e he describes the hitherto
opposite conduct of the Israelites; compare the remarks on iii. 4. From
these it appears that the election of the king by God, who had promised
eternal dominion to the house of David, and his election by the people,
do not in the least exclude one another. On the contrary, it is
_because_ God had elected the king, that now the people also elect him.
_Calvin_ remarks: "There appears to be transferred to men what properly
belongs to God alone--viz., the appointment of a king; but the prophet
expresses, by this word, the obedience of faith; for it is not enough
that Christ be given, and placed before men as a King, but they must
also acknowledge and reverently receive Him as a King. From this we
infer, that when we believe the Gospel, we choose, as it were by our
own vote, Christ as our King." That the prophet understands the
"setting of a head" in this sense, appears also from the circumstance
that the whole verse is based upon the reference to the Exodus from
Egypt, which is now to be repeated. To this the words, "They assemble
themselves together," likewise refer; for the departure from Egypt was
preceded by the assembling together of the [Pg 225] whole people. The
mention of a "head" refers back to Moses. In his case, as well as that
of David subsequently, the election by the people was only the
acknowledgment of his having been divinely called.--Another question
is, How are the words, "They go up out of the land," to be understood?
There can be no doubt that by "land," the land of captivity is
designated. For the words are borrowed from Exod. i. 10, where Pharaoh
says, "When there falleth out any war, they will join our enemies, and
fight against us, and go up out of the land," [Hebrew: velh mN harC].
The prophet, moreover, is his own interpreter in ii. 17, where he
expressly compares this new going up to the promised land with the
former going up from Egypt: "_As in the day when she went up out of the
land of Egypt_;" just as, in other passages, he describes their being
carried away, under the figure of their being carried away to
Egypt--Assyria being considered as another Egypt. Compare viii. 13:
"Now will He remember their iniquity and visit their sins; they shall
return to Egypt;" ix. 3: "They shall not dwell in the Lord's land, and
Ephraim returns to Egypt." (Compare, on this passage, the Author's
_Dissertations on the Genuineness of the Pentateuch_, vol. i. p. 121
ff.) Moreover, in the