in harmony with the state of things in Isaiah's time, and the actual result. This may be seen by comparing these descriptions in Isa. lx. lxv. lxvi., with the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, with Zech. i. 12, sqq., and Hag. i. 3, sqq.

Besides, the whole of this second part is the work of one author, as the style, which is the same throughout, and the unity of substance and spirit, prove in a manner not to be mistaken." Although there is not a strict and rigorous unity preserved, and the author falls into repetitions, yet all his predictions refer to one and the same

a

16.

Compare the animating addresses to Israel: xl. 1, 2, 9, xli. 8—10, 13, 14, xliii. 1, 5, xliv. 1, 2, 21-23, xlix. 13—16, li. 1—3, 12, 17, lii. 1, 2, 7—10, liv. 1, 4, 11, lx. 1, lxvi. 10, 13. The grounds of consolation: xl. 2, xliii. 25, xliv. 22, liv. 6—8, l. 1, xlix. 14—16, li. 17—23, lvii. 16—18, lx. 10. The announcement of redemption and restoration: xl. 4, xlii. 16, xliii. 19, lvii. 14, xli. 17-20, xliii. 20, xliv. 3, sq., xlviii. 21, xlix. 9-11, lv. 1, sq., 13, xlviii. 20, lii. 11, lxii. 10. Promise of revenge and reward: 1. 10, lix. 18, lx. 4, 9, lxii. 11, lxvi. 15, The restoration of the people: xliii. 5, sq., xlix. 12, 22, sq., lxvi. 19, sq. The reëstablishment of the holy city and state: xlix. 17-23, liv. 1—3, 11—13, lx. lxi. 5-9, lxv. 17—25, lxvi. 6-14. Dominion over the heathen: xlv. 14, xlix. 22, sq., lx. 4-7, 9, sq., lxi. 5, lxvi. 20. Defence of the power and truth of God: xl. 6—11, xliv. 24—28, xlv. 5-7, 12, 18-25, xlvi. 8-13, xlviii. 3—8, 12—16, 1. 2, sq., li. 12—16, lii. 9, sq., lv. 10, sq., lix. 16—18, lxiii. 3-6. In opposition to the impotence and nothingness of idols: xl. 12-31, xli. 1–7, 21—29, xlii. 17-21, xliii. 8— 13, xliv. 6-20, xlv. 15-25, xlvi. 5-7, xlvii. 12–15, xlviii. 5-8, 14, lvii. 3 -13. The threats: xlii. 22-25, xliii. 22-28, xlviii. 1, 4, 8, liii. 4—6, Ivi. 10—lix. 15, lxiii. 17—lxiv. 12, lxv. lxvi. 1—5, 15-17, 24. The prophet's apologetic mention of himself: xl. 6, xlii. 1–7, xliv. 26, xlviii. 16, xlix. 1 —9, 1. 4—10, li. 16, lii. 13—liii. 12, lix. 21, lxi. 1–3. Upon Isa. liii., comp. Rosenmüller, Leiden u. Hoffn. d. Propheten in Gabler's Neuest. theol. Journ. vol. ii. pt. iv. De Wette, Comment. de Morte Jes. Chr. p. 26, sqq., (Opusc. p. 38, sqq.) Gesenius, Comm. On the other side, Rosenmüller, Schol. Hengstenberg, Christol. vol. ii. p. 364, sqq. Stähelin, 1. c. p. 553. There is a similarity of thought in xl. 12, sqq., xliv. 24, xlv. 5-12, 18, 22, xlviii. 12, sq., li. 6, lv. 8, £q., lvii. 15, lxvi. 1, sq.; xlii. 4, xlv. 23, li. 4, sqq., lvi. 3, sqq., lxvi. 20, sqq.; xli. 8, xliii. 1, 4, 21, xliv. 1, sq., 21, 24, xlv. 4, lxiii. 8, 16, lxiv. 8, sq., lxv. 9. See other peculiarities of style above, with similar applications and images: xli. 28, lix. 16, lxiv. 5; xliii. 3, xlv. 13, lii. 3. Against this view, see Augusti, § 206. Bertholdt, p. 1375.

historical stand-point; namely, the time of the appearance of Cyrus." In lvi. 9, the author takes a different tone that of reproof. In the sins of the people he finds the obstacle that has prevented the fulfilment of his inspired promises. This is the cause of the earnest prayers, and the deep and intense anxiety, shown in lxii. 1; "For Zion's sake I will not keep silence, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest;" and verse 6, "Upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, have I set watchmen: all the day and all the night shall they not keep silence. O ye that praise Jehovah, keep not silence, and give him no rest, until he establish Jerusalem." So in lxxii. 15, sqq., lxiv. 1, sqq., he says, "O that thou would rend the heaven and come down, that the mountains might tremble at thy presence." Hence comes also the threat of punishment against the ungodly, mentioned above.'

§ 209.

SPURIOUS PASSAGES CONTAINED IN THE FIRST PART.

The passage (xiii. 1-xiv. 23) which treats of the destruction of Babel and the Babylonian empire by the Medes, and of the return of the exiles, must be pronounced spurious, and for the same reason as the last part of the book, which is probably the work of the same author, because the writer takes his stand-point

a

According to Zech. viii. 7, 8, our author, whom Jeremiah has worked over, (Jer. xxxi.,) prophesied in the time of rebuilding the temple. § 217, b.

