The Divine Origin of Revelation

B. The Supernatural Causes of These Effects

The effects produced by the religion of Jesus Christ upon the social, moral, and religious life of mankind during the first three centuries of the Christian era constitute a unique phenomenon in the history of the human race. There are no others that could be compared with it in extent, depth or duration. Never and at no time have human power and wisdom produced anything that could even distantly equal the marvelous effects of Christianity. It is evident that what human agencies could not effect, in spite of all exertions and with the use of all means at their command, must be regarded as morally impossible for them. If this is the case, then the power and wisdom of God must have wrought the effects here under consideration, and the Christian religion is truly His work.

VII. The Messianic Prophecies of the Old Testament

1. In the preceding section of this treatise we have demonstrated the divine origin of Christianity from the character of its teaching and the circumstances accompanying its spread. The arguments we have given are strengthened by the fact that Christ and His work formed the object of certain remarkable prophecies which were recorded centuries before the establishment of the Christian religion, and were fulfilled in Him and the Church which He established. These prophecies, which are preserved in the books of the Old Testament, are called Messianic because they refer to the Messias and his mission.⁵⁶⁸568“Messias” from a Hebrew word meaning “the anointed,” occurs thirty-five times in the Old Testament, mostly as a royal title. In three places (Ps. II, 2; Dan. IX, 25 and 26) the term refers to the promised Redeemer. These texts, especially Ps. II, 2, form the foundation of the New Testament usage, in which χριστός, Christus, is the usual name of the Saviour. (The term Messias occurs only twice in the New Testament: John I, 41 and IV, 25.) Cfr. Ph. Friedrich, Der Christusname, Cologne, 1905, pp. 29 sqq.

2. In order to be able to employ the Messianic prophecies of the Old Testament as an argument for the divine origin of the New Testament, we have to demonstrate: (1) that these prophecies refer to the promised Messias and his kingdom, (2) that they were fulfilled, and (3) that they were of divine provenience. If they were fulfilled in Jesus Christ, then the religion established by Him (Christianity) is divine, since these prophecies represent the Messias as a Divine Person and His work as the work of God.

3. The nature of our argument does not require that it be based upon all the Messianic prophecies, and, hence, we shall limit ourselves to a few which are distinguished for clarity and definiteness, refer in their literal sense to the Messias, and are of essential importance for His characterization.

4. Our first task, therefore, will be to combine the features of the Messianic image as painted by the different prophets, i. e., to study the vocation and activity of the Messias, His divine dignity and human descent, the time and place of His birth, His Passion and death. We shall find that all the qualities of the promised Messias are embodied in Jesus of Nazareth and in no one else. Consequently Jesus Christ is the Messias announced by the Old Testament prophets, and the religion which He founded is based upon divine revelation.

1. The Messias in the Prophecies of the Old Testament

A. Vocation and Activity of the Messias

a) The Vocation of the Messias.—α) His Royal Office and Kingdom.—The Messias, according to the prophets, was to rule as a king. “I am appointed king by him over Sion, his holy mountain.”⁵⁶⁹569Ps. II, 6: “Ego autem constitutus sum rex ab eo super Sion montem sanctum eius.”

His kingdom will embrace all nations and extend to the ends of the earth. “I will give thee the gentiles for thy inheritance, and the utmost parts of the earth for thy possession.”⁵⁷⁰570Ps. II, 8: “Postula a me, et dabo tibi gentes haereditatem tuam et possessionem tuam terminos terrae.” And “he shall rule from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth; … all kings of the earth shall adore him: all nations shall serve him.”⁵⁷¹571Ps. LXXI, 8, 11: “Dominabitur a mari usque ad mare et a flumine usque ad terminos orbis terrarum; … adorabunt eum omnes reges terrae, omnes gentes servient ei.”

The Messianic Kingdom will last forever: “He shall continue with the sun, and before the moon, throughout all generations, … till the moon be taken away.”⁵⁷²572Ps. LXXI, 5, 7: “Permanebit cum sole et ante lunam, in generatione et generationem … donec auferatur luna.”

His will be a reign of justice and peace: “He shall judge the poor of the people, and he shall save the children of the poor: and he shall humble the oppressor. … In his days shall justice spring up and abundance of peace.”⁵⁷³573Ps. LXXI, 4, 7: “Iudicabit pauperes populi et salvos faciet filios pauperum et humiliabit calumniatorem. … Orietur in diebus eius iustitia et abundantia pacis.”

