in it an exclusive reference
to Christ,--a view which has been held by most interpreters in the
Christian Church, and from the earliest times. It is found as early as
in _Justin Martyr_, _Tertullian_, _Athanasius_, _Eusebius_ (_Demonstr._
iii. 2, ix. 11), _Lactantius_ (iv. 17), _Augustine_ (_c. Faustum_, xvi.
c. 15, 18, 19), and _Isidore_ of _Pelusium_ (c. iii. ep. 49). It was
held by _Luther_ (t. 3. _Jen. Lat._ f. 123), became the prevailing one
in the Lutheran Church, and was [Pg 105] approved of by most of the
Reformed interpreters. Among its earliest defenders, the most eminent
are _Deyling_ (_Misc._ ii. 175), _Frischmuth_ (in the _Thesaurus
theol.-philol._ i. 354), and _Hasaeus_ (in the _Thes. theol.-philol._
nov. i. S. 439.) In recent times it has been defended by _Pareau_ (in
the _Inst. interpr. V. T._ p. 506), by _Knapp_ (_Dogm._ ii. 138). 3.
Others have steered a middle course, inasmuch as they consider the
"prophet" to be a collective noun, but, at the same time, maintain that
only by the mission of Christ, in whom the idea of the prophetic order
was perfectly realized, the promise was completely fulfilled. Thus did
_Nicolaus de Lyra_, _Calvin_, several Roman Catholic interpreters,
_Grotius_, _Clericus_, and others.

In favour of the Messianic interpretation, the authority of tradition
has been, first of all, appealed to. It is true that modern Jewish
interpreters differ from it; but this has been the result of polemical
considerations alone. It can be satisfactorily proved that the
Messianic interpretation was the prevailing one among the older Jews. 1
Mac. xiv. 41--"Also that the Jews and priests resolved that Simon
should be commander and high priest for ever, until a _credible
prophet_ should arise,"--has been frequently appealed to in proof of
this, but erroneously. For, that by the "credible prophet," _i.e._, one
sufficiently attested by miracles or fulfilled prophecies, we are not
to understand the prophet promised by Moses (as was done by Luther, and
many older expositors who followed him), is shown, partly by the
absence of the article, and partly by the circumstance that a
_credible_ prophet is spoken of. The sense is rather this: Simon and
his family should continue to hold the highest dignity until God
Himself should make another arrangement by a future prophet, as there
was none at that time (comp. Ps. lxxiv. 9: "There is no more any
prophet"), and thus put an end to a state of things which, on th