon that
passage furnished by Ps. lxxii., as well as from Is. ix. and ii. In Ps.
lxxii., peace comes into co