That Ps. II and LXXI do not refer to purely mundane conditions, but to the Messias and His supernatural kingdom, is evident from the enormous size and the eternal duration of that kingdom. An earthly kingdom of such dimensions as to embrace all the nations of the earth, and of such solidity as to endure as long as the earth itself, is a moral impossibility. The description given in these two Psalms must apply to a kingdom independent of earthly conditions like the one attributed by Ps. II, 2 to the Messias.

β) The Prophetical Office of the Messias.—The Messias is described as a teacher sent by God, as a lawgiver, and as the founder of a new, universal, and perpetual covenant.

The Messias will be a prophet: “The Lord thy God will raise up to thee a prophet of thy nation and of thy brethren like unto me [Moses]: him thou shalt hear.”⁵⁷⁴574Deut. XVIII, 15: “Prophetam de gente tua et de fratribus tuis, sicut me [sc. Moysen], suscitabit tibi Dominus Deus tuus: ipsum audies.”

He is sent by God as a teacher, lawgiver, and the founder of a new, universal and perpetual covenant: “Behold my servant … I have given my spirit upon him, he shall bring forth judgment to the gentiles. … He shall bring forth judgment unto truth, … and the islands shall wait for his law. … And I have given thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the gentiles, that thou mightest open the eyes of the blind, and bring forth the prisoner out of prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house.”⁵⁷⁵575Is. XLII, 1, 3, 4, 6, 7: “Ecce, servus meus … dedi spiritum meum super eum, iudicium gentibus proferet. … In veritate educet iudicium. … Et legem eius insulae expectabunt. … Et dedi te in foedus populi, in lucem gentium, ut aperires oculos caecorum et educeres de conclusione vinctum, de domo carceris sedentes in tenebris.”

“It is a small thing that thou shouldst be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to convert the dregs of Israel. Behold, I have given thee to be the light of the gentiles, that thou mayst be my salvation even to the farthest parts of the earth.”⁵⁷⁶576Is. XLIX, 6: “Parum est, ut sis mihi servus ad suscitandas tribus Jacob et faeces Israel convertendas. Ecce dedi te in lucem gentium, ut sis salus mea usque ad extremum terrae.”

“I will make an everlasting covenant with you, the faithful mercies of David. Behold I have given him for a witness to the people, for a leader and a master to the gentiles.”⁵⁷⁷577Is. LV, 3 sq.: “Feriam vobiscum pactum sempiternum, misericordias David fideles. Ecce testem populis dedi eum, ducem ac praeceptorem gentibus.”

“The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord hath anointed me: he hath sent me to preach to the meek, to heal the contrite of heart, and to preach a release to the captives, and deliverance to them that are shut up.”⁵⁷⁸578Is. LXI, 1: “Spiritus Domini super me, eo quod unxerit Dominus me. Ad annuntiandum mansuetis misit me, ut mederer contritis corde et praedicarem captivis indulgentiam et clausis apertionem.”

“And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be prepared in the top of mountains, and high above the hills: and people shall flow to it. And many nations shall come in haste, and say: Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob: and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth out of Sion, and the word of the Lord out of Jerusalem.”⁵⁷⁹579Mich. IV, 1 sq.: “Et erit, in novissimo dierum erit mons domus Domini praeparatus in vertice montium et sublimis super colles et fluent ad eum populi. Et properabunt gentes multae et dicent: venite, ascendamus ad montem Domini et ad domum Dei Iacob et docebit nos de viis suis et ibimus in semitis eius, quia de Sion egredietur lex et verbum Domini de Ierusalem.” (Cfr. Is. II, 2 sq.)

“Behold the days shall come, saith the Lord, and I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Juda: not according to the covenant which I made with their fathers, in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt. … But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel, after those days, saith the Lord: I will give my law in their bowels, and I will write it in their heart: and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”⁵⁸⁰580Jer. XXXI, 31 sqq.: “Ecce dies venient, dicit Dominus, et feriam domui Israel et domui Iuda foedus novum, non secundum pactum quod pepigi cum patribus eorum in die, qua apprehendi manum eorum, ut educerem eos de terra Aegypti. Sed hoc erit pactum, quod feriam cum domo Israel: post dies illos, dicit Dominus, dabo legem meam in visceribus eorum, et in corde eorum scribam eam, et ero eis in Deum et ipsi erunt mihi in populum.”

The prediction of Moses, regarding future prophets like himself, must not, as the context shows, be restricted to any particular person, but refers to the prophets as a class, including the Messias. In matter of fact the expectation of the Messias as a prophet sent by God is traceable to the passage from Deuteronomy just quoted, as may be seen from certain unambiguous texts of the New Testament, e. g., John I, 45; V, 45 sqq.; VI, 14; Acts VII, 37. For this reason the prediction of Moses deserves first place among the Old Testament prophecies regarding the prophetical office of the Messias.

