that I will give you the rain of your
land in due season, the first rain and the latter rain ([Hebrew: ivrh
vmlqvw]), and thou shalt gather in thy corn, and thy must, and thine
oil." Here, as well as there, the righteousness of the people is the
_antecedens_; the divine mercies and blessings are the _consequens_.
Since the former does not exist, God begins the course of His mercies
by sending Him who calls it forth. This remark removes, at the same
time, the objection, that the mention of the Teacher of righteousness
is unsuitable in a connection where the prophet speaks of temporal
blessings only, and rises to spiritual blessings only afterwards, in
chap. iii. There existed for the Covenant-people no benefits which were
purely temporal; these were always, at the same time, signs and pledges
of the divine favour, which depended upon the righteousness of the
people, and this, in turn, upon the divine mission of a Teacher of
righteousness.

5. The [Hebrew: brawvN] is also in favour of our explanation. It stands
in close relation to [Hebrew: aHri-kN] in chap. iii. 1, ii. 28. The
sending of the Teacher of righteousness has two consequences;--_first_,
the pouring out of the temporal rain--an individualizing designation of
every kind of outward blessings, and chosen with a reference to the
passage of the Pentateuch which we have just [Pg 329] cited, but with
special reference to the description of the calamity, under the figure
of a devastation by locusts;--and, _secondly_, the outpouring of the
spiritual rain--the sending of the Holy Ghost. It needs only the
pointing out of this reference, which has been overlooked by
interpreters,[2] to set aside the manifold and different explanations
of [Hebrew: brawvN] which are, all of them, unphilological, or give an
unsuitable sense.[3]

But if any doubt should still remain, it would be removed by a parallel
passage in Isaiah, which depends upon the text under review, in a
manner not to be mistaken, and which, therefore, must be regarded as
the oldest commentary upon it. Isaiah is describing the condition of
the people subsequent to their having obtained mercy, after a long time
of deep misery, in chap. xxx 20: "And the Lord gives you the bread of
adversity, and the water of affliction; and then thy _teacher_
([Hebrew: mvriK] is _singular_) shall no longer hide himself, and thine
eyes shall see thy teacher; Ver. 21: And thine ears hear a word behind
thee, This is the way, walk ye i