ones.

Ver. 2. "_And upon the servants also, and upon the handmaids, I will
pour out My Spirit in those days._"

_Credner_ refers this to the Hebrew prisoners of war, living as
servants and handmaids among heathen nations, far away from the Holy
Land. But if the prophet had this in view, he must necessarily have
expressed himself with greater distinctness. Moreover, the relation to
the preceding verse requires that, as the difference of sex and age was
there done away with, so no allowance should here be made for the
difference of rank. The [Hebrew: gM] shows that the extension of the
gifts of the Spirit even to servants and handmaids, who, to the carnal
eye, appeared to be unworthy of such distinction, is to be considered
as something unexpected and extraordinary. That there is very little
correctness in the assertion of _Credner_, that "there could have been
scarcely any doubt as regards the participation of the Hebrew [Pg 338]
slaves," is sufficiently shown by the fact, that Jewish interpreters
have attempted, in various ways, to lessen the blessing here promised
to the servants and handmaids. Even the translation of the LXX. by,
[Greek: epi tous doulous mou kai epi tas doulas mou], may be considered
as such an attempt. In the place of the servants of men, who appeared
to them unworthy of such honour, they put the servants of God.
_Abarbanel_ asserts that the Spirit of God here means something
inferior to the gift of prophecy, which is bestowed only upon the free
people. Instead of regarding the Spirit of God as the root and fountain
of the particular gifts mentioned in the preceding verse, he sees in
Him only an isolated gift,--that of an indefinite knowledge of God. But
such a view is opposed even by the relation of the words, "I will pour
out My Spirit," in ver. 2, to the same words in ver. 1; and also by Is.
xi. 2, where "Spirit of God" is likewise used in a general sense, and
comprehends within itself all that follows. It is not without design
that the fact is so prominently brought out in the New Testament, that
the Gospel is preached to the poor, and that God chooses that which is
mean and despised in the eye of the world. The natural man is always
inclined to suppose that that which is esteemed by the world must be so
by God also. This is sufficiently evident from the deep contempt of the
Pharisees for the [Greek: ochloi]; compare, _e.g._, John vii. 49.

Ver. 3. "_And I give wonders in the heavens, and on