The Ebed Yahweh (servant of God) repeatedly mentioned by Isaias⁵⁸¹581Is. XLII, 1–9; XLIX, 1–9; L, 4–11; LII, 13–53. is not, as has been asserted, identical with the Chosen People, or with the prophetical office as such, or with some individual prophet of the Old Testament.

The “servant of God” is not identical with the Jewish nation, because it cannot be said of that nation that it shall be set up in foedus populi, as a mediator of the covenant made by the Lord with His people. Nor can the Jewish nation be truthfully represented as mild, meek, and pleasing to God, as is Ebed Yahweh,⁵⁸²582Is. XLII, 1–4. more especially since the prophet on other occasions complains bitterly of the misbehavior of the people.

Nor can the “servant of God” be identical with the prophetical office as such, or with some part of the Jewish nation, since the appellation occurs only in the singular, and its place is never taken by a plural form. The term has absolutely no collective meaning.

Finally, every collective unit and every human individual is excluded by the vocational activity attributed to the “servant of God,” who is described as the founder of an eternal covenant, as a teacher and lawgiver for the whole of mankind. Hence the text can only be applied to the Messias.

The announcement and foundation of law and justice ascribed to the “servant of God” casts a new light upon the kingdom of the Messias. The enforcement of existing laws and the passage of new laws belong to the most important functions of a ruler. Here these functions are represented as constituting, together with the mediation of the covenant and teaching, the entire occupation of the “servant of God.” This trait indicates the predominantly spiritual character of the Messianic Kingdom, which, as a kingdom of justice and peace,⁵⁸³583Ps. LXXI. aims at universal dominion without the use of arms and without violating justice and law.

Micheas (IV, 1–8) lays the scene of the future Messianic kingdom in Jerusalem.

Jeremias (XXXI, 31) emphasizes the spiritual character of the divine law of the New Covenant.

γ) The Priestly Office of the Messias.—The Messias will be both a king and a priest: “The Lord hath sworn, and he will not repent: Thou art a priest for ever according to the order of Melchisedech.”⁵⁸⁴584Ps. CIX, 4.

He will voluntarily offer himself as a sacrifice for the sins of men: “Surely he hath borne our iniquities and carried our sorrows. … But he was wounded for our iniquities, he was bruised for our sins. The chastisement of our peace was upon him, and by his bruises we are healed. … The Lord hath laid upon him the iniquity of us all. He was offered because it was his own will. … He shall lay down his life for sin, he shall see a long-lived seed.”⁵⁸⁵585Is. LIII, 4–10: “Vere languores nostros ipse tulit et dolores nostros ipse portavit. … Ipse autem vulneratus est propter iniquitates nostras, attritus est propter scelera nostra. Disciplina pacis nostrae super eum et livore eius sanati sumus. … Posuit Dominus in eo iniquitatem omnium nostrum. Oblatus est, quia ipse voluit … Si posuerit pro peccato animam suam, videbit semen longaevum.”

This bloody sacrifice shall be followed in the Messianic era by an unbloody sacrifice, offered throughout the whole world: “I have no pleasure in you, saith the Lord of hosts: and I will not receive a gift of your hand. For from the rising of the sun even to the going down, my name is great among the gentiles, and in every place there is sacrifice, and there is offered to my name a clean oblation: for my name is great among the gentiles.”⁵⁸⁶586Mal. I, 10 sq.: “Non est mihi voluntas in vobis, dicit Dominus exercituum, et munus non suscipiam de manu vestra. Ab ortu enim solis usque ad occasum magnum est nomen meum in gentibus, et in omni loco sacrificatur et offertur nomini meo oblatio munda, quia magnum est nomen meum in gentibus.”

Psalm CIX, attributed in the title to David, is Messianic in the strict and proper sense of the word. David, who was himself vested with supreme power, could not have called an earthly king or general his “lord.” Nor could the command of Yahweh, “Sit thou at my right hand,” etc., have been addressed to an ordinary mortal. We know of no earthly prince upon whom the priesthood was conferred by positive divine command, as it is in verse 4 of this remarkable Psalm. Simon the Machabee, to whom the Rationalists like to apply this Psalm, was indeed a political ruler and high priest, but he had not received this double dignity by solemn divine institution, but merely by the consent of the people.⁵⁸⁷5871 Mach. XIV, 41 sqq. Nor could sitting at the right hand of God be attributed to him in any intelligible sense.

