ant-breaking on the part of the people.

The Song of Solomon, then, is no _apocalypsis_, no revelation of
mysteries till then unknown. There is in it no such disclosure as is,
_e.g._, that in 2 Sam. vii., on the descent of the Messiah from David;
or, as is that in Mic. v. 1 (2), on His being born at Bethlehem; or
even as is that in Is. liii. on His office as a High Priest, and His
vicarious satisfaction. But, nevertheless, we must not imagine the case
to have been thus, that the contents of the Song of Solomon could have
originated merely from reflection on the part of Solomon. The truths
hitherto revealed had too much of the character of mere germs to allow
us to suppose that from them, and in such a way, we could account for
the clearness and certainty with which they have been blended into one
whole. Another element, moreover, must be joined to the historical
ground--viz., an elevated condition of the soul, a "being in the
Spirit,"--a breathing of the divine Spirit upon the human. History
bears witness that such prophetic states, in the wider sense, were not
strange to Solomon. It twice [Pg 161] reports about the Lord's having
appeared to him, 1 Kings iii. 5, ix. 2. From such an elevated state of
soul, his dedicatory prayer, in 1 Kings viii., and Ps. lxxii., also
originated.

We must content ourselves with these hints as regards Solomon's Song.
As it moves throughout on Messianic ground, the Author must consider
his commentary on this book (Berlin, 1853) as an appendix to the
Christology.

[Pg 162]

MESSIANIC PREDICTIONS IN THE PROPHETS.

After the time of Solomon, the Messianic prediction was for a
considerable time discontinued. It was first resumed, and farther
expanded, by the Canonical prophecy which began under Uzziah. There
cannot be any doubt that that which _appears_ as an interval was
_really_ such. There is no ground for the supposition that any
important connecting links have been lost. The Messianic prediction in
the oldest canonical prophets is immediately connected with that which
existed previously at the time of David and Solomon.

It is not a matter of chance that, whilst the blossom of prophetism
appeared as early as Samuel, the canonical prophetism took its rise at
a much later date. Nor is it the result of accident, that we do not
possess any written prophecies, either by Elijah, who, at the
transfiguration of the Lord, appeared as the representative of all the
Ol