See Stähelin, 1. c. 535, sqq. Bertholdt's unfounded date, p. 1390. See Hitzig, p. 458, sqq. Gesenius, p. 33, sqq. Rückert and Hitzig divide it into three books, each of nine chapters: 1. Chap. xl.-xlviii. 2. Chap. xlix.—lvii. 3. Chap. lviii.-lxvi. But this is erroneous; for, by this division, the point at which the tone of reproof begins (lvi. 9) is made obscure, and the form of conclusion in xlviii and lvii. affords us no true mark of division.

in the exile. Thus he says, "So shall Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the pride and boast of the Chaldeans, be like Sodom and Gomorrah, which God overthrew." (xiii. 19.) "Then shalt thou utter this song over the king of Babylon, and say, 'How hath the tyrant fallen, the tribute ceased!'" (xiv. 4.) "I will arise against them, . . . . . . I will cut off from Babylon the name and the remnant." (verse 22.) "For Jehovah will have compassion upon Jacob, ...... the nations shall take them, and bring them to their own place; and the house of Jacob shall possess them in the land of Jehovah, as servants and as handmaids; they shall take captive their captors, and they shall rule over their oppressors." (xiv. 1-4.)

This spurious passage appears to be the work of the author of the last part of the book, from a comparison of the verses last quoted with the following sentences: "The wealth of Egypt and the merchandise of the Ethiopians and Sabeans, men of stature, shall come over to thee." (xliv. 5.) "I will lift up my hand to the nations, and they shall bring thy sons in their arms." (xlv. 14.) "The nation which thou knowest not thou shalt call.” (xlix. 22, sqq., and lv. 5, and also lx. 4—7, 9, 10, lxi. 5, lxvi. 20.)

The inscription, (xiii. 1,) "a prophecy concerning Babylon, which was revealed to Isaiah, the son of Amoz," is incorrect, either through design or mistake; and several of the inscriptions in Isaiah seem to be the work of a foreign hand.

We must consider chap. xxxiv. xxxv. as spurious, which treat of the devastation of Edom, and the return of the exiles. We are enabled to fix the date of these by the following considerations: By the parallel passages

in Obadiah, Jeremiah, (xlix. 7, sqq.,) Ezekiel, (xxv. 12, sqq.,) and Isaiah, (lxiii. 1—6.)

By the affinity between this and previous passages of the book; for example, in xxxiv. 4, we read, "All the host of heaven shall waste away, and the heaven shall be rolled up like a scroll;" and in xiii. 10, "The stars of heaven, and the constellations thereof, shall not give their light; the sun shall be darkened at his going forth." In verse 11, sqq., we read, "From generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pass through it forever and ever; the pelican and the hedgehog shall possess it, and the heron and the raven shall dwell in it ;" and in xiii. 20, sqq., "It shall not be inhabited forever, nor shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation; .. there shall the wild beasts of the

desert lodge," &c.

By its affinity with the second part of Isaiah; thus, in xxxiv. 1, 2, we find, "The wilderness and the parched land shall be glad, and the desert rejoice, and blossom as the rose;" and in lv. 12, "For ye shall go out with joy; ...... the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall grow up the cypress-tree." (xl. 5, lx. 1, lxii. 11.) In verses 3, 4, we read, "Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the tottering knees; say to the fainthearted, Be strong; • fear ye not; behold your God;"" and in xl. 1, sq., "Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God; speak ye encouragement to Jerusalem, and declare to her that her hard service is ended;" in verse 9, "Say to the cities of Judah, Behold your God; "" in verses 5, 6, "Then shall the eyes of the blind be unstopped," &c.; and in xl. 16, "Then will I lead

.....

the blind in an unknown way; . . . . . . I will make darkness light before them." We read, in verse 8, "And a path shall be there, and a highway, and it shall be called the holy way;" and in xl. 3, 4, "Prepare ye in the wilderness the way of Jehovah;" in verse 10, "Yea, the ransomed of Jehovah shall return; they shall come to Zion with songs; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away;" and in li. 11, the selfsame words occur.

The passage, xxi. 1-10, where, the conquest of Babylon by the Medes and Persians is predicted with graphic minuteness, belongs to the same period. It is, however, remarkably distinguished from the other spurious passages of the book.

We can also, with considerable certainty, refer to the same period the passage, xxiv.-xxvii. This speaks of the devastation of the land of Judea, the deliverance of the Jews from their masters, (xxvi. 13,) of their return, (xxvii. 12, 13,) and the destruction of the enemy's capital, (xxv. 2, xxvi. 5.) We are led to refer it to this date, By the nature of the contents of the passage: It

a

с

Comp. verses 6, 7, with xliii. 19, 20, xlviii. 21, xlix. 10, 11.

Comp. also xlix. 11, and lxii. 10.

Comp. verse 5, "The table is prepared; the watch set; they eat, they drink; arise, princes, anoint the shield," with the well-known account in Herodotus, (i. 191,) "There happened to be a feast;" with Xenophon, Cyrop. vii. 5, 15, sqq.; verse 7, with Xenophon, vii. 1, 14, 27. Strabo, xx. p. 727. See Michaelis, and Rosenmüller, in loc. [The last author says there is no doubt that the poet himself was present at the capture of the city, and, full of those things he had seen and heard, uttered this oracle. Gesenius (Com. in loc.) is of a different opinion. See, also, Maurer, in loc.]