Consequently, the only possible interpretation of Psalm CIX is that it prefigures the Messias, whom we already know as a king, indicating that he is to be at the same time a priest, similar to Melchisedech, and, like him, will offer bread and wine in his dual role of priest and king.⁵⁸⁸588Gen. XIV, 18.

The Messianic character of Is. LIII, 4–10 has already been shown.

The words of Malachias (I, 10 sq.) also refer to the Messias. The unbloody sacrifice of which this prophet speaks is to be offered at a time when the one true God will be worshipped throughout the world. This will be the case only after the coming of the Messias, who is promised as the light of the gentiles.⁵⁸⁹589Ps. LXXI, 8–11; Is. XLII, 1, 4, 6, 7; XLIX, 6. Jewish sacrifices cannot be meant here, because, according to Malachias,⁵⁹⁰590Mal. I, 10. the Lord refuses to accept sacrifices from the Jews, and for the further reason that the Jews were allowed to offer sacrifices only in the Temple.

b) The Career of the Messias.—α) He will be preceded by a forerunner. “Behold I send my angel, and he shall prepare the way before my face. And presently the Lord, whom you seek, and the angel of the testament, whom you desire, shall come to his temple. Behold he cometh, saith the Lord of hosts.”⁵⁹¹591Mal. III, 1: “Ecce, ego mitto angelum meum, et praeparabit viam ante faciem meam. Et statim veniet ad templum suum dominator, quem vos quaeritis, et angelus testamenti, quem vos vultis. Ecce venit, dicit Dominus exercituum.”

That this text is Messianic, is evident from the predicates attributed in its second half to the coming one, who is called lord and angel (i. e., a messenger), who, because He comes to His Temple, is consubstantial with God. That the Messias is to be both a king and the founder of a new covenant, we have already seen; that He is entitled to divine honors we shall see presently.

The first half of the verse mentions the divine mission of the messenger who is to prepare the way for the “angel of the testament.”

β) The Messias will be pleasing to God, mild, meek, modest, and a friend of the poor.

“Behold my servant, I will uphold him: my elect, my soul delighteth in him: I have given my spirit upon him. … He shall not cry, nor have respect to person, neither shall his voice be heard abroad. The bruised reed he shall not break, and smoking flax he shall not quench. … He shall not be sad, nor troublesome.”⁵⁹²592Is. XLII, 1–4: “Ecce servus meus, suscipiam eum; electus meus, complacuit sibi in illo anima mea, dedi spiritum meum super eum. … Non clamabit, neque accipiet personam, nec audietur vox eius foris. Calamum quassatum non conteret et linum fumigans non extinguet … Non erit tristis neque turbulentus.”

“He shall deliver the poor from the mighty: and the needy that had no helper. He shall spare the poor and needy: and he shall save the souls of the poor. He shall redeem their souls from usuries and iniquity: and their names shall be honorable in his sight.”⁵⁹³593Ps. LXXI, 12–14: “Liberabit pauperem a potente, et pauperem cui non erat adiutor. Parcet pauperi et inopi, et animas pauperum salvas faciet. Ex usuris et iniquitate redimet animas eorum et honorabile nomen eorum coram illo.”

“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Sion, shout for joy, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold thy king will come to thee, the just and saviour: he is poor, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.”⁵⁹⁴594Zach. IX, 9: “Exulta satis, filia Sion, iubila, filia Jerusalem: ecce, rex tuus veniet tibi iustus et salvator [Hebr. salvatus, i. e. victorious], ipse pauper et ascendens super asinam et super pullum filium asinae.”

Is. XLII, 1–4 and Ps. LXXI have already been shown to be Messianic on a previous page.

Zach. IX, 9 refers to the Messias because the prophet speaks here of a just king, who comes as saviour to found a kingdom of peace among the gentiles, and whose dominion will extend “to the end of the earth.”⁵⁹⁵595Zach. IX, 9 sq.

γ) The Messias will work miracles and teach mainly in Galilee. “Say to the fainthearted: Take courage, and fear not: behold your God will bring the revenge of recompense: God himself will come and will save you. Then shall the eyes of the blind be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as a hart, and the tongue of the dumb shall be free.”⁵⁹⁶596Is. XXXV, 4–6: “Dicite pusillanimis: confortamini et nolite timere, ecce Deus vester ultionem adducet retributionis, Deus ipse veniet et salvabit vos. Tunc aperientur oculi caecorum et aures surdorum patebunt. Tunc saliet sicut cervus claudus et aperta erit lingua mutorum.”

“At the first time the land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthali was despised: and at the last the way of the sea beyond the Jordan of the Galilee of the gentiles was heaped with honors. The people that walked in darkness, have seen a great light: to them that dwelt in the region of the shadow of death, light is risen.”⁵⁹⁷597Is. IX, 1 sq.: “Primo tempore alleviata est terra Zabulon et terra Nephthali, et novissimo aggravata est via maris trans Iordanem Galilaeae gentium. Populus, qui ambulabat in tenebris, vidit lucem magnam, habitantibus in regione umbrae mortis, lux orta est eis.” (Our translation above follows the Hebrew text.)

The description given in the thirty-fifth chapter of Isaias (verses 4–6) refers to the Messianic era, because divine help is immediately held out, and for the further reason that the words of the prophet cannot possibly be taken in a purely figurative sense as a description of the happiness of Israel after the exile.

In Is. IX, 1 sq., quoted two paragraphs above, the prophet can have reference only to the coming of the Messias, since the Messias was to be “a light for the gentiles,”⁵⁹⁸598Is. XLII, 6. and the rising of the light⁵⁹⁹599Is. XLII, 2. is traced to the birth of a child, who is called “Prince of Peace,” “God the mighty,” and “Father of the world to come.”⁶⁰⁰600Is. IX, 6.

B. The Divine Dignity and Human Descent of the Messias

1. The Messias is to be God and man at one and the same time: “For a child is born to us, and a son is given to us, and the government is upon his shoulders: and his name shall be called, Wonderful, Counsellor, God the Mighty, Father of the world to come, the Prince of Peace.”⁶⁰¹601Is. IX, 6: “Parvulus enim natus est nobis et filius datus est nobis, et factus est principatus super humerum eius, et vocabitur nomen eius: admirabilis, consiliarius, Deus fortis, pater futuri saeculi, princeps pacis.”

“Out of thee [Bethlehem] shall come forth unto me he that is to be the ruler in Israel: and his going forth is from the beginning, from the days of eternity.”⁶⁰²602Mich. V, 2: “Ex te [sc. Bethlehem] mihi egredietur, qui sit dominator in Israel, et egressus eius ab initio, a diebus aeternitatis.”

“And presently the Lord shall come to his temple.”⁶⁰³603Mal. III, 1: “Et statim veniet ad templum suum dominator.”

The Messianic character of Is. IX, 6 appears from the fact that the child that is to be born shall have an empire of peace, and that his birth will coincide with the rising of a light among the gentiles.⁶⁰⁴604Is. IX, 6 sq., 1 sq.

Divinity is expressly attributed to the Messias-Child, as the prophet calls Him “God the Mighty” and “Father of the world to come.”⁶⁰⁵605Is. IX, 6.

The same Child is hailed by Micheas as “the ruler in Israel,” whose “going forth is from the beginning, from the days of eternity.”⁶⁰⁶606Mich. V, 2.

Mal. III, 1, a text which has been shown above to be Messianic, indirectly asserts the divinity of the Messias by calling the temple or house of God His property.

2. The human descent of the Messias follows from these facts: (a) that He was to be born of a woman, (b) that He was to be a descendant of Abraham and hence a scion of the Israelitic nation, and (c) that He was to be a son of David.

a) The Messias is to be born of a woman: “I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed: she shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel.”⁶⁰⁷607Gen. III, 15: “Inimicitias ponam inter te et mulierem, et semen tuum et semen illius, ipsa conteret caput tuum et tu insidiaberis calcaneo eius.”

The seed of the woman is the Messias, because to Him alone, as man, the Old Testament attributes the extinction of sin and victory over the father of sin.

b) The Messias will be a descendant of Abraham and a member of the Israelitic nation: “In thy [Abraham’s] seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.”⁶⁰⁸608Gen. XXII, 18: “Benedicentur in semine tuo [sc. Abrahae] omnes gentes terrae.” (Cfr. Gen. XXVI, 4; XXVIII, 14.)

“I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not near. A star shall rise out of Jacob and a scepter shall spring up from Israel.”⁶⁰⁹609Num. XXIV, 17: “Videbo eum, sed non modo; intuebor illum, sed non prope. Orietur stella ex Iacob et consurget virga de Israel.”

That the seed of Abraham is the Messias is evident from the fact that it is only to Him that the old Testament ascribes a dominion which shall shower benediction upon all the nations of the earth.

The prophet Balaam, too, has in view the Messianic Kingdom, the most magnificent flower of the house of Israel, when he predicts that in the distant future a star and a scepter shall spring up from Israel.⁶¹⁰610Num. XXIV, 17: “Orietur stella ex Iacob, et consurget virga de Israel: et percutiet duces Moab, vastabitque omnes filios Seth.”

c) The Messias will be a son of David: “I will raise up thy seed after thee [i. e., David], which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house to my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom for ever.”⁶¹¹6112 Kings VII, 12 sq.: “Suscitabo semen tuum post te [sc. David], quod egredietur de utero tuo et firmabo regnum eius. Ipse aedificabit domum nomini meo et stabiliam thronum regni eius usque in sempiternum.” (Cfr. Ps. LXXXVIII, 36 sqq.)

“There shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a flower shall rise up out of his root, and the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him.”⁶¹²612Is. XI, 1 sq.: “Egredietur virga de radice Iesse et flos de radice eius ascendet, et requiescet super eum spiritus Domini.”

“Behold the days come, saith the Lord, and I will raise up to David a just branch: and a king shall reign, and shall be wise: and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. … and this is the name that they shall call him: The Lord our just one.”⁶¹³613Jer. XXIII, 5 sq.: “Ecce dies veniunt, dicit Dominus, et suscitabo David germen iustum, et regnabit rex et sapiens erit et faciet iudicium et iustitiam in terra … et hoc est nomen, quod vocabunt eum: Dominus iustus noster.” (Cfr. Jer. XXXIII, 14 sqq.) Zémach = germen is a name of the Messias; cf. Zach. III, 8 and VI, 12. III, 8: “ecce adducam servum meum Zémach;” VI, 12: “ecce vir Zémach nomen eius.”

The seed of David⁶¹⁴6142 Kings VII, 12. comprises not only the Messias, but all the descendants of the Royal Psalmist; first of all, as the context shows, Solomon, who built a temple to the Lord. That the Messias is also included is indicated by the eternal duration which is promised to the kingdom of David’s descendants. The promise is twofold: (α) an earthly kingdom, and this is conditional; (β) a spiritual kingdom, and this is absolute and everlasting. Luke I, 32–33: “et dabit illi Dominus Deus sedem David patris eius: et regnabit in domo Jacob in aeternum, et regni eius non erit finis.”

The flower that is to come forth from the root of Jesse (Is. XI, 1 sqq.) is, as the parallel passages⁶¹⁵615Is. LIII, 2; XLII, 1, 3, 4, 6. show, the figure of the “servant of God,” i. e., the Messias.

Jer. XXIII, 5 sq. must be interpreted in the same sense, since this text attributes to the promised descendant of David a divine nature and the establishment of justice upon earth.

C. Time and Place of the Birth of the Messias

a) The Time of His Birth.—The Old Testament furnishes three indications of the time when the Messias was to be born.

α) The Messias will appear at the time when the tribe of Juda will have lost its political independence: “The scepter shall not be taken away from Juda, nor a ruler from his thigh, till he come that is to be sent, and he shall be the expectation of nations.”⁶¹⁶616Gen. XLIX, 10: “Non auferetur sceptrum de Iuda et dux de femore eius, donec veniat, qui mittendus est, et ipse erit exspectatio gentium.”

The Hebrew word shebet may also mean “rod of chastisement” and “tribe,” but “scepter” is demanded here by the context. Only good things are promised to Juda,⁶¹⁷617Gen. XLIX, 8: “Iuda, te laudabunt fratres tui, manus tua in cervicibus inimicorum tuorum adorabunt te filii patris tui.” and there is no reason to see a rod of punishment threatening in the background, while, on the other hand, the Patriarch Jacob speaks not only of the person, but also of the tribe of Juda, as can be seen from a following verse.⁶¹⁸618Gen. XLIX, 13. The word shebet cannot in this passage be translated by “tribe,” as this would result in the nonsensical phrase: “The tribe shall not be taken away from the tribe.” Consequently the word shebet here can only mean “scepter.” This is confirmed by the parallelism of the second half of the verse, which, according to the original Hebrew, had best be translated: “nor the sceptre away from between his feet.”

It should be noted, however, that shebet, as here used, may not only signify a royal scepter, but, generally, the insignia of civil authority.

The particle donec (until) in itself merely indicates that something will last up to a more closely specified time. Whether it is to last beyond that period must be deduced from the context.

The “qui mittendus est” of the Vulgate is a translation of the Hebrew word shiloh, which may mean: “what is [stored up] for him,” “he who is preserved for him,” “to whom it [the sceptre] is,” “the man of peace,” or “Silo” (a city in the territory of the tribe of Ephraim). All these translations, with the exception of the last, would make good sense, since all can be applied to the Messias, of whom the entire passage clearly treats, as in the concluding words He is called “the expectation of nations.”⁶¹⁹619Hebraice: “and in him (is) the obedience of nations.” Cfr. Ps. II, 7 sqq.; Ps. LXXI, 8 sqq.

The opinion that shiloh is intended to refer to the city of Silo is favored by the Rationalists, who regard our text as a vaticinium post eventum and translate it as follows: “The scepter shall not be taken away from Juda … until he comes to Silo, and all nations will obey him.” But this interpretation does not square with the facts. True, the tribe of Juda had a certain prerogative over the other tribes before it came to Silo. It was more numerous than the rest,⁶²⁰620Num. I, 26. was assigned first place in camp⁶²¹621Num. II, 3–9. and on the march,⁶²²622Num. X, 14. offered the first sacrifices,⁶²³623Num. VII, 12. was the first to receive its share of the promised land,⁶²⁴624Jos. XV, 1. took the lead in the war which ensued after the death of Josue,⁶²⁵625Judg. I, 2. and received the submission of the defeated Chananeans. But all of these prerogatives are not sufficient to attribute to the tribe of Juda before its arrival in Silo that kind of public authority which goes with a royal scepter. The honors that were shown to Juda in the desert and when the Israelites entered the Holy Land only prove that this tribe was accorded a certain precedence over the others. The bearers of public authority were Moses the Levite and Josue the Ephraimite. After the death of Josue, it is true, the tribe of Juda was entrusted with the headship of the nation, but its dominion lasted only a short time and comprised a mere fraction of the tribes. The act of submission made by the Chanaanites was directed, not to the tribe of Juda alone, but to all the twelve tribes of Israel. The words of the Patriarch, therefore, can have no other meaning than: “The tribe of Juda will not be deprived of public authority until the arrival of Him to whom the nations shall bow in obedience.”

Whether the public authority of the tribe of Juda was to end with the coming of the Messias cannot be deduced from the text. That it would lose its purely earthly significance and continue to exist in some other form, without destroying the political independence of the tribe, might have been inferred from the later prediction concerning the eternal duration of David’s throne and the spiritual character of the Messianic Kingdom. At any rate, after the complete destruction of the authority of the tribe of Juda, the coming of the Messias was no longer to be expected. [Some of our ablest exegetes hold that “non auferetur … donec veniat” does not prove anything in this connection. According to the Hebrew idiom this text does not imply that the sceptre shall be taken away at all. It will in fact never be taken away, for “et regni eius non erit finis.” In Hebrew until after an affirmation does not deny, and after a negation does not affirm what follows. E. g.: 1 Reg. XV 35: “et non addidit Samuel videre Saulem usque ad diem mortis suae.” Ps. CIX, 1: “sede a dextris meis, donec ponam inimicos tuos scabellum pedum tuorum.” Ps. CXI, 8: “non commovebitur [vir qui timet Dominum] donec despiciet inimicos suos.”]

β) The Messias will appear in seventy year-weeks, reckoned from the promulgation of the decree which commanded the reconstruction of Jerusalem at the close of the Babylonian Captivity. “Seventy weeks are shortened upon thy people,” says the angel Gabriel to Daniel, “and upon thy holy city, that transgression may be finished, and sin may have an end, and iniquity may be abolished; and everlasting justice may be brought; and vision and prophecy may be fulfilled; and the saint of saints may be anointed. Know thou, therefore, and take notice: that from the going forth of the word, to build up Jerusalem again, unto Christ the prince, there shall be seven weeks, and sixty-two weeks: and the street shall be built again, and the walls in straitness of times. And after sixty-two weeks Christ shall be slain: and the people that shall deny him shall not be his. And a people with their leader that shall come, shall destroy the city and the sanctuary: and the end thereof shall be waste, and after the end of the war the appointed desolation. And he shall confirm the covenant with many, in one week: and in the half of the week, the victim and the sacrifice shall fail: and there shall be in the temple the abomination of desolation: and the desolation shall continue even to the consummation, and to the end.”⁶²⁶626Dan. IX, 24–27: “Septuaginta hebdomades abbreviatae sunt super populum tuum et super urbem sanctam tuam, ut consummetur praevaricatio et finem accipiat peccatum et deleatur iniquitas et adducatur iustitia sempiterna et impleatur visio et prophetia et ungatur sanctus sanctorum [Hebrew: sanctum.] Scito ergo et animadverte: ab exitu sermonis, ut iterum aedificetur Ierusalem, usque ad Christum ducem hebdomades septem et hebdomades sexaginta duae erunt; et rursus aedificabitur platea et muri in angustia temporum. Et post hebdomades sexaginta duas occidetur Christus et non erit eius populus, qui eum negaturus est. Et civitatem et sanctuarium dissipabit populus cum duce venturo. Et finis eius vastitas et post finem belli statuta desolatio. Confirmabit autem pactum multis hebdomada una. Et in dimidio hebdomadis deficiet hostia et sacrificium et erit in templo abominatio desolationis et usque ad consummationem et finem perseverabit desolatio.”

The seventy weeks appointed (Hebrew: cut off) by Yahweh cannot be ordinary weeks of seven days each. For, according to Dan. IX, 25, the streets and walls of the Holy City shall be rebuilt during the first seven of these weeks, which would be impossible within so short a time. According to Old Testament usage, the word translated by week means a seventh, consequently not only a week of seven days, but also a period of seven years, a “week of years,” as it has been called,⁶²⁷627Lev. XXV, 8; cfr. Gen. XXIX, 18, 27 sq. and therefore the time indicated by this term was probably intended to be a period of 490 years. The reason the angel speaks of seventy weeks is to accommodate his revelation to the thoughts of the prophet, who had just been reflecting upon, and asked God to end, the seventy years of the Babylonian Captivity. The liberation of the Israelites after an exile of seventy years was to be followed by the liberation of the whole human race after seventy “weeks of years.” The date from which this term is to be reckoned is the promulgation of the decree which commanded the rebuilding of Jerusalem.⁶²⁸628Dan. IX, 25. Its end must synchronize with the appearance and death of “Christ the prince.”⁶²⁹629Dan. IX, 25 sq. Until the Messias-Prince appears, seven plus sixty-two, i. e., sixty-nine weeks, or 483 years, will elapse. In the seventieth week the Anointed will be slain, and a new covenant established. In the middle of this week the sacrifices of the Old Covenant will cease.⁶³⁰630Dan. IX, 27. After the death of Christ, the Holy City and the Temple of Yahweh will be destroyed by the subjects of a foreign king. It does not, however, follow from the words of the angel⁶³¹631Dan. IX, 26 and 27. that the destruction of the city and Temple will occur immediately after the death of the Messias. That the “anointed one” of Dan. IX, 25 sq. is Jesus Christ, the promised Messias, is proved by the blessings promised to the people,⁶³²632Dan. IX, 24. namely, forgiveness of sins, the establishment of eternal justice, and the confirmation of the new covenant.⁶³³633Dan. IX, 24, 27. All these indications point to the Messianic kingdom, for the Messias was the only one expected by the Jews who was to abolish iniquity and to found an everlasting kingdom of justice.

γ) The Messias will appear before the destruction of the second Temple. “Behold I send my angel, … and presently the Lord, whom you seek, and the angel of the testament, whom you desire, shall come to his temple.”⁶³⁴634Mal. III, 1: “Ecce, mitto angelum meum. … Et statim veniet ad templum suum dominator, quem vos quaeritis et angelus testamenti, quem vos vultis.” The Messianic bearing of this text has already been established. The Messias, we here read, shall come to his temple, that is, the Temple which had just been restored in the days of the Prophet Malachias (cfr. Agg. II, 9.) For this Temple, located at Jerusalem, was the only official sanctuary of the Jews, and hence the Messias must appear before this Temple is destroyed.

b) The Birthplace of the Messias.—The Messianic bearing of this text has already been pointed out. “And thou Bethlehem Ephrata, art a little one among the thousands of Juda: out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be the ruler in Israel: and his going forth is from the beginning, from the days of eternity.”⁶³⁵635Mich. V, 2: “Et tu Bethlehem Ephrata, parvulus es in millibus Iuda: ex te mihi egredietur, qui sit dominator in Israel et egressus eius ab initio, a diebus aeternitatis.” Ephrata is merely another name for Bethlehem.⁶³⁶636Cfr. Gen. XXXV, 19; XLVIII, 7. The seeming tautology serves to distinguish Bethlehem in Juda from a town of the same name situated in the territory of Zabulon.⁶³⁷637Jos. XIX, 15. The significance of Bethlehem in comparison with the other cities of Juda is emphasized in view of the sublime dignity to which this little town is to be raised by being made the birthplace of the Saviour of mankind.

The “ruler in Israel” who is to come forth from Bethlehem is none other than the Messias, because He alone established a kingdom of peace,⁶³⁸638Cfr. Mich. V, 5. reaching “even to the ends of the earth,” and because He alone, being God, exists from “the days of eternity.”⁶³⁹639Mich. V